As the luxury brand of the most aggressive
electric major automotive producer (Nissan-Renault), Infiniti has been
hinting for some time that it would go beyond its hybrid offerings and
develop an all-electric sedan and more specifically, an all-electric
sports car. With its successful ties with Formula One Champions Red Bull
Racing, and F1 Drivers Champion Sebastian Vettel as its Global Brand
Ambassador, it was really only a matter of time. Today, we had the first
glimpse of the new sports EV. Read More
Ricoh has revealed a much-improved new member of
its CX Series compact superzooms. The CX6 has faster autofocus, has had
new exposure control options added to the mode dial, includes a new
brighter LCD screen and there's a first time outing for a dedicated
movie record button. The new point-and-shoot also receives enhanced
functionality for shooting movies, new telephoto assist technology, and
additional creative shooting options. Read More
Typing long documents or emails on a tiny
smartphone screen or iPad keyboard can be quite a maddening experience.
As well as wasting time because of typing errors you can end up with
neck strain and a strong desire to hurl the said device clean across the
room. A more workable solution is to use a portable Bluetooth keyboard
and Verbatim has just announced the second generation of its offering.
The new Verbatim Bluetooth Wireless Mobile Keyboard can be paired with
up to six devices at one time and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, iPad
2, and other Bluetooth-enabled tablets such as Samsung Galaxy Tab and
the Motorola Xoom. Read More
The race to bring electric vehicles to market
finally appears to be on, with Honda today showing a battery electric
version of the Honda Fit (known as the Honda Jazz in some markets) and
announcing plans for a summer 2012 launch in the U.S. The 2013 Fit EV
will have an MSRP of US$38,675 and a city range of 123 miles per charge
(76 miles by the combined adjusted city/highway cycle) and will be
available for lease to customers in select California and Oregon markets
next summer, expanding to six East Coast markets in early 2013. Read More
Subaru and Lexus win as Japanese brands dominate automotive retained values
By Jack Martin
November 16, 2011
It's a well known fact that simply driving a new
car away from the dealership is one of the most horrifically expensive
things you'll ever do. ALG measures automotive residual values in the
American marketplace - that is, the value of a car when you sell it,
three years after purchase. Depreciation of the value of a car is often
the largest part of the cost of ownership, and hence a good performance
in ALG's Annual Residual Value Awards is a strong indication of how much
that brand will cost to drive, and for the average man in the street,
the current retained-value king is Subaru. Fuji Heavy Industries Subaru
brand has now won the award three years running, with Lexus regaining
top spot amongst luxury brands. The report suggests that German and
American manufacturers are a long way behind Japanese (11 of the 21
awards) manufacturers in this critical but often overlooked aspect of
real car ownership costs. Read More
Luminous Airplanes by Paul La Farge is a
book that tries to answer the question of how to adapt the traditional
paper and pasteboard book to the digital age. How do you take what is
essentially a static collection of words and turn it into something open
ended and interactive? How do you give it a new digital dimension? Mr.
La Farge's answer is to turn his novel about a content manager returning
to his boyhood home in the Catskills into an experiment in hypertexting
or, as he prefers to call it, "immersive" text. Read More
Robotic bear pillow tickles sleepers to stop snoring
By Pawel Piejko
November 16, 2011
Demonstrated during this month's International
Robot Exhibition (IREX) in Tokyo, Jukusui-Kun is a polar bear-shaped
robotic pillow that, like Paro the seal-bot,
masks a serious purpose beneath its cute and cuddly exterior.
Jukusui-Kun is designed to help snorers and those who live with them -
whenever snoring becomes too loud (and sleep apnea becomes a danger),
the robot raises its paw and gently touches the sleeper's face to
trigger a change of sleeping position. Read More
Radiator Booster redirects hot air from the wall to the room
By Ben Coxworth
November 16, 2011
The basic idea with radiators is that they should, well, radiate
heat out into the room. Given that they're almost always located
against walls, however, much of the heat coming off the back of them is
just absorbed by those walls. What someone should make is a gizmo that
draws the heated air out from behind a radiator, and blows it over to
where it will be appreciated. Well, that's what the Radiator Booster is.
Read More
Fast as the FastRunner may become, it will never
be able to escape the comparison to an ostrich. One day, thanks to a
joint effort by MIT and the Florida Institute of Human and Machine
Cognition (IHMC), this bipedal sprinting robot is going to assume its
rightful place in the DARPA-funded robotic zoo, right next to the robotic cheetah and the mule-like BigDog.
