Okay, so we could pretty much figure out that JVC's breath sphere speaker wasn't exactly the roundest thing we'd ever seen, but we can't say we've really ever given much thought to how round / not round a round object really is. Thankfully, the scientists involved in the Avogadro Project do give it some thought, and they're toiling away as we speak in an attempt to create almost useless silicon balls which serve one simple purpose: to "redefine the kilogram in terms of magnetic fields and electrical forces." What does weight have to do with this? Currently, the kilogram is the "only remaining standard of measurement tied to a single physical object: a 120-year-old lump of platinum and iridium that sits in a vault outside of Paris, France." Trivial? A bit -- but don't tell that to the guys that weigh gold bars.

It's been a great week for space geeks, what with the Phoenix Lander doing its Mars sniffing and toilet drama at the space station. Meanwhile, over in Europe, EADS Astrium Space Transportation is showing off a manned version of its Automated Transfer Vehicle (also known as the Jules Verne). This space vehicle has already been used to bring equipment to the International Space Station, but new designs reveal that Germany, France, and Italy are on board to retrofit the vehicle with seats and touch screens for humans. There's just one little problem -- the Jules Verne can't return non-humans (let alone humans) to Earth safely yet. Astrium is hoping to get the stage flying by 2013 on top of the Ariane 5 rocket in time for the end of the American Space Shuttle program in 2010, when it would replace it as the largest-payload space transport.

Mmm hmm. That F400 dual slider we originally got wind of in February is the real deal, as confirmed by Samsung today. Designed with music aficionados in mind, the handset is equipped with ICEpower from Bang & Olufsen, which gets complemented with a 3-megapixel camera (with AF and a LED flash), 2.2-inch display, 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, twin stereo speakers, music hot key, FM tuner, Bluetooth 2.0, a 1GB microSD card and USB 2.0 connectivity. The unit itself is built on HSDPA tri-band technology, and while we know you US'ers would love to wraps your paws around it, Sammy would rather dish it out to the French in black / white motifs later this month, while sending it to other regions of Europe, Asia and the Middle East shortly thereafter. Tough noogies.

Not even a week after hearing that Air France was forging ahead with an in-flight calling trial, the European Commission has now voiced its approval of using mobiles on planes in European airspace. After six months of deliberating, the decision was finally made to give airlines the choice of offering up services in order for guests to dial loved ones at 3,000-meters or more. The EU telecoms commissioner, Viviane Reding, went on to warn operators to "keep the cost of calls made on planes at a reasonable level," and of course, not all is clear just yet. For starters, the European Aviation Safety Agency still needs to green-light the whole ordeal by approving any hardware that would be used, and we won't be seeing any 3G action up high just yet. Still, at least one less hurdle stands in the way of you phoning home from over Europe (and simultaneously making enemies out of all your neighbors trying to get a few decent minutes of shuteye).

Not even half a year after Air France enabled passengers on its single OnAir-equipped Airbus A318 to send / receive messages and e-mail, the airline has went live with the second phase of the in-flight experiment. As of this week, guests who find themselves aboard the aforesaid aircraft can make / receive calls on their mobile at 30,000 feet. Reportedly, a dozen simultaneous calls are possible "per picocell network, as well as unlimited text messages and e-mails," and while pricing details weren't disclosed, you can rest assured it won't be a bargain. Nevertheless, the voice aspect of the trial is scheduled to carry on for three months, and we're assuming the results (read: whether annoyed passengers start assaulting chronic yappers) will determine if it gets rolled out to more of the fleet or quietly buried.

[Via WiFi Net News]

With the likes of Apple and Garmin taking their respective expertise and pointing it toward the mobile phone world, perhaps it should come as no surprise that Archos is doing something similar. Unfortunately, it's fairly impossible at this stage to figure out what that thing is. All we know is that Archos has struck a deal with France's SFR to integrate 3G+ HSDPA data modems into its players -- a deal that was rumored late last year -- but whether that means beefed up mobile surfing and VoIP, or an all new phone product has yet to be seen.

[Thanks, Marien]

According to a recent report, the French head of stun-gun maker Taser has plans to create a "mini-flying saucer like drone which could also fire Taser stun rounds on criminal suspects or rioting crowds." Antoine di Zazzo, fervent proselytizer of the electroshock weapon, is cutting through the is / isn't torture noise of recent UN reports with the news that the non-lethal device is about to make a serious splash in France, with president Nicolas Sarkozy promising to hand one to every policeman and gendarme. Of course, once di Zazzo's army of tiny, hovering stun machines take to the air -- sometime next year -- the police probably won't have to worry about brandishing their weapons.

[Thanks, Craig B.]

France Telecom just announced that the iPhone will go on sale tonight at 6:30pm (18.30) at a dozen of its Orange stores across France. It will charge between €49 ($72) and €119 ($175) per month in addition to the €399 cost of the iPhone itself. Orange customers can unlock their iPhone for another €100 on the spot or free after 6 months -- though they're still locked into an Orange contract of 1 or 2 years. The iPhone will also be sold unlocked contract free for €649 ($957) or €549 ($809) with an Orange plan without a time commitment. Got it? Yeah, we're a bit confused too, but then again, it's definitely cheaper than the unlocked German iPhone.

Update: Ah, clarity: AFP reports that an unlocked iPhone will cost €749 -- €649 for phone and €100 for unlocking. See, that wasn't so hard.

