Wednesday, July 20, 2011

GPS-based ToyToyota app lets kids 'drive' from the backseat

GPS-based ToyToyota app lets kids 'drive' from the backseat: "Backseat Driver is the first 'toy' by ToyToyota, a new brand from the Japanese automotive company. It's in the form of a simple GPS-based app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, and allows kids to take a virtual drive linked by GPS to the current driving route in the real world."

Steampunk Plasma Speaker produces electrifying sound

Steampunk Plasma Speaker produces electrifying sound: "So, you've downloaded some songs by Abney Park (one of the world's few steampunk bands) onto your Datamancer laptop or your Old Time Computers-accessorized PC ... do you just listen to them through the built-in speakers? Not if you're Polish tinkerer Conscious Flesh."

HipDisk - bending over backwards for music

HipDisk - bending over backwards for music: "We've seen a number of weird and wonderful musical creations here at Gizmag but we have to agree with the creator of the hipDisk when she describes it as possibly the most undignified musical instrument ever."

Victorinox Slim Flash bladeless Swiss Army tool is now available

Victorinox Slim Flash bladeless Swiss Army tool is now available: "A quality Swiss Army multi-tool with a knife used to be in every boy's wishlist in the past, but with the modern day road warrior's kit now taking a decidedly digital bent Victorinox Swiss Army is now offering tools that don't feature any kind of blade at all."

Hydrogen found to be essential to creating better graphene

Hydrogen found to be essential to creating better graphene: "Graphene, the 'wonder material' composed of single-atom-thick carbon sheets, is currently finding its way into a variety of electronic devices including computer chips, capacitors, transistors and batteries, just to name a few. It is typically created using a chemical vapor deposition process, in which carbon-containing gases are made to decompose on a copper foil substrate."

Graphene coating harvests energy from flowing water

Graphene coating harvests energy from flowing water: "Hydroelectricity is the most widely used form of renewable energy, supplying around 20 percent of the world's electricity in 2006, which accounted for about 88 percent of electricity from renewable sources. Now researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method to harvest energy from flowing water using a nanoengineered graphene coating."