SAMSUNG GALAXY NX CAMERA

A New Generation of Cameras 

It is true that cameras have been around for shoot and share functionality – any simple phone with a camera can do that. But those devices were designed with the cameras as an added functionality, which is what we get with our phones, and tablets. This is inadequate for most photography enthusiasts.

BACK TO NATURE WITH KUSA FLIP FLOPS

Going green has a new vibe thanks to Kusashoes, now you can take the green with you. If you were fortunate not to grow up in the desert, then you must surely remember what it feels like walking bare foot on a well tended lawn. It can be comforting and kids love it like crazy –if they aren’t allergic.

ANIMAL THEMED WINE RACKS FROM CONTE BLEU

Presentation is everything. A wine rack must not be mute; you can make your wines smart. Anyway that is what Conte Bleu thinks. With four different animal themed wine racks, they do sure have a point – the Elephant, the Reindeer, the Doberman and the Penguin.

Every wine deserves a befitting companion, don’t you think so?
Image source: Conte Bleu

A Keyboard For Your Foot From Kito

It is time to let your feet punch the keys of the keyboard. A unique design from foot wear makers Kito allows you do just that, well without any output for your inputs.

The keyboard slipper is stylishly designed to look just like a keyboard. The soft rubber sole of the Kito Keyboard has keys all mapped out as tou have them on a standard keyboard. This gives a massaging sensation to the foot as you walk.



Don't expect any USB port or Bluetooth connectivity to go with this Keyboard from Kito. The sole purpose is adornment for your feet.

Image source: Kito
 

Living with the Buzz

Sustainable Honey Made at Home

Imaging what it would be like to get your honey fresh from the hive every morning? Yes you live in the city, but that will not be a problem because the hive will be right inside your house. Scared? Don't be. If the prototype created by Philips Design sees the light of day, you can enjoy all the benefits of bee farming, conveniently in your city apartment without the attendant risk.

This is what the Urban Beehive is all about. Urban Beehive is an innovative concept in sustainably produced food. “The beehive is designed to allow us a glimpse into the fascinating world of these industrious creatures”, so says the Netherlands based Philips Design. The structure consists of two parts: an early passage and flower pot, which is on the outside, and an egg shaped glass vessel. This glass vessel contains the honey comb and houses the bee colony. The glass is such that it filters light, allowing only the orange wavelength that the bees use for sight. Thus your interior lighting won't be disruptive to your co-occupants.

To have access to the honey when desired, all you do is release smoke into the hive to calm the bees before opening. Else you might risk unleashing the colonialists on your own territory.
Image source: Philips Design

So are you willing to live with the buzz? Share your thoughts in comments below.

A Clear Vision with a Dynamic Eye

Now You Can Tune Out the Glare

One of the great hazards while driving to a driver is glare. That spontaneous direct blinding sunlight can be irritating, and most times what we can do is just squint and bear it. Well maybe not anymore and it's all thanks to Chris Mullin of Dynamic Eye, a research engineer with a PhD in physics and a background in optics, electronics and plastics. His next generation sunglasses uses electronics to instantly reduce annoying glare.

Regular sunglasses reflect roughly 8% of light hitting the lens, so only 92% of available light enters the eye for vision. Thus most times they can't handle a glare, Mullin says. But Mullin's glasses using its proprietary Liquid Crystal Display Shield, SpotShield, immediately darkens the part of the lens where the user is experiencing a glare. This may be from bright sun or lights, and it does this without dimming the rest of the lens.

Well all you have to do now is remember to charge your glasses. According to Dynamic Eye, this shouldn't be too frequent as a single charge lasts hundreds of hours.
Image credits: Dynamic Eye

What do you think of this, are you getting one? Share your thoughts in the comment below. 

The Flying Car

The Long Wait for Sky Cars from the “Wrong Brothers”

It took just two men and their commitment to their belief to set the ball rolling in aviation. It is now one hundred and nine years long from those first steps by the Wright brothers. The sector over the years has seen wonderful innovations like the supersonic, vertical take off and landing jets among many others. All this not withstanding, it is yet to attain the availability and ease of ownership that the motor car has. Hence that long desire of most men to have a vehicle that can fly is yet to be met. Well maybe not for much longer, as companies like Terrafugia seem to be breaking new ground in that sphere.

The Woburn, Massachusetts based company having completed test flights for its prototype the Transition, is set to start making deliveries next year for the orders it has. A single craft goes for as much as $279,000, which still makes it way out of common reach.

In the Netherlands, other companies seem to be coming up with their own variations. One of note is the PAL-V One by Baileybrugweg based PAL-V Europe N.V. Its vehicle takes the gyrocopter approach, offering a two seat hybrid car.

