Good Thinking

17:50 September 9, 2007 PDT

Australian Design Awards now open to professional designs

September 10, 2007 The 2008 Australian International Design Awards are now calling for entrants, and for the first time, professionally designed products will be eligible. After discovering such varied ideas as the electric violin, retractable umbrella, convertible high heels and the waiting room chair that converts into a hospital bed, it will be fascinating to see what will come in under the new eligibility criteria. Read More

Fence Defence security system for construction sites

By Emily Clark

07:29 September 4, 2007 PDT

September 4, 2007 Seventy-five percent of theft from residential and commercial building sites occurs at night and on weekends. In response to ongoing concerns about this problem within the construction industry, UK based CSS has announced plans to launch of a new security system designed specifically for temporary compounds such as building sites. Read More

Savvy eBay trader makes US $500,000 in two easy steps

By Tim Hanlon

05:00 September 2, 2007 PDT

It's a brave new world out there, and one can easily underestimate the skills required to make full use of the internet. Here's one example that's sure to illustrate the importance of basic internet trading savvy, and tickle your sense of schadenfreude - an eBay trader who leveraged the mistake of another to make himself a tidy US $500,000 profit, for a small amount of work. Read More

Surround Vision projects perfect images on surfaces of any shape

08:42 August 29, 2007 PDT

Surround Vision projects perfect images on surfaces of any shape

August 30, 2007 UPDATED HI-RES IMAGES Projecting brilliantly sharp images as a single picture onto curved surfaces has previously been a very elaborate and expensive process. Now a new software system automatically calibrates the projectors needed so that the images are superimposed with pixel-precise accuracy. The technology promises so many applications from enhancing the planitarium experience to creating compelling immersive viewer experiences in trade show booths, show stages, multiplexes, theme parks, product presentations and advanced simulators. Download the brochure here. Read More

UK public contactless payment technology begins roll-out

03:16 August 26, 2007 PDT

UK public contactless payment technology begins roll-out

August 26, 2007 Money makes the world go around, and as with any system, reducing the frictional losses should benefit the productivity of that system – so the publicity stunt staged in a McDonalds drive-through in London with a Formula One car is quite significant. It was nominally the first use of contactless payment in the UK and marks the beginning of the roll-out of contactless cards which use radio wave card technology. When the contactless card is placed in very close proximity to the terminal, it transmits data from the card to the retailer’s card reader. The new technology allows contactless purchases up to UKP10 and normal chip & PIN purchases above that amount. Trials have shown the cards can halve the time taken for a cash transaction. Read More

iXoundWear headwear for the iPod Nano and Shuffle

03:16 August 22, 2007 PDT

August 22, 2007 Sick of being annoyed by the pesky wires hanging from your ears when walking, running, or jogging with your iPod? The simple iXoundWear solution is to use your head - literally - via their range of hats, visors, and beanies with wire-management system designed for the iPod. Read More

Superbungee takes aim at the traditional shoulder strap

03:49 August 21, 2007 PDT

Skooba's Superbungee aims to revolutionise the laptop bag shoulder strap with 'sports-tune...

August 21, 2007 Laptop bags, satchels and other shoulder bags generally do a fairly good job of protecting what they’re carrying – but how much thought gets put into the primary interface of the bag with the body? Skooba’s Superbungee is a retro-fittable shoulder strap that uses air-cell padding, grippy laminates and “sports-tuned suspension” to minimize carrying shock and perceived weight as you schlep your gear about. Read More

Zeroshift tool tracker increases aerospace maintenance efficiency

05:29 August 14, 2007 PDT

August 14, 2007 Anyone with a tool shed will be familiar with the scenario - your beautifully erected shadow-board is all but empty because tools are strewn all over bench-tops or have long since disappeared into the ether. In industry this can be much more than just a minor frustration - particularly in safety intensive fields like aerospace where missing tools lead to serious productivity, procedural and safety headaches. A new solution from Zeroshift is designed to solve these tool management problems faced by aerospace manufacturing companies. Read More