Thanks to an innovative, self-stabilizing leg design, the movements of
this flightless robotic bird are going to be not only very efficient,
but also extremely fast. The legs are already capable of hitting 27 mph
(43.4 km/h), matching the fastest of humans. The researchers hope to see
FastRunner reach speeds of up to 50 mph (80.4 km/h). That, plus the
ability to negotiate fairly rough, uneven terrain, potentially makes it a
force to be reckoned with, on the battlefield and elsewhere. Read More
When it comes to keeping airport runways clear of
ice, there are several options, including the use of chemical, thermal,
electric and microwave technologies. All of these methods can be
expensive, as they require either a considerable amount of electricity,
or a number of human workers. Engineering researchers at the University
of Arkansas, however, are developing a new system that would use the
freely-available power of the Sun to keep runways from freezing up. Read More
Synthetic resins start out as viscous liquids
that eventually solidify or "cure" into clear or translucent solids.
These materials, which combine the desirable properties of strength,
durability and light weight, are so useful that you can find them in
thousands of applications, particularly aircraft, automobiles and
electronic circuits. But for all that versatility, there's one thing
that's remained elusive: once cured, resins can not be reshaped. Now, a
team from France's National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS), led by
award-winning physicist Ludwik Leibler, has developed an inexpensive
and easily-produced material that is not only reshapable (like glass),
but also repairable and recyclable, again, like glass. That's a
potential boon for the auto body industry alone, and the possibilities
for other uses are seemingly endless. Read More
LEDO offers LED lighting in a bulb-like form
By Ben Coxworth
November 18, 2011
LEDs last far longer than incandescent bulbs, are
much more energy-efficient, and contain less toxic substances. Compact
fluorescents give them a run for their money in some areas, although
LEDs tend to have a warmer, “nicer” light. In the past few years, a
number of companies have started marketing LED light fixtures that screw
into traditional incandescent receptacles – these have included
products from Geobulb, Switch, GE and Sharp.
A new arrival, however is the Bulled line of “bulbs” (for lack of a
better word), from German manufacturer LEDO. If nothing else, they
definitely have a look of their own. Read More
OPERA confirms earlier claims of faster-than-light neutrinos
By Ben Coxworth
November 18, 2011
On September 23rd, researchers from the European
OPERA project made the now-famous announcement that they had observed neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light. Given that Einstein's special theory of relativity states that nothing
can travel faster than the speed of light, their proclamation was
naturally met with some skepticism – various physicists stated that
there was likely a flaw in the design, implementation or calculations
involved the experiment. To their credit, the OPERA collaborative made a
point of inviting other scientists to try to replicate their results.
In the meantime, however, they’ve replicated those results themselves,
and announced today that neutrinos still appear to be the speediest
particles in the universe. Read More
Military technology has created some fearsome weapons, such as the 5,000 lb GBU-28 Deep Throat bunker buster, 15,000 lb BLU-82 Daisycutter, 15,650 lb Russian ATBIP (Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power), 22,000 lb Grand Slam earthquake bomb, and the 22,600 lb GBU-43 MOAB
(Massive Ordnance Air Blast), but if you were hiding under 50 meters of
hardened concrete, none of them were going to bother you. Not any more!
The U.S. Air Force has just taken delivery of the first GBU-57A/B (Massive Ordnance Penetrator).
It weighs 30,000 lb and will penetrate 200 ft of hardened concrete
BEFORE it goes off. If you are reading this from an underground nuclear
facility in Iran or North Korea, might we suggest some extended sick
leave is (or soon will be) in order. Read More
Newly developed metallic "micro-lattice" material is world's lightest
By Darren Quick
November 17, 2011
Researchers have created a new metallic material
that they claim is the world’s lightest solid material. With a density
of just 0.9 mg/cm3 the material is around 100 times lighter than
Styrofoam and lighter than the "multiwalled carbon nanotube (MCNT)
aerogel" - also dubbed "frozen smoke"
– with a density of 4 mg/cm3 that we looked at earlier this year.
