Motorola Mobility has launched MOTOACTV, the
company's first music and fitness device. Designed to help you reach
your fitness goals by tracking, syncing and recording your workout data
and customizing your music, the Blutetooth-enabled MOTOACTV logs time,
distance traveled and calories burned and has an inbuilt heart rate
monitor, accelerometer and a GPS which records a map of your routes.
Read More
When Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S on October 4, Siri was seen as the new iDevice’s biggest selling point and a major carrot to encourage iPhone 4
owners to upgrade. Although Siri originally appeared in the App Store
in early 2010 before being acquired by Apple, the assumption was that
the new version integrated into iOS 5 relied on the faster processor
found in the iPhone 4S for Siri to work her voice recognition magic.
Developer Steven Troughton-Smith and Grant Paul have proven that is not
the case by not only getting Siri working on an iPhone 4, but also an
iPod touch 4G. Read More
While just about everyone is familiar with home
pregnancy testing kits, what many of us may not realize is that a (sort
of) equivalent product exists for men - home sperm count kits. These
kits, however, will simply tell users if their sperm count is above or
below a standard value. While a yes or no answer like that might suffice
for the pregnancy kits, a little more information would definitely help
a man who suspects he might be infertile. Loes Segerink, a PhD student
from The Netherlands' University of Twente, hopes to change that with
this prototype lab-on-a-chip device. Segerink's chip counts exactly how
many sperm are present in a sample of ejaculate, and can even
differentiate between the good swimmers and the duds. Read More
In the past decade a line has been drawn in the
sand in most major cities. Tax revenues from cigarettes are higher than
ever, and most bars and restaurants no longer allow smoking within their
confines. The days of smoking being the social norm are quickly turning
into times when those lighting-up are viewed as an outcast minority,
and when it comes to quitting, the evidence is clear that it's not just
the smokers themselves who stand to benefit. Read More
If you were tasked with testing clothing that was
designed to protect soldiers from chemical weapons, it goes without
saying that you wouldn't dress an actual person up in those clothes,
then fire chemicals at them. If you just put those clothes on an
inanimate mannequin, however, it wouldn't provide any information on how
effective those clothes were when in motion, or in a wide variety of
body positions. Well, that's where Boston Dynamics' PETMAN (Protection
Ensemble Test Mannequin) humanoid robot comes in. The self-balancing
clothes-testing machine can walk, run, crouch, and even do push-ups.
Today, PETMAN's creators released the first-ever public video of the
robot being put through its paces - and it's pretty impressive. Read More
MobileMount sticks it to any tablet or smartphone
By Ben Coxworth
October 31, 2011
There are definitely some situations where it
helps to be able to mount your smartphone, tablet or other mobile device
on a flat surface, such as a dashboard, kitchen counter, or wall. If
you use multiple devices, this entails buying several mounts – one
designed for each device. Chicago inventor J.R. Sanchez, however, has
created “one mount to rule them all,” so to speak. It’s called
MobileMount, and it works with any device it can suck onto. Read More
Photographer builds fully working DSLR camera costume for Halloween
By Paul Ridden
October 31, 2011
For most people at this time of year, a giant
wearable camera would not be the first design to spring to mind when the
invite arrives for the neighborhood Halloween party. Leaving the
ghoulish and monstrous creations to other party-goers, photographer
Tyler Card's amazing costume isn't just capable of capturing images of
the party in full swing, it will also display the photos in real time on
the LCD display at the back. Read More
General Motors will become the first American
automotive manufacturer to build its own electric motors when production
begins in White Marsh, Maryland, in late 2012. In promoting this
capability, GM has released details of the first motor to be built
there, the 85 kW (114 hp) permanent magnet motor to be used in the 2013
Chevrolet Spark EV. Read More
I've just spent a day with a pre-production unit
of Kogan’s new 8-inch Agora tablet and while it's fair to say there's an
element of "you get what you pay for" at work here, that’s not to say
the Agora is bad - it's an indication of just what kind of technology
can be had for a fairly minimal outlay these days. If you're in the
market for a budget priced tablet to keep the kids entertained on a long
car trip or something to check the occasional email and spot of Web
browsing then it will do the trick nicely, but don't expect the same
kind of user experience you’d get when investing more money on a better
specced unit. Read More
Another high-performance electric sportscar broke
cover last week from an unlikely source. To be built by a 125 year-old
Australian company specializing in aerospace, defense and electric
vehicles, the less-than-US$215,000 gull-winged Varley evR450 was on
display at the Third Annual Australian Electric Vehicle Conference.
