First wide-screen all-in-one Multimedia PC
From Around The Home
We are spending a greater percentage of our lives viewing screen media than ever before - we work on the PC, we play on the PC and we watch TV and recorded video on a variety of screens. Hy-tek's new 30' multi-function LCD panel with Bose speakers is aiming to offer the very best screen available for all media functions (computer, TV, VCR, DVD, CD). Read More
Philips roll-up large screens and electronic books on the way
From Mobile Technology
Philips Electronics has announced key gains in its polymer technology research putting the company on the verge of producing high resolution portable displays. The availability of such displays would yield a range of new capabilities which have long been forecast but have not yet been achievable - electronic books, the possibility of reading a magazine from a screen housed inside a pen, wall-sized TV screens which can be folded and stored when not in use and retractable screens for enhanced use of mobile devices. Read More
Sony offers location-free portable broadband TV
From Around The Home
Anticipating the broadband age of mobile lifestyles and high speed network connectivity, Sony Electronics has shown what it calls the 'LocationFree concept', a portable personal broadband LCD television system that can be carried virtually anywhere. Innovative Dual Band Wireless Transmission Technology enables the lightweight, touch-screen LCD monitor to provide video and TV viewing and full internet connectivity including web surfing and email. Comprised of a 12.1-inch wireless touch screen LCD monitor and a base station, the personal TV system uses the industry's first dual band wireless connection and high speed Ethernet port to transmit data, transforming it into a mobile video entertainment powerhouse that allows users to enjoy television, video, internet browsing/streaming, video, e-mail, and digital photos - all without a PC. Read More
Meet Valerie, she's a domestic android
From Robotics
Meet Valerie. Valerie is a domestic android. Valerie will clean your house, change light bulbs, wash the dishes, do the laundry, check the sports scores for you, book plane tickets and call the police if there's an emergency. She speaks English but more importantly, understands English and hence be programmed by non-programmers. Valerie will be on sale by Christmas 2004 for US$59,000 with a two year warranty. Gizmo spoke with her creator, Chris Willis about the future of the personal robotics marketplace and his hopes for Valerie. Read More
Interactive Name Badge puts compatible people together
From Wearable Electronics
May 27, 2004 American start-up nTAG has produced an interactive name badge for conferences and social events that significantly improves the quality of people-to-people connectivity. Based on years of research at MIT's Media Lab, nTAG brings social technology into the business event arena where both host and attendee derive numerous benefits compared to the paper badges of the past. While stimulating conversation between attendees, nTAGs also help organisers to deliver event information, track attendance, manage security, send messages, and evaluate surveys and polls in real time. Worn like regular paper badges, nTAGs exchange data with one another using infrared sensors. As attendees approach each other, information is automatically transferred from tag to tag, requiring no action from the wearer. Then the tags' LCD screens illuminate and display information on shared interests -- "Hi Karen, we both work in the fashion apparel industry." Read More
Aprilia RS250 - the LAST fire-breathing two-stroke roadster
From Motorcycles
UPDATED March 2006 It's the closest thing you'll find to a genuine Grand Prix racing machine on the road, be it two wheels or four. Its 250cc two-stroke motor produces in excess of 60 brake horses, giving it a specific output of 240 bhp per litre - more than the fastest MotoGP bikes and on a par with competitive Formula One engines. And it's the last one - the fire-breathing two-stroke racer-roadster is about to become extinct. The next batch of Aprilia RS250 road bikes will be the last - as the last bike of its type, it's the last chance to own one new. Ever!!!! Read More
A razor JUST for shaving your own head
From Around The Home
A new shaver designed solely for shaving heads has been released in the United States - the Headblade. Whatsmore, the US$15 shaver has already received recognition from Time Magazine as one of the best designs of the year. Read More
Findable Golfball System
From Sports
A new type of golf ball tracking system could render the lost ball penalty a thing of the past. Radar Golf Inc. has launched the new system which uses an embedded RFID tag in the balls and a compact hand-held device which locates the golf ball. Read More
Breakthrough to enable handheld fuel cells soon!
