Author: Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine

The makers of what has been described as the “world’s greatest weapon”, the Russian Kalashnikov machine gun, were also pretty handy at constructing motorbikes, selling around 11 million of them since their formation in 1927. For many years, this Soviet motorbike factory ran second only to Japan in production numbers. One of its most popular bikes was the 1929 Izh-1, and this is a 2012 take on the motorcycle by designer Igor Chak. The concept design comes with more safety features than 10 Volvos combined and is aimed at making riding on the highways and byways safer than walking. ..
Continue Reading Russian motorbike concept is BIG on safety

Tags: Airbags,
Motorbike,
night vision,
Safety

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The use of remotely-controlled robots to perform delicate surgery is growing. The approach offers benefits to both patients and doctors including reduced fatigue, quicker recovery times and a reduced risk of infection. Now another breakthrough in the field has been reported in the U.K., where doctors have performed a first in remote-controlled heart surgery…
Continue Reading Heart surgery first uses RC robot

Tags: Robot,
Surgery

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Could walking or running generate enough energy to power your cell phone or GPS device? Dr. Ville Kaajakari has developed an innovative piezoelectric generator prototype small enough to be embedded in the sole of a shoe that’s designed to produce enough power to operate GPS receivers, location tags and eventually, even a cell phone…
Continue Reading Piezoelectric generator creates power from shoes

Tags: GPS,
MEMS,
Piezoelectric,
Renewable Energy

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It’s more than 40 years since the first human set foot on the moon, so where are all the robot space explorers? While rovers like those that have been trawling the Martian surface in recent times could properly be called robots, and machines like the legless R2 are heading to space, these don’t match the classic science fiction image of a bi-pedal humanoid bot that we’ve all become accustomed to. Now a Japanese space-business group is promising to set things in order by sending a humanoid robot to the moon by 2015. ..
Continue Reading Maido-kun bipedal humanoid robot on the moon by 2015

Tags: JAXA,
Moon,
Robot,
Space,
Space Travel

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With BenQ’s new E1260 HDR wide angle 12 megapixel compact, the company is offering snappers the opportunity to easily capture amazing images no matter the lighting conditions. The new model includes proprietary technology “designed bring out the finest details in the darkest and brightest parts of an image,” along with 720p HD movie recording and user interface simplicity…
Continue Reading BenQ announces 12 megapixel E1260 HDR Camera

Tags: BenQ,
Digital Cameras,
HDRI

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Zi Ye and Hammad Khalid from the Human Media Lab at Queen’s University in Canada have created a truly flexible, portable gaming interface where users interact with the images projected onto a handheld board by physically bending and twisting sections or applying pressure to areas containing sensors…
Continue Reading Gaming flexibility takes on new twist with Project Cobra

Tags: Flexible,
Input Device,
Pico projector,
Portable Gaming,
Sensors

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If you’ve read even a little bit about potential sources of biofuel, you’ll know that algae is one of the big ones. During photosynthesis, the unicellular aquatic plant turns sunlight and carbon dioxide into oil. It’s grown in ponds, where it’s not taking land away from food production, and yields much more oil than other biofuel crops, such as corn or soybeans. Researchers at the University of Michigan have recently come up with a method of getting algae to give up its oil more quickly and efficiently than has previously been possible – they pressure cook it…
Continue Reading Putting the pressure on algae to create biofuel

Tags: Algae,
Biofuel

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Microsoft is preparing the launch of an all-new Windows Live Messenger as part of its Wave 4 version of Windows Live. The range of new features will appeal to the modern online generation and are a significant step up over previous versions…
Continue Reading Microsoft announces significant update to Windows Live Messenger

Tags: Microsoft,
social networking,
webcam,
Windows,
Windows 7

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Cambridge Consultants has unveiled the next phase in the development of its Suma sensor technology, which transforms user touch on its surface into an individual action on a computer or gaming device. The wireless Suma mouse prototype opens up a multitude of three dimensional navigation possibilities by taking every squeeze, stroke or swipe of a user’s touch and translating it into an onscreen reaction such as a pan, tilt or zoom…
Continue Reading Fondle a Suma mouse for intuitive 3D interaction

Tags: 3D,
Input Device,
Mouse,
Tactile,
Touch-technology,
Wireless

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Lexus has announced details of the innovative Hybrid Bicycle Concept we first spied tucked away at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show. Headed for a UK debut at the Great British Bike Ride this weekend, the full-carbon fiber frame hybrid (electric+human) concept includes a 240W electric motor at the front hub, eight-speed transmission, a 25.9V Lithium-ion battery and regenerative braking. Head on through for more images plus our video overview…
Continue Reading Lexus details hybrid two wheeler concept

