While heated handlebar grips may be nothing new
for snowmobilers or motorcyclists, they’re something that mountain
bikers have never been offered before – or have they? The comments board
is open, if you know of a previous product. In any case, A’ME’s
Clamp-On MTB Heated Tri Grips are just such an animal. If you’re a
cold-weather cyclist who doesn’t like wearing thick gloves that cause
your hands to get sweaty, they may be just what you’re looking for. Read More
A girl's best friend may have just gotten a whole
lot bigger with the news that an international research team has
discovered a small planet they think may be made of diamond. Although
the planet is calculated to have a diameter of less than 60,000 km -
which is about five times the diameter of Earth - it has slightly more
mass than Jupiter. With the planet likely to be made largely of oxygen
and carbon, its high density means it is almost certainly crystalline,
meaning that a large part of the planet may be similar to a diamond.
Read More
Audi will unveil a hybrid version of its flagship
A8 at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show next month ahead of series
production of the vehicle kicking off next year. Audi says a 2.0 TFSI
gasoline engine generating 155 kW (211 hp) and 350 Nm (258.15 lb-ft) of
torque and a disc-shaped, permanent magnet, synchronous electric motor
developing 40 kW (54 hp) and 210 Nm (154.89 lb-ft) combine for a peak
output of 180 kW (245 hp) and 480 Nm (345.03 lb-ft) of torque and give
the A8 hybrid the power of a six-cylinder model with the fuel
consumption of a four-cylinder vehicle. Read More
Since the late 90s, the holy grail of music
technology companies like Line 6 and others has been to digitally
re-create guitar amplifiers so that hundreds of iconic tones could be
stored in one box and used in the studio or live. Unfortunately, the
dynamic behavior and feel of a tube amp is an extremely complex system
to understand and while many thousands of guitar amp modellers have been
sold due to the sheer convenience, they could not be said to be
entirely convincing. In September, a new product called the Kemper
Profiling Amp will hit the streets that aims to do away with that
complexity and within 30 seconds perfectly re-create any guitar
amplifier. Read More
Capacitors are able to charge and discharge more
quickly than batteries, and can do so hundreds of thousands of times.
Batteries, on the other hand, are able to store more energy than
capacitors. There are also electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs),
otherwise known as supercapacitors, that can hold battery-like amounts
of energy while retaining the charge/discharge speed of regular
capacitors. EDLCs incorporate liquid or gel-like electrolytes, however,
which can break down under hot or cold conditions. Now, a new
solid-state supercapacitor developed at Houston’s Rice University is
using nanotechnology to get around that limitation. Read More
Sony rolls out new NEX-VG20 interchangeable lens camcorder
By Darren Quick
August 25, 2011
Sony has taken the wraps off the NEX-VG20, a
consumer HD interchangeable lens camcorder that follows the world's
first consumer-oriented HD camcorder with an interchangeable lens
system, the NEX-VG10.
The upcoming NEX-VG20 features the same E-mount system that offers
users the choice of seven different E-mount lenses. Sony claims the VG20
offers a number of improvements over the previous model, including
comprehensive manual controls, improved imaging quality, upgraded sound
and ergonomic refinements such as enhanced grips and a second record
button. Read More
If you’re a videographer, and want to elevate your work from just looking competent to looking slick,
one of the best things you can do is put your camera on a dolly. No,
I’m not talking about a Ken or Barbie, but a wheeled camera mount that
allows you to do smooth, fluid tracking shots. While the Spielbergs of
the world use actual purpose-built camera dollies, lower-budget
film-makers often make do with wheelchairs, skateboards, or wheeled
spreaders that mount on the bottom of industrial-sized tripods. Given
the popularity of JOBY’s compact and flexible GorillaPod
tripods, however, it perhaps shouldn’t be surprising that someone has
developed a wheel system for them – it’s called CineSkates. Read More
In-shoe device harvests energy created by walking
By Ben Coxworth
August 25, 2011
Although you may not be using a Get Smart-style shoe phone anytime soon, it is possible that your mobile phone may end up receiving its power from
your shoes. University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering researchers Tom
Krupenkin and J. Ashley Taylor have developed an in-shoe system that
harvests the energy generated by walking. Currently, this energy is lost
as heat. With their technology, however, they claim that up to 20 watts
of electricity could be generated, and stored in an incorporated
rechargeable battery. Read More
In what was not an entirely surprising move,
Steve Jobs announced yesterday that he has resigned as Chief Executive
Officer of Apple. While neither Jobs nor Apple gave a reason for his
resignation, it is widely suspected that his ongoing health problems
played a major part in his decision. He will remain with the company as
Chairman of the Board, while former Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook has
taken over as CEO, in accordance with Jobs’ recommendation. Read More
Historic ferry transformed into a floating day spa
August 25, 2011
Sid Lee Architecture is the design firm behind
the transformation of a 1950's steam ferry, currently named Bota Bota.
