Bonaverde brews up complete solution for coffee aficionados
November 15, 2013
Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in
the world, the fuel that ignites the brain in the morning and keeps us
going throughout the day. Some people take their coffee more seriously,
and enjoy a more artisanal approach to coffee-making, and not just
stirring up a quick instant coffee. It’s for those people that
Berlin-based startup Bonaverde has launched a new coffee-making machine
that gives coffee lovers total control of the process. Read More
Bathing with your significant other
is good in all sorts of ways, although things can get kind of cramped
when you try sticking two people in one bathtub. That's why German
wellness products manufacturer Trautwein created the Yin Yang "couple
bath." It lets you and that special someone bathe together without, you
know ... bathing together. Read More 
In the first decade of the new millennium,
Toyota's Partner Robot program was known for its truly incredible
humanoid robot band that could play the trumpet, trombone, tuba, drums,
and even the violin. Gradually these projects, which were designed to
entertain while demonstrating the deftness with which Toyota's robot
hands could manipulate objects, gave way to more practical applications.
The automotive giant was on hand at the International Robot Exhibition
(IREX) 2013 to showcase its latest robotic innovations, including the
Winglet, the Human Support Robot, and a new compliant robot arm. Read More
Historics auction house in Surrey, UK, is listing
a fully road-legal Batmobile for sale. It’s not an original – the car
is a replica of the vehicle used by Michael Keaton in Tim Burton’s 1989
and 1992 movies – but Historics lists the piece as an "extremely well
conceived tribute." Read More
The inFORM Dynamic Shape Display from MIT's
Tangible Media Group allows users to interact with data with a minimum
of physical barriers. It also allows users to virtually reach through a
display screen, and manipulate physical objects that may be thousands of
miles away. While the current version of inFORM has very limited
spatial resolution, watching it in action gives one a strong impression
of the potential of such devices. Read More
Urban style meets cycling function in the Eclaireur LED jacket
By C.C. Weiss
November 15, 2013
LED jackets built for cycling and running are nothing new. We've covered the Sporty Supaheroe jacket and other examples of this type of wearable technology.
Where the new Eclaireur jacket steps it up is in integrating LEDs into a
jacket you'll wear in public when you're not on your bike. On purpose.
Read More
Sometimes, success brings its own problems.
London’s airports may have managed to grab a considerable chunk of the
passenger air market, but the result has been congestion over the south
of England and a desperate clamor for new runways. This week, the Thames
Estuary Research and Development Company (Testrad) consortium unveiled
details of a scheme designed to take the pressure off. Its London
Britannia Airport proposal involves building an artificial island in the
Thames Estuary near the Isle of Sheppey to provide the capital with a
larger airport, which would replace Heathrow. Read More
Sometimes everything can seem to happen at once.
The new game in town is active invisibility cloaks (AIC), which use
electronics and antennas to generate a cloaking field to hide an object.
Two types of active cloaks have just been revealed (excuse the pun).
While being impressive feats of technology, such cloaks could easily be
defeated in practice. Read More
In recent years, lithium-air batteries
that promise improved power density per pound over lithium-ion
batteries have been the subject of much research in the quest to give
electronic vehicles greater range. By enlisting the help of a
genetically-modified virus, researchers at MIT have found a way to
improve the performance and durability of lithium-air batteries, which
offer the potential of two to three times the energy density of current
lithium-ion batteries. Read More
As evidenced by ongoing efforts in the
Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, getting aid and support
personnel in and victims out of disaster-stricken areas is a major
problem when infrastructure such as runways has been rendered unusable. A
new aircraft concept combining features of an airship, plane,
helicopter and hovercraft that is being developed as part of the
European Commission's Extremely Short Take Off and Landing On any
Surface (ESTOLAS) project could help address the problem. Read More
Microsoft has released a 3D printing
application for Windows 8.1 called 3D Builder. It allows users to view,
design and prepare objects for printing and includes a library of
editable objects to help users familiarize themselves with the software.
Read More
The local cultural association of
the small Austrian market town of Krumbach has invited a range of
international architects to submit their takes on the humble bus stop.
