Trying to do the right thing by the environment
and ride a scooter or bicycle to work is great – unless you have to wear
a suit. Wear it riding and you can sometimes look like the “great
unwashed” by the time you arrive at your desk. Place it carefully into a
backpack and by the time you’re unpacking it, it looks like you ironed
it with the leg of a chair. The Suit Commute, however, is designed to
hold your neatly pressed suit and shirt in place so you arrive for the
board meeting or job interview looking fit for the part (just don’t
forget to fix your “helmet hair”). Read More
As promised earlier this year, Ricoh has now unveiled the development and release of its third lens module for its GXR digital camera system.
The P10 28-300 mm F3.5-5.6 VC wide angle 10.7x zoom lens module has
been optimized for high quality output and benefits from revised image
processing algorithms. It can continuously shoot at up to five frames
per second in RAW format but up to 120 in VGA and can record movies in
720p high definition. Read More
The developed world is fast heading towards a
globally networked information economy. Any government that fails to
recognize that high-speed Internet access is fundamental to future
economic growth and prosperity runs the risk of quickly ending up on the
wrong end of a digital divide. While this applies to countries as a
whole it also apples to residents within a country, with some spoiled
for choice when it comes to broadband access while others in more
remotes areas are left wanting. In a bid to ensure broadband access to
all people in the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has
set a 4Mbps download target for universal broadband with its National
Broadband Plan. The undertaking will cost US$23.5 billion. Read More
Man’s best friends aren’t just great for
companionship or security, they also provide an unavoidable excuse to go
out and get some exercise. Anyone looking to maximize the health
benefits of walking the family dog can now get an upper body workout
with these adjustable weight Dog Walker Dumbbells. Read More
We know that the grass is always greener on the
other side… but do the cars also have to be greener elsewhere too?
Mazda's Carol micro-mini is only available in Japan yet its excellent
fuel economy, affordability and specifications read like a wish list for
commuters the world over - 4WD, 55 mpg, CVT, keyless entry, keyless
start system, immobilizer, DOHC VVT motor, four-wheel ABS, electronic
brake distribution (EBD), brake assist, split folding rear seats, heated
seats… there's even wing mirror heaters to prevent fogging on cold
mornings. Read More
Whether right or for wrong, the human brain is
often compared to a computer, and vice-versa. They both receive data,
process it, store it, and output new data. Unlike computers, however,
the human brain doesn’t crash. Yes, people have nervous breakdowns, but
that has more to do with psychological stress than with data management.
Now, researchers from Yale University have figured out why our brains
succeed where computers fail. Read More
No sooner do we take off our Avatar-issue 3D glasses, than we hear about 3D video cameras from Fujifilm, Panasonic and Ikonoskop.
These cameras use twin lenses to record a three-dimensional image, but a
new imaging camera from Italy’s Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) gets the
job done with just one lens and a laser. Read More
If there’s one thing that most of us know about
sharks, besides the fact that they occasionally bite people, it’s that
they have a fantastic sense of smell - some sharks can smell a single
drop of blood within a million drops of water. How do they do it? That’s
what British scientists are trying to find out... and their discoveries
could be applied to human technology. Read More
Notorious Gadgets has launched a range of new
desktop computer solutions in three distinct flavors, depending on user
need, and two different models. They are available as Office units with
low power draw and affordability as the key drivers, Multimedia units
built for entertainment, or Professional units offering high tech
performance in a small form factor. As an indicator of the size options
available, models come as either Phatty or Slimmy. Read More
Busworld Asia was the venue chosen by FUNTORO Inc
to announce the launch of its Media On Demand (MOD) Infotainment System
on buses manufactured by China's largest professional bus manufacturer.
One server can support up to 54 monitors throughout the coach,
providing passengers with their own entertainment hub capable of
independent output without impacting on fellow travelers. Read More
On some summer days and nights, a good fan is all
you need to keep your cool. But often it’s a case of being in the right
place at the right time if you want to benefit from old-fashioned fan
technology. The Segula Double-Circulator doesn’t just blow the air into
the room like any other ordinary fan. Instead, it circulates the air in
the whole room via two independent heads, which the manufacturers say is
more healthy than a fan directly aimed at your body. The
Double-Circulator also has an integrated ionizer to keep the air fresh.
