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Darren Quick
- ‘Waterless’ washing machine cleans using nylon beads (59,110 Views)
- US$70,000 pedal-powered submarine for two (46,200 Views)
- Orb Bluetooth headset redefines the ear-ring (39,203 Views)
- New class of UAVs look more like UFOs (37,704 Views)
- 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 to top 200mph - NEW IMAGES (33,474 Views)
All Articles by Darren Quick
zoomIt gives access to SD card content on an iPhone
By Darren Quick
22:37 February 8, 2010 PST
The zoomIt is an SD card reader for an iPhone or iPod Touch that, in conjunction with the zoomIt app, lets users access all iPhone OS 3.0 file types contained on an SD card including photos, music, video and miscellaneous files such as PowerPoint, Excel, Word and PDF files. It also lets users copy files stored on the iPhone or iPod Touch to an SD card without needing to connect to a camera, Mac or PC. Read More
Hi-Fido speaker - its bark is worse than its bite
By Darren Quick
20:48 February 8, 2010 PST
Product designer Matteo Cibic has come up with a very distinctive desktop speaker in the aptly named Hi-Fido. Shaped like a headless dog wearing an Elizabethan collar, Hi-Fido sports a 150-watt speaker that “uses the acoustic properties of ceramic to diffuse the high quality sound with a bass reflex system”. Read More
Robonaut 2 ready to give astronauts a helping hand
By Darren Quick
22:21 February 7, 2010 PST
NASA and General Motors have teamed up to build a new robot dexterous enough to use the same tools as humans, allowing them to work safely alongside humans on Earth or in space. The two organizations aim to develop the next generation of robots and robotic technologies that use leading edge control, sensor and vision technologies, to assist astronauts during hazardous space missions and help GM build safer cars and plants. Read More
World's most precise clock keeps time to 1 second in 3.7 billion years
By Darren Quick
23:27 February 4, 2010 PST
Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have built an enhanced version of an experimental atomic clock based on a single aluminum atom that would neither gain nor lose one second in about 3.7 billion years. That makes it the world’s most precise clock, more than twice as precise as the previous pacesetter based on a mercury atom. Read More
Ice Ball Machine - the next round of drinks
By Darren Quick
23:20 February 4, 2010 PST
Ice cubes are so passé. We’ve already seen them challenged in their drink cooling duties by Sippin’ Rocks and now there's a new threat looming. The Ice Ball Mold transforms an irregular shaped chunk of ice into an icy sphere, which its proponents say are more desirable than cubes because they melt more slowly due to their smaller surface area - thereby keeping your drink cooler and less diluted for longer. Read More
The tot-toting Ride On Carry On chair takes a load off traveling parents
By Darren Quick
23:03 February 4, 2010 PST
Traveling with children is never an easy task. Balancing a kid on one hip while dragging around your carry-on luggage can be a tiring backbreaking chore. Sure, you could opt for a trunki if your kids are tired, but what if your kids are tired AND hungry? The Ride On Carry On addresses this problem by attaching to a rolling suitcase to form a chair where your pride and joy can not only be safely carried as you traverse the seemingly endless miles of airport, it also provides a place to sit and play while enduring the long waits that have become standard for airline passengers. Read More
Symbian, the world’s most widely used smartphone platform, is now open source
By Darren Quick
18:48 February 4, 2010 PST
When Nokia acquired the former Symbian Software Limited in 2008 a new independent non-profit organization called the Symbian Foundation was established. One of its main goals was to create the Symbian platform used on more than 330 million mobile phones worldwide as a royalty-free, open source software. Now, less than two full years later and four months ahead of schedule that goal has become a reality with the foundation announcing the completed open source release of the Symbian platform source code. Read More
Geocentric concept watch puts an orrery on your wrist
By Darren Quick
22:33 February 3, 2010 PST
When it comes to timepieces I’m firmly in the camp that thinks the digital watch is the pinnacle of time telling technology. It imparts its information at a glance with no need to waste time adding or subtracting minutes in multiples of five, or estimating if the big hand is two or three minutes between markers – if there are markers at all. I will concede, however, that for many people watches are as much a fashion statement as a means to tell time and as such designers are always looking to redefine the humble watch in different and interesting ways. The latest eye-catching timepiece to catch our eye is the Geocentric concept watch that uses a motion similar to planets rotating around a sun to tell time. Read More
Running barefoot lessens impact - but don't throw your shoes away just yet
By Darren Quick
21:16 February 3, 2010 PST
New research has backed up the findings of another study we covered recently on Gizmag which found the average modern running shoe causes significant damage to the knees, hips and ankles compared to running barefoot. The new study found that people who run barefoot land on the ball or middle of the foot. This mitigates the potentially damaging impacts that can be equivalent to two or three times their body weight that shoe-wearing runners, who generally land on their heels, subject their bodies to. Read More
Has the human gekko's time finally come?
