snip: A few years ago, Volkswagen took on a task that many people thought was impossible: they decided to develop a fuel-efficient, road-going compact car that could achieve an average fuel consumption of just 3 litres per 100 km (94 mpg). Not only did Volkswagen achieve this milestone in 1999, but they had an even larger goal in mind: an ultra fuel-efficient car with a super stingy fuel consumption rating of just 1 litre per 100 kilometres (282 mpg). Read More...

I think this marks the beginning of an inevitable trend, or at least the first of it's kind that I've seen anyways... As USB flash drives become more and more prevelant, there's bound to be new ways of integrating it into daily personal fashion. "Hardwood USB by Michael Leung for Lexon features a necklace USB flash drive that creates a closer connection between a person and their data. Currently available in dark wood only."
256 MB Read More...

Step aside Nintendo, Emotiv's got dibs on the ultimate game controller right here with their Project Epoc. It's basically a headset fitted with a bunch of sensors that "read" your mind and let you control video games (be it from your console or PC) via your thoughts. Did I mention it can do this wirelessly? Though it looks like a torture device, the concept is pretty sweet. Click the pic for more. Read More...

Cool technology that doesn't use pulleys, cables or pistons... just air and a vacuum pump. Click the pic for more pictures and information Read More...

If you register your access point in their system and give FON members access, you too can get on any FON member's wireless network. cool. click the pic to visit the site.

snip: "FON is the largest WiFi community in the world. Our members share their wireless Internet access at home and, in return, enjoy free WiFi wherever they find another Fonero’s Access Point.

It all started as a simple idea. Why should you pay for Internet access on the go when you have already paid for it at home? Exactly, you shouldn’t. So we decided to help create a community of people who get more out of their connection through sharing.

We call members of the FON Community Foneros. It’s simple to become a Fonero. You just need to buy La Fonera, which enables you to securely and fairly share your home broadband connection with other Foneros.

Then when you’re away from home and you need Internet access, just log on to a FON Access Point, and you can use the Internet for free. You don’t need to take your router with you – you just need to remember your Fonero login and password." Read More...

Semi-submersible ships are the only vessels in the world which provide the capability to load, transport and offload extremely heavy cargo, such as oil drilling rigs, gas refineries or even warships. Their large, free and open deck makes them the largest heavy transports in the world. They are capable of loading lifts from approximately 50 to as much as 45,000 tons. Read More...

A sleek new portable speaker from Saitek, the iPhonic [product page] is clearly angled toward an iPod aesthetic; as promotional images indicate, it even features an attached stand designed for use with the nano. Fortunately, connection via headphone jack means that you can use the speaker with any DAP, and it runs on four AAA batteries (12-hour battery life) for convenient mobile use. The surface of the speaker is scratch-resistant, making this pocket-sized speaker durable for travel, and the unconventional shape is designed for increased bass with minimal distortion--it aims for a sound bigger than something this small should be able to offer.

While the iPhone was commanding most of the attention directed toward Macworld this week, Axiotron and Other World Computing (OWC) announced the world's first Mac OSX tablet. The Axiotron ModBook features a 13.3" wide screen LCD and performs just like a MacBook, equipped with OSX 10.4, (up to) 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors, (up to) 2GB SDRAM, 802.11g and Bluetooth, iSight, CD/DVD drive, and WACOM Penabled hardware for pen input with Apple Inkwell. As you'd expect, it's not available just yet, but you can pre-reserve yours--in 60GB, 80GB, and 160GB HD versions. Click the pic for more.

If you’re prone to getting up in the middle of the night to feed your face then these curious slippers known as BrightFeet could help you avoid tripping down the stairs/over the cat/ as they come complete with a set of internal headlights.

Now your every footfall can be lit by a powerful LED mounted in the front of each slipper which not only power up courtesy of weight sensors contained within each slipper but are also claimed to be capable of illuminating up to 25 feet in front of you as you try to slip unseen to raid the cookie jar at 3am. click the pic for more. Read More...

With standard webcam conversations, it’s extremely difficult to look at the person you are talking too as all they can see is you looking downwards/sidewards at the screen to see them. Thus, in order to look at them you are, somewhat paradoxically, actually appearing not to look at them at all.

Now to my mind, this is a good thing as it leaves one free to actually do something else on the computer as they chat incessantly away whilst thinking (ah, the deceit of it all) that they have your full attention. But this Bodelin device will put a stop to all of that as it allows you to look the person you are speaking to during a webcam conversation straight in the eye (so no more playing minesweeper which is boring at the best of times but somehow manages to take on a whole new lease of life when a family member has managed to corner you).