The results are in, and one minimal design has already been built. Read More
Apparently not content with putting a
coffee shop on every second street corner, Starbucks has teamed with
Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) to expand into rail travel with the
unveiling of the first railway carriage converted into a Starbucks. Read More
German designer Johannes Kiessler
has created a sleek hanging lamp which is predominantly made from
cardboard. Dubbed, Numerouno, the eco-friendly lamp weighs a mere 600 g
(21 oz) and features a low consumption 21 W fluorescent tube that emits
the same amount of light as a traditional 150 W light bulb. Read More
Boeing has launched its newest
airliner, the 777X, at the 2013 Dubai Airshow. The aircraft is designed
with folding wing-tips that will increase wingspan and, as a result,
fuel efficiency without limiting access at airports. Read More
Remember back when everyone owned a
pair of rollerblades? How about several decades before that, when kids
still strapped roller skates onto their shoes? Well, the
California-based Cardiff Skate Company has sort of combined the one
device with the other, in the form of its appropriately-named Cardiff
Skate. Read More
Elertus keeps an electronic eye on the wine cellar
By David Szondy
November 16, 2013
Last month, Elertus of Draper, Utah unveiled its
Elertus Wine Protection System, which uses a wireless sensor that
monitors temperature, humidity, and movement. It’s designed to keep an
eye on your wine cellar or cabinet to make sure that your vin ordinaire
is properly stored and that no one is helping themselves to the odd
bottle of Chateau le Tour. Read More
Microsoft has released a 3D printing
application for Windows 8.1 called 3D Builder. It allows users to view,
design and prepare objects for printing and includes a library of
editable objects to help users familiarize themselves with the software.
Read More The vtalk desk phone: A smartphone for your desk
By Dave LeClair
November 16, 2013
Is the humble home phone headed the way of the
dodo? Jeremy Bogan doesn't think so, which is why he has created the
vtalk desk phone with the goal of bringing smartphone-like features to a
device that stays put in the home of the user. Are home phones losing
traction because smartphones offer so much, or because they have not
evolved in terms of features? Bogan believes it's the latter. Read More
Summon the geek squad: An Oscilloscope Watch!
By Brian Dodson
November 16, 2013
What do you wear on your wrist, is one-third the
size of a deck of cards, and helps you troubleshoot your latest
electronics project? The Oscilloscope Watch, of course. The Swiss army
knife of electronics, this tiny test lab (or bulky watch) includes a
2-channel oscilloscope, frequency analyzer, arbitrary function
generator, and a protocol sniffer. The price? An amazing US$125. Oh yes
... it also tells time. Read More
Algorithm could drastically improve the performance of hearing aids
By Ben Coxworth
November 16, 2013
Despite some advances that have been made in the
field, one of the continuing problems with hearing aids is the fact that
they amplify background sound along with peoples' voices.
While our brains are reasonably good at distinguishing between speech
and distracting ambient noise, hearing aid users get the noise and the
voice presented to them in one often-incomprehensible package.
Researchers at The Ohio State University, however, may have a solution.
They've developed a noise-filtering algorithm that's been shown to
improve test subjects' recognition of spoken words by up to 90 percent.
Read More
EcoTrek's sturdy camper built to go off-road with aplomb
By C.C. Weiss
November 15, 2013
The Ecotrek 510 camper is designed for one
purpose and one purpose only: surviving any rugged obstacle thrown its
way so you can sleep soundly that night. That one purpose opens it up to
all kinds of uses – hunting, fishing, 4x4ing, etc. No cutesy teardrop
design, the 510 has a reinforced build meant to thrive in terrain that
would rip lesser campers to shreds. Read More
Over the years, we've seen survival gear in all shapes and sizes – traditional kits, shovels, paracord bracelets, concept snowboards, winter jackets
and more. A frisbee-like saucer is one format that we haven't seen ...
