This looks like a Chinese viral video for Dell’s new OPhone Android smartphone line, but we’ll bite. In this video a faceless designer cuts up – and then reassembles – a Dell netback into a phone, complete with start-up sounds.
Real? No. Fun? Yes.
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di Paola Pierotti e Giorgio Santilli – Sole24ore.com
Tante inaugurazioni e pochi concorsi per l’architettura italiana del 2010. Si raccoglieranno (spesso in ritardo) i frutti di quanto è stato seminato nell’ultima decina d’anni ma di nuove grandi operazioni, da Nord a Sud, non si vede l’ombra. Effetti della recessione, della mancanza di risorse e dell’incertezza urbanistica delle città italiane che, non a caso, secondo il Rapporto Cresme anticipato dal Sole 24 Ore, fanno registrare un -25% anche nell’avvio di nuove opere pubbliche.
In questo scenario, la top ten dei progetti di architettura per il 2010 è in gran parte già scritta. Le sorprese saranno difficili e comunque poche. Oltre alle risorse, in questo momento le città mancano anche di coraggio. Niente concorsi, molti nastri tagliati, quindi, per farsi belli di scelte fatte in molti casi da amministrazioni passate.
Roma inaugurerà la stazione Tiburtina, progettata per le Fs dallo studio Abdr di Paolo Desideri: è la prima stazione della generazione Alta velocità a essere conclusa in Italia. Come già per le linee, anche la stazione produrrà innovazioni notevoli come nodo trasportistico e urbanistico.
Sempre nella capitale sarà inaugurato anche il museo comunale di arte contemporanea (Macro), firmato dalla francese Odile Decq.
Nel campo dei poli museali e culturali, quello dell’automobile di Torino del milanese Cino Zucchi con Proger e Recchi Engineering. Esordio ufficiale anche per il discusso auditorium di Ravello firmato dal brasiliano Oscar Niemeyer e sviluppato da Gnosis Architettura.
Prima delle elezioni regionali il presidente Roberto Formigoni inaugurerà la nuova torre della Regione Lombardia firmata dai newyorkesi Pei Cobb Freed & partners. Un complesso di edifici curvilinei con una torre alta 161 metri che resterà la più alta del capoluogo lombardo finché non sarà ultimata la riqualificazione dell’ex fiera con il progetto CityLife.
Sempre a Milano entro il 2010 lo studio 5+1AA ultimerà il nuovo headquarter di Sviluppo Sistema Fiera, poco lontano dalla Vela di Massimiliano Fuksas e dai due hotel di Dominique Perrault.
Tra le nuove architetture del 2010 ci sarà anche la Porta del Parco di Bagnoli nell’area del polo siderurgico ex Ilva. Due lanterne tecnologiche rivestite in acciaio e vetro che salgono da una grande piastra e ospitano un centro benessere di 6mila mq, con un auditorium da 300 posti. Il progetto hi tech, sviluppato da Bagnolifutura, è frutto di una variante firmata dallo studio di Silvio D’ascia, architetto quarantenne italiano con base a Parigi.
Tra le opere concluse negli ultimi mesi del 2009 c’è il nuovo Padiglione delle Fiera di Genova firmato da Jean Nouvel Atelier e aperto in occasione dell’ultimo Salone Nautico, una terrazza sul mare frutto di un concorso internazionale di architettura. Altra opera da poco inaugurata è il recupero dell’ex Arsenale della Maddalena firmato da Stefano Boeri, ideato per ospitare gli eventi del G8 alla Maddalena e realizzato in tempi record (18 mesi). Un prisma di cristallo che racchiude al suo interno un mix di funzioni e una sala conferenze a sbalzo sul mare e ospita un polo ricettivo con centro nautico, un hotel e porticciolo con 700 posti barca.
Per il prossimo futuro città medie e grandi annunciano più operazioni urbanistiche che iniziative legate all’architettura. Torino le idee se le è chiarite: ha sbloccato la torre di Renzo Piano per il grattacielo della banca Intesa San Paolo e procede anche l’iter per la realizzazione della sede regionale del Piemonte disegnata da Fuksas. Altre città come Parma e Salerno hanno già scelto i loro progetti pilota e nel 2010 cercheranno di passare dalla carta al cantiere.
