Gizmag News - TREXA announces pricing details for DIY electric car

Welcome to the newsletter for gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine. These are the headlines for February the 10th, 2010. TREXA announces pricing details for DIY electric car When we first looked at TREXA's open-source electric vehicle development platform late last month we were impressed by the concept, but one big question remained - how much will it cost? The answer has come sooner than expected with TREXA announcing a base price of US$15,999 for the lithium-powered, modular platform which is designed to facilitate the creation of custom "vehicle apps". Read More Sony unveils 11Gbps wireless data transfer technology Wireless data transfer speeds in excess of 1Gbps now seem positively slow compared to Sony's recent achievement of 11Gbps, even if the distance is quite, erm, short, at just 14mm. So before you go getting excited about a home network with blistering speeds you should know the technology is actually intended for high speed wireless data transfer inside electronic products to replace complicated wires and internal circuitry. Read More Dutch scientists develop home sperm counting device Anyone who's ever had to drum up the courage to visit a male fertility center will agree that today's process for sperm counting is at best awkward, and at worst embarrassing, messy and intimidating. So if you'll pardon the pun, it will come as a relief to many that a "lab on a chip" device is being developed that can let guys do their own sperm counts at home - avoiding the embarrassment and inconvenience, if not the mess. That's gonna be fun at parties. Warning: uncomfortable anecdote after the jump. Read More Millimeter-scale, energy-harvesting sensor could operate almost perpetually Researchers have developed a solar-powered sensor system that is just nine cubic millimeters in size. It is 1,000 times smaller than comparable commercial counterparts and can harvest energy from its surroundings to operate nearly perpetually. The system could enable new biomedical implants as well as building and bridge-monitoring devices. It could also vastly improve the efficiency and cost of current environmental sensor networks designed to detect movement or track air and water quality. Read More Quantum computing researchers achieve control over individual electrons The superfast computers of tomorrow will likely be able to manipulate individual electrons, harnessing their charge and magnetism to achieve massive data storage and outstanding processing speeds at very low power requirements. But how exactly do you go about manipulating single electrons independently, without affecting the ones nearby? Princeton University's Jason Petta has recently demonstrated a way to do just that in a breakthrough for the field of spintronics that brings faster and low-power number-crunching closer to reality. Read More Brando's Camera Waist Belt Lock holster: for a quick draw and shoot Ever been too slow to capture that perfect photographic moment? Well, with the Camera Waist Block lock – you’ll have instant access to your camera, giving you ample time to make photographic history. Or … you could make like you’re the sheriff in a wild west town and spend all day telling people to “hold it or I’ll shoot!” Read More 'Artificial pancreas' could remove multiple daily finger prick tests for children with type 1 diabetes An artificial pancreas system being developed by scientists at Cambridge in the UK could help safely manage type 1 diabetes in children.The artificial pancreas combines a commercially available continuous glucose monitor and an insulin pump, and uses a sophisticated algorithm which calculates the correct amount of insulin to deliver based on real-time glucose readings. Read More Dog-e-Minder - an electronic diary for your best friend Wondering why your mutt is gaining weight and your pet food bill is going through the roof – even though you’re regularly feeding the dog what you always have? Could it be that someone else in your household is feeding your pet, too, or forgetting to walk your canine pal. And when was the last time your dog had its flea or heart medication? A new, easy-to-use three-button device called the Dog-e-Minder should help solve some of these problems. It attaches to your pet’s collar and shows the last time your dog was fed, walked or had its medication. When idle, the Dog-e-Minder works as a backlit identification tag. Read More Electronic Key Impressioner creates faster copies of lost car keys The Electronic Key Impressioner (EKI) is a portable device that can reproduce practically any car key. It uses a sensor that goes into the lock and sends information back to a computer via USB about the location of the lock's tumblers - a corresponding computer program searches for the code and a key-cutting machine can use it to grind out a key. Read More The Autonomous Saucier provides an extra hand in the kitchen If I had to choose a job in a restaurant kitchen, then the saucier or sauce chef would be my last choice. Considered inferior to the sous-chef and head-chef, the saucier is responsible for preparing all the accompanying sauces for meals…making sure they aren’t lumpy, they don’t stick to the pan or worse, burn. I’ve seen enough TV celebrity chefs abusing their kitchen staff to know this is one job I would refuse. However, if I had the Autonomous Saucier at hand - all would be fine. This clever kitchen device automatically stirs your sauce whilst you get on with other food preparation. Pure genius… Read More Willow Garage offers free robots to researchers Imagine if every time someone wanted to develop a new piece of software, they first had to design and build a computer to run it. Not only would this greatly add to the time and expense required for software development, but it would also mean that all of us consumers would have to own multiple computers. Well, that’s what it’s like in the field of robotics. Because there is no robot-equivalent of the PC or Mac, every time someone wants a robot that can do something new, a new robot has to be built from scratch. Wouldn’t it be easier if there were one standard robotic platform, for which people just designed new hardware or software? Californian robotics company Willow Garage seems to think so, which is why they’re giving ten of their PR2 robots to deserving research organizations. Read More Windows Mobile 6.5 reviews are in: better, but not good Recent mobile coverage at Gizmag HTC Dragon to put Android on the Snapdragon chipset? HP Mini 311 gets benchmarked App Store hits two billion downloads AT&T launches MMS support for the iPhone 3G and 3GS The Vertu Constellation Ayxta: yours for just 4,900 Euros BlackBerry Desktop Software for OS X coming very soon NTT's TOUCH WOOD concept phones Intel's Core i7 Mobile processors bring desktop performance to the road If you would like to refer this newsletter to a friend or colleague, please point them at our free subscription page. Please don't try to forward this email, as the formatting is unlikely to remain intact. And don't worry, we don't share email addresses. Please read our privacy policy if you are concerned. Watch for more of the best new innovations, ideas and practical technologies in your inbox. You are receiving this email because you signed up for our daily newsletter at http://www.gizmag.com. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter please click here to unsubscribe. COPYRIGHT GIZMAG (C) 2010