Humans have always known sun for its scorching heat but researchers and technology gurus are now changing the way we look at sun. Research scientists in Tunisia and Morocco are now working on a new innovative refrigerator that would use sun’s scorching heat and light and convert it to cool large factories that are involved in food packaging and frozen foods. As per the reports and surveys done by various industrial organizations it has been found that large industries and factories consume a lot of electrical power to keep their products cool and to avoid them from perishing.

Although it sounds very contradicting to everyone, but researchers at Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy Systems ISE are now working on solar refrigeration technology that does not consume electricity but instead they take all their power from sunlight. Scientists all over the world now believe that most of the new age technology has to be on solar power because that would bring down the level of electricity consumed by these giant machines in large factories and industries all over the world. With the help of such giant solar refrigerators companies and manufacturers of perishable commodities will be able to bring down their cost of production and also contribute indirectly to make this planet a better place to live in.

These solar refrigerators are ideal for those companies where there is no electricity because they are far away from the city and even where temperatures are really high. The concept has not been revealed as of now but scientist have confirmed that they use water-glycol mixture that will absorb heat from the sunlight and pass it on to the mechanism inside the refrigerator that will keep the solar refrigerator in working condition without any problems irrespective of the season or time of the day.

Jyotsna Ramani

The world under the ocean has still many secrets that we are not aware of and MIT engineers are now ready to explore the unexplored regions under the water with their latest invention called the Robofish. The prototype looks very much like a trout and contains only 10 parts which are covered by a body made from single soft polymer. MIT engineers confessed that the inspiration for making such a device came from Robotuna which was first invented in the year 1994 but it did not succeed because the fish was too large and contained thousands of parts which could not stand the test of time and the harsh conditions under water.

Now with the invention of the so-called Robofish, MIT engineers are ready to take this device to the bottom of the ocean floor where these devices will detect the pollution levels and inspect and survey various oil and gas pipelines. The device has been designed in such a way that is mimics the movements of a real fish and since the body is more streamlined and sleek it can dive into the deeper sections of the ocean to find the information we want.

The engineers at MIT are very happy about the invention because they feel that this device will work because it has gone through some harsh conditions in the lab and the overall cost of production is very low which means that if successful they can create thousands of such devices which they can release in the bay to inspect, survey and relay information to us. In other words, this robofish acts like a watchful guard inside the sea through which we can monitor the situations happening inside the water. Currently, the research is funded by an oil exploration company named Schlumberger but MIT engineers have said that even US Navy is now interested in their robofish project.

Jyotsna Ramani

Nokia is the world’s leading mobile phone supplier and a top supplier of mobile and fixed telecom networks. In 1997, its net sales totaled FIM 52.6 billion (USD 9.8 billion) and the number grower each year. Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on five European Stock Exchanges and on the New York Stock Exchange, has sales in 130 countries and employs more than 42,000 people world-wide. Have you ever imagined how it looks inside a Nokia Factory?

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I think since I was still an undergraduate student, the Acer Ferrari One notebook certainly stands out from the crowd with its personalized racing red cover and zippy performance. Inspired by Scuderia Ferrari elements, the Ferrari One definitely sets itself apart from the rest of the notebook field with its ­scarlet red lid and famous prancing horse badge.

While many not realize, to complete its sporty look, the notebook also features a carbon fiber-design for the palm-rest, Ferrari-engraved touchpad with multi-gesture functionalities and. If you get this, four rubber feet that look like tires. With all of the car-related design ideas, it’s not hard to wonder whether they’re “speeding up” their design in the same way we’re all speeding up with broadband packages and more RAM slotted into the back of our machines. That’s not all; the Ferrari experience even extends to exclusive Ferrari calendars and themes for the desktop.

UNDER THE HOOD

This notebook is not just banking on just its sporty looks to entice customers. With a dual-core 1.2GHz Athlon X2 L310 CPU and 1MB L2 cache in the driver’s seat, it feels snappier and more powerful than a notebook with an Intel Atom processor.

Of course, having 4GB of RAM and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics comes in handy, especially when running high definition (HD) movies. It also has a 320GB hard drive so there’s plenty of storage space for all your documents and multimedia files. The notebook also has a built-in Crystal Eye VGA webcam with a low-light enhanced feature that allows it to be used even in a dim ­environment.

TOUCH HERE

The Ferrari-engraved touchpad supports multi-gesture functionalities. Also available are a myriad of wireless ­connectivity options including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and even a HSDPA slot. The latter means users can insert their SIM card directly for connecting to a 3G broadband service. It takes about one minute for the Ferrari One to boot up to the pre-installed Windows 7 Home Premium operating system.

The notebook has a 11.6in WXGA LED-backlight screen, which produces sharp and clear images at a native 1,366 x 768-pixel resolution. The keyboard offers comfortable typing with good tactile feedback and is also quite responsive. The multi-gesture touchpad supports two-finger scroll, pinch, rotate and flip features for faster access to the notebook’s functions. All worked quite well, we might add.