Complessivamente il 2010 sarà però un anno "light" con un conseguente allungamento della crisi nel settore delle costruzioni e con effetti evidenti sulla qualità edilizia del nostro Paese.
Poche amministrazioni hanno idee chiare sui concorsi da lanciare nei prossimi mesi mentre lo strumento del concorso annaspa e rischia di scomparire del tutto tra timidezze amministrative e incertezze normative. Rispetto al resto dell’Europa se ne indicono pochi e quando si fanno, si fanno male. Per i professionisti pesa di più la riduzione delle opportunità future che il calo di lavoro attuale.
Le inaugurazioni per il 2010 riguardano anche il tema della casa che in prospettiva diventerà una priorità assoluta. A marzo saranno consegnati i 144 alloggi del quartiere Giustiniano Imperatore a Roma, dove sono stati demoliti gli edifici pericolanti ed è stato ricostruito un insediamento ex novo poco lontano dall’Ostiense, con residenze integrate con un parco urbano e una piscina.
A Milano saranno inaugurati nuovi interventi di social housing frutto dell’operazione "Abitare a Milano" promossa dal Comune, sulla linea di quelli già ultimati in via Gallarate e firmati da Mab arquitectura.
I riflettori sono puntati anche sulle iniziative promosse a Mestre da Immobiliare Veneziana e sempre nel capoluogo lombardo da Cariplo (Fondazione Housing Sociale). "Sul tema del social housing – interviene Cino Zucchi – bisogna pensare a spazi capaci di rispondere ai bisogni dei nuovi soggetti sociali ma anche alle forme di gestione della comunità nel tempo". Altrettanto importante è "studiare modelli innovativi che trovino un equilibrio tra soggetti pubblici e privati, capaci di creare spazi abitati che sappiano incarnare valori che durano nel tempo".
7 gennaio 2009
If you are unfamiliar with robot vacuums then let us fill you in. They are not like Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons, they do not have a personality, and they have not yet mastered the staircase. They are a robotic, saucer shaped motorized vacuum which can hover around the house vacuuming unattended. Neato Robotics has developed a robot vacuum cleaner that will certainly give the Roomba a bang for its buck. The Neato XV-11 all-floor vacuum system is armed with 360 degree laser vision which maps out your entire floor space and identifies and avoids most obstacles (rather than just bumping in to them). Neato Robotics has created a “smarter robot that thoroughly cleans an area in less time.” Neato uses the energy that saves from its more efficient cleaning route to greatly enhance its vacuuming power. Neato is less than four inches high making it ideal for cleaning under beds and couches. Neato’s “D” shape also makes it a more efficient cleaner than Roomba, allowing it to really get in to those corners. It also has a larger dirt bin. After completing its cleaning, Neato will return back to its base to recharge itself. Make use of Neato’s scheduler to have it clean the house every day. The Neato XV-11 all-floor vacuum system will be available in February 2010 from the U.S. Neato Robotics website. Retail price will be $399, and they even offer a 30-day money back guarantee and a one-year limited hardware warranty. We can’t wait to place Neato and Ronnie Roomba head to head!
Indian Oil to grow biodiesel cropsStrategyEye (subscription)Non-edible oilseeds, such as jatropha, will be cultivated on the land and used for biodiesel production. IOC has purchased 32000 hectares of land in the …
Nick Heidfeld has accepted the fact that Michael Schumacher’s unexpected comeback diminished his own chances of driving in Formula 1 for 2010, but holds no grudge against his fellow countryman, on the contrary, the former BMW Sauber F1 driver said he is happy for Schumacher and thinks it will be a great thing for the sport of Formula One.
Despite being implicated in the sport for so long, Heidfeld admitted he was surely taken by surprise by some of the moves and changes that happe… (read more)
By Mercedes Bunz, Media Reporter, Guardian
Don’t be surprised if you find some porn among the sport highlights, children’s cartoons or music videos you are looking for on YouTube today. A web forum, the notorious 4chan, has declared today YouTube Porn Day.
