Review: TYLT Energi+ device-charging backpack
By Dave LeClair
October 29, 2013
Not long ago, a backpack was a simple device, one
made for carrying books, small personal items, and other stuff. Then,
something changed, and backpacks started evolving. Now it's not at all
uncommon to find a backpack that can actually charge the electronic
devices within it. One such model is the Energi+ Backpack from TYLT,
which I've been using for the past couple of weeks. It's not the first
backpack equipped with a battery, but is it the best? Read More
V-Tex could be the "microwave cooler" that you wish existed
By Ben Coxworth
October 29, 2013
Chances are, this has happened to you at least
once ... you come inside on a hot day, open the fridge, and discover
that you haven't set aside any juice/beer/pop to chill. Even if you were
to put some in the freezer, it would still be at least 10 or 15 minutes
before it was good and cold. "Why isn't there something like a
microwave cooler?" you find yourself wondering. Well, there
soon could be, in the form of the V-Tex – although it will incorporate
vortexes instead of microwaves. Read More
NASA took another step back into the
astronaut-launching business when it announced on Monday that last week
it had powered up the crew capsule of the Orion
spacecraft for the first time. According to the space agency, the test
of the spacecraft’s avionics systems, conducted at the Kennedy Space
Center in Florida, is a major milestone in preparing the craft for its
first unmanned test flight in the autumn of next year. Read More
The smartphone is like the modern
day, techy Swiss Army Knife. But it can't do everything. The Canadian
Avalanche Centre says that avalanche rescue apps can not effectively
replace dedicated avalanche beacons. Read More 
Only a few weeks after attendees at the annual
developer conference of Finland's MultiTouch Ltd got a first look at the
company's latest MultiTaction monster, it's gone up for pre-order.
Currently a working prototype, the new 84-inch unit is claimed to be the
world's first fully integrated, 4K resolution interactive display. Read More
Moneual's Rydis H67 robot both vacuums and mops
By Dave LeClair
October 29, 2013
Sometimes, we just don't find the time we need to
clean our homes. That's where cleaning robots can be a real life saver,
as they do the cleaning for you. A new one from Moneual, called the
Rydis H67, combines a vacuum for carpets and mop for tile and wood
floors into one electronic workhorse. Read More
If you regularly watch any police forensics TV
shows, then the word "Luminol" is probably already part of your
vocabulary. Now, however, you might also want to add the word
"Lumicyano." That's the name of a new product that is said to reveal
latent fingerprints faster, cheaper and better than other methods. Read More
We’re big fans
of shipping container-based architecture here at Gizmag, and the latest
such project to grab our attention comes via JYA-RCHITECTS and its Low
Cost House. The budget-friendly dwelling features three shipping
containers placed within a surrounding structure in order to provide a
safe and attractive home for a family of seven. Read More
Smartwatches like the Samsung Galaxy Gear, Pebble, and Sony Smartwatch 2
give you some basic smartphone features on your wrist. But if you're
waiting for the next batch of smartwatches that evolves the product even
further, Google's will be one of the big ones to keep an eye on. A new
report suggests we might not have long to wait on that front. Read More
Strike a light: Amazon's ebook-matching service goes live
October 29, 2013
In what is potentially exciting news for anyone
with a library split between the digital and physical realms, Amazon has
launched the Kindle MatchBook service, which aims to provide Kindle
ebook copies of your old, pre-digital manuscripts (or books, as some may
remember them) bought from Amazon. However, the service will not be
available for all books, and in many cases, matched ebooks will cost a
few dollars. Read More
With its Budgee Bot robot, Five Elements Robotics
has created a machine that embodies what was presumably in Karel
Čapek's mind when he originally applied the word robot to an artificial
automaton. First brought to public attention in his 1920 play R.U.R.
(short for Rossum's Universal Robots), the word robot was adapted from
robota, meaning something akin to a slave laborer in his native Czech.