While welcome adaptations in the quest for the flying car, the major handicap these vehicles seem to have is that they fall short of existing vehicles from which they make their hybrids.
Take for example, the Transition looks awkward for a car, and its speed of 110km/h is not exactly top notch for road vehicles. So the key at this stage according to its CEO is to tap into that special niche that doesn't fly too far afield and yet needs a means to get around when on the ground.
Image source: Terrafugia, Etsu, and Pal-V

What is your view of the future of flying vehicles? Share them in the comment box below.

Lifi: The Dawn of Visible Light Communication

In the “new world” your average neon sign, store front lighting or lamp post won’t just be there to illuminate. They will peddle digital information as well as offer high speed access to the Internet. This is the dawn of the “Lifi Age” and it is all being made possible by Visible Light Communications System.

 It is interesting to note that information transmission via visible light spectrum actually predates that over radio waves. Alexander bell in 1880 actually demonstrated the transmission of speech over modulated sunlight using what he called the Photophone. So far today, visible light communication has already achieved 500Mbits/s and this can only get better.The Visible Light Communications Consortium initiated in 2004, has a lot of role to play in the coming years to facilitate the growth of this promising alternative in data and information dissemination.

Smart Ammunition for Modern Warfare

A Bullet for You

Fighting techniques in warfare can save an outnumbered or under-equipped side from total annihilation. Take for instance the Taliban against the US army. The former makes use of concealment to have a fighting chance against the technologically superior US forces. The art of concealment has been at the heart of warfare for decades. Guerrillas apply it, small units up against mammoth troops apply it. Shooting from behind cover is bread and butter of concealment. Here a rock, concrete structure, a ditch or steel structure becomes very handy. Well that was then, not any more, thanks to ATK- an American company, and Heckler & Koch, their German collaborator.  

The two firms have launched field tests for their XM25, a new rifle which hopes to counter the advantages of shooting from a cover. The XM25 fires a 25mm round and weighs 6 kg. The gun borrows an idea from Henry Shrapnel's original artillery shells. You don't have aim directly at the target, aim just at a place in its proximity, fire and the bullet does the rest. A timed fuse tells the bullet when to explode, unleashing the fragments that do the job. Actually a small computer inside the bullet is the fuse.

The bullets are programmed by another computer in the rifle before they are fired. This feeds it with details like the distance to the target. The bullets own computer then takes over once fired. This gives the instruction to detonate the calculated distance has been reached. The shrapnel from the detonation has a kill radius of several meters (specifics are classified).

The rifle has had favorable field testing in Afghanistan, with the US army ordering 36 more units. A complete kit of rifle, thermal sight and a four-round magazine is said to cost $35,000. This according to the company is said to come down as automated bullet production begins at ATK.
In all, the era of the concealed gunman is set to come to an end. Hiding behind cover is no longer a guarantee of safety.
Image source: ATK

Tesla Crosses Over With Model X

Los Angels based Tesla Motors, eager to push electric vehicles ever further into the mainstream, unveiled a practical all-wheel-drive, seven-passenger crossover utility at a red-carpet affair befitting a movie premiere.

Company CEO Elon Musk, never given to understatement, all but called the Model X a revolutionary vehicle that delivers everything we love about automobiles while freeing us from the shackles of petroleum.

“We’ve created a car that has more functionality than a minivan, more style than an SUV and more performance than a Porsche 911 Carrera,” Musk said, making his obligatory comparison to a premium automaker during a small gathering for the press before the formal unveiling Thursday night.

It remains to be seen if Musk makes good on that last claim — there is but one Model X prototype, and he wasn’t about to let us drive it. But the X is an attractive enough automobile, with sleek lines, a curvaceous shape and striking “falcon wing” rear doors that open like wings.

The X is the second mainstream automobile from Tesla, and it builds upon much of the technology and tooling of the Model S sedan. We’re still waiting for the sedan — Tesla promises to begin deliveries within five months — but Musk says it’s time to look ahead.

“The reason for bringing the Model X out now,” Musk said, “is to show that we really can do more than one car, that we can leverage the investment in the Model S into another vehicle.”

As much as Musk loves to say his company is more Silicon Valley than Detroit, he’s once again following the auto industry playbook by maximizing the versatility of an existing platform.

David Choe’s Facebook Art

Having made a painting of Barack Obama (then a senator) by October 9, 2008 as part of a display for a New York art exhibition, which now by the way hangs on a wall in the White House, artist David Choe seems to have scored another hit. The graffiti artist is believed to have made a fortune following Facebook’s IPO. In 2005 he did a work for Facebook, painting the walls of their HQ with his artistic work. For this, he was paid with shares in the company instead of cash. This is now expected to be worth about $200 million once Facebook begins trading as a public company. Am sure this is going to inspire you artists out there to target tech startups and oh “ please pay me in shares not cash”. Good luck!

