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Latest Gear Live Videos
Panasonic Race Car Only Requires AA Batteries
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Storage, Transportation,
Yesterday Panasonic demonstrated a race car in Japan that runs on 192 units of their new Oxyride AA batteries, which they claim will work 3 times longer than alkaline. The vehicle actually attained a maximum speed of 122 km/h (~75.8 mph) with an average 109.5 km/h (~68 mph) when running back and forth on a 1km track. Although we admire the creativity put into the vehicle and Panasonic’s promotional concept, we noticed that this is not your average green product. Not only would the batteries cost a fortune (we did a quickie estimate and came up with $239.52 if purchased retail,) think of the recycling cost.
Read More 
| Gearfuse
Gallery: Panasonic Race Car Only Requires AA Batteries
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Daimler Chrysler Announces New CEO
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Editorial, Transportation,
Detroit’s Daimler Chrysler has revealed that Bob Nardelli, former CEO of Home Depot, is to be their new head honcho. In a locally televised cutaway this morning from local programming featuring him and Tom LaSorda, who is now taking the #2 spot in the company, we noticed plenty of smiling and calling each other by first names while fielding media questions. This move certainly leads us to believe that the beleaguered company feels that there is more at stake here than just having a competitive product. Perhaps they will concentrate a little more on public relations, reinforcing their reputation, and saving autoworkers’ jobs here in the U.S.
Read More | WXYZ
Gallery: Daimler Chrysler Announces New CEO
NYC Taxi GPS: More Income or Invasion of Privacy?
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: GPS, Internet, Misc. Tech, Transportation,
Beginning October 1, 13,000 New York City taxi drivers must have GPS touch-screen monitors installed that allow passengers to check out the news, find entertainment and restaurant information, and pay their fare by credit card. However, the Taxi Workers Alliance claims that GPS devices, because they can track the cabbies, would be an invasion of drivers’ privacy. Taxi officials feel that the systems will boost ridership as well as drivers income since no cash is involved, but the TWA is considering a potential work stoppage in September if the city decides to go through with the it, unless there is a compromise with the GPS part of the plan.
Read More | CNN
Gallery: NYC Taxi GPS: More Income or Invasion of Privacy?
New Paint Makes Inexpensive Solar Power
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Smart Home, Misc. Tech, Science, Transportation,
Researchers at the NJIT (New Jersey Institute of Technology) have created a polymer-based paint that can be applied to plastic sheeting to make a solar cell for what they claim will be a fraction of the price. The cell developed uses a carbon nanotubes complex which is estimated to be 50,000 times smaller than a human hair and is considered a better conductor than copper. Lead researcher Somenath Mitra says that the panels could be made on inkjet printers in the future, leading us to believe that possibilities of our house and car becoming self-sustaining solar powered machines is not so very far away.
Read More | NJIT
Gallery: New Paint Makes Inexpensive Solar Power
FOFA, For the Person Who Has Everything and Loses It
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Home Entertainment, Misc. Tech, Transportation,
We once had a remote control that would chirp when it was lost, but its batteries ran down and it took about 2 weeks to find it. We had one of those beepers that would help us find our car, but it set off at least 3 car alarms. Now Australia’s Melbourne Design has designed Find One, Find All which utilizes RFID technology to find up to six different devices up to 30 feet away. If you have one of the six on you, you can discover the other five with a loud beep and flashing LED. A set of two finders goes for $24.95 (CR2032 coin cell batteries included,) with Wallet and flat Remote finders for an additional $12.47 each. The best part? No embarassing clapping is involved.
Read More | FOFA Product Page
Gallery: FOFA, For the Person Who Has Everything and Loses It
Would You Like Fries Delivered With That Big Mac?
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Editorial, Internet, Transportation,
How does McDonalds compete with Burger King’s recent success with its tie in to The Simpsons Movie? They offer free delivery, at least in Brooklyn and the Bronx in New York. There is no charge for businesses and residences. You order online, following the trend of many other fast food restaurants, especially pizza. We notice our fries are not always all that fresh just getting it from the drive-thru window to our mouths, so in the time it takes to deliver we think we will just grab our usual yogurt for lunch and save the carbs.
Read More | McDonalds Delivery
Gallery: Would You Like Fries Delivered With That Big Mac?
Halluc II Can Take On Any Terrain
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Science, Transportation, Videos,
The Chiba Institute of Technology has released a working prototype of Halluc II, which has eight legs and wheels designed to drive over the lumps and bumps of the great out or indoors. In one of three modes (Vehicle, Insect, or Animal,) the bot can move sideways, turn around, and deal with even the most unstable terrains with wireless LAN capability and a system of motor-control with cams and sensors. Set to become available to the public within the next five years, its team hopes it will serve the mobility-impaired. We figure it will pay for itself, since it costs a lot less to feed when compared to a seeing eye dog.
Read More | Pink Tentacle
Gallery: Halluc II Can Take On Any Terrain
Save Food and Lodging Fees By CouchSurfing
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Transportation,
It’s vacation time but you don’t have enough funding to go past the back yard. If the Charity Guide isn’t quite your idea of how to spend it this year, consider becoming a member of CouchSurfing. Although the site has been up since 2004, it now has 218 countries involved and over 260,000 members that will assist you in saving on those pricey hotel and meal costs. Create a profile as completely as possible on the site, chat it up with some of the discussion groups, and request a destination. After your options appear, find out more details by talking to your host, seeing pictures of her/his home, and make plans to literally crash on someone else’s couch.
Read More | CouchSurfing
Gallery: Save Food and Lodging Fees By CouchSurfing
Velocity 2Go Wherever You Want
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Accessories, Home Entertainment, Music, Portable Audio / Video, Transportation,
This may look like your average boombox, but the Blaupunkt Velocity 2Go 6 is actually a 160 W maximum power subwoofer for traveling from your home or car’s sound system to any other destination that needs a bit of audio pumping up. With a frequency response of 40 to 120 Hz/ 40 to 25.000 Hz and RCA/high-level/3.5 mm auxiliary inputs, it will run on a 12 V/230 V or 8 AA rechargeable batteries (not included.) At a size of 480 x 220 x 240 mm and a weight of 7 kg, if the price of $619.99 seems a bit steep, there is also a Velocity 2Go 5 model available for $514.99.
Read More | Blaupunkt
Gallery: Velocity 2Go Wherever You Want
Astronaut Takes Out The Trash
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Science, Transportation,
Clayton Anderson has become an official litterer in space by tossing a 200 lb. camera mounting and 1,400 pound ammonia tank off the Space Station yesterday. NASA officials believe that the container will circle Earth for almost a year before it goes back into the atmosphere and burns itself up. Anderson’s comment about the task was, “I’ll be sending my bill in the mail for trash disposal.”
There are at present over 9,000 pieces of debris out in space that are trackable, leaving us to believe that some of those UFOs or meteors that get reported might possibly be space rubbish that they have just tossed out for lack of room. What is junk to one might be treasure to another, so it seems to us that they could just put up an orbital shed to house the stuff, bring it down later, and have a heck of a garage sale.
Read More | USA Today
