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SIM-LEI: Japan’s Newest Electric Car Reaches 333km Driving Range, And It’s Fast

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 05:21 AM PDT

In December last year, we reported that a spin-off startup at Keio University in Tokyo has teamed up with a total of 34 Japanese companies and municipalities to develop a new electric car. And now the startup, SIM Drive Corporation, has announced it has spent the last months on working on a new model that reaches a driving range of 333km.

Dubbed SIM-LEI ("Leading Efficiency In-Wheel motor"), the 4-seater just needs 4.8 seconds to go from 0km/h to 100km/h and has a top speed of 150km. Its maker says the 333km driving range were reached under “general urban traffic conditions in Japan” and with 24.5kWh battery capacity.

SIM-Drive plans to bring the SIM-LEI to market in 2013, probably in Japan first.

Via Akihabara News

Photo Frame + Scale = Photo Frame Scale

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 04:27 AM PDT

How can you “add value” to an ordinary scale? Answer: you make it double as a photo frame. That’s at least what the maker of the aptly named “Photo Frame Scale” [JP], Tokyo-based Hashy Top In, thought when it released the device in Japan earlier this year.

And while they were at it, the company also decided to throw it in a clock and a thermometer. The scale itself takes your body weight in 100g steps (150kg maximum) and is available in white and pink.

In Japan, the Photo Frame Scale costs $27. If you’re interested, visit online shopping services specialized in Japanese goods, such as Rinkya or Flutterscape to get one shipped to you.

Here’s Hashy Top In’s official promo video:

Via Maniakku Shoukaijo [JP]

Audi Gets Into The Bike Game, Presumably To Compete With McLaren

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 06:29 PM PDT


Earlier this week we saw that McLaren got together with Specialized to make their exquisite Venge road bike. Apparently Audi felt left out of the party, and has announced the fruits of its collaboration with Portland bike-maker Renovo: the “duo” series.

The bikes’ primary differentiating feature is, of course, the wood frames. Audi has built them out of “woods selected to match the look of Audi vehicle interiors.” One assumes they also picked the wood based on its strength and weight, but they don’t really mention that.

It comes in three flavors: City, Sport, and Road. The duo City has a belt drive mechanism and internal 8-speed Shimano gearing, and the Road is a more traditional 20-speed. The Sport is… wait, there’s no information on the Sport at all. I’m guessing it’s a more downhill-oriented bike with fat tires and perhaps some shocks

At around $6500 for the City and $7500 for the Road, I’d say these are definitely “message” bikes. If I felt like spending that much on a bike, I’d go with the Venge, personally. I’ll still go with Audi for those skis, though.

[via CNET]

Crinkled Cup Glass, For Your Modernist Beverage Needs

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 05:59 PM PDT

The original ceramic crinkled cup has been around for decades, but this glass version is, if anything, better. Sure to get lots of comments at parties.

You know, parties, where your friends come over and hang out. You know, your friends. Oh. Oh, I see. Me neither.

[via Swiss Miss]

Nexus 7000 Mouse Is Ultra Quiet, Not Great For Annoying Co-Workers

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 05:30 PM PDT

If ordering a new mouse off Amazon — because it looked cool and you have prime — only to find that it clicks like a 1980s keyboard frustrates you, then check out the Nexus 7000 quiet mouse. It has a great shape and look, comes in white or black, has one of those really tiny USB receiver dongles, and costs only $28.

[via The Awesomer]

Photos Of Pentax’s Upcoming NC-1 Mirrorless Camera Leaked

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 05:00 PM PDT

Some photos of Pentax’s NC-1 have leaked ahead of the supposed May / June release. If anything, this says they’re close, if not finished, with the smallest mirrorless camera in the world. According to the leak, the NC-1 will sports a 14 megapixel sensors with a pair of lenses (8.5mm f/1.9 prime and a 5-15mm f/2.8-4.5 zoom) to pick from. Also leaked are rumors that later in the summer Pentax will release a larger, APS-C sized camera that will use K-mount lenses.

Looks great, but I’m still more interested in the Fuji X100 at this point, white or not.