By Darren Quick
22:33 February 2, 2010 PST
Researchers at Cornell University have created a palm-sized device that uses water tension as a switchable adhesive bond and can support many times its own weight. The device could usher in a whole new generation of superheroes by allowing shoes or gloves that stick and unstick to walls on command, or see the creation of Post-It notes that can bear loads. Read More
World record 1 megajoule laser shot hits target
By Darren Quick
21:16 February 2, 2010 PST
In their quest to be the first to trigger a nuclear fusion reaction using lasers scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have delivered more than one megajoule of laser energy to a target. The peak power of the laser light, which was delivered within a few billionths of a second, was about 500 times that used by the United States at any given time and demonstrates the target drive conditions required to achieve fusion ignition. Read More
Wacom’s Intuos4 Wireless cuts the USB cable
By Darren Quick
23:30 February 1, 2010 PST
Wacom has set professional digital doodlers free with its updated Intuos4 professional pen tablet now featuring Bluetooth wireless technology. Wacom says removing the USB cable shackles makes the Intuos4 Wireless an ideal choice for collaborative work sessions, client presentations or use in a seminar setting such as an art class or photography seminar. Read More
Microsoft’s SideWinder X4 Keyboard ain’t afraid of no ghosting
By Darren Quick
23:19 February 1, 2010 PST
While it might not be ideal for fighting apparitions of the dearly departed, Microsoft claims its latest keyboard boasts the most advanced anti-ghosting technology ever to grace a keyboard. The ghosting being referred to is when multiple keys are pressed on a keyboard simultaneously result in the incorrect key signal being sent to the PC, or some of the key presses being ignored altogether. To combat this Microsoft’s SideWinder X4 Keyboard can detect up to 26 key presses at once, which is sure to appeal to hard-core gamers and 26 fingered typists alike. Read More
Scala rider G4 headset lets bikers be heard
By Darren Quick
23:09 February 1, 2010 PST
Making oneself heard over the roar of a motorcycle engine can be difficult at the best of times. But being heard over the roar of a motorcycle engine when tearing down the highway with your head encased in a helmet is downright impossible. Naturally technology has come to the rescue in the form of Bluetooth enabled helmets and helmet-to-helmet communication systems. The latest solution to keep chatty bikers happy is the scala rider G4 bike-to-bike Bluetooth headset that offers group intercom between up to three riders at distances of up to one mile (1.6km). Read More
Armatrix SmartGun safety system uses wristwatch to authenticate weapons
By Darren Quick
04:03 February 1, 2010 PST
Stopping weapons from falling into the wrong hands is a major problem for law enforcement agencies all over the world. But if keeping weapons out of the clutches of the criminal element proves too difficult, the next best thing is ensuring that such weapons can’t be used if they do. That’s just what the Armatix SmartGun concept does by disabling the pistol unless it's in the hands of someone wearing a custom wristwatch that sends a signal to arm the gun. Read More
Better hearing via your teeth
By Darren Quick
21:36 January 31, 2010 PST
Just as people with sight in only one eye have problems with depth perception, those with impaired hearing in one ear, known as unilateral hearing loss (UHL) or single-sided deafness (SSD), face difficulty in localizing sound. Addressing the problem with a hearing aid worn in the mouth might not sound like a logical solution, but that’s just what medical device company Sonitus Medical is doing with SoundBite - a hearing system that transmits sound to the inner ear via the teeth. Read More
Pressure sensitive technology set to bring 3D capability to touchscreens
By Darren Quick
18:55 January 31, 2010 PST
Touchscreens found in most mobile devices today use capacitance or resistance technology - fine for detecting input from a finger, but not so great when it comes to detecting how much pressure that finger is applying. However, this limitation could be about to change with news that Japanese touch screen manufacturer, Nissha, has licensed new technology that allows a touchscreen to detect pressure, even from a finger. This adds a third dimension to touchscreen interaction and opens up a raft of potential applications. Read More
Portable magnetometer to get to the heart of the matter
By Darren Quick
13:31 January 30, 2010 PST