The storied ship once operated as a ferryboat between Sorel and
Berthier, Quebec during the 50's and 60's, followed by a stint as a
Richelieu River show boat. The ship is now anchored at the Quays of the
Old Port of Montreal and has been completely refurbished into a day spa,
featuring five decks fitted with various spa installations. Read More
Sony has revealed that its faithful α700
mirror-based digital SLR (DLSR) is being put out to pasture and replaced
with a powerful new model featuring the company's Translucent Mirror
Technology first seen last year in the α55.
The new SLT-A77 features a 24 megapixel APS-C size sensor, an OLED
electronic viewfinder that's said to provide the kind of image
previewing experience previously only available with optical viewfinders
and an incredibly fast full resolution continuous shooting rate.
Joining the α77 is the SLT-A65 consumer-level digital camera which
shares many of the newly-introduced features of the flagship model but
costs $500 less. Read More
The first – and perhaps only – video footage of the ill-fated second test-flight
of DARPA’s Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) has been
released. Shot with a handheld camera by a crewmember aboard the Pacific
Tracker, the first monitoring vessel able to visually track the HTV’s
initial entry into the atmosphere, the video shows the HTV-2 hurtling
across the sky on August 11 at Mach 20 before its “controlled descent”
into the Pacific Ocean. Read More
The continuing increase in gasoline prices around
the world over the past decade has also seen an increase in the
practice of hypermiling
– the act of driving using techniques that maximize fuel economy. One
of the most effective hypermiling techniques is maintaining a steady
speed while driving instead of constantly stopping and starting.
Unfortunately, traffic lights all too often conspire to foil attempts at
keeping the vehicle rolling. Researchers at MIT and Princeton have now
devised a system that gathers visual data from the cameras of a network
of dashboard-mounted smartphones and tells drivers the optimal speed to
drive at to avoid waiting at the next set of lights. Read More
Lamborghini announces carbon fiber bag collection
By Gizmag Team
August 28, 2011
A formidable strength-to-weight ratio combined
with properties like high temperature tolerance have seen carbon fiber
used in the construction of airplanes, bicycles, yachts, automobiles and
now ... err, bags. Lamborghini, a company that has invested heavily in
the development of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) for supercars
like the Aventador and Sesto Elemento concept, has just announced a line of carbon fiber bags. Read More
New technique delivers 'real' lab-grown muscle tissue
By Darren Quick
August 28, 2011
Most people who have sweated it out in the gym
trying to add a bit of muscle definition to their bodies will know just
how difficult such a task is, but trying to grow muscle tissue with a
real muscle structure complete with blood vessels in the laboratory has
proven to be an even more difficult brief for researchers. Now a team
from the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) has done just that,
paving the way for the creation of engineered muscle tissue that can be
implanted into patients who have lost muscle tissue through accidents or
surgery. Read More
Evidently all that glitters is not entirely
gold. Just ask the many disappointed bankers and investors who have
discovered some of their large gold bullion bars were ersatz - real gold
on the outside, far less valuable tungsten on the inside. Enter General
Electric with its Phasor series of portable ultrasonic detectors. Using
non-invasive technology identical to that deployed in peering at
developing fetuses, GE's devices allow a quick and thorough examination
of gold bars for flaws, bubbles and even different materials. Read More
Rear access helmet designed for easy, safe removal
By Ben Coxworth
August 26, 2011
Although motorcycle helmets save countless lives,
they can pose a challenge to emergency response personnel at accident
scenes – the helmet needs to be removed, yet the patient’s head should
be moved as little as possible, in case there are any spinal cord
injuries. While this sometimes results in the helmet having to be cut
off, the prototype Voztec full-face helmet offers a simpler solution -
with the release of one pin and two clips, the back of the helmet
detaches and the front can be slid off. Read More
Hopefully, your old newspapers don’t just end up
in the landfill. In the future, however, they might not even be used to
make more paper – instead they may be the feedstock for a
biofuel-producing strain of bacteria. Named “TU-103,” the microorganism
was recently discovered by a team of scientists at New Orleans’ Tulane