Composites will enable the evR450 to be "featherweight" and development
relationships with other EV specialists Tritium and Ultramotive have
yielded an "ironless" AC motor with 300 kW of peak power and 1100 Nm of
torque. The company is claiming a 0-100 km/h time of 3.8 seconds and an
electronically-limited top speed of 200 km/h (125 mph). The evR450's
range of 150 km (93.21 miles) can be doubled with an additional (but
obviously heavier) lithium-ion battery pack and ... Read More
DARPA offering US$50,000 for shredded-paper puzzle solutions
By Ben Coxworth
November 1, 2011
Do you like puzzles? If you’re good enough at
solving them, it could win you up to US$50,000. That's the maximum prize
that DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is offering in
its Shredder Challenge. The agency is trying to develop methods of
reconstructing shredded documents that U.S. soldiers could use when
gathering intelligence in war zones – it also wants to identify
shredded-document-reading strategies that could be used against the U.S., so that it can take preemptive measures against them. What better way to do it than by crowd-sourcing? Read More
New algorithm could significantly reduce MRI scan time
November 1, 2011
If you've ever had to endure a diagnostic session
in a magnetic resonance (MRI) machine, you know that lying motionless
for up to 45 minutes can be uncomfortable at best. Add in the countless
ear-ringing thumps, bangs and knocks and you have a procedure that begs
for any sort of abbreviation. Thanks to a new algorithm developed by an
MIT research team, the time spent in that claustrophobic tube may soon
be appreciably shortened, without much loss of accuracy. Read More
Ordinarily, red blood cells should look like a
disc with a medium-sized dimple on the top and bottom. If that dimple is
either too large or too small, it can indicate the presence of a
disease such as sickle cell anemia or malaria. Pathologists
traditionally have had to examine blood samples under a microscope,
manually looking for these misshapen cells. A new technique developed at
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, however, uses light to
automatically detect such cells within seconds. Read More
Walking robot uses its own weight for propulsion
November 1, 2011
Creating systems that are energy autonomous is a
key goal in the development of robotics, and this new walking prototype
from Japan's Nagoya Institute of Technology (NIT) is a big step in the
right direction. To some, calling this device a robot may be a bit of a
stretch, especially since it lacks electricity, motors or computers of
any kind, but its entry into the Guinness Book of Records last year
shows it can certainly go the distance with its weight as the only
motive force. Read More
New mudguards for cyclists who don't "do" fenders
By Ben Coxworth
November 1, 2011
If you want to stay as dry and clean as possible
when riding your bike on wet roads, get yourself a proper set of full
fenders - it's just that simple. There are a lot of cyclists, however,
who feel that fenders make their lean, mean, street-ridin' machines look
boring and clunky. Additionally, many types of fenders have an annoying
way of rubbing, rattling, or just plain getting in the way. While some
quick-on/quick-off systems do already exist, most of them still
incorporate permanent mounting brackets, or are made from thin plastic
that has a tendency to droop. Full Windsor's QuickFix plastic mudguard,
however, slides in and out of place within seconds, yet still looks like
it's reasonably substantial. Read More
By now, most readers are probably pretty familiar with quadracopters
- small hovering unmanned electric aircraft, which get their lift from a
set of four propellers. Well, make the whole thing larger, boost the
number of propellers (and accompanying motors) to 16, and you get what
German aircraft developer e-volo calls a multicopter. While the company
has previously demonstrated unmanned drones, on October 21st it
accomplished what it claims is a world first - a manned flight. Read More
Four years ago, New York City officials convened a
group of taxi drivers, owners and passengers, to create a set of goals
