Future Cycle

What you seeing here is not a training bike for the Lightcycles of Tron, but a possible design for bicycles of the future. Designed by Chris Boardman, who is an Olympic cyclist, he has added a lot of tech to what was once a human-powered endeavor.

In fact, it appears that this future bike (which does not have a fancy name as yet) has a solar powered motor, so that uphill climb isn’t as hard as it used to be. It can also “play music”, and one can only assume that it has some sort of MP3 Player built-in, or something.

Did I mention a calorie counter? The bike has it, as well as a fingerprint recognition so that only the real rider can ride it. I suppose the theory is that a crook won’t steal a bike that he or she cannot ride. By the way, the whole bike is made of carbon fiber, and the tires are puncture-proof.

Of course, this bike is merely a concept now, but Boardman believes that it will be ready in 20 years. Personally, I’m thinking that it will probably take that long, because I just can’t see how you could fit all those features in the picture that you see here.

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USB Fan

If you are dealing with having a desk in an area that you have to share the air conditioning, you’ve probably had the fight over the temperature. Everyone has their ideal point, whether you prefer things really cold, at an average temperature or just can’t handle the cold. Well if you’re one that is never quite cool enough at your desk, you could probably use something extra to cool things down. This fan may not be very big, but it could take the edge off enough to make things a little more tolerable.

Not only does this small white USB gadget have a fan, but it includes a clock and a thermometer. Which also lets you be more specific when you’re complaining that things are getting way too hot. The fan itself has a speed control switch. Unfortunately for those in the US, it actually displays things in Celsius. The clock can be set to either 12 or 24 hour mode. You can purchase the fan for $15 from GizGeek.

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Washing Machine washes with one cup of water

An environmentally-friendly washing machine developed in Britain that uses only one cup of water to clean clothes could be on sale next year.

The appliance, which could save billions of litres of water a year, has been developed at the University of Leeds.

It uses less than 10 per cent of the water of conventional machines and 30 per cent less energy by replacing most of the water with thousands of tiny reusable plastic beads to attract and absorb dirt under humid conditions.

Xeros, the company behind the technology, will start selling the machine to commercial customers such as hotels and dry cleaners before taking the idea to ordinary household consumers

Only a small amount of water and detergent is needed to dampen the clothes, loosen stains and create the water vapour that allows the beads to work. After the cycle is finished, the beads fall through a mesh in the machine’s drum and can be re-used up to a hundred times.

Xeros has signed a deal with GreenEarth Cleaning, an environmentally friendly dry-cleaning business, to sell the technology across North America.

Chief executive Bill Westwater said: “We’ve got an eye on the consumer but it will take time and we hope commercial success could act as a springboard to move into the consumer market.

“We’ve been very encouraged by the response from people, but the proof is in the pudding and that means putting a machine into someone’s operations and justifying the savings.”

The technology has been developed by Professor Stephen Burkinshaw of the University of Leeds and funded by IP Group, an intellectual property commercialisation group.

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Eyewear simulate an 80″ TV Screen

Q-London isn’t the first to come up with the idea of video glasses to be sure. But they claim that their new 3D QL Xperience Video Eyewear gives the viewer the equivalent experience of watching an 80″ TV from 2 meters away.

I know what you’re thinkin’. Is it in HD? Well, no. But still, if users are on a plane or alone traveling and wish to have that large cinematic experience from their portable DVD player or iPod, this video headset may be the answer.

In addition to the headset, the QL glasses come with a built in rechargeable battery, and infra-red remote control (which makes sense since the viewer is completely immersed in the experience), adapter cables, mini-jacks and a USB charging cable. Those wishing to use the QL Xperience Video Glasses for their iPod must have an adapter, but they are readily available.

Viewers can use them across platforms as well, meaning PAL/NTSC and SECAM are all readily available. The one downside, however, is that there’s no diopter adjustment for those who wear glasses, so if vision correction is a daily part of your life, you may want to look at other options.

Cost is around $310 US.

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World’s Smallest Microwave Oven

In today’s society, lunch meals often consist of fast foods or a soda and chocolate bar from the snack vending machine just because the demands of work limit the amount of time people have at lunchtime. Many often skip lunch or eat lunch at their desk.

If this sounds like you, Heinz has created the world’s smallest microwave oven known as the Beanzawave.

Not only does this small microwave easily fit on your office desk, but get this, it’s USB powered.

Office workers no longer have an excuse to miss their lunch because of their busy work schedule. Even students preparing for their final exams or finishing their school assignments can enjoy a warm snack or hot drink without leaving their train of thought.

Currently, the Beanzawave is a prototype model but “experts at the Microwave Association insist the sophisticated miniaturized technology does exist to turn the eye-catching gadget into a reality.”

