Smart
Light Tape: bending light... and other applications
By Jeff Salton
19:48 June 30, 2009 PDT
Think of a light bulb you can wrap around your finger or roll-out to create a display that would rival the Griswalds' efforts in Christmas Vacation. Light Tape is an extremely flexible lighting strip that has seemingly more applications than LED or neon lighting systems. Thinner than a credit card, and with a bend radius of 2mm, Light Tape can go just about anywhere – indoors and outdoors. It’s even wearable. Read More
Smart sprinkling with Cyber-rain
By Paul Ridden
04:29 June 26, 2009 PDT

With the return of Summer comes the now familiar imposition of water restrictions and the unwelcome return of headaches for gardeners and nursery managers alike. Fortunately, pain relief for lovers of all things horticultural is available in the form of clever green tech known as smart irrigation, which plugs in to online weather information to optimize garden watering and minimize waste. Timing being everything in business (as well as comedy), smart sprinkler manufacturer Cyber-Rain has recently upgraded its range to add more independent zone control, better wireless communication, a simple and clear interface and an enhanced software solution. Read More
illumi-knob helps you find doors in the dark
00:56 June 24, 2009 PDT

If you’ve ever stumbled around a room at night trying to find the door, the illumi-knob will strike you as simply brilliant. Designed to fit over most door handles, the device uses a passive infra-red sensor to detect any movement within 10 feet and then turn on two gentle LED light rings. It’s not bright enough to wake anyone, but more than enough to get you safely to - and through - the door. Read More
Electric smart ready for small series production
By Mike Hanlon
15:43 June 22, 2009 PDT

Following a four-year U.K. trial of 100 electric smart fortwo electric drive cars which began late 2007, Daimler has decided to produce a limited run of the fully electric eco vehicle which will become available in 2010. The 30kW smart ed (electric drive) uses lithium-ion battery technology to power itself to an electronically limited top speed of 60 mph and is as simple to drive as a dodgem car. With no gear changes required, the diminutive smart can reach 30 mph in a respectable 6.5 seconds, making it ideal as a city car with short stints on the freeway. Read More
SFC Portable Fuel Cell lightens the soldier's load
By Mick Webb
17:58 April 21, 2009 PDT

Soldiers operating in remote locations face a considerable heavy equipment burden, a significant proportion of which can be attributed to the need for a portable power supply. Fuel cells are seen as a key solution to this problem and the JENNY system, which has just been commercially released for defense applications by German mobile power application company SFC Smart Fuel Cell, promises to reduce weight by around 80% compared with lithium-ion batteries. Read More
NASA investigating the SMART shape changing helicopter rotor
By David Greig
20:04 March 26, 2009 PDT

Can you imagine a world full of large, relatively quiet rotorcraft making short hops between cities such as New York and Washington, carrying as many as 100 passengers at a time in comfort and safety? This, amongst other technological improvements, would require helicopters with greatly improved rotor blade efficiency, allowing them to travel much quieter, smoother and further with the same amount of fuel. NASA is currently conducting research in their wind tunnels on the SMART rotor hub, which has rotor blades made with shape-changing materials that could one day make this scenario a reality. Read More
Self inspecting bridges could save lives
By Jamilah Le
23:58 March 15, 2009 PDT

From mundane traffic overpasses to marvelous feats of soaring engineering, bridges are something we tend to take for granted - until something goes wrong that is. A team from the University of Michigan is leading a five-year, $19 million project to engineer an intelligent infrastructure monitoring system designed to prevent tragedies like the collapse of the Interstate 35 West bridge over the Mississippi river in 2007 in which 13 people were killed and 145 were injured. Read More
Sentience intelligent cruise control demonstrated: you steer, it works the pedals
By Loz Blain
00:39 March 12, 2009 PDT

The driverless car of the future is getting closer every day, as more and more technologies come along that take critical jobs away from the driver and put them in the hands of lightning-fast, all-seeing computers. One of the latest and most ambitious of these systems has just been successfully demonstrated in the UK; the Sentience system is a kind of hyper-intelligent cruise control system designed specifically to minimize fuel consumption and emissions. It calculates the best route for you based on traffic, topography, curves, speed limits and a host of other information, and then actually takes over the throttle and brakes for you for the entire journey. It keeps you strictly within speed limits, slows down for corners, speed bumps and roundabouts, and it even knows when the lights ahead are about to turn red, so you don't waste petrol accelerating towards a stop point. Fuel savings in testing have been between 5% and 24% - a very significant figure - and Sentience is expected to be available on production cars, for a minimal cost, as soon as 2012. Incredible stuff. Read More
The Smart phone - Maxwell Smart that is
By David Greig
17:16 March 5, 2009 PST