Read More
Golden Systems Middle East has unveiled its new
GA-X58A-UD9 motherboard. Setting out to "completely redefine what is
possible performance and feature-wise on the X58 platform," the
motherboard is designed to maximize power delivery for Intel’s latest
1366 socket CPUs, including the new Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition
(6 core) CPUs as well as upcoming extreme performance CPUs. The board
also benefits from DDR3 memory support, 4-way PCI Express 2.0 graphics
support and a unique iPhone charging feature. Read More
Nissan’s LEAF electric car
is being promoted in the Netherlands this week and EV charging system
specialist Epyon is taking the opportunity to unveil its new TERRA fast
charging station. If the claims are to be believed, its performance is
pretty impressive - the TERRA can recharge a LEAF up to 80% within just
30 minutes. Considering that the LEAF can travel up to 160 kilometers on
a full charge, and that most people drive less than 100
kilometers in a day, that half-hour recharge might be all that the
average driver would ever need. Read More
Lenovo has just expanded and updated its range of
consumer laptops, all-in-one computers and desktop PCs, including the
new Z Series IdeaPad multimedia notebooks. Offering top spec and stylish
design in an affordable package, two of the range benefit from Intel
Core processor and NVIDIA graphics options whilst a third is available
with the latest AMD Phenom II. There's also a system that allows your
face to be used as a system password. Read More
Imagine if your cellphone could watch your arm
movements, and physically recreate them in front of the person you were
talking to. How about if it sagged and looked dejected upon receiving a
“Dear John” text message? Perhaps it might be able to mimic movements
that your caller was making with their phone. Well, scientists at
Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University have created cellphone robots that
can do all those things, and more. Read More
Canon's curvy new addition to its ELPH digital
camera range, the 10 megapixel PowerShot SD4000 IS, is the first to use
the company's new high sensitivity (HS) system - said to make the
capture of low light scenes a snap. It's also the first in the range to
offer P/A/S/M controls for greater photo creativity. It can even add
Hollywood-style slow motion sequences to movies, thanks to a super slow
motion function. Read More
The OCTAPAD SPD-30 digital percussion pad from
Roland puts hundreds of instrument sounds from around the globe and 50
different kits at the tip of your drumsticks. The portable unit features
eight isolated trigger pads, multi-effects, and external trigger inputs
for onward connectivity to such things as digital hi-hat and kick
controllers. Also on offer is the ability to overdub on recorded loops
in real-time and backup tracks to USB memory. Read More
Cameras that combine DSLR functionality and the
convenience of interchangeable lenses with a compact footprint have
become the new wave in recent times, with the likes of the Olympus EP-1, Panasonic Lumix G2 and Ricoh GXR
hitting the market. Now Sony has announced two diminutive additions to
its Alpha line of digital SLRs - the NEX-5 and NEX-3. While the NEX-5 -
which claims the current title of the world’s smallest and lightest
interchangeable lens digital camera - is leading Sony's drive into this
space, both units feature impressive credentials including a
newly-developed 14.2 effective megapixel CMOS sensor, high-speed burst
shooting of up to 7fps at full-resolution and, in a first for the Alpha
line, a Sweep Panorama mode with 3D compatibility and HD video
recording. Read More
Western Digital (WD) has announced that its WD TV Live HD
media player is the first network media player compatible with Windows
7. Thanks to a firmware upgrade users can now initiate and control the
streaming of video, music or photos to the WD TV Live HD media player
and home entertainment systems from any Windows 7-based PC on their
network. Read More
Most cyclists will attach some form of light or
reflector to their bicycles when riding at night, but Japanese company
PIAA has created a light that's pretty mesmerizing to look at as well.
