Awards

Things are beginning to heat up in the race for the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE, as the kick-off date for the actual on-the-road events approaches. The fun will begin April 26th in Michigan, continue through August, and culminate in a September awards presentation in Washington, DC. A number of the contenders were on hand at the Detroit Auto Show this week, where the official announcement was made.  Read More

With an estimated value of USD$6.02 billion, the kids market can be lucrative, if you can crack it. The UGO automatic safety brake for strollers and prams is one of those good design ideas that could find a baby toehold in the market – one day.  Read More

Motorola's MC17 "shopping assistant" computer has impressed international design judges, picking up three prestigious product design gongs. Gizmag was also impressed by the company's pocket-sized computer, which can scan items, check pricing, locate complimentary items, access personal promotions and create gift and wish lists, when we wrote about it back in 2007. The company won the International Design Excellence award (IDEA), iF Product Design award and Good Design award.  Read More

The UK's What Diesel magazine is celebrating its 21st year of publication and focuses on one of the few growth areas of the automotive market – the diesel world. Each year its writers and readers vote to award the best diesel car in each category and this year the Car of the Year honour has gone to Ford's new “world car” the Ford Fiesta. Jaguar scored the best executive diesel and second overall with the XF, Volkswagen got three awards (Medium car, coupe and the green award), Citroën grabbed two gongs with the C3 Picasso (best MPV) and C5 Tourer (Best Estate Car) and the Land Rover Freelander 2 won the 4x4 class for the third year running.  Read More

Tripping over tent ropes - it's a problem regular campers understand only too well and apparently around 3000 people seek first-aid from this kind of mishap every year in the Netherlands alone. This solution created by VAN BERLO in the Netherlands, is an LED light for guy lines that are attached to the rope so you can see them at night.  Read More

Archeological evidence suggests that flush toilets complete with wooden seats for that extra bit of comfort have been with us for almost five thousand years, so it's likely that domestic arguments over who left the seat up began sometime soon after. That's a long time to argue, but this age old question might soon become redundant if this self-closing toilet seat reaches the market. Designed by a group of students from the Skjern Technical College in Denmark, the Intelli-Toilet automatically shuts the seat after it's flushed without the need for any extra energy sources.  Read More

Boeing has begun assembly on the third flight-test airplane for the 787 Dreamliner. The Dreamliner is the first aircraft to be 80% composite by volume, making it lighter and more efficient than competitors. The first airplane to fly is on track for "power on" in June.  Read More

November 6, 2007 Having crashed its way into the lexicon as well as the marketplace in spectacular fashion in June, Apple’s iPhone has been recognized as Time Magazine’s Invention of the Year for 2007.  Read More

October 1, 2007 A Californian based company has produced the world’s first disposable photonic lab-on-a-chip solution for next-generation water and food analysis, chemical and biological agent detection, and point-of-care diagnostics. The PhotonicLab Platform from Bioident Technology Inc. enables rapid in-vitro diagnostics, chemical and biological threat detection, and environmental testing without the need for off-site lab analysis. This offers greater mobility and sensitivity compared to existing biological and chemical assays and delivers a cost-effective disposable lab-on-a-chip solution by eliminating the need for complex and expensive readout systems.  Read More