Magic tricyle: Convertible motorcycle that shrinks when the space demands


Wanna do some real action on the roads just like your fav power packed superhero from movies? Check out this latest mean machine that transforms from a spacious tri-cycle o sleek and compact two wheeled jazzy bike whenever time and space constraint demands and that too just at the touch of a button. Just imagine your vehicle shrinking into a compact avtar at the brink of hitting a jam packed road.

For highway driving the Magic Tricycle designed by student Seyyed Javad Ghaffarian, comes on all three wheels, but the moment space becomes less the entire passenger cabin rotates, raising the third wheel in the air, that makes the blades to rise high and support the chassis stable. Even when it turns, the seats remain upright so you don’t have to fear a fall.

The flexible vehicle is designed particularly for Car Design News’ 2008 design contest.


A rumour MacBook touch for October


Those who wanted a tablet Apple could soon see their wish fulfilled. According to a source MacDailyNews who had announced iTunes wireless one week before the official announcement, there will be a sort of Mac Book touch in October. And their source was not stingy with details.

Eclipse Intuit Phone by Eddie Goh gets life in light

Eclipse solar mobile phone

If you have been through the irritation of a sudden disconnection of your call and the charger is no where too be found, you must have wondered of some magic that can put back life in your phone. So, here comes the magic.

The Eclipse Intuit Phone by Eddie Goh, this one doesn’t require a charger as all you need to do to charge it is just expose it to light…not only sun light but any kind of light and it’s battery will get into action. Thanks to a chemically based thin solar skin that covering the pars of the phone, the phone gets charged in light.

Talk about rest of the features and this concept scores well there as well. It comes with a cool 5 mega pixel camera loaded with software to upload and treat pics, slide-out touch keyboard with tactile feedback, and a chick big touchscreen front and center.

All I can say is ‘I’m desperately waiting for this concept to get into life.’


Newman brings Coolman MP3 player that’s a safety pin stud too!

newman\'s coolman MP3 player

If small is what you love, portable is what your heart beats for and cool buttons and safety pin studs mean style for you then, Newman’s Cool Man MP3 player is the music machine for you!

This trendy stud takes the safety pin buttons to the next level of innovation and MP3 players to the next levels of portability as this safety pin will play music for you. Info says that the layer is water proof and the DAP features an OLED display, MP3/WMA support, built-in mic and of course a safety pin to tuck in wherever you want.

There’s no update about the battery, price and other specifications and as of now it’s just the coolness-quotient that’s aimed at making the Newman’s Coolman MP3 player a hit!


Design meets technology: ‘Glass No-key keyboard is world’s flattest

No key keyboard

Delicate, transparent, elegant, subtle and classy are a few adjectives that we usually associated with a fine creation of glass. How about loading it with a great deal of technology, unique and intelligent designing and an equally intelligent concept to make a dazzling glass keyboard?

Yes, check out Kong Fanwen’s ‘No-key Keyboard’ and you’ll know what we are talking about. When flat-surface is spinning the world with every other cellphone, TV or ipod going flat, the no-key keyboard is another step towards the flat and touch-screen revolution but in something like a keyboard which was never thought of being ‘key-less’!

No key keyboard

This one is the world’s first flattest full size QWERTY keyboard to date that features just a glass surface, camera and lighting! Yes, the all new alternative keyboard concept will be be packed with the latest motion capture technology to sense and watch your fingers pressing the keys to key-in just the right messages!

I just can’t imagine typing on a keyboard without even pressing the keys! Must say- the power of touch is working well! Though, other creations in the world of keyboards including the giant keyboard or the mobile keyboard were no less impressive.


B-Membrane the omni directional projector PC

B membrane

All the latest computer designs seems to lose their charm the moment you put your eye on this new concept of computer designing called the “B-membrane”. Designed by Korean designer Won-Seok Lee this one is truly a futuristic concept that does away with the need of having those big and bulky monitors taking space in your work area.

B membrane
If there’s no monitor then what works here? It takes the omni directional projector technology to project your monitor on any surface that you like. Apart from the monitor, even the keyboard is no less than a treat in the Kubrick inspired ‘B-membrane’. It features a membrane touch sensitive keyboard that appears only when needed through the integrated optical drive. To make it all the more interesting, when the computer is not in use it can be used as an ambient light to produce beautiful feects on any surface that you like.


Luke: subnotebook for kids

Luke: subnotebook for kids lukid

Subnotebook Luka Daewoo LUCOMS produced especially for kids. It was fashioned with learning intentions and is based on the Intel PC classmates.

These are some important feature:

* Procesador Intel Celaron de 900MHz. Intel zeal of 900MHz.
* Pantalla LCD de 9 pulgadas. 9-inch LCD screen.
* 512MB de RAM. 512MB of RAM.
* 30GB de HDD. 30GB HDD.
* WiFi.
* Slot para memoria SD. Slot for SD memory.

