iPad Air vs. older 9.7-inch iPads: Worth the upgrade?
October 24, 2013
With the new iPad Air
set to launch next week, you might be wondering whether it's worth the
upgrade. Or maybe you're eyeing a discounted or used older model, and
wondering if that's worth saving a few bucks on. Let Gizmag lend a hand,
as we compare the new iPad Air to the 4th-generation iPad, 3rd-generation iPad, and the iPad 2. Read More
People may make jokes about how duct
tape can be used to fix just about anything, but a new product is
claimed to be 100 times stronger than our matte-silver friend. It's
called FiberFix, and it's a tape impregnated with a resin that
reportedly "hardens like steel." Read More
In its early days, skateboarding was known in
some circles as "sidewalk surfing," but lately we've seen a number of
powered boards designed to leave the street behind and head off road. In
2009 we looked at one such prototype board known as the Scarpar Powerboard.
The inventor of that board, Dan Baldwin, has now developed another
prototype all-terrain board called the Ungoverned that is designed to
tackle everything from rocks to snow. Read More
On Monday, NASA confirmed the launch date of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission (MAVEN).
According to the space agency, MAVEN will launch atop a United Launch
Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida at 1:28 PM EST on November 18 on
the first leg of its mission to study the upper atmosphere of the Red
Planet. Read More
iPad Air vs. Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
October 28, 2013
With the iPad Air
locked, loaded, and ready to launch, perhaps you're wondering how it
sizes up next to (quite possibly) the best tablet Samsung has to offer.
Is the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition worth a look? Join Gizmag, as we put the features and specs of the two side-by-side. Read More
People may make jokes about how duct
tape can be used to fix just about anything, but a new product is
claimed to be 100 times stronger than our matte-silver friend. It's
called FiberFix, and it's a tape impregnated with a resin that
reportedly "hardens like steel." Read More
"What would the first pedal cycle have looked
like if its 19th-century pioneers had enjoyed access to today's advanced
materials?" That's the question German chemical and plastics company
BASF seeks to answer with the Concept 1865 bicycle, which updates a 19th
century penny-farthing bicycle design with a near full-plastic build
and an electric motor. Read More
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) carried out the first gliding approach and landing test of their Dream Chaser spacecraft
at Edwards Air Force Base on October 26. The vehicle dropped from its
carrier aircraft at 11:10 am, and carried out gliding and landing
maneuvers flawlessly. However, the left landing gear door did not
function, causing the test spacecraft to flip on landing. Read More
It looks like LG and Samsung are at it again. Both companies were vying for our attention
at CES 2013 with simultaneous "world's first" curved OLED television
announcements. LG consistently led in the race to the consumer space,
and looked liked being first to move the screen format onto smartphones
with the announcement earlier this month of its plans to mass produce flexible OLED phone displays. Samsung had other ideas, however, and the Galaxy Round
was launched just a few days later. LG has now caught up with the
forthcoming release of its slightly larger G Flex smartphone, featuring a
curved display that follows the contour of the face. Read More
Panasonic's ongoing effort to automate Japanese
hospitals continued this month with the launch of the HOSPI-R, an
autonomous delivery robot that is now on sale. In its press release,
Panasonic contends that robots like this one are needed to maintain and
improve the quality of nursing services due to Japan's rapidly aging
society. The latest in the company's line of HOSPI robots is designed to
transport samples and drugs so that lab technicians and nurses won't
have to. Read More
With a regular bicycle lock, you secure it to
your bike when you park, then just hope that everything will still be
intact when you get back. Such is not the case with the bike-mounted
Lock8, however. If anyone tries monkeying with it, a high-pitched alarm
will sound, and you will be instantly notified on your smartphone.
