The Data Clip
As flash memory chips continue to get smaller the main advantage is more storage in the same space. For example, the 64GB USB stick of today, will hold double or triple that in the same chip space within just a few years.
However, there is another advantage to decreasing the size of the storage chips: you can attach a decent amount of storage to tiny objects you’d usually associate with another function entirely…
Engineer Fumiyuki Sato displays his spherical observation drone in Tokyo.
Advanced Defense Technology Centre Engineer Fumiyuki Sato, a Japanese defense researcher, has invented a spherical observation drone that can fly down narrow alleys, hover on the spot, take off vertically and bounce along the ground.
Continue reading… “Japanese inventor develops world’s first flying sphere drone”
It looks like the Philips AmbientLED has won the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lighting Prize (modeled on the original X-Prize). The goal was to help “transform lighting technology” by making it more efficient. To win, the Philips LED had to go through some pretty sophisticated tests (see the video below) to make sure the light quality was good and that it was durable… (video after jump)
Continue reading… “Philips LED light wins U.S. Department of Energy’s $10m ‘Lighting Prize’”
Dokkiri (Kid’s) Hand Case for iPhone 4
Products from Japan can get pretty weird and when you thought they couldn’t get any weirder they go and create the Dokkiri (Kid’s) Hand Case for iPhone 4. Even the product page, Strapya World, thinks this thing is crazy. (That’s like Bill Gates calling someone a nerd.)
Powerful but oh so small!
Your watch battery isn’t small. This battery is small. At six times thinner than a bacterium, Rice University’s new battery is 60,000 times smaller than a AAA battery…
Continue reading… “The world’s smallest battery is six times thinner than a bacterium”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC2TTslf_YM&hd=1[/youtube]
At the Tokyo Institute of Technology researchers with the Hasegawa Group have created a robot that is capable of applying learned concepts to perform new tasks. The Self-Organizing Incremental Neural Network (SOINN) uses a type of self-replicating neural technology. The research team has released a video demonstrating the robot’s ability to understand it’s environment and to carry out instructions that it previously didn’t know how to do.
Continue reading… “Researchers create robot that can learn, think and act by itself”
Professor Manos Tentzeris displays an inkjet-printed rectifying antenna used to convert microwave energy to DC power.
Researchers have found a way to capture and harness energy transmitted by such sources as radio and television transmitters, cell phone networks and satellite communications systems. By getting this ambient energy from the air around us, the technique could provide a new way to power networks of wireless sensors, microprocessors and communications chips.
The ‘electronic tongue’ may have a commercial use and could eventually replace the teams of experts needed in each bodega.
Spanish scientists have developed an “electronic tongue” that promises to rival the work of the traditional sommelier and identify different grades of the Spanish sparkling wine, cava. The electronic device has been developed by the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) and uses electronic sensory systems with “advanced mathematical procedures” to analyse different varieties of the Catalan alternative to champagne according to taste.
Evatran’s Plugless Power electric vehicle charging system.
When it comes to technology, the old adage of “bigger is better” died a long time ago. “Smaller is smarter” thinking is being applied to products and prototypes across the board. Today’s “smaller is smarter” wonder is Evatran’s Plugless Power electric vehicle charging system: now smaller, more efficient, and primed for its first trial phase.
Continue reading… “Evatran wireless charging system for cars”
The Wireless Aerial Surveillance Platform, or WASP.
The Black Hat Security Conference and DEFCON bring together the world’s professional hackers, security researchers, goverment representatives, journalists, and just about anyone who thinks of themselves as a hacker. They listen to talks about security, show off the latest novel hacks, and generally share information about the state of computer security.
Every year there’s a highlight to the conferences, and this year it looks like that highlight may be a flying drone, or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). This drone is called the Wireless Aerial Surveillance Platform, or WASP. It’s an ex-U.S. Army spy drone measuirng over 6-feet in length and wingspan that has been modified to make it more useful for hackers in our built-up, communication-heavy urban environments…
Continue reading… “WASP: The Linux-powered flying spy drone that cracks Wi-Fi & GSM networks”
Memberly will make a substantial impact in online retailing.
Jack Cheng and his two cofounders launched Steepster, a social network for tea drinkers, in 2009. It soon occurred to them that a tea club, in which members receive a shipment of new teas each month, would be a perfect complement to the site. But they were working long hours to get their site off of the ground, and never thought about making the investment of time and money that starting such a program would entail .
Three years later, they decided to revisit the project — and while they were at it, solve the subscription program logistics problem for everyone else, too…
Continue reading… “Make your own subscription service: introducing Memberly”
INgSOC advanced hybrid bike
The INgSOC, by designers Edward Kim and Benny Cemoli, is an electric bicycle concept is out of this world! It combines the aerodynamic shapes of triathlon designs, flexible handling of traditional bikes, and advanced hybrid power technology into one super-efficient commuting machine that (to say the least) looks, well… unearthly! (Pics)
Continue reading… “The INgSOC hybrid bike that is out of this world!”