up until today. The LifeDisc isn't focused on fire, cutlery or water
purification, the way other survival kits and gizmos are. Its shape is
designed for winding fishing line and paracord around a waterproof
survival container. Read More
The original iPad mini was a great product, but
it had one glaring flaw: its screen's resolution just wasn't on a par
with the rest of Apple's recent devices. So now, a year after the
release of the first iPad mini, we have the inevitable follow-up with a
razor-sharp Retina Display. Does it live up to expectations? Join
Gizmag, as we review Apple's second-generation iPad mini with Retina
Display. Read More
A Florida company has thrown some essence of kick
scooter, two cups of skateboard, a dash of bike seasoning, and perhaps
even slice of Kangoo- or trampoline-like jump action into the idea mixer
and cooked up what looks like one fun ride. When riders step down on
its flexible deck, a special drive mechanism propels the Bowboard
forward. The developers say that once mastered, users can bounce along
at cruising speeds of around 12 mph (20 km/h). Read More
Two of the most buzzed-about, speculated-upon and long awaited Android phones are finally here: the Nexus 5 from Google and LG, and the Moto X
from Google-owned Motorola. Despite being step-siblings of a sort,
there are plenty of differences between these phones. Fortunately, I've
spent quite a bit of time with both phones and will try to sort out the
strong points and weaknesses of each, to make the decision a little
easier for such a devoted Android fan as yourself. Read More
Pal Robotics unveils its 3rd gen humanoid robot
November 18, 2013
The United Arab Emirates, known for its lavish
building projects like the Burj Khalifa, is also financing an equally
ambitious robot project. PAL Robotics, based in Barcelona, Spain, was
contracted to build a robot that could stand next to the likes of
Honda's ASIMO. Now, after nearly a decade, the company has unveiled its
third generation humanoid robot. Read More
The local cultural association of
the small Austrian market town of Krumbach has invited a range of
international architects to submit their takes on the humble bus stop.
The results are in, and one minimal design has already been built. Read More
You may have noticed that we enjoy our quadcopters here at Gizmag, from the GPS-equipped Phantom 2 Vision to the palm-sized 1SQ V-cam.
Recently though, we had a chance to try out a somewhat unusual style of
quad in the form of the tiny Proto X from Estes. It may not have a
laundry list of features under its belt, but the Proto X does hold the
distinction of being the smallest quadcopter we've ever reviewed ... by a
huge margin. Read More
Big may be beautiful to some, but in a world of
dwindling space and resources, it makes far more sense to downsize one's
home whenever possible. Gizmag doffs its cap to 10 recent architectural
examples of utilizing space to its utmost potential, from tiny
micro-homes on wheels that resemble large sheds, to slightly larger
brick-and-mortar houses sporting ingeniously flexible interior layouts.
One thing they all have in common though, is an distinct effort to make
the most of what space is available. Read More
Virtual virtuosity: Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo
November 17, 2013
One of PlayStation’s most enduring titles, Gran Turismo,
will launch version 6 on the eve of its 15th anniversary next month
with a smattering of spectacular new rides. Mercedes-Benz is one of the
manufacturers to have fully engaged its marketing engine for the launch
and is helping kick-off the virtual exercise with a spectacular 585 hp
virtual concept named the AMG Vision Gran Turismo. Read More
Apparently not content with putting a
coffee shop on every second street corner, Starbucks has teamed with
Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) to expand into rail travel with the
unveiling of the first railway carriage converted into a Starbucks. Read More
Every year since 2007, Apple has released one new
iPhone at a time. But this year marked the company's first foray into
multiples, with the colorful iPhone 5c joining Apple's lineup as the flagship iPhone 5s'
sidekick. Is a new look reason enough to buy one phone over another?