STYLISH STOPS

Even the Ferrari One’s rubber feet look like car tires. I had no problems playing my current ­favorite test game Spore on this machine. Viewing YouTube videos and movie trailers were also not a problem. I installed the KMplayer app to play a 720p version of the Transformers movie and am happy to report that the playback went smoothly with no dropped frames although there was some minimal jitter on some of the frames.

The Ferrari One also has an ATI XGP port, which allows users to hook up an external graphics solution directly to the machine to boost the existing ­graphics performance. Unfortunately, this feature couldn’t be ­tested because there was no compatible graphics card available in the office at the time of this review.

Moving on, this model does not offer any HDMI port, which is a shame because now users need to connect two different types of cables — a VGA and an audio — when they want to view movies on a bigger HDTV screen.

It ships with the Dolby Home Theater v3-certified sound system but the problem is that the speaker doesn’t seem loud enough to let users really enjoy the experience. Even at the highest setting, you need to be really close to the notebook to clearly hear the audio details. I also noticed that the fan seemed to be constantly running to cool down the ­processor.

It is a well-known fact that AMD laptops tend to run warmer than their Intel counterparts but the noise was really quite loud at certain times. When it comes to the test of endurance, the Ferrari One passed with flying colors as it managed to clock up to five hours of battery life on a single charge, which is in line with Acer’s claims.

The notebook was mainly used for ­word-processing and heavy photo-editing during this time. But when Wi-Fi was switched on, the operational time was reduced by an hour or so. Still, this is not too bad in our book.

THE FINISH LINE

If you can look past the missing HDMI port, noisy cooling fan and a price tag that’s not too wallet-friendly, the Ferrari One is really one good-looking and well-designed machine. It also has enough firepower to run HD movies and regular office productivity ­applications smoothly. A brain and the looks; both are in one package. What more can you ask for?

Pros

Impressive Ferrari themed design; dual-core processor on a notebook; smooth HD movie playback; good battery life.

Cons

Noisy cooling fan; no HDMI port; slightly pricey.

FERRARI ONE SPECIFICATION

(Acer) Notebook

Processor: AMD Athlon X2 dual-core processor L310 with AMD Hyper Transport 3.0 technology
Chipset: AMD M780G chipset
Memory: 4GB DDR2
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics (up to 2,047MB of Hyper Memory)
Display: 11.6in WXGA Acer CineCrystal LED-backlit TFT LCD
Storage: 320GB hard drive
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, 56K modem, 10/100 Ethernet, Bluetooth
I/O ports: Three USB 2.0 ports, VGA, ATI XGP socket
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Other features: Memory card reader, built-in webcam
Dimensions (W x D x H): 285 x 204 x 30mm
Weight: 1.44kg
Price: USD800

Review unit courtesy of Acer Sales And Services Sdn Bhd, 1800-88-1288 Source

These are the converted cars that look like Pikachu, the famous Pokemon character. The cars have been painted yellow; even ears and a mouth have been added. The hub caps are poke balls. Will you spend your dollars just to convert your beautiful car to be like that? Some people really did.

This Pikachu car has been spotted in the airport long term parking. Maybe a geek has meeting overseas.

The Pikachu car was displayed at some festival.

Very cute car…I want to have one..if only I have extra dollars

I believe we’ve all seen how Duracell demonstrate how long its batteries last in advertisements with their bunny performing energy hungry tasks. Panasonic have decided the best advertisement is a real world test using a robot on a little three-wheel bike.

Image Credit: ChinaKevin

Evolta robot, which is powered by Panasonic’s Evolta batteries, claimed to be the world’s longest-lasting AA alkaline battery cells. The Evolta robot will challenge to cycle the racing course of the 24 hours of Le Mans in France. With that, Panasonic is attempting to set a new world record and in the process prove just how good its Evolta AA batteries really are.

Image Credit: GiggleHD

The “Evolta racing robot” is fitted with two Evolta AA batteries and is capable of hitting speeds of up to 1.3km/h. The world record attempt will see the robot guided around the Le Mans racing circuit by an infra-red beam emitted from the back of a car. The aim is to keep circling the track for 24hrs just like in the real race and in so doing setting a record for the longest distance travelled by a remote-controlled robot. The real test is for the batteries, however, with the question being will they last the full 24hrs?

Image Credit: The Cool Gadgets 2

Although this is obviously a challenge just to get publicity it does show that Panasonic is very confident about the lead they have over other battery manufacturers in this battery class. Holding a world record allows a lot of marketing opportunities and this is just the latest. I bet there are a few more planned to keep Evolta in the headlines.