[via Engadget]

Apple Patents: Battery In Charger And Five-Finger Gestures In OS X

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 04:30 PM PDT


Not every Apple patent that comes down the line is worth gawking at, but these two are definitely worth a quick note. First, putting a battery in a charger is a pretty good idea — but I sincerely doubt they’re the first ones to think of this, unless it’s a very specific implementation that requires a patent. Still, it’d be nice to have, though we’ll be paying through the nose for it as usual.

The other one is interesting because it has direct interaction between touches and OS X. Unfortunately, it’s not a “gotcha” moment, though: Apple is careful to add that while the illustrations may be taken as direct interaction with the window or item on a touchscreen, it also could, in other “embodiments,” have the screen and touch surface separate.

Still, it’s indicative of the direction Apple is taking with its devices and OSes: a general convergence of touch gestures to mean certain tasks, like zooming out to see all workspaces or multitasking. We’ll see some of this in Lion, but I think there will also be some interesting new gestures in iOS 5. They have to be careful not to overload the user with shortcuts and special swipes, though: the power of iOS is in its simplicity of interaction.

[via Apple Insider and The Register]

Volt Takes Its Top Off, For One Day Only

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 04:00 PM PDT

Road and Track is a great car magazine, but they forgot an important fact about April Fools’ Day: the date. Yesterday, March 30th, they outed some pictures of the Volt sans roof. Their post even discussed some new tech for the unsightly little thing, despite its lack of a regular size gas tank. "We're extremely excited about the new GM-patented photovoltaic film that covers two-thirds of the soft-top's surface,” says GM spokesperson Taylor Wildwood. Uh-huh.

Nice try guys, but those Volt engineers have more important things to do, like building rebadging the Volt.


Surgical Robot Folds Tiny Paper Airplane

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 03:30 PM PDT


You might have heard of the da Vinci surgical robot (or “waldo,” since it is directly controlled by a person) — it’s the state-of-the-art system used by surgeons to operate remotely, and although it’s quite a bulky setup, it’s also nearly as precise as human hands. Seattle surgeon Jim Porter, in order to show off the da Vinci’s capabilities, folds a paper airplane using the system’s little grippers.

Then there’s a little twist at the end that took me by surprise. Let’s just say that the piece of paper isn’t exactly 8.5×11″.

[via TechFlash]

CrunchDeals: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 For $5

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 03:00 PM PDT


Wow, this is a pretty crazy deal. Impulse is selling Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which the guys tell me is just excellent, for the ridiculous price of $5. It’s normally around $20, and even in the Steam winter sale, it only got down to $8, I think.

I get the feeling it’s today only, and may not even last that long, so get there fast! You will have to download a Steam-like client to download the game, just FYI:

I’m getting decent download speeds (~1.5-2MB/s), and the service is legit. Who knows, maybe they’ll have more great deals like this in the future? Get your copy here.

Also! It was “installing” for like half an hour, so I canceled the installation and it magically changed to “Installed.” You might have to do the same.

[via Deal News]

Movie Studios Approve $30 Rental Plan, Theater Owners Mightily Upset

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 02:30 PM PDT

It must be an absolute nightmare being a Hollywood executive in 2011. Four big studios (20th Century Fox, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros.) have announced plans to introduce a premium video-on-demand service, to debut on DirecTV next month as "Home Premiere," that will screen movies a mere 60 days after their theatrical debut. Renting such a movie will set you back $30. And if you think you’re angry about that, just imagine how theater owners must feel.

AllThingsD already has a scenario where the $30 price tag probably isn’t as high as you might initially think, particularly if you’re trying to have a "moment and daddy need to go to the movies alone for once" night. Once you pay for a baby-sitter, parking, movie tickets, a little popcorn and maybe a soda you’re well past the $30 barrier.

The studios made the announcement at an industry convention in Las Vegas. Oh: they never bothered to tell movie theater owners about this ahead of the big announcement.

The National Association of Theater Owners, or NATO (wow…), called the premium video-on-demand model a "misguided adventure," and that "[i]n the end, the entire motion picture community will have a say in how the industry moves forward."

