While designers are formulating various ways to conceptualize wrist watches to help us enjoy time in more ways than we have done, designer Kenneth too has engineered his way amid the rest, with his rather exceptional, Eclipse wrist watch concept. What’s novel about the concept is the fact that, with this the designer has tried to live the sun dials of the past real again. The Eclipse in its aesthetic make tries to get the time moving around a point, similar to the planets revolving around the sun, still maintaining the traditional and mechanical aspects of analogue watches. Eclipse’s sleek modern body features a strap with elastic qualities which allows the watch to stretch around the hand for easy comfort. The time on the Eclipse wrist watch is displayed via two rotating discs, which rotate clockwise and time is always referenced from the vertical white marker on the lens surround.
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Airships are making a comeback with the US military, which could be good news for civilian applications. The military has the deep pockets for research and development, but then, once these ideas are worked out, civilian applications often follow along. So it is for those reasons, and not military boosterism, that we are excited to see that the US Army is planning to deploy an unmanned airship called the LEMV which can spend up to 3 weeks at an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,100 m) with a 2,500 pound (1,134 kg) payload of surveilance equipment by the middle of 2011.
LEMV (Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle) is a hybrid airship which gets most, but not all of its lift from the buoyant volume of the vehicle. 20% of the lift, however, comes from the aerodynamic shape of the craft and from its thrusters. The LEMV is capable of a much longer period of continuous operation than other contemporary unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
The attached video shows trial flights of the Lockheed Martin P-791 prototype which, at 125 feet (38 m) long, was about half the size of the proposed LEMV. The initial Army deployment of the LEMV is to be in Afghanistan. But research applications and disaster relief are just two of the more beneficial uses this technology could be used for in the near future.
via: Slashdot and Gizmodo
What it is: A simple puzzle platformer in which you play Jeremiah the Frog, a cheerful fellow trying to escape Satan’s curse by turning floor squares red and green with his hops — all to the music of brilliant indie rock outsider Daniel Johnston.
Why it’s cool: Didn’t you read the description? Ah, well. The play [...]
In this fast moving era, we need to eat healthy and stay fit to battle out the hectic schedules and oddities of contemporary life. Devised by Roger Ofner, the “Cup Fruilad” is a trendy container that keeps your food, fruit and salad fresh for a longer period, so you can eat healthy all the time. Featuring an intelligent system of refreshing, the container recognizes the food and keeps it at the right temperature to preserve its nutrition. Designed for Electrolux, the food container by the Brazilian designer also includes a special button, capable of makes different kinds of laser cuts, to peel and slice the fruit or vegetables within the container. Running on a USB power source, the Cup Fruilad is not only small and lightweight but portable and easy to handle as well.
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Ahead of the Climate Change Convention in Copenhagen (a.k.a. COP15), Google Earth is launching a series of layers that allow users to look at possible future climate scenarios depending on our actions now. One new layer is a guided tour of potential climate change effects narrated by none other than Al Gore.
The other layers show climate projections, including temperature and precipation changes, in a low emissions scenario and a high emissions scenario. In the next few weeks, Google plans on adding layers that show solutions for dealing with these changes.
In addition to these new layers, Google has also launched their own YouTube channel for COP15. Users can submit questions and opinions, and the highest rated of those will be broadcast at the conference and during the COP15 CNN/YouTube debate in December.
Here’s some pictures of the rare Apple I that will be up for auction on eBay early next week. Hit the jump for more.
As reported earlier, the historic machine will be up for auction shortly, likely next week. The owner, Monroe Postman, hasn’t announced the date of the auction.
Postman picked up the Apple I at [...]
With space limiting rapidly in urban environments, the need for multifunctional installations has been felt more than ever before. Addressing the issue, Israeli designer Yinnon Lehrer has come up with an innovative bicycle parking station that work as a connector between bicycle lane networks and diverse urban facilities. Hailed as “Long-term bicycle parking station,” the functional installation is devised as a kit of prefabricated, recyclable parts. Apart from being used as a vertical parking device, the mechanism also serves as public showers or washrooms and provides structural support for various multi-purpose facilities to make the most out of the least available spaces in the cities.
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For the next few months, Tesla Roadster owners can charge their battery for free along California’s Highway 101. Five charging stations between San Francisco and Los Angeles have been installed by SolarCity. Though they are currently only compatible with Roadsters, universal plugs are on their way in the next few months, making Highway 101 an electric highway.
The charging stations are located at Rabobank parking lots in Salinas, Atascadero, Santa Maria and Goleta, and one station is located in a parking garage in San Luis Obispo. The Santa Maria station is powered by a 30 kW solar array, while the rest are grid-powered.
While the stations are only able to service Roadsters, the electricity will be free, but once they’re outfitted with universal plugs, the charge will come at a cost. The stations are fast-charging with 240V, 70 amps and a charge-time of three and half hours for the Roadster.
via Inhabitat
This beautifully designed tablet features dual 7-inch screens and a multi-touch interface. Sounds like a dream list of the long rumored Apple Tablet, but it’s not. These are just some of the features of the Courier, Microsoft’s new secret tablet.