University. It converts cellulose – such as that found in newspapers –
into butanol, which can be substituted for gasoline. Read More
Sony details the NEX-7 / NEX-5N digital cameras
By Paul Ridden
August 26, 2011
The interweb rumor mill has been busily whipping
up a storm about a new mirrorless digital camera from Sony in recent
weeks. Happily, the official announcement from Sony hasn't disappointed
those of us who have been patiently waiting for something more tangible.
That space has now been filled with a brand new model - the NEX-7 -
with an impressive list of advanced features that would normally be
found in the company's bigger Alpha cameras. Sony has also announced the
retirement of its popular NEX-5 model, with its replacement
representing quite a marked upgrade on the original. Read More
Given that there are currently robots that can find trapped miners, swim through rubble and see through walls, it’s only natural that some of us humans might feel a little ... inferior,
perhaps. Should you be one of those people, it will almost certainly
make you feel better if you go to Budapest, and take in the Bacarobo
Stupid Robot Championship. The three main rules: robots must operate
automatically, they must be funny, and they must be useless. Read More
Click and Grow computerized pot-plant hits the market
By Darren Quick
August 30, 2011
The Click and Grow
computerized pot-plant system that first caught our eye last year in
prototype form has had a few refinements and has now gone into
full-scale production and is ready for sale. Perfect for those without
the time or green thumb to successfully grow indoor plants but who still
have the desire for a touch of Mother Nature indoors, the Click &
Grow is an automated planter pot system designed to make growing plants a
set and forget activity. Read More
Revered by many, hated by some, but respected by
most, the indisputable fact remains that Steve Jobs is the most
successful business leader of his generation and quite possibly of all
time. The numbers are impressive in themselves but the most remarkable
aspect of his success is how it was achieved. Though he remains at
Apple, the end of his tenure as CEO
is the end of an era and an opportunity to try and grasp just exactly
what it is he did and what lessons there are for all of us "trying to
make a dent in the universe." Read More
With gasoline prices steadily heading into the
stratosphere, fuel economy is forefront in the minds of the majority of
car buyers, prompting automakers to perform all kinds of stunts to
highlight the efficiency of their vehicles. The latest such attempt
comes from Korean company Kia, which is sending a 2011 Optima Hybrid on a
road trip across the contiguous U.S. Kia hopes the journey will gain it
an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records by setting a new record
for the lowest fuel consumption in a gasoline hybrid car while driving
through all 48 adjoining U.S. states. Read More
Recent research from the University of Washington
(UW) has revealed that freshly-scented laundry comes with an unexpected
price. In the first study to examine dryer vent exhaust, fragrance
components in some of the best-selling liquid clothing detergents,
fabric softeners and dryer sheets were found to infuse the vented air
with a veritable rogue's gallery of hazardous pollutants, including two
known carcinogens. Read More
When he was nine years old, Toronto film-maker Rob Spence
received a severe injury to his right eye in a shotgun accident. After a
period of hiding the aftermath under an eyepatch, six years ago he had
the eye replaced with a prosthesis. Being a visual artist, however, he
had an idea - instead of just an unseeing artificial eye, he wanted one
that could capture images of what he was looking at, and wirelessly
transmit them to an external recording device. He himself wouldn't be
able to see through the eye, but the footage obtained from it could take
film-making to new levels. It's been a few years since Spence began his
Eyeborg Project, but he has just announced that the eye is now
functioning. Read More
While some see carbon capture
and storage as akin to sweeping CO2 emissions under the carpet, others
believe it is a necessary short-term solution in the transition to a
clean energy future. Last week, ground was broken on construction of the
U.S.'s first large-scale industrial carbon capture and storage (ICCS)
facility that aims to demonstrate that CO2 emissions can be stored
permanently in deep underground rock formations. Read More
Computer styluses are certainly handy, but it can
be kind of tricky when you're writing or drawing on a stylus pad, yet
you can only see what you're doing up on the screen. The resulting
scrawls often have ... shall we say, a child-like appeal.