Should the thief proceed to steal the bike, you can use your phone to
track its whereabouts. Read More
Taking an acoustic guitar with you when you
travel can be a lesson in compromises. You may have to make do with an
odd-shaped instrument, a short necked model, or a cheap throw-away that
produces poor sound. Wouldn't it be great if you could strap a
full-sized Fender to your back, but still be able to meet commercial
airline carry on luggage size restrictions? The iconic guitar maker has
released two travel dreadnoughts with a Voyage-Air hinge mechanism that
allows the instruments to fold in half. Read More
Triggertrap Kickstarts the Redsnap expandable camera trigger
By Simon Crisp
October 24, 2013
For the past couple of years Triggertrap has been devising clever ways of triggering your camera, with its Triggertrap Mobile
smartphone app proving a hit with creative photographers. But sometimes
a smartphone trigger (no matter how smart) isn't the right tool the
job, which is why the firm has now revealed the Triggertrap Redsnap. The
affordable modular camera trigger uses a series of optional sensors to
make sure you never miss a shot, no matter how fleeting. Read More
A researcher at the University of Twente in the
Netherlands has developed a new optical memory disc out of tungsten and
silicon nitride that he says could store data safely for extremely long
periods of time – up to a billion years. Read More
e-fox velomobile wants to be your next "car"
By Ben Coxworth
October 24, 2013
Velomobiles, which can more or less be defined as
enclosed human-powered tricycles, come in many shapes and forms. Both
the Elf and the Tripod
feature an electric-assist motor, and have opted for a look that's sort
of like a cross between that of a trike and a car. The e-fox is the
latest such vehicle to come to our attention. It offers the same basic
features as its rivals, but at a lower estimated price. Read More
Astronomers discover the most distant known galaxy
October 24, 2013
Astronomers at UC Riverside have combined
observations from space and ground telescopes to discover what they say
is the oldest known galaxy with a precisely measured distance, seen as
it was just 700 million years after the Big Bang. Read More
Huge green walls like the installation at Edmonton Airport
are certainly more visually arresting than a succession of dreary old
framed prints, and are claimed to improve air quality, too. LivePicture
from New York-based Suite Plants takes this living wall idea and
downsizes it to fit in a frame that hangs on a wall like a painting.
Read More
The long-awaited Blackberry
Messenger (BBM) app for iOS and Android was rolled-out on Monday with
Blackberry reporting 10 million downloads in the first 24 hours of it
going live. Read More 
On Wednesday, at 12:10:27 GMT, ESA’s
Planck space telescope ended its four and a half year mission when
project scientist Jan Taube sent the command telling the unmanned probe
to switch itself off. Read More 
Northrop Grumman's X-47B Unmanned Combat Air
System (UCAS) may have grabbed headlines earlier this year with its first launches from and landings aboard an aircraft carrier, but Aerovel Corporation has completed an equally impressive launch, flight and landing of its Flexrotor UAV from a somewhat smaller carrier. And in this case, not only was the aircraft unmanned, so was the boat. Read More
Honda plans supercar, concept and crossover debuts for Tokyo
By C.C. Weiss
October 23, 2013
Mitsubishi isn't the only Japanese automaker planning to have a large presence
at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show. Honda announced this week that it
will cover more floor area than any other brand. It will reveal a host
of new concept and production models, including a small roadster
concept, the latest version of the NSX supercar and the production
version of the Urban SUV small crossover. Read More
Dubbed Picchio Boat (Woodpecker
Boat), this luxury catamaran concept from yacht designer Christian
Grande boasts large living zones, luxury furnishings and a stunning
glass-bottom master bedroom. Read More
Denmark-based architecture firm
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) recently completed work on the new Danish
National Maritime Museum. The museum is placed within a large
pre-existing dry dock, and thus doesn’t unduly disrupt the local area –
an important concern given its location adjacent to the historical
Kronborg castle, as immortalized in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Read More
It's easy to naysay ambitious plans,
and they don't come more ambitious than Virgin Galactic's. But
astronaut Chris Hadfield has some authority on the subject. Though his
views, revealed in a Guardian interview, are nuanced, they come with this sobering assessment: "Eventually they'll crash one." Read More
We're still suffering whiplash from the array of concept vehicles
that turned our heads at last month's Frankfurt Motor Show, and several
deserve a second, closer look. The Mercedes Concept S-Class Coupé is
among them. Read More
The Gaia mission to map a billion stars in the
Milky Way has been delayed for about two months by the European Space
Agency. Problems in X-band transponders used in other satellites have
begun to appear, and the ESA has decided to replace those modules prior
to launching. The likely blastoff date will be in late December of this
year. Read More
Most bracelets aren't likely to alter your
temperature too much either way, but the Wristify isn't most bracelets.