for the next New York City taxi cab, a project called the Taxi of
Tomorrow, an attempt to re imagine the entire taxi system. The results
are in. Today the Nissan NV200
taxi which won the job until 2023 will be shown to the public at the
"Taxi of Tomorrow" Design Expo. To me, it looks a lot more like a
Taxi-designed-by-Committee than a Taxi-of-Tomorrow - a gas-engine and a
basic van design. Where did it all go wrong? Read More
Virtually noise-free Eco Whisper Turbine unveiled
By Paul Ridden
November 1, 2011
Brisbane's Renewable Energy Solutions Australia
(RESA) recently unveiled the first working installation of what is
claimed to be the world's quietest wind turbine. The Eco Whisper Turbine
is capable of producing 20kW of electricity despite being about half
the height and having half the blade diameter of more familiar
three-bladed solutions, and is able to automatically adjust the position
of the blades to maximize wind capture. Read More
Wall-climbing, tank-like robot inspired by geckos
By Darren Quick
November 1, 2011
When it comes to wall-climbing robots its hard to
go past the humble gecko for inspiration. The gecko’s specialized toe
pads containing hair-like structures that allow it to scale smooth
vertical surfaces have already provided inspiration for the four-legged Stickybot
and now researchers at Simon Fraser University Burnaby (SFU) claim to
be the first to apply the gecko’s wall-climbing technique to a robot
that operates like a tank. Read More
With the proliferation of battery-hungry mobile
devices that people now carry on their person when biking, we've seen a
number of solutions designed to keep said devices charged up while on
the go - from solar charging clothing and backpacks to add-on dynamo kits
that allow devices to be charged via USB using power captured by the
rider's pedaling. German bicycle maker Silverback has seen the need here
and addressed it with its Starke 1 and 2 models, both of which feature a
USB port powered by a dynamo hub. Read More
iControlPad turns smartphones into personal gaming devices
By Paul Ridden
November 2, 2011
Many people now carry pocket-sized computers
around in the shape of smartphones, and the processing power and
graphics capabilities offered by modern devices means that gamers can
now enjoy a mobile experience that's not too far removed from console
gaming - albeit on a much smaller scale. Unless you've opted for Sony's Xperia PLAY,
though, smartphone gaming can be distinctly lacking in the level of
control that console gamers are used to. With six face buttons, two rear
trigger buttons and a digital D-pad, the iControlPad Bluetooth gaming
controller aims to address this issue. It's compatible with just about
all smartphones, and there's even an adjustable metal clamp to hold the
phone securely in place above the controller. Read More
You just never know what you've got in the shed.
This horary quadrant was found in a bag of old pipe fittings in a shed
on a farm in Queensland, Australia, forty years ago. Last year the owner
of the quadrant was surfing the internet and came across this article
where he recognised not just the same tool, but the same stag-coronet
insignia that was on his quadrant (he thought it was an astrolabe)
signified it was made for King Richard II (of England). He subsequently
contacted the British Museum, which identified the item sitting on his
desk for the last forty years as a 1396 horary quadrant. It will be
auctioned next month and is expected to fetch between GBP150,000 and
GBP200,000. Read More
Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Angela Jansen
has come up with a seriously eye-catching variation on the classic table
lamp - the Silhouette Floating Lamp. While the upper part levitates
using electromagnets, the lower section is home to a ring of LEDs that
reflect off the suspended mirror above to throw light out into the room.
Read More
Subaru's BRZ Concept sports car finally breaks cover
By Jack Martin
November 2, 2011
It feels like we've been waiting for Subaru's BRZ
concept forever. The BRZ is a joint development effort between Toyota
and Subaru, using a 2.0 liter version of Subaru's signature
horizontally-opposed engine with Toyota's direct injection system.
