New Techs and Gadgets

The Seabreacher

2011-04-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

Dolphin-inspired Submersibles Available for Purchase from Innespace Productions

Innespace Productions, a watercraft design and fabrication company in Northern California, is offering custom-built Seabreachers for sale. These unique dolphin-inspired submersible watercraft can jump, dive and roll like real dolphins, with cruising speeds of 40 mph and underwater speeds of 20mph—all within the safety and security of a dry, sealed cockpit. Innespace says that these new recreational two seaters are designed to be easy to drive and maintain for their customers worldwide. Seabreachers are made after more than ten years of prototyping, “we have really developed a design that is very intuitive to drive, safe, and easy to service” said company co-owner and designer Rob Innes.

These unusual watercraft have been featured on countless television programs, with upcoming features on the Travel and Discovery Channel. You might have also seen them in Austin Powers Goldmember, Monster Garage, The Today Show, or as one of Time magazine's “Best Inventions of 2006”. In addition to individual sales, Innespace also offers demonstrations and sponsorship opportunities for companies looking for that extra attention.

Recently, Innespace Productions has launched their latest and most advanced submersible watercraft: The Seabreacher X. This exciting new version is based on the dolphin inspired Seabreacher J that the company has been selling for the last two years. The X model sports a more aggressive Shark style body as well as upgraded interior treatments. The X model also steps up the performance envelope with a 260hp supercharged engine, propelling the vessel to a top speed of 50mph on the surface and 25mph below water.

The new shark design grew out of necessity; the higher output engine required more air intake than the main snorkel (mounted in the vessel's dorsal fin) could provide, so they added an additional snorkel in the shark style tail. The new drag-boat style wrap-around canopy was primarily designed to reduce heat buildup in the cockpit. This, combined with the gaping jaws, give the whole vessel a far more menacing presence.
The new boat can sustain high speed dives and then breach the surface, launching the entire vessel clear out of the water. The new fully vectored thrust system mimic the tail articulation of real aquatic animals like sharks and dolphins.

Some other high tech features that are incorporated into the two-seat vessel: A snorkel mounted video camera transmits live video to LCD screens for the pilot and passenger during dives, GPS navigation, and on board stereo with iPod docking. Although Innespace vessels start at about $60,000 USD, the limited edition X model goes for a little over $80,000. The company plans to build just 10 of this particular model; three have already been sold.

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqpGbZJjh3Y&feature=player_embedded

Smart For Two Electric Car

2011-04-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

Smart Electric Car

Smart is a German car manufacturer which is owned by Mercedes Benz. Smart cars are known as fuel efficient cars with its 3 cylinder engine and compact design. Now Smart introduces the new Smart For Two version that is fully electric, which uses lithium-ion battery(10 year battery life) that has a driving range of 115 kilometers per charge. It functions just as the fuel version of Smart Car, except it doesn’t have the engine noises and or gear shifters.

The electric Smart car claims to have the pickup speed of 0-to-37-mph (60 km/h) time in 6.5 seconds, which is the same as the fuel version. Even though it has a top speed of 100 km/h its range per single charge is limited to only 115 kilometers which makes it impossible for long trips, Thus Smart focuses its marketing and testing mostly in big urban cities such as New York, Belgium, Paris, Toronto, and etc. Also the battery can be charged from any 220-volt connection, it can fully charge in fewer than eight hours.

VEHICLE TYPE: rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 3-door hatchback or convertible

LEASE TERMS: 48 months at $599 a month

ENGINE TYPE: AC permanent-magnet synchronous electric motor

Power (SAE net): 40 hp
Torque (SAE net): 88.5 lb-ft

TRANSMISSION: 1-speed direct drive

DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 73.5 in Length: 106.1 in Width: 61.4 in Height: 60.7 in

Curb weight (C/D est): 2150 lb

PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):

Zero to 60 mph: 14.4 sec

Top speed (governor limited): 62 mph

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZnmIfJL5Nw

Projector Cell Phone

2011-04-01T19:31:00.000-07:00

Spice Popkorn M-9000

A company called Spice mobility Ltd. in India had come up with a phone that revolutionizes the current global mobile market. This mobile company is part of Spice Group which also covers entertainment and others sectors, other than Spice mobility.

