It may look like a big slice of Swiss cheese, but
the Fimbulvetr snowshoe is actually a high-end sporting good product
from Norway. A series of high-tech components, including a thermoplastic
elastomer body and an innovative binding hinge, create a snowshoe that
is designed to be light, comfortable and easy to walk in – no matter how
nasty the weather. Read More
Cyberdyne shows new industrial cleaning robot at IREX 2013
By Mike Hanlon
November 6, 2013
Better known for producing the advanced exoskeletons,
Japan's Cyberdyne is expanding its portfolio with a new industrial
cleaning robot for large factories and warehouses. The latest model
employs a Sony Playstation controller which is used to direct the
cleaner around its designated cleaning areas, then it remembers its
areas of responsibility and can do the job on its own from that point.
Read More
Have you ever noticed how sometimes even if there
are slots available in a bike parking rack, some people will instead
choose to lock their bike to a parking meter or sign post? This is
because those racks aren't really conducive to securing the frame and
both wheels, using a single U-lock. Montreal inventor Peter Krantz,
however, has designed a rack that is. Read More
If you were buying a kitchen knife in a
supermarket, you wouldn't expect the cashier to swing it dangerously
close to you as they were ringing it up. If that cashier were a robot,
though, it wouldn't know any better – unless it had been taught
otherwise. That's just what engineers at Cornell University have done,
using a unique new technique. Read More
In a scene only dreamt of by most people, the
employees of Garrison Bespoke, an upscale Toronto tailor, lined up and
waited their turn to stab their boss, Michael Nguyen, with a hunting
knife. Mr. Nguyen emerged from the experience unscathed, thanks to a
remarkable bulletproof business suit that has just been revealed to the
public. Read More
AgriRover brings Mars rover technology to the farm
By David Szondy
November 6, 2013
We tend to think of livestock farmers as "one man
and his dog," but if AgResearch of New Zealand has anything to say,
that pair may have to move over to include a robot. A team led by Dr.
Andrew Manderson is developing AgriRover, an agricultural robot inspired
by NASA’s Mars rovers. It’s a proof-of-concept prototype designed to
show how robots can make life easier and more productive for livestock
farmers. Read More
If you own a Pebble smartwatch
along with an Android phone, then you can enjoy system-wide
notifications. But until today, iPhone users could only get Pebble
alerts from a very narrow set of apps. Thanks to a huge update announced
today, Pebble owners will soon see every notification from their
iPhones on their watches. Read More
Have your iPod dock speakers ever been found
wanting? Perhaps the background noise was a little too loud? Well this
should do the trick. The Wall of Sound 2 kicks out at a spritely 8000
watts and 130dB; as loud, apparently, "as an F-15 jet with its
afterburners on at 100 meters". Or, in layman’s terms, to permanently
damage hearing. Read More
Quanta demonstrates aftermarket hybrid kit with 770-hp Corvette Z06
By C.C. Weiss
November 6, 2013
Automakers typically use hybrid powertrains to
improve fuel economies and kowtow to government relations. Not Quanta.
Similar to cars like the McLaren P1 and Toyota Hybrid R concept,
the hybrid technology in Quanta's Corvette QHP770 is all about
performance. The show car is designed to test the waters for hybrid
upgrade kits for Corvettes and other sports cars. Read More
Review: Batman – Arkham Origins Blackgate (PS Vita)
November 6, 2013
This holiday season, Warner Bros. launched the first portable entry in the Batman: Arkham series. Does the franchise survive the leap to the Vita and 3DS unscathed? Or is it better to pass on this pared-down, 2D version of the Caped Crusader? Read on, as Gizmag reviews Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. Read More
Seagate, which purchased Samsung's
HDD division in 2011, has begun shipping the world's thinnest 2 TB hard
drive. The Samsung Spinpoint M9T, which comes in a 2.5-inch form factor,
measures 9.5 mm thick, giving notebooks a bit more storage space. Read More
Osaka-based Kubota Corporation has
built a robust brand for its agricultural machinery over the last three
decades, and hence it was no surprise to see the company showing an
unpowered exoskeleton at the International Robotics Exhibition. Read More
Recently there's been increasing hope for people
who have lost the use of their arms, as various research institutes have
started developing prosthetic arms that can be controlled by thought alone.