The computer Subnotebook Luka, which will have Windows XP, will cost approximately U.S. $ 500.


Toshiba G810

New models, Windows, Mobile for Pocket, PC ,Toshiba

After having spoken of interface Toshiba G810 curated by Spb Software, today we see a video that shows us a first hands on analysing both the hardware and the software, with particular attention to key functions.

Apart from the hardware, though you can see the keys touchscreen, the software side reveals interesting surprises. The new interface, in fact, proves very fast and fluid in which seems very intuitive.

A peculiarity of this device is the ability to manage the cards work just like the case, for example, Windows Vista. Touching the screen from top to bottom, in fact, appear screens so far active, with a touch allowing us to return to home or select one of the other cards (home, programs and favorite contacts / phone).

Later in the video is shown the speed and fluidity of touch screen, impressive and almost to the levels of an iPhone.


The smart phones Toshiba G810: rejected departing?

rejected departing?,g810, review, touch screen, windows mobile, Advances, Toshiba

The last time we talked about the Toshiba G810, new touchscreen smart phones, we were left with positive comments on the fluidity of the interface, able to cope without trouble sacred monsters as the i phone.

Despite the good impressions, it seems that the first review incoming strontiums are for the little hand held, due to some defects including directional pad and buttons completely touch screen (and completely usability to that of the reviewers) and Q VGA screen, severe lack for a cellphone high-end output in this period.

In addition to these problems it seems that quality of assembly and materials are not worthy price of $ 700 to which this smart phone will be offered. Despite various problems, some strong points are highlighted, including the interface sob and good quality of photos, in addition to a surprising fluidity that we found in the video of last post.

Before putting the word condemned on Toshiba G810, therefore, expect a direct review of this smart phone as soon as Toshiba, there will an opportunity. After the jump find the video boxing’s.


GPS20C, a new Bluetooth receiver by IBS Japan

GPS20C, a new Bluetooth receiver by IBS Japan, Phone, Gps, Gps Receiver, Ibs Japan, Gps20c, Bluetooth Gps Receiver gps20cIBS Japan launched a new Bluetooth GPS receiver, GPS20C. Our new device is compatible with Windows, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry. Otherwise, iI uses a SiRFstar III chip, Bluetooth 2.0 of course, offers a sensitivity - 159dBm, can capture up to 20 channels and can be used with a temperature of -20 ° C to +60 ° C. It measures 39 x 33 x 19 mm, weighs 28g and you can expect a price of 50 €.


Black Tab, a Mobile Fashion

Black Tab, a Mobile Fashion Black Tab, Mobile Fashion basic_tab

The designer Jaren Goh introduced the Basic Tab, a concept for a smartphone touchscreen in the same style of the iPhone, but with a touch fashion. According to the designer, the main objective of this project was to create a normal cell, combining that with the clothes we use in everyday life, without calling attention to its technological advantages.

The front of the Basic Tab is a full screen, in the back, the camera was inspired by fashion accessories, and details of scholarships.

Black Tab, a Mobile Fashion Black Tab, Mobile Fashion basic_tab

Black Tab, a Mobile Fashion Black Tab, Mobile Fashion basic_tab


iPower X2.0, A Computer for Gamers Radicals

iPower X2.0, A Computer for Gamers Radicals, Packard Bell, iPower X2.0, Gamers Radicals ipower20
The Packard Bell unveils its new desktop PC for games, the iPower X2.0, which has an aggressive look that most players vai please the fanatics, with many side transparent and red LED lights.

You can configure the iPower X2.0 as you like, with options such as an Intel Core 2 Extreme processor, NVIDIA GeForce 9800GX2, Blu-ray drive, memory card reader for 21-to-1 and a sound system with 7.1 channel , For example.

In terms of capacity, he is also well served, and you can choose between HDs of 500GB to 3TB.

The keyboard, mouse and monitor follow the style of the desktop, and iPower X2.0 has three 120mm fans, with intelligent energy management system and the cooling liquid from the Asetek, avoiding the super heating of your computer so silent. This computer also vai be sold with a package with several programs and games. Prices should range between € 1000 and € 1800, when it is launched in Europe in the second half of this year.


iStick

Devices with touch screens are very popular these days. So there is nothing unusual in the fact that many producers and designers try to integrate them wherever it's possible. However touch sensitive feature does not always ensure the success of a device.

Designer Alexei Mikhailov went further and proposed to create and absolutely innovational device called iStick. He did a lot in convincing people that his concept is the perfect mobile convergence device. Gadget is made in the form of a lipstick tube. As designer points out the iStick is not for viewing movies or photos, because the screen is too small for that. The main characteristic feature of given device is a unique interface design. Thus it has four sides with touch sensitive surfaces and big square icons, which ensure an easy and interesting way to navigate this gadget. Moreover the integrated Wi-Fi enables users to browse iTunes.