'Mona Lisa' copy done hand in hand with da Vinci

Mona Lisa


A "Mona Lisa" copy owned by Spain's Prado Museum was almost certainly painted by one of Leonardo da Vinci's apprentices alongside the master himself as he did the original, museum officials said Wednesday. The stunning find of what the Prado now says is probably the earliest known copy of La Gioconda will give art lovers and experts an idea of what the Mona Lisa looked like back in the 16th century, said Gabriele Finaldi, the museum's deputy director collections. "It is as if we were in the same studio, standing at the next easel," he told reporters.


The copy has been part of the Prado collection for years and displayed occasionally but no one paid much attention to it because around the woman in the Mona Lisa was a stark black background, not the pretty landscape seen in the original. Two years ago, to get the copy ready for a da Vinci exhibit later this year in Paris, where the original hangs in the Louvre, tests were done and this gave restorers a hint that something lie under the black coat, which was added in the 18th century for reasons not fully understood. When the black covering was removed, a Tuscan landscape very similar to the one in the original emerged. And X-ray tests which allow experts to peek under a painting's surface to see how it developed as it was composed showed that changes made in the copy were similar to changes made to the original as it evolved. Varnish has also been removed from the Mona Lisa's face, making it look brighter and younger than the face coated with cracked, darkish varnish at the Paris museum. "You can imagine that this is what the Mona Lisa looked like back in the 16th century," Finaldi said. Miguel Falomir, the Prado's director for Italian painting, said the copy gives art lovers and experts a chance "to admire the Mona Lisa with totally different eyes." He and Finaldi said the museum's best guess is that the copy was done by a da Vinci apprentice named Francesco Melzi, because of the style observed in it.


Besides the black background, one other difference from the original is the woman in the copy has eyebrows and the Mona Lisa in the real masterpiece does not. There are dozens of the surviving replicas of the masterpiece from the 16th and 17th centuries. The Louvre supports the Prado's new evaluation of the painting, Finaldi said. The Prado plans to put it on display later this month before it travels to France for the da Vinci show. 
By DANIEL WOOLLS - MADRID (AP)

Pioneer’s iPod Docks with Wireless Wow

The Wow

You won’t be wrong if you start expecting that your speaker systems connect wirelessly to all your devices. The two new iPod docks from Pioneer have just that in mind. The Pioneer X-SMC3-S Music Tap and X-SMC4-K Elite Music Tap allows wireless playback of anything that’s Airplay-ready, in addition to anything connected to Wi-Fi. The two systems have almost similar functionality, the difference being the Bluetooth support in the Elite model.


Don’t lose hope if your device isn’t Airplay compliant, lacks wireless connectivity or iPod’s 30-pin dock, an Aux plug-in or USB port will just suffice. At the price of $400 and $480 for X-SMC3-S Music Tap and X-SMC4-K Elite Music Tap respectively, this tabletop sized system can be yours come October when it goes on sale. Although the extra $80 for just Bluetooth seems high-handed. 
Image source: Pioneer

CoverBee Lederhosen Laptop Sleeve

Its time you bought a dress for your Macbook, and start giving it the care you give your body. Well so says CoverBee. And not just any dress, they say, but a Bavarian Lederhosen, normally used for protecting a man’s best body parts... That shows serious care don’t you think? The company is offering the world's first Lederhosen Laptop Sleeve! According to CoverBee, “old meets new” meaning they took a trusted tradition an made it into a functional utility. For the price of $199.99 plus free shiping, your laptop will surely like the care.

Image source: CoverBee

Sealander Amphibious Trailer

Your next vacation could have a funny tinge of relaxation. Imaging steaming down the lake in a white bubble that serves as your trailer, instead of your usual motorboat. Come 2012 this dream could become a reality with the aptly named Sealander amphibious camping trailer.


The German-designed amphibious camping trailer features double-sealed air chambers and a bowl-shaped bottom to keep the "boat" afloat. Thanks to the shallow undercarriage, the trailer can be set adrift from any shoreline with adequate clearance without the use of a boat launch. Navigate the lake with an electric outboard engine while basking in the sun. The modules come fully packed with a functional kitchen, heater and cooler
.

