Author: Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine

The bizarre looking Eigenharp is what you get when you roll a guitar, saxophone, keyboard and a drum kit into one, and it’s capable of delivering an almost limitless supply of musical sounds. The unique design of the keys, breath pipe and pedal inputs allows a musician to easily change scale or key, alter tempo, switch and layer multiple sounds and play and record loops – all during a live performance. Will this instrument revolutionize the electronic music scene?..

Tags: Music

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If you’re like most people, you probably think that 200 megabits per second for wireless data transfer is just too darn slow! What are we, cavemen? Not anymore, apparently, as electronic engineering company Siemens just broke their own record by achieving 500 Mbps using white LED light…

Tags: Data transfer,
Electronics,
LED,
Network,
Research,
Siemens,
Technology,
Transmission,
Wireless

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Gizmag met with PlasticLogic, the makers of the QUE ProReader eBook reader/tablet – one of the most versatile and powerful eReaders to hit the market. The Que ProReader measures the size of standard piece of office paper (8.5 x 11 inches) and focuses on the business professional. Though not designed to replace your laptop or smartphone, it is designed to make paper redundant. Already there are more than 1 million pieces of online content that can be downloaded and viewed on the device. Plus you can print from your computer to the QUE Pro to carry your personal documents with you, or use it as a back-up device. Connectivity options abound with built-in WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth. ..

Tags: 3G,
Bluetooth,
EBook,
Reader,
Touchscreen,
Wifi

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Apple’s announcement of its tablet computer this Wednesday will without doubt be the most eagerly anticipated tech news of 2010. We were all so “over” the speculation at Gizmag.com that we’d agreed we would not run any “puff” stories guessing the outcome, functionality or whatever, because no-one really knows. Until now, that is. Odds on what the name of the device will be have been on offer at Irish bookmaker Paddy Power this week and when the Economist ran a story effectively promoting the odds to the wider community, the flow of money on the name iPad quickly became a torrent, seeing it shorten from 7/4 to 1/3 in a few hours. Accordingly, …..

Tags: Apple,
Tablet

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The new Silver Arrows Formula One works team was presented in Stuttgart today and though there were no surprises, the line-up was nonetheless formidable. Take a world championship winning team (Brawn F1 2009), add to it substantial long term sponsorship from Petronas, the full weight of Mercedes Benz management, finances and engineering (with the emphasis on engine – the title engine of the last two years) and then slot in the winningest F1 driver in history, and you have a pretty impressive line-up. The most ominous aspect of it all though is that the pairing of Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher is back together. It won two titles at Benetton, reestablished the Ferrari dynasty then Brawn created his own history last year. The car remains under a shroud of secrecy until its track debut next week…

Tags: Brawn,
F1,
McLaren,
Mercedes,
Mercedes-benz

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Peugeot mass produced the first electric scooter 15 years ago and it’s just about to launch another. Way back in 1996, the 40 km range of the Peugeot Scoot’Elec produced a chorus of yawns but when the new E-Vivacity hits showrooms late this year, it will be greeted by a much wiser and ecologically-aware public. Emissions aside, the biggest motivating factor behind the E-Vivacity’s likely sales success will be its remarkably low cost of use. Though its 4kW engine is the equal of a frugal 50cc scooter, its running costs will be one tenth as it recharges from a domestic powerpoint at regular tarrifs. In Paris where its 100 km range will be more than adequate, that will equate to EUR 0.4 (about US$0.56) per 100 km. So if you cover the yearly average scooter distance of 4,000 kms, total running costs will be EUR 16 (US$22.67)! ..

