Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 5 digital music system
From Home Entertainment
As more of us store and access music and media in a digital format and our personal collections grow, the need for fast and convenient access becomes increasingly important. Bang & Olufsen have addressed this with the Beosound 5 digital music system, a product designed to bridge the gap between the company’s high-end hi-fi system. The heart of the system is the BeoSound 5 controller. Sporting a 10.4 inch 1024 x 768 LCD display and aluminium scroll wheel, it weighs in at 2.65kg and can be table top or wall mounted. Read More
Lamborghini’s new 200mph Gallardo LP 560—4 Spyder
From Automotive
Lamborghini appropriately held the worldwide debut of the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560—4 Spyder at the Los Angeles Auto Show – Southern California accounts for approximately 30 percent of all Lamborghini sales in the United States, the brand’s largest global market. As the successor to the best-selling Lamborghini of all time, the new LP 560-4 Spyder combines the Coupé’s design, performance and handling characteristics with the open-air pleasures of a soft top super sports car. The 560-4 Spyder offers a new 5.2 liter engine with 40 additional horsepower than its predecessor; allowing it to sprint from 0-62 mph in only four seconds with a top speed of 201 mph. Read More
Rossi still eyeing Formula 1 drive
From Automotive
Only one person has ever reached the pinnacle in both MotoGP and Formula 1 (John Surtees), the respective motorcycle and motor racing premier championships, and for the last three years, the greatest ever motorcycle racer (Valentino Rossi), has been teasing us with the prospect that he might switch to four wheels and attempt to emulate Surtees. Though he insists he’ll be staying in MotoGP for another five years, he spent two days punting the Kimi Raikkonen’s F2008 Ferrari this week and got within a second and a half of Raikkonen’s best time (see extensive image library). Fingers crossed! Read More
Honda FC Sport Design Study demonstrates Hydrogen Fuel Cell performance potential
From Automotive
Honda pulled the wraps off a Fuel Cell Sport design study model at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week, The hydrogen-powered, three-seat FC sports car concept emphasizes the design flexibility and potential of Honda's V Flow fuel cell technology - already deployed in the Honda FCX Clarity sedan - and reconfigures it into a lightweight sports car design with an ultra-low center of gravity, powerful electric motor performance and zero-emissions. The design study concept is claimed to offer supercar levels of performance through low weight and a high-performance, electrically driven fuel cell powertrain. Read More
Two-in-one-furniture: the table-chair
From Around The Home
We've seen some interesting dual-purpose furniture design concepts of late and the SwiTCh from Ellesco International in Belgium is another bright example. Put the two pieces together and it's a comfortable armchair, separate them and flip the back section upright and it becomes a small table with a seat.
Greenfly: the LPG-powered custom motorcycle
From Motorcycles
Alternative fuel motorcycles are a hot topic at the moment, with electric, hydrogen and diesel engines being bolted into two-wheeler frames more and more commonly in an effort to get maximum bang for the energy buck. But this is the first bike we've seen to take on a Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) tank. Apart from offering around 70mpg, Dave Akhurst's Greenfly is also a beautifully designed custom with some very special touches, such as a single-sided front fork and rims that detach from the star-shaped hub to make tire changes literally a five-minute job. Read More
EU project demonstrates emotional robots
From Robotics
Researchers estimate that body language makes up between 50-80% of communication, which means robots aren’t ready to become caregivers and companions until they get a good handle on nonverbal expression. To meet these challenges, a €2.5 million EU-funded project is developing robots that are capable of identifying different emotions based on facial expressions Read More
New Solar Messenger Bag added to Eclipse range
From ecoGizmo
Every owner of a personal electronic device knows the frustration of running out of battery power when out and about. Solar bags offer a great solution and a growing number of shapes and sizes (even golf bags) are hitting the market. The new Fusion Messenger Bags by Eclipse Solar Gear further adds to the options. Read More
OLPC Give 1 Get 1 laptop program
From Good Thinking
Having already distributed more than 500,000 XO laptops in 31 countries, One Laptop per Child (OLPC) has launched its “Give 1 Get 1” program for 2008. The scheme raised more than USD$35 million in 2007 to fund the delivery of tens of thousands laptops to kids in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Haiti, Mongolia and Rwanda. Read More
i-Station Rotate iPod dock goes both ways
From Home Entertainment
Logic3 has come to the rescue of all those iPhone and iPod Touch users who have been straining their necks sideways so they can watch full screen videos while the iPhone or iPod is housed in their speaker dock. The i-Station Rotate is an iPhone/iPod speaker dock that features a clever built-in rotating mechanism that allows an iPhone, iPod Touch, or new iPod nano to be turned sideways for watching videos in all their widescreen glory. Read More
Treehouse escapes: re-live your childhood in style
From Around The Home
