Gadgets 2008

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jun 30th 2008 at 2:27PM
Our favorite Terminator (and Governor of California) Arnold Schwarzenegger has just helped Tesla Motors make an announcement that’s probably sending chills through traditional automaker’s boardrooms. The company has just introduced a fully-electric, five passenger sports sedan dubbed the Model S, which will be selling for $60,000, and will manage 225 miles on a full charge. The carmaker says it will produce the vehicles in a brand new manufacturing plant it’s opening in Northern California. We’re on the ground at the announcement right now — no pictures or release date have surfaced yet, but you’ll know more as soon as we do.

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Filed under: Transportation

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 30th 2008 at 3:08PM
HCL’s MiLeap has long been forgotten amongst the swarm of other low-cost laptops to emerge post-CES, but a kind fellow over in Bahrain was able to handle one for a tick, snap a few photographs and dish out some early impressions. Essentially, this 7-inch netbook was more akin to a V-Tech toy than a bona fide computing instrument, and typing on the thing was apparently a very non-enjoyable experience. Still, those anxious to see what this critter looks like in the flesh can head on down to the read link, but don’t even pretend that you’re not going there with full intentions of pointing and laughing.

[Thanks, Mo]

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Filed under: Laptops

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jun 30th 2008 at 7:09PM
Among the many ducks that Sprint (and Verizon?) will need to get in a row in order to launch their own version of HTC’s Touch Pro, FCC certification ranks pretty freakin’ high on the list. No worries, though — it’s all good, because that just happened. An HTC device with model number “RAPH800″ has now popped up in the filing system, featuring CDMA with EV-DO on the 850 and 1900MHz bands. Of course, certification is certainly no indication of when a product’s actually going to launch, but if (heaven forbid) the glossy QWERTY WinMo slider gets delayed, at least we can call out anyone trying to slide the “we’re waiting on FCC clearance” excuse past us.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Following up its entry into the global notebook market earlier this year, Lenovo this time marked its official entry into the consumer desktop market outside of China. To mark its debut in the global desktop market, Lenovo announced its new IdeaCentre K210 desktop machine boasting of a facial recognition technology called, VeriFace. Lenovo claims that it is the only desktop PC that offers such a feature. In addition, the IdeaCentre K210 also includes an anti-microbial keyboard that inhibits bacterial growth using a special material.

The IdeaCentre K210 also features the Lenovo Vantage Technology (LVT) menu which allows user to recover from system crashes or viruses with just a single touch. For its system specs, this desktop powerhouse machine is packed with Intel Core 2 Quad Processors, Intel GMA 3100 integrated graphics, Blu-ray/HD-DVD combo drive, high-definition 5.1 audio and a 512MB ATI Radeon 2600 XT graphics card will also be available as an optional upgrade.

This new Lenovo machine is now available at Lenovo.com and several US retail stores. Price starts at $379 with two options for the accompanying monitor that is either a 19-inch monitor for an additional $229, or a 22-inch monitor for an additional $299.

Product [Lenovo] Read [Business Wire]

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From tomorrow (1st July), Sky will be re-branding their Sky HD service to “Sky+ HD“, and reducing the price significantly. I believe the name change has been done to avoid confusion with people thinking that Sky HD does not include the recording and pausing features as offered by the Sky+ service.

Now for the interesting part, Sky has reduced the price of the Sky+ HD box by £100!, down to £149 from £249. I’m sure this price drop will make Sky’s HD service a whole lot more tempting! Sky+ HD really does offer the best HD service in the U.K, you can read my Sky+ HD review here, and join Sky at the best prices here.

There has never been a better time to join or upgrade to Sky HD.

MobileBurn reviews the HTC Touch Cruise and writes, “Despite its business image, the HTC Touch Cruise features a whole host of multimedia applications, such as a 3.0MP auto-focus camera, a video camera, a media player, and some games. I wasn’t expecting much from the Touch Cruise’s camera, as it seemed like a sideline feature of the device, and was missing any sort of flash function. However, my expectations were unsubstantiated and the camera performed surprisingly well. Activating the camera is as simple as pressing the shutter button on the right side of the device. Within the camera menu there are options for video recording, panoramic photos and a multi-shot function, among others. Oddly, there was no macro mode, but this didn’t cause a problem for the camera, which still managed surprisingly crisp and detailed close-ups. Also not included was a night mode, but again, the camera did surprisingly well, adjusting itself automatically to suit. However, should the camera not perform as desired, a few small tweaks that can be made, such as white balance and brightness.”

Read more about the HTC Touch Cruise.