Interpretation Service Card opens a world of opportunity

22:28 August 11, 2007 PDT

Verizon Prepaid Interpretation Service card

August 12, 2007 In the not too distant future seamless computer-facilitated verbal communication between people who do not speak the same language will be entirely possible. NEC [http://www.gizmag.com/go/2686/] is likely to be a pioneer in this field, having already conducted numerous successful trials, but this technology is still a way off and will be costly for the user. For those of you with limited patience and a limited budget, there is a very useful system available right now in the form of a prepaid interpretation card. Read More

Five minute warning for August 8, M 7.6 Java earthquake

02:23 August 10, 2007 PDT

Five minute warning for August 8, M 7.6 Java earthquake

August 10, 2007 Yesterday's M 7.6 West Java earthquake was detected, located and sized in just four minutes and 38 seconds by the German Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) currently under construction in Indonesia. The location of the earthquake was established in just 2 minutes and 11 seconds. To put this in perspective, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Hawaii published the location and magnitude of this earthquake 17 minutes after the event. The analysis of ambient data which accurately identified the earthquake magntdue and location was done by a new software system called "SeisComP" (Seismological Communication Processor) developed by GFZ Potsdam that was installed at the Meteorological and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia (BMG) in Jakarta, just a fortnight ago. Read More

Magic Wheelchair: More mileage, less effort

16:42 August 9, 2007 PDT

Magic Wheelchair: More mileage, less effort

August 10, 2007 Even with years of practice the wear and tear on the body from utilizing a manual wheelchair is immense. Users experience ongoing pain (and in some cases long-term injury) in the arms and shoulders as a result of being reliant on manual force to propel the chair’s weight in addition to their own body weight. One company has sought to alleviate some of this pain by releasing new and innovative technology which is bringing wheelchairs up to speed. Read More

New water treatment system saves space and reduces costs

01:33 August 9, 2007 PDT

August 9, 2007 A new waste water treatment system may soon be available for commercial and governmental use which would reduce the costs associated with treating water, produce higher quality water than currently available systems and significantly reduce the size of land needed to house treatment plants. Read More

Smart meter provides fairer parking system

17:27 August 8, 2007 PDT

Smart meter provides fairer parking system

August 9, 2007 The PhotoViolationMeter is a smart, networked parking meter solution designed to bring efficiency and fairness to everyone involved in the daily chore of finding somewhere to leave the car. Recently tested in the Port of San Francisco, the system is beneficial to both drivers and municipalities in that it provides an easy to maintain wireless system that automatically detects when you are in a parking space so that users pay only for time used, no more, no less. Read More

Proof there's always a better way - the Revolutionized Wrench

01:22 August 7, 2007 PDT

Proof there's always a better way - the Revolutionized Wrench

August 7, 2007 The Business Week IDSA International Design Excellence Awards have been awarded for 2007 and as usual, there’s a whole bunch of good ideas worth checking out but one that really caught our eye was the Revolutionized Wrench. In our mind, it’s absolute proof that there’s always a better way, no matter how tried and true the design it replaces – why hasn’t this been done before? The Revolutionized Wrench provides exceptional user ergonomics, comfort, control and torque through an innovative design that offers a 500 percent larger grip area when applying force. There is no planar rotation in the wrench handle to interfere with grip or comfort and the outer handles have a thin profile to ensure the accessibility of each wrench head to a work piece. Read More

Worlds collide: multi-million dollar real world home for sale via Second Life

21:41 August 5, 2007 PDT

Worlds collide: multi-million dollar real world home for sale via Second Life

August 6, 2007 The ritual of traipsing all over town to queue up at countless real estate inspections every Saturday could soon be a thing of the past as real estate agents move selling houses into the realm of virtual reality. Coldwell Banker Real Estate has taken a step beyond Internet listings and online tours to offer a reality inspection of a scale model of a real life property within the popular virtual world of Second Life. Read More

