3D posters without glasses sure to demand attention

We’ve all seen cards with images that move or provide a 3D effect without glasses when the viewing angle is moved. Although the technology has been around since the 1940s, its limitations in viewing distance and clarity has seen it largely remain a novelty for prizes in cereal boxes, collectible cards and the occasional movie poster. Now researchers have updated the technology for the 21st Century, enabling a much clearer 3D image on posters up to five meters in size which can also be viewed from a distance.

Traditionally such animated or 3D images have been produced using of a technology called lenticular printing which combines two or more images attached to the back of a lenticular lens. Instead of these grooved lenses, the new display consists of 250,000 individual lenses with a diameter of two millimetres each. So unlike lenticular images that can only be viewed well at arm’s length, the new display allows 3D images to be seen clearly from a distance – the other side of the street for example – something that is sure to appeal to advertisers.

The new display developed by researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM in Freiburg, working jointly with the RealEyes company and the University of Kiel, owes its improved performance to its greater precision. When a finished picture is glued to the grooved lenticular lens the sheet cannot always be put in the exact position, negatively affecting the final effect. The new process sees the lenticular sheet glued to the photo paper before the image is applied.

Specialized software calculates a complete image for each of the 250,000 individual lenses based on the three-dimensional model of the overall image so that the lenses do not distort the resulting image. Each lens subsequently renders a perspective of the overall image that shifts toward or away from its neighbor to a negligible degree. For each of the 30,000 different viewing angles, the display delivers an independent view of the scene – therefore, the viewer sees one image that continuously changes with the viewing angle.

The researchers have already produced a prototype in A0 size (one meter square) and they expect the first advertising posters to appear over the course of the next year. These posters are expected to be larger and cover a space of approximately three to five meters (9.8 to 16.4 feet).

Simple, effective, revolutionary: V-Lock is the perfect keyhole

Some inventions struggle because they're too complicated to explain. The V-Lock, on the other hand, is gonna do great, because it's instantly understandable even without an explanation, hugely useful and forehead-slappingly simple. Everyone who's ever unlocked a door in the dark will understand the problem and designer Junjie Zhang's clever solution in a flash. We love it and we'll take a dozen please.

Via: Yanko Design.

Barcelona Moon team enters Lunar X PRIZE

Barcelona Moon, a new Spanish team led by entrepreneur Xavier Claramunt, has officially announced its entry into the ongoing $US30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE. To win the Grand Prize, a team must soft land a privately-funded spacecraft on the moon, send a rover at least 500 meters out onto the moon’s surface, and transmit a specific set of video, images and data back to Earth. The as-yet-unnamed Spanish rover, appropriately enough, looks rather like a sombrero.

Xavier Claramunt is an entrepreneur whose Galactic Suite Design company is the driving force behind the proposed Galactic Suite Spaceresort. His team consists mainly of researchers from Spain’s Centre for Aerospace Technology and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) - Barcelona Tech. Students from UPC are also involved in one of the competing teams, the open-source FREDNET team.

“The real goal of our team is to promote, in accordance with the reality of the sector, a widening involvement of private initiative in the development of space technology and industry, including sectors such as exploration and tourism, developing steps and synergies for longer term plans for an appropriate exploitation of space” said Claramunt.

The X Prize Foundation’s Nicole Jordan told us that there are now 21 teams taking part in the competition. The $20 million Grand Prize is up for grabs until December 31st, 2012, After that, the Grand Prize will drop to $15 million and second will get $5 million. The final deadline is December 31, 2014.

More info at the Google Lunar X-Prize site.

World's longest sniper kill - 2.47km twice!

The sniper is without doubt the most feared combatant in any theater of war, the best of whom have an array of skills far beyond simply being able to hit human targets at a distance. Snipers are the most cost effective way of killing the enemy. Individual snipers routinely account for more kills than entire battalions operating in the same place at the same time, hit the target almost every time, and each bullet costs around €2. Whatsmore, snipers inflict a psychological terror on an enemy force that restricts its ability to operate effectively – when elite snipers are operating, they are invisible close up, and can strike from enormous distance, so nowhere is safe. Indeed, an elite sniper's skills cannot be assessed with a single measurement, so the “longest confirmed kill” record stands as the pseudo world championship for military combat riflemen, and as of now there's a new outright champion - using an Accuracy International L115A3, British Corporal Craig Harrison killed two Taliban with consecutive shots at a distance of 2.47 kilometres (8120 ft) in Helmand Province, Afghanistan last November (2009). He then fired a third shot and hit the Taliban's PKM machinegun in perhaps the most prodigious feat of marksmanship in military history.

