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Jeff Salton
OpenOfficeMouse promises to be quite a handful
By Jeff Salton
17:49 November 9, 2009 PST
WarMouse is to release an 18-button mouse with an analog joystick which the company says supports up to 52 key commands. The OpenOfficeMouse, billed as the first multi-button application mouse designed for a wide variety of software applications, including Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk AutoCAD, Microsoft Office, and OpenOffice.org 3.1 (plus a few games), is intended to provide a faster and more efficient user interface for many common complex software applications than the conventional icons, pull-down menus and hotkeys. Read More
Software to detect objects inside videos
By Jeff Salton
23:57 November 3, 2009 PST
Researchers at the University of Missouri (MU) are developing software that would enable computers to perform video analysis tasks, such as alerting emergency services if a video surveillance camera detects a person falling and not getting up. The software could also be used to search inside videos and look for certain objects, such as basketballs or footballs, hence reducing the time taken to locate a certain game or scene. Read More
599 Ferrari fetches $2 million - despite cracked paintwork
By Jeff Salton
22:01 November 3, 2009 PST
A buyer has paid US$2 million at a charity auction for a unique Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano painted by leading Chinese artist, Lu Hao. The Ferrari supercar is decorated with Song Dynasty Ge Kiln “cracked” glaze pattern. Read More
‘Opera’ luxury camper trailer hits a high note
By Jeff Salton
17:10 November 3, 2009 PST
If you enjoy peace and quiet on your camping holidays, the "Opera” might not be the ideal choice. Emulating the renowned lines of the Sydney Opera House in Australia, this luxurious mobile home designed by Belgian architect Axel Enthoven is bound to get lots of scrutiny from inquisitive campers and passers-by... and it deserves all the attention it gets. Read More
Nintendo DSi LL upgrades to larger screens and stylus
By Jeff Salton
23:51 November 1, 2009 PST
A new model Nintendo DSi console is being launched this month in Japan with larger 4.2-inch dual screens and a larger stylus. The DSi LL will be bundled with three DSiWare titles pre-installed – a dictionary and two brain training games, and a large and smaller touch pen. It will, however, have the same resolution as the previous DSi. Nintendo says the battery can last around four-five hours in extensive use mode and approximately 13-17 hours in energy-saving mode. These are around 25 percent improvements over previous models. Read More
GPS satellites tell us where we are, but what tells them where they are?
By Jeff Salton
18:00 November 1, 2009 PST
Global Positioning System (GPS) devices have permeated society to the point where millions of us rely on them daily for directions, locations and traffic avoidance (if only they could tell me where I left my car keys). GPS satellites send signals to a receiver in your handheld or car-based GPS navigator, which calculates your position on the planet based on the location of the satellites and your distance from them. The distance is determined by how long it took the signals from various satellites to reach your receiver. But have you ever thought what tells the GPS satellites where they are in the first place? Read More
Axon Automotive shows off lightweight plug-in hybrid
By Jeff Salton
19:42 October 29, 2009 PDT
UK car manufacturer Axon Automotive has used the Milton Keynes Science Festival to preview its plug-in hybrid lightweight passenger car. The car combines carbon fiber composite construction with a full electric mode for short-run local travel and a petrol or bioethanol-powered engine for longer distances or highway travel. Read More
California gets world first 'green' heavy duty truck - the zero emission Tyrano
By Jeff Salton
20:38 October 28, 2009 PDT
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has introduced Vision Industries’ Tyrano semi truck – a hydrogen-powered zero emissions vehicle designed to replace diesel and LNG short haul trucks in California. Vision says the Tyrano is the world’s first “green” heavy duty class 8 truck with zero emissions (zero CO2, zero fossil fuels, zero noise pollution and a zero carbon footprint). What’s more, the company claims the Tyrano is twice as powerful as a conventional diesel-powered vehicle. Read More
Pocket projector meets handheld computer - the Allcam CP1
By Jeff Salton
17:24 October 28, 2009 PDT
Allcam has crammed a lot of technology into a very small space to create the CP1 - a handheld computer/pico projector that runs Windows CE and is designed for the business professional who conducts presentations on-the-fly. It's got a built-in mouse-pad, but it also has mini-USB connector for keyboard and mouse (or any other USB device). There's also it a speaker, around four hours of battery life and it weighs just under 1kg (2.2lbs). Read More