And though Budgee Bot is not designed for a life confined to a factory
(and appears unlikely to overthrow human society), it is designed to obediently follow you around, carrying your stuff. Read More
Robokind Zeno R25 social robot detects and mimics emotions
By David Szondy
October 29, 2013
More and more, robots are moving into our
everyday lives, and if they’re not going to end up being incredibly
annoying, they’re going to have to learn to recognize and cope with
human emotions. RoboKind of Dallas, Texas has started a Kickstarter
campaign to raise capital for the further development of its Zeno R25
interactive humanoid robot, which is designed to interact with humans in
an intuitive way by detecting and mimicking emotions. Read More
A 110-core CPU chip has been developed by
computer scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The
chip is based on a new architecture in which instead of bringing data
across the chip to the core that happens to want it, you move the
program to the core where the data is stored. In practice, this new
architecture reduces the amount of on-chip data exchange tenfold, along
with the heat and infrastructure demanded by conventional chip
architecture. Read More
It's been over a year since the developers of the Oculus Rift
raised almost US$2.5 million through Kickstarter, and it looks like
they've been putting those funds to good use. Besides working on a
consumer model of its innovative virtual reality goggles, the company
recently revealed it has been adapting its headset especially for mobile
devices running Android. Read More
Suzuki has revealed its plans for next month's Tokyo Motor Show. Like Honda, it will showcase a variety of equipment, including cars, motorcycles and personal transportation. And like Mitsubishi, it will shine a little light on green crossover/4x4 concepts, including an open-top convertible known as the X-Lander. Read More
In 2007, mathematicians from the University of
Exeter showed that the freeway traffic jams that appear to occur for no
reason are actually the result of a "backward traveling wave" initiated
when a driver slows below a critical speed. This sets off a chain
reaction that ultimately results in traffic further down the line coming
to a complete standstill. An MIT professor has now developed an
algorithm that could be applied to a modified Adaptive Cruise Control
(ACC) system to help eliminate such traffic jams. Read More
McLaren, the small yet mighty UK boutique auto
house that has given the planet some of its most brilliant Formula 1 and
production cars, turned fifty this year. Here's Gizmag's look at the
company's journey from a back shed in New Zealand to a world-renowned
name in the highest circles of automotive excellence. Read More
Project Ara: Motorola's vision for a modular smartphone
By Dave Parrack
October 29, 2013
An interesting concept for a modular smartphone
blew up online in September, with Dave Hakkens revealing his idea for
Phonebloks. It turns out that Hakkens wasn't the only one to be
imagining a brave new future for smartphones, with Motorola announcing
it has been working on a similar concept for the past year. Could
Motorola Ara actually happen or is it still, despite Google's enviable
and practically unlimited resources, a nice idea that is unlikely ever
to become reality? Read More
Police car chases are extremely
dangerous, not only for the officers involved, but also for any innocent
passers-by whom the feeing car crashes into. The StarChase system,
however, is designed to make those chases safer. Instead of pursuing
fugitive vehicles, police can just shoot them with GPS tags. Read More 
Many veteran guitarists believe that great tone
can only come from instruments made using exotic hardwoods. This hasn't
stopped makers from trying other materials, though, including Ampeg's
iconic Dan Armstrong-designed Plexiglas guitar, the all-metal Gittler Guitar, and the 3D-printed guitar
from AweSome Musical Instruments. For its new line of hand-made,
Tele-shaped axes, France's Kompozit Guitars has chosen to give
polyester-based fiberglass a whirl. Read More
Police car chases are extremely
dangerous, not only for the officers involved, but also for any innocent
passers-by whom the feeing car crashes into. The StarChase system,
however, is designed to make those chases safer. Instead of pursuing
fugitive vehicles, police can just shoot them with GPS tags. Read More
With its Budgee Bot robot, Five Elements Robotics
has created a machine that embodies what was presumably in Karel
Čapek's mind when he originally applied the word robot to an artificial
automaton. First brought to public attention in his 1920 play R.U.R.