To take vengeance for the apparent removal of the popular YouTube account of Lukeywes1234, 4chan called on its members to upload hidden porn onto the site.
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By Mark Cuban, Blogger, Blog Maverick
I get pitched continuously. Email after email. 99pct get deleted within 10 seconds.
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By Michael Wolff, Contributor, Newser, OffTheGrid Blog
Dear David,
I read your piece (well, most of it) in yesterday’s Times about how the Apple (AAPL) tablet is going to save print. It occurs to me that you may now be the most dedicated voice for old media—a bit William Jennings Bryan and a bit Pollyanna.
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Indian manufacturer Maruti Suzuki released at the Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi one of its latest contraptions, the Eeco family car that will take Versa’s place. Specifically designed for India, the five-door vehicle is offered in either 7-seat or 5-seat configuration. It is powered by a 1.2-liter engine that develops 73 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 101 Nm of torque at 3,000 rpm.
Eeco performs the twin objectives of being a spacious family car and a dependable vehicle to run business… (read more)
Google introduced the term “superphone” to the world yesterday when they unveiled the Nexus One Google phone. Right from the beginning of the hour+ presentation, Google execs were referring to the Nexus One as the first “superphone,” a term not previously widely used (of note – GigaOm has a reference to the term last summer).
So what’s a superphone? It’s a marketing term and nothing else. Google VP and Android founder Andy Rubin talked about the term at length in the Q&A session, and we’ve grabbed the relevant parts of the video from the ustream archive and embed it below.
Here’s part of the transcript (bolding added):
The definition of a superphone…the difference between superphone & smartphone…the evolution of the platform is such that the openness, coupled with these marketplaces and these app stores, that makes it really easy for people to download 3rd party content; an ecosystem by which 3rd party developers can participate in the ecosystem; the Ghz processors; the more memory; the gigabyte storage…. these are all things that didn’t exist 2 years ago. So we thought that the industry needed another term to refer to these innovations. And again, this is as powerful as your laptop was 4 years go. If anything, you’re carrying these around in your pocket, they’re with you all the time they’re always on… these are all new. So we wanted to refer to it by something and we think that “superphone” is the right way to refer to it.
The bar is raising…These superphones are getting more and more sophisticated…everybody knows about Moore’s law…today’s superphone is tomorrow’s smartphone…
“Today’s superphone is tomorrow’s smartphone,” says Rubin. I immediately thought of Highlander and the “there can be only one” quote (the immortals in the movie had to kill eachother until there was just one left). As soon as a new superphone comes out, any previous superphone is relegated to being a mere smartphone. There can be only one superphone.
But what Google is really doing is making a not-so-subtle jab at the iPhone and other competitors. The Nexus One, he implies, is as powerful as laptops were four years ago. All those smartphones from two years ago (iPhone) aren’t superphones. Presumably even the iPhone 3GS, which may have been a superphone last summer when it launched, is a mere smartphone today. Only the Nexus One is a superphone. And soon, it will only be a smartphone as new devices are launched.
It all makes my head spin. But that’s ok. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s phone. The Super-Duper-Phone (too late, I already registered it). It’s tomorrow’s superphone, when today’s superphone has become a mere smartphone.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
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As everybody is encouraged to drive less and use public transportation more, breakthroughs in this department can only make our lives easier. One of the most important achievement of recent times is the high efficiency linear electric motors used to power trains. Harbin Electric, a developer and manufacturer of electric motors from China just announced its self-developed linear motor propulsion system powering China’s first LM driving metro train.
Though it might not sound like a … (read more)
A French appeals court has overrun a previous decision by a lower court and found against Google in a lawsuit involving the Google Suggest feature. The judge ordered the search engine to remove a term which he believed was libelous against the Centre National Privé de Formation a Distance (CNFDI), the organization that filed the suit. Google didn’t say if it would comply with the decision or fight it in another appeal.