While Orange seems to be holding out until the last minute to announce exactly how much its unlocked iPhone will cost, France Telecom CEO Didier Lombard has apparently dropped a few less-than-specific details on the matter in a recent interview, saying that it'll cost "over 500 euros, but well below 1,000 euros." Or, in US dollars, roughly somewhere between $740 and $1,500, but apparently closer to the former. A bit pricey to be sure, but it would certainly be cheaper than the €999 unlocked iPhone that T-Mobile is selling in Germany. As previously announced, a locked iPhone on Orange (complete with a two-year contract) will set you back €399. Look for things to get fleshed out further when Orange gets official with its iPhone offerings on Thursday.

[Thanks, Holger]

There's not a whole lot to go on here, but according to France's Challenges magazine, Archos is set to further expand its linup-up of players next year with some new SIM card-equipped models. While there's no indication that the devices will actually double as a phone, you will apparently be able to at least get in some 3G-enhanced web browsing, which would certainly be more convenient (albeit pricier) than tracking down WiFi hotspots each time you're out and about. Also according to Challenges, it seems that both France's SFR and Neuf-Cegetel are "starting to look very closely" at Archos' gear, although that's obviously still as up in the air as the rumored device itself.

[Via Archos Lounge, thanks JohnBe]

Announced in August, LG's HSDPA-totin' touchscreen KS20 was just released for retail in Europe -- France and Germany to be specific with more countries coming on the quick. Nothing new to report, same business minded, 12.8-mm thick Windows Mobile 6 handset with 3.6Mbps data, WiFi, Bluetooth, 2 megapixel camera (VGA up front), up to 4-hours talk, and built-in stylus for navigating with precision on that busy, 240 x 320 pixel, 2.8-inch WinMo interface. No prices given but we're sure your carrier will happily oblige.

Europeans are pretty used to paying through the nose for usage charges, whether it be by-the-minute charges for local calls in the landline days of yore, or per-KB charges for wireless data. The up side is that there are usually some pretty sweet prices on phones, since wireless companies know they can make it up on the back end, but for heavy users things can get expensive fast. And unfortunately, the glorious promises of "unlimited" data usage tacked onto iPhone plans offered by T-Mobile, O2 and Orange in their respective iPhone-exclusive markets aren't quite the revolution we might've hoped for. T-Mobile just posted its rate plans for the November 9th iPhone launch, though it quickly pulled them from the site. Eagle-eyed observers grabbed a screenshot of the rates (pictured), but what's notable is the fine print: depending on which plan you select -- M, L or XL -- you're limited to 200MB, 1GB or 5GB of data, after which your data speeds are limited to 64Kbps, instead of EDGE's traditional 220Kbps max. O2, whose rates have been up since day one, has a slightly vaguer "fair usage policy" that gives O2 the right to slap you with extra charges or change your rate plan if you exceed 200MB of use, though they claim this rarely happens. Details on Orange's rate plans for the iPhone haven't emerged yet, but Orange France has historically some of the priciest unlimited data rates, and has a standing policy to just go ahead and slap per-KB charges once the limit is crossed. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

[Thanks, Patrick]

Well, well... looks like Apple has been backed into a corner by French law and will be releasing an unlocked iPhone in France after all. While no one will say precisely how much the unlocked iPhone will cost (the locked Orange-network iPhone will cost €399) those details are expected to be announced sometime before the November 29 launch. Of course, laws forbidding the exclusive bundling of cellphones to carriers are not unique to France. As such, we can expect a glut of unlocked iPhones in the coming months as deals are struck throughout Europe and Asia. Hear that AT&T, O2 and T-Mobile haters? Your nefarious unlocking efforts are about to get a whole lot easier (and more expensive).

[Via Orange]

After months of basically pulling each other's hair on the playground, Apple and Orange have finally admitted that they like-like each other and have signed a deal to get the iPhone out in France. No word on how those unlocking laws will affect the deal, but something tells us people in iPhone-less countries who want to get their multi-touch on might want to brush up on their French.

Update: Apple.com/fr/iPhone has been updated to show a launch date of November 29, as shown above.

We're not exactly up on our French, let alone our French telecommunications law, but we're hearing that Apple's supposed launch of the iPhone in that country is being held up by two different regulations that prevent the iPhone from being the locked-down revenue-generating machine Apple wants it to be. The first, a law passed in 1998, requires that carriers unlock any phone upon customer request -- for a fee during the first six months of a contract and for free after that. Notably, all three major French carriers -- including Orange, which was supposed to get the iPhone -- have lost lawsuits challenging this law. The second, which we're slightly less clear on, apparently requires carriers to sell both locked and unlocked phones. Tensions over the regulations have apparently strained the relationship between the companies to the point where Orange spokespeople are saying things like "the risk we're evaluating this week is that Apple crosses France off," but really, who expected Apples and Oranges to mix without someone getting a little bruised?

Read -- French unlocking law with unlocking provision at end of Article II
Read -- Les Echoes report on Apple / Orange tension

[Via The Unlock iPhone Blog, image from TechCrunch France]


Disclaimer: Although this post was written by an attorney, the attorney in question only met his university's foreign language graduation requirement by reciting an Eddie Izzard routine verbatim, so this post should not be considered legal advice or analysis of any kind.