Let Gizmag help you answer that, as we review the new iPhone 5c. Read More
How many artificial animals can you encounter on a
seaside walk? More than one if you frequent the Dutch coastline where
Theo Jansen's moving artworks amble along with the help of their
rudimentary senses. The complex wind-powered skeletal constructs that
Jansen calls "Strandbeests," or beach beasts, are designed to stay on
the beach and live off the sea breeze. Read More
German designer Johannes Kiessler
has created a sleek hanging lamp which is predominantly made from
cardboard. Dubbed, Numerouno, the eco-friendly lamp weighs a mere 600 g
(21 oz) and features a low consumption 21 W fluorescent tube that emits
the same amount of light as a traditional 150 W light bulb. Read More
While traditional horror video games seek to provide an exciting thrill, Nevermind
is a biofeedback-enhanced horror game that has greater ambitions. It
requires you to manage your anxiety in alarming scenarios – the more
stressed you feel, the harder the game becomes. The aim, says Erin
Reynolds, its creator, is for players to learn how to not let their
fears get the best of them in nerve-wracking situations and hopefully
carry over their gameplay-acquired skills into the real world. Read More
Economy airline seats have a one-size-fits-all
design that seems to fit hardly anybody and often makes flights of any
length into an extended exercise in discomfort. Last week, London-based
design firm Seymourpowell presented Morph – a new concept economy seat
for airline travel that uses stretched fabric sheets and movable
supports to allow passengers to customize their seats and even purchase
extra width. Read More
The evolution of NSK’s guide robot for the visually-impaired
By Mike Hanlon
November 18, 2013
There is no better example of the rapid rate of
product development than NSK's move into the area of robotics. At IREX
2011, NSK showed a prototype robot designed to safely guide the
visually-impaired, with a footprint of 520 x 660 mm (20 x 26 in) and
weight of 40 kg (88 lb). This week, just two years later, NSK showed two
versions its Lighbot guide robot that represent a 75 percent weight
reduction and an 83 percent footprint reduction. The ingenious
right-or-left-hand-drive interface has been both replaced and improved,
and all other aspects of the latest bots are equal to or better than the
original. Read More
Streetflyer "hang glider on wheels" gets electrified
By Darren Quick
November 18, 2013
When we first came across Dr Carsten Mehring's StreetFlyer
in 2011, its ride was described as like hang gliding on wheels. Like a
hang glider, it didn't have a motor but relied on leg power and downhill
slopes to get things moving. But now a student team at the Colorado
School of Mines under Mehring's supervision has strapped a motor to the
three-wheeled vehicle so it can be effortlessly ridden on the flat. Read More
In their continuing efforts to increase the
energy density of lithium-ion batteries, scientists have began looking
at alternative materials for those batteries' electrodes – materials
such as silicon. The problem is, electrodes swell and shrink as they
absorb and release lithium ions, causing them to break down over time.
This is particularly true of silicon, which is brittle by nature. Now,
however, scientists have developed a conductive elastic polymer coating
for those electrodes, that heals its own cracks after each use. Read More
"Virtual reality hands" mind-control therapy for stroke patients
By Heidi Hoopes
November 18, 2013
Earlier this year, we saw an amazing demonstration of an EEG skullcap interface that allowed a quadcopter to be controlled with only thoughts.
Now the same technology is pioneering a medical therapy in which stroke
patients can use their thoughts to guide a simulation, and thus rebuild
damaged neurons. As the “virtual reality hands” provide customization
and direct feedback of one’s progress, this could be an improvement over
traditional therapy methods. Read More
Monstrous Opera Only high end amplifier costs over $2 million
By Paul Ridden
November 18, 2013
We're no strangers to gigantic audio throwers
here at Gizmag. A couple of years ago, we brought news of a monstrous
iPod dock called the iNuke Boom
that Behringer claimed capable of pumping out an incredible
10,000-watts, and earlier this month Sweden's Studio Total unveiled the
8000-watt second generation Wall of Sound.
Yet both these systems combined couldn't come anywhere near the awesome
power of the extremely expensive Opera Only from Italian designer
Andrea Pivetta. Read More
ROBINSPECT project developing a tunnel-inspecting robot
By Ben Coxworth
November 18, 2013
For anyone who worries about being caught in a
cave-in, you'll be glad to know that tunnels such as those found in
subways or mountain roads are regularly checked for structural
degradation. These tests are typically performed using the naked human
eye, and require the tunnel to be closed to use for as long as the
process takes. With this in mind, the European Union ROBINSPECT program
is now developing a robotic tunnel inspection system, that should be
both quicker and more thorough than human inspectors. Read More
Boeing has launched its newest
airliner, the 777X, at the 2013 Dubai Airshow. The aircraft is designed
with folding wing-tips that will increase wingspan and, as a result,
fuel efficiency without limiting access at airports. Read More
Remember back when everyone owned a
pair of rollerblades? How about several decades before that, when kids
still strapped roller skates onto their shoes? Well, the
California-based Cardiff Skate Company has sort of combined the one
device with the other, in the form of its appropriately-named Cardiff
Skate. Read More
Today, a new attempt at learning the mysteries of
early Martian history came a step closer to an answer. At 1:28 pm EST,
NASA’s unmanned Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN)
probe launched from Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station, Florida atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. It’s the
first step in a mission to study the Martian upper atmosphere and learn
more about the history of the planet’s climate. Read More
On May 19 of this year, Francois
Gissy claimed a new land speed world record by reaching 263 km/h (163
mph) on a rocket-powered bicycle. Now the flying Frenchman has gone even
faster, hitting a peak speed of 285 km/h (177 mph) in just 6.7 seconds.