So far, all of the systems have just allowed users to control a single
arm – for many of the tasks that we perform on a daily basis, that's
simply not enough. Now, however, scientists at North Carolina's Duke
University have succeeded in getting two rhesus monkeys to control both arms of animated digital avatars, using nothing but their mind. Read More
The Hirobo stand at the International Robotics
Exhibition in Tokyo this week was full of surprises. The first was the
appearance of the HX-1 unmanned electric helicopter, due to go into
production before the end of the year, but an even bigger surprise was
in store when you opened the brochure – details of the company's planned
personal (manned) BIT electric micro helicopter. Read More
It's fair to say that the Battlefield franchise
is built on its ability to create large-scale, varied conflicts on a
much larger scale than the competition. Battlefield 4 promises to up the
visual ante of its predecessor while providing a host of new, dynamic
maps and an all-new campaign story. Read on to find out whether every
component of DICE's new title lives up to the hype. Read More
Japan's Asahi brewery looks set to steal a march
on its competition by developing a robotic draft beer pouring machine
for high-volume bars. Connecting to the keg, the machine pours six
perfect beers, taking around 12 seconds per glass with zero wastage. The
machine was shown for the first time at the International Robotics Expo
in Tokyo yesterday, and is expected to be available within two years.
Read More
Context is everything. Drinking a cocktail
containing an aquatic beetle and a water lily might prove disconcerting,
but in the lab of John Bush, a fluid dynamicist at MIT, and the kitchen
of José Andrés, a well-known culinary innovator, these natural
inspirations give rise to mixed drink magic. The aquatic beetle is
transformed into an edible liquor-dispensing boat and the lily into an
elegant floral “pipette” which captures and dispenses small amounts of
drinks. Read More
Canadian company NOMAD Homes has produced a new
concept micro-home that measures just 100 sq ft (9.2 sq m), ships as a
flat-pack, can operate off-grid, and is said to be easy-to-build. The
firm has turned to Indiegogo to raise funds for manufacturing, and
eventually intends to sell the base version of the home for under
US$25,000. Read More
Rolls-Royce is highlighting its Bespoke program
at this week's Dubai International Motor Show, showing two one-of-a-kind
Phantom models. One model travels with more diamonds than the entire
Kardashian clan on a Saturday night, while the other is an homage to the
famed Goodwood Motor Circuit. Read More
Seagate, which purchased Samsung's
HDD division in 2011, has begun shipping the world's thinnest 2 TB hard
drive. The Samsung Spinpoint M9T, which comes in a 2.5-inch form factor,
measures 9.5 mm thick, giving notebooks a bit more storage space. Read More
Alongside its FV2 personal transportation vehicle concept,
Toyota will also be premiering a next-generation taxi concept at the
43rd Tokyo Motor Show. Although it bears more than a passing resemblance
to London's iconic black cabs, Toyota says the JPN Taxi Concept has
been created with Japanese hospitality in mind. Read More
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have
developed technology that could help cut lighting energy costs by
brightening up rooms with natural light. The SmartLight system is
designed to direct sunlight into dark, dingy rooms located within the
bowels of buildings without requiring the installation of new wiring,
ducts, tubes or cables. It also allows excess light to be harnessed and
centrally stored to provide energy for electric lighting on cloudy days.