As you probably noticed this concept has a lot of similar features with the iPhone. Yet it just a visual replication, so device shouldn't be regarded as a replacement neither for iPhone nor for iPod. It's better to think of it more as another unit of product line of iDevices.

The fusion watch that looks different


I have got this watch for my birthday and I think that it was one of the best gifts that I got this year. I have never seen a gadget watch like this.

It has no numbers the only think it has is some LED lights and the LCD display. It is a combined display that looks pretty good and gives the watch a futuristic look.

It is very easy to figure out how to "understand" this watch. There is an outer circle of big LED's that indicate the hour and there are twelve LED's there of course. The other circle that consists of small dots show you the minutes.

The coolest thing I think is the way it displays the seconds: there are 30 squares right in the middle. Firs they all light up and then when they reach to 30 they start to drain down until the minute ends.

Having this watch would be very interesting because it is very unusual and you really need to get used to that watch gadget.

This is not the end of the features this gadget has. First of all it will show you the time and date. Many other watches do not have such a feature so it is a good thing about this watch. It is a bit hard to read it though. When you press the button to show you the date a special indicator lights up in the middle of the screen. Now the outer circle will start showing you the month and the inner circle will show you the days. It is hard to tell what day it is because the lights of inner circle are very small.

The other feature that this gadget has is the alarm. You can set the alarm and it will wake you up very easy. It beeps very loud so you will hear it anyway. There is a light on the screen that indicates whether the alarm is on or off.

Its body is made of stainless steel so you do not have to worry about breaking it. This watch gadget is very durable and will last very long. Besides, it is water resistant up to 100 meters which is about 330 feet. They come in two colors: black and silver so it is up to you to choose the style of your watch.

I am not sure about the cost of this watch gadget but it surely looks very neat. I have heard that it does not cost that much. (I am not supposed to hear that but I heard my wife speaking about it.) That means that everybody can buy such a present for the person he or she loves.

The only thing that I do not like about this watch is how much the battery will hold. There are many LED light, besides the LCD screen needs energy too.

Generally this gadget watch has medium functionality but it has a very cool futuristic look and that means that you are going to bee cool wearing this gadget.

World's largest and tallest arch bridge is being built in Dubai

8 Dubai is one of the most famous cities in the world that is known for its magnificent buildings and structures. In the near future one more splendid structure will be added to this list - an arch bridge designed by NY architecture firm Fxfowle.

This bridge having one mile in length and 670 feet in height will be the largest and tallest arch bridge in the world. In addition to that according to available illustrations it will be one of peerless beauty. Construction of this bridge starts this month and will go on till 2012. As regards the total expenditures they are estimated at about 7 million. Moreover world's first vacuum tube mass transit system will launch in Dubai shortly thereafter.

Thus, the architecture that looks like it's from the XXII century contributes a lot to the sheer grandeur of this city. So, in case Dubai goes on expanding that fast, it will soon create its own universe that would be absolutely different from everything in the world.

Self cleaning Windshield doesn't Need Windshield Wipers

Nanotechnologies just keep on getting more and more popular nowadays. They are a true marvel of technological progress, and can aid us in many ways usual things cannot. When it comes to cleaning, nanotechnologies do their best because of size. We already wrote about self-cleaning fabrics earlier, now it is the time for another way of using those modern helpers - to clean the windshield from water and dirt without any need of windshield wipers!

The Italian automobile designer Leonardo Fioravanti from the Pininfarina design studio has made a prototype of a windshield that uses nanoparticles to clean itself. All dirty work is done by micro layers that cover the windshield. First layer has water-repellent and sunrays-shielding capabilities. The second layer consists of microscopic nanoparticles, which will repel the dirt to the sides of this windshield. Third layer is control one, which detects the dirt and when finds it on the windshield, it will activate the nanoparticles to do the cleaning. And the fourth layer, which acts as energy source for others three, brings them electricity to operate. The air will aid the cleaning process, because of good aerodynamic design of both windshield and the car "Hidra".

Fioravanti thinks that this technology will be widely spread among new cars in five years. It is hard to believe that modern machines will be fully without any wipers, but who knows, maybe he is completely right, and the windshield cleaning will be completely done by nano particles? This new nanoparticle windshield is a working prototype now, exists only in a unique quantity and can be seen on a concept car "Hidra".

It is interesting how this technology will be introduced in mass production. Will it be a proprietary feature of some car manufacturer, or it will be widely spread among all new cars? However, we can be assured that as the time passes, nanotechnologies will play bigger role in everybody's life.

Tiny laptop mouse

Everybody who owns a laptop knows about touchpad, thing that was designed to replace mouse. However, when you need to work with big amounts of text, touchpad becomes very annoying. Of course, usual mouse can do this much better, but if there is no room for it to operate normally, you will remain with slow touchpad. There are different kinds of mice, even designed especially for laptop use. They can perfectly fit on your lap or on the laptop itself, and operate just like a normal mouse would. Because of their size they cannot be called very comfortable, but they are way much more comfortable than using touchpad, especially in games. One of those small mice, a very unusual one, is a hero of this review.