If you're wondering why it took so long for Harrison's kill to be made public, (it was made last November and only became commonly known in the last few days), understand that the publicity such a feat brings may not necessarily be wanted, or healthy, particularly if you are still "in theater". Harrison, who also survived a bullet passing through his helmet, and two broken arms from an IED explosion, has now finished his tour of duty and the story can be told.

The previous longest kill by Canadian Army Corporal Rob Furlong had been spoken of by soldiers in hushed tones for five years before it fell upon the ears of a reporter and become public knowledge and his name revealed.

Harrison's feat is clearly the stuff of legend.

The previous record holder - Furlong - killed an al-Qaeda fighter from 2.43 km during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan in 2002. Furlong's shot was also legendary – he made military history. There would not be any military personnel in the world who would not be aware of Furlong's feat, and subsequently Harrison's, and who would not measure that distance off towards the horizon every day when they are in a combat zone. Harrison bested it TWICE – with consecutive shots – then fired at and hit the much smaller target of the gun the Taliban had been carrying. This is completely without parallel in military history.

The rifle used by Furlong for his previous record was the “Big Mac”, the McMillan Bros Tac-50 used by Canadian Special Forces and the best .50 sniper rifle in the world.

Like Juan Manuel Fangio's car, Valentino Rossi's motorcycle or Sir Donald Bradman's bat, a varying proportion of the glory should also go to the champion's tool of choice – for snipers, the tool of choice is critical, with Harrison using an Accuracy International L115A3 Long-Range rifle – a rifle originally developed by an Olympic gold medalist target shooter which we wrote up two years ago in an article entitled – the best sniper rifle in the world.

Craig Harrison's AI L115A3 cost the British Ministry of Defence GBP23,000 (US$34,000), weighs 6.8 kilograms, and fires an 8.59mm bullet which is heavier than the 7.62mm round of the previous L96 model and hence less likely to be deflected over extremely long ranges. The L115A3 has a five-round magazine, enabling the sniper to fire five rounds rapidly, though that would almost never happen.

The L115A3 has an adjustable cheek piece to comfortably align the shooter's eye with scope, and a folding stock so the rifle can be more easily carried in a backpack.

It comes with an adjustable bi-pod stand and a suppressor to reduce the flash and noise of the gun – once the enemy knows where a sniper is, he too becomes a target – and a scope, in this case a 25 X magnification S&B 5-25x56 day scope.

In extremely skilled hands, the L115A3 can hit a human-sized target from 1400 meters (even at that range, it hits harder than a .44 Magnum does in the same room), which means Harrison's shots put him in almost superhuman company, as he almost doubled that distance, in combat, and killed a first then second Taliban with consecutive shots, then took a third shot at the PKM machinegun they unfortunate pair had been carrying with the intention of disabling it – the gun was hit but damage could not be assessed.

Firing one bullet with that accuracy over more than a mile and half, has never been recorded previously – Harrison did it three times running. Though the bullet leaves the barrel at three times the speed of sound, it still takes more than two and a half seconds to travel that distance. Though the day was clear and still and in thin mountain air, Harrison still had to aim six feet higher than the targets, and two feet to the left to allow for the gentlest of breezes and bullet fall.

If the world of the military sniper is intriguing to you, I can suggest an excellent new book on the subject written by Hans Halberstadt entitled “Trigger Men” I just spent seven and a half hours listening to the audio book though, go figure, exactly the same book is much cheaper in printed form, despite the cost of paper and printing and binding and schlepping and postage.

The book more than adequately kept my brain busy during an international flight and covers the exploits of the modern sniper with hours of anecdotes from Iraq and other recent wars. Halberstadt spoke with some of the most revered names in sniping history to put the book together – names such as Carlos Hathcock II, who recorded 93 kills, including one of 2.29 kilometers during the Vietnam war, and Sgt James Gilliland, who also pulled off one of the most remarkable kill shots ever recorded in a strong breeze. The role of the sniper has changed, and this book explains why.