According to Bodelin, the See Eye2eye (SE2E) works very much like a periscope in that it displays an image of the person you are talking to, beamed up to an optical grade beam-splitting lens which also focuses your chiselled, finely honed features down to the camera unit and back at them. Read More...

Designed by Timothy Yeoh, “Turnover” is a new E-Reader concept that has a “screen that is rotated to the back refreshes the next page during the turning action, thereby stimulating a whole book or magazine with only two pages”. This is what the designer had to say

"Turnover is two pages with infinite possibilities – you can lose yourself in any number of worlds. Touch the on button for a few seconds to bring up the book select menu and use the scroll wheel to select the book or quickly skip to the desired page. Touchscreen capability lets you bend the corner to toggle bookmarks on or off, with a bookmark symbol on the page for easy reference when scrolling through" Read More...

OpenMoko’s FIC Neo1973 is the world’s first Linux-powered, open source phone. It features a 2.8-inch (480×640) touchscreen display, Samsung s3c2410 SoC, a Global Locate AGPS chip, 128MB SDRAM, 64MB NAND Flash memory, and a microSD card slot. There is a YouTube video if you click the pic. Read More...

TechMemem seems to catch stories about breaking Technology up to a week before the AP or Reuters runs them. It's sort of a "raw feed" of tech news... warts and all. Definitely interesting and informative. They recently broke the story of SlingCatcher, Sling Media's device designed to receive broadcasts, not just re-route them. Computer-based client software will provide access a variety Internet video, both big and small, via your TV. Miss Lost? No problem, buy it online through the vendor of your choice and stream it via your Slingcatcher to watch on TV. Saw some ridiculous thing on YouTube? Share it on the TV rather than crowding around a laptop. Sounds pretty cool. Click the pic to check out more bleeding edge tech news. Read More...

Songbird™ is a desktop Web player, a digital jukebox and Web browser mash-up. Like Winamp, it supports extensions and skins feathers. Like Firefox®, it is built from Mozilla®, cross-platform and open source. It's kind of like iTunes with bonus features. Definitely download and play with the Beta. Read More...

Philips clothing prototypes light up to reflect the ‘emotions’ of the wearer. click the pic for more info on the R&D Read More...

Imagine wearing a t-shirt where you’d be able to display light animation. Well, with Philips new technology called Lumalive, it’s now possible. Fully integrated into fabrics, the LEDs doesn’t compromise the softness or flexibility of the cloth. Read More...

This ambient lighting system allows you to control the mood of your room with a colour-coded remote - slide your finger around the spectrum to get just the right shade. click the pic for a one minute review from shiny shiny. Read More...

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have taken the first steps towards such wireless energy transfer by conceptualizing a way to transmit electricity over room-size distances. One day, they say, the technology could power whole households or even motor vehicles wirelessly. Read More...

cool!

Developed by associate engineering professor Tayhas Palmore and former postdoctoral research associate Hyun-Kon Song, the batteries are based on a plastic compound called polypyrrole that bears similar conductive properties to metals. Polypyrrole got media attention in 2000 after winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for its three inventors.

Polypyrrole batteries can be charged and discharged quickly like a capacitor, but can also deliver its charge over an extended period of time, like a battery. In tests the Polypyrrole batteries outdid both capacitors and batteries, demonstrating double the storage of an electric double-layer capacitor, and more than 100 times the power of a standard alkaline battery. Unlike standard batteries, however, the new plastic batteries are about as thick as a piece of paper, giving the new technology a great deal of flexibility for future implementations. Read More...

from the design labs at Electrolux. The KaionWAVE. The machine uses ultraviolet-C light to penetrate the clothing, killing all bacteria and viruses and free radical oxygen is pumped in as an oxidizing agent to break down all the dirt and funk.

However, it is only able to clean nano-coated fabrics, a durable and stain resistant fabric that some hypothesize will be used to make clothing in the near future. So until the fashion industry begins to incorporate this future fabric, it's not much better than a fancy paper weight. Nonetheless, it's still a good idea. Read More...

Xdrive is now available. I just went to the site and signed in. The service looks good. It is nothing like the old Xdrive service of past years (which is a good thing). The web interface is nice, and the site is available to Windows, Mac, and Linux users. Today's Xdrive is feature packed and well worth the free price tag, in fact at $9.95 a month, the 50GB drive is worth it too. You can opt to sign-up for the yearly payment plan, and you'll pay $99.50 (2 months free). Xdrive sports a built-in music player for your music, special photo features, mobile viewing and faxing of documents (from your cell), and even allows you to setup automated scheduled backups when you download the Xdrive desktop client. I had a small hiccup installing the desktop client, but it did end up working just fine. Read More...

