Your tech feed [Gizmag]

Ducati breaks 17 year Harley Davidson winning streak

Harley Davidson has been dominating flat track racing in America basically since it began. On the faster one mile tracks it is 17 years since any other manufacturer has won a race. So it was an enormous surprise to see the Ducati Hypermotard 1100EVO powered flat-tracker take the marque's first ever Grand National victory in the Yavapai Downs Mile in Arizona last Saturday. Apart from ending an unbroken 17 year winning streak by Harley on one mile tracks, the win marks the first time a readily available production engine has won a Grand National Twins race in 29 years. Read More

Solar City Tower with ‘urban waterfall’ proposed for 2016 Rio Olympics

Aside from the events that take place as part of the Olympics, it seems the competition is also on for each Games to become “greener” than those that have gone before. This year’s Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver boasted a variety of green initiatives, including Canada's biggest "living roof." London looks set to outdo Vancouver in 2012, but Rio is looking to up the ante again and be the first zero-carbon footprint games when it hosts the Summer Olympics in 2016. To help the city achieve this goal Swiss-based RAFAA Architecture and Design has proposed a Solar City Tower which features an eye-catching energy-generating waterfall. Read More

Better Marriage Blanket soaks up pesky ‘flatulence molecules’

As viewers of South Park will know, holding farts in can lead to spontaneous human combustion. Unfortunately letting one rip in the marriage bed can lead to the equally unwanted result of the withholding of snuggling. Thankfully there’s now a solution in the form of the Better Marriage Blanket that soaks up offensive “flatulence molecules” to keep any marriage smelling rosy through the most destructive Indian curry. Read More

OCZ Enyo Portable SSD with USB 3.0

OCZ Technology Group, known for its high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) and memory devices has released the Enyo Portable SSD that utilizes the next generation USB 3.0 interface. For consumers who want the flexibility of a portable drive with the robust durability and performance advantages of an SSD, coupled with super fast USB 3.0, this device ticks all the boxes. Read More

Garmin's golf-specific Approach G3 and G5 touchscreen GPS devices

The integration of GPS functionality into mobile phones has had traditional satnav manufacturers such as Garmin working even harder at creating “must have” features which will give their products a point-of-difference. There's also no better way to a golfer's heart than the promise of a reduced handicap, so Garmin's new waterproof Approach G3 (2.6 inch screen) and G5 (3.0 inch screen) should prove popular. Both come preloaded with 1,250 courses and by capturing intimate detail of every round, they will aid in club selection by detailing distance to the pin or the ideal position to land the ideal approach shot. As you'll already have assigned a club to each shot, so you'll know your average yardage per club, the distance and position of every bunker. Read More

Simple solution turns 3D TV glasses incompatibility on its head

Although 3D TV manufacturers are playing nicely by agreeing to a standard 3D Blu-ray format, they’ve unfortunately clung to their proprietary ways for active shutter glasses needed to view 3D TV images. This means anyone who shells out for a new 3D TV isn’t able to take their glasses to a friend’s home to watch their 3D TV unless it is the same brand. But the folks at Home Cinema Choice have stumbled across an easy – albeit less than comfortable – solution. Just turn the glasses upside down. Read More

Virtually silent, fully enclosed, bladeless wind turbines on the way

A wind turbine that uses boundary layers instead of blades to generate power has been patented by Solar Aero, a New Hampshire based not-for-profit scientific research organization. Modeled on the 1913 Tesla steam turbine, the Fuller turbine is virtually silent and completely enclosed, which avoids many of the drawbacks of bladed turbines such as noise, radar interference, visual pollution and wildlife injuries. Read More

Omni-focus technology set to bring video camera revolution

Imagine viewing concert footage where the foreground vocalist is in the same sharp focus as the background musicians. With the simultaneous, real-time, near and far field focus capabilities offered by the Omni-focus video camera developed by Professor Keigo Iizuka, such a thing may not be too far off. Using a new distance mapping principle, an array of video cameras and some clever software the technique brings objects at varying distances into high resolution sharp focus. Read More

Seagate launches FreeAgent GoFlex external storage solutions

The GoFlex ecosystem, heralded by Seagate as the next step in the evolution of its FreeAgent external drives, not only features a selection of USB 2.0 storage options but also a host of different interchangeable plug and play cables and adapters to give users flexibility when upgrading drives to eSATA, USB 3.0 or FireWire 800 connectivity. Read More

CanoScan 9000F: Canon's highest-resolution scanner to date

Although 35mm photographic film is now a thing of the past for all but the die-hard enthusiast or seasoned professional, many of us will still have filmstrips or slides dotted around our homes. With the aid of Canon's new flatbed scanner, these treasured memories can now be transferred to high resolution digital storage. The CanoScan 9000F scans at 9600 x 9600 dots per inch in Film mode, benefits from instant power up thanks to white LED and can even automatically remove imperfections from scanned images to improve on the originals. Read More