Maingear claims fastest 15″ HD gaming notebooktitle with eX-L 15

Maingear has recently unveiled what it claims to be the fastest 15" gaming laptop on the market. Offering top-of-the-line components while still allowing for several customization options, the new eX-L promises to satisfy even the most demanding of hardcore gamers.

The MAINGEAR eX-L run on either a powerful 45 nanometer quad-core processor or the newly released 32 nanometer Intel Core i5 and i7 for improved battery life.

In charge of the graphics department is the powerful 1GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon 5870, well suited to the task of rendering graphics on the 1080p LED backlit display. To sustain even the most processing-heavy tasks without overheating, MAINGEAR implemented a dual heatpipe cooling design for both the CPU and GPU with Artic Cooling thermal paste.

As for connectivity, the usual DVI, HDMI, and S/PDIF audio out are included along with eSata, Firewire, 4 USB ports and a webcam.

The base base model - 1600x900 display, Intel Core i5 2.4GHz processor 4GB RAM, 250GB HD - sells for $1,599, although the many customizations can add in performance (and cost) to accommodate the users' requirements.

The eX-L 15 is available directly from the MAINGEAR website.

• CPU: Intel Core i5/i7 Processors
• Memory: 4GB Kingston DDR3-1333 SO-DIMM (Dual Channel)
• Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 1GB GDDR5
• Display: 15.6" 16:9 LED back-lit 1600×900 with 1920×1080 option
• Storage: Configurable (including several SSD options)
• Optical drive: DVD and Blu-ray burner options
• Operating system: Windows 7 Premium

Pure Internet radio threesome head for the U.S.

British digital and internet radio enthusiasts have enjoyed the quality sound and cool styling of PURE products for a good while now. Happily, the company has just announced that three of the range first announced at CES 2010 will shortly be available to U.S. customers. The award-winning EVOKE Flow, the independence-inducing Oasis Flow and the Siesta Flow bedside companion are leading the charge, with others following a little later.

PURE's Internet and digital radios will undoubtedly raise a smile thanks to their cool retro styling but should also please those who want, as Paul Smith (general manager of PURE worldwide) puts it: "the best in terms of value, features, design and quality." The company announced the creation of its U.S. wing at CES 2010 and promised to deliver its range sometime in 2010.

True to its word, PURE has announced availability from July 1 for three of its products showcased during the tech event. The award-winning EVOKE Flow will be priced at US$229 and features integrated 802.11b/g WiFi for access to the thousands of Internet radio stations as well as any media streaming computers, FM 87.5-108 MHz tuner with Radio Broadcast Data System (RBDS) support and an auxiliary input for connection to a portable music player (for when users are out of streaming range). There's also a full drive three inch speaker, touch sensitive controls and a high contrast OLED display.

At US$249, the rugged, rechargeable Oasis Flow is built with the outdoor life in mind. Waterproof and splash resistant (even the detachable aerial is rubberized) and benefiting from a 10W full range four inch drive unit, it offers all of the connectivity of the EVOKE in a grab and go portable package.

Styled very much like an eighties alarm clock radio, the compact Siesta Flow weighs in at US$139 and comes with access to a different weird and wonderful Internet alarm sound for every day of the year, up to four independent alarms and a selection of ambient sounds to go to sleep to. It'll give 2.3W per channel output from each of its speakers, charge any device connected to its USB PowerPort and like the device's above, is WiFi-enabled and receives FM with RBDS and RadioText support.

All of the Flow range has access to PURE's radio and media portal, the Lounge, where users can organize and synchronize favorite internet radio stations as well as search through recommendations and popular picks. Various accessories to complement the range will also be available.

The company has also announced that its flagship Sensia radio and Sirocco 550 sound system will also enjoy a U.S. release with pricing and availability for each announced shortly.

The world's most expensive speeding ticket

Authorities around the world have long puzzled how to effectively deter those who would endanger innocent lives by driving recklessly on public roads. Car confiscation laws are now in place in many jurisdictions within America, Canada, Australia, Holland, Israel, South Africa and Poland, and in Iran you can have your car confiscated if it is carrying a pet or an inadequately covered female or playing loud music – indeed, in Iran, you can even be imprisoned and flogged for driving offenses. Maybe that would be preferable for some, compared to what happened to this guy.