Despite being 99.99 percent open volume, the new material boasts
impressive strength and energy absorption, making it potentially useful
for a range of applications. Read More
The latest high performance variant of the Ford
Mustang bearing the Shelby name has been unveiled at the 2011 LA Motor
Show, and it's a beast. Packing a 5.8-liter supercharged V8 producing a
headline-grabbing 650 horsepower and 600 lb-ft of torque, Ford claims
the new 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 is the most powerful production V8 in the
world. While the Mustang has never been the most aerodynamic vehicle on
the road, the vehicle’s completely reworked drivetrain provides the
power to propel it to a top speed of over 200 mph (322 km/h). And as
surprising as the grunt under the hood, Ford says the new Shelby GT500
manages to avoid the United States’ Gas Guzzler Tax. Read More
Titanoboa is 50 feet of slithering electromechanical art
By Ben Coxworth
November 17, 2011
Robotic snakes are - perhaps surprisingly -
nothing all that new. In the past several years, we've seen ones
designed to swim through debris, help out at construction sites, perform surveillance, and inspect the inside of pipes.
People seem to be captivated by the little guys, which begs the
question: has an artist ever made one? If they did, it would have to
stand out from its more utilitarian counterparts, perhaps by being
enormous and incorporating colored lights. Evoking prehistory wouldn't
hurt, either. Well, it turns out that there is a creation that ticks all those boxes. It's time to meet Titanoboa. Read More
With recent advances in photovoltaic panels and
rechargeable batteries, it's only natural that there should now be an
influx of solar-powered electronic devices. Just last week we profiled
the Sunbox
solar power system, that uses energy from the Sun to power three kinds
of lights, recharge AA batteries, and juice up mobile phones. Now, it's
time to take a look at a similar product, Third Wave Power's mPowerPad.
It can charge mobile devices through its two USB ports, along with
serving as a radio, flashlight, reading lamp, and even an ultrasonic
insect-repelling device. As you might have noted in the photo, however,
it has no external controls ... so how are you supposed to use the thing? Read More
It may not be the type of thing that would be
used for everyday driving, but owners of the 2013 Ford Mustang will have
a little something extra for days that they want to take their car out
for some exercise – Track Apps. Displayed on a 4.2-inch LCD
“productivity screen” located between the tachometer and speedometer,
Track Apps will provide enthusiast drivers with real-time data on their
pony car’s performance. Read More
German museum team recreates and rides world's first electric car
By Paul Ridden
November 17, 2011
As more and more mainstream car manufacturers
join a new wave of electric vehicle development, it looks like we're
definitely headed for an electric transport future. While powering a car
with an electric motor is not exactly a new innovation, you may be
surprised to learn exactly how old the technology is. A team
led by Horst Schultz - the director and founder of Germany's Autovision
Museum - has spent the last year or so painstakingly recreating the
world's first street-ready electric car, designed and created by English
scientists William Ayrton and John Perry, and which first hit the
streets in 1881. Read More
There are numerous retro iPhone cases on the
market, and most of them have no useful features except for helping you
to stand out from the crowd. Holga, however, has introduced an iPhone
case that not only adds some vintage flair to your smartphone, but also
allows for photographic experimentation with nine built-in special
effects filters. Read More
Plan to establish first lunar base and gas stations in space
By Darren Quick
November 21, 2011
Imagine if every time you went for on a trip, you
had to carry all the fuel required to get you to your destination and
back - even if that trip was to a place far, far away, like say Mars. In
space there are no refueling options available (yet), and given that
propellant makes up over 90 percent of the weight of a spacecraft, this
issue is fundamental to saving costs and driving future space
exploration. Now the Shackleton Energy Company (SEC) is looking to
establish the first operational base to mine ice on the Moon
that will be used to produce liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen
propellants for distribution to spacecraft via the first gas stations in
space ... and the plan is to be open for business by 2020. Read More
Toyota is to show an autonomous (self-driving)
Prius at Tokyo Motor Show. Dubbed the Toyota AVOS (Automatic Vehicle
Operation System), the car will be available for members of the public
to take "back seat" rides at the show, demonstrating first hand how the
Prius can avoid obstacles, be summoned from a parking garage and park
itself. There will also be a demonstration of communications-linked
electric cars, scooters and electric-assisted bicycles including what is
expected to be Yamaha's first production electric scooter. Read More
First flight test of Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW) concept
By Darren Quick
November 20, 2011
Following the two test flights of the unmanned Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle
(HTV-2) earlier this year, both of which ended prematurely with the
vehicle making a “controlled descent” into the Pacific Ocean, the U.S.
Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command
last week conducted the first test flight of the Advanced Hypersonic
Weapon (AHW) concept. Read More
Gametel brings gamepad action to Android and iDevices
By Pawel Piejko
November 20, 2011
Swedish company Fructel will soon offer a
smartphone- and tablet-compatible accessory tailored for mobile gamers,
in the form of the Gametel wireless controller. Compatible with over 50
titles, the gamepad connects via Bluetooth and supports devices running
Android 2.1 or higher, as well as iPhone and iPad. Read More
For those of us using smart phones, an
all-too-familiar problem is that of a dead battery. The computing power,
as well as the multi-purpose abilities of modern-day phones is nothing
short of amazing. However, until battery life catches up with the
functionality, we're still forced to carry multiple devices. For
example, what good is 32GB of memory to store music and movies if it
leaves me with a dead phone after an hour or two of my favorite tunes?
Even though my phone can easily handle the music and movie abilities of
my iPod, I still carry the iPod. I still have a GPS in my car, even
though my phone is more than capable. New technology from Northwestern
University is aiming to change all that. Engineers there have created an
electrode for lithium-ion batteries - the rechargeables commonly found
in our devices - that allows them to run ten times longer, while only
taking only one-tenth of the time to charge. Read More
FXI Cotton Candy USB/HDMI dongle displays Android on any screen
By Pawel Piejko
November 20, 2011
Norwegian startup company FXI has demoed a clever
USB/HDMI stick designed to add Android-based smart capabilities to any
HDMI or USB-equipped device. Codenamed Cotton Candy, the inconspicuous
USB flash drive-shaped dongle packs quite powerful hardware, including a
1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPU and a quad-core GPU that handles 1080p video.
Think of it as perhaps the world's smallest screenless computer. Read More
TonePrint app allows users to change stompbox tones using an iPhone
By Paul Ridden
November 20, 2011
Playing electric guitar doesn't just require
hours of daily practice necessary for smooth scales, clean rhythm and
fluid solos, for many players it also involves a seemingly never ending
search for that tone, the special something that makes
them unique and instantly recognizable. This generally means procuring
lots of effects pedals to help shape the signal from the instrument, or
looking to existing artists for inspiration. For its TonePrint system,
TC Electronic invited a number of today's top players to customize the
sonic parameters of a new series of pedals so that users can get instant
access to the dream sounds of the pros. Up until now, a TonePrint could
only be uploaded to a pedal using a computer and USB cable but the new
TonePrint app for iPhone allows players to wirelessly load a tone
directly into the pedal via the guitar's pickup. Read More
A thinktank headed by Volkswagen Group Research
has re-conceptualized the delivery vehicle and come up with a
thought-provoking commercial EV concept vehicle named the eT! The eT!
drives semi-autonomously on voice commands such as "follow me" and "come
to me" and the driver can also steer from the passenger side using a
joystick. There's an electric sliding door that opens in two stages for
quick walk-on access, reducing the need for walking around the vehicle.
For even quicker turnaround, the passenger side features a standing
seat. Read More
Inkodye is a chemical solution designed for
people who are passionate about photography. After all, who else would
want to emblazon a T-shirt, ribbon, or a handkerchief with images based
on photo negatives? The process is reportedly quite easy, and requires
just a dozen or so minutes of sunlight exposure. Read More
MimoMonitors.com has announced a new addition to
its secondary monitors lineup. Billed as the world's first USB-powered
capacitive touchscreen display, the Mimo Magic Touch features a
10.1-inch screen running at 1024 x 600 resolution. It can be used either
with its dock/base, or simply held in the hand as a sort of tethered
tablet. Read More
Review: The Kitara digital guitar synthesizer
By Paul Ridden
November 22, 2011
Way back in January 2010, a short demo video of a
new digital instrument prototype was posted on YouTube by its creator
Michael Zarimis, and went viral. From the millions of views, a list of
prospective buyers was drawn up and the Misa Digital Guitar
soon began its journey towards commercial availability. By the time the
next CES show arrived, the instrument had ditched its gleaming white
ABS plastic casing and gone over to the dark side, received a few design
modifications, and been officially named Kitara
for its public debut. The Kitara has now been made available for
purchase, and I've spent the last few weeks getting to grips with this
innovative new instrument - being rewarded for inventive experimentation
and punished for bad playing technique. Read More
We've already seen rearview mirrors from the likes of Ford, Toyota and Mazda that display the vision from rear-mounted cameras, along with a GPS-enabled rearview mirror
that includes a 4-inch touchscreen and Bluetooth. Now Hong Kong-based
gadget wholesalers Chinavasion has started selling a kit that replaces
any standard rearview mirror with a GPS and Bluetooth 2.1 enabled unit
featuring a 4.3-inch touchscreen for multimedia playback and even
playing touchscreen games (seriously), while DVR capabilities let you
record what goes on inside and outside the car. Read More
If the idea of floating along in a boat propelled
only by the gentle push of an ocean breeze is your idea of relaxing
then you might want to steer clear of the aptly named VESTAS Sailrocket
2. Designed and built from the ground up with a focus on speed, the boat
and the VSR2 team have headed to Walvis Bay in Namibia with the aim of
breaking the outright world speed sailing record for the short distance
500 meters (1,640 ft) of 55.65 knots (64 mph/103 km/h) set in October
2010 by American kite-surfer, Rob Douglas. Read More
With two thirds of the world's population now
carrying a mobile phone, the only functional aspect of the wristwatch is
redundant. The appreciation of fine bespoke mechanical computers
however, is stronger than ever - more than US$46 billion this year -
three times the tablet computer marketplace. Last Saturday evening, the
timepeice industry gathered for the Grand Prix de l'Horlogerie de
Genève, where the industry awards the best timepeices in a dozen
categories. The "Aiguille d'Or" was awarded to the US$87,000 De Bethune
DB28. Another leaureate keeps time to one thousandth of a second and
another keeps the true length of the day, both achieved mechanically.