Read More
Solid Concepts manufactures first 3D-printed metal pistol
By David Szondy
November 8, 2013
In a prime example of past meets future, a
Texas-based company has used a century-old classic firearm as the
blueprint for the world’s first 3D printed metal gun. Solid Concepts'
use of a laser sintering method to create a fully functional Model 1911
automatic pistol is the latest demonstration of the potential of 3D
printing techniques in industrial processing. Read More
Harvard scientists develop a transistor that learns
By Brian Dodson
November 7, 2013
In a development that may enable a wholly new
approach to artificial intelligence, researchers at Harvard University's
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have invented a type of
transistor that can learn in ways similar to a neural synapse. Called a
synaptic transistor, the new device self-optimizes its properties for
the functions it has carried out in the past. Read More
One of the perks of writing about technology and
innovation is the opportunity to get your hands on all sorts of new
products, usually made by folks with a vision of how their new gadget
will change the world. The downside of this privilege, however, is the
knowledge that many perfectly fantastic products will never become
household names, no matter how deserving they might be. With that in
mind, I wanted to pay tribute to five products that, unfortunately, I
fear only total nerds like myself will ever truly fall in love with.
Read More
Chocolate lovers rejoice: More chocolate means less body fat
By Darren Quick
November 7, 2013
In what may be the best news for chocoholics since scientists at the University of Cambridge found that higher chocolate consumption
was associated with a significant reduction in cardiovascular disease,
diabetes and stroke, researchers at the University of Granada are
reporting that it's also associated with lower levels of total fat
deposits – in the bodies of adolescents at least. Read More
Joining the ranks of devices designed to harvest energy
from ambient electromagnetic radiation comes an electrical circuit from
researchers at Duke University that can be tuned to capture microwave
energy from various sources, including satellite, sound or Wi-Fi
signals. The researchers say the device converts otherwise lost energy
into direct current voltage with efficiencies similar to that of current
solar cells. Read More
Since the explosion of touchscreen-based smartphones, glove manufacturers have developed touchscreen-optimized gloves and treatments
that allow wearers to maintain touchscreen capabilties while keeping
their gloves on. The new BearTek Gloves play even nicer with portable
electronics, syncing wirelessly and taking control of functions like
call answering and music play. Read More
Osaka-based Kubota Corporation has
built a robust brand for its agricultural machinery over the last three
decades, and hence it was no surprise to see the company showing an
unpowered exoskeleton at the International Robotics Exhibition. Read More
A US team from the University of Pennsylvania has
taken out the 2013 James Dyson Award with the Titan Arm, an upper body
exoskeleton that augments human strength. The team will receive the
£30,000 (US$48,260) first prize, with an additional £10,000 (US$16,100)
going to the University Of Pennsylvania Engineering department.
Competing against 650 international entries, which were whittled down to
20 finalists, the Titan Arm shared the limelight with two runners up, who will each take home £10,000. Read More
Instead of limiting its SEMA fleet to specialty
vehicles it built itself, Toyota opened up the garage to professional
Toyota Team athletes. The athletes worked with sponsors and aftermarket
specialists to develop dream vehicles for their sports, with Toyota
picking the winner this week. The tailgate-ready, portable bike repair
center known as the Let's Go Moto Tundra proved victorious. Read More
As any coach or sports medicine expert will tell
you, when an athlete receives a blow to the head, their saying that they
feel OK doesn't mean that they don't have a concussion. Particularly in
sports like football, it's important to have an objective method of
measuring just how much of a hit a player's noggin has taken. While some
people have developed impact sensors
that can be attached to players' helmets, a student at Utah's Brigham
Young University has devised something less obtrusive – impact-sensing
helmet-lining foam. Read More
Being both long and heavy, wheeled
hospital beds aren't known for being easy to move around. It typically
takes at least two people to push and guide one down the corridors, and
two people aren't always available in a busy hospital. Using the new
SESTO system, however, one person should be able to wrangle a bed
without difficulty. Read More
NBCUniversal has signed an exclusive
partnership with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic to televise the
space tourism company's first commercial passenger flight next August.
Aboard the VSS Enterprise,
will be Sir Richard, age 63, and his children, Holly, 31, and Sam, 28.