By attaching the Ferris WheeLED to your wheel spokes, you transform your
bike into a veritable mobile light show. Twelve different design
patterns can be created as a result of varying flash sequences. Read More
Bisphenol A, commonly known as BPA, isn’t
something you want leaching into the environment. It’s the compound in
polycarbonate plastic that has been suspected of causing health problems
since the 1930’s, and that more recently got people all over the world
throwing out their plastic water bottles. When polycarb is broken down
in the recycling process, or even when it’s just left in the dump, its
BPA content is released. Where it ends up is a question that has a lot
of people worried. A new study, however, indicates that fungus could be
used to keep BPA at bay. Read More
This Wednesday saw the official opening of the
world’s first permanent gold-dispensing vending machine. Created by
German company TG Gold-Super-Markt, the GOLD To Go ATM is located
(unsurprisingly) in the lavish Emirates Palace Hotel, in Abu Dhabi. Now,
when hotel guests want to exchange their cash for something a little
more economically-stable, they won’t have to bother with gold store
clerks or business hours. Read More
As mobile phone manufacturers continue to squeeze
more megapixels into device camera modules, Sharp has added a new
ingredient to the mix and claimed an industry first in the process. The
company has just announced the development of a 3D camera unit compact
enough to be used in mobile devices and capable of capturing movies in
720p high definition. Read More
LaCie has added the super fast speed of USB 3.0 to its Rugged
2.5-inch portable hard drive design. The company says the Rugged USB
3.0 is one of its most power-efficient and fastest mobile hard drives,
providing speeds up to 110MB/s – three times the speed of USB 2.0 –
which translates to the transfer of a HD movie in less than three
minutes. Read More
Following the release of the iPad
the online rumor mill now needs to find something else to focus on. The
product most likely to fill that gap is Nintendo’s successor to the Wii.
Since its launch in 2006, speculation has steadily been mounting about
what features the next-gen Wii will pack and when it will appear. As
usual, Nintendo hasn’t exactly been forthcoming with any details about
its follow up console, prompting information hungry fans to gobble up
any morsel of gossip. So we decided to put our ear to the ground in an
attempt to glean just what the next-generation Wii will offer. Read More
Now you might be excused for thinking you were in
some time-warp with this motorboat which fetched EUR 57,176 (US$77,588 )
at auction recently. Known as the Batboat III, it is powered by a
10.5-liter twin overhead camshaft V8 engine and has caused quite a
ripple of excitement among nautical types. Given the above information
and the accompanying photograph, have a guess at how old it is. Read More
When we took a look at Adobe Creative Suite 5
before its launch, the new features and improvements to InDesign
definitely made us sit up and take notice. Adobe really only made a big
thing of its improvements to interactivity and the fact it’s now able to
export directly to SWF format for playback in the Adobe Flash Player.
However, when we started digging deeper and played with the less
publicized additions, we realized what a gem this upgrade really is.
Read More
"Free trade is God's diplomacy,"
wrote tariff reformer Richard Cobden in 1857. One supporter was so
taken with economic theory that he founded a magazine and the prospectus
for The Economist
read: "We seriously believe that free trade will do more than any other
visible agent to extend civilization and morality throughout the
world." Quite appropriately, the Economist is currently having one of
its enlightening online debates on just this subject – if equitable
behavior and the future of trade are of interest to you, may we suggest
you drop in to see some of the world's best minds debate whether making trade fairer is more important than making it freer. Voting is running 55-45 in favor of the motion with two days to run. Read More
Porsche is to show a new limited edition (500
only) 911 GT2 RS at the Moscow Auto Show. The new RS will be the fastest
and most powerful road car Porsche has ever produced. In comparison to
the existing 911 GT2,
the RS has 90 bhp more and weighs 70 kilograms (154 lb) less, consumes
5% less fuel at 11.9 ltr/100 km (equal to 23.7 mpg) and emits 5% less
CO2 at 284 g/km. It's the blistering performance which will pull the
punters though. The 620 bhp pushing a curb weight of 1370 kg makes for
awesome acceleration: 0 to 100 kmh in 3.5 seconds, 0 to 200 kmh in just
9.8 seconds, and 0 to 300 kmh in 28.9 seconds. Top speed is 330 kmh and
the car has already lapped the fabled Nürburgring-Nordschleife circuit
in seven minutes and 18 seconds. The 911 GT2 RS base price is EUR
200,000. It hits European showrooms in September and the USA in October
2010 Read More
Microsoft has commanded the attention of business
folk around the globe by announcing the world-wide release of its new
productivity suite, Office 2010. As well as introducing more new
features than you can shake a stick at, the company's cloud computing
