Gizmag- Your tech feed!

Electric Green Cri takes to the skies

When Gizmag paid a visit to the Paris Green Air Show in June, there was one craft on display that seemed to steal the show. The Green Cri aerobatic electric airplane hadn't even left terra firma, yet was surrounded by eager onlookers for much of the time it was there. Now the four-engined prototype has returned to Le Bourget airfield for its maiden flight in the sunny skies above Paris. Read More

Ozaki metallic iPad covers

Taiwanese computer peripherals company Ozaki prides itself on producing computer accessories with attitude, and whilst that’s an easy thing to say, it stopped us in our tracks during the rounds of the IFA show floor in Berlin this week with a range of stunning metallic shells for the iPad. Now iPad covers are a dime a dozen, but the metallic finish on these items is extraordinary – they have a silvery pewter surface and look like something the knights of King Arthur’s court would carry. No price yet but … yuuuum! Read More

Amiga All-in-One is next in line for Commodore USA release

Only a few short days ago, Commodore USA announced its intention to launch a modern version of the legendary C64 all-in-one keyboard computer. Now the company has revealed an exclusive licensing agreement with Amiga Inc. that should result in the company releasing upgraded Amiga-branded machines. As well as a technical overhaul, the new computers are to be fully compatible with the updated version of the AmigaOS operating system. Read More

Swan song: have your ashes pressed as vinyl

If you've ever imagined the song you'd like to be played at your funeral or you imagine it to be the send-off of the year, then you might be interested in And Vinyly. This UK-based company will press your cremated ashes into a vinyl playing a track of your choice or a vocal message for your friends and family to enjoy and remember you by. Hmmm. Read More

Microsoft makes Arc Touch mouse official

Microsoft has revealed the next stage in the development of its Arc Mouse, the Arc Touch. As the name implies, the company has incorporated some touch sensitivity into its upper surface and also designed it to flatten out at the touch of a finger, for convenient transport while not in use. Its wireless USB transceiver also fits snuggly in the peripheral's underside to help ensure that everything you need is in one place when you're on the road. Read More

UM develops lasers to defend helicopters against missile attacks

Researchers at the University of Michigan are developing laser systems for protecting military helicopters from heat-seeking missiles. The lasers wouldn’t shoot down the missiles, but would instead jam their sensors, essentially blinding them. This isn’t the first time that laser systems have been used for this purpose, but the creators of this system claim that it is better suited to helicopters than anything that has come before. Read More

Gorenje introduces the new SmarSofa at IFA 2010

With its retro good looks and smooth lines, the SmarSofa from Gorenje wouldn’t look out of place on an Austin Powers movie set. On display at IFA 2010, the SmarSofa is not just a convertible lounge. It includes a fully integrated fridge which contains remote-controlled, rotating cooling platters. At the touch of a button the platters containing ready-to-eat dishes can be lifted and lowered to the desired height. How’s that for groovy? Read More

Sony unveils next generation touchscreen Bloggie pocket video camera

Not so long ago, Sony took its original Bloggie pocket video camera and placed a 270 degrees swivel lens at the top that was said to cater for those spontaneous moments. Now the next generation of Bloggie has been revealed and the swivel lens has gone. In its place is a fixed F2.8 wide angle, auto-focus lens with 4x digital zoom. The new MHS-TS20 and MHS-TS10 Bloggie Touch pocket camcorders have a 3-inch touchscreen display, can shoot up to full 1080p high definition video and are capable of snapping 12.8 megapixel still images. Read More

Soladey Ionic toothbrush heads for new markets

In Japan and much of Europe, the Soladey toothbrush is nothing new. It was invented 20 years ago, and is currently used by over 16 million people – you may now pause to make a joke about 16 million people all using the same toothbrush. Just recently, however, it has become available in the U.K., U.S. and Canada. What makes it special is the fact that it uses nothing but light and water to clean your teeth. Read More

Miniature auto differential created for tiny flying robots

Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) are in development at various research institutes and aerospace firms worldwide, with an eye toward someday being used in applications such as search and rescue operations, environmental monitoring, or exploration of hazardous environments... or spying, as seems to be the case with all things micro. Like insects, many of these MAVs fly by flapping a set of wings, so they need to be designed to cope with crosswinds or potential wing damage. Engineers at Harvard University have created a tiny automobile-style differential, to keep the two wings generating the same amount of torque. The device is literally one one-millionth the size of what you’d find in your car. Read More

NASA prepares for sun dive

In an effort to explore what is perhaps the last salient region of our solar system yet to be visited by a spacecraft, NASA has announced Solar Probe Plus, a mission that will launch a probe directly into the sun's atmosphere. The mission will seek to answer some of the outstanding questions about the nature of our very own star, while helping to understand and forecast the radiation environment in which future space explorers will be living and operating. Read More

UK's Royal Mail brings the postage stamp into the 21st Century

Nestled amongst a set of postage stamps celebrating Great British Railways is a world's first. The UK's Royal Mail calls it an "intelligent stamp" and pointing a smartphone camera at it delivers exclusive online content to the screen. The first piece of enhanced content features a special poetry reading by actor Bernard Cribbins. Read More

LG to unleash 31-inch 3D OLED TV

LG is expanding its OLED TV line-up with a 31-inch, 3D capable model on show at IFA 2010. The new, super-slim 3D TV will join the company's existing 15-inch model on the market next year and LG says it plans to extend the range even further during 2011. Read More

Telefunken evaluating electric bicycle prototypes

If there’s an interesting aspect to the rise and rise of electric mobility devices, it’s the number of companies that were once associated with vastly different fields which are now investigating the arena of electric bicycles. At SinoCES in China last month we saw a white goods manufacturer proudly showing a new range of electric scooters alongside its new range of washing machines. At IFA today we spied yet another big name on two electric bicycles – 107 year-old German electronics company Telefunken. Read More

Toshiba unveils Folio 100 media tablet at IFA

Toshiba Europe has chosen the IFA consumer electronics show to unveil its 10.1-inch Android media tablet powered by NVIDIA's Tegra II processor. The Folio 100 features an onboard camera, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (with a 3G model in the pipeline) and a HDMI port for viewing content on a big screen television. The company has also announced the development of an one-stop portal to access and share online content over numerous device formats. We couldn't resist the opportunity to take a closer look. Read More

'Dark silicon' used to boost smartphone battery life

Adopting a new, highly automated and reconfigurable approach to hardware acceleration, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have come up with a way to harness the unused silicon real estate in smartphones – the so-called "dark silicon" – as special-purpose processors dynamically optimized to perform the most common tasks in an efficient way. Read More

New amps and effects units outed by Roland

With over a million sales notched up, Roland has announced that the next generation of Cube amplifiers is ready to be let loose. The Cube XL series is available in four sizes, starting at the practice 15W version right up to a gig-worthy 80W model. The amps all feature a host of tones and effects and an auxiliary input to allow a portable music player to provide backing tracks. Features on offer from the new range include amp modeling, channel-switching and a strange-sounding power squeeze function. Roland has also unleashed a couple of BOSS guitar effects pedals – one that offers the player pitch control and voice harmony possibilities and the other squeezing some tube amp sounds into a palm-sized stomp box. Read More