The other passengers and crew have not yet been named. Read More
The torch for next year's Winter
Olympics in Russia took a detour into orbit yesterday as two Russian
cosmonauts working outside the International Space Station (ISS)
conducted the first ever torch handover in the vacuum of space. Read More
An additional layer of security (and
fun) can be added to your computer's LCD display by following the lead
of Brusspup, a well-known online illusionist and computer artist. Just
remove your display's outer polarizing filter, and use polarizing
sunglasses instead. Read More
"Revolutionary" is not too strong a word for the
Nissan BladeGlider concept, and it just might be a landmark in
automotive history. Ben Bowlby conceived the vehicle in December 2008,
and since then, it has gone from idea to racetrack to concept car and
now mass production and a Nissan sub-brand look certain. Why? Read on
... Read More
Italian design firm launches its first "mini yacht"
November 8, 2013
Italian design studio Lazzarini recently
presented its first "mini yacht" during the 2013 Monaco Yacht Show. The
Jet Capsule is a compact water craft measuring 7.5 meters (24.6 ft) long
and 3.5 meters (11.5ft) wide. The futuristic looking vessel can be
customized to suit a myriad of purposes including a water taxi,
emergency water vehicle, patrol boat, scuba diving vessel or
recreational cruiser. Read More
Caterham charged to produce e-bikes and motorcycles
November 8, 2013
For over fifty years Caterham has been known for
its purpose-built sports cars and motorsports activities. This week,
however, the company announced that it will be expanding its product
offerings from four-wheeled machinery to that of the two-wheeled
variety. Starting in 2014 Caterham Bikes will introduce three products:
the Brutus 750, the Classic E-Bike and the Carbon E-Bike. Read More
Being both long and heavy, wheeled
hospital beds aren't known for being easy to move around. It typically
takes at least two people to push and guide one down the corridors, and
two people aren't always available in a busy hospital. Using the new
SESTO system, however, one person should be able to wrangle a bed
without difficulty. Read More
Full-bodied humanoid robots are undeniably
fascinating, but why pay for the lower part of the body if you don't
need it? For that matter, why pay for the arms if you don't
need them, either? That's the thinking behind the SociBot and
SociBot-Mini interactive robots, which we just "met" at the
International Robotics Exhibition. Read More
Sometimes the key to creativity is a fresh
perspective. That seems to have been General Electric’s motivation when
it opened its patent vault to the crowdsourcing company Quirky in April.
On Monday, the fruits of that partnership were apparent as the first
four products under the joint Wink brand were unveiled. Read More
Toyota and DC Shoes create Tacoma plow truck camper
By C.C. Weiss
November 8, 2013
The DC Shoes Toyota Tacoma SEMA concept may not have been eligible for the Dream Build Challenge,
but it's as fully equipped as any of the actual participants. This
truck is like a rolling ski lodge, packing a road-clearing plow, gear
racks, snowmobile carrier and rooftop tent. If every truck looked like
this, there would be little need for ski resorts. Read More
There's a popular educational exercise in which
teens are required to take care of a bag of flour for several days, as
if it's a baby. The idea is that by having to lug that bag around with
them everywhere they go, while keeping it from getting damaged, the kids
will realize how much responsibility is involved in raising an infant.
As any parent will tell you, however, there's a lot more to baby-raising
than just safely lugging them around. That's why products like
Realityworks' RealCare Baby were created. Read More
Increasing the efficiency of a hybrid solar cell
simply by placing it near a source of ambient noise or vibration would
be a boon for photovoltaics in urban areas, in the military, or on
machinery or transportation. Hybrid organic/inorganic solar cells are
already a tempting option over silicon because of their lower cost, but
they suffer from their own drawbacks of efficiency. However, new
research demonstrates that the piezoelectric qualities of the cells'
inorganic layer can be used to boost the overall efficiency of hybrid
systems, which is promising for wherever sound and sun are together.