They cost more than a Ferrari, and are equally as complex. Showing this
story to a loved one might cost you a lot of money. Read More
Fizik Kurve bike saddle goes for the flex appeal
By Ben Coxworth
November 21, 2011
Fizik is a company probably best known for making
bicycle saddles designed for racers, where light weight is everything
and comfort is pretty low on the scale. Brooks, on the other hand, is
famous for its very comfortable leather saddles, which most racers
wouldn’t allow anywhere near their sleek, streamlined steeds. It’s
interesting, therefore, that Fizik’s latest saddle, the Kurve, uses the
same principle employed by Brooks. It’s good news for sore-bummed
racers. Read More
Autonomous Wave Gliders begin their Pacific crossing
By Ben Coxworth
November 21, 2011
It may sound like the premise for the latest
Pixar movie, but it’s actually happening – four small autonomous aquatic
robots have embarked on a 60,000-kilometer (37,000-mile) journey across
the Pacific ocean. The Wave Gliders, built by California-based Liquid
Robotics, left San Francisco last Thursday. All four will travel
together to Hawaii, at which point they will split into two pairs – one
of those pairs will proceed to Australia, with the other heading for
Japan. Called PacX (for “Pacific Crossing”), the project will constitute
the longest voyage ever completed by an unmanned ocean vessel. Read More
Prolific Spanish designer Bernat Cuni has come up with a whimsical way to help bring the relatively new 3D ceramic printing
process into the mainstream. Recently, he unleashed his creative
energies on what he termed the "coffee cup-a-day" project to highlight
the versatility and immediacy of what is also known as "additive
manufacturing" - the layer by layer construction of tangible objects
from digital models. The results, while not necessarily the most
utilitarian, could be just the thing for the coffee drinker who has it
all. Read More
SideStix crutches designed for more than just walking
By Ben Coxworth
November 21, 2011
Thirty-eight years ago, a drunk driver hit
teenager Sarah Doherty while she was riding her bicycle. She lost her
right leg in the accident. An avid athlete, she continued to participate
in sports after her recovery, became an occupational therapist, and
began adapting rock climbing gear for her own use. That ultimately led
to her and her partner Kerith Perreur-Lloyd inventing SideStix, which
are forearm crutches designed for active users - like Sarah. Read More
NSK develops four-legged robot "guide dog"
November 21, 2011
Guide dogs for the visually impaired provide an
important service and help provide a welcome sense of autonomy to
physically-challenged individuals. Unfortunately, the highly-skilled
canines require about US$30,000 in training over several months, and
always seem to be in short supply. The growing demand for these
specialized animal companions gave a group of engineers from Japan's NSK
corporation and the University of Electro-Communications just the
impetus they needed to design a mechanical solution, and the robotic
guide dog was born. Read More
There are many small cars with high-performance
motorcycle engines, but there has never been one quite like the Spartan.
Most use big in-line Japanese four cylinder engines which can produce
meaty 200 bhp powerbands. The Spartan uses Ducati's 170 hp (106 kW) 1198
cc V-twin in a race chassis - there are no frills and the use of carbon
fiber bodywork and the barest of essentials results in a kerb weight of
350 kg. Then there's the sound of the engine that won this year's World
Superbike title just behind your left ear and the promise it feels at
one with the driver ... it appears to be the perfect four-wheeled
execution of the Ducati ethos. Fantastic picture library with this one.