A Kerala student has developed a technique for portable data whereby the data can now be stored on ordinary paper. And to boot, larger amounts of data can be had on lesser space. Named “Rainbow Technology”, the new technique is the brainchild of Sainul Abideen, who has just finished his MCA at Muslim Educational Society Engineering College in Kuttipuram in Kerala’s Malappuram district.

The extremely low-cost technology will drastically reduce the cost of storage and provide for high-speed storage as well. Files in any format such as movie files, songs, images and text can be stored using this technology.

Currently, of the several options available for data storage, DVDs are the best mode. But a high quality DVD, which is very expensive can store only about 4.7 gigabyte (GB) of data. In contrast, the Rainbow Versatile Disc (RVD) can store 90 to 450 GB. And Sainul has simultaneously developed a scanning drive based on his Rainbow software which will come in smaller sizes to be initially carried with the laptops and later to fit into their bodies.

Sainul, who has just turned 24, says that instead of using zeroes and ones for computing, he used geometric shapes such as circles, squares and triangles for computing which combine with various colors and preserve the data in images. An RVD therefore looks like a printout of modern art. Click the pic for full article.


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IESC Geekcorps is an international 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes stability and prosperity in the developing world through information and communication technology (ICT). Geekcorps’ international technology experts teach communities how to be digitally independent: able to create and expand private enterprise with innovative, appropriate, and affordable information and communication technologies.

To increase the capacity of small and medium-sized business, local government, and supporting organizations to be more profitable and efficient using technology, Geekcorps draws on a database of more than 3,500 technical experts willing to share their talents and experience in developing nations.

These long-term professional staff, qualified short-term consultants, and dedicated international technical volunteers implement large-scale, multi-faceted, country-level business development programs using ICT, while transferring the technical skills required to achieve long-term stability.

International technical volunteers are the Geekcorps difference, offering a significant focus on the transfer of skills - a task that is often not possible with consulting agreements where specialists focus only on deliverables, not capacity building or sustainability. Volunteers also offer hundreds of hours of quantifiable in-kind services, both in-country and post-assignment, and un-quantifiable support, access, and passion that only emotionally invested experts can deliver. Read More...

Without a Name Service there would simply not be a viable Internet. To understand why we need to look at what DNS does and how and why it evolved.

1. DNS translates (or maps) the name of a resource to its physical IP address
2. DNS can also translate the physical IP address to the name of a resource by using reverse look-up or mapping.

click the pic for more Read More...

That's gigabyte, not megabyte folks. All the professional photographers with Compact Flash (CF) cameras stood and clapped. Those without CF didn't. What this means for downloaders is that when new devices come out like Zune, and as they start to include CF card slots, or other types of media, You will be able to pop in a CF card and expand your device by 32GB or 64GB. Soon, as Engadget says we will have flash memory based laptops, meaning these mondo cards could replace hard drives as we know them. The time-frame will be a few years or so most likely, but it is a distinct possibility. At least with Zune, it will all be wirelessly synced to your PC, so all your downloads can live in motion on your portable device. Read More...

Funny Mark Morford article from SF Gate about ZoomShop vending Machines that dispense high tech luxury items.

"No one seems to be quite sure what to make of these things, these giant shiny gorgeous nightmare boxes of consumer-sucking bliss, these beautiful massive vending machines custom built to dispense iPods and Motorola RAZRs and Sony PSPs, XM radios and noise-canceling headphones and all related accessories, machines that are distributed by an evil genius company called Zoom Systems right here in San Francisco."

click the pic to read the article.

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Someone at Cyber Knowledge deconstructed a phishing scam and was able to pull a the phishing password file from the server. It was an attack on myspace... so the results netted about 20,000 passwords that he ran some Metrics on. Click the graphic to see the results of his research. The results may be skewed because some people presumably fill out phishing emails with incorrect info to mess with the system, still interesting data. Read More...

A man paralyzed from the neck down by knife injuries sustained five years ago can now check his email, control a robot arm and even play computer games using the power of thought alone, according to John Donoghue of Brown University, who led the work reported in Nature.
Electrodes implanted in Matt Nagle’s brain measure the neural signals generated when he concentrates on trying to move one of his paralysed limbs. Software trained to recognize different patterns of neural activity then translates imagined gestures into the movement of an on-screen cursor or a robotic arm.
In the same issue of Nature, Krishna Shenoy and colleagues at Stanford University report a way to dramatically boost the efficiency of brain implants in monkeys. Using software that predicts the monkey’s intention from only the first few bursts of neural activity, the animals’ implants were able to function four times faster than normal—a rate that could enable a paralyzed person to type 15 words per minute.
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=dn9540&print=true Read More...