Read More
Gifpop uses lenticular printing to print any animated GIF
By Dave LeClair
November 19, 2013
Animated GIFs are not exactly a new piece of
technology, having been introduced in 1987. Lenticular printing is a
technology even older, as it starter back in the 1940s. So what happens
when you take these two older technologies and merge them? You end up
with Gifpop, a new service designed to let people print any animated GIF
from the web. Read More
Android 4.4 KitKat for two weeks: A detailed review
By Eric Mack
November 19, 2013
For more than a year, Android enthusiasts waited
for Google to unveil the next iteration of the mobile operating system
to succeed Jelly Bean. It was widely thought (even within Google) to be
called Key Lime Pie. Instead, a bizarre marketing partnership was struck
that gave us Android 4.4 KitKat. In this review, Eric Mack runs down
the changes, improvements and a few steps backward. Read More
In recent years the compact camera market has
received a comprehensive battering from smartphones on one side, and
interchangeable-lens cameras on the other. However, there are still some
quality compacts out there worthy of your gadget-buying attention, as
they can offer a great balance of image quality and portability. In this
guide we'll take a look at some of our favorites. Read More
Pars life-saving flying robot is now a reality
November 19, 2013
Earlier this year, RTS Lab unveiled its concept for Pars,
an aerial robot that flies out over a large body of water to air-drop
life preservers near drowning victims. Like many design concepts, we
weren't sure if this life-saving drone would ever become a reality, but
it seems the Iran-based company was recently able to fund a working
prototype and even test its capabilities in open water. Based on these
initial tests, it's possible that this flying, GPS-guided lifeguard
could be out there saving lives sooner than you think. Read More
Twin-turbine street luge to attempt 300 mph record run
November 19, 2013
Australian Daz Fellows wants to ensure proper
nomenclature is used when describing his modified street luge. Sporting
twin-turbines with a combined output of 537 lb of thrust, and a custom
formed board composed of carbon fiber, Daz has made clear that the
conveyance he'll be climbing aboard when he shoots for a world record
attempt of 300 mph (482 km/h) next year is a "jet luge." Read More
Vehicles such as the EGO semi-submarine boat and Adventure-Doo
are designed to bring the underwater action within reach of those
without the time or inclination to put in the training required to get
behind the controls of personal submarines like the offerings from U-boat Worx.
But the Platypus underwater exploration vehicle from François-Alexandre
Bertrand ditches the waterproof hull while giving users a taste of life
beneath the waves. We first looked at the Platypus in concept form in
2011 and a prototype has now hit the water as it navigates the
often-treacherous waters to commercial availability. Read More
Pedal Power provides off-grid power while keeping you fit
November 18, 2013
If you'd like to live off-grid but still retain
access to power when you need it, then New York-based company Pedal
Power might have you covered – providing you don't mind putting in the
legwork, that is. The firm has launched a Kickstarter campaign for its
two stationary bike-like gadgets that are claimed to produce enough
electricity to run a laptop when pedaled. Read More
Silicon/nickel water splitter could lead to cheaper hydrogen
By Brian Dodson
November 18, 2013
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells
can use sunlight to sustainably split water into hydrogen and oxygen,
but efficient PEC materials tend to corrode rapidly in use. A Stanford
research group has been studying this problem, and has found that
depositing a thin layer of nickel atoms on a silicon PEC electrode
allows it to operate for over 80 hours with no sign of corrosion. Read More
How many mobile electronic devices to you have
now? A smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, digital camera, maybe even a
smart watch? And how often is it necessary to transfer pictures,
documents or videos, between your devices? The inTouch technology
developed by researchers from the VTT Research Center of Finland lets a
ring, bracelet, or even a smart fingernail act as a conduit to transfer
information between devices simply and securely – even when the devices
are owned by different people. Read More
On May 19 of this year, Francois
Gissy claimed a new land speed world record by reaching 263 km/h (163
mph) on a rocket-powered bicycle. Now the flying Frenchman has gone even
faster, hitting a peak speed of 285 km/h (177 mph) in just 6.7 seconds.
Read More 
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