Toyota will sell the car as the FT-86
which it showed as a concept two years ago at the Tokyo Motor Show and
has since shown with revised styling. The near identical BRZ concept
will be seen for the first time at the Los Angeles Auto Show two weeks
from now and can be expected in showrooms in the United States spring of
2012. Read More
Studies have shown that restricting the intake of
calories without reducing the intake of vitamins and minerals slows the
signs of aging in a wide range of animals including monkeys, rats and
fish, and even some fungi. More recent studies provide evidence that
calorie restriction can also have the same effect on humans and now
researchers at the University of Gothenburg have identified one of the
enzymes they claim plays a major role in the aging process. Read More
San Francisco's BRD Motorcycles has begun taking deposits on the 2013 RedShift
range of off-road electric motorcycles. BRD claims the performance of
the RedShift will be equal to or better than a top-end 250cc four-stroke
race motorcycle, which is a lofty target. The most remarkable aspect is
that it will sell both the US$15,500 SM supermoto and the US$15,000 MX
motocrosser with a police kit for an additional US$2500 with stronger
subframe to hold the included hard luggage, plus an uprated electrical
system. Read More
How to increase the data storage density of HDDs - just add salt
By Darren Quick
November 1, 2011
While Solid State Drives
(SSDs) are seen as the way of the future for computer data storage and
their prices have started to come down as their capacities increase,
they still can't compete with traditional Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) in
terms of bang for your buck. Now a team of researchers from Singapore
has moved the goalposts yet again and shown traditional HDDs still have
some life in them by developing a process that can increase the data
recording density of HDDs to six times that of current models. Read More
02 Pursuit motorcycle runs on compressed air
November 1, 2011
A vehicle that runs on air. It sounds like a
fantastic idea, but energy is still needed to compress the air and the
losses that go hand-in-hand with converting energy still have to be
taken into account, just as in fossil fuel-based propulsion systems.
Pros and cons aside, we still haven't seen air powered transport
make an impact in the race to find economic, environmentally-friendly
ways to get from A to B. Industrial Design student Dean Benstead thinks
that compressed air does have a role to play in the future transport
mix, and he's designed a working air-powered motorcycle prototype with a
view to exploring the viability of the platform. Read More
The nature of the Apple ecosystem means that many MacBook owners will also carry around an iPhone or iPad
- or both. To cut down on the clutter of white Apple chargers vying for
an electrical outlet in this situation, TwelveSouth has released its
PlugBug accessory that piggybacks on a standard MacBook power adapter to
provide an additional USB charge port to charge an aforementioned
iDevice and a MacBook at the same time. Read More
Intelligent absorbent removes radioactive material from water
By Darren Quick
November 1, 2011
Nuclear power plants are located close to sources
of water, which is used as a coolant to handle the waste heat
discharged by the plants. This means that water contaminated with
radioactive material is often one of the problems to arise after a
nuclear disaster. Researchers at Australia's Queensland University of
Technology (QUT) have now developed what they say is a world-first
intelligent absorbent that is capable of removing radioactive material
from large amounts of contaminated water, resulting in clean water and
concentrated waste that can be stored more efficiently. Read More
USB Twin Tablet Charging Kit charges two iPads in half the time
By Darren Quick
November 3, 2011
Mobile accessories manufacturer Qmadix has come
up with an in vehicle charger perfect for families with more than one
mobile device that needs to be charged up. Delivering 2.1 amps to each
of its two ports, the USB Twin Tablet Charging Hub is also able to
simultaneously charge two iPads at the fastest rate. Read More
With the advantage of no cables running around
the corners of a room and the ability to play music from people’s
ever-expanding digital music libraries, wireless speakers have become
increasingly popular over recent years. So it’s not surprising to see
Copenhagen-based company Libratone enter the U.S. market with a couple
of AirPlay-enabled speaker systems that can stream audio from iTunes
libraries on a Mac or PC, as well as music stored on an iPad, iPhone or
iPod touch. Read More
Two unmanned Chinese spacecraft, the Shenzou 8
and the Tiangong 1, have rendezvoused and docked in low Earth orbit.