Whilst those of us fortunate enough to live in civilized countries may consider such punishments overly harsh, at least they punish the perpetrator. Many punishments in countries we consider civilized are now targeting the owner of the car rather than the perpetrator.

In Perth, Australia, we recently saw a US$200,000 Lamborghini impounded although it was being driven by a mechanic who had just serviced the vehicle – the Doctor who owned the car had no knowledge of what was being done with his vehicle but he still paid the price, losing the use of his vehicle for some period of time before it was returned.

Similarly, when F1 driver Lewis Hamilton was leaving the Albert Park circuit after practice for the first race of the 2010 season, he did a burn-out in his AMG Mercedes courtesy car and got that impounded. In most countries in the world, he'd have been cheered by the constabulary, but in the Australian State of Victoria, where the powers-that-be have declared war on "hoons", the wallopers were forced to book him.

Some jurisdictions give the cars back after impounding them for a period of time, though in Holland, the car can be confiscated permanently and that's just what happened a few weeks back when a 20-year old who had borrowed his dad's car, was booked for doing double the speed limit – 160 kmh in an 80 kmh zone.

That was just far enough over the limit to permanently lose the vehicle he was driving, and win him the world record for the most expensive speeding ticket in history, even if it was effectively being paid by his father – he was driving pop's Bugatti Veyron worth EUR1.8 million!

As far as we can determine, the car is gone for good, and dad is no doubt having a few stern words with junior, despite dad's long term association with motorsport.

The owner of the Veyron, with whom we thoroughly sympathize, is none other than technology entrepreneur Michel Perridon, the founder and CEO of Trust International, manufacturers of some of Europe's best selling computer peripherals.

Michel is a long time sponsor of motorsport and only last year Trust International was sponsoring the Red Bull Formula One team. That's F1 ace Mark Webber, Red Bull F1 Team Leader Christian Horner and wunderkind Sebastien Vettel holding a Trust International Red Bull computer mouse in the photo.

Truly, we do feel sorry for Michel – he wasn't even driving the car, yet if there's an upside, and we think there might be, it's that we think he can legitimately claim the record for himself - after all, he paid the fine. Whatsmore, he isn't going to lose the record soon. If we adjust the world's-most-expensive-speeding-ticket going forward to take inflation into account, it's gonna be a loooong time before he relinquishes the title.

The previously most expensive speeding ticket on record was handed out earlier this year in Switzerland where speeding fines are calculated on your net worth, as opposed to flat penalties which do not seriously deter the mega-wealthy.

The record holder was a diplomat from the republic of Guinea-Bissau caught driving a Ferrari Testarossa at 137 kmh (85 mph) through a village in Eastern Switzerland. The penalty was calculated as a percentage of the motorist’s wealth – assessed to be 24 million Swiss francs by the court – and the seriousness of the offense, his record and… the speeding ticket totalled nearly US$290,000 – a King's ransom for most, but a trifle in comparison to Perridon's fine – and he wasn't driving the car. In this case the perpetrator claimed diplomatic immunity for his offense, it only succeeded in saving him from being named, not from being fined.

The previous world record ticket was set in 2002, held by Jussi Salonoja, the then 27-year-old heir to a northern European meatpacking empire. In Finland, the fines for speeding offenses are levied against the annual income of the driver. Salonoja earned US$11.5 million in 2002, which resulted in a fine of around US$200,000.

So our suggestion is that Michel is now the rightful record holder, and despite the gravity of the offense, it wasn't his fault, so there's a degree of latitude that should be afforded him in how he wears his crown.

Trust appears to have dropped its Red Bull F1 sponsorship for 2010 (before this incident), but in winning the title of “the world's most expensive speeding ticket” perhaps Trust could issue a commemorative mouse so the unfortunate Perridon might be able to recoup his losses. And perhaps it should carry the inscription, "the road is not a racetrack."

And so far as the prosecution of innocent parties, let's make sure that the person who commits the crime serves the time. It was not the Lamborghini-owning Perth Doctor or Michel Perridon who should be paying the price, but the people behind the wheel.

More than a million lives are lost each year on public roads across the globe - in the words of Adam Smith, "mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent."

Swiss breakthrough could mean rain on demand

Swiss researchers have reported laser-powered cloud seeding success, both inside and outside the laboratory. Inside the lab, the powerful infrared laser caused visible clouds of vapor to follow in its wake when fired into a water-saturated chamber and sensitive weather apparatus recorded spikes in water droplet density when it was fired into the skies of Berlin, although nothing was visible to the naked eye.