aspirations are given form with the introduction of browser-based
versions of the likes of Word and Excel. Read More
There's been a good bundle of componentry pass
through the TweakTown labs this week including QNAP's new 4-bay NAS,
Gateway's ZX4800-06 all-in-one desktop and NETGEAR's Powerline AV 200
XAVB2001 home networking solution. The TweakTown team also gives us the
low-down on the Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced mid-tower chassis and
Sony's Bravia 3D LCD TV. Read More
What do you do with your dog or cat
poop? Toss it in the garbage? Put it in your compost heap? Hurl it at
your noisy neighbors? Well, according to Seattle researcher Lawrence
Green, you shouldn’t be doing any of those things. Feces can contain
wonderful things like toxoplasma parasites, E. coli, and
salmonella bacteria, which can get into the groundwater. In plastic bags
in landfills, it generates methane gas and attracts vermin. To that
end, Green developed a product called the BokashiPetCycle Fermenting
System. It allows you to pickle your pet’s poop, turning it into a
harmless plant fertilizer. Read More
Sony is developing a new type of AVCHD high
definition camcorder with an interchangeable lens similar to DSLR
cameras. Still at prototype stage, the camcorder will be equipped with
the same Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor used in the new NEX-5 and NEX-3 cameras and will be able to share E-mount interchangeable lenses. Read More
Some of you may recall our piece on Honda's Body Support Assist
prototype last year. As a quick update to that story, those of you in
the New York area will get a chance to see it in person as a part of the
"Why Design Now?" exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Read More
In what is quickly shaping up as the
David versus Goliath fight to watch, four students from NYU’s Courant
Institute are looking to take on social networking behemoth Facebook
with Diaspora – a distributed, open source social network. They aim to
address the privacy concerns that has put Facebook under fire by giving
users complete control of their details and content and who they share
it with. Through the use of a personal web server called a Diaspora
“seed”, users will be able to securely share information, pictures,
video and more. Read More
It's the kind of spectacular driving stunt we
expect of James Bond or Frank Martin - slam the Aston Martin/Audi into
reverse, plant the gas pedal, wait for momentum to pick up, then flick
the wheel to perform a faultless 180 degree pirouette into an impossibly
tight parking space. Only celluloid superheroes can drive like this and
get it right every time ... oh, and autonomous vehicles. Faultless
driving stunts are not normally associated with autonomous vehicles but
check out this video because it'll help get everyone accustomed to the
concept! Computers will eventually out-drive, out-think and out-perform
humans on every level and this clip of autonomous supervehicle Stanley
shows that computers out-driving us will be sooner rather than later.
Read More
Ready for a bit of a mental mechanical challenge?
Try your hand at understanding how the D-Drive works. Steve Durnin's
ingenious new gearbox design is infinitely variable - that is, with your
motor running at a constant speed, the D-Drive transmission can
smoothly transition from top gear all the way through neutral and into
reverse. It doesn't need a clutch, it doesn't use any friction drive
components, and the power is always transmitted through strong, reliable
gear teeth. In fact, it's a potential revolution in transmission
technology - it could be pretty much the holy grail of gearboxes... If
only it wasn't so diabolically hard to explain. We flew to Australia's
Gold Coast to take a close look at the D-Drive - and it looks to us like
Durnin has pulled a rabbit out of his hat. Check out the video after
the jump and see if you can work out if there's a catch. Read More
It has been estimated that every year, 4.5
trillion cigarette butts are added to the world’s ecosystem. That would
be bad enough if they were simply disgusting, but when they’re left on
beaches or washed down storm sewers, they can be lethal to fish.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing that can be done with the butts, other
than throwing them out... until now, perhaps. Researchers from China’s
Xi’an Jiaotong University claim that cigarette butts can be used to make
an excellent rust inhibitor. Read More
A chance meeting at 35,000ft some three years ago
between a movie studio executive and a Polaroid eyewear product
development manager has resulted in the first Designer 3D collection of
frames that are RealD approved and certified (RealD technology is used
in most 3D applications). During an international flight, Rhett Adam
from Look 3D Eyewear was given a “heads-up” by a studio exec about the
impending 3D onslaught and quickly identified a new market. By the time
he’d landed in his native Australia, the then 35-year-old had put in
place plans to quit his job and embark on a new adventure. From those
humble beginnings, Look 3D Eyewear was born and the company now has four
series of passive 3D viewing glasses that come in a huge variety of
styles. Say goodbye to looking like a nerd while viewing 3D content.