I-T Click Click looks very different from all the mice I've seen. It has oblong form, which resembles a stick, two buttons and a scroll wheel - all needed functions that you'll expect from normal mouse. However, this is where the differences begin. Because of its oblong form two buttons simply cannot fit on top of it. So the left button, or at least, the button which does the "Left Mouse Button" functions, is on top, while the "Right Mouse Button" is... no, not on the right side, but on the LEFT side of it.

Pretty unusual to click "Right Mouse Button" with a finger that is to the left of "Left Mouse Button". It may be confusing at first, but it is a matter of habit - after some time you will be operating with this mouse easily without even thinking about unusual button map. In case if this left-right swap is making you nervous, you can always change it in Mouse Settings afterwards. The scrolling wheel is placed near the front button; it has a comfortable size and position. Unfortunately (or fortunately for some), it is not wireless, so you will be limited with a cord going right inside your laptop.

So, this tiny mouse will be useful for those who like originality, and for all that laptop users who often miss their tailed friend when taking laptop outside. It is already available at Germany and Spain for a tiny price of 12 Euros.

Driving wheel that can make advices

GPS navigational systems are widely used nowadays by drivers. Of course, it is very useful to have a whole map when you are driving in a unknown city, it even can notify you about traffic jams and so on. However, while it makes driving more comfortable, it also makes it a bit less safe - to view waypoints on the map you must look at the screen of the device. It distracts driver from road for the moment, and this can lead to dangerous situations. While most of modern navigation programs can use voice to indicate the direction, it is for sure that it will be much more comfortable not only hear when you must turn, but also see it. That is when this driving wheel comes in handy.

CSW, from Takata, is more than just an ordinary driving wheel. Designed by Takata and Navigon companies, it has a small display on its top. Paired with Navigon 7100, this gadget can show on the screen vital navigation information, such as direction arrows and speed. It also can display time or other useful information, which will be placed right in the line of sight of the driver; removing need in looking somewhere else while losing view of the road. In addition to that, the vital information from the car's computer can also be displayed, so you will know when it is time to do some repairs or refill the tank.

Designed with driving safety in mind, this high-tech driving wheel will keep driver's attention to the road, while keeping him informed with all information he might need. Voice notifications can be unnoticed, while the information on this display will be hard to miss. Let us hope that this kind of modification will be widely spread among all new cars, and will operate not only with Navigon.

Cell phone in a wristwatch - first successful attempt

As gadgets make their way into our lives, more and more usual thing that we are accustomed to transform into multifunctional tools with help of new technologies. One of the most interesting topics is a wristwatch-related gadgets. Wristwatches became the man's companion since the XIX century; even now, it is a very popular accessory, which shows not only the time, but also its owner's status. There were many attempts to transform them into a high-tech gadget, from a built-in calculator to cell phone abilities. Unfortunately, all those modifications, especially cell phone ones, while being high-tech and pricy, lacked one very important thing - usability. They were too big and bulky, too ugly and too expensive to be popular. However, as the time goes by, new contestants appear... Maybe this one will win the customers attention?

Van Der Led WM2 look stylish, seems like it is the first multifunctional wristwatch with a cell phone function that you will be not afraid to wear. While it can attract with its looks, it remain highly packed with functions inside. Imagine that inside of this small case is hiding a quad-band GSM cell phone with 1.3 inched touchscreen capable of showing up to 262 thousands colors; Bluetooth with AD2P support; 1.3 megapixel camera for making photos and videos; 1 GB of flash memory for MP3 and MP4 storage and playback; FM radio receiver and many more! It is simply amazing how all such things are made inside a wristwatch, and they remained usual-sized (62 x 45.5 x 17.6 mm). Digital number pad can be found on the wristlet; buttons are not big but remain usable. This cell phone watches are designed to be paired with Bluetooth headset, which is included in the package, but if you forgot your Bluetooth headset at home you will be able to talk without it, by holding them near your ear (a funny situation indeed). It even has vibrating functions, so you will not miss the call even if the sound is off, and 7-colored LED light will help you notice it. It has all functions the average mobile phone has - GPRS, WAP, PIM manager with calendar and appointment functions, Photo ID and voice recording, and can be connected to the PC via built-in USB port. Its battery life cannot be compared to simple watches, but for such a technical marvel it is not small - manufacturer claims that it will hold up to 300 minutes in call and 240 hours in standby mode.

This popular idea of combining cell phone and wristwatch has finally come to pleasant result. This watch looks and feels like an ultimate high-tech gadget, holding plenty of functions inside it combine usability, technology and style into one interesting mix. Rumors go that it is Symbian powered… If it is true, than this will be a tiniest smartphone on the market. It can be purchased for 299.99 Euros.