(short for Rossum's Universal Robots), the word robot was adapted from
robota, meaning something akin to a slave laborer in his native Czech.
And though Budgee Bot is not designed for a life confined to a factory
(and appears unlikely to overthrow human society), it is designed to obediently follow you around, carrying your stuff. Read More
Robokind Zeno R25 social robot detects and mimics emotions
By David Szondy
October 29, 2013
More and more, robots are moving into our
everyday lives, and if they’re not going to end up being incredibly
annoying, they’re going to have to learn to recognize and cope with
human emotions. RoboKind of Dallas, Texas has started a Kickstarter
campaign to raise capital for the further development of its Zeno R25
interactive humanoid robot, which is designed to interact with humans in
an intuitive way by detecting and mimicking emotions. Read More
A 110-core CPU chip has been developed by
computer scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The
chip is based on a new architecture in which instead of bringing data
across the chip to the core that happens to want it, you move the
program to the core where the data is stored. In practice, this new
architecture reduces the amount of on-chip data exchange tenfold, along
with the heat and infrastructure demanded by conventional chip
architecture. Read More
It's been over a year since the developers of the Oculus Rift
raised almost US$2.5 million through Kickstarter, and it looks like
they've been putting those funds to good use. Besides working on a
consumer model of its innovative virtual reality goggles, the company
recently revealed it has been adapting its headset especially for mobile
devices running Android. Read More
Suzuki has revealed its plans for next month's Tokyo Motor Show. Like Honda, it will showcase a variety of equipment, including cars, motorcycles and personal transportation. And like Mitsubishi, it will shine a little light on green crossover/4x4 concepts, including an open-top convertible known as the X-Lander. Read More
In 2007, mathematicians from the University of
Exeter showed that the freeway traffic jams that appear to occur for no
reason are actually the result of a "backward traveling wave" initiated
when a driver slows below a critical speed. This sets off a chain
reaction that ultimately results in traffic further down the line coming
to a complete standstill. An MIT professor has now developed an
algorithm that could be applied to a modified Adaptive Cruise Control
(ACC) system to help eliminate such traffic jams. Read More
McLaren, the small yet mighty UK boutique auto
house that has given the planet some of its most brilliant Formula 1 and
production cars, turned fifty this year. Here's Gizmag's look at the
company's journey from a back shed in New Zealand to a world-renowned
name in the highest circles of automotive excellence. Read More
Project Ara: Motorola's vision for a modular smartphone
By Dave Parrack
October 29, 2013
An interesting concept for a modular smartphone
blew up online in September, with Dave Hakkens revealing his idea for
Phonebloks. It turns out that Hakkens wasn't the only one to be
imagining a brave new future for smartphones, with Motorola announcing
it has been working on a similar concept for the past year. Could
Motorola Ara actually happen or is it still, despite Google's enviable
and practically unlimited resources, a nice idea that is unlikely ever
to become reality? Read More
Police car chases are extremely
dangerous, not only for the officers involved, but also for any innocent
passers-by whom the feeing car crashes into. The StarChase system,
however, is designed to make those chases safer. Instead of pursuing
fugitive vehicles, police can just shoot them with GPS tags. Read More
Many veteran guitarists believe that great tone
can only come from instruments made using exotic hardwoods. This hasn't
stopped makers from trying other materials, though, including Ampeg's
iconic Dan Armstrong-designed Plexiglas guitar, the all-metal Gittler Guitar, and the 3D-printed guitar
from AweSome Musical Instruments. For its new line of hand-made,
Tele-shaped axes, France's Kompozit Guitars has chosen to give
polyester-based fiberglass a whirl. Read More
If you’ve ever wanted more ways to
show the world your logo, your dance skills, your business’s lunch
special, or your funny cat videos, the Cyclops could be for you. It’s a
snapback hat kitted out with an LCD display that syncs with a mobile
app. Read More
There are certainly a multitude of
compact, portable Bluetooth speakers out there, although many of them
don't feature the satisfying bass response of larger models. That's
where the two-part Volcano comes in. Its top speaker can be toted around
and used on its own, or plugged into the sub-woofer base unit to
deliver the full "oontz-oontz-oontz" experience. Read More
Combining solar power, health care
and education is the concept behind Samsung’s Digital Villages, a
project recently launched in South Africa as the kick-off a larger plan
that includes units in Ethiopia and Gabon by the end of 2013. The
Digital Village is also designed to help local traders develop their
business with a sustainable and low-cost alternative to fossil fuels.
