Fujitsu shows off "Fab PC" laptop concept

Fujitsu's already shown its fondness for foldable laptops and e-ink displays, so it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that the company's now put the two together in the form of a new concept device, with a few other uncommon design touches thrown in for good measure. Dubbed the "Fab PC", the laptop apparently uses fabric for much of its construction (hence the name), which is intended to make the device more reminiscent of a traditional folio -- and no doubt prevent the dreaded problem of slippage as well. Of course, there's no indication of specs (or even any evidence that it actually works), although at the rate e-ink production is ramping up, it may not be as far off as it might seem

Creative Uses for Old Computer Parts

Have some old trackball mice laying around? Turn it into a sculpture. Continue reading for a gallery of strange yet fascinating creations.

Computer Case

Floppy Disk

Keyboards

Computer Mice

Parrot intros PMK5800 plug and play car kit

We love anything that comes a-packin' no muss, no fuss technology -- even more so when you can install it in a few seconds and don't need a toolkit to get the job done. Parrot's newest Bluetooth carkit, the PMK5800 consists of a single part which plugs directly into your car's 12V accessory socket or cigarette lighter. Using a built in FM transmitter (a la iTrip), the set will stream tunes via A2DP from your handset or your voice calls to your car's stereo deck to give you that auto-filling sound you love. When the phone rings, just hitting the FM preset you configure for the PMK5800 will automatically answer it and mute your music. While not an embedded kit, it packs all the goodies you would expect like DSP, echo and noise cancellation, full duplex sound, and voice recognition all in something that can go from car to car without effort. Look for these to land sometime this summer for about $120.

The green view from Beijing

Is it grass? Is it concrete? No, it's Grasscrete, an environmentally sustainable alternative paving system used to create footpaths while leaving room for greenery. It will be part of Olympic Forest Park in northern Beijing, a multimillion-dollar, 680-hectare space being built for next year's Olympic Games.

Cleaning up Beijing is a big undertaking. Ted Dean, managing director of consulting firm BDA, said in an interview in the Chinese capital this week that when he moved here more than 10 years ago, one could smell roasting coal because people had coal burners in their home. Coal consumption in the city has been reduced, but cars have increased. Nonetheless, the government and private companies are trying to eke out environmental improvements. Some products in that vein--like Grasscrete and the others that follow here--were on display at China Beijing International High Tech Expo, taking place this week and next.

Desk Lips speakerphone moves with voice

Whoever is in charge of creating strange and frightening mobile phone accessories deserves a promotion. Because not only has this twisted individual come up with a futuristic-looking loudspeaker that clips onto your phone to enable hands-free chatting, but he/she has equipped the unit with a plump pair of silver lips that . . . move when your caller or callee speaks.

The Desk Lips measure 4.4 x 4.4 x 4.1, which as far as I'm concerned is about 4 inches too big to not be considered creepy, and weigh 9.6 ounces. I'm not sure how realistic the battery-powered lip movements are, but I'm still scared.

Price: $35 Available From Fabstuff.net

Corona lamp: Outdoor lighting the easy way

Outdoor lighting can often be difficult to blend into the greenery, and even harder to power, what with stringing cables or dealing with batteries. Designers Emi Fujita and Shane Kohatsu turned both problems into benefits by modeling their Corona light after a sunflower and making it solar-powered. A photovoltaic cell powers efficient LEDs in the bowl-shaped Corona, which is equally at home in a garden or a living room. Just stake it in the ground or attach it to a wall, and it'll start glowing as soon as the sun sets. It's said to not need any glues or fasteners.

As awesome as all that sounds, the Corona's only a concept/prototype at the moment, so you can't buy one just yet. It recently won an ICFF design award for Best New Designer, so there's hope for this one.

via Inhabitat

Sony's world's first 16.7 million color flexible OLED

Oh boy, another bendy display we won't likely see on the market any time soon. This time it's Sony's turn to tout with this, their 2.5-inch, 160 x 120 pixel OLED display on a flexible plastic film. Better yet, this organic TFT delivers a relatively stellar 16.7 million colors compared to the 262k and 16k colors Samsung and LG.Philips, respectively, were showing off last week. That's a world's first 24-bit color depth for these types of displays. Take that Samsung. The display also measures a mere 0.3-mm thin which easily bests the hapless Korean (and Dutch) giants. The only downside (if you call it that) is the display's "greater than" 1000:1 contrast ratio compared to Samsung's 10,000:1 rating. But by now you've learned to take contrast measurements with a grain of salt, right?

Via Impress

Audio Pro Porto iPod speaker system goes vertical

Branching out from the oh-so-typical when it comes to iPod sound systems is Audio Pro, who has put together a fairly unique docking station that takes your music (and iPod) higher. The rectangular, vertical design scheme may not fit the elongated mold that has been created for these type devices, but it plays nice with your dock-connecting iPod, tunes into FM stations, and handles a duo of other auxiliary units nevertheless. The boxes don black or red color schemes, sport a removable grill to show off the trio of drivers beneath, and even includes a nifty carry handle that admittedly detracts from the overall allure while adding utility. No word on price nor availability just yet, but be sure to click through for a darker shade.

Powerbrick Foot Warmer

Everybody makes such a big deal out of laptop cooling; I’m completely in favor of laptop (powered) warming. What with the price of oil these days, I depend on my laptop to heat my apartment, and it does a pretty good job of it, too. Clement Eloy over at feeladdicted has taken advantage of an oft overlooked laptop component, the powerbrick, which is usually scrumptiously warm when your laptop is on. He’s created a pair of slippers with a powerbrick sized slot to keep your toes toasty. Adjust the temperature by adjusting the workload on your laptop… Run some benchmarks in the background if you’re getting chilly feet while websurfing. The slippers may be just a prototype, but with a little bit of experimentation you just might be able to figure out how to warm things with your powerbrick all by yourself.