Redesigning of the Eiffel Tower

Just some time ago there were rumors about Eiffel Tower extension. However as La Societe d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE) declared there would be no extension, but redesign. Such a proposal made by Serero Architects lies in the redesigning of the top of the tower. Actually no one knows what will be the reaction of the French if this proposal gets approved by SETE. The problem is that after some time French people are going to celebrate the 120th birthday of Gustave Eiffel's original inspiration. So, maybe it is not the time to make changes?

Yet aiming to "create a temporary horizontal extension of the third floor of the tower in order to increase the quality of the access of the public as well as experiencing the fantastic 360 degrees sight of Paris", the designers of the project want to extend the to floor plate of the tower by grafting a high performance carbon Kevlar structure on it. The structure will be temporarily bolted to the slab without requiring any modifications of the existing structure.

There is no doubt that given project has some advantages. Thus according to the statistical data approximately 95% from about 6,5 million people who visit the Eiffel tower in a year want to visit the top floor. At present it's almost impossible to ensure such a high acceptance rate. Moreover it will make the Eiffel Tower to look better. Yet as it usually happens there is quite a significant number of opponents who are against any changes to historical sites.

AquaJelly and AirJelly - amazing jellyfish-shaped robots

We are already accustomed to today's technological progress. It is hard to amaze people nowadays, even with the most advanced and curious gadgets. However, when people create animal-replicated robots, it is always interesting. Many people remember how much attention was around Sony's robotic pet Aibo. Unfortunately, it remained a toy, with no beneficial use at all. Animal-replicated robots can be very useful in many situations where their form and abilities, gathered from living counterparts will suit the most. There already exist dragonfly-like surveillance robots that are small but can fly and have camera built-in - good for espionage or reconnaissance, water-strider robots that can walk on water surface and provide wirelessly needed water parameters... Even jellyfish is now replicated in robot form!

Festo Company developed two amazing jellyfish robots. First one, AquaJelly, operates in the same environment as its natural counterpart - in water. It is equipped with electric drive, radio, and several blue LEDs, which can show not only the position of robot, but also are used for communication between them when they are underwater. Second one prefers the opposite environment - air, that’s why it is called AirJelly. It can fly, with help of a helium-filled envelope as part of its body. As the previous model, it has electric drive to navigate and Zigbee short-range radio to broadcast its position and other information needed. The Festo claims that this is "an artificial autonomous jellyfish with an electric drive and an intelligent, adaptive mechanical system." According to them, this robots can autonomously work together using radio on the surface and LEDs underwater for communication.

Unfortunately, there is no information about probable field of use of these devices. Maybe AirJellys can be used as meteorological probes, while AquaJellys - to control some underwater parameters and to provide useful and operative information about current water state. Of course, military structures can find other usages for these devices, more destructive ones probably. Let's hope they will be used in peaceful purposes only.

The Luna Crystal watch

Despite the fact that at present many different things such as cell phones, mp3 players and so on can be used to tell time, the watch is still considered as a necessary device. From the very appearance of the watch till present days there was an enormous amount of watch designs, yet the common feature is that given device has always served as an adornment as well. So nowadays the main function of the watch, i.e. to tell time, is not of great importance, because it's generally used as an ornament.

The Luna watch designed by John Pszeniczny and made of crystal, stainless steel and a spessartite garnet is not an exception to this rule. Moreover at the first sight given gadget doesn't even look like a watch, because there is no indicator that shows time. However if you want this device to tell the time, just touch two contact points and time seems to magically float inside the crystal.

Unfortunately this gadget can not perform any other functions. Yet despite its simplicity, from the aesthetical point of view it can be regarded as a very decent fashion watch. Thus you can expect to see it in a range of colors with coordinated signity gems.

Music on your back

08 All of us probably remember those days when real music lovers were walking down the street with the boom box on their shoulders. However, despite the fact that young people were satisfied enough having the opportunity to listen their favorite music everywhere they want, it wasn't an easy task to carry those big boom box all day long. Yet designer Joonas Saaranen working on his B.A. degree has recently managed to invent Reppo II gadget that would probably simplify significantly the process of "boom box carrying".

His gadget represents an urban hard-shell backpack with two built-in loudspeakers. Despite the fact that it’s a kind of boom box, designer tried to give his invetion some features of a backpack too. So inside there is some space that can be used to carry your mp3 player, CDs or something else. Altough this device is quite simple in its structure, it has very modern and stylish design.

As a conclusion I would say that given gadget seems to be quite a successful attempt of making a portable music device; no matter where you go, music has got your back. Thus it may become popular enough among young people, if it is sold at the moderate price.

More than a simple karting

008 Though karting being a kind of recreational racing is popular enough among young people and adults, it is not considered a good thing when someone says that your car looks or drives like a go-kart. The reason for this is that generally go-karts do not possess any outstanding technical characteristics, still it's a great fun to ride one. However transportation designer Florian Dobe can doubt the truthfulness of given stereotype with his little concept.

