Folding

Relatively obscure though recumbent bicycles are, many people appreciate the ergonomic and aerodynamic advantages of the quirky two-wheelers. If quirkiness is your thing, however, then a recumbent tricycle might be even more to your liking. Not only do they look pretty sharp, but they're also more stable than the bicycles. Unfortunately, however, most of them are also quite cumbersome to transport - can you imagine trying to carry one up a flight of stairs, or fit it inside a car? Fortunately, there are some recumbent trikes that fold up. One in particular has been lighting up the recumbent forums lately, as it folds very small, very fast.  Read More

First of all ... yes, you’re right, there are already folding canoes. Those boats don’t necessarily pack up all that small, though, and typically weigh in the neighborhood of at least 18 kilograms (40 lbs). They’re portable, but you’d certainly notice that you were carrying one. Israeli designer Ori Levin, however, has created a one-of-a-kind folding canoe called the Adhoc, that tips (no pun intended) the scales at just 4.1 kilograms, or 9 pounds.  Read More

Sometimes it would be really handy to have a folding bicycle, that you could easily take with you on public transportation, then open up and ride to your final destination once you reached your stop. The question is, would you use it often enough to justify the purchase price? If not, then you’re just the type of person the Brompton Dock project was designed for. Users get a Brompton folding bike from a dispenser, use it for as long as they want, then return it and get billed for the time it was used.  Read More

Joining the list of foldable products, Foldaboat is a flat-pack recreational boat suitable for flat water environments like canals and lakes. Designed by Arno Mathies & Max Frommeld, the 2.5-meter (8.2-foot) boat is made from a solitary piece of plastic, and after a few simple folds it packs nicely into a 150 x 60 cm (59 x 24 inch) parcel.  Read More

Of the various cycling goodies that were on display last week at the 2011 International Taipei Bicycle Show, one that stood out for its ingenuity was the Amxma Simple One folding bike. Made by Taiwan’s Long Antelope Enterprise Company, the Simple One is for the most part just like any other folding bicycle – what makes it special is the fact that when it’s folded up, it can be wheeled into your local grocery store and used as a shopping cart.  Read More

Last January, we said that the Robrady-designed db0 was one of the best folding electric bikes we'd seen. The Swiss entry into the market has turned its back on this traditional bicycle-with-motor design in favor of a folding pedal-electric assist scooter. Users are said to be able to fold or unfold the Voltitude bike in about one second, and with one hand, thanks to its unique EasyFold system. Swiss and EU legislation limits the electric assist to 15.5 mph (25 kph), although some frantic footwork could see it achieve faster speeds if required, and the onboard battery is good for between 12 and 25 miles (20 to 40 km) between charges.  Read More

Anyone who owns an electric travel guitar will know that it can still be a bulky item to carry around. Chopping away huge chunks of the body helps keep its footprint down, but there's not much you can do about the neck. Daniel Mapp's solution is to cut the neck in half and fold it down into the body – allowing it to fit nicely into a backpack. He's also abandoned the trusty wooden fingerboard in favor of futuristic-looking fretless aluminum, which is said to give it long-lasting sustain and a unique tone.  Read More

To maximize portability, mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad eschew the traditional keyboard for on-screen versions. While on-screen keyboards may be tolerable for typing the odd text message or entering a few words into a search engine, their shortcomings quickly become obvious. With mobile devices now packing processors powerful enough to handle word processing and other more intensive tasks there is a market for physical keyboards to turn an iPad or even a smartphone into an ultraportable computer. One of the better solutions we’ve seen to fit this bill is the newly announced Jorno Bluetooth keyboard from Cervantes Mobile.  Read More

If they were real, the Transformers harking from Cybertron would be considered pretty remarkable pieces of machinery. But their transforming abilities are limited to just two forms. By combining origami and electrical engineering, researchers at MIT and Harvard are working to develop the ultimate reconfigurable robot – one that can turn into absolutely anything. To test out their theories, the researchers built a prototype that can automatically assume the shape of either an origami boat or a paper airplane when it receives different electrical signals.  Read More