Tuesday, August 28, 2007

digital recycle bin saves deleted files


Currently just a conceptual design, the TEMPO is an external storage device that’s designed to prevent you from losing files you accidentally delete. The clever thing about it is that it actually looks like a little recycling bin (although it might be mistaken for a cup of really black coffee).

Created by industrial designer Franco Cagnina for Intech, the TEMPO connects via Bluetooth to your Mac or PC and automatically stores backup copies of files as you delete them. As you fill the drive, a series colored LEDs on the side of the device indicates how full the “bin” is.
This is one of those great examples of utility and intuitive interface design coming together. I really hope that Intech does end up producing these.
[via MoCo LoCo]

New jet-pack patent propels with water



Raymond Li's terrifying contraption, described as a "personal propulsion device," just became U.S. Patent 7,258,301. Powered by a clever system of conduits that lead to independently pivoting thrust nozzles, it's designed to provide inherent stability using "throttle controls and the like."
A rocket pack, you mean? Ah, but no! From the inventor's filing:


Typically, flight packs include propulsion devices such as propellers, rotor
blades, or rockets, which often require a highly flammable fuel in order to
generate sufficient thrust for flight. In addition to having a reservoir of
volatile fluid attached to the body of a pilot, the close proximity of the
propeller, rotor blades, or rocket exhaust to the pilot further poses
significant safety risks. ... As an alternative to employing the combustion of
volatile fluids to directly generate thrust, the high-pressurization of
non-flammable fluids, such as water, has been proposed to create sufficient
thrust in order to achieve flight.

Any flammable stuff, therefore, only ever sees the dark interior of a combustion engine floating on the water, powering the pump. No rotor blades, no hot gases (except the motor's exhaust), just plumes of pressurized water.

Nokia's 8GB N95, 5310, 5610, and 5700 get shown



The N81 slider apparently isn't the only device up Nokia's sleeve for tomorrow morning. Gearfuse scored some shots of the 8GB N95 along with the XpressMusic 5310, 5610, and 5700 series (looking positively lovely in black, may we add), all of which are presumably destined for the announcement docket. Anyone else getting pumped for the official news?