Read More
Hands-on with console exclusives at the Xbox One Tour
November 8, 2013
The Xbox One
is fast approaching its Nov. 22 release date, and Microsoft is pulling
out all the stops to convince gamers to make the switch to the next
generation of console gaming. As part of its promotion, the company is
hosting several special events around the world and inviting anyone to
get a taste of the new console's lineup firsthand. Gizmag caught up with
the Xbox One Tour in Dallas, Texas where some of the most hyped-up,
exclusive titles for the console were available to try out, such as Dead Rising 3, Killer Instinct, and Ryse: Son of Rome. Read More
PiePal orders a pizza delivery at the press of a button
November 11, 2013
Have you ever craved pizza so strongly that you
wished you could press a button and have one show up automatically?
Clearly the creative minds at iStrategyLabs have run into this problem
more than once, since that's exactly what they made recently. Rather
than wading through options on a pizza shop's website, the PiePal allows
users to push a single button to immediately order one or more pizzas
to be delivered ASAP. Read More
NBCUniversal has signed an exclusive
partnership with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic to televise the
space tourism company's first commercial passenger flight next August.
Aboard the VSS Enterprise,
will be Sir Richard, age 63, and his children, Holly, 31, and Sam, 28.
The other passengers and crew have not yet been named. Read More
Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a new
technique to print advanced, ink-based electrical circuitry on a desktop
printer. After about US$300 in equipment costs, the researchers were
able to print arbitrary-shaped circuits on resin-coated paper, PET film,
and glossy photo paper with silver nanoparticle ink. Read More
Steampunk art for geeks: Shovelhead Mutant Lifeform Exhibition
By Mike Hanlon
November 10, 2013
If you are a geek-at-heart, there's likely no
more loved artist than Yasuhito Udagawa (AKA Shovelhead). I photographed
one of his exhibitions two years ago
and it caused an avalanche of interest in his techno-mutant life-forms,
so when he emailed me to let me know there was another exhibition on
the last day of the International Robotics Expo, I was there! Read More
Urbee 2 to attempt US crossing using ten gallons of fuel
By Brian Dodson
November 10, 2013
Urbee 2, the first road-ready, fuel-efficient car
built using 3D printing, is the subject of a collaboration between
design firm KOR EcoLogic, direct digital manufacturers RedEye On Demand,
and 3D-printing manufacturer Stratsys. Their aim is to put the 7 hp (5
kW) three-wheeled, rear-steering eco-hybrid on the roads by 2015, and
then demonstrate its capabilities by crossing the US using only ten
gallons (38 L) of fuel. Read More
The B-52 heavy bomber is a bit like the Queen of
England – sometimes it seems as though both of them are going to go on
forever. Last week, Boeing announced a new program to extend the life of
the US Air Force B-52 fleet by expanding its capacity to carry smart
weapons by 50 percent as part of a new US$24.6 million contract. Read More
The torch for next year's Winter
Olympics in Russia took a detour into orbit yesterday as two Russian
cosmonauts working outside the International Space Station (ISS)
conducted the first ever torch handover in the vacuum of space. Read More
There are plenty of child-focused tablets out
there vying for your little one's attention, as we saw in our recent guide to choosing the best kids tablet.
Now Polaroid has added the latest version of its Kids Tablet 2 into the
fray, packed with content from the likes of Disney, Marvel and Cartoon
Network. Read More
An additional layer of security (and
fun) can be added to your computer's LCD display by following the lead
of Brusspup, a well-known online illusionist and computer artist. Just
remove your display's outer polarizing filter, and use polarizing
sunglasses instead. Read More
Planning on putting a new tablet on your holiday
wish list? Or maybe you're trying to find the perfect slate for a loved
one? There are a lot of tablets out there, but Gizmag is here to help
you sort through the mess. Join us, as we compare the features and specs
of the year's most popular tablets. Read More
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