With this, the People’s Republic of China took a step closer toward
fulfilling its ambitions of becoming a major space-faring nation. If
this mission continues to prove successful, China will be on the road
toward its goal of building a manned space station by 2020. Read More
Two young men who spend their time together building Mad Max-esque
vehicles and weapons see their lives and friendship thrown into violent
disarray when one of them meets a girl - that's the premise of Bellflower,
an independent American film that has been hitting the festivals and
arthouse theaters since it was released this August. It's a
simultaneously brutal and poetic movie, which writer/director/star Evan
Glodell wanted to reflect in the look of its onscreen images. While he
perhaps could have tried simply applying some digital effects in post
production, he decided to ingrain the film's look on a deeper level ...
so he had it shot with cameras that he jerry-rigged together himself.
Read More
What do you buy for the person who has
everything? An obvious choice is something that's never existed before.
Enter the determined textile specialists at Swiss research institute
EMPA who spent the last ten years developing a method to affix pure
gold onto silk. Only slightly less scarce than hen's teeth and spider
silk cloth, the thread can be woven into a beautiful and surprisingly
durable, even washable 24 carat fabric that Goldfinger himself would be
proud to wear. Read More
When it comes to deciding on a form of locomotion
for their creations, roboticists have plenty of options to choose from.
While many go for the tried and tested tank-like tracks or wheels,
nature is also a veritable treasure trove of inspiration. That's just
where Fraunhofer researchers have turned with a new eight-legged robot
modeled on the same principle that moves spider legs. Not only does the
design give the spiderbot the agility and stability of real spiders when
getting around on the ground, it also features special joints that
allow it to jump. Read More
New tech could allow production lines to automatically adjust to changes
By Ben Coxworth
November 2, 2011
Factories are a bit like living things. They are
made up of a number of individual systems, and a change made to any one
of those systems can have an affect on other systems down the line. In
the case of living things, however, all of the systems are united by the
organism’s DNA – if a change is made to one system, the others adjust
automatically. Such is not the case in factories, however, where humans
must go in and make all the changes manually. Not only is this costly
and labor-intensive, but it can also result in errors. Researchers from
Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and
Image Exploitation are addressing this problem by trying to make
factories more like living things – as they put it, they’re trying to
decode “factory DNA.” Read More
Logitech has announced the latest offering in its
portable speaker lineup in the form of the Mini Boombox. The new
arrival not only pairs with smartphones, tablets, and laptops for
wireless sound streaming, but also doubles as a speakerphone suitable
for hands-free calls or video chats. Read More
PlateMate crowd-sources nutritional analysis of users' meals
By Ben Coxworth
November 2, 2011
While there are a great many people who want to
lose weight by dieting, there aren't too many who can afford to have a
nutritionist assess the caloric value of all their food choices. Using
the PlateMate system, however, members can get an online community of
laypeople to do exactly that - and for considerably less money. Although
taking such an approach to nutrition might sound kind of iffy,
calorie estimates generated by the crowd-sourced system are apparently
just as accurate as those provided by trained nutritionists, and more
accurate than self-kept logs. Read More
If you want to fill a room with the sound of the
songs on your iPhone or iPod touch, there are currently a plethora of
docking gizmos that will amplify the sound from your device's speakers.
While many of these products look like they're designed to be used
primarily in the home, however, Yamaha's new portable PDX-11 is ...
well, it's sort of like the ghetto blaster of iPhone docks. Read More
When it comes to self-balancing personal transportation devices, it looks like the Solowheel, Honda U3-X, Uno and Segway
could all be in for a little competition. Portland, Oregon-based RYNO
Motors is currently in the process of launching its own entry in the
weird-little-electric-vehicles race, which it appropriately calls the
RYNO. Like Bombardier’s EMBRIO concept, it has just one wheel. If nothing else, that’ll definitely get riders noticed. Read More
Maybe feeling that their original MiLi Pro
pico projector wasn’t quite pico enough, MiLi has put the device under
the surgeon’s knife and produced an updated model that has shed a few
millimeters around the waist appropriately titled the MiLi Pro v2.0.