Tags: Electric,
Peugeot,
Scooter

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At the North American International Auto Show, Gizmag’s Noel McKeegan got the lowdown on the Venturi Volage concept electric sportscar from Venturi’s Clement Dorance. Venturi is the company responsible for the world’s first production electric sportscar, the Fetish, and its latest electric sportscar is the result of collaboration between Venturi and Michelin. It is one of the first applications of the Michelin Active Wheel System that replaces a vehicle’s traditional engine with eight electric motors located within the wheels. Each wheel contains two motors – one responsible for the propulsion and the other taking care of the suspension. As Clement explains this innovative design not only gives the Volage four-wheel-drive and active suspension, but also provides a low center of gravity to further enhance the maneuverability and overall performance of the vehicle…

Tags: Concept,
Electric,
Electric vehicle,
Michelin,
naias 2010,
Vehicle

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Last December, the world was introduced to the Synaptics Fuse, a new concept in mobile communications. The prototype smartphone is the result of a collaboration between Synaptics, Texas Instruments, Immersion, TheAlloy and The Astonishing Tribe (TAT). What makes this phone so special is its user/phone interface. It takes Synaptics’ pioneering touchscreen technology to a whole new level, allowing people to use the phone one-handed, and without having to even see the screen…

Tags: Communications,
Concept,
Immersion,
Mobile Phone,
Phone,
Prototype,
Screen,
Sensors,
Smartphone,
Touchscreen

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The age of unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs has well and truly dawned but designers aren’t resting on their laurels when it comes to improving the capabilities of these multi-talented aircraft. One innovation that’s come to the fore recently is the use of an enclosed four rotor platform (see our recent look at the CyberQuad) which offers a number of advantages including greater stability, agility, hovering ability and a smaller footprint. This unique new design from Britain’s VTOL Technologies takes this idea a step further, adding four movable rotors to a single “flying-wing” to create an aircraft that claims to deliver a higher payload capacity for its size and up to four times the endurance of current vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAV designs…

Tags: Aircraft,
CyberQuad,
Military,
Surveillance,
UAV,
Unmanned,
VTOL

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• Concept aircraft combines VTOL with fixed wing capabilities
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• SkyTote – the VTOL UAV that transitions into horizontal flight

Electric carmaker Tesla Motors and electronics giant Panasonic have announced that they will be collaborating on development of next-generation battery cells for electric vehicles. Tesla Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel says “Combining Tesla’s rigorous cell testing and understanding of EV requirements with Panasonic’s cutting-edge battery technology will result in custom cells optimized for use in EVs.” Panasonic’s nickel-based lithium-ion battery cells will be included in Tesla’s newest battery packs, due to their high capacity, light weight, durability and long life. According to Panasonic, they are the highest energy density battery cells currently in production…

Tags: Batteries,
Battery,
Electric,
Electric vehicle,
Lithium-ion,
Panasonic,
Tesla,
Vehicle

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• Tesla to build new all-electric car in California

You’re not fooling anyone with that “123456” password of yours. “Password” isn’t much better, and sorry ladies, but “princess” is also no good. These are among the findings in a report released by Imperva, a data security firm that analyzed 32 million passwords recently exposed in the Rockyou.com breach. Not only did they identify the most common, and thus easily-guessable passwords, but they also suggested some effective methods for creating secure ones…

Tags: Internet,
passwords,
Security,
social networking

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It is interesting to note that the three biggest stories in Formula One right now concern a driver who competed in 2010 but not in 2009 (the Michael Schumacher comeback), a driver who competed in 2009 but not 2010 (Raikkonen loses his drive and goes WRC) and a driver who has never competed in F1 and quite possibly never will – Valentino Rossi. Indeed, Rossi has only ever driven an F1 car six times, but his status as one of motorcycling’s all-time greats and one of the most popular and media-savvy sportspeople of all time make the possibility an incredibly enticing prospect. For Ferrari, Rossi brings a global army of fans and the possibility of a rare Italian driver-car title combination that hasn’t happened since Alberto Ascari in 1953, despite 15 drivers titles and 16 constructors titles for the marque since then. This week Rossi tested in a Ferrari F1 car again, and was so fast that the possibility might now be approaching a probability…

Tags: Ducati,
F1,
Ferrari,
Honda,
MotoGP,
Motorcycle,
Valentino Rossi,
WRC,
Yamaha

