We are developing technologically; and, in case of gadgets, it’s at a very fast pace. One device is replacing the other. The market today is filled with efficient tablets. The day is not far when tablets will replace laptops and PC. This fact becomes all the more true when designers like Antoine Brieux continue to contribute in the field of technology. Just recently, he had come up with the HTC Tube tablet concept, and now he has created yet another interesting accessory for tablet-smartphone called a secondary Stick Phone.
This device helps in making calls on a Tube tablet. The design of the Stick Phone is very simple, having only the features of a basic phone, i.e. a speaker, a microphone, an answer and end call keys. So, this new device is only meant to support phone calls.
With this new Stick Phone in market, tablets are sure to give a tough competition to laptops.
A compass is normally used to calculate right direction by many. However, with technological advancements, this piece of instrument went electronic in the form of magnetometers. Designer Milad Taleghani, who earlier designed the Mountaineer DWC (digital wrist compass) wrist watch, has now come up with a gadget that clubs the features of a magnetometer, a watch and GPS system.
The multi-functional gadget can be easily tied around the wrist. The strap has been crafted from rubber and further enveloped with leather, which gives it an elegant look. It will be of utmost help for mountaineers who usually face unavoidable weather conditions like fog. Such a situation may unknowingly make them take a wrong way and they can feel lost. With this device, one can make good use of map and navigation tools while traveling. This is accurate than a traditional compass and will give flawless directions.
The watch comes embedded with a receiver, which can be used to feed important information via Bluetooth. This will give proper directions with the help of a pointer that has been shaped like a compass needle. A user can switch off the compass mode when not in use to save battery life. After this, it can be used as a smart time piece that will decorate your wrist. It will be crafted from polyamide or Kevlar that will make it face adverse weather conditions. The pointer of mountaineer DWC comes fitted with an LED, which will make it glow in the dark as well.
Home Apple, the innovative home invention is for everyone. With a range of features incorporated in it, it has proved its worth as an inseparable invention. The basic function of this gadget is to provide a series of multimedia solutions. This enhances the usability of a particular gadget when connected with that. So, connect this gadget to the TV and Internet and see how your life gets revolutionized completely. Though this is no replacement for the traditional computer we have been using till now, but this will not be less than a feather in your cap.
Having some of the same features as a computer, the gadget by Enjalbert Loïc mobilizes your day to day life to a great extent. Although, this is not exactly a computer, it behaves like one nevertheless. Few of the benefits of the Home Apple are Internet, TV, multimedia, video, music, phone, games etc. All these features can be downloaded in this miniature Home Apple. Designed to bring out the best in everything, you would simply love this family gadget.
Enjoy large picture quality, thanks to the three infra red projectors fitted inside Home Apple. With a guarantee to fit into any kind of aesthetics, this neat contraption would modernize your way of living, making each day all the more enjoyable and full of joy.
A Chinese man has become a contender for the title of the world's tallest man, after measuring in at more than 8ft.
Zhao Liang, 27, entered the Tianjin hospital for an operation to relieve pain from an old muscle tendon injury on his left foot. His height caused a stir among hospital staff who urged him to get measured properly.
They discovered that Mr Zhao is 8.07 ft tall (2.46m), making him 3.9 inches (10cm) taller than Bao Xishun, the current tallest man, who is 7.9ft (2.36m).
Mr Zhao, who lives in Henan province, had been training as a basketball player when he sustained the debilitating foot injury over a decade ago.
He was unemployed until 2006, when an art troupe in Jilin province enrolled him to perform magic tricks and play the saxophone and flute.
Mr Zhao's parents are of a more usual height, with his father measuring 5.9ft (1.8m) and his mother, 5.5 ft (1.68m).
Wang Keyun, Mr Zhao's mother, said he has a big appetite and can easily eat eight hamburger-sized steamed buns and three dishes for dinner.
"But I am so worried about his marriage, job and his health that my hair has turned white," she said.
Liu Yuchen, a surgeon at the hospital, declared the operation a success.
He said Mr Zhao will be able to walk normally two months after his surgery but advised against any intense physical exercise.
Dr Liu said he is in good health and has no complications related to his height.
Dr Liu said he is in good health and has no complications related to his height.
Bao Xishun (known as the Mongolian mast) is currently recognised by the Guinness World Records as the world's tallest man.
The “London Farm Tower” is an amazing concept by Brandon Martella and is situated on the southern bank of the river Thames, facing Potter’s Field. This sustainable building is a solution to the present day crisis where population is growing by millions, urbanization is eating up all the agricultural land and therefore the increasing demand for food cannot be met. The Farm Tower is a compact skyscraper that contains all the main ingredients for a self-sufficient city, including agricultural space, albeit in a vertical format. This sustainable building is actually developed much like a tree that depends upon the sun and water for growth and survival.