The vision of Agent 86 mumbling into his shoe is one of the most endearing images from the slapstick 60s spy series Get Smart, but an Australian scientist who has built a working version of the shoe phone using 21st century technology sees serious applications for this kind of device in the medical field. Read More
Smart fortwo BRABUS electric drive
By Paul Evans
17:48 March 4, 2009 PST

Following on from the cosmetically customized version of the Tesla Roadster which debuted at the Essen Motor Show 2008, German tuning house BRABUS has seen the writing on the wall and launched a second electric car, this time based on a Smart fortwo. Drowned in matt green throughout the exterior and interior, the car comes with the same style monoblock light-alloy wheels and the (somewhat gimmicky) LED Daytime running lights as used on the Tesla, as well as some real technical innovation in the drive train. Read More
Tessera showcases intelligent face-tracking technologies for phone cameras
22:19 March 3, 2009 PST
The camera on your mobile phone might be about to see the next major upgrade to its software and image processing capabilities. Tessera Technologies has demonstrated several intelligent scene analysis technologies aimed at simplifying the process of taking quality pictures from your mobile phone. FotoNation is designed to improve image quality of the camera on the software side, while still keeping mobile picture taking fast and easy. Read More
Mercedes Benz BlueZERO EV on show in Detroit
By Paul Evans
04:13 January 21, 2009 PST

We first encountered the Mercedes-Benz BlueZERO concept vehicle platform when it was announced in December and recently we had chance to take a closer look at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Read More
BMW working on multi-functional Smart Key
By Emily Clark
23:16 October 23, 2008 PDT

BMW Group Research and NXP Semiconductors have developed a prototype multifunctional car key that can incorporate contactless payment, personalized access control and even functions like public transport e-ticketing. Creating new usage scenarios for future consumers, the prototype is powered by NXP’s SmartMX security chip and allows drivers to perform quick, secure and convenient electronic payments using their car key. Read More
Smart cars to be trialed in city mobility scheme
By Emily Clark
23:54 October 21, 2008 PDT

In a progressive move that shares similarities to bike sharing schemes currently operating in some European cities, Daimler is looking to combat urban road congestion with car2go, a new program to be trialed in Germany which will utilize a microchip system in order for members to access environmentally friendly Smart cars. Read More
2008 Paris Motor Show round-up
19:37 October 19, 2008 PDT

As the curtain falls on the Paris Motor Show for 2008 we take a look back at some of the biggest surprises and brightest innovations to emerge from this massive global automotive extravaganza. As a starting point it's hard to go past Lamborghini, which emulated its 2007 most-talked-about crown by showing its Estoque concept. As a mid-engined four-door coupé with a V10 55 bhp motor and permanent four-wheel drive, it's not really eco-inspired but a weapon to behold for the family man. Mazda definitely made our short-list for the most striking design with the aerodynamic Kiyora Urban compact and Citroen also floated some compelling concepts including the colorful Hypnos luxury hybrid crossover and the virtual-meets-real-world GTbyCITROEN which will appear on-screen in the next installment of Gran Turismo. Read More
The Internet updateable SmartGlobe
By Emily Clark
02:01 October 14, 2008 PDT

This update to the original interactive SmartGlobe from Oregon Scientific makes sure your geographic knowledge is up to date via downloadable weekly information updates. Read More
e-mobility Berlin project to provide 500 EV charging points
23:20 September 9, 2008 PDT

The implementation effective infrastructure seems to be to lagging behind the development of electric vehicles themselves, but a new joint project announced by Daimler AG and energy provider RWE AG could be another sign that the tide is turning in terms of developing widespread systems that will allow EV's to make the transition to the mainstream. Read More
Mazda’s Smart Idle Stop System uses Direct Injection Engine Technology
By Jack Martin
20:12 September 8, 2008 PDT

September 9, 2008 The imperatives of better fuel economy and reduced emissions are breeding some fascinating developments of the good ol’ Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). One of the most logical ideas could have been invented by any schoolboy – turn off the engine when it isn’t being used. VW was the first to trial the idea and BMW, MINI, smart, Citroen and Peugeot have followed suit, all using electrical power to restart the engine, requiring beefed up starting systems to cope with ever-more-congested urban conditions (25% of European driving time is now spent at standstill). Now Mazda has come up with a better idea - restarting the engine through combustion. Mazda’s system initiates engine restart by injecting fuel directly into the cylinder while the engine is stopped, and igniting it to generate downward piston force. Read More
Happy tenth birthday to the smart fortwo
By Jack Martin
05:14 September 4, 2008 PDT