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Imagine if you could take professional-looking photos and create 3D product animations as easily as using the office copier. Ortery’s Photosimile 5000 system aims to bring that capability to the office by enabling even non-photographers to create high-quality images just by pressing a few buttons. The Photosimile 5000 is a PC-controlled desktop photography studio that integrates a light box, a DSLR camera, automated camera positioning, and specialized workflow software to simplify and automate business photography…

Tags: 360-degree,
3D,
DSLR,
Photography,
Studio

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It’s official: the Arctic tern has the longest migration of any animal in the world. The Arctic Tern Migration Project recently discovered that the tern flies over 70,000 kilometers (43,496 miles) annually, from its breeding grounds in the Arctic to its winter quarters in the Antarctic. That distance is more than twice what was previously estimated. Over the lifetime of one bird, it travels approximately 2.4 million kilometers, the equivalent of three trips to the moon and back. For a bird that weighs just over 100 grams (3.5 ounces), that’s fairly impressive…

Tags: Antarctic,
Arctic,
Mapping,
Research,
Satellite,
Travel

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At CES 2010, home automation and entertainment company, Control4, released a new energy-saving system, an app that turns Blackberries and Droid handsets into remote control for its system, and even added an app store which it is hoping will have the same impact on home automation that iTunes had on music…

Tags: CES 2010,
Electricity,
Energy,
Energy-saving,
Mobile Phone,
Power,
Remote Control,
Wireless,
ZigBee

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We’ve gone to a new format for our first podcast of 2010 – Loz Blain and Mike Hanlon sit down for a broad and fun discussion on a few recent stories that we see as real potential life-changers. Starting with the Digital Gastronomy project and moving on to cover some of the fun, fascinating and scary things Mike saw at last December’s robotics trade show in Tokyo, it’s your chance to sit in on the kind of discussions that happen every time the Gizmag team gets together…

Tags: Podcast,
Robotic

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The Video Electronics Standard Association (VESA) has unveiled the long awaited DisplayPort Version1.2 digital display interface that brings with it a host of enhanced features. Aside from a doubled data rate of 21.6Gbps and bi-directional USB data transfer of an impressive 720Mbps, the upgrade also offers multi – monitor support from a single plug, improved audio synchronization and support for Full HD 3D Stereoscopic displays…

Tags: 3D,
Audio,
Blu-ray,
Cable,
Data transfer,
Digital,
Display,
Ethernet,
HD,
HDMI,
Interface,
Monitor,
Signal,
Slim,
USB,
Video,
webcam

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• High Definition Audio explained

There’s this cliche that anything made in Scandinavia is cool, and… it’s true. Think about it; movies, cars, music, furniture, headphones – Yep, that’s right, the latest hip thing to come out of northwestern Europe is headphones. Urbanears is a Stockholm-based company that is turning music-listening into a fashion statement. According to their website, “Urbanears promotes a deeper connection to color, form and people while providing the freedom to transcend individuality and unify the sound experience.” Gosh…

Tags: Headphones,
Urbanears

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A software engineer based in Sydney, Australia has created a digital guitar controlled by open source software which he hopes will see musicians play electronic music in a live environment. Players control the pitch, speed and volume of notes produced by the Misa Digital Guitar via a 24 ‘fret’ neck and touchscreen interface…

Tags: Controller,
Design,
Digital,
Electronic,
Guitar,
LCD,
Linux,
MIDI,
Music,
Open Source,
Prototype,
Touchscreen

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Currently, your iPod might have your favorite songs personalized the way you like them and your laptop might be customized with your own homepage material. But what about your shower or bath? Do they know what you like? An easy-to-use interface for your bathroom is now available from Moen that gives you the ability to set and maintain water temperature, levels and flow with electronic precision – even remotely. The ioDIGITAL is available for three Moen products: the vertical spa, shower and Roman tub…

Tags: Bath,
Bathroom,
Electronic,
Remote,
Shower,
Temperature,
Water

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