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Farm Tower in London
Farm Tower in London by Brandon Martella
This multi-story self-sufficient structure is designed to fulfill energy, food and other requirements internally. Most importantly, the vertical agricultural system in the building would supply fresh produce without being affected by seasonal changes or natural disasters like floods and droughts. Furthermore, agriculture would be eco friendly as tractors and other heavy vehicles, which lead to CO2 emission, would not be required. The Farm tower can actually produce around 1 1/2 million pounds of fresh produce and cater to the food demands of 20% percent of Londoners!
The reduction in water consumption and rainwater harvesting within the tower would cater to the residential, commercial and agricultural water requirements. The building will have social benefits for the residents like education and employment, labs, cafes and markets, apart from the 100,000sqm dedicated to residential space alone.
The structure is naturally ventilated through axis turbines that are a part of the outer structure of the building and through cross ventilation by placing louvers and operable windows for optimum results. The hydroponic floors of the building have a hydronic system in which moisture cause by the greenhouse air is condensed via ETFE pillows and then this water is brought down by gravity into the hydroponic racks.
Sustainability is the order of the day and architects make sure to incorporate green elements to maintain equilibrium with nature. There is an open steel grating that defines each farming level or floor in order to facilitate cooling. The Farm Tower looks magnificent at night when it is illuminated - posing a stark contrast between the Potter’s Field burial area and itself. Other sustainable features include the usage of UV lighting in order to increasing produce growth.This building is an amazing piece of vertical and sustainable architecture where nature and architecture work hand in hand!
Gone are the days when we used to hear bed time stories from our grandmother or read a story book, as we grew older. Now is the time for gadgets and digital storybook; landmarks in today’s technology.The latest in this segment is Dimi storybook by Siri Johansson, an industrial designer and the winner of the Red Dot award for product design in 2010. Dimi storybook has been created collaborating two forms of art design, namely product design and interface design.
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Dimi Storybook
Dimi is a digital storybook that focuses on creative storytelling and it involves parent and child in active and inspiring reading
The user friendly Dimi storybook can be used by both children and adults alike. The most remarkable feature about this digital device is that it interacts with the reader. The reader can change the path of the existing story and create a story combining illustrations, texts, and sound as well. The Dimi stimulates the creative imagination of the readers; thus making it popular.
The bright attractive color of this gadget along with its sleek appearance and playful tinge adds to its aesthetic value. The steel gray and amber color of the body makes the storybook attractive.
Overall, Dimi storybook scores high on functionality and its visual appeal. It is a stepping stone to the world of electronic stories; one more reason to make our kids’ brain develop. Though some do believe that paper books can never replace anything and their value would be cherished forever, gadgets like Dimi, no doubt, has changed the concept of story telling by taking it to new heights and bringing a smile to avid book lovers.
You know a product is desperate for sales when the manufacturer advertises it with a scantily-clad woman. But I guess the lack of enthusiasm from major watch manufacturers isn’t enough of a deterrent for our friends in China who are determined to make the media-on-a-watch concept popular come hell or high water! The latest gizmo in the series of watches-with-extra-features is the Timesnap, the watch that also has an mp3/mp4 player, an FM radio and a sound recorder built into it.
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Timesnap MP3/MP4 Player Watch
Timesnap Watch with MP3/MP4 Player, FM Radio and Sound Recording from Chinavasion
With a flexible snap-and-grip strap, the watch attaches to your wrist or upper arm without being too firm or too loose which makes it perfect for kids. The Timesnap also attaches to bags and clothes via a clip.
The media features on the Timesnap allow it to be a dedicated music player. The device is compatible with mp3, wma, and wav sound files, videos in mp4 and avi format, images in jpeg, bmp, gif and even e-books in txt formats. The built-in sound recorder saves files in wav format. The device allows users to not only listen to music but also view photos, e-books, and a calendar. A cool sing-a-long feature displays lyrics of the mp3 being played on the screen.
The best thing about the device that it only has four function – buttons-up, down, on, and ok – which makes it very uncomplicated to use. The device comes with a 4GB TF card with memory expandable up to 8GB, which allows users to use the watch as a portable memory stick without having to carry around an extra thumb drive.
Timesnap comes with a full color 1.5-inch screen which is housed inside a Weather-resistant plastic casing. The device also has a 3.5mm audio jack and USB port and 3.5 mm stereo earphones as well as the drivers for the device are included in the package. At $36.51 a piece, Timesnap is a very good investment as a gift for children as well as adults, inspite of the jokes we made at its expense!
Cell phones have become as essential for modern sustenance as oxygen itself. Not only do they entertain us, but also keep us updated with latest information and also help us stay connected with our loved ones. Designers are covering that extra mile to come up with gadgets that will come wrapped with latest technology and attractive looks. Taking this ideology to an all new level, designer Shan Chen from China has come up with an awe-inspiring gadget named Ring Phone.