Developed by four MIT engineering students, the Wristify works on the
principle that heating or cooling the skin on one part of the body can
make the entire body feel warmer or colder. By creating a personal
heating and cooling device, the Wristify team ultimately hopes to cut
the amount of energy currently used to heat or cool entire buildings.
Read More
Dubbed Picchio Boat (Woodpecker
Boat), this luxury catamaran concept from yacht designer Christian
Grande boasts large living zones, luxury furnishings and a stunning
glass-bottom master bedroom. Read More
The newest entry in the fledgling space (or
near-space) tourism sector will see passengers take a balloon ride to an
altitude of 30 km (18.6 mi) from where they will be treated to a
spectacular view of the Earth. World View Enterprises has now obtained
US Federal Aviation Administration approval for its proposed balloon
experiences, which will cost US$75k, and are projected to begin in 2016.
Read More
iPad mini with Retina Display vs. iPad mini
October 24, 2013
If you already own an iPad mini, is it worth upgrading to the new model with Retina Display? Or maybe you're considering buying your first iPad mini, and are wondering if it's worth saving a few bucks on last year's model?
Let Gizmag help, as we plop the first two generations of the iPad mini
into our magical comparison machine, and see what happens. Read More
The thought of getting caught in a building fire
is terrifying. Flames raging, smoke obscuring your vision and making it
difficult to breathe, infrastructure crumbling, and you're trying
desperately to remain calm and get out. The 5aver won't douse the
flames, but the grab-and-go combination of lantern, alarm and mask is
designed to help you find your way to safety in a hurry. Read More
Bloc'd Sofa can be reconfigured to suit your needs
By Dave Parrack
October 24, 2013
A recurring theme we encounter at Gizmag is
furniture designed to make the most of a small space. This is a timely
trend, as living spaces in urban areas are increasingly being squeezed.
Multifunctional and modular furniture both help ease the problem, but
with the Bloc'd Sofa, Scott Jones has also toyed with the notion of
encouraging a connection with furniture that will lead to it being a
part of your life for a long time. Read More
Using a 3D printer, people can already determine
the length, width and depth of an object that they create. Thanks to
research being conducted at the University of Colorado, Boulder,
however, a fourth dimension can now be included – time. And no, we're
not talking about how long it takes to 3D-print an item. Instead, it's
now possible to print objects that change their shape at a given time.