The next camping sailors can sail away with the Sealander for a price of about $20,000 on release next year.
Image Source: Sealander

Tonino Lamborghini

Tonino Lamborghini Spyder Supreme diamond phone is one of the best phones that I have come across lately. This one is pure eye-candy, in spite of being all bling. Of course, you should not be carrying this anywhere or you might get your head blown away. Tonino Lamborghini’s limited edition Spyder supreme diamond cell phone has been built in Italy and Switzerland to give the right mix of technology and fashion. With 7.8 carats of American diamonds throughout, you can expect a lot of bling.
You could choose between black and white, and the 2.75G dual-band operating capability on GSM 900 & 1800 networks just makes it more attractive. It also comes with a 4GB memory support and a flimsy 3MP camera. It surely could have been better than just 3MP. There would be two versions of the cellphone. The $10,000 version would be called S650 model and would have 2.5 carat diamonds. While the S660 would have a crocodile leather back and 5.9 carat diamonds. These cellphones would be sold out pretty quickly and thus it might be important for you to go ahead and get one if you have the money.
What could be better than flaunting luxurious products and know that you could always buy more of them the next day? Well, nothing really as long as you are sane, healthy and strong. It all comes down to mental health and being rich I guess. Of course, youth! The Lamborghini brand is really doing quite a spread, with watches and even a Lamborghini laptop already in the market.

UrthBags

Eco-Chic Purses & Handbags Made From Recycled Materials

UrthBags are hand-crafted from recycled materials by Fair Trade Women's Organizations & Artisans - Purses Made with a Purpose! By owning an UrthBag, you are not only helping to protect our planet, but also to provide jobs to underprivileged women world-wide. UrthBags desire fashion forward owners who choose to live Eco-friendly lifestyles and are looking for a handbag to share it with. UrthBags are durable, ultra-stylish & can be used for almost any occasion. UrthBags come in many different styles and are all handmade from recycled & salvaged materials so you can feel good about owning one while making a bold Eco-fashion statement. From our vibrant Recycled Juice Box bags & chic Recycled Seashell Purses to our ultra-stylish Recycled Newspaper & Fashion Magazine Handbags, you're sure to find one that you'll want to take home with you. So go ahead, starting shopping, fall in love, save the world (OK, maybe that's a stretch) & feel good about an UrthBag on your arm. Source: Urth Bags

                                

Mix and Match Sharon Golan’s Concept Shoes.

When it comes to fashion, and sustainable fashion, shoes may be one of the worst offenders. Not only do shoe fashions change rapidly, but they also tend to wear out faster than our other articles of clothing. Shoe designers and producers have tried to find solutions to this ecological conundrum, with Nike introducing a shoe recycling program and other designers creating multi-functional and multi-fashion shoe designs. The solution, as Israeli designer Sharon Golan proves, does not have to be boring. Making a versatile, sustainable shoe that lasts longer and is lighter on the resources (due to its versatility) can be fun.

Enter Shell 256, Golan’s shoe design with a collection of 16 modular shoe components that can be combined and used to create 256 different variations of shoes.
Exhibited in Jerusalem a couple weeks ago, the shoes are a combination of four separate recycled plastic pieces that are held together with multi-colored silicone rubber bands. Any of the components can be changed.

Sometimes sustainability means not getting bored with the same old, same old, so Shell 256 definitely addresses that issue. (Maybe Golan should team up with the “New Dress a Day” blogger to form year-round fresh and sustainable outfits for the chic ecological woman.)
“The idea was you buy four pieces, this is the amount of pieces you need to create one shoe, ” says Golan. “But if you want to change your look, you can buy only one extra part and it changes the whole look of the shoes.”

“That gives you, the client, more options and it gives the industry, the company, the option to have you as a client all the time,” she pointed out.
Culled from: Green prophet

CAMPING GOES TECH AND GREEN

 
It’s time to say bye to smoky inefficient cooking outdoors using firewood. All this thanks to BioLite and its CampStove. According to the product description, gone is the need to continuously fan the wood as in traditional wood stoves, the stove just does the job for you.


BioLite has developed a wood-burning CampStove, which they intend to release in spring of 2012. Targetting backpackers, campers, and even families in developing communities, the BioLite CampStove converts heat energy into electricity, which then powers a small fan that helps improve the wood’s combustion. It also has a USB port that can charge a cell phone or power-up a LED light in case you are cooking at nighttime in the middle of whatever.
BioLite claims that its CampStove requires half the amount of wood needed to burn a traditional stove and cuts smoke emissions by up to 95%. You do not need to cut a whole tree to fuel your cooking, just put loose branches and other materials like pine cones, underbrush, coconut husks, rice husks, and even cow dung, into the CampStove and start boiling the broth. This makes it convenient for campers who worry about carrying cans of petroleum to power their stoves.

The BioLite CampStove weighs just below two pounds and can boil a liter of water in less than four minutes. It has also won awards prior its retail release, including the St. Andrews Prize for the Environment and first place in the 2010 Sustainable Brands Innovation Open. The company hopes that profits from this product will help subsidize the cost of its HomeStove model for indoor use. Source: Biolite

Mugs Like No Other

A photo story of mugs creatively desingned. These shots were collected from around the Internet.

Image source: Rockingfacts