Experiments in cloud seeding have been going on for some time and varying degrees of success have been reported by showering silver iodide crystals or frozen carbon dioxide or even salt above clouds. A research team from the University of Geneva has achieved encouraging results from taking a more hi-tech approach.

The team fired short 220-millijoule pulses of infrared light from a laser into an illuminated chamber of water-saturated air at minus 24°C and noted the formation of clouds in the laser's wake. Team member Jérôme Kasparian explained the phenomenon by saying that the pulses stripped electrons from atoms in the air, encouraging the formation of hydroxyl radicals and converting sulphur and nitrogen dioxides into particles that act as the seeds on which water droplets grow.

Post-burst chamber examination showed that the concentration of water droplets along the plasma channel immediately after the laser was fired measured about 50 micrometers wide. After a few seconds the droplets grew to 80 micrometers as the smaller droplets fused together, doubling the volume of condensed water.

Real world application of the lab research has its detractors, Daniel Rosenfeld of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is quoted in the New Scientist as saying: "Whatever has been documented in this experiment is of little relevance to natural clouds" and Thomas Leisner of Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology said in Nature that he is "sceptical that this could be used to trigger rain on demand."

But Kasparian claims that the team has enjoyed similar success when pulses were sent 60 meters up into the skies over Berlin. Although there was no change visible to the naked eye, weather sensors confirmed an increase in size and density of droplets in the atmosphere.

It's early days for the research and the team is currently looking to boost the effect so that actual rain might result, no doubt hoping that success will not see them being taken away by the authorities as Donald Sutherland was in the Kate Bush video for 1985's Cloudbusting.

Via: New Scientist.

Converse iPhone app turns your phone into a double-ended language translator

We've all been there - you're trying to communicate with someone who doesn't speak your language and you don't speak theirs, and no amount of charades and gesturing will do the trick. You need a toilet and he's wondering why you're telling him your brother eats flies. Converse is the name of a new app that will soon become available which is claimed to turn your iPhone into a double ended language translator – a multilingual, face-to-face instant messaging conversation. It's one of the most innovative uses of the iPhone's form factor we've yet seen, with both people able to type on a keyboard in their own language at the same time and have the words translated and displayed for the other person. If it works as advertised, Converse is set to significantly reduce communication problems on holidays and business trips. The new app enables an English speaker to communicate with people in 51 different languages and keyboards accommodate non-Latin languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Thai, Czech, Hebrew and Ukrainian scripts.

You can ask a question by simply typing it in, just like a text message or email. The text is then immediately translated into your chosen language and displayed on the other end of the screen. The person can then respond to the question in their language in exactly the same way and their response is translated, then displayed to you in the Queen's English.

This novel twist on language translation is claimed to use “the best language translation APIs available on the web” and enable “fluent complex text-based conversations with almost anyone in the world.” Now if you've ever played with web translation, you'll know this is a big claim, but with a price of just GBP1.79, even if it's only half that good it'll have a nuclear level bang-per-buck factor as translation apps are among the highest priced apps in the iTunes store. Whatsmore, the convenience of having a single word or phrase translator for rough and ready translations on the go will be simply too good to pass up.

Languages included Afrikaans, Albanian, Arabic, Belarusian, Bulgarian,Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Maltese, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh and Yiddish.

The publisher's site will go live shortly here.

Media player dock doubles as a shelf

If your residence is cramped for space, so much so that you don’t have any shelves left on which to place your iPhone/iPod dock, then you need one of these. Finite Elemente’s Hohrizontal 51 is a shelf with a built-in dock and speakers that not only provides a special place from which to play your tunes, but also is big enough to house other things – like that vase your mother-in-law bought you as a house-warming gift.

The shelf has 2 x 25W speakers built in that can also be connected to your TV or computer via composite video and audio outputs, and has audio and USB inputs. It also has a remote control to let you watch your favorite shows or movies from the comfort of your couch, chair or bed.

The only downside is where do all those power and connectivity cables go?

The Finite Elemente Hohrizontal 51 is 1m long, 300mm deep and 51mm thick, weighing 6.5kg. It’s strong enough to hold around 25kg (55lbs), depending on what type of wall you anchor it to because it’s a floating shelf.