Writing on paper with ink is definitely easier, but how do you get what
you've done into a computer? Scan it, page by page? Well, yes you could,
but now - in the spirit of Livescribe's Pulse smartpen - you could also use E FUN's APEN A3. Read More
People seem to just love accessorizing iPhones,
in order to bring them closer to becoming prosumer-level camcorders that
just happen to also be able to make phone calls. We've already seen
aftermarket zoom, wide angle/macro, panoramic and microscope lenses for the iPhone camera, along with an adapter that lets people use their existing DSLR lenses. There are also handheld condenser microphones
that can be run into the phone. Now, Fostex has taken things a step
farther, with its triple-input AR-4i audio interface for the iPhone 4.
Read More
Roland ships authentically expressive JUPITER-80 Synthesizer
By Paul Ridden
August 29, 2011
Roland says that realism is at the very heart of
its new Jupiter-80 performance synth. The company claims that the kind
of expressive acoustic instrument authenticity delivered by its analog
sound modeling technology simply couldn't have been made available
before now. Studio and live performers can access a huge bank of preset
sounds which are said to go beyond mere sampling of acoustic, electric,
orchestral and ethnic instruments, then manipulate those sounds into
something vintage, modern or futuristic, or create and store their own
layered sonic stacks. Control of the action comes courtesy of a
touchscreen display and numerous buttons, knobs and sliders. Read More
Four years ago, Canadian electronics engineering technologist Nap Pepin decided to buy a kit for a BugE
electric vehicle. Not content with its out-of-the-box performance, he
swapped in a lithium battery pack, and his own custom battery management
system. This boosted its top speed from 80 km/h (50 mph) to 130 km/h
(80 mph), and its range from around 48 km (30 miles) to 200 km (125
miles). For his next project, however, he wanted to build an EV from
scratch. The result is his 197 km/h (122 mph) three-wheeled Lithium
Hawk, which has just taken to the roads. We paid a visit to Nap for a
closer look at his impressive machine. Read More
Across Africa, along with other parts of the
world, there are many villages that are inaccessible by road for at
least part of the year. The only reasonably fast way of getting medicine
and other essential goods to these locations is to fly them in by
conventional aircraft. Such an approach can be costly, however, and
requires the services of a trained pilot. Matternet, a startup company
currently based out of Silicon Valley's Singularity University is
proposing an alternative - a network of ground stations for small
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which would inexpensively deliver
payloads to remote communities. Read More
Panasonic continues to expand its super-zoom
LUMIX FZ-Series with the LUMIX DMC-FZ150 appearing hot on the heels of
the DMC-FZ47.