Aside from it’s small size, this microwave is fast cooking due to it’s use of a series of mobile phone frequencies that are said to be efficient enough to cook some foods in under a minute.

Although the Beanzawave is USB powered, it can optionally use lithium ion batteries making it a truly portable microwave that can be taken on camping trips or fishing trips.

It is expected that once the Beanzawave enters the retail market, it will retail for about $160.

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Microwave oven cooks by USB

How many times have you had to work straight through lunch, only to wonder if being lightheaded affected your job performance more than taking a half hour and eating something substantial. But sometimes you just can’t leave your desk. So does that mean being chained to cubicle and eating cold food the rest of your hectic career? Well how about a USB microwave which can heat small dishes right where are? It’ll have the ability to feed you hot food and drive workmates nuts with the wafting scents of cooked food coming from your cube. That’s where the strangely named Beanzawave comes in as the world’s smallest portable microwave oven.

About the size of a portable camping light, the Beanzawave is run by USB and can cook a tiny snack sized meal or warm a beverage. Currently in prototype, the Beanzawave is a tad over 7 inches tall by 6 inches wide and 6 inches deep. How can USB create the kind of power used to generate microwaves? Well, the reality is that it doesn’t use microwaves at all, per se. It uses the same sort of waves used for cellular telephones (which should give everyone pause considering we all have a phone next to our ears every day) to generate the heat needed to cook or warm up the food or drink. And the Beanzawave can tune those cellular wave frequencies to generate exacting head to cook a wide variety of small foods including pot pies, cups of soup, or even a hamburger.

The Beanzawave was developed by Gama Microwave Technology in association with Heinz (yes, the ketchup company) which hopes to pair it with their new snack food line known as “Snap Pots.” The current prototype also gives the option of powering it with lithium ion batteries making it completely portable for camping and outdoor sportsman activities.

Cost is projected to be about $150.




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Tivoli Audio with New Shades and Patterns

What's a premium company to do when its innovative designs are frequently copied by low-end competitors? Keep innovating and leave them in the dust.

Tivoli Audio, maker of eye-catching compact stereo equipment, just introduced two new lines of its NetWorks and Model One radios. The Networks Stereo Radio, which can tune in stations from around the globe via a WiFi connection, will soon be available in six new colors and four textures.

The colors--including grass green, stone gray, ocean blue, carmine red, midnight black, and frost white--offer a soothing palette that are meant to fit with current decorating trends. The textures, however, in patterns called zebra, chisel, lines, and V-stripes, demand attention with their energetic, jazzy looks.

The Networks Stereo Radio includes a receiver unit with speaker, plus a second speaker for stereo sound. Devices with the new colors and textures will sell for $749.99 in September.

For the buyer looking for something really special, however, Tivoli is partnering with Italian furniture designer Giulio Cappellini to offer Networks and Model One radios with lustrous new finishes. Using a nine-layer lacquer technique, the Networks Stereo and Model One will be available in China blue, acid green, and chestnut brown. The Networks Stereo with Cappellini finishes will sell for $999.99 and the Model One for $289.99 when they're available in September

Honeywell Thermostat Sounds Cooler Than Your PC

Over the years, we've searched high and low for the craziest tech to sate your gear-craving jones. We call it "the Relentless Pursuit of Awesomeness." Today, I call your attention to Honeywell and the Prestige, a thermostat so technically advanced that it just slapped your thermostat in the face. For starters, it has a full color, high definition, touch-screen interface that just screams expensive. It's also programmable, and you can control it wirelessly (using Honeywell's RedLink technology).

But what the company's really stoked about is the interview-based set-up technology: Once installed in your wall and hooked into your home heating, cooling, and dehumidifying (is that a word?) systems, the Prestige's patented interface will program itself after walking you through a series of preference questions. "You like it hot? How's that? You want maybe some cool air in the bedroom?" It goes almost without saying that it can display outdoor temperature information, allows for different thermal zones, and can be scheduled to turn on and off. Did I mention that this thing speaks three different languages as well? It makes human beings look bad.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Honeywell thinks the Prestige will actually save you money too. According to the product brochure, "On average, heating and cooling costs make up 50% of your utility bill, and we all know that energy costs keep skyrocketing. Because the Prestige Comfort System automatically manages your home's temperature to maximize savings, you can cut your annual heating and cooling costs by up to 33% - or by $200 or more each year."

LCD vs Plasma: Confused!!!!

If you’ve been wondering whether to go for an LCD TV or a Plasma TV this festive season, here are a few tips that might help.

Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut answer to this age-old question. Which type of TV you buy really depends on factors like what you’ll be watching, what size you need and what is your budget.

However, apart from all these, there are inherent advantages and disadvantages in both the technologies.

