Wristwatch fish finder
From Outdoors
As the most significant recreational fishing innovation in recent times, sonar fishfinder units are well established as a fundamental piece of equipment for boat-based anglers and, like almost everything electronic, decreasing size and increasing capabilities are expanding these applications by bringing the benefits of sonar technology to land-based fishing. One of the latest examples - the Humminbird Smartcast RF30 - utilises a wireless link between a small sonar transducer attached to the fishing line and a wrist-worn display unit to provide a picture of what's underneath - identifying fish within a 25 metre radius a well as a map of the bottom and any submerged structures that could cause snags. Read More
US Army testing autonomous Stryker Combat Vehicles
From Military
The next time the US military goes to war in a foreign land, there will be a lot more robots and a lot less soldiers doing the grunt work. One of the first tasks that will be assigned to robots instead of soldiers will be driving - resupply, convoy operations, ground medical evacuation and unmanned reconnaissance are all areas targeted for autonomous vehicles. Read More
Video-feed Sunglasses
From Wearable Electronics
The Eyetop Centra is a pair of fashionable high-tech sunglasses with a built-in heads-up 16-bit colour LCD screen and integrated earplugs that lets wearers watch video content while engaged in other activities. Read More
PenPhone enables handwriting input while writing on anything
From Mobile Technology
The unusually-shaped Siemens mobile PenPhone concept is unique in the way it incorporates handwriting recognition. The PenPhone will let users write on anything and enter text in that form via the integrated handwriting recognition. Read More
Jaguar unveils the XK-RS Concept 550 horsepower convertible
From Automotive
It's the most powerful road-going Jaguar convertible ever and demonstrates how Jaguar's luxury GT road car can be transformed into a thundering 200-mph supercar. Developed by Michigan-based Rocketsports Racing in cooperation with Jaguar North America, the XK-RS concept is based on the Jaguar XKR sports car which has twice won the Trans-Am Manufacturers' Championship. Read More
MP3 Jukebox built into AK47 Ammunition Magazine
From Outdoors
AudioBooksForFree.Com, the No1 UK online mp3 audio book publishers has released a one-of-a-kind MP3 portable jukebox - built into the ammunition magazine of a Kalashnikov AK-47 Assault rifle. The "AK-MP3 Jukebox" comes with 20GB storage capable to hold up to 9000 songs or 3000 hours of mp3 audio books. The manufacturers claim that the stainless steel body of the casing makes this new player uniquely suitable for the outdoors. As the advert says, the 'player could be used on its own or it could be attached to the Kalashnikov machinegun instead of the ordinary magazine.' Read More
Suunto G9 Golf Watch
From Sports
Finish company Suunto has released a golf watch which measures and processes data collected by its wearer, such as shot distance and score, and can suggest club selection too. All shot measurements and data collected on course can be downloaded to a home computer for analysis and storage, and historical data can be uploaded to the watch when playing specific courses Read More
Mobile Lifestyle differs dramatically between countries and cultures
From Mobile Technology
A new mobile lifestyle survey released by Siemens shows the quite remarkable differences between countries and the way their population has embraced the mobile phone as an important conduit in their lifestyle.The report was completed in December 2003 from 3000 interviews conducted in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand regarding the way different countries use their mobile telephones. Read More
New printer produces 3D objects on demand
From Good Thinking
Imagine a machine which accepts CAD drawings, then produces a three dimensional prototype within a few hours for $100 - it now exists. The successful implementation of the technology points the way to this technology eventually finding its way into local bureau which produce while-you-wait samples as a service, and eventually to the home where designs could be downloaded from the internet and manifested at whim. Read More
New Weapon System shoots around corners
From Military
January 2004 Corner Shot is a new weapon system designed for urban combat which enables the user to observe and engage a target from behind a corner without exposing any body parts. The highly technological system was officially unveiled in late December 2003 in Israel and is already being used by some of the world's elite Special Forces. Corner Shot attaches to most handguns currently used by Special Forces, for example the GLOCK, SIG SAUER, CZ or BERETTA. It includes a small, high-resolution camera and monitor, which can observe and view a target from various vantage points. Read More