While the current cell phone companies in the global market are trying to compete by coming up with new features to differentiate their features, a phone company in India had introduced a phone (M-9000) that has a built in projector. This projector allows you to view images, videos, documents and other things that you normally view from your computer or TV screen. The phone can be switched to the projector mode by just pressing and holding on a button located on the side of the phone.

You can pretty much do everything that you do with your Black Berry, such as texting, compose e-mail, or edit MS documents; The new Spice M-9000 Popkorn has key features: Pocket Projector, Analog TV, Document Viewer & Laser Pointer, 3.2 MP Camera & Video Player, and WAP/GPRS/EDGE/JAVA.

Even though, Spice is not clear about whom the phone is being targeted towards; this amazing projector, laser and document viewing and editing features would mainly fit into business environments.

Check out M-9000 Popkorn at: http://bit.ly/eEEpfH

Overview

Projector Phone

Multi SIM
Analog TV
Document Viewer
Videos on Demand
Quad band
6 cm, 262K QVGA Screen
3.2MP Camera
FM with recording
MP3
Video Recorder
Video Player 3gp, mp4, avi, flv, rm & rmvb
1200 mAh Battery
GPRS, EDGE

JAVA
Stereo Bluetooth

Introducing Eye Controlled Laptop

2011-03-02T12:00:00.000-08:00

Tobii Technology

Tobii Technology introduced the world’s first laptop with integrated eye tracking system in March 1^st, and it will be shown to the public on March 1^st to 5^th in Hannover, Germany. Tobii had made this laptop in collaboration with Lenovo who is one of the leading manufacturers of computer and computer hardware development.

Tobii Technology is the world’s leading company in eye tracking and eye control technology. This technology allows to track where the users are looking and using that to control computers and other devices. Tobii have used this technology to help people with special needs, researchers to cost effectively track shoppers behaviors when shopping, and other areas such as hospitals, diagnostics, vehicle safety, gaming and computer manufacturing.

There are only 20 units of this laptop made and Tobii and Lenovo owns 10 each for promoting and developing purposes. The Lenovo built laptop uses the Tobii’s eye tracking system which is located below the screen, it can detect the movements of the user’s eyes and perform tasks; this allows the users to fully control the laptop naturally without any computer mouse or keyboard.

Tobii’s mission is to offer their eye tracking system to not only to researches and special needs, but also to make this system for wider uses. Currently, Tobii Technology is working with phone, video gaming, auto industries and other major industry’s leaders to make this technology available for everyone. Apple is already testing their I-phone with eye tracking system, so we can expect this technology to be in the market in the near future.

Check out Tobbi at: http://www.tobbi.com/

BrainDriver

2011-02-25T18:00:00.000-08:00

Team Berlin

Team Berlin, is a team of researchers and students in Berlin, Germany, who are also part of Artificial Intelligence Group of the Freie University Berlin. They have teamed up with a vision to develop driverless cars for the future.

Team Berlin was created in 2006 by gathering members from Stanford University. In the beginning they observed as Stanford Team prepared to compete in the DARPA Urban Grand Challenge where many different teams come together to compete against each other with their team built autonomous robotic vehicles that are capable of driving in traffic, performing complex maneuvers, passing, parking and negotiating intersections with no human drivers or remote controls. Later, Stanford Team had helped Team Berlin in the starting process by providing information, technical documentations, and other sources. The funds were also provided by the university to build the first autonomous vehicle.

The research car drives using brain sensors. The robotic car built by Team Berlin is called “MadeInGermany” which is a Volkswagen Passat wagon. This research car is fully equipped with TRW radar, SMS radar, Lux laser scanner, GPS antenna, cameras, odometer, and Velodyne laser scanner, which provides 3D views of its surroundings.

After experimenting by using iPhone, iPad and an eye-tracking device to maneuver the autonomous cars, Team Berlin attempted to maneuver the robotic car using brain sensors. The driver was required to wear a device around the head. The device uses 16 EEG sensors that detect electromagnetic signals which are produced from human brain through thoughts. The measurements from the sensors can be interpreted as patterns by the computer, which than commands the car perform tasks. This allows the driver to steer the wheel and accelerate using brain commands.

Even though this experiment was successful, it may take years to actually make this technology available for public.

Check out Team Berlin at: http://autonomos-labs.de/

Video Lnk: http://bit.ly/fzvbLa