Read More
Rare earth elements are an integral
part of many of today's electronic devices, serving as magnets,
catalysts and superconductors. Unfortunately, these minerals are also
... well, rare, and thus very pricey. Recently, however,
scientists discovered that some of them can be reclaimed from industrial
wastewater, instead of being mined from the earth. Read More
Fuelmatics and Husky develop petrol-pumping robot
By David Szondy
October 30, 2013
There was a time when pulling into a service
station would coincide with an attendant in a pressed uniform and a
peaked cap running up to your car to ask if you’d like to fill ‘er up.
That scene may be relegated to Mad Men, but a robotic
replacement has arrived. At this month’s 2013 PEI Convention at the NACS
Show in Atlanta, the Husky Corporation’s booth played host to a robotic
fuel attendant called the Fuelmatics Automatic Refueling System (ARS)
that the company is developing in collaboration with Stockholm-based
Fuelmatics Systems AB. Read More
If you’ve ever wanted more ways to
show the world your logo, your dance skills, your business’s lunch
special, or your funny cat videos, the Cyclops could be for you. It’s a
snapback hat kitted out with an LCD display that syncs with a mobile
app. Read More
Perhaps you know someone who's a member of the
"lifelogging" community – these are people who record pretty much all of
their waking hours, typically using small, wearable video cameras.
The problem is, they inevitably end up with a lot of footage that's
just ... well, boring, even to them. That's where the neurocam comes in.
It's a prototype headset camera, that only records when it detects that
its wearer is interested in what they're seeing. Read More
It must get boring and lonely spending your days
in a lab, mixing up slightly different plastics, epoxies and composites.
Perhaps that's why BASF is making a push to get out in front of the
world and show what these materials can really do. Prior to the Concept 1865 plastic bike,
the German company updated a 1958 BMW Isetta "bubble car" with some of
its materials and coatings. The car, which makes the Smart ForTwo look
rather roomy, also gets a unique home entertainment system. Read More
Visitors to the homes of audio buffs might well
be surprised to find weighty blocks of concrete breaking up the living
room's otherwise colorful designer decor. These high-end music lovers
have turned their backs on the unwelcome distortion and color that can
be caused by oscillations of MDF, wood or plastic speaker cabinets, and
plumped for drivers housed in concrete. If you can't afford, or don't
have room for, large commercially-available floor-standing units like
the exquisite N1 loudspeakers from Germany's Concrete Audio, Italy's
Digital Habit(s) design house has created a gesture-controlled,
Bluetooth-enabled tabletop speaker called PACO, which can be built at
home using open source plans, or bought fully assembled. Read More
The Large Underground Xenon experiment, buried
nearly a mile beneath South Dakota, has completed 85 days of seeking
dark matter particles. The results are consistent with a null result,
and essentially rule out the 8.6 GeV dark matter candidate noted in the
data of other experiments. Read More
Most tablets look pretty similar. You could argue
that this is because their iPad-like form factor makes the most sense.