NEC to launch card-sized telephone
From Mobile Technology
NEC has announced a card-shaped, camera-equipped mobile phone, which it will launch on the China market, one of the world's largest and most competitive mobile markets, later this month (February, 2004). Read More
Tholos - a window on the future of communication
From Good Thinking
Tholos is an ambitious project aiming to create landmark tourist attractions in the centre of capital cities around the world where the public will be able to meet and talk as if they were facing each other even though they may be thousands of miles apart. Tholos uses a huge cylindrical 360 degree screen which is three metres highand seven metres in diameter. The screen simultaneously transmits and receives very high definition moving images in real-time and hence people will be able to have eye-to-eye conversations with non-distorted life-sized images of their friends overseas. Directional microphones and speakers will enable the privacy of conversations. Read More
A shirt-ironing machine from Siemens
From Around The Home
It might look like a dress dummy, but it could be the ironing lady of your dreams - it's an ironing machine designed to iron shirts and it has just gone on the market in Germany for EU' 1.029,00. Apparently, it works VERY WELL! Research shows it takes the average person eight minutes to iron the average shirt according to Seimens, the makers of the Dressman, the world's latest attempt at building a machine to iron shirts.
For those busy professionals amongst us, that represents a saving of at least 40 minutes a week, not to mention the opportunity to avoid one of man's least favourite chores (again according to research from Siemens).
The 'dressmann' irons completely on its own and has a number of other attributes which make it worthwhile - it can 'freshen up' jackets that have not been worn for a while, and can actually dry a freshly washed blouse. Read More
Aqua FM Snorkel - the Walkman for swimmers.
From On the Water
If you've tired of putting in laps at the pool because of the solitude, the Aquanaut Aqua FM snorkel could be ideal. The lightweight snorkel has an inbuilt FM radio and send the music to the ear via bone conduction, removing the need for wires or earplugs. Read More
Land-mine detecting Plants created
From Good Thinking
Danish scientists have made a scientific discovery with significant humanitarian and environmental potential. They have shown that it is possible to produce plants which change colour in the presence of specific compounds within the soil, opening the way for the first bomb and land-mine detection plant. Read More
Canon releases world's fastest professional digital camera: EOS-1D
From Cameras and Imaging
Canon Australia has announced a new flagship professional digital SLR camera - the EOS-1D Mark II - featuring an 8.2-million effective-pixel CMOS image sensor and the world's fastest continuous shooting speed of approximately 8.5 frames per second (fps) for a burst of up to 40 consecutive frames. Read More
The Pioneer DVJ-X1 DVD Turntable turns DJs into VJs
From Music
A significant new release in the audio-video market from Pioneer looks set to bring audio and video even closer together, paving the way for a new breed of performer: the DVJ. The mega-powerful Pioneer DVJ-X1 allows synchronised digital audio and video to be manipulated and played back like never before, and equally as significantly, EXACTLY like the old DJ did 'scratching' a vinyl disk. Read More
New Nikon Digital Cameras
From Cameras and Imaging
Nikon has released details of several significant digital cameras and products; an 8-megapixel, 8x zoom Coolpix 8700; an 6.1-megapixel D70 digital SLR camera with interchangeable lenses and the COOLWALKER MSV-01, a 30GB portable image storage device. Read More
TV Watch available in Japan from April
From Mobile Technology
The prototype LCD wristwatch TV shown by Japanese company NHJ at recent major electronics shows (CES and CEATAC) has been scheduled for release onto the Japanese market in April with a price of 20,000 yen (AUD$250). Read More
VW offers insight into future automotive technologies
From Automotive
The automobile is evolving more rapidly than it has for many decades. New active vehicle safety and driver-assistance technologies are being developed by all of the leading auto manufacturers. Historically, these new technologies have been kept under wraps until ready for market but Volkswagen recently presented the media with an outline of nine future systems it has under development, offering an insight into the car of the not-too-distant future. Read More