As the name suggests, it is a phone that looks like a ring. Amazed! It will decorate your pretty fingers while functioning as an amazing handset. The phone will act as an elegant piece of jewelry while bowing down to your communication needs. Young generation is always on a hunt for unique gadgets and this one definitely fits in the slot. The interesting phone has been wedged with equally impressive features that will make your eyes do a somersault. The handy device ingeniously swaps a physical interface into an invisible one.
The surface of this beautiful ring is touch-sensitive and comes embedded with a camera. This can be used to make video calls with the help of a projector. The designer has skillfully injected communication into a small ring. The futuristic phone has been given a sleek and dainty facade. It will attract a lot of people because of its lightweight nature. Simply, slip the Ring Phone and answer your calls in style.
This concept computer-of-the-future by designer Jakub Záhoř allows the user to operate the device anywhere they can find a glass surface. The user simply attaches the central unit to any glass surface like a window or coffee table, switches on the power, and watches their system light up before their eyes. The display appears as an interactive hologram on the glass that the user merely has to touch to operate. It also makes for an easy, take-anywhere way to project photos and presentations or stream movies. Windex not included.
How can any organisation detect the onset of an attack on its computer network, giving it time to respond quickly and block any intrusion or compromise of its data? The answer could lie in game theory.
Modern firewalls and other technology are already in place, but these have not prevented major attacks on prominent networks in recent months. Now, information technologist Heechang Shin of Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, has used game theory to develop a defence mechanism for networks that is more effective than previous approaches.
Shin explains that each incident might not only severely disrupt services affecting thousands of people but for a commercial operation it can take as much as one percent of annual sales, per incident, amounting to tens of millions of dollars, according to an Iona statement.
Shin has now developed an effective anti-hacking tool based on a game theoretic model, called defensive forecasting, which can detect network intrusions in real time, the International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management reports.
The tool, by playing a “game” of reality versus forecast, wins when reality matches its forecast and it sends out an alert to block the intrusion.
Importantly, the tool works on real-time data flowing in and out of the network rather than analysing logs, an approach that can only detect network intrusions after they have taken place.
The game theoretic model continuously trains the tool so that it can recognize the patterns of typical network attacks: denial of service attacks, unauthorised access from remote machines in which login passwords are being guessed or brute-force tested, attacks by insiders with “superuser” etc.
NASA will somehow have to accomplish its most ambitious mission – landing on an asteriod within 15 years, after a presidential directive.
The challenges are manifold, but NASA nerds are delirious at tackling the nitty gritty of such an inconceivably challenging project – though Hollywood has already done it in “Armageddon” 13 years ago.
An asteroid is a gigantic rock orbiting the sun, like Earth. One of them, just 16 km across, devastated the earth and wiped out dinosaurs 60 million years ago. Another, a much smaller one, exploded over Siberia in 1908, wiping out vegetation over 108 square km.
But sending people to an asteriod won’t be that easy because of its zero gravity. Astronauts would just float away.
NASA is thinking about jetpacks, tethers, bungees, nets and spiderwebs to allow explorers to float just above the surface of it while attached to a smaller mini-spaceship, reports the Daily Mail.
Such a ship – something like a Star Trek shuttle craft melded with a deep sea explorer with pincer-like arms – is needed just to get within working distance of the asteroid.
That craft would have to be big enough for astronauts to live in for a week or two. They’d still need a larger habitat for the long term.
NASA has also announced details of plans to determine if Mars has or ever had the ingredients for life. A robotic science lab, being prepared for a Nov 25 launch, will land in August 2012 near a mountain in a crater on the planet most like Earth in the solar system.
But President Barack Obama has said the objective is to build new spaceships that can travel beyond the shuttle’s near-Earth orbit and eventually send astronauts to asteroids, Mars and other destinations in deep space.
Computer science students have come up with an innovative way to help children learn to read — a software that acts as a virtual reading coach.
Ashley Steel, Luke Bjerring and Andre Meister of Waikato University worked with a curriculum coordinator in Switzerland and primary teachers in New Zealand to develop software, called BookieMonster, which acts as a reading coach.
The software computerises a proven method of learning tuition, dubbed “repeated reading” using computer-generated voices and speech recognition.
Children using the software listen to a text being read aloud by the computer, following the words as they are progressively highlighted on-screen in time with the voice, similar to karaoke, according to a Waikato statement.
After hearing a text read to them a few times, they then read it back to the computer via a microphone. The software recognises their speech and provides the same progressive text highlighting what they received while being read to.
The students now have a working prototype and are setting up trials in local schools. Ultimately they hope to see their software distributed via existing initiatives in developing nations where literacy in some places is as low as 50 percent.