But Lenovo thinks there's still some room for variety. Take the
company's new Yoga Android tablets, which add a cylindrical bulge and
kickstand to the traditional tablet design. Read More
There are certainly a multitude of
compact, portable Bluetooth speakers out there, although many of them
don't feature the satisfying bass response of larger models. That's
where the two-part Volcano comes in. Its top speaker can be toted around
and used on its own, or plugged into the sub-woofer base unit to
deliver the full "oontz-oontz-oontz" experience. Read More
When you think of e-readers, what's the first
brand that comes to mind? Kindle, perhaps? Well, despite hitting some
hard times, Barnes & Noble's Nook
line also has its share of loyal customers. And those folks just got a
pre-holiday treat, as B&N looks to take on the Kindle Paperwhite
with a refreshed frontlit Nook GlowLight e-reader. Read More
Combining solar power, health care
and education is the concept behind Samsung’s Digital Villages, a
project recently launched in South Africa as the kick-off a larger plan
that includes units in Ethiopia and Gabon by the end of 2013. The
Digital Village is also designed to help local traders develop their
business with a sustainable and low-cost alternative to fossil fuels.
Read More DJI releases camera-equipped Phantom 2 Vision quadcopter
By Ben Coxworth
October 31, 2013
DJI Innovations unveiled its GPS-enabled Phantom quadcopter less than a year ago, and since then it has become perhaps the go-to aerial platform for the GoPro HERO actioncam. In April, the company provided us with a sneak peek
at the next model in the line, the Phantom 2 Vision. While there
weren't many details available at the time, that's changed as of today,
with the Vision's official commercial release. Among its new features
are improved battery life, a video-stabilizing platform and most
significant of all, an included HD video camera that allows for
first-person-view via a mobile device. Read More
Back in June the world got its first glimpse of
the iStruct, a robot ape developed at the German Research Center for
Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and the University of Bremen. We
predicted that in addition to the stability afforded by walking on all
fours, the robot ape could feasibly stand up to free its hands for other
kinds of work. Now the team has published a video that shows how their
robot accomplishes this maneuver with the help of its flexible spine and
sensitive feet. Read More
With just a few taps on a tablet screen, children
as young as 5 are programming a pair of robots called Bo and Yana using
a simple GUI. Looking a bit like the cute one-eyed monsters from a
Pixar film, the bots are the flagship products of a start-up called
Play-i, founded by a team with experience at Amazon and Apple. In just
two days, the company has nearly reached its crowdfunding goal of
US$250,000, with plans to send out the first batch in the northern
summer of 2014. Read More
Measuring laser power with a mirror and a scale
By Brian Dodson
October 31, 2013
A group of researchers at NIST working with
engineers from Colorado-based Scientech has developed a new approach to
measuring laser power using a mirror and a scale. This method, which
measures the force on the mirror driven by the radiation pressure of the
laser light, presents a more rugged and more portable solution than
current meters. Read More
It doesn't seem too long ago that a quality
headphones amplifier was the size of a chunky paperback novel, and would
occupy so much space in a laptop bag that it would probably get left
behind more often than not. Now the UK's Cambridge Audio has managed to
squeeze a high-end digital-to-analog (DAC) converter and headphone amp
into a device that's smaller than a matchbox. Read More
The Japanese Ministry of Defense got the ball rolling, as it were, in 2011 when it unveiled its spherical air vehicle, which was followed by the Kyosho Space Ball and Puzzlebox Orbit
in 2012. Now researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
(EPFL) in Switzerland have got in on the act with Gimball, a flying
robot that takes crashing into obstacles in its stride. Read More
It’s interesting how a little context will shape
one’s opinions. Turns out I’d been an accidental fan of McLaren for
years. Before the name became synonymous with Formula 1, and before the
release of the iconic F1 supercar in the 90s, there were slotcars. Yes
you heard me, slotcars. Going through some old Kodaks, I realized I’d in
fact been driving scaled down, electric McLarens since the 70s. So upon
learning I’d be driving the full-scale version of McLaren’s 12C Spider, I was as pleased as Scottish schoolboy in September. Read More
A mission to return samples from the planet Mars