Worm glue could help repair broken bones
By Jeff Salton
01:28 October 28, 2009 PDT
A sea creature called the sandcastle worm could hold the secret to repairing broken bones in humans. The screws and pins favored by many surgeons today have achieved much success over the years, but they are not suitable for repairing all kinds of fractures. For more precise reconstruction of compound fractures and shattered bones, bioengineers have looked beyond metal hardware and have now duplicated a natural glue secreted by the tiny sandcastle worm. The research team hopes it will provide a better solution to fixing small bones broken in battlefield injuries, car crashes and other accidents. Read More
Dell Latitude XT2 XFR - small, tough and multi-touch capable
By Jeff Salton
22:15 October 27, 2009 PDT
Dell continues to expand its Latitude range by revealing a 12.1-inch rugged convertible tablet PC with a multi-touch display - the Latitude XT2 XFR. The company says this PC is designed to meet the unique and demanding needs of customers in the military, police, border patrol, field service organizations, factory fulfilment and first responders. At only 1.5 inches thick (38.1mm) this rugged 12.1-inch convertible tablet weighs 5.4lbs (2.45kg) and adds to Dell’s Rugged Mobility Solution offering that includes the fully rugged Latitude E6400 XFR and the semi-rugged Latitude E6400 ATG laptops. Read More
Dribbling teapot enigma solved
By Jeff Salton
22:10 October 27, 2009 PDT
You may not be entertaining the Queen of England but when pouring someone a cup of tea from a proper teapot it’s annoying, nay embarrassing, when the tea drips down the spout and splashes into the saucer or onto the cucumber sandwiches (well, at least a plate of biscuits). French scientists know this feeling only too well and have employed technology to put an end to this horrendous social faux pas. Read More
Plastic Logic QUE proReader set for CES launch
By Jeff Salton
04:21 October 27, 2009 PDT
Plastic Logic has flagged the unveiling of its business user focused QUE proReader eReader at CES next January. The company says the eReader market to date has focused on leisure reading devices and casual users, so the QUE is designed for the busy executive who wants to access his or her business media in an electronic easy-to-read format. What this amounts too is an eReader roughly the same size as an 8.5 x 11-inch pad of paper, less than 1/3 inch thick, weighing less than many periodicals and boasting the largest touchscreen in the industry. Read More
Netflix streaming coming to Sony PS3
By Jeff Salton
05:32 October 26, 2009 PDT
A new feather in the Sony PS3's cap is its ability to stream instantly thousands of movies and TV episodes from Netflix. From next month, Netflix members in the U.S. will have access to the Netflix library via their PS3s at no extra cost. Netflix says the PS3 is currently sitting in around 9 million U.S. homes while Netflix has notched up an impressive 11.1 million U.S. subscribers. Read More
Good vibrations: Lotus leaf's secrets revealed
By Jeff Salton
23:13 October 25, 2009 PDT
The ancient lotus leaf has natural properties that scientists believe could prove beneficial in today's modern world. Already Gizmag has featured articles about the lotus leaf surface, including a self-cleaning cup and a transparent coating for space suits. Recently, though, in an effort to improve the efficiency of modern engineering systems, such as power plants and some electronic equipment that must be cooled by removing heat through water evaporation and condensation, engineers at Duke University have been studying the lotus leaf. Using an ultra high-speed camera, a powerful microscope and an audio speaker, scientists were able to observe water as it condensed on the leaf's surface, and more importantly, how the water condensate disappeared. Read More
World's first blue roses to go on sale
By Jeff Salton
21:33 October 25, 2009 PDT
They may not be exactly blue in color, but the long-awaited commercial release of the blue rose is set to take place in Japan next week (November 3). Thought to be impossible to create because they lack the blue pigment delphinidin, Australia-based Florigene and its Japanese parent company Suntory Holdings (known more for its beer than its floral conquests) began working together in 1990 to create a blue rose by introducing a blue gene from panzies and then irises into roses. It took until 2004 before the team could announce the successful development of blue roses. But before you go ordering a dozen or so for your loved one, check out the price – around ¥2,000-3,000 (US$22-32) each. Read More
Unused TV channels bring broadband to rural U.S.