Automatic Talking, Feeding Dog Bowl

What happens when you take a talking dog bowl and add automatic feeding to it? You get an Automatic Electronic Pet Feeder with Voice Recorder, of course.
The bowl feeds your dog/cat/baby with three separate trays, which can be programmed to open at 8-, 12-, or 24-hour intervals. That means the maximum you can leave your house for is three days, unless you somehow put enough food in each tray to last more than one day.
Our idea? Make one of these for wives to use when they go away on business trips so their husbands don't starve. No really, we're totally serious.

Logitec cranks out six new iPod speaker stations

You won't have any difficulty convincing us that the iPod speaker system niche is entirely oversaturated with copycat offerings, but apparently, that message isn't fazing Logitec. The company has announced a whopping six new speaker docks for various Apple players, including the LDS-Xi900BK 2.1 system that utilizes NXT Surface Sound technology and gives users an extra pair of auxiliary inputs and a TV output, and the LDS-Ri500 (pictured above) series that looks more like a tag-along safe than a AC or battery-powered boombox with FM radio capability. Furthermore, the LDS-Si101WH and LDS-Si100WH/BK get downsized in order to handle your nano or 2G Shuffle, and while prices are still up in the air for the half dozen devices, they should all hit the shelves simultaneously come June. Click on through for a bundle of pics.

Gadget Hip Holster Video Review

The Gadget Hip Holster by ThinkGeek holds your “cell-phone, iPod, headphones, keys, memory stick, sunglasses,” and more. Video review after the jump. Here’s the bottom line:

This one, while way up high on the geekitude, is actually very functional
well thought out. I wish there were two pockets wide enough for fat devices so I
could carry both my N800 and my Motorola Q, but I still have pockets

Strange USB-Powered Visomate

The Visomate is basically a USB-powered accessory — attaches to the top of your monitor — that alerts you when your too close to the screen. One more picture after the jump — explains the quote below.

Keepin' it real fake, part LVII: Ultimate knockoff phone rips four separate brands

We get a wee bit excited round here when brands collide to create interesting new spinoffs, but this handset is full-on ridiculous. Our creative Asian friends weren't happy with a simple gaming handset, they had to bust out a Windows Mobile-esque OS, with a dash of faux PSP, a splash of Nintendo all wrapped in almost Anycall. Notice that great big PSP logo on the back? Well that's all there is for Sony content here, the handset is actually loaded with NES games and Pac-Man? Of course, we have to congratulate on the Samsung F520 double slider thing going on here, we feel that this is definitely a winning idea, but of course this handset only copies and is definitely not the brainchild of Samsung. Packing dual-band GSM a-la 900 / 1800, a 1.3 megapixel shooter, a touchscreen, and support for up to 2GB of memory, the mystery manufacturer handset definitely has the goods. This is without a doubt the pinnacle of Keepin' It Real Fake fare, and we think this could only be topped by some clever use of iPhone branding and maybe a Coca-Cola color scheme. This one won't be hitting carriers over here, but at the end of the day, who really cares? We are justifiably in awe.

Build your own YBox for free at the Maker Faire

We caught the nifty YBox last year when it was still just a proof-of-concept, and now the folks at Uncommon Projects are ready to unleash their televised-widgets-in-an-Altoids-tin wonder on the world -- for free. There's a catch, though: you have to show up at the upcoming Maker Faire in San Mateo, California, and build it yourself. Yahoo is sponsoring free workshops with parts for all, and all the skills you need to get one together will be taught at the 'shops. No worries if you can't make it out to San Mateo, however, as you can still get the schematics and parts list from the YBox website and build one at home, but you'll be doing a little more work -- Uncommon Project's Kent Brewster has already milled 80 Altoids tins for Maker Faire participants. Peep a vid of YBox assembly after the jump.

Performance artist Stelarc implants "third ear" in forearm

Picking up where the Vacanti mouse left off, Australian performance artist Stelarc went through with his plans to implant a cell-cultivated ear beneath the skin of his forearm earlier this year, and he's now showing off the results for the world to squirm at. Stelarc apparently isn't satisfied with his newfound appendage just yet, however, and is reportedly planning another surgery to give the ear "more definition." What's more, he's also hoping to implant a microphone inside the ear that'll use a Bluetooth transmitter to, you guessed it, broadcast what it hears over the Internet.

DLO's HomeDock Music Remote mimics your iPod screen

Gone are the days where you sat impatiently in another room flipping through endless tracks just waiting to hear the lead-in from Forever Young, as even DLO is joining the LCD-equipped remote game with the HomeDock Music Remote. Similar to the KeySpan, EWOO, and Popalive iterations, this RF remote dons a sleek OLED display (shown after the jump) that mimics the menus and text on your iPod's screen so that you can flip through playlists, scroll through albums, and see what's currently playing all without having your eyes glued to your Apple. The device also comes with a docking stand that can connect to your home stereo or TV, and doubles as a charging station when plugged into an AC outlet. Still, you'd have to be mighty lazy or incredibly burdened with disposable income to make this one worth it, as DLO's charging a stiff $129.99 for the kit.

The fifth guy

Direct link to YouTube




Direct link to YouTube




Direct link to YouTube

Bye Helmets

Sky Tv - Axn Channel

Axn is a new thriller channel by Sony Picture for Sky Television.
Relax, if you can…

Strange Houses Around The World