Although it packs the same Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) LED
projector producing 10 lumens and 640 x 480 pixel resolution found in
its predecessor, the fan has been ditched, resulting in a unit that the
company claims is almost 50 percent slimmer than the original and
“perfectly silent.” Read More
New material claimed to filter flu virus out of air
November 3, 2011
Staying healthy during flu season is about to get
easier thanks to researchers at China's Academy of Sciences and Academy
of Agricultural Science, and it doesn't involve painful injections.
Instead, the team has developed a way to improve air filter technology
to specifically target influenza viruses, effectively stopping them
before they get inside our bodies and make us ill. The nice thing about
air filters is that they work both ways, so sick individuals wearing the
modified filters will end up shedding less viruses into the environment
too, which can also help reduce the rate of new infections. Read More
MT55 multi-touch tables get performance upgrade
By Paul Ridden
November 3, 2011
Ideum has just given its 55-inch MT55 Platform
and Pro multi-touch tables an Intel i7 processor upgrade that sees them
benefit from a performance boost of 30 percent and 20 percent
respectively. Both tables also gain more onboard storage and improved
connectivity options. The company has additionally taken the opportunity
to put the Platform model's ruggedness to the test - video after the
jump. Read More
LomoKino lets you shoot VERY old school 35mm movies
By Ben Coxworth
November 3, 2011
Video cameras now routinely offer features such
as full 1080p high-def video, night vision mode, and stereo sound ... if
you're one of the people who reads that and thinks "Big deal, that just
means people will have nicer-looking home videos," perhaps you would
appreciate a camera that's focused less on the latest tech, and more on
the art of moving pictures. Well, Lomography's new LomoKino Super 35
Movie Maker should fit the bill. Paying homage to the original
Chaplin-era movie cameras, users hand-crank 35mm film through the
box-like device, while a fixed-focus lens captures all the jittery,
grainy action. Read More
HP introduces multitouch Slate 2 tablet PC for business
By Bryan Clark
November 3, 2011
HP announced the release of its HP Slate 2 tablet
PC today. Featuring an 8.9-inch diagonal capacitive multitouch display
that works with both touch and pen or stylus input, the Slate 2 throws
the company's hat into the arena of the white hot tablet market, while
filling a niche need for its business-oriented customers. Read More
New record claimed for highest airship flight
By Ben Coxworth
November 3, 2011
On October 22nd, just a day after the first manned flight of an electric multicopter
took place in Germany, California’s JP Aerospace achieved an
aeronautical feat of its own – it broke the record for the world’s
highest airship flight. Remotely controlled from the ground, the
all-volunteer group’s Tandem twin-balloon airship
reportedly ascended to an altitude of 95,085 feet (28,982 meters).
That’s almost four miles (6.4 km) higher than any airship has gone
before. Read More
Fujifilm's 3D cameras have been using a glasses-free lenticular system for a while now,
but the company's 3D image viewer has had to wait until the latest
version before incorporating the technology. The new FinePix REAL 3D V3
digital image viewer has also been treated to an HDMI input for direct
connection to cameras like the Fujifilm FinePix REAL 3D W3, big screen TVs and other 3D-enabled devices. Read More
GameChanger merges traditional board games with the iPad
By Pawel Piejko
November 3, 2011
While the iPad is basically a device intended for
use by one person at a time, the tablet has also proved suitable for
multiplayer apps. In some cases, however, its 9.7-inch display is
certainly too small to replace a larger, traditional game board and
besides, many users prefer playing with physical pieces on a physical
board. Dutch-based company Identity Games is seeking the middle ground
with GameChanger - an interactive electronic board that merges the old
and the new to bring family gaming to the iPad. Read More
AH-64D Apache Combat Helicopter gets upgraded
By Jack Martin
November 3, 2011
Boeing has now produced more than 1200 of its
fearsome US$20 million AH-64 multi-role attack helicopter, but with the
first deliveries of the latest AH-64D Apache Block III this week, the
capabilities of the 36 year old design have been lifted significantly.
The Block III Apache incorporates 26 new technologies, a vastly improved
3,400 shaft horsepower drive system with a split-torque face gear
transmission, a new composite main rotor blade, an enhanced digital
electronic control unit, better performance and more payload, which
effectively equals either more range, or more firepower. Read More
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