Read More
The GPS gurus over at Garmin must be racking up
serious overtime. Hot on the heels of its first actioncam and the D2 pilot watch,
the Kansas company has an all-new tactical GPS watch. The Tactix
combines traditional ABC hardware with functions inspired by law
enforcement operations. It's the choice for everyone from special ops to
weekend recreational warriors. Read More
Heineken Sub delivers super-chilled lager to the home market
By David Szondy
October 24, 2013
When it comes to lager, it’s a matter of the
colder the better. The trouble is, domestic fridges aren't very cold,
and the alternative is either a cooler full of ice or a massive
kegerator that’s more furniture than appliance. Last Friday, Heineken,
in collaboration with Krups, unveiled its Sub beer dispenser in
Amsterdam. Aimed at the at-home beer market, it combines compactness
with some serious chill. Read More
Review: Rhino Shield impact-resistant smartphone screen film
By Ben Coxworth
October 27, 2013
It was just a month ago that we reported on Evolutive Labs' Rhino Shield,
a 6-layer transparent polymer film designed to protect smartphone
screens. Not only is it said to ward off scratches and fingerprints, but
it's also reportedly five times more impact-resistant than Gorilla
Glass 2. Evolutive recently sent me a testing kit, so I could see
first-hand just how tough it is – without endangering my smartphone in
the process. Here's how things turned out ... Read More
Many cars have been described as "works of art"
over the years, but aside from the odd maniac smearing the wheels with
paint and running over canvases, they've rarely been used to create
art. Lexus is looking to change that with the Art is Motion system in
one of its IS 300h sedans, which has the peculiar ability of painting a
portrait of the driver while they're behind the wheel. Read More
Hands on with the Ego-kits mountain bike motor system
By C.C. Weiss
October 26, 2013
Gizmag recently traveled to Austria and met up with Mario and Daniel Preining, the brother team behind the EGO-kits
add-on mountain bike electric drive. We found out about the latest
developments at the company, which include a faster, more powerful kit
and an appearance on Austrian start-up TV competition Two Minutes, Two Million.
In between torrential downpours, we took an EGO-equipped bike out,
twisted the throttle and found out what motor-assisted downhill mountain
biking is all about. Read More
Robots have become a mainstay of space exploration. From rovers to chatty anime robots
on the International Space Station, they have already proven their
worth in many ways. But what will the space robots of the future look
like? The European Space Agency has released a video showing advanced
robotics designs for lunar and planetary exploration. The concepts
include multifunction robots designed for both autonomous space
exploration and to aid astronauts in working on other worlds. Read More
Chances are, you know that dolphins use sonar to
locate and stun prey underwater. You might also know that they create
"bubble nets," in which they trap fish inside a ring of air bubbles that
they blow while swimming in a circle. With all those distracting
bubbles suspended in the water, though, their sonar needs to work in a
special way in order to pick out the fish. Scientists have copied that
sonar system, to create a type of radar that could differentiate between
ordinary objects and things like explosive devices. Read More
Home aquaponics kits, which combine fish and
plants in a symbiotic relationship, are becoming more and more popular.
One of them, the Fishy Farm, is a fairly large setup. The Home Aquaponics Kit, on the other hand, is pretty small, while the ECO-Cycle
is designed to sit on top of an existing aquarium. The latest arrival
on the scene, the Aqualibrium Garden, manages to carve out yet another
niche for itself. Read More
Review: Grip & Shoot iPhone photography pistol grip
By Ben Coxworth
October 25, 2013
It was just a few months ago that we first saw the Grip & Shoot
at CE Week in New York City. The device is a pistol grip attachment for
the iPhone (4S and higher), allowing users to shoot stills and video
one-handed, without having their fingers awkwardly splayed to reach the
touchscreen controls. Its commercial launch has taken place since then,
so I recently had the chance to try one out for myself. Read More
Hamilton gets two-faced with Jazzmaster Face 2 Face timepiece
By C.C. Weiss
October 25, 2013
In a fashion-obsessed world, no single timepiece
works for every possible scenario. Perhaps that's why Hamilton Watches
designed a timepiece with two distinct looks and personalities. The new
Jazzmaster Face 2 Face combines two separate dials in a single watch.
Read More
To address the challenges encountered in
decommissioning a nuclear facility, the UK-based firm TWI has since 2009
been developing laser tube-cutting methods for the UK's Nuclear
Decommissioning Authority. It has now demonstrated a 5 kW fiber laser
projector, configured rather like a rifle, that can be wielded by a
single person. Read More
When Occipital launched its Kickstarter campaign
for a portable 3D sensor for mobile devices, it saw the project fully
funded within a few hours. Knowing we had to see this gadget in action,
Gizmag met with co-founder Vikas Reddy after Structure Sensor had
become the 50th Kickstarter project to reach the million-dollar mark.