The gadget he managed to create can be regarded both as a sportscar and as a go-kart. Although its dimensions are of a go-kart (for example, it has tiny 10" rims), its technical characteristics are much more decent. The concept has been created with two distinct "states" in mind, an open and a closed one. The open state represents a 2-seater sportscar mode; in the closed state the seats fold seamlessly into the body to create a sculpture (sculpture mode). In addition to this given concept has a detachable steering wheel, so it is very easy to rebuild the gadget for right-hand drive. Moreover from each side there are visible springs with adjustable compression that is used to rebound damping.

So what do think about such a go-kart? Yet there is another very
important advantage that should be mentioned. Its design is so wonderful and stylish that the concept looks like a car of the future. I believe that the great majority of you already want to try it, however we are to wait a little until it will appear.

Sand and time watch

At present sand filled hour glasses being one of the most ancient technology that had been used for thousands of years are not considered as an useful device. It seems that modern society has moved away beyond the need for this great invention. However designer Pavel Balykin believes that this very retro timepiece is on schedule for a comeback. So he decided to create a new concept that would possess some features of hour glasses.

Thus his gadget was called the "Sand + Time watch" and has the distinct feature of a digital hour glass screen saver mode. It is a "screen saver" mode, because this particular feature does not actually count time for you, so it only looks like an hour glass. In case you want to know the real time, just click a button and a more modern interpretation of time, generally called as "numbers", will appear. As an additional feature there is a motion sensor, so it will be possible just to move your hand and the screen saver will disappear.

Speaking about the design of the gadget its unusual hour glass like shape should be emphasized. So I think that this concept due to its originality can be considered as a successful one; however, its simplicity, i.e. small number of available functions, will be probably regarded as a significant disadvantage by many customers.

AirCar - runs on compressed air

After apocalyptic scenarios related to the global warming began to interest scientists, there already began to appear results of exploration in the field of energy economy and some other ecological technologies. In June 2007 Popular Mechanics announced that India, specifically Tata Motors, had begun production of the first car moved by air. This year, Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM) announces that production of the similar model, destined for USA market is expecting to begin till the end of 2009, or at least 2010.

They have also tried to find some other solutions in nonpolluting propulsion domain. For example Daewoo a South-Korean company, created a Matiz concept with a hybrid engine: air – electric. Australian company EngineAir also developed a "rotative engine" moved by pressed air. K'Airmobiles presented two working concepts "VPA" (Vehicle with Pneumatic Assistance) and "VPP" (Vehicle with Pneumatic Propulsion) in the end of the last year; maximum weight of such a model being limited by 250 kg.

Propulsion technology of the AirCar's engine was developed by the former Formula 1 engineer for MDI (Motor Development International) from Luxemburg. While in the internal-combustion engines pistons are moved be the explosion of the fuel, then in an AirCar the moving is realized by air under pressure.

ZPM hope that soon the production of AirCars will be more than 10000 units annually. Models that will be launched will be OneCat, with two seats (as was produced in India) and MiniCat, with three seats. The company is also intending to launch a model called CityCat with six seats.

One refueling with 340 l of air under pressure will cost approximately 2 USD and will assure autonomy for more than 1000 km at the speed 100 km/h. The price for such a car is estimating to be 17800 USD.

It sounds too good to be true? We hope that not.

A new Nokia concept: fan phone with a flexible screen

In case you were impressioned with the Morph concept, then we are ready to strike you again, now with a phone concept Open.

So far, we know only that Nokia Open support connectivity 4 Gb and includes flexible display, which we have already admired a year ago produced by Sony. The gadget has a fan form, and in seems that it will be rather difficult to carry it in the pocket, because of it's fragility. As we can see, the handset is equipped with a camera, and probably a virtual keypad on the touch screen.

The image of this gadget was discovered on the Flickr after what appeared on the Concept Phones, but Nokia haven't made any comments in connection with this concept. In case it works in this gadget we may see it in sale after 2015, because Nokia Morph is programmed for launch in 7 years.

Nokia reveals Tube, the most important competitor for the iPhone

Nokia has begun making official statements about the so-called Tube, considered the biggest competitor for the iPhone from the Apple.

Kasey Farrar, a Nokia Company spokesman, said in an interview that the gadget, which launching is expecting in the second half of the year, will be the first phone with a touch interface that is compatible with the most recent Symbian operating system, called S60.

He also said that Nokia launched more than a dozen wireless touch cell phones that a compatible with Linux operating system, including such gadgets as N810 and N800. Tom Libretto, Vice-President of the Nokia Company said that the Tube phone will be compatible with Java applications and will allow uploading of photos. Not much info, but it is the beginning.

iPhone versus HTC Touch Diamond versus Xperia X1

Those from the Engaged realized a battle among the best smart phones on the market, or those that are not launched yet. In such conditions, we have a question, what is iPhone looking for in this technological sandwich.

