Folding

Sick and tired of having his bike stolen while studying in Stockholm, Ulf Laxström decided to design a foldable bike that was easy to store inside, but retained the functionality and styling of standard full-sized bicycles. His solution was the Fubi (an abbreviation for “Future bike”) that Laxström says has all the characteristics of a “regular” bike, with its ability to fold up just an added bonus.  Read More

Researchers at Harvard University and MIT have created an origami-inspired “smart sheet” that can fold itself into various shapes, without any external manipulation. The sheet is composed of rigid triangular tiles that are linked together by elastomer joints, and studded with flexible electronics and thin foil actuators (motorized switches). The scientists foresee a day when such sheets could be used to create things like smart tools, that could take the form of anything from a wrench to a tripod.  Read More

The concept of “last few mile mobility” is one which we'll all grow accustomed to over the next decade as the world's cities become more congested and non-polluting micro mobility concepts begin to supplement other forms of transport. In the last year alone we've seen Toyota's Winglet, Honda's U3-X, Nissan's electric skis, and now Volkswagen has shown a micro mobility concept which it has dubbed the "Bik.e" – a folding electric bike with one of the most ingenious folding mechanisms we've seen. With a range of 20 kilometres (12.5 miles), the Bik.e has 20 inch wheels and folds to a footprint identical to that of a car spare tyre, enabling it to be stowed away easily. Whatsmore, the bik.e will definitely see production, and possibly even before the end of the year. VW's choice of form factor is as fascinating as its choice of a recognisable name is inspired. The Bik.e could turn out to be as important to VW as the iPod has been to Apple.  Read More

When did baby strollers get so high-tech? The Origami stroller power-folds itself open and shut at the touch of a button and has a built-in generator that charges the battery with every step you take. You can even choose to add options like powered speakers for your MP3 player, daytime running lights, or an adapter to charge your mobile phone. You want more features? Well read on…  Read More

Decent portable keyboards can be hard to find. Roll-up solutions like the ElekTex Smart Fabric Keyboard are extremely portable but lack the feel of traditional keys. Others that do provide traditional keys, like the Goldtouch Go! Travel keyboard, opt for a folding solution that doesn’t really reduce their size all that much. The Keystick keyboard looks to overcome both of these shortfalls with a full-sized QWERTY chicklet keyboard design that folds away like a Japanese fan to become an easily transportable stick.  Read More

The days of misplacing those little Bluetooth headsets may well be coming to an end. Having previously presented us with a Bluetooth enabled mouse and a headset that charges on a laptop, Newton Peripherals is releasing the MoGo Talk for iPhone - an uber-thin Bluetooth headset can conveniently be stored and charged on the back of an iPhone.  Read More

So what do you do when you challenge yourself to come up with a design to make traveling around busy, congested cities as easy and stress-free as possible? According to the folks behind the YikeBike - which was officially launched at Eurobike 2009 trade fair in Friedrichshafen Germany this month - you start with a blank sheet of paper, throw a good-sized front wheel in for stability, swap pedals for a brushless electric motor and abandon the familiar forward-leaning riding position of the bicycle altogether.  Read More

Folding bikes make a lot of sense for the urban commuter, and at Gizmag we've been busy keeping up with a steady flow of impressive designs that look to marry the convenience of a small folded footprint with the usability of a full-size bike. Some of our favorites include the Switch Commuter Bike, Airnimal, Mercedes-Benz folding bike, IF MODE and Onyerbike, and we can add the Contortionist prototype from 24-year-old UK inventor Dominic Hargreaves to this list of ‘shrinking’ bikes.  Read More

The ever-decreasing size of mobile devices might be a godsend for the pocket, but it poses problems for keyboard input. There have been a variety of solutions looking to solve the problem, from the iPhone’s onscreen keyboard to the Virtual Keyboard (VKB) that projects a keyboard onto any flat surface. One of the problems with these kinds of keyboards, however, is the lack of tactile feedback afforded by pressing actual buttons. Shrinking the keyboard down to fit on a mobile device of course presents its own problems and manufacturers must weigh size against usability by the chubby fingered. Samsung may have a solution with a folding wing design that would allow a reasonably sized keyboard to fold out from the rear of a mobile device.  Read More