Mixed reality chainsaw simulator provides safe, effective training platform

16:25 August 3, 2007 PDT

Mixed reality chainsaw simulator provides safe, effective training platform

August 4, 2007 Simulation has proven an effective method for training in many mission critical scenarios so it makes sense that this approach be adopted for the use of dangerous hand tools like chainsaws. To this end researchers have developed a type of hybrid virtual reality system known as the “Cybersaw” chainsaw - it looks like a chainsaw, feels like a chainsaw, sounds like a chainsaw and yet it only saws virtually. As soon as the starter is pulled, the motor starts to roar and with screaming saw in hand, the operator applies the real cutting bar to a perspex tree trunk in front of him. The virtual aspect is what the trainee sees on a projection screen behind the Perspex tree trunk - a sawhorse in the midst of an idyllic farm scene which the user can watch on the screen as the chain blade saws through the tree trunk, with the accurate simulation completed by the real feeling of resistance to the pine wood and the vibration of the saw. Read More

Surf’s up - Ocean City’s public wireless network

By Kyle Sherer

July 30, 2007 Ocean City, New Jersey, is about to become one of the first American dot com-munities. As part of a $3 million plan to upgrade public services in the popular tourist destination, small wi-fi transmitters are being installed on light posts to drench the city in a wireless internet network. Access to the high speed broadband will be free for the residents and will be available to tourists for a small charge. And with a tourist base that increases the town’s population from 15,000 to 130,000 in the summer, it’s a safe bet the council will more than get their money back. Read More

Smart video advertising at the petrol pump – rolling out in 115 countries globally

The partnership between EK3, Microsoft and Dresser Wayne will see these targeted video adv...

July 26, 2007 Pay-at-the-pump petrol is a great convenience for drivers, but it sucks profit away from the retailers who derive the majority of profit from convenience store sales. Petrol buyers are the perfect target for point-of-sale advertising – they’re already out of their car, and what’s another five dollars of snacks or coffee on top of a $50 fill-up? To combine the best of these scenarios and catch more of these disposable dollars, a global partnership between three market giants is about to target every petrol customer in 115 countries with a sophisticated video advertising campaign right at the pump, and it promises to change the gas station experience for good. Read More

The Auto Card Manager wallet

July 26, 2007 In the last few years we’ve seen a number of different products come out with the explicit goal of reincarnating the traditional men’s wallet. We’ve recently reviewed the Dosh Wallet and the ambitiously named and conceived Read More

The bottle opener becomes a fashion statement

July 5, 2007 Are you fully equipped to venture out into the world of the 21st century: mobile phone – check, iPod – check, Bottle Ring Opener – well… maybe not. This fully-customizable bottle and can opener designed to be worn on the index finger might not make it to the top of everyone’s wishlist, but it could save you from chipping a tooth in a tight spot. Read More

Smart protection for high-heel shoes

July 3, 2007 Smart Heel heel protectors are all about protecting your assets, and with billions* spent annually in the U.S. on fashion footwear each year, many women would agree that high-heels are an asset worth protecting. These simple but effective patent pending devices are designed to slip onto your heels before venturing outside in order to fend off tears and scratches caused by sidewalk cracks, stairs and escalators. The protectors are then removed when you reach your destination ensuring that the heels remain unscathed and looking their best. Read More

Oops I’m Late - mobile notification solution for latecomers

July 3, 2007 Before the advent of the mobile phone, running 15 minutes late meant just that – you arrived 15 minutes late and people waited for you. Enter text messaging, PDAs and the impatience of the 21st century psyche where you are expected to notify all concerned about the most microscopic change to your ETA – usually resulting in the stressful and sometimes dangerous practice of calling or scrambling a text message while in transit. “Oops I’m Late!” is a novel solution in the form of a newly released software package that uses GPS to calculate the distance between your location and destination and automatically notifies designated contacts that you’re running behind schedule. Read More

Sweet smelling first for organic rose

June 26, 2007 A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. The name may not matter but genes do – longevity, durability and higher yields have long been factored in above fragrance as desirable genetic attributes in the quest for the ideal commercial rose. Now florists in the U.S have unveiled what’s claimed to be the world’s first certified-organic fragrant rose. Read More

The Dosh all-polymer wallet