Reportedly selling for around US$660, it comes in seven colors and you can guarantee not many of your friends will have one.

Via Unplgged

VW parades Golf blue e-motion concept

Volkswagen presented its electric mobility vision to some very high-profile guests in Berlin this week. German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel and transport minister Dr. Peter Ramsauer were treated to a closer look at the 93 mile (150 km) range Golf blue-e-motion, which is set for fleet testing next year ahead of a planned 2013 launch.

The Golf blue-e-motion concept car is powered by a 85 kW, front mounted electric motor which delivers 270 Nm maximum torque and a top speed of 87 mph (140 kmh) and acceleration of 0-100 kmh in 11.8 seconds.

With charging supplemented by regenerative braking, the 26.5 kW h battery is situated in the bootspace (leaving 237 liters for your luggage) and under the rear seat and has a separate air cooling system. Despite the weight of the batteries (1,545 kilograms), VW says the overall weight of the concept is only marginally heavier (around 200 kg) than a comparable Golf BlueMotion TDI.

Volkswagen plans to use the well-know Golf brand name to crack-open the e-vehicle market. Drivetrain and energy storage testing will take place via a fleet of 500 test cars. Mass production launch of electric Golf and Jetta models, along with the company's E-up! city car, is set for 2013.

Volkswagen points out some compelling stats for the uptake of electric vehicles in urban areas:

"According to the German Federal Statistical Office, 6 of every 10 people in the workforce commute by car – on average 45.8 percent drive less than 10 kilometres (one-way commute), another 28.1 percent between 10 and 25 kilometres and 16.2 percent over 25 kilometres. The Golf blue-e-motion can also handle the driving ranges typically covered by many service providers. In short-distance driving, the zero-emissions Golf offers a sustainable solution to private users as well."

VW's plans for mass production of electric vehicles sit well with the German government's commitment to the sector. The "National Development Plan for Electric Mobility" has set the ambitious goal of one million electric vehicles on the roads in 2020, and VW hopes that its badge will figure prominently.

The involvement of government also turns attention to the often ignored "long-tailpipe." For green motoring to be truly eco-friendly, the energy that goes into the batteries needs to come from a renewable source.

"Future electric cars give us enormous opportunities for reshaping mobility to be even more sustainable," said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG. "When it comes to the environment, however, we must ensure that the energy used to operate these electric cars is produced from renewable sources. Since automotive manufacturers do not have any influence on the types of power plants that are built, the federal government must ensure that eco-friendly energy sources are utilised. Only then will we experience a genuine transition to a new era."

Dimensions
• Length 4,199 mm
• Width 1,786 mm
• Height 1,480 mm
• Wheelbase 2,575 mm
  Drive System
• Drive type - Electric motor
• Power (max. / continuous) 85 kW / 50 kW
• Max. torque 270 Nm
  Transmission / Tyres
• Transmission EQ 210 (1-gear transmission)
• Final drive type Front-wheel drive
• Tyre size 205/55 R16
Driving Performance
• 0-100 km/h - 11.8 s
• Top speed 140 km/h

Research breakthrough promises night vision revolution

A team at University of Florida has developed a new thin film technology that can convert infrared light into visible light. In layman terms, we can stop eating carrots to improve our night vision because it might soon be applied cheaply to our eye glasses, car windshields, even our cell phones, and it could be here in a little as 18 months.

Current night vision devices use huge amounts of electricity (thousands of volts) and heavy glass lenses that create a vacuum in order to work.

Adapted from flat screen television technology, the new film works with no vacuum and uses energy-efficient, organic LEDs. This keeps weight down, with a full scale device potentially weighing as little as 10 grams being only a few microns thick.

It could take as little as 18 months to upscale the the device for practical applications and it may revolutionize night vision goggles and other military applications, not to mention have wide-ranging domestic applications such as eye-glasses and cars.

Researchers also want to expand the technology to measure heat. Such a phone could be used to detect fever, heat loss from homes could be pin-pointed to reduce energy consumption, or a "smart" windshield could make pedestrians easier to spot. With the cheaper technology the possibilities are endless.

The research from the University of Florida was outlined recently in the journal Advanced Materials.

Via: Discovery.

