Your tech feed [Gizmag]

The coming of the Confederate X132 Hellcat

We have developed a fondness for delightfully eccentric companies here at Gizmag, and the Confederate Motor Company

is about as avant-garde as it's possible to be. The company is just about to release its fourth motorcycle, and indications suggest a landmark vibration-canceling technology is on the cards for its new big V-twin. No images have been released of the complete bike, but it is expected to be as visually challenging as its predecessors (pictured). The X132 Hellcat will use a new motor (also pictured) developed in collaboration with S&S Cycle

and you can see quite clearly that there's some considerable space been devoted to the "revolutionary" engine mounting system. Read More

Mazda i-stop engine-idling-stop system wins another major award

Mazda's innovative i-stop engine-idling-stop system

has won yet another award, this time at the lchimura Industrial Awards. While idling stop systems are now becoming commonplace due to the approximate 10% fuel savings they offer, conventional engine stop systems rely on a motor to restart the engine, whereas Mazda's i-stop restarts the engine through combustion: fuel is directly injected into a cylinder while the engine is stopped and ignited to generate downward piston force. Mazda's use of principles unique to the direct injection spark ignition (DISI) engine restarts the engine in just 0.35 seconds, about half the time of most other competing systems, while minimizing noise and vibration and drain on the batteries. Read More

Thanko's full-size USB keyboard folds to fit your pocket

Here's another USB gem from Japanese gadget giant Thanko

. Its full-size USB keyboard

is broken into four connected quarter segments, allowing it to be folded over into a pocket-size rectangular shape. With the growing popularity of portable notebooks and tablets with smaller, cramped keyboards, having a full-size keyboard like this to tote around in your pocket might be a nice complement. Read More

Samsung to release the Restore recycled cell phone

Even the most passionate of eco-warriors must find it hard to get by without a cell phone. Thankfully, with more eco-friendly models appearing on the market there are options for those who shop with a conscience. Building on the success of last year’s Reclaim model Samsung has managed to form its forthcoming Restore cell phone out of 84 percent recyclable materials. Launching in the summer this device will be available only from Sprint (priced from US$49.99). Read More

Bobble bottles offer instant filtered water, on the go

Bottled water might seem like a very innocuous, ecologically-friendly beverage, but it does have its dark side

– it has been estimated that 1.5 million barrels of oil are used annually for the production of one-use water bottles. About 38 million of those get tossed out each year. True, many of them go to recycling facilities, but those facilities aren’t exactly carbon footprint-free themselves. Then of course, there’s also the whole matter of wondering if you’re a sucker for paying to drink what is likely just filtered tap water. That’s where the bobble water bottle comes in. You just fill it from the faucet, and it filters the water as you drink. Read More

Carbon nanotube research could lead to bionic sense of touch

The human body is an amazingly complex bit of kit. Replicating it with bionic technology

presents challenges on many fronts, including the formidable task of mimicking our sense of touch

. This goal could now be a little closer thanks to a breakthrough in carbon nanotube processing by scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Borrowing from conventional methods of making glass fiber, the researchers managed to cram 19,600 individual carbon nanotube-containing channels into fibers just four times thicker than a human hair, putting the artificial structure on a scale similar to the tiny neural bundles that make up our nerve pathways. Read More

TreeFrog copier paper spares the trees

It’s no secret that paper production and deforestation go hand-in-hand. Long before we ever knew of the evils of styrofoam cups, drift-net fishing, or any of a thousand other ecological no-no’s, we knew that using paper meant killing trees. Recycled paper is a step in the right direction, but it still involves the harvesting of trees early in the process. Now, however, TreeZero paper products is offering up TreeFrog copier paper - it’s made with absolutely no wood fiber, just sugar cane and bamboo. Read More

VW shows Milano Taxi Electric Vehicle Concept

The era of the electric vehicle is drawing nearer (albeit excruciatingly slowly) and with Volkswagen set to get its first EV into showrooms in 2013, its latest EV concept indicates how the world's third largest auto maker is reading the market. Dubbed the Milano Taxi, the concept is a long overdue shot at getting a purpose-built electric cab into major cities. The 115 PS vehicle can reach 74 mph, travel 186 miles between charges and be recharged to 80 percent of capacity in just over an hour. Read More