Posts by Category: future tech

It’s coming WHEN?

Bookmark This! March 16, 2009 posted by

Google Mars – never get lost on the Red Planet again.

First there was the internet for space, now we have Google Mars. With all the activity on Mars these days, leave it to Google, to put it all together in one easy-to-search package. There is a complete map of Mars to study with a choice of an elevation relief map, a visible (black and white) map showing Mars as the satellites see it and an infrared map. I had a quick look around and found the “face on Mars” but…


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Google Mars – never get lost on the Red Planet again.
cool tech March 9, 2009 posted by

Sweat as the new fingerprint – the pongy ID card

Dr Michael Gozin of Tel Aviv University believes that everyone may have their own personal  ‘sweat fingerprint’ which can be used as a biometric security system. The idea that we may each perspire our own ID cards is based on the fact that our sweat contains byproducts of our metabolism, including remnants from what we eat, and therefore each trace of perspiration contains unique identifiers which can be analysed by sophisticated machinery. The good doctor believes that one day we will be able…


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cool tech March 3, 2009 posted by

GreenWheel – all in one electric hub powers up your old bicycle

The boffins at MIT are working on an all-in-one electric wheel hub called the GreenWheel which when retrofitted to old bicycles converts them to electric power. There are plenty of Chinese electric wheels on the market, but this one goes a stage further by folding all the technology, including batteries, into the single hub, making it easier to install and use. The development prototypes still need to have the wheel spokes rejigged, but they’re working on an alternative so it can become more…


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future tech February 20, 2009 posted by

3M Performance Plus Duct Tape (Nuclear Grade) – MacGyver would be proud

I’m not so sure which is scarier, the fact that the nuclear industry uses duct tape, or that it uses so much that it has its own special grade. 3M Performance Plus Duct Tape aka Nuclear Grade Duct Tape is high performance tape for those “trickier” situations. Designed to work well outdoors, in harsh sunlight and in wet conditions Nuclear Duct Tape can be removed from most opaque surfaces without leaving any adhesive behind, even after 6 months in 4�C…


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3M Performance Plus Duct Tape (Nuclear Grade) – MacGyver would be proud
cool tech February 10, 2009 posted by

Explay Colibri Micro Projector Engine – watch out for a micro screen projector near you soon!

The Explay Colibri Micro Projector Engine is a five cubic centimetre small projector which can be embedded in mobile phones, computers or pink furry teddy bears in order to emit a projected screen image onto any flat surface. It outputs SVGA, features a massive (!) 10Lm brightness and can project an image up to 70 inches in size. It also features something called ‘always focus’ and has a power consumption of 1.3W. Watch out for one inside a teddy near you soon!  At…


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Awesome February 6, 2009 posted by

SIMply A-GPS – new SIM card tech can transform every mobile phone into a GPS sat-nav

The SIMply A-GPS SIM card from Sagem-Orga and BlueSky Positioning embeds A-GPS satellite navigation onto a standard 3G/GSM SIM card, thereby turning an ordinary vanilla mobile phone handset into a glorious GPS enabled satellite navigation system. What’s amazing is the fact that they have managed to squeeze the whole GPS receiver, antenna and application software onto a standard sized card, which means it will fit inside every mobile phone on the planet. No software modifications are needed on old handsets, and from…


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future tech February 4, 2009 posted by

Izona Cool Drawer – chillin’ like a villain

The Izona Cool Drawer is a hide-away refrigerator that lives under the kitchen bench. It has a selection of 5 different temperature ranges; Freezer, Chill, Fridge, Pantry and Wine Storage and they’re all selectable by just pressing a button on the door. The unit is completely self contained, it doesn’t need a separate compressor or any utility except mains power and installs easily under the bench. The insides are configurable with an area for tall things, a small drawer on…


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Izona Cool Drawer – chillin’ like a villain
future tech January 29, 2009 posted by