By Jeff Salton
07:23 October 23, 2009 PDT
Discarded and left-for-dead, old TV broadcast channels (called “white spaces”) that have been freed up by the transition to digital TV in the U.S. are being given new life and used to wirelessly deliver high-speed Internet connectivity to business, education and community users. Under an experimental license granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Spectrum Bridge designed and deployed a wireless TV white spaces network to distribute broadband Internet connectivity in Claudville, Virginia. To ensure the local residents make the most of this new high-speed connectivity, Dell, Microsoft and the TDF Foundation have contributed software and hardware to the local school and the town’s new computer center. Read More
Philips' Wireless HDTV Link transmits up to 1080p
By Jeff Salton
19:33 October 22, 2009 PDT
Philips' Wireless HDTV Link (SWW1800/27) replaces the cables that connect the HD cable set-top box, HD satellite receiver, Blu-ray player or gaming console to a HDTV and delivers up to 1080p picture quality at a range of 75 feet. This solution should appeal to viewers who have suffered from a lack of flexibility with their set-ups because of unsightly or too short cables. Read More
Cyclops - the visually-impaired robot
By Jeff Salton
19:32 October 22, 2009 PDT
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created a remote-controlled robot to help test the effectiveness of visual prostheses, such as an artificial retina, which are implanted into visually-impaired patients. Cyclops the robot - or, rather, the mobile robotic platform, or rover - lets scientists “see” the results that human patients could expect without having to test the device on them first. It is hoped that this approach may spare them some unnecessary procedures and one day lead to giving blind people the freedom of independence. Read More
Carbon fiber seat post provides greater cycling comfort
By Jeff Salton
22:04 October 21, 2009 PDT
Carbon fiber composite materials (CFRP’s – or carbon fiber reinforced plastics) permeate society in many objects we now take for granted. Vehicles, airplanes and protective equipment all benefit from the material’s light weight and strength. Recently, bicycles have been taking advantage of CFRP technology where reducing weight can mean the difference between winning and losing – even a tiny reduction can be a big deal when Olympic gold medals are at stake. Fraunhofer researchers in Germany will present a spring-loaded bicycle seat post made of CFRP’s at the Composites Europe trade show in Stuttgart on October 27-29. However, for some cyclists, winning isn't everything. It's comfort that comes in at number one. Read More
Spiraling maple tree seeds inspire world's smallest single-winged rotocraft
By Jeff Salton
18:08 October 21, 2009 PDT
Students at the University of Maryland’s Clark School of Engineering have turned to nature to create a flying device that can hover and perform surveillance duties, and that could lead to applications for military and emergency services. The enigmatic maple tree seeds (or samara fruit) - and the unique spiraling pattern with which they glide to the ground - have intrigued children and engineers for decades. Now aerospace engineering graduate students have applied the seeds’ design to airborne devices and created what they believe to be the world's smallest controllable single-winged rotocraft. Read More
Apple iMac updates - new features including 27-inch widescreen model
By Jeff Salton
01:16 October 21, 2009 PDT
We’ve featured plenty of news lately about updates to laptops but here’s news for Mac-lovers who like their computers to "stay at home". Apple has unveiled an all-new iMac range featuring bigger and brighter LED-backlit 21.5 and 27-inch widescreen displays in a new edge-to-edge glass design and seamless all-aluminum enclosure. Apple says the new models are the fastest iMac’s ever, with Intel Core 2 Duo processors starting at 3.06GHz, and Core i5 and i7 quad-core processors for extra performance. What’s more, new iMacs come with a wireless keyboard and the all-new wireless Magic Mouse, the world’s first mouse with Multi-Touch technology pioneered by Apple on the iPhone. Read More
VIDEO: Sony crash tests PS3 into Bravia LCD TV at 50mph
By Jeff Salton
18:58 October 20, 2009 PDT
What’s more fun than watching a brand new out-of-the-box PS3 slim-line console slam into a fully-functional Sony Bravia 46-inch LCD TV at 80kmh (50mph)? Well, not a lot, really, unless you get to watch it happen three times. Gizmag was one of only two media outlets invited by Sony Australia to witness the stunt at a vehicle safety testing facility in Melbourne, Victoria. The event was aimed at promoting a forthcoming advertising campaign – buy a Sony Bravia and get a PS3 thrown in free (though not as literally as the ones I witnessed). Read More
Magnetic nanotags detect cancer much earlier than current methods
By Jeff Salton
23:37 October 19, 2009 PDT
Extremely sensitive nanosensor chips are being developed by Stanford University researchers in an attempt to detect the early signs of cancer, called biomarkers, in humans. The researchers say their sensor is around 1,000 times more sensitive than current technology and is accurate regardless of which bodily fluid is being analyzed. It can also detect biomarker proteins over a range of concentrations three times broader than any existing method. It is forecast that earlier detection of cancer biomarkers will lead to improved survival rates among cancer sufferers. Read More
Doro PhoneEasy cell phones for seniors
By Jeff Salton
23:11 October 19, 2009 PDT
Cell phone and services provider, Consumer Cellular, has released two senior-friendly cell phones with bigger, raised buttons and easy-to-read display text. The Doro PhoneEasy 345 and 410 cell phones are designed by Swedish company Doro – with more than 30 years of product design experience – and are being offered exclusively by Consumer Cellular after they surveyed customers and found that 62 percent would prefer cell phones with these features. Read More
rob yates
- November 26, 2009 @ 12:49 UTC