Read More
Even that most basic of kitchen appliances, the
humble teakettle, is getting a high-tech makeover in the form of
Breville’s One-Touch Tea Maker. The fully programmable unit takes the
guesswork out of brewing that perfect cuppa by providing the right water
temperatures and brewing times to suit different tea varieties. The
device even does the “jiggling” for you thanks to a fully automated tea
basket that moves up and down to gently agitate the leaves to precisely
infuse your tea. Read More
Twenty-seven vehicles have survived the first of three on-track testing stages in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE.
This initial Shakedown stage saw vehicles put through efficiency,
safety, and performance evaluations including durability, acceleration
and braking and avoidance maneuvers. The competitors will now set their
sights on the Knockout Qualifying Stage at Michigan International
Speedway in June. Read More
Every now and again, astute Gizmag readers come
to the fore to keep us on our toes - and never has this been better
demonstrated than with last Friday's D-Drive Infinitely Variable Transmission article.
More than 40 comments and e-mails have flooded in over the weekend
questioning the D-Drive's capabilities as a true IVT, and its potential
efficiencies. Furthermore, an engineering report was made available on
the D-Drive website that flat-out negates some of the key claims that
were made in our interview video. So let's take another look at this
device in the harsh light of engineering scrutiny. Read More
To make sunlight practical as a dominant source
of energy a viable storage technology needs to be developed. One
promising area of research is imitating the process of photosynthesis to separate the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water to create hydrogen fuel.
An MIT team led by Daniel Nocera is now reporting that nickel borate
can efficiently and sustainably function as the oxygen-producing
electrode in such a process bringing the dream of energy storage systems
that would allow buildings to be completely independent and
self-sustaining in terms of energy. Read More
Last October, Evoluce showed off its 47-inch
multi-touch LCD HD display monster which can register an unlimited
number of simultaneous contact points from both stylus and human touch.
Not content with mere touchscreen technology, the company has now
unveiled geo-spatial gesture functionality which allows users to control
actions on the screen at up to a meter away. Read More
The world's premier television sport had a major
birthday this week. On May 13, 1950, the first ever Formula One World
Championship race was held at the UK’s Silverstone motor racing circuit
with Alfa Romeo storming to an historic 1-2-3 podium lockout. Italian
Giuseppe Farina, nephew of the founder of the influential automotive
stylist Pininfarina,
dominated proceedings in his 300 bhp Alfa Romeo 158 ('15' for 1,500cc
and '8' for 8 cylinders), with the three Alfas two laps clear of the
21-strong field. F1's influence has grown over the last 60 years to the
point where more than 600 million people watch each race - that is, one
in every eleven human beings watches each F1 race. Read More
Aiming to address the issue of “throwaway
fashion” and its impact on the environment as landfill, students at
Sheffield Hallam University have combined fashion design with
engineering to create a dissolvable wedding dress. This truly "wear
once" garment can be converted into five different fashion pieces before
being dissolved in water leaving no environmental footprint. Read More
The outlook for piping music into office space or
the shop floor is about to get a lot brighter. Lighting solutions
company Osram Sylvania and audio innovator Artisan have teamed up to
produce the MusicLites system - a 10W LED light bulb with a 70mm full
range hi-fi audio speaker built in. The inclusion of a 2.4GHz wireless
transceiver means that compatible audio devices can send music sound
signals to the unit, which then pumps out both sound and light. Read More
For most of us here in Gizland, technology and
gadgetry have become central to our very existence. Given the huge
advances seen in recent years, where will be ten years from now? Frog
Design has been doing some serious pondering on this very subject and
has recently presented a vision of what our increasingly
computer-centric lives might be like in the year 2020. Read More
Perhaps you’re wondering if that earring you dropped really did
go down the furnace vent. Or maybe you want to check if there’s a
mouse’s nest beyond that suspicious-looking hole in your baseboards. Or
hey, maybe you just think it would be neat to see what it looks like
inside that mountain tunnel on your model railroad. Whatever the case, a
nifty new product called the Flexible Snake Scope USB Camera will allow
you to peek into areas way too small to accommodate your giant head.
Read More
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