I can’t say I ever thought I’d see much innovation when it came to bicycle training wheels, but that’s exactly what the creators of the Gyrowheel have managed to do. The wheel replaces a bike’s standard front wheel and features a battery powered spinning disc inside that creates a “gyroscopic precession” force which automatically stabilizes the bike. And not only does it prevent a bike from wobbling or falling over, but according to the company it also teaches better riding techniques.
I know the idea might sound a bit skeptical, but seeing the Gyrowheel balance all by itself when placed on the ground in this video (courtesy of Bikecommuters.com) was enough to convince me the concept has merit.
A kid-sized 12-inch version of the Gyrowheel should be available for purchase in the U.S. by December 1, while a 16-inch version should be available by Spring 2010.
Every so often it’s nice to review a gadget that’s devoid of firmware updates, software installs, driver issues, DRM, rechargeable batteries and other headaches that prevent a device from just plain working right out of the box. So when I had the chance to review the Slice line of cutting products, I figured it would be a nice change of pace.
Now you might not think there’s much room for technology or innovation when it comes to hobby knives and vegetable peelers, but you’d be wrong. The Slice line of products actually use a zirconium oxide ceramic blade that’s considered to be the most durable substance on Earth, next to diamonds of course. So besides being considerably harder and sharper than the steel blade on your average knife, there’s a long list of other reasons why you’ll want to upgrade your own collection of cutting, slicing and peeling tools after you read my review.
A simple stainless steel creation by Scandinavian designer Maria Kivijärvi, the Cake Server could replace your current wedge-shaped cake cutter (or even more primitive knife) with this more elegant, purposeful and efficient utensil. It’s both cutter and prongs. Slice, squeeze, carry and release. The only issue we can see is if your horizontally challenged friends demand a larger piece. Or if you’re 20 people sharing slivers of cake.
Still, it’s smart and we like it. It’s made by Magisso and costs €60.
Don’t shortchange your kid and give him regular old Crayons when you could be giving him these Rich Color Crayons. They’re pretty much made of the same material as regular Crayons, but instead of being one solid color, they’re marbled with a variety of color speckles that produce a richer color pattern. As you can see from the image above, the results can be impressive. Then again, these are obviously marketing renderings made by some kind of professional. But still, the idea is interesting.
Seeing as you can’t quite give each crayon an actual color name, they’ve been affectionately dubbed “Passion & Orange”, “StrawberrySpecial”, “CandyPop”, “CitrusHerb”, “BerryMix” and “ChocolateAlmond”. A box of these six “flavors” will set you back 1,200 Yen, or about $13.
Esquire was the first to improve magazines with their limited edition issue featuring an e-ink cover, which I missed out on, but it looks like Entertainment Weekly is one-upping them, and then some, with a CBS & Pepsi sponsored video ad that will appear in their September 18 issue. Now there’s no way the insert will be as thin as a magazine page, given the electronics and batteries required to run even a tiny LCD screen, but it looks like the player will allow readers/viewers to use a set of 5 buttons to choose what content they’d like to see.
When Entertainment Weekly readers open the magazine to the ad pages, they will see a small screen flicker on and start to load a video. A brief segment featuring actors from “The Big Bang Theory” will explain how to use the player, while talking about features from Entertainment Weekly and the different video selections a reader can choose. By pressing one of five different buttons, readers can watch a video montage from “How I Met Your Mother,” a montage from “Two and a Half Men,” a humorous ad for Pepsi Max, a sneak preview of “Accidentally on Purpose” or a preview of new CBS dramas “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “The Good Wife” and “Three Rivers.”
Unfortunately the enhanced magazines will only be sent to EW subscribers in Los Angeles and New York, which means I will miss out yet again, but I’m sure outrageously overpriced copies will pop-up on eBay as soon as the issue is released.
This morning Sony announced a new type of lithium ion secondary battery that includes all the major improvements one expects to hear from a new battery including higher power output, extended lifespan and faster charge times. The batteries, which are designed to be used in larger rechargeable batteries like the kind used in power tools (hence the basic label) feature an olivine-type lithium iron phosphate used as the cathode material. As someone who never progressed past high school chemistry I’m not quite sure why that’s a better material to use, but according to Sony it results in a battery that has a power density of 1800W/kg with 20A continuous discharge, a 2,000 charge-discharge life cycle and the ability to recharge up to 99% of its capacity in a mere 30 minutes. And apparently the new batteries have been shipping since June of this year, so thanks for letting us know right away Sony!
At times RFID technology gets a bad rap, but that’s because it’s not always the best solution for every situation. (ie Passports etc.) However, here’s one example where the technology really shines. Developed by DeWalt, Tool Link is a $1,120 option for Ford trucks that uses RFID tags to keep track of your tools so that you don’t accidentally leave one behind at a job site.
The system comes with 50 tags that can be attached to tools and hardware from any manufacturer, an RFID scanner plus software that runs on the truck’s in-dash computer, as well as a couple of RFID antennas located in the truck’s bed. Once you’ve created a database of your hardware the system can keep track of what items were in the truck at the start of the day, and what items are missing before you leave the construction site at the end of the day, before they go missing permanently.
While the term ‘Exmor R’ is nothing more than a new PR catchphrase for Sony to toss around, the technology behind the sensors in their new Cybershot DSC-TX1 and DSC-WX1 is kind of interesting. Traditionally, compact P&S digital cameras are not known for their fantastic low-light performance. The smaller optics means there’s less light hitting the larger and larger sensors, which leads to noisy photos. I mean there’s a reason professional photographers will drop thousands of dollars on a gigantic ‘fast’ lens. But the ‘Exmor R’ technology supposedly results in a sensor with twice the light sensitivity of a traditional sensor since the various elements like wires and circuitry which usually hinder the photo-diodes from gathering light have been effectively moved out of the way.
And further improving the camera’s low-light performance are the hand-held twilight and anti-motion blur multishot modes which basically use exposure bracketing and in-camera HDRI techniques to automatically combine multiple shots with varying exposures to produce a final result with more detail and less noise. As for other specs, both cameras feature a 10.2 mega-pixel sensor and while the thinner TX-1 includes a 3-inch touch screen LCD on the back, the larger WX-1 benefits from a wider angle Sony G lens instead. $380 for the DSC-TX1 and $350 for the DSC-WX1 and both should be available come October.
On the outside it may look like a non-descript industrial box, but Panasonic’s new ultra-accurate 3D profilometer has some pretty impressive technology to boast about on the inside. Thanks to a specially-developed new probe the machine can measure the surface of 3D objects, including microscopic pores at least 50µm in diameter, with an accuracy of ±0.15µm. When the object is being ‘profiled’ the probe touches it with a force of just 0.3mN, which is the equivalent to the amount of force caused by a mosquito landing, and the measurements are conducted at a blistering speed of 2mm per second.
Other advancements include improved anti-vibration performance thanks to Panasonic’s vibration analysis technology, since you don’t want the probe bouncing around when it’s doing detailed measurements, and an overall reduced footprint making the machine about 50% smaller than its predecessor. The new 3D profilometer will be available for order starting in October in Japan, and is expected to be quite popular in the automotive and electronics industries where high-precision components are essential.
Related Tags: Innovation
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