Image Credit: The Cool Gadgets 3

Image Credit: ironfle

Image Credit: Gizmodo Australia

Image Credit: Get Robo

Image Credit: Panasonic

Image Credit: Geek Dot Com

Image Credit: The Cool Gadgets 1

Image Credit: Daylife

Youtube Videos

Evolta Climbing a Rod

Evolta Riding a Bike

If you can’t be bothered to untangle your headset to answer that important call, Jabra’s new range of wireless and Bluetooth headsets, the Jabra Halo and Jabra BT2080, could be what you are looking for. The Jabra Halo is the company’s top of the line wireless headset, which features an over the-head design and can be folded to save space.

The Halo also has noise-cancellation technology that helps filter out ambient noise as well as intelligently filter background noise with dual microphones for better audio quality. Adding to the coolness factor, it has a touch-sensitive control panel on the side of the headset that you can use to adjust the volume. It has also a discreet display that shows battery life and connectivity status.

In terms of versatility, the Halo is compatible with any Bluetooth A2DP-supported device such as your mobile phone as well as notebook, MP3 player and even Bluetooth-enabled TVs. Jabra said the Halo is also compatible with the iPhone 3GS.

For users who want a no nonsense entry level Bluetooth headset, there is the Jabra BT2080. This clever little solution also has a connectivity status and battery life. There are also multi-colored lights to convey the status of the headset so users can just check it with a glance. The BT2080 also has an improved ear gel design, which Jabra said will mould to fit your ear comfortably.

The Jabra Halo is priced at USD146 while the BT2080 costs USD46.50. For more information, visit http://www.jabra.com

Have you ever wondered what is people’s favorite password? You might be one of them. Thus, better think twice before choosing a password for e-mail, online bank accounts and airline tickets. Passwords that show no imagination or distinctiveness are easy prey for information pirates, a new US study says. A statistically analysis of 28000 passwords recently stolen from a popular US website and posted on the internet reveals that people often do the easy thing.

It found that 16% took a first name as a password, often their own or one of their children, according to the study published by Information Week. Another 14% relied on the easiest keyboard combination to remember such as “1234” or “12345678”. For those using English keyboard, “Qwerty” was popular. Likewise, “Azerty” scored with people with European keyboards.

5% of the stolen passwords were names of television shows or stars popular with young people like “Hannah”, inspired by singer Hannah Montana. “Pokemon”, “Matrix” and “Ironman” were others. The word “password” or easy to guess variations like “password1”, accounted for 4%. 3% of the passwords expressed attitudes like “I don’t care”, “whatever”, “yes” or “no”.

There were sentimental choices, “Iloveyou” and their opposite, “Ihateyou”. Robert Graham, of the company Errata Security, which did the analysis and published the conclusions, advices that to better protect against cyber intrusions: “choose a password that is longer than eight characters with one capital letter and one symbol.” – AFP

There is always a question from commoners whether to choose USB or external Serial AT Attachment (eSATA). Most home users should not worry too much about eSATA. This technology based on the SATA cables that connect internal hard drives, transfers data much faster than USB 2.0 and Firewire connections. But few computers include eSATA ports. For example, Dell and HP only offer them on a handful of desktops and laptops; Apple doesn’t provide them on Macs. Most hard drives, in turn, only support USB and Firewire. If you will move large files back and forth and plan to buy a higher-end desktop or laptop in the next year or so, an eSATA-compatible drive could be a good investment.

Otherwise, stick with USB or Firewire. The latter connection is especially useful on most Macs, where it keeps too scarce USB port open. Another tip is getting a “bus-powered” drive, which will run off your computer’s power supply and won’t need its own wall outlet.

Multiple award-winning, the palm-sized AIPTEK Pocket Cinema V10 projector allows users to project a large image at up to 50 inches on to a wall from 1.8 meters away. As its name suggests, this device is pocketable thanks to its small and light design – it measures 125 x 55 x 23 mm (or 1cm longer than an iPhone) and weight only 160g!

It comes bundled with an audio-video cable that enables users to hook it up to a variety of electronic devices such as a mobile phone, PSP, iPod and game console when they need to look at the images on a bigger screen. With its 1GB of internal memory, users can view movies or presentations directly without connecting the device to any of the supported external multimedia devices. Users can further expand the memory space by inserting a memory card into its built-in 3-in-1 card slot that supports the Secure Digital, Multimedia Card and Memory Stick Pro formats up to 8GB in capacity.

The pocket projector uses LED bulb technology to project the images at up to 10 lumens brightness. According to the manufacturer, the replacement bulb has up to a 10000 hour lifespan. The V10’s other features include an integrated 1 watt stereo speaker and auto power off. In the package, users will find a remote control as well as the Arcsoft Media Converter software to convert multimedia files into the device’s supported formats (MPEG4, AVI, ASF, H.264, M-JPEG, JPEG and MP3). Its built-in lithium-ion battery provides users up to 45 mins of operating time on a single charge. The pocket projector retails at about $600. It is very cheap! For more info, have a visit to AIPTEK dot Com