Plasmas have higher viewing angle

Plasma TVs can render blacks far more effectively than LCDs. They have higher viewing angles, which means that if you’re sitting off to one side, the image quality won’t change. They’re also better for fast-moving images (mainly sports and movies). And finally, Plasma TVs are more affordable than LCDs for the same screen size. You can go for LG’s 42” HD ready frame less Plasma (42PG61UR-TA) or Samsung’s 42” Series 4 Plasma (PS42A410C1) at under Rs 65,000. Whereas a 40” HD ready LCD will put you back by another Rs 5,000.

No full HD support

However, Pasmas are showing their age. Many are not full HD (the highest resolution available is 1920x1080 pixels) and not completely future proof. They’re still susceptible to 'burn in; -- the permanent etching of a static image on the inside of the screen when left on for too long. Plus they have glassy, reflective screens and often get washed out in brightly lit rooms.

LCDs boast of longer life
LCDs are the newer technology. You’ll find a lot more full HD LCDs. They have longer lifespans, compared to the average plasma (Plasmas tend to get dimmer over the course of time). LCDs also work better with video games. Plus the new generation LCDs like Samsung Series 6, LG Scarlet and Sony-Bravia X or W series can easily match or beat Pasmas in most departments


Look for sharper quality

Bottom line? First, work out your specific requirements and then do a side-by-side comparison of both technologies to see which one suit you better. The major things that might be deal-breakers for you after a demo will be the unnaturally sharp & bright images of an LCD or the reflectivity and washed out images of Plasma under bright light. Take your call!
Always visit a multi-brand showroom so you can see the same image displayed on different TV sets. Take along your own DVDs or ask for your favourite cable/DTH channels to be played for reference. Don’t assume that a large-format retailer’s prices will naturally be the lowest. At times, manufacturer’s exclusive stores offer big discounts too. Shop around!

IntelliTunes Digital Jukebox is On The Wall

Hey, has anyone seen my iPhone? Oh, there it is. Someone enlarged it and stuck it on the wall. Very funny, guys.”

Seriously now, that thing that you see on the picture here is a jukebox. That’s right, a jukebox. Our digital society really doesn’t have any use for the traditional jukebox, unless you have the Xi Jukebox that we reported on a while ago.

This IntelliTunes Digital Jukebox is not designed for playing small LPs or CDs. No, it is designed to network (presumably wirelessly) to your computer to load whatever tunes you wish to play.

Once all the tunes are there, you can control them via remote control. The IntelliTunes Digital Jukebox has two screens of interface. One screen is for the actual selection of tracks, and the other is for animation while the tunes are playing.

Well, this could be the end of traditional jukeboxes as we know it. However, it has been a while since I’ve seen a traditional jukebox, so perhaps the end has already come. Still, I like the idea of every home having one of these jukeboxes on their wall, but most people already have their tunes on their iPod or whatever MP3 Player that they are sporting.

So, it appears the IntelliTunes Digital Jukebox is made for the household, but there is no word on the release date or price.

Sony PRS-700 for Books Lovers

Sony ain’t giving up the good fight where its digital book reader is concerned, with the PRS-700 being the latest model that will accompany its predecessor, the PRS-505 that didn’t do too shabbily so far. This time round, you will find some much clamored for improvements such as an interactive touch screen display for one of the more intuitive digital reading experience to date. It also won’t weigh you down since it comes in the dimensions of a slimmed down paperback book, with a textured black casing and soft black cover helping you look elegant no matter where you tote it. The PRS-700 tips the scales at just 10 ounces, so you can imagine just how light it is compared to carrying tons of books on a long journey with you.


The display itself measures six inches across, where touch screen capability enables bookworms to flip pages simply by sliding their fingers - this could be a problem if you love eating while reading, since you might actually use a greasy finger to flip the “page” out of habit, so do keep some Kleenex handy nearby. Not only that, since the books in there are all digitized, you will be able to search search terms within a document or book in a snap, using the virtual keyboard to create impromptu notes for future reference while the included stylus pen lets you highlight text that are important.

Even with five preset text sizes available, I’m sure there will still be some people who find it rather difficult to read text on a screen, so the PRS-700 isn’t meant for everybody. Other features include high-resolution, high contrast electronic paper display technology, expanded memory that can hold an average of 350 digital books, an SD/Memory Stick Duo memory card slot, and a built-in LED reading light during times where there is insufficient ambient light. The PRS-700 is able to last approximately 7,500 pages of continuous reading before it requires a trip to the nearest power outlet. You can pick up this nifty device for around $400 next month.