is still many years away and, officially, not on the calendar. That
hasn't stopped ESA from producing a proof-of-concept prototype of the
scientific “box of delights,” which could one day bring bits of the Red
Planet back to Earth for study. Read More
Collapsible Bloom helmet expands for emergencies
By Dave Parrack
October 30, 2013
Natural disasters can strike at any moment, and
often with little, if any, warning. This is especially true in countries
located along fault lines, which can experience sudden and devastating
earthquakes. Though countries such as Japan have measures in place
designed to warn of earthquakes, the risk still exists. Which is where
the Bloom from Toyo Safety could prove its worth. Read More
After successfully putting his NASA design skills to work on the Cricket Trailer, Garrett Finney has started on an even smaller field shelter. Similar in purpose to the Teal Tail Feather and other small campers,
the new Firefly is designed to split the difference between gear hauler
and camper. It can be mounted to a pickup truck bed, towed on a utility
trailer or choppered in to remote locations. Read More
Relatively unknown in the automotive mainstream,
Canada’s Magnum began building open-wheeled race cars and specialized
parts in the late 1960s. Now the boutique manufacturer from Quebec has
moved to the streets with the introduction of the open-aired,
dual-purpose Magnum MK5. Read More
Traditional gaming hardware usually includes two
main components: the console itself, and a controller. Mobile devices
generally rely on touchscreens for game input, but many find this can
take away from the traditional gaming experience. That's where
third-party devices come into play. A new one, called the Drone, brings
an open source controller to a wide range of devices, saving users from
having to buy a separate controller for each. Read More
The depths of a coal mine couldn't be considered
ideal driving conditions for most vehicles, but the Mk7.0 TIER 3 Mine
Cruiser isn't most vehicles. GE recently announced that it has delivered
its 500th Mine Cruiser, which is a four-wheel drive utility vehicle
capable of carrying up to 14 passengers, yet is built to operate safely
in the vast galleries of modern underground coal mines. Read More
As promised earlier this month,
Denmark's Bang & Olufsen has officially moved into the wireless
speaker market with the launch of three new WiSA-certified BeoLab
digital active speakers. Undeniably stylish and capable of streaming
high fidelity, uncompressed audio, the Immaculate Wireless Sound range
comprises the BeoLab 17 bookshelf speaker, the BeoLab 18 column
floor-standers, and the BeoLab 19 subwoofer. Read More
Rare earth elements are an integral
part of many of today's electronic devices, serving as magnets,
catalysts and superconductors. Unfortunately, these minerals are also
... well, rare, and thus very pricey. Recently, however,
scientists discovered that some of them can be reclaimed from industrial
wastewater, instead of being mined from the earth. Read More Pro-Line V3 Dual Sport skateboard converts for on- and off-road use
By C.C. Weiss
October 31, 2013
There are plenty of electric skateboard designs on the market – a whole lot of them, in fact. There are also electric mountain boards.
The Altered Pro-Line V3 DS lays claim to being the first wireless
design that combines both styles into one board. Users can rip through
the dirt and zip across pavement with one modular board. Read More
Back in 2008, we heard about a parasail-equipped dune buggy, known as the Parajet Skycar.
It could scramble over rough ground like a true off-roader, but then
take to the skies when needed. One epic 6,000-km (3,728-mile)
drive/flight from London to Tombouctou later, its creators got some
ideas about how the design could be improved. The result is the lighter,
better-flying and less-polluting SkyRunner – and you can order one now.
Read More
Part of owning a smartphone is purchasing
accessories that go along with it. We need chargers, cases, and other
devices to really complete the experience. A trend you can't help but
notice in the mobile space is accessories that perform multiple
functions, with the aim of cutting down on the amount of stuff we need
to carry. ChargeDrive for iPhone and Android phones is one such device,
pulling quadruple duty as a charger, tripod, stand and thumb drive. Read More
Google's Nexus 5 running Android KitKat is finally here
By Eric Mack
October 31, 2013
After what seemed like an interminable wait for
many Android and Nexus fans, Google's Nexus 5 smartphone is finally
official. The LG phone runs Android 4.4 KitKat and is available unlocked
for $349. Read More
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