We observe that HTC Touch Diamond is the thinnest and the smallest one from these 3 phones. If we talk about the performance XPERIA X1 is surely in the top of the pyramid, at the time that iPhone triumphs due to the interface and HTC Touch Diamond surprises with commodity and support for the high-speed networks (HSDPA). The ace of the phone produced by Apple is also a display with 3,5 inch diagonal and relatively low thickness, that will be modified at the more thick iPhone 3G.

We need to remark the eternal duel between Microsoft and Apple, since 2 of the handsets from this confrontation include Windows Mobile operating system, while iPhone runs the platform created by the Steve Jobs company. The experience offered from browsers is the other sensitive moment, since Safari makes the job perfect, thing that can not be said about the work of browsers on 2 other terminals, which are also very qualitative, but not just like the one from the iPhone.

Which terminal we choose in the final? It depends only from you; if you want a cool design and a toy, choose iPhone, if you want a terminal at a reasonable prize and good dimensions choose HTC Touch Diamond, if you want the most high-performance phone of the year, and not the most beautiful one, you will choose XPERIA X1.

Top 10 iPhone "killers"

iPhone is a very interesting device. It was a big sensation on the cell phone market when it appeared. Apart from being the long-awaited phone from Apple, it also introduced many features that were anticipated by community. People wanted multimedia phone with huge and bright screen, and, of course, as it is from Apple, it must have Apple's iTunes integrated perfectly. All these features were implemented correctly, and in result customers obtained one of the best smartphones on the market. However, other companies did not want to miss this opportunity, and hurried to make their own iPhone rivals. It is hard to compete with such a strong opponent, but some of the models apperaed to be quite interesting. In this top we wanted to choose top 10 iPhone killers, or so-called ones.




1. Samsung Instinct





If there were prizes for quantity of iPhone rivals from one company, Samsung may be the winner, sharing its place only with HTC. Latest try from Korean company was, arguably, most successful one. Release of Instinct attracted huge attention, and there really are reasons why. Instinct is a Sprint version of AnyCall Haptic, it looks very similar both to iPhone and AnyCall. However, there is a feeling that it was carefully redesigned to look even more sexy than iPhone. It uses haptic feedback, so every virtual button will feel like real. Many multimedia functions, TV service from Sprint and bright screen make this device a portable multimedia center. While it lacks iTunes connectivity, Sprint offers its own music and video download service, so you won't feel yourself deprived. Instinct has real working GPS, like iPhone 3G, and preinstalled navigational software. But considering closed platform of iPhone, Instinct has good chances to compete with Apple cellphone.



2. HTC Diamond






HTC, well-known communicator manufacturer from Taiwan, tried to overcome iPhone many times. First it was HTC Touch, first HTC communicator based only on finger navigation. It had success, but it paled compared with iPhone's. However, HTC decided not to give up this course and released other models in Touch family. Touch Cruise, Touch Dual... They were almost the same, only with minor differences. However, with Diamond, HTC wanted to release smartphone that is completely able to compete with Apple's iPhone. This time it is almost a masterpiece. 2.8-inched touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera and HSDPA internet connectivity. It runs on Windows Mobile, which wasn't amazing for HTC products. All interface was rebuilt, so now it is truly amazing and fast. However, Windows Mobile is not very finger-friendly OS, so in any case you will need stylus for many applications, while on iPhone you don't need stylus at all. While iPhone cannot be easuly beaten, this device from HTC make competition much more interesting.



3. Nokia Tube






Second answer from Finnish company to iPhone mania is even more similar to Apple's smartphone than previous ones. Device is only in concept mode, but manufacturer claims that it will be released in the end of 2008. It looks a lot like iPhone, very similar, same no-button touchscreen interface. It will run on redesigned Symbian OS, specially optimized for sensor navigation. It will have 640 x 360 widescreen display, 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus feature, TV-out, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi... While Tube beats iPhone in features, will it beat iPhone in usability? Question that can be answered only after release.





4. SonyEricsson Xperia X1





This interesting cellphone is, maybe, first real pretender on the iPhone's crown. First Windows Mobile smartphone from famous cellphone manufacturer, it will incorporate design and power in one case. Made in slider form, it has full QWERTY keyboard under bright and big WVGA display. Its 800 x 480 resolution really beats iPhone's 480 x 320, images on Xperia X1 look much more crisp and clear. It does not have such amount of built-in flash memory as iPhone does, but it supports microSD flash cards, so you will be able to buy additional storage if needed. Open Windows Mobile platform already has huge software base, and it is more business-related, so Xperia will be much more useful for work than iPhone. Good for SonyEricsson designers, they didn't copy iPhone's design and made Xperia X1 look different, which makes it recognizeable, smartphone has its own face. Apart from display, X1 has 3.1 megapixel camera with video recording ability, which iPhone lacks. When it will hit the stores, this long-awaited device from SonyEricsson can be a strong rival to iPhone. Let us hope price won't be sky-high.