The most stunning feature is the dual 7-inch screens, making this more a Booklet than a Tablet. They are multi-touch, designed for writing, drawing, and flicking with a finger or a stylus. They are connected with a single home button. The Courier also features a camera on the back and may be charged with an inductive pad, like the Pre with its Touchstone.
Microsoft has always done well dreaming up prototypes and producing beautiful renders, but when they are finally released they seem to be mediocre realizations. The Courier is described as being in a “late prototype stage,” so there is reason to be hopeful.
What do you think of the Courier? Will it ever come to fruition or will Apple release something that will stun and amazing everyone?
[Gizmodo]
For a company with a hippie-influenced CEO famous for a six month sojourn in India in the early 1970s and widely reported to have had major personal revelations after dropping acid, Apple hasn’t had much of an environmental image over the years. Despite Al Gore’s presence on the company board, Apple didn’t perform free computer [...]
Microsoft has done its best to keep the Pink phones, Turtle and Pure, a secret, but couldn’t succeed in keeping the spy cameras away from the chick phones. Manufactured by Sharp, earlier produced the Sidekick hardware for Danger that later merged into Microsoft, the Pink phones looks like a reincarnation of Sidekick and possibly will cater the same market as the Sidekick, while attracting younger consumers with their trendy design. Featuring a smooth and curvy design, together with circular keys, the Pink phones might include Zune services while having their own app store, bringing them quite closer to the Zune phone. Despite all the presumptions of the Pink line, the stylish cell-phones looks set to run the major brands for their money.
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At the UN climate talks today in New York, an agreement between airlines, airports and aircraft companies to slash emissions by 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2050 will be presented. If the UN accepts the proposal, it will be added to the Copenhagen agenda.
This would be significant because not only is the aviation industry responsible for two percent of yearly global emissions, but those emissions weren’t part of the Kyoto Protocol. Adding a commitment like this to whatever agreement comes out of Copenhagen will mean a substantial improvement over Kyoto.
The International Air Travel Association is also promising that all industry growth will be carbon neutral by 2020.
The one downside of this pledge by the aviation industry is that it will undoubtedly raise fares for travelers, at least initially, while new technologies are being developed.
via AFP
Having been only two weeks since we posted the best alternatives to the iPod, Archos, one of the frontrunners, had to go and release their new Archos 5 Internet Tablet. It is a pretty amazing device that promises incredible possibilities.
So what makes this new device so special? Several reasons, but the first standout is Android. With the many pre-installed application (ranging from documents to twitter,) there is also the AppsLib. The AppsLib is a library of free and paid downloadable apps—and Archos is promising 300–450 apps that are in the pipe-line ready to go. Another amazing feature is an HDMI port. With this addition, you could be watching a movie as you commuting home and once you get there, simply plug the device into your TV and finish watching it. But, paired with the next features makes that port even more amazing. The Archos 5 supports an external keyboard connected either by Bluetooth 2.0 or the USB 2.0 host port. So now, why even take a laptop when you travel? Plug this into your TV and type away on an external keyboard to keep in touch. While it can come with either a 160 or 500 GB HDD, you can also take advantage of that port by plugging in an external hard drive and pretty much have infinite storage. Lastly, one of the best features of all, it features a kickstand on the back, making it so easy to watch movies or type using an external keyboard.
This is just the tip of what the Archos 5 Internet Tablet can accomplish. It has all these great features—Hi-Def video, TV output, Music, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and USB connectivity—all in a tiny device, barely bigger than a 3 x 5 notecard. In a couple months time, once more and more apps are released, I expect some amazing things. It is available in four models, a flash-based 16 or 32 GB version for $299.99 or $379.99, respectively, or the aforementioned HDD-based 160 and 500 GB versions priced at $329.99 and $429.99, respectively.
So, what do you think of the new Archos 5 Internet Tablet?
What it is: Tab Toolkit is a sophisticated guitar practice and education app from Agile Partners, makers of the handy Guitar Toolkit app that came out in 2008. Tab Toolkit lets users read and listen to real-time guitar tablature files, scrolling through songs at the correct tempo, showing both traditional and tablature notation and [...]
Designed by Daniel Bailey, the R.A.P.P.A (Rapid Area Petrol & Pursuit Avant-Guard) is a futuristic highway patrol vehicle that will allow brisk and controlled movement. Presenting radical steering, the vehicle is controlled by the body balance, as the rider is required to lean toward the right side for a right turn or the left side for left turn, while the back part swivels to accommodate the body movement of the rider. Integrating police lights in the front glass of the cockpit, the concept vehicle also features onscreen navigation and a single button patrol mode, saving the extra power consumed by unneeded energy draining lights. The RAPPA lets the rider in and out through the sliding front of the cockpit, which also doubles as the LED sign of the police patrol vehicle.
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