JJAD P1-E Electric Car – this ain’t yer grand-pappies golf cart, son…

Brit designer Jim Dowie used to work for McLaren F1, now he’s going it alone with the P1–E electric supercar. Not a lot to say, just some stats. 0 – 60 mph in 2.9 seconds 230 mile range £55,000 100% electric Good luck Jim, and don’t let the naysayers tell you it can’t possibly be done in a financial meltdown. They just don’t know their batteries from their boondocks, eh? Tags: jjad+p1-e, electric+car, ecological, motoring


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cool tech January 27, 2009 posted by

Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport Air Electric Car – electric cars get some design love

This new Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport Air electric car concept has a touch of arty 1950s design in it, which is neat. Of course all these proposed electric cars have huge hurdles to overcome when they start rolling off the line in earnest. Like where are we all going to plug them in? Forget about traffic jams and parking wars, we’re more likely to see a surge in plug rage in the future, as frantic commuters scrap with each other…


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future tech January 22, 2009 posted by

Horizon H Cell – fuel cells for remote control cars

Horizon make a range of fuel cells for numerous applications, including remote control cars. The Horizon H-Cell RC Fuel Cell, comes with three metal hydride, hydrogren gas canisters and a you-beaut fuel cell power unit with light emitting fans for extra cool cooling. The Fuel Cell system slots into the same space as the Tamiya 7.2V NiCad battery on the Tamiya TT-01 model car chassis and is powered by three hydrogen cylinders each holding 10L of hydrogen. Together they’re good…


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Horizon H Cell – fuel cells for remote control cars
cool tech January 16, 2009 posted by

Speed Vest – share your speed, cycle safe

Speed Vest is a cool concept product to help cyclists stay alive at night (or maybe even during the day). The vest hooks up to a sensor on the front wheel and displays a large readout of the cyclist’s speed so motorists can make decisions based on fact rather than their suspect judgement. OK, so they’re not claiming any dramatic safety improvements, but it seems fairly logical that it should help. I suspect it could also be a bit of…


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future tech January 16, 2009 posted by

Palm Pre – the secret behind that flashy interface…

The new Palm Pre has been getting some big love from the media since its launch at the CES show, with some good early coverage online already. I thought I’d have a little sniff around too, to see whether it’s really as ground-breaking as everyone is saying, and I did discover something interesting. The thing that’s wowed most people about the handset is the interface, with things like multiple live windows running on screen for each program running in the background. It…


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Bookmark This! December 18, 2008 posted by

Plushie – freeware for making your own plush toys

Plushie is an ‘interactive system that allows non-professional users to design their own original plush toys’. The free Java program is currently at a very early stage in development, but is nevertheless fascinating. I downloaded it to try and produce something and failed miserably, but the video shows what’s possible if you’re intelligent and diligent. [Via]  Furthermore, an arbitrary 3D model cannot necessarily be realized as a real plush toy, and the final sewn result can be very different from the original…


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cool tech December 16, 2008 posted by

Soft Solar Battery – clever solar battery rolls up into your battery compartment

This concept Soft Solar Battery is all kinds of clever. It charges up via the sun of course, but once rolled up fits neatly into a conventional AA type battery compartment to power up your gizmo. A fabulous idea, which really deserves to reach production. [Via]  Using renewable energy from the sun, Solar Soft Battery provides an environmentally friendly means of collecting solar energy and actively converting it into stored electrical energy. Designed as a soft strip, the battery is…


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cool tech December 10, 2008 posted by

Awesomely High Speed Mobile Broadband Approaches – mind your heads

The clever folk at Korean electronics company LG have done a test of the new upcoming LTE (Long Term Evolution) mobile broadband technology and achieved data speeds of 60 mbps down and 20 mbps up. So remember that most of us are happy to get 5 mbps on our landlines and you’ll see that this is Very Fast Indeed. It’s currently no good for voice calls, only data, but the boffins are working on adding a voice layer as we speak…


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