Tags: Bicycle,
Electric Bicycle,
Lexus,
Tokyo Motor Show

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Verbatim showed off a new family of secure storage products at the London Infosecurity Show this week which will bring an indelible smile to the face of every Corporate IT manager. The ‘Secure ‘n’ Go’ range includes premium AES 256bit (Advanced Encryption Standard) hardware-encrypted USB drives, SSD ExpressCards, Solid State Drives and DVDs. In addition to the hardware security encryption and integrated password protection on an SSD ExpressCard or USB drive, the user can control the device via the internet and lock, unlock or erase all data if the drive is lost or stolen. The new Verbatim Control System (VCS) also offers the ability to lock, unlock or erase the drives of any user remotely from corporate headquarters, and can also audit, trace and view logs of any corporate Flash drive usage. The ‘Secure ‘n’ Go’ family hits stores next month…
Continue Reading Verbatim debuts game-changing corporate storage products

Tags: Data protection,
Verbatim

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In one of the more bizarre media announcements of recent times, News International’s LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) British Tabloid The Sun is to publish a 3D edition on June 5 complete with 3D glasses, 3D editorial images, 3D adverts and a 3D Soccer World Cup schedule Wall Chart. It’s yet another newspaper first for the Murdoch empire (along with recalibrating public morals by widely distributing images of bare-breasted women), though we suspect the motivation is more related to Murdoch’s Sky Sports broadcasting the World Cup in 3D than by any forlorn hope of innovating a reversal of the Sun’s circulation which has been in decline for 15 years…
Continue Reading The world’s first 3D newspaper

Tags: 3D,
3D TV,
Media,
News International,
World’s First

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Dealing with juvenile diabetes can’t be easy, so anything that adds a little fun to the tedious process of monitoring blood glucose levels might help put a smile on a child’s face. Bayer Diabetes Care has just introduced Didget – a unique blood glucose monitoring system that is designed to encourage regular testing with reward points to use online or through Nintendo gaming systems. ..
Continue Reading Bayer’s Didget makes childsplay of blood glucose monitoring

Tags: Diabetes,
Nintendo

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Ford designers set their sights on creating an endearingly simple vehicle for their latest project, and we’d have to say they’ve succeeded. Unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show, there’s definitely a certain stripped-back elegance about the Start Concept, which along with its sculpted lines and some clever interior customization options, features a new 1.0-liter, three-cylinder addition to the company’s EcoBoost petrol engine family that promises a CO2 rating of under 100 g/km…
Continue Reading Ford Start Concept features 1.0-litre, three-cylinder EcoBoost engine

Tags: Beijing-Motor-Show,
Concept Cars,
Ford

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Industries that rely on fair use exceptions to copyright law grew faster than the rest of the U.S. economy from 2002 to 2007, expanded 5 percent and accounted for 23 percent of real economic growth, according to a new CCIA economic study. The study entitled “Fair Use in the U.S. Economy” was released the day after Intellectual Property Day, and drew a distinctly different conclusion to another study released the day prior by the GIPC which advocates the tightening of fair use exceptions…
Continue Reading “Fair Use” industries generate US$4.7 TRILLION

Tags: CCIA,
Copyright,
GIPC

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Mobile devices such as smartphones are truly amazing in what they can do, but are often frustrating to use – many people don’t particularly enjoy poking at tiny buttons, or obscuring the onscreen display with their own fingers. Newly-developed technology, however, is addressing these annoyances. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute have found a way of turning mobile devices into their own mice…
Continue Reading Mobile devices could become their own mice

Tags: Mobile,
Mouse,
Optical sensor,
Smartphone

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Keeping up to date with our ever increasing digital presence in the networked sociosphere can be the very definition of multi-tasking. Three new EasyNote laptops from Packard Bell have been designed to help, having a dedicated social networking feature which brings together all the various sites into one useful interface. Other features include the latest Intel Core processors, up to 640GB of storage and either NVIDIA or ATI discreet graphics processors…
Continue Reading Packard Bell launches three new EasyNote M laptops

Tags: ATI,
Intel Core,
Laptops,
NVIDIA,
Packard Bell,
social networking

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For anyone who has ever needed to give presentations on the go, playing audio from your built-in computer speakers can sometimes be a problem. Battery-powered portable speakers that plug into your audio jack are one possible solution. But I’m inclined to favor this new adjustable speaker from Sanwa, which draws all its power from your computer’s USB port…
Continue Reading Adjustable presentation speakers point you in the right direction

Tags: Audio,
Japan,
Presentations,
Speakers,
USB

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Hopefully before too, too long, the majority of vehicles on the road will be electric. There could be one potential problem with all those EV’s in use however – the huge load that would be put on municipal power supplies when all those vehicles are simultaneously plugged in after their owners get home from work. Fortunately, our oft-featured friends over at Germany’s Fraunhofer group have come up with a solution. They’ve designed a station that charges your vehicle when there’s power to spare…
Continue Reading Smart station would charge your EV when the time is right

Tags: Electric vehicle,
Fraunhofer,
Recharging

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The smartphone market was given a massive boost today as the news broke that HP will acquire smartphone pioneer Palm and perhaps most significantly, the Palm webOS mobile operating system. HP’s international infrastructure, fiscal strength and influence will ensure Palm now has not only a future, but will now become an even more serious competitor to Apple, Google’s Android, RIM, Microsoft et al in US$100 billion smartphone and connected mobile device marketplace…
Continue Reading Smartphone market gets an old new player as HP buys Palm

Tags: HP,
Palm

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