Moixa’s USBCell comes with a smart idea. Recharge your classic AA batteries by plugging them on the USB port, directly.

Those batteries work like a USB storage key. You unveil its cap, and plug it to refill its energy capacity. Read More...

An industrial design student in The Netherlands has built a prototype scooter that is designed to be run on hydrogen.
Crijn Bouman of Delft University of Technology designed the scooter for use in inner cities.
He calls it the Fhybrid.
"The look and feel of the scooter are aimed at selling the clean technology inside," he said in a statement today.
The scooter has an electric motor powered by a (Li-)ion battery. If the Fhybrid is ever put into production, the idea is to charge the battery with a fuel-cell system, which would derive its energy from a tank of hydrogen. While scientists are working to make such systems more efficient, obtaining hydrogen (by splitting it out of water) is for now too costly to be practical. Scientists disagree whether it will ever be viable.
The prototype scooter uses a simulated fuel-cell to recharge the battery.
"A special course and various permits are required to build a hydrogen-powered engine. It wasn't possible to achieve this during the time period of my graduation project," Bouman explained. "The faculty is now trying to assemble all the necessary means to fully develop the hydrogen-powered scooter."
The scooter also recharges the battery by snagging energy during braking.
Since two-wheeled vehicles rely primarily on front-wheel braking for efficient stops, Bouman's scooter is front-wheel drive—better to capture the braking energy, he explained.
The Fhybrid has a top speed of 40 mph. Bouman says it accelerates faster than regular scooters and could travel approximately 124 miles on a tank of hydrogen

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Replace all of your standard alkaline disposable batteries with the new Hybrio by Ultralast. The Hybrio lasts up to four times longer than standard alkaline batteries on each charge and can be recharged up to 500 times, meaning you can be using your battery-powered devices instead of buying batteries! And the Hybrio backs it up with a three-year battery life guarantee. Try getting that from your regular battery!

The Hybrio features a three-year battery life limited warranty. It will last for three-plus years when recharged regularly as directed. The Hybrio comes charged and ready to use off-the-shelf, and can last up to four times longer on each charge than standard disposable batteries when used in high-drain devices like digital cameras, which means far fewer battery changes. One Hybrio rechargeable is equivalent to up to 500 standard disposable batteries. The payback period on purchasing a charger and batteries occurs after using them just twice … and the savings continue year after year.

Hybrio will be available starting in late October with a prife of less than $30 for a charger and batteries. Read More...

The three dimensional designation of the stunningly beautiful Olympus 3D Wooden Camera, a prototype camera that Olympus is testing out, does not come from the fact that the object itself is three-dimensional. Instead, the name refers to the process used to mold and compress the single piece of Japanese cypress into the smoothly curving shape pictured, which applies pressure from all directions at once. The wood is some of the most desirable in Japan and is used to build Shinto temples. It is renowned for its beauty, quality and durability, which would make it last longer than a plastic-cased camera.
[via Gizmodo] Read More...

The XPower PowerSource Mobile 100 is a revolutionary new stand alone power solution with both AC and USB outlets for all your mobile needs. The device has a built-in battery and can also be used as a power inverter, when plugged in a vehicle the lithium-ion battery recharges. It is ideal for people who frequently travel by vehicle and/or airplane. If your laptop battery runs low or you need more play time with your portable game console or portable DVD, simply connect your device into the AC outlet and keep going. Two USB charge ports will keep your Blackberry, iPaq, Palm, or iPod charged when you need it most. You no longer have to carry extra cords, chargers and device-specific batteries. You’ll save money and space in your laptop carry bag…

Features
- 4.0 Ah lithium ion battery pack
- Converts 12 Vdc power from a vehicle battery into 120 Vac power
- Three-prong AC outlet to handle all chargers and adapters for mobile electronics
- Two USB charge ports
- Blue LED on/off indicator
- DC cable with vehicle and airplane connector
- Lightweight AC charging adapter
- LED battery status/charge status indicator
- Over-temperature shutdown
- Low battery voltage shutdown (10.5 Vdc with automatic reset)
- Overload shutdown
- Electronic Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI)
- One year warranty

The price of the XPower PowerSource Mobile 100 is about $120.





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