The decision is the conclusion of the second stage of a lawsuit filed by CNFDI which was offended by the first term Google suggested when entering a query for CNFDI on the search page. Google.fr, the French local version of the search engine, suggested “CNFDI anrnaque” which translates as “scam” or “swindle.” The organization sued Google for libel in a French criminal court.
Initially, the court sided with Google finding that it had no responsibility over the content its users create. Furthermore, it claimed that forcing Google to remove the term would be detrimental to free speech and citizen rights. It also believed that the fact that the term was being suggested showed that people are interested in that particular query all the more reason not to remove it.
Google Suggest uses an automated algorithm to generate the suggestions based on the most searched for terms by… (read more)
Article Tags: Met Office, UK Winter Forecast 2009/10, World Temperatures
Temperatures as low as 1F (-17C) have made parts of Britain as cold as Moscow, turning heavy snow to ice and leaving at least 8,000 homes without power
Arctic winds dragged overnight temperatures well below freezing point – even in city centres – turning snow to ice and making roads and pavements treacherous.
Hundreds of schools will remain closed today, thousands of workers will spend a second day at home and hospitals are expected to cancel more non-emergency operations.
Up to 8,000 homes in Sussex, Kent, Surrey and Hampshire are also without electricity after heavy snow affected power lines.
Benson in Oxfordshire was one of the UK’s coldest spots, plunging to 1F (-17C) – matching the temperature in Moscow and reaching a point lower than some manufacturers recommend for freezing food at home.
Click source to read FULL report by Alastair Jamieson & Nick Britten
Source: telegraph.co.uk
Navigation solution provider TomTom announced today it will debut the new entry-level car navigation solution in North America. Called EASE, the new nav system is meant to be as simple, cheap and, why not, good as it can be.
"The TomTom EASE combines quality, simplicity and style into one compact device, Jocelyn Vigreux, president of TomTom said. It’s an obvious choice for drivers who want an affordable, easy to use portable navigation device with the most innovative map and… (read more)
Winners of the first round of the annual Lexus Eco Challenge launched on September 28, 2009 were announced yesterday. They comprise sixteen middle and high schools from 12 states, to which Lexus North America will award a total of $500,000 in grants and scholarships to those that best addressed the environmental challenges.
Each winning team has earned $10,000 in scholarships and grants and secured an invitation to participate in the Final Challenge for a chance at one of two $30,… (read more)
Innovalight, the maker of silicon ink-based high efficiency solar cells, has raised $18 million in a fourth round of funding led by EDB Investments, the investment arm of Singapore’s economic promotion agency.
The cash also came from Vertex Venture, the venture subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, another Singapore company. This new money supplements funds from existing investors Apax Partners, ARCH Venture Partners, Convexa Capital, Harris & Harris Group, Sevin Rosen Funds and Triton Ventures.
In a prepared statement released Wednesday, Swee-Yeok Chu, CEO of EDB Investments said:
The company fits well with EDBI’s investment interest in highly promising growth stage clean technology companies globally and helping them grow their businesses and operations in Asia through Singapore.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Innovalight plans to use proceeds from this Series D financing to scale production.
In response to our recent post about whether or not a company like Black & Decker could legally resell sporting event tickets without being an “official sponsor” of the event, Public Citizen’s Paul Alan Levy wrote about how it wasn’t that long ago that anyone could make their own fan gear. And then greed set in:
The case is reminiscent of a revenue grab by sports teams in the 1980’s. At one time, anybody could make up a shirt that said “Dallas Cowboys” or “Boston Red Sox”, and then wear it or sell it. The fans wearing those shirts didn’t care one whit about whether the Cowboys or Red Sox made the shirt or had taken a cut of the shirt-makers’ revenue. But Major League Baseball and the National Football League, armed with surveys created by consumer survey expert Jacob Jacoby, started filing lawsuits claiming that some minority of fans would automatically assume that the Cowboys or Red Sox had endorsed or at least approved of the shirt sellers. By winning a couple of cases, they created a new rule of law — you can’t sell shirts showing support for a team without paying the team off for the privilege of doing so.
