These days, Science Fiction is no longer science fiction – it has been transformed into reality. Imagine watching those early James Bond movies and marveling at those gadgets; Those very similar gadgets are now part of our day-to-day lives. One such very popular device is the mobile phone. There was a time when one household had one telephone connection. In today’s times every member of the family has one phone of his or her; in fact in many cases the number of mobile phones in a house outnumber the number of family members. The world has shrunk beyond imagination. Moreover, with video calling now it is even possible to see the caller on the other side of the line.
Let us take things a little further. Take for instance the gadgets used in the movie Minority Report starring Tom Cruise. Though still a part of fiction it won’t be long before it creeps in to the real world – the possibility of seeing a 3D image of the person on the other side of the line. This could soon be made possible if the ‘Cobalto’ concept is given shape.
The Cobalto is an idea by Mac Funamizu of a mobile phone produced using the most translucent or transparent materials possible. Made with ‘deformable’ metal it could either use the touch screen feature or the usual number buttons. However the most interesting and exciting feature is the concept of having pictures popping up from the phone to form a 3D image. Imagine talking to a dear friend miles away and yet being able to see him/her right in front of you.
Close on the heels of the Cobalto is the Zafiro. Once again making use of a transparent material and ‘deformable’ metal the Zafiro is a desktop PC made of glass with a round rim. Transparent disks can be inserted on the screen similarly as it was made to appear in the 2002 Hollywood film Minority Report. Another fascinating thing to be noticed in the PC is the keys that get flattened when not in use. This again, is a concept yet to be explored further but we can never challenge the possibilities of technology. One fine day we might ‘feel’ the Zafiro taking concrete shape.
Hyderabad based start-up Notion Ink has developed a touchscreen tablet PC running the Android OS. It is a “smartpad”, small enough to be carried anywhere and big enough to do anything.
This sleek gizmo is conceptualised and designed in Hyderabad and Bangalore. This smartpad is tentatively named Adam. The device will be displayed in the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show scheduled for January 2010. Notion Ink has already files 67 patents for the product in various categories! The product is targeted at both business users and tech-savvy users.
Adam Smartpad Tablet PC is scheduled to be launched in the U.S., European and Indian markets in June next year. Notion Ink promises it will be Rs 15,000.
The Adam Smartpad (Tablet) weighs 770 grams, 0.6-inch thick and has 10.1-inch scratch-resistant touch screen. The device comes loaded with features that are likely to impress everyone.
The device will be among the first to feature Pixel Qi display, a low-cost, power-saving screen that can operate in three modes. Besides the LCD mode, it can run in a low-power, basic colour trans-reflective mode and a very low-power, sunlight-readable e-paper mode that mounts no pressure on the eye. It consumes one-tenth of the battery compared with conventional LCDs. The screen comes with fingerprint-resistant oleophobic (oil repelling) and anti-glare coating.
The tablet uses the integral Lithium-ion battery, which will hold good up to 48 hours standby, eight hours of high definition video playback or 16 hours of Internet surfing over WiFi.
The smartpad runs on NVIDIA’s powerful, yet energy-saving, eight-core Tegra system-on-chip, which will drive the system at astonishing speeds while ensuring battery longevity.
The device will almost be entirely manufactured in Taiwan. TPK Touch Solutions (Xiamen) Inc. has been roped in for touch screens, and talks are on with major Original Device Manufacturers (ODMs) for the final product.
The Adam device has ambient light and proximity sensors, accelerometer, assisted GPS, digital compass, built-in speakers and microphone. It supports Flash memory (16 or 32 GB) and Secure Digital (SD) card.
It will have three interfaces: the touch screen, an on-screen virtual keyboard and a track pad located behind the screen, allowing users to manoeuvre the cursor from the front or the rear.
Adam comes with rotatable three megapixel camera at the top can effortlessly take pictures or videos within a 180 degree angle.