A portable magnetometer being developed at the University of Leeds could dramatically simplify and improve the process of diagnosing heart conditions. Its creators say its unprecedented sensitivity to magnetic fluctuations will allow the innovative cardiac scanner to detect a number of conditions, including heart problems in fetuses, earlier than currently available diagnostic techniques such as ultrasound, ECG (electrocardiogram) and existing cardiac magnetometers. It will also be smaller, simpler to operate, able to gather more information and significantly cheaper than other devices currently available. Read More
Computer modeling indicates white roofs may be a cool idea
By Darren Quick
21:18 January 28, 2010 PST
Previous studies have indicated that painting the roofs of buildings white could be a low tech way to reduce global warming by reflecting the sun’s rays back into space. Now the first computer modeling study to simulate the impacts of white roofs on urban areas worldwide has added more weight to such a proposal indicating that painting every roof in a city entirely white could cool the world’s cities by an average of about 0.7 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.4 degrees Celsius. Read More
Video game prowess is all in your head
By Darren Quick
21:11 January 28, 2010 PST
If you’re the kind of person that seems to struggle every time you pick up a gaming controller you might need to blame your brain - which probably isn’t much of a consolation. Researchers say they can predict a person's performance on a video game simply by measuring the volume of a specific part of the brain. Read More
Neato XV-11 robot vacuum cleans up... logically
By Darren Quick
23:27 January 27, 2010 PST
Contrary to the expectations of the creators of The Jetsons, the robotic vacuums of today generally resemble a floor-crawling disc rather than humanoid Rosie the Robot. The latest device to join the ranks of circular-shaped household helpers alongside the Electrolux Trilobyte, iRobot Roomba and LG Roboking is the Neato XV-11 from Neato Robotics. Boasting Neato's RPS (that’s Room Positioning System) technology the XV-11 uses path-planning algorithms to outline the area to clean, which it then carries out in a systematic back-and-forth pattern. Read More
Rubber sheets harness body movement to power electrical devices
By Darren Quick
23:16 January 27, 2010 PST
Engineers from Princeton University have developed power-generating rubber films that could be used to harness natural body movements such as breathing or walking in order to power electronic devices such as pacemakers or mobile phones. The material, which is composed of ceramic nanoribbons embedded onto silicone rubber sheets, generates electricity when flexed and is highly efficient at converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. Read More
World's oldest and most expensive camera to go under the hammer
By Darren Quick
21:11 January 27, 2010 PST
A Giroux “Daguerreotype” – the world’s first commercially-produced camera – is expected to set a world record price when it goes up for auction this May at WestLicht Auctions in Vienna. The previously undocumented camera has been in private ownership in northern Germany for generations and is in remarkable condition given it is 170 years old. Read More
Air New Zealand upgrades and innovates in cattle class
By Darren Quick
21:59 January 26, 2010 PST
Trying to sleep in an upright position on long haul flights can prove to be a difficult proposition for most of us, and a sleepless flight only compounds the jet lag that results from traversing time zones. With just about any International flight to or from New Zealand being a long haul affair it’s not surprising that the country’s international airline, Air New Zealand, is looking to make such trips a little more comfortable for passengers through a redesign of seating in economy class. The result is the holy grail of economy travel – a flat surface for adults to lie down and sleep! Read More
Healing of ozone hole could accelerate global warming
By Darren Quick
21:28 January 26, 2010 PST
You'd think the healing of the hole in the ozone layer would be good news, but it seems that although every cloud is said to have a silver lining, they also have a gray one as well. The Antarctic ozone hole was once regarded as one of the biggest environmental threats, but researchers now argue that the ozone hole over Antarctica helped to shield this region from carbon-induced warming over the past two decades and its repair could actually increase warming in the southern hemisphere. Read More
dariusvons
- February 10, 2010 @ 00:56 UTC