Treehouses have the ability to fire the imagination and transport you back to the long care-free afternoons of your childhood like almost nothing else. These days, the professionally crafted designs available far outstrip the rudimentary structures we would slap together during summer holidays and they are being used not just as magical playrooms for the kids but as spare guest bedrooms, entertainment areas, hotel escapes and even conference suites. The latest examples to cross our desk are these striking arboreal dwellings from Andreas Wenning of German architecture firm baumraum. Read More
Warming to your Plasma TV
From Around The Home
Before television became the new opiate of the masses the fireplace was the focal point of many living rooms. This design lets you combine the two. Picture House TV Furniture produce fully working fireplaces that conceal your plasma screen at the push of a button and their latest offering - the Slimline Montana - can house up to a 50-inch TV and includes space for hiding DVD and cable equipment. Read More
SJ30 breaks light jet speed record from London to Dubai
From Aero Gizmo
The London to Dubai route is probably going to see a lot of private business air traffic in the coming years and Emivest Aerospace has used it to showcase the high speed capabilities of its SJ30 Business Jet. The aircraft has set a speed record for its class, flying from London to Dubai in seven hours and seven minutes, including a 41-minute refueling stop in Istanbul. Read More
iGo multi-device charger
From Mobile Technology
Laptops, cameras and other portable devices are often essential traveling companions, but the downside is the accompanying mess of incompatible charging units which can add considerable weight and take up precious luggage space. iGo aims to lighten this load with its recently launched line of multi-device chargers that allow you to charge a laptop and mobile device simultaneously. Read More
MINI E unveiled in Los Angeles
From Automotive
Following a preview a few weeks back, the all-electric MINI E has hit the boards at the LA Motor Show for its world premiere. With its lithium-ion powered 150 kW (204 hp) electric motor driving it from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 8.5 seconds, an electronically limited top speed of 152 km/h (95 mph) and a range of 156 miles, the MINI E will make an impressive test bed for the BMW Group as it heads towards series production of all-electric vehicles. Read More
James Bond's aqua-car up for sale
From Automotive
The release of Bond film number 22 - Quantum of Solace - has again made the uber-cool British secret agent the flavor of the month, but of all the iconic scenes from the long running series, the sight of Roger Moore as 007 navigating the briny deep in his white Lotus Esprit come submarine in the 1977 flick The Spy Who Loved Me must rate as one of the most memorable. Now the car in question is set to cross the block in London where auctioneer Bonhams expect it to fetch upwards of £100,000. Read More
Porsche’s next generation Boxter and Cayman
From Automotive
Porsche has unveiled its second generation mid-engined Boxster and Cayman sports cars at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The highlights of the new generation are the new flat-six boxer engines which offer both more power, and greater fuel efficiency than their predecessors and the new double-clutch gearbox which will be known as the Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK). Read More
Move over mouse: HP TouchSmart tx2 multi-touch notebook
From Personal Computing
There once was a time when screens were purely for viewing - not anymore. The rise of multi-touch technology has delivered far more intuitive and creative ways to interact with and manipulate content, so if it works for pocket-sized devices like the iPhone, why not a notebook? HP has claimed an industry first with its new TouchSmart tx2, a convertible notebook PC featuring capacitive multi-touch technology that allows the mouse touchpad to be by-passed in favor of simultaneous input from more than one finger with gestures such as pinch, rotate, arc, flick and drag. Read More
SunStick helps gardeners find the light
From Around The Home
As a self-confessed ‘black thumb’ (I’m told that’s the opposite of a green thumb), anything that improves the chances of survival of a plant under my care always piques my interest. My parents constantly tell me the importance of ‘location, location, location’, when it comes to plant placement and a new product from Plumstone, LLC, might just help me get that aspect of gardening right. The SunStick is a garden tool that resembles a faux flower top and measures the light in its immediate area, be it indoors or out, to give gardeners an idea of what plant would be suited to that location. Read More
The I-Ball short range throwing camera
From Military
With populations rapidly migrating to cities over the last century, most of the world’s military conflicts are now being fought in urban environments. Fighting in an urban environment presents innumerable problems for a force acting ethically as the three-dimensional environment restricts visibility, and offers much easier concealment for defenders and IEDS. Accordingly, the U.S. and U.K. are quickly attempting to use technology to overcome the tactics they are encountering in Iraq and Afghanistan. These latter day wars have seen the greatest advances in situational awareness technologies in history with UAVs becoming a critically important tool. Now a new class of military technology is being created for the foot soldier which might become ubiquitous in times to come – the short range throwing camera. Read More