5. Samsung Glyde





Samsung company has strong chances of overcoming iPhone, if not by quality, then by quantity of so-called "killers". So, here we go – another interesting device which strongly reminds famous Apple iPhone. This cellphone operates in CDMA networks and have EV-DO data transfering speeds, so it will be quite fast compared to iPhone's EDGE. Even iPhone 3G cannot compete with EV-DO in speeds, so Glyde will be the winner in this competition. It has haptic feedback enabled 2.8-inched touchscreen and full QWERTY keyboard which slides down when needed. It certainly has all multimedia functions that any modern cellphone has, and it is more suitable for text messaging than iPhone is because of built-in keyboard. Not certainly a killer, but an interesting device for sure.




6. Samsung AnyCall Haptic





AnyCall Haptic is one of the first devices, which is equipped with haptic feedback function, which iPhone lacks. It is a very interesting feature that enables feedback from pressing virtual buttons just like they were real. This gadget looks very familiar to Apple's iPhone, with several changes of course. When it is so similar on the outside, it is very different from the inside. It has Digital TV receiver in the T-DMB format, Bluetooth 2.0 with file transfer ability and its screen is 0.3 inches smaller – 3.2 opposed to 3.5 in iPhone. While it certainly isn't smartphone, it had a chance of being a serious rival to the iPhone. But it never will, because it is sold only in South Korea for 700-800$. What a pitty.





7. Garmin Nuvifone






Garmin International Inc, leading GPS manufacturer, decided to produce its own iPhone killer. Garmin Nuvifone is a very interesting device, which combines widescreen GPS with a multimedia cell phone. Unlike so-called "GPS" that iPhone 1G had, Nuvifone has a real GPS module that can tell your position and velocity very precisely. In iPhone 3G Apple has already fixed this, so modern iPhones have already got GPS module inside. Apart from GPS, Nuvifone can play music and video files, can make photos with built-in camera and have many other interesting functions. One of the most curious features Nuvifone has is tracking abilities: if you are worried where your cellphone is, it can send you it's coordinates via SMS. All images, captured by Nuvifone will have GPS coordinates written inside the image, so you will know where exactly you took them. 3.5 inch display of Nuvifone is clear and colourful, and is the same size as in iPhone, so now the competition is tough. Biggest disadvantage of Garmin's device is that it is not a smartphone, it runs on a proprietary firmware and does not permit installation of any third-party application. iPhone is a closed platform, but it can be unlocked to allow third-party applications to be installed, Nuvifone cannot. So it is a comparison between smartphone and a cellphone, which is not fair by default. But will this disadvantage matter for customers, that does not care what OS their device is running, and just want it to operate smoothly?



8. OpenMoko Neo1973





This device, like Nokia N800, is Linux-based. It is a part of OpenMoko project, which is a open source project dedicated to delivering open software on mobile platforms. It is capable of sending and receiving calls in GSM networks, has Samsung 266 MHz processor inside, and 128 MB of RAM. It is often compared to iPhone, because they have similar form-factor and both has Unix-based OS's. This is only a matter of taste, which type do you like most: open and free operating system of Neo1973 or closed but polished MacOS X from iPhone. Unfortunately, device from Apple is more powerfull in terms of hardware, but closed operating system reduces usability of this resources, while on Neo1973 you have full access to whole resources that this device has. This is a big difference for developers, but will it be so noticeable for simple customers?



9. Nokia N800






This device from Nokia, famous Finnish cellphone manufacturer, cannot be directly compared to iPhone, but it has similar parameters and form-factor. Although Nokia N800 lacks cellphone functions, it has VoIP capabilities, and can call and receive calls via WiFi using Skype. One of the biggest advantages over iPhone is that N800 is Linux-based, an Open OS, which means that there is huge software base and you can freely write your own applications for it. It also can do many things iPhone can't – participate in video chats, use Debian/Maemo software packages and listen to FM radio. However, it can't call without using VoIP, so comparison isn't fair enough. In any case, it is a very interesting device, even without comparing it to Apple's iPhone.



10. Meizu M8






Chinese company Meizu was one of the first companies who dared to come up versus iPhone. Their smartphone, called M8, tries to be better then iPhone and in some aspects it succeeds. It has 4 or 8 GB of built-in flash memory, digital camera, and Windows Mobile instead of ripped down Mac OS X in iPhone. Manufacturer claims that their phone is really a tool for work and not only beautiful toy like iPhone is. Of course, Windows Mobile has huge software base, it constantly grows and is far bigger than iPhone's. Meizu M8 is an attractive tool indeed, it is fully chromed and looks beautiful. Full support for Bluetooth devices, voice dial... It costs 310$ for 4GB model and 400 for 8GB. If you want to strip out camera, it will cost less: only 195$ for 4GB and 285$ for 8GB. Attractive enough to kill the iPhone? Maybe it will not kill (how can be easily killed such device as iPhone?), but for some people it will be more a reasonable purchase than Apple's smartphone.