Sony Launches Clear, Tube-shaped Speaker

Sony, the company that brought you the egg-shaped music player and the dog-like robot, has now created the transparent tube speaker.
Called Sountina - a combination of ''sound'' and ''fountain'' - the $9,600 acrylic speaker goes on sale June 20 in Japan with sales elsewhere still undecided.
Sony Corp. said the 3.3-foot speaker spreads high-quality, natural-sounding audio 360 degrees around itself by vibrating and can fill hotel lobbies, wedding halls and other large spaces.
Sony officials said the speaker's exact coverage depends on an area's interior surfaces.
The tube, slightly thicker than a baseball bat, was shown to reporters at Sony's Tokyo headquarters Wednesday.
LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, in blue, amber, pink and purple at the bottom of the tube are reflected in the stainless steel at the top of the tube. In a darkened room, they reflect off a steel string dangling inside the tube.
Sony Senior Manager Noriyasu Kawaguchi acknowledged some people may prefer more blast and heavier bass.
''Maybe it doesn't work in the way some American consumers are expecting their speakers to work,'' he said.
The Sountina is for sophisticated consumers, including businesses seeking a speaker that blends into an interior, Kawaguchi said.
Sony has produced many products that show off technology but aren't expected to sell in numbers, such as the Rolly MP3 player, which went on sale in Japan last year and is promised to arrive in the U.S. this year. Another attention-getter, the Aibo dog robot, was discontinued in 2006.

eSys Launches New Home Theatre System

eSys Information Technologies has introduced the Divoom COMET-A1 home theatre system that offers multi-channel 5.1 home theatre surround sound performance.
The 5.1 channel COMET-A1 system, with 400 watts (RMS) of power, features a slim AV receiver designed to match almost all A/V equipments like DVD, VCD, MP3, PS2, TV, FM/AM etc. COMET-A1 comes with twin-tone silver and black finish and 5 floor standing satellites with 20W speakers. The system includes 100 W subwoofers and supports onboard Dolby/THX hardware decoding, which can generate multi-channel sound from stereo sources like an MP3 player, CD player or computer. It has all the inputs, including optical and coaxial as far as connectivity is concerned.
Vakul Bhatnagar, COO-Branded Business Group, eSys Technologies, India said, "Our Divoom COMET-A1 will surely prove to find favour with the consumers who like their favourite movies and music to be served in an exciting manner. We are confident that COMET-A1 system will not only amaze them with clear and crisp sound and impress them with its myriad features but also make their in-home movie experience really exciting!"
The eSys Divoom COMET-A1 is priced at Rs.9,000 + tax (MRP) and is re available in more than 50 plus points in India.

Sony to Sell Golf Ball-sized Speakers

The new speakers from Sony are as tiny as golf balls but deliver the big, robust sound of a top-notch home-theater sound system.
The roughly cube-shaped speakers, to go on sale in Japan next month, measure just 1.7 inches on each side, Sony Corp. spokeswoman Eiko Sato said Thursday.
The 90,000 yen ($870) system includes five golf ball-sized speakers as well as a bigger, 17 inches tall box for the amplifier and subwoofer, a feature for producing bass sounds.
The Home Theater System HT-IS100 will go on sale in North America and Europe, but pricing and dates aren't decided yet. The technology for achieving the miniature size cannot be disclosed, Sato said.
The system connects to TVs, Blu-ray disc recorders, Sony's PlayStation 3 video game consoles and other gadgets, according to Sony.

Samsung Out With New DVD, Blu-ray Players

Samsung today announced the launch of its next generation DVD Players in the Indian market, including its first Blu-ray player BD-P1400. The flagship model of the new 2008 DVD range is the Samsung Pebble ( DVD F1080), which is a High Definition 1080p up conversion DVD Player.
The unit is small and slim and can up convert standard 480p discs to 720 p, 1080i or 1080p. It also features multimedia file playback capability, including DivX, MP3, WMA, MPEG4 and more. It is priced at Rs. 5, 900.
"The introduction of newest line of DVD and Blu-ray players signals to consumers that the home viewing experience will come with a more striking look, a clearer sound, more stunning color and easier connectivity than ever before", said R. Zutshi, Dy. Managing Director, Samsung India.
The new BD-P1400 Blu-ray player also seems impressive, with all the arsenal needed for a multimedia overhaul, like HDMI 1.3 and more. It comes in at the right time, and is not too differently priced from competitors. It is priced at Rs. 29, 000/.
In addition to the Pebble and BD-P1400, Samsung today also announced the launch of seven new DVD players here. Some of the new features that have been introduced in the 2008 DVD line up include: Best Playability, FM Tuner, Power Resume Function, USB 2.0 connection, CD ripping and 14 bit Video DAC. These players also have the cool D2RS technology, which aims and claims to play all kinds of scratched DVDs.