Our goal was to test the gadget that has its backers so eager to test
one too. Read More
Snapper Cap gives the lens cap a new purpose in life
By Simon Crisp
October 28, 2013
Lens caps normally serve just one purpose, that
of protecting your lenses from getting bashed around and scratched when
not in use. But James Sale thinks they should do more. His creation, the
Snapper Cap, not only protects a lens, but also adds the storage space
needed for stowing a spare memory card or lens wipe. Read More
How to keep the Windows 8.1 Modern UI out of your way
October 28, 2013
The Metro interface in Windows 8.1 makes sense on
a touch-enabled device, but on a traditional computer, it's only an
afterthought. In the first iteration of Windows 8, it was hard to get
around on the desktop without the Start screen, hot corners, app
switcher bar and other elements of the touch interface getting in your
way. Windows 8.1 has been improved and includes features that let you
boot directly to the desktop and keep Metro elements out of your way. If
you prefer to stay on the traditional desktop as much as possible,
here's a look at how to do it. Read More
Denmark-based architecture firm
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) recently completed work on the new Danish
National Maritime Museum. The museum is placed within a large
pre-existing dry dock, and thus doesn’t unduly disrupt the local area –
an important concern given its location adjacent to the historical
Kronborg castle, as immortalized in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Read More Tiny capsule adds a sense of touch to laparoscopic surgery
October 28, 2013
Researchers at Nashville's Vanderbilt University
have developed a wireless capsule that can restore a sense of touch for
surgeons. Keyhole surgeries or other minimally invasive procedures could
benefit greatly from this new technology, as the capsule provides
haptic feedback to help doctors maneuver and make important conclusions
during surgery. Read More
It's easy to naysay ambitious plans,
and they don't come more ambitious than Virgin Galactic's. But
astronaut Chris Hadfield has some authority on the subject. Though his
views, revealed in a Guardian interview, are nuanced, they come with this sobering assessment: "Eventually they'll crash one." Read More
San Francisco-based artificial intelligence
startup Vicarious has announced that it has developed software
algorithms which can solve CAPTCHAs up to 90 percent of the time. Though
CAPTCHAs are any automated test which differentiates between humans and
computers, they often take the form of strings of partly distorted
letters and numbers which many websites use to check that a visitor is
human, the idea being that a computer cannot read the disguised text
while a human (hopefully) can. It’s this type of CAPTCHA that
Vicarious’s algorithms are designed to beat, and the high success rate
renders the current standard of text-based CAPTCHAs ineffective, the
company claims. Read More
James Dyson will announce the winner of the
international student design award that carries his name in a little
over a week, so it's an opportune time to take a closer look at the
finalists. This year, Dyson has 20 finalists from which to make his
selection, and like previous years, it looks like being no easy task.
Here are the entries still in the running for the first place prize that
has been upped to £30,000 (US$48,500) for 2013. Read More
We're still suffering whiplash from the array of concept vehicles
that turned our heads at last month's Frankfurt Motor Show, and several
deserve a second, closer look. The Mercedes Concept S-Class Coupé is
among them. Read More
A strong opening act gets your audience's
attention. An even better second act gives them the confidence that
they're in for a great show. But what if, rather than building on that
momentum, your third act merely retreads the high points of the first
two acts? Is your masterpiece ruined? Or is it just a more predictable
kind of fun? Join Gizmag, as we review the iterative third act in Warner
Bros.' Batman: Arkham series of games, Batman: Arkham Origins. Read More
As airliners have grown bigger, so have the jet
engines needed to thrust them into the air. We're now at the point where
the words “jet engine” conjure up something with a maw big enough for a
Mini Cooper to easily drive through. But not every jet aircraft is a
double decker people carrier and not every engine is a behemoth. On
Thursday, General electric announced that the HF120 jet engine it’s
co-developing for the HondaJet completed its US FAA certification testing – and its fan aperture is only 18 inches (45.7 cm) across. Read More
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