September 4, 2008 Ten years ago the smart fortwo was launched to a world market decidedly unsure about the highly unusual two-seater that was just two and a half metres in length. It could fit into less than half a parking space, took two people and their luggage quite comfortably and had impressively low fuel consumption and minimum carbon dioxide emissions. The degree of foresight in the design will be judged most kindly by history given the issues of global warming, road congestion, and the effect the laws of supply and demand have had on fuel pricing. Throw in the car’s safety and technical innovations and a design that combines functionality with joie de vivre and the smart fortwo deserves a warm round of applause on its automotive coming of age. Read More
smart electric drive continues the ten year smart success story
By Jack Martin
04:40 September 4, 2008 PDT

September 4, 2008 In a carefully choreographed move, the one millionth smart fortwo rolled off the production line at the plant in Hambach, France to coincide exactly with the tenth birthday of the iconic ultr-compact. Quite appropriately, the millionth vehicle was a micro hybrid drive (mhd) in the passion equipment line. On the occasion of the production anniversary and the tenth birthday of the smart brand, Daimler presented the new smart electric drive. In Hambach Dr. Dieter Zetsche, President and CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars said "The smart electric drive makes zero emission driving in an urban environment a reality." Read More
Limbo String: throw a party anywhere, anytime
By Jude Garvey
08:42 August 20, 2008 PDT

After something a little different for your box of party tricks? At the click of a button, the compact Limbo Stringunit releases a colorful circular string which arches across the room. The string is constantly fed through the unit so it remains airborne at all times and if you turn off the lights, the multi-colored, fluorescent string will glow in the dark. Read More
BRABUS SLR McLaren roadster gets a smart tender
02:53 March 13, 2008 PDT

So the traffic's a little heavy and you don't feel like taking the SLR McLaren roadster BRABUS to the shops. The solution: take the high-performance smart fortwo "tender". The yachting term has made its way into the automotive world via the latest offering from German performance specialist BRABUS. On World debut at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, the BRABUS “tender to the SLR” package consists of two identically painted and equipped vehicles - an aerodynamically enhanced, finely tuned, 211mph SLR McLaren Roadster BRABUS (the yacht) and the BRABUS ULTIMATE 112, a drop-top two-seater based on the latest smart fortwo Cabrio that puts out 112 hp and achieves 0-62mph in under ten seconds (the tender). Read More
Mercedes E-Class and smart fortwo demonstrate fuel efficiency on the road to Detroit
By Kyle Sherer
23:11 January 16, 2008 PST

January 17, 2008 - Talk about making an entrance – the smart fortwo and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class travelled 4400 kilometres over seven days from Los Angeles to the Detroit Auto Show. In the trip, which aimed to measure fuel economy in real world conditions, the smart fortwo mhd recorded an average fuel consumption of 4.8 litres per hundred kilometres, the two smart fortwo cdis recorded 3.9 L/100 km, and the business saloon E 320 BLUETEC recorded 5.8 L/100 km. Read More
I-Garment fire suit to aid frontline emergency communications
By Emily Clark
20:16 October 28, 2007 PDT

October 29, 2007 Perhaps the most critical tool in the face of disasters such as major fires is the ability to maintain communications – but the very nature of these events means that terrestrial systems are often an early casualty (through either overloading of the system or destruction of infrastructure), in turn exposing emergency personnel to an even greater level of danger. The I-GARMENT project is addressing this issue through the development of a full-bodied “smart suit” that combines protective materials with an array of sensors that monitor position and vital signals and wirelessly transmit the data back to base. Read More
F 700 with DIESOTTO leads Mercedes-Benz clean fuel showcase
07:45 September 7, 2007 PDT

September 7, 2007 Spearheaded by the F 700 research car – a vehicle that achieves low-emission economy at 5.3 litres per 100 kilometres via its hybrid drive and innovative DIESOTTO engine - and joined by a range of hybrid and clean diesel BLUETEC models, Mercedes-Benz has placed the emphasis firmly on economical and environmentally-friendly vehicles in its line-up for the 2007 International Motor Show in Frankfurt. Read More





Robert Ferry
- July 3, 2009 @ 15:42 UTC