The developers were assisted by the National Institute of Design (Research and Development campus, Bangalore) in elements of next generation operating system (OS), user interfaces, usability issues and product concepts. For starters, Adam will support gesture control, thanks to the Android user interface.
Notion Ink is talking to telecom providers in India and the U.S. to test the device for connectivity issues on delivery of the first batch of 60 Adams.
Notion Ink decided to use Android because it lets the device take advantage of applications developed by the open-source community. Although Android is not designed specifically for larger devices with large screens, Notion Ink has developed a software wrapper around it to support the Pixel Qi screen. A software development kit for third-party developers is scheduled to be released next year.
The company has decided to develop its own office applications as well as an e-reader for the device, which it will offer free to customers.
Apple is ready to launch a new generation MacBook Air featuring an 11.6-inch display and Intel Core i-series ultra-low voltage processor in the second half of 2010, as well as a new iPod touch in August or September. Both devices will be manufactured by Quanta Computer, according to Mingchi Kuo, senior analyst at Digitimes Research.
Kuo, citing discussions with upstream component makers, noted that the 11.6-inch MacBook Air will feature an even slimmer and lighter design than the previous-generation models and the technologies used for the design and concept are expected to be broadly used in the company's other product lines to boost their competitiveness.
However, shipment volumes of the new 11.6-inch MacBook are expected to reach only 400,000 units in 2010, Kuo pointed out.
The new iPod touch will feature a 3-megapixel camera, capable of both photo and video recording, and will adopt Apple's latest A4 processor, which is also used in the iPhone 4.
Kuo noted that new iPod touch shipments are expected to reach 17-18 million units in 2010.
it’s been awhile since a cross-demographic product has swept the country, but something like the Timeflex stick-on watch might just do the trick. You can just stick it on your clothes or skin. It is a conceptual project based on flexible screen technology. aoTimeflexa can be bent and rolled as a paper. The menu can be controlled by touchscreen technology, the energy will be supplied by small super batteries, located in the thin layer of the watch. In the nearest future such technology will be popular and not expensive. A pretty cool idea that is unique and would be very cool to have.
If you figure PCs should look like a bizarre abstract UFO, or maybe resemble a Sit and Spin type toy with a CD tray sticking out, you are not alone. Designer Won-Seok Lee apparently agrees.
The B-membrane computer concept does away with monitors entirely, instead opting for a built-in projector that will beam the display onto any surface. The membrane keyboard shows up whenever it’s needed as well as a built-in optical drive. It will probably be some time before we see something like this become a reality. It’s just not that easy to make a PC of the future look like the inside of a washing machine.
Riversimple unveiled a hydrogen city car that can revolutionize the auto industry with its innovative leasing structure and open source development. The car can be easily considered as one of the greenest car in this world with just 30 grams per kilometer of CO2 emission and an amazing 300 mpg fuel economy.
The car uses four in wheel motors that can be used for regenerative braking and there are ultracapacitors to store the energy. The motors can generate a top speed of 50 mph and it can go 200 miles on a single charge. The car uses small components and composite body which minimises weight down to a meager 770 pounds to maximize efficiency.
The Urban Car represents a major step toward practical twenty-first century personal transport and toward the fulfillment of my great-grandfather’s ambitions for accessible personal transport.said Sebastian Piëch, the great-grandson of Ferdinand Porsche. Yes that Porche whose passion was to make a lightweight and high efficient car.
The car is available only for lease in Britain with a 200 pound monthly payment including hydrogen which is nearly half of what you would spend on your Honda FCX Clarity. As per Riversimple the innovative leasing structure will help finance the creation of a local hydrogen infrastructure which is currently the main obstacle of adopting to a hydrogen car. They say it has brokered a deal with the British Gas Company BOC Gases to develop a pilot fueling program in a small UK city.
Pedal boats have been around for years and they are great fun but also hard work.
But this latest concept boat is a pedal powered boat with a built in solar panel.
The idea is that if you get bored of pedalling away you can simply flick a switch
and let the electric motor take over while you and three friend’s just chill out.
