Posts for 'Transportation' Category

It's been a tough day at the office - your boss has chewed you a new one because you were late to an all important meeting; your secretary has quit because you forgot it was her birthday and your wife has been on the phone all day threatening to leave you if you don't take her on a romantic weekend getaway to reignite the passion.

On top of that, the news reports are saying that the world will end in the next 20 years if we don't become greener. And while you do contemplate rolling around in a pile of radioactive goo to hulk up and take care of all your problems smashing-style, you instead opt for one of these little gadgets to do your part for the environment.

The HyMini is a handheld universal charger / adapter that can harness the power of the sun and wind to charge your gadgets. Simply attach it to the outside of your car, then drive between 14kph and 65kph (any faster and it won't make a difference, any slower and it won't do anything), and you've got yourself instant renewable energy.

Adapters are available for pretty much any type of phone or camera, and it also plugs into the mains power for when you just can't get enough wind or sun juice.

Students in Virginia Tech mechanical engineering Professor Mehdi Ahmadian’s senior design class developed a horizontal light bar to communicate slowing and stopping actions to a driver in a following vehicle. It had several drawbacks, including cost of production. A sensor circuit that will do the same job using the extra lights usually mounted on commercial vehicles has now been developed.

You are driving in heavy traffic. The brake lights on the car in front of you come on. Is the car slowing or is it going to stop? It slows to 25 mph and the lights go off. You drop back. The car in front of you stops suddenly! You stop just in time. The car behind you collects your rear bumper.

“The problem is that brake lights are yes and no – on and off,” according to John Hennage of Montross, Va., a Ph.D. mechanical engineering student in Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering. “The driver behind does not know the speed at which the car in front is slowing or stopping. The only other signal would be the smoke off the tires.”

The solution is an intelligent brake light system that communicates slowing and urgent stopping – rather than simply that the brake pedal is being touched. “A driver could be tapping his foot in time to music and the brake lights would blink. Or, a driver can rest her foot on the pedal and the lights would glow. It’s not enough information for the following driver,” said Hennage.

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Sony Reader is a book lovers’ miracle toy. The small, hand-held tablet, book-reader allows a reader to access hundreds of book in a single gadget for easy reading. These books can be easily downloaded from its website, at a small fee.  

The Sony Reader displays text in black or while to re-create a print-on-paper experience. The text is viewable even in sunlight or in dark. For sight-impaired the text can be magnified accordingly.  

The light-weight Reader is not only smaller than an actual paperback, it is also portable. Its rechargeable battery allows you to turn up to 7,500 pages before it dies out. The battery can be recharged in as little as 4 hours if you have an AC adapter.  

Now you can literally carry your whole library in your bag with this Sony Reader. This wonderful gadget comes with a hefty tag of US $349.99

 Odd to notice how wood is building an manifestation in electronics. It appears as though people are increasing sick and tired of those cold exteriors that do not express any sense of quality or warmness. Designer Roland Kaufmann have notion up of a perception known as the Jano bicycle. This two-wheeler will be made out of wood, and has a dual purpose, being able to be used for everyday commute between home and office as well as making for a sturdy off-road bike.
Wood is used since the designer believes it is much lighter than other standard bikes, and with a stiffness up to 10 times more than fibreglass and nearly half a dozen times stiffer than a kevlar/epoxy composite, who am I to argue? Just keep this far away from termite mounds.

Computer geeks rejoice. Now here it is a device that lets you download all the games and videos that you always wanted but couldn’t due to limited hard disk space at your PC.  

Maxtor OneTouch III mini edition is a compact hard drive that lets you to automatically synchronize data between two or more computers.  

It also lets you to backup and encrypt, equal to two added levels of security. The 160 GB disk is one of the most portable storage devices, that you will ever come across.  

There are two models available: the 60 GB one costs US $ 80, while the 160 GB one will cost you US $ 126.

Isn’t it is irritating that your phones goes dead in the middle of a conversation, especially, just because you forgot your recharge it before leaving home.  

And now, what are you going to do? A dead mobile phone is as good as no mobile phone.  

Well, here comes the good news. With nowadays, almost everything goes solar, so why not mobile phones.  

The ‘solar charger’ is a small hand-held device, which is small enough to fit your front shirt or pant pocket. Just open up the gadget and expose it to sunlight and attach your mobile to it, and it will start to recharge.  

This nifty device will cost you US $ 35.

It is really bothersome to carry multiple photographs in your wallet. I mean, these are already bulging with money, receipts, cards and other knick-knacks, and on top of that, your family expects you to carry their pictures…..now come on!  

Well, this is where the ‘Picture Pocket’ comes in handy. It is neat, little frame in which you can carry, take this - 40 pictures, 20 on each side. Now, nobody in your family can accuse you of being a selfish brat.  

The photos can be replaced as per the requirements, and the pictures remain clean and undamaged. It costs BP 7.99.

Sick of getting lost while travelling intercity? Then afraid not, your helping friend – Novogo S series GPS Navigator is here.  

This little device is ideally suited for all those who look amongst other things, a smart and stylish all-in-one navigator.  

This ultra-sleek device features a super bright anti-glare touch screen and automatically switches to a more comfortable colour scheme a few minutes before and after sunset as to protect the use from sun-glare.  

This handy device comes with a retail price tag of AU $ 699.00.

There will be a day when these geeks who presently sit around thinking up novel ideas for USB flash drive wrappers will go just that slight bit too far and shove the limits of ordinary politeness to a new level. Excluding that and before then we have a long way to go which is why they are still sticking to producing food related flash drives, some are good and some are not that brilliant, but the people at Valolo have created a selection of nice ones for you to try.These bakery themed flash drives have six fancy bread designs, Challah Raisin Bread, Sandwich, Hot Dog, Pizza, French Bread, and the Hamburger, all very nicely presented and with so much attention to detail paid, they almost look edible, so please do not put this down when you are having lunch, over wise there may be visit to the dentist for you.

Remember Q from the James Bond movie franchise? That venerable old man is wise beyond his years, overseeing a special unit that deals with gadgets for everybody’s favorite suave spy, 007. What we’re more interested in is the versatility and intelligent nature of the Qtire which comes with patented all-weather tire technology which will greatly enhance the safety of automobiles and trucks on the road during winter.What makes a Qtire stand out from the rest of its rubbered brethren is the fact that it comes with extendable studs which provide more grip during slippery situations - essential after a night of heavy snowfall.

 This is made possible thanks to an integrated air bladder located inside that pushes the studs out when the situation calls for it. Whenever you encounter dry road conditions, you can always retract the studs by deflating the mentioned air bladder. Of course, these tires are not entirely maintenance free since you need to refill the air bladder with enough air after deploying the studs for approximately 50 times. It will take a keen mind to keep track of the amount of times the bladder has been deployed though.