Taking the title of the flagship of the FZ series, the FZ150 packs a
24x optical zoom (25-600mm equivalent) along with a 25mm ultra
wide-angle Leica DC VARIO-ELMARIT lens. The camera also features a new
3D photo mode that automatically selects the two most suitable images
from 20 panning shots to synthesize a 3D composite image. Read More
CueLight puts an animated spotlight on pool-playing
By Ben Coxworth
August 30, 2011
Finding your regular old pool table a little
boring? Perhaps it needs some flames. Not real ones, but animated flames
that are projected onto its playing surface and follow the balls as
they move. If you're not a pyromaniac, you could instead go for an
effect where the balls appear to ripple water as they roll across the
felt, or one where they displace liquid to reveal an image of your
choice that's hidden underneath. If this sounds like your kind of thing,
then you might be interested in Obscura Digital's CueLight Interactive
Pool Table System. Read More
dding to the long list of things to look forward to at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show
(IAA), Land Rover has announced that a "modern interpretation of the
iconic Land Rover Defender" will be taking to the stage in the form of
the DC100 Concept. The company has also made clear its intentions to
bring a new Defender to market in 2015, but although the DC100 is aimed
at stimulating debate about the new model, it remains a work in
progress. Read More
While there have been some intriguing developments recently in the field of stretchable electronics and flexible OLED displays, one thing we haven't heard much about is stretchable displays.
So, is it possible to make a screened device in which every part of it
could be stretched? The answer could now be yes, with news that
researchers from UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied
Science have demonstrated a stretchable polymer light-emitting device.
Read More
Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) has knocked more
than a minute off the lap record for an electric vehicle at the
Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit. With a time of 7 minutes, 47.794
seconds, the TMG EV P001 beat the previous record of 9 minutes 1.338 seconds set by the Peugeot EX1
in April. TMG achieved its aim of becoming the first EV to break the
eight-minute barrier on August 29 in fine weather with the track
temperatures remaining relatively low. Read More
California-based aerospace company AeroVironment
has developed some fascinating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) over the
years, including the High Altitude Long Endurance Global Observer, a hummingbird-like nano air vehicle, and the hand-launched Wasp III
reconnaissance platform. In 2008, the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded the company US$4.6 million in funding to
develop a “perch-and-stare” aircraft,
for use in military surveillance. Today, AeroVironment unveiled the
result – the Shrike Vertical Take-off And Landing (VTOL) UAS. Read More
Although E FUN may have just released its APEN,
Wacom today introduced its very similar – yet different – Inkling
digital sketch pen. Like the APEN, Inkling is a ballpoint pen that
writes in ink on regular paper, and is combined with a small receiver
that users clip to the top of the page. That receiver logs the location
of the pen on the paper. When that data is transferred to a computer, a
digital image of whatever was written or drawn is the result. Inkling is
unique, however, in that it also incorporates pressure-sensing
technology. This means that the relative line weights of the inked
content will be transferred to the digital images, which makes it
particularly well-suited to artwork. Read More
Walk into any guitar shop in any city center and
you'll be faced with rows and rows of "me-too" guitars, all built around
the same few tried and trusted templates. Instrument designer and
builder Hector Trevino has spent the last three years trying to break
away from traditional electric guitar design and has now produced what
he calls an open chamber guitar. The radical Sonic Wind guitar is said
to offer players more resonance and natural sustain than more familiar
solid-body electric guitar designs. Read More
When French automotive powerhouse Peugeot set out
to redesign the MPV, it obviously took a look at the vehicle's target
market and decided on making the boxy, aerodynamically-dysfunctional,
aesthetically-unappealing van a lot more desirable to the genre's
traditional driver – the young mum. The resultant HX1 concept is a long,
low, wide and sleek, plug-in diesel-electric hybrid that seats six and
returns economy of just 3.2 l/100 km (88.2 mpg), has CO2 emissions of
just 83 g/km and can drive 30 km (18.6 miles) on electric power alone.