Gizmocase - protection for your iPhone and a place for your credit cards

Is your iPhone 3GS not being taken seriously any more because all your friends have one too? You need a Gizmocase to turn heads (and bottle tops). This groovy silicone skin protects against impact and your phone’s ports and buttons are protected against dust and moisture, helping to prolong the life of your device.

Recently, we’ve covered software products that turn your smart phone into a credit card. Well, if you don’t want to turn your phone into a cashless wallet, the next best thing is to turn your phone holder into one, because the GizmoCase has slots for carrying up to four cards and lets you quick-draw them like a wild west six-shooter from the holster attachment.

The GizmoCase from Barefoot Innovations has a clip to secure it to your purse or jeans pocket or attach a lanyard to wear it around your neck. It can hold your earbuds, too, while it cradles your iPhone. And, covering all the essential bases, you can open bottle tops with the special opener embedded in the design.

It comes in nine colors and sells for US$29.99. The holster is US$4.99.

So is the humble wallet dead in the water? Probably not just yet... but the writing is on the wall.

Mercedes C-Class models - better fuel efficiency with greater performance

Mercedes-Benz is now equipping its popular C-Class 180 CGI, 200 CGI and 220 CDI models with BlueEFFICIENCY. Featuring six-speed manual transmissions and ECO start/stop functionality, the company says this technology will reduce the vehicles’ fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by 10 percent . The newly-configured C 220 CDI will now consume only 4.4L/100km and CO2 emissions drop to 117g/km. Also added to the line-up for the first time is the C 250 CDI 4MATIC Blue EFFICIENCY four-cylinder 4WD diesel.

Mercedes-Benz says its direct petrol injection technology provides further reduction in fuel consumption, which was previously only available in automatic transmission models.

Direct fuel injection allows higher compression and thus improved thermodynamic efficiency. These engines have higher torque and yet are more economical.

The new C 200 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY model has a displacement of 1.8L and an output of 135kW (84hp) but only consumes 6.8L of premium unleaded petrol per 100km (combined NEDC consumption) - around 10 percent less than the previous four-cylinder engine with conventional fuel injection and a supercharger. CO2 emissions are also reduced by 12 percent.

Despite the lower fuel consumption, the peak torque has been increased from 250Nm to 270Nm, giving the new C 200 CGI an edge of 0.4 over the previous model when sprinting from 0-100kmh (8.2 seconds).

The C 180 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY direct-injection petrol engine develops 115kW (156hp) and the manual transmission gets to 100kmh half a second faster than the previous automatic model in 9.0 seconds.

The ECO start/stop function in the vehicles stops the engine automatically when coasting up to traffic lights and as soon as its speed falls below 8kmh, or once the driver hits the brake pedal and moves the gear lever into neutral. The engine starts immediately when the driver presses the accelerator or clutch pedal. Availability of the ECO start/stop function is indicated on the instrument cluster. The new Mercedes-Benz C 220 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY model with a six-speed manual transmission has an output of 125kW (170hp) and a peak torque of 400Nm, racing from 0-100kmh in 8.4 seconds. Yet its combined fuel consumption is just 4.4L/100kmh.

The new C 220 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY with ECO start/stop function is therefore the most fuel-efficient C-Class of all time.

The 250 CDI 4MATIC BlueEFFICIENCY combines a powerful four-cylinder diesel engine developing 150kW (204hp) and a peak torque of 500Nm with the 4MATIC four-wheel-drive system, which is permanently active and responds instantaneously, assisting the driver at all times in adverse weather conditions.

As standard, Mercedes-Benz combines the permanent all-wheel drive system with the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) and the traction system 4ETS, which enables controlled braking of spinning wheels and thus increases the drive torque at the wheels for better traction. The C 250 CDI 4MATIC BlueEFFICIENCY is equipped with a seven-speed automatic transmission as standard. The new Mercedes-Benz C 180 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY is priced from €32,219.25 and the C 200 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY from €34,242.25. The C 250 CDI 4MATIC BlueEFFICIENCY model will sell from €43,524.25 and the C 220 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY model with ECO start/stop function will be available from €36,384.25 in Q3 this year.