Now that summer is in full swing, people are flocking to amusement parks everywhere, searching for the latest thrill from the best roller coaster. The Evento BuzzBall is made for those who wish to take that experience home.

The best part is that the owner of the BuzzBall would not need to build some giant structure with tracks and rails, but any open space, flat or hilly, will do.

The BuzzBall is essentially a huge hamster ball designed for a person. Only the BuzzBall is a ball-within-a-ball, with dual electric motors. The first motor controls the outer edge of the ball, so the driver has complete control of the physical movement of the ball.

The second inner ball controls the movement of the driver. It can roll in any direction, regardless of what direction the BuzzBall is rolling.

When these two motors are used in combination, the results are sudden spins, corkscrews, and barrel rolls that simulate the experience of being on a roller coaster. Something tells me it will probably take a while to get used to, and you will be missing the high views that really make roller coasters scary.

I’m not really certain when the BuzzBall intends to reach the market, but it will definitely be the next thing for thrillseekers.

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Philips holds the distinction for being the first company in the world to light up its office with nothing but LED solutions. This office is owned by Generali and located at 100 Champs-Elysées Avenue, Paris, making it famous by being a milestone in lighting history. The entire LED effect also goes down well with scene and atmosphere effects that are also LED based. The whole idea can be attributed to architect Anthony Béchu who had been commissioned by Generali, in order for the former to come up with ‘an innovative window in the world of LEDs’. Research has shown that LED lighting solutions improve people’s well-being in addition to providing designers a greater amount of flexibility in the layout of open spaces and the ceiling design. This frees designers from the lighting orientation too often given by fluorescents tubular lamps. Thanks to the relatively long lifetime of LEDs, maintenance costs are reduced to a bare minimum - a good thing in today’s ever rising energy cost scenario.

Throughout the office spaces, the functional office lighting is realized through 422 luminaires integrated in a false ceiling with 600 x 600 grids. Each luminaire is powered by 16 or 12 high power LEDs of 2.6 W depending on their location in the office space. This provides an average of 300 lux everywhere and 500 lux on the working planes. Philips has given special care to the development of optics. In addition, recessed SpotLed 3 K2 luminaires each with 3 LUXEON high-power LEDs are applied in the corridors. The solution complies with lighting norms and standards on energy consumption, illumination levels and visual comfort.

The building would definitely be a sight to behold in its entirety, as when the glass façade of the top two floors are lit, anyone looking at it will get the sense that the building is more like a a beacon in the night to the outside world.

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This new concept car is, to say the least, odd. In fact unless you were briefed beforehand it might take you a while to work out what it is; a concept car from Peugot cleverly disguised as a squashed drinks can. Nevertheless this façade is complimented by some very savvy specifications, some of which are given away by its name, the ‘Ozone’.

It’s name derives from the fact that its powered by ‘environmentally friendly’ hydrogen fuel cells which power the two electric motors, and in turn the large wheels which sit either side of the cabin. This two person cabin is both spacious and luxurious, and it goes some way to epitomizing the contemporary world in which we live today, which is only emphasized by the fact that this is controlled by a joystick!

However it is probably a good job that very few concept cars ever make it to mass production because this has many flaws that would make this very impractical. First, although the cabin doesn’t move when the car is moving when you brake hard, surely you would get at least a weird sensation? Also it would be somewhat disconcerting going at 70mph with two massive wheels 20cm away from your head, and these wheels surely also cause a safety issue if you were to hit someone? And also there are very few roads that would be wide enough to accommodate this car.

In conclusion: its a good concept, but little more than that due to its great practical shortfalls.

Via [GearFuse]

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I always enjoy reporting on the latest Conceptual Gadgets, so I couldn’t resist reporting on this one. It is known as the “Kage roi”, is a concept gadget that helps groups come up with more concepts.

Simply put, the Kage roi is a boardroom table that has built-in voice recognition ability. So the next time you and a group of businesspeople are having a vocal brainstorming session, the Kage roi picks up on your keywords, and provides each person a display of its internet search. In short, the Kage Roi is a brainstorming table with a brain.

But it isn’t just the table that is the concept. Apparently, the room is equipped with LEDs that can change the lighting. For example, if you want to make people feel like the sun is about to set, the Kage roi can accommodate you.

You might be wondering why you would need that feature. I believe it is there to facilitate a “mood shift” of the room. I guess people are more apt to spurt out ideas before the meeting is about to close, so the feeling of a sunset could prompt that.

The Kage roi is designed by the Japanese IT group Kayac, with researchers from Keio University in Japan. Kayac plans to field-test it soon, and I would like to see it used with Microsoft’s Surface.

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