It also teamed up with luxury shoe designer Pierre Hardy to create a
concept shoe which transforms from a slipper suitable for driving, to a
gorgeous high-heeled shoe suitable for more glamorous occasion. Vive La
France! Read More
Sony has unveiled a couple of rather ballsy offerings at IFA 2011
in the form of the SRS-BTV25 and RDP-V20iP. The compact spherical units
pack Sony's 360° Circle Sound audio diffusion technology that promises
to deliver omnidirectional sound to all corners of a room. The SRS-BTV25
model is designed to play audio streamed from Bluetooth-enabled
smartphones, Walkmans and iDevices, while the RDP-V20iP is an
iPhone/iPod charger and speaker dock that can be controlled via an
included remote. Read More
While financial contributions are certainly a
great help to health care practitioners in developing nations, one of
the things that they really need is rugged, portable, low-cost
medical equipment that is compatible with an often-limited local
infrastructure. Several such devices are currently under development,
such as a battery-powered surgical lamp, a salad-spinner-based centrifuge, and a baby-warmer
that utilizes wax. UCLA is now working on another appropriate
technology in the form of a small, inexpensive microscope that uses
holograms instead of lenses to image what can't be seen by the human
eye. Read More
Motorized one-, two- and three-wheeled personal transport innovations like the Solowheel and the cheap and cheerful Solaron
certainly look like a fun way to get around, but if it's four-wheeled
action you're looking for then the new RoamBoard is definitely worth a
look. The result of two years of designing, building, testing and
tweaking, this stand up transportation solution brings together
technologies seen in the electric skateboard, bicycle, snowboard, and
automotive industries and merges them into a land-surfing motorized
skateboard. Read More
Starting September 4th, AT&T customers will
be able to purchase the new HTC Jetstream Tablet in stores and online.
The device is AT&T's first 4G LTE/HSPA+ tablet, plus it's the first
HTC tablet to use the Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) operating system. Read More
Sony has been quick to commercialize the prototype 'Personal 3D Viewer' HMD (Head Mounted Display) we first saw at CES earlier this year,
announcing a much-changed version at IFA in Berlin a few hours ago
which will be known as the HMZ-T1. Like most Sony product, the new
HMZ-T1 will attract premium pricing, landing in stores in time for
Christmas with a price tag in the vicinity of US$780. That's still a lot
cheaper than a Bravia though, and the twin hi-def (1280 x 720) 0.7-inch
OLED screens simulate a real 750-inch movie theater screen at a viewing
distance of 20 meters. The advantage of the OLED technology is that it
has very fast (0.01 millisecond) response times, rendering smooth
life-like video of the fast-moving imagery encountered in gaming and
watching sport. Two of Gizmag's team tried the new HMDs ... Read More
Extraordinarily close call for Gizmag's Loz Blain
By Loz Blain
August 31, 2011
It's fair to say we nearly lost one of our team a
couple of days ago. Gizmag feature writer and videographer Loz Blain
was out test riding the amazing BMW S1000RR superbike with a friend on
board when he survived an extraordinarily close call with an oncoming
4WD that had drifted onto the wrong side of the road. As he was filming
for a video review, he had a high-definition camera on board to record
the incident, so without further ado here's the footage - and a reminder
that not all single vehicle accidents are the rider's fault. Read More
Razer launches high performance Blade gaming laptop
By Paul Ridden
August 31, 2011
Many people have ditched the powerhouse desktop
PC in favor of the portability and convenience offered by a laptop.
Where gaming is concerned though, mobile options powerful enough to
deliver the kind of smooth visual experience necessary for today's
immersive games tend to be on the bulky and heavy side. High performance
gaming hardware specialist Razer is aiming to change all that with the
release of the Blade gaming laptop. Just 0.88 inches thin and weighing
under seven pounds, Razer's new gaming monster packs a second generation
Core i7 processor, high performance NVIDIA graphics and a full HD
17.3-inch display into its full aluminum chassis. Read More
Samsung has unveiled LTE (Long-Term Evolution) versions of its GALAXY S II smartphone and GALAXY Tab 8.9. On show this week at IFA 2011, the devices get a processing boost to go along with access to blistering 4G download speeds of up to 100Mbps. Read More
2012 Bentley Continental Convertible - the beautiful bruiser
By Vincent Rice
August 31, 2011
Bentley is grateful to the professional sportsmen
and rap stars that helped make the original Continental so successful,
but as the brand grows and strengthens it needs to appeal to more
mainstream markets of the US, Europe and China and these clients need a
little more refinement in their boulevard bruiser. The "standard"
Continental coupe was significantly updated at the end of last year
after nearly eight years in production but the Convertible was always
the more beautiful and desirable version and the new 2012 model on
display at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month is no exception. Read More
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