ASUS Eee Keyboard PC officially launched (at last)

For a good while now the Eee Keyboard PC from ASUS has been is a recurring state of "coming soon" but the company has made things a tad more certain by issuing an official launch statement. Connecting the keyboard-computer hybrid to an external monitor, projector or HD television gives users yet another portable web-enabled multimedia entertainment center or stylish boardroom presentation solution.

As Gizmag reported in January, the Eee Keyboard PC will be powered by an Intel Atom N270 processor supported by 1GB of DDR2 memory. Lightweight at just 2.4 pounds and finished in aluminum with a durable UV-coated underside, ASUS has announced that in response to user input the EK1542's "LED-backlit keys are precisely calibrated to ensure consistency in mechanical responsiveness, latency, and actuation pressure."

The ultra-wideband display kit will now be included with initial purchase, allowing users to "stream HD 720p visuals to a designated display device within a 5 meter range." The five inch 800 x 480 multi-touch panel to the right of main keying area can (at its most basic level) be set to control onscreen activity or "can be set to display quick launch keys and shortcuts to enable users to easily access programs and web content. It can also display the media player's interface, allowing users to browse, select, and play songs with a tap of a finger."

Windows XP Home has been confirmed as the operating system which, given other more up to date specifications on offer (such as 802.11n wireless networking, Bluetooth 2.1 and ultra wideband wireless video transfer), is a little disappointing. Interfacing with the Eee Keyboard PC is taken care of by the inclusion of three USB 2.0 ports for adding external storage to complement its 16GB/32GB SSD drive or to facilitate wired printing options and so on, there's one HDMI and a VGA for connection to a HD television or monitor and of course headphone and microphone jacks.

Sadly, ASUS has neglected to part with the most important information in its announcement - a confirmed date for release and its actual cost, although Amazon US has had it listed at a pre-release US$599 for a few weeks. Won't be long now...

The DBA compostable potato pen

There are many pens on the market today that claim to be biodegradable or ecologically sound – but are they really? DBA in New York wanted to produce a responsible alternative to the vast numbers of wasteful and toxic pens we use and dispose of unethically every day, and claims to have designed not only a pen that looks good and writes well, but is also the world's only 98% biodegradable pen.

Pens today are usually made from a mixture of materials; plastics like nylon, polyester and polypropylene, steel and other chemicals, which makes them unsuitable for recycling and remain in tact for thousands of years. The ink is mostly oil-based and contain biocides that are harmful to both humans and the environment and leak toxins into the soil and water from landfill. The packaging is made from non-recyclable PVC containing chlorine and heavy metals so it can't be recycled either. Finally they can be created in factories with low-efficiency that contribute to environmental pollution and are often located in countries with poor standards of regulation. Even pens which claim to be environmentally friendly are often actually non-biodegradable components housed in a biodegradable shell with an unlabeled ink.

In comparison, the DBA pen is comprised of a bio-plastic derived from non-GM potatoes while the ink reservoir is made from a biodegradable fiber. The packaging is made from 100% recycled material; uses Ancient Forest Friendly and FSC certified paper sourced and printed with vegetable inks in the USA. It is processed chlorine-free, is 100% recyclable and uses the most efficient shape to pack in quantity, reducing carbon emissions from transportation. The ink itself uses simple “pronounceable” ingredients; water, non-toxic pigments, glycerin (food-grade sugar alcohol) and sodium benzoate (food-grade preservative) which are all safe for both humans and the environment. It has been designed to compost in a facility within 180 days.

Not only is the product itself as environmentally friendly as possible, but the manufacturer is too. Harbec is billed as one of the most ecologically sustainable factories in the USA and is fast on its way to becoming carbon neutral despite already exceeding the stringent ISO 14001 environmental management standard. The factory itself is powered by an on-site wind turbine; the machines are the most energy efficient available; they use a combined heat and power micro-turbine generation plant, rainwater geothermal-assisted cooling systems, and the transportation fleet uses hybrid, alternative fuel and zero-emission vehicles.

The only part of the process in fact that is not ecologically perfect is the 2% non-biodegradable component given over to the nib which must be removed and disposed separately as garbage. This is because DBA wanted primarily to offer an excellent writing experience and so used the best quality product for the nib. They are also careful to explain that the pen cannot be degraded in landfill owing to lack of oxygen required for the process and is best composted in a commercial facility rather than at home. They recommend the site Find A Composter but offer to compost any pens returned to them if another alternative cannot be found, with a coupon towards further purchases.