From Mobile Technology
A new membrane has been released which will enable the manufacture of fuel cells which deliver all-day power to portable electronic devices. The new DMFC membrane is claimed to deliver substantial performance and system cost advantages over both traditional lithium ion batteries and existing fuel cell membrane technology. The membrane enables fuel cells which are more efficient, able to run longer, and are smaller, lighter, quieter and less expensive. Read More
PalmOne TREO 600 - best of breed (for now)
From Mobile Technology
The Palm 600 is without doubt the best convergent device on the market at this time - bar NONE! It combines a phone, a Palm OS 5-based organiser with messaging, email and web browsing features and it does so in a package which feels like a real phone, not a brick. Read More
Super 350cm exoskeleton
From Robotics
Updated May 2005 Whenever robots are discussed, it seems the name tmsuk comes up. The small Japanese robotics company has collaborated with some of the biggest names in electronics to produce commercial robots in the last few years, and their concepts always seem to be innovative and imaginative, not to mention very useful. tmsuk is best known for its security robots Banryu and Artemis, a semi-humanoid security guard for hospitals and office buildings) so when Japan’s National Research Institute of Fire and Disaster, strategised its next generation response to earthquakes and the fires they cause and decided it needed a robot for high risk situations, tmsuk got the call. Built for business, the strapping 3.5 metre Enryu will be called upon to rush into burning buildings, lift heavy objects and rescue people. Neat heh! Read More
Opel TRIXX: Clever and Versatile Concept for the City
From Automotive
It's highly versatile, with a remarkable amount of interior space: the innovative TRIXX small-car concept that Opel is presenting at this year's Geneva Motor Show (March 4 - 14). Read More
Convertible High Heels
From Health and Wellbeing
High heels are the only acceptable form of shoe for females on a formal occasion, and are almost mandatory in a business power dressing, yet they are very uncomfortable and casue long term health issues. How many times have you seen women walking to work in sensible shoees carrying high heels in their handbag? A new design for adjustable high heels could solve the problem. This shoe solution converts a high 7 cm heel to a low 3 cm heel with one simple twist on/off action. Read More
New Survey Finds Moms Applying Business Techniques in the Home
From Around The Home
The first-ever State of the Home survey from Whirlpool Home Appliances in America has found that American homes are beginning to be run like businesses and women are seeing themselves as 'Chief Home Officers.' Read More
Lie detector glasses tell you if someone is telling the truth
From Good Thinking
A new lie detection technology promises remarkable benefits in determining whether people are telling you the truth IN REAL TIME. The technology is already being tested in a wide variety of applications such as anti-terrorism, law enforcement, and insurance claim assessment and has even been built into a pair of glasses with internal LED lights which will run a real-time analysis of conversations of the wearer, reporting on the veracity of the person the wearer is speaking to with a claimed accuracy of better than 95%. Read More
Jet-powered surfboard to go on sale
From On the Water
The Powerski Jetboard prototype featured in Gizmo magazine during 2002 is finally ready to go into mass production. The Jetboard is a combination surfboard/JetSki incorporating a 25 x 43 x 16 cm high, two-stroke, water-cooled, 45hp engine and an axial flow jet pump into a (slightly larger than average) surfboard form-factor to deliver a stand-up ride over flat water at speeds up to 65kmh. Read More
Solar Powered Jacket from SCOTTeVEST
From Wearable Electronics
One of the most remarkable debuts at the 2004 CES was the a solar power jacket prototype designed to allow wearers to carry, connect and charge their portable digital devices. Developed jointly by ICP Solar Technologies and Technology Enabled Clothing company SCOTTeVEST, the solar jacket will go on sale in February 2004 in several models with prices varying from US$200 and US$400. Read More
Dream Factory for positive dream outcomes
From Around The Home
Takara, the company that gave us the dog and cat translation machines, has another interesting consept on the way - a machine to assist positive affirmations and dream Read More
Bluetooth MP3 Snowboarding Jacket from O'Neill
From Wearable Electronics
Infineon Technologies and O'Neill Europe unveiled the result of a joint product development project on January 14 - their first 'wearable electronics' snowboard jacket with functions such as an MP3 player and mobile telephony by Bluetooth.The jacket will be known as "THE HUB" and technologically clued-in snowboarders will be able to purchase the jacket when O'Neill's 2004/05 winter collection goes on sale later this year. Read More
Computers to become more like friends
From Personal Computing
That computer on your desk is just your helper. But soon it may become a very close friend. Now it sends your e-mails, links you to the Web, does your computations, and pays your bills. Soon it could warn you when you're talking too much at a meeting, if scientists at Sandia National Laboratories' Advanced Concepts Group have their way. Or it could alert others in your group to be attentive when you have something important to say. Read More