That has since expanded further and further, including college sports teams as well. Reader Sys Admin alerts us to a story out of Cincinnati, where the University of Cincinnati is being so aggressive in enforcing these sorts of claims that it says pretty much any type of clothing that might be mistaken as supporting the team (t-shirts with red and black? watch out…) it needs a license. The University says it doesn’t matter if the University’s name or logo isn’t on the clothing at all. Even a shirt that says “Go Cats!” needs a license. Even worse, they’re not just looking to stop people from selling such clothing, they’re happily putting them in jail for it.
Be careful what teams you cheer for, and what color clothes you wear when you do…
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Dilip Chhabria who is highly praised auto designer globally, announced that Imperator sedan is launched in union with the DY Patil Group of the DYP-DC Centre for Automotive Research & Studies
“Matter of love & design relates to matter of heart,” Chhabria enlighten the new design. He added, “We aspire to build up proficiency that embodies this, united with business & manufacturing dynamics.”
Mr. Chhabria said he has not frozen the concepts to be unveiled at the Auto Expo, but a person with knowledge of the development said that major work on the Nano has been completed. It carries a panoramic wind-screen and the interiors are packed with the latest gizmos, similar to those found in the Ambierod incarnation of what was once India’s most ubiquitous four-wheeler. At Auto Expo 2008, Mr. Chhabria transformed the Ambassador into a three-seater coupe inspired by American Hotrods bikes.
Just like the Ambierod, the Nano will have a mobile LCD screen for movies, internet, navigation and games as well as customised instruments panel that is also beamed onto the screen. The Rs 4-crore Ambierod was sold even before the concept was unveiled in January 2008 to a Dubai-based NRI.
“Selling such cars is not an issue. The issue is how to conceptualize the design,” Mr. Chhabria said. The changes have been incorporated without stretching the Nano’s size. Mr. Chhabria has managed to pack luxury in the small car by converting it into a two-seater from the original five-seater. The car is meant for long drives and has a door-mounted camera for rear vision which can also record clips which the driver may otherwise miss on the move.
Dilip Chabaria has some very unique and interesting cars displayed at the Auto Expo.
First is a Red Imperator with 28” wheels, one huge hydraulic Butterfly Door and Massive Head and Leg room. Vivek Oberoi was there giving interviews and he said it has become his favourite car. The red Imperator definitely looked glossy and a complete style statement in itself. Check out the Red Imperator images:
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Suzuki rolled out at the Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi the long-awaited SX4 Hybrid concept, a model based on the previous fuel-cell concepts showcased at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2009. However, as compared to earlier models which relied on a five-door hatchback construction, the new version is a four-door sedan with blue tint on both the front and the rear lights.
The concept is powered by a 1.2-liter petrol engine obviously tweaked to return low CO2 emission and fuel consumption fig… (read more)
The new Opel Meriva has debuted, with these first official Meriva pics showing the compact people mover in its production version. It is based on the Meriva concept car from the 2008 Geneva motor show, and will be available on the European market in summer.
The 2010 Meriva will be slightly larger in dimension than the model it’s replacing, particular in terms of interior space. The famous FlexDoors are the biggest novelty on the new model, for excellent access in and out of the car, while the rear doors can still function independently.
The interior also features a “FlexSpace” function for rapid changing of the distribution of the interior, and a rear “FlexFix” system, previously seen on the Opel Corsa and Antara, enables for easy carriage of bicycles. It will also appear on the new Opel Astra.
An options list for the new Meriva includes the panoramic glass roof and interior comfort features, already improved with the new finishings. The engine line-up ranges from the 1.3-litre CDTI with 75 hp, to the new 1.4-litre petrol turbo with 140 hp. Both manual and automatic transmissions will be available with five or six speed for the manual, and just a six-speed gearbox for the automatic.
In the future, the Opel Meriva range will include an ecoFlex option with start&stop technology and other functions to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. The price list of the new Meriva will most likely be released when it has its official debut at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show in March.