Read More
The Car Interior Preheater could make winter a little more tolerable
By Ben Coxworth
November 22, 2011
Of the various “joys” of winter, one of the
biggest has got to be getting into a frozen-solid automobile, then
sitting and shivering as you wait for the inside of the windshield to
defrost. Many people instead opt for remote engine starters, although
these must be professionally installed, plus they waste fuel while also
creating air pollution – some cities have even passed anti-idling
bylaws, to limit their harmful effects. So, what’s a winter wimp to do?
Well, they can now buy the Car Interior Preheater. Read More
Twine wants to put your things on the internet
By Darren Quick
November 22, 2011
If you’re the kind of person that sometimes finds
themselves talking to inanimate objects around the house then it might
not be too long before they start talking back – not directly but via an
SMS, tweet or email. MIT Media Lab graduates David Carr and John
Kestner are looking to hook household objects up to the Web via Twine, a
2.5-inch square (16 cm2) box with internal and/or external sensors that
connects to a Wi-Fi network to enable it to send a message when certain
user customizable criteria are recognized by the unit’s sensors. Read More
Together at last - the fishing rod and the rifle
By Darren Quick
November 22, 2011
Takedown rifles that can be broken down for easy
transport and storage fit the bill nicely for hunting trips, as they
don't add a lot of weight or take up a lot of space in a backpack. A
fishing rod to provide a more tranquil way of rustling up some dinner is
another item likely to find its way into said backpack on such
expeditions. But why take up space with two separate items when one will
do the job? That's where the Pack-Rifle comes in with its ability to
covert from a rifle to a fishing rod. Read More
There's no shortage of cord management solutions
out there, but Pod Power promises to deliver a level of versatility
that's over and above the norm. At its most basic Pod Power is a 15 foot
(4.5 meter) long extension cord, but rather than having on outlet at
the end, you get five pods at 3-foot intervals. Each pod has its own
standard three-prong outlet and a keyhole for easy mounting on the wall,
floor or ceiling. Read More
Winter is starting to rear its ugly head in the
Northern Hemisphere, and that means it's time to get out and enjoy the
snow with your trusty sled. As many of us already know, however, a fun
day of sledding can lead to a bruised and battered body the day after.
The solution - surround your posterior with the Bean Bag Sled. Read More
Nobody likes having to deal with automated
telephone services, that say wonderful things like, “You said
‘Beelzebub,’ is that correct?”. Such services may get slightly
less annoying, however, thanks to research being carried out at Spain’s
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and Universidad de Granada. A team of
scientists from those institutions have created a computer system that
is able to recognize the emotional state of a person speaking to it, so
that it can alter its behavior to make things less stressful. Read More
Once upon a time, before zoom lenses were
invented, movie and TV cameras had three lenses that the user could
choose between, using a Lazy Susan-type arrangement to swivel them into
place - you wanted to go wide, you'd swing in the wide-angle lens, if
you needed a close-up, you'd swing in the telephoto. Well, in the spirit
of everything old being new again, the iPhone Lens Dial now offers the
same functionality for Apple's iconic smartphone. Read More
Dutch Docklands to the rescue for Dubai's World project?
November 22, 2011
The troubled World Project
in Dubai, which has been riddled with problems since the global
financial crisis in 2009 including rumors that the islands are sinking,
may have found salvation. Architectural firm Dutch Docklands has
developed, designed and engineered a master plan for 89 floating
islands, giving current World investors the opportunity to purchase a
floating paradise. The solution would provide investors with an option
that's more feasible and cost-effective than building on the existing
land masses, whilst also incorporating several environmental benefits.
Read More
SLUG device allows for copying of any streamed audio
By Ben Coxworth
November 22, 2011
Perhaps you’ve experienced this frustration
before. There’s a piece of audio on a website that you want to use in a
project of your own, and it’s playing right there on your computer,
yet you have no way of copying it – short of holding a microphone up to
your speakers, that is. Well, Kenneth Gibbs and Seena Zandipour want to
change that. They’ve invented a little gizmo called the SLUG, that can
reportedly obtain lossless recordings of any streamed audio being played
back by a computer or other electronic device. The music labels will no
doubt be about as happy to see the emergence of this thing as they were
when blank audio cassettes first hit the stores. Read More
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