Sounds to me like the movie theater owners feel like they’re being pushed out. Keep reducing the window between theatrical release and home consumption (Blu-ray releases are sometimes available only three months after hitting the theaters) and sooner or later people will stop going to the movies altogether. "That Adam Sandler movie looks funny. We’ll catch it next month when it hits premium VOD."

That’s the fear, at least.

Google Wants To Make Your Face Searchable (Updated)

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 02:00 PM PDT

Google is planning to introduce a smartphone app that can identify faces. If you capture someone’s head shot on your smartphone, Google will search their database of photos to try name them. We were pretty excited when Google Goggles came out. But this is a bit excessive.

Google, not wanting this news to contribute to their already-precarious reputation regarding privacy, set some requirements to become searchable. People have to first agree to be identifiable by the app; by doing so, they agree to give Google permission to access their pictures or profile information.

This strikes me as bit strange. After all, if you are close enough to someone to obtain a clear headshot — on your smartphone — isn’t it likely you already know them, and therefore don’t need to search for them? A simple introduction is all that’s required, if you don’t already know the person. I guess it could help you remember who the people are in group photos.

Way to be creepy, Google!


Update: It turns out CNN was running with a pretty thin story. Google says they won’t release a mobile app with these capabilities unless a good privacy model is in place. “As we've said for more than a year, we will not add facial recognition to Goggles unless we have strong privacy protections in place. We're still working on them. We have nothing to announce at this time,” said a Google spokesperson.

If they don’t end up releasing it, we may know someone else who’s interested.


Boston Colleges Warns Students Against Using Wi-Fi (But Then Retracts Said Warning)

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 01:30 PM PDT

Common sense, for once, has prevailed. For whatever reason Boston College was telling its students that using a wireless router could be considered a "common example of copyright infringement." Word got out, the Internet complained, and now the offending bullet point has been removed.

The note was spotted on the college’s information technology services Web site, and was intended to warn students of the dangers of copyright infringement. Nothing wrong with that in and of itself, but linking wireless router use to copyright infringement, as if buying the latest Linksys or Netgear automatically makes you a criminal, was clearly pretty silly.

The warning had noted that by using a wireless router you could possibly be opening yourself up to evil roommates who’d like to do nothing more than torrent movies all day long, possibly putting you, the owner of said router, in grave danger.

That bullet point has since been removed, and what remains are fairly benign warnings (sharing MP3 files across the Internet could constitute copyright infringement, and so forth).

Actually A Fantastic Idea: Hasbro’s My3DNow 3D iPhone ViewMaster

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 01:00 PM PDT


Most people over the age of 20 will remember the ViewMaster toys that let you see slideshows from your favorite movies and cartoons in 3D. Shabby, static 3D, but still. Well, Hasbro has put out a product that, while it sounds ridiculous at first, is actually sheer genius. Replace the slide wheels with an iPhone! It’s brilliant!

What you do is download an app and some content, then attach the iPhone to the end of the viewer goggle-thing by means of a special bracket (there’s one for every iPhone or iPod touch model). It sits securely in there and shows the two stereo images, which the goggles make into one awesome, totally self-contained 3D content.

Add headphones and your kids will do this for days. Right now there are no brand names, and the programs (Shark Simulator, Santa Monica Pier Simulator, Starfish Simulator) might not actually be enough to hold a kid’s attention for more than 15 or 20 minutes, but hey, it’s just the launch titles. The idea is solid as hell. And it only costs $35! More for the apps, of course, but hey!

It’ll be available at Target on April 3rd, and you’ll probably be able to order it online shortly after. There should be more info at My3DNow.com when that goes up.

Here’s a list of the apps you can get, and the press release, in case you’re curious:

MY3D PRESENTS…
Introduces you to the exciting world of MY3D, showcasing 3D movie trailers, cool video demos of additional my3D apps, slide shows and more. MY3D PRESENTS… is updated regularly on your device as new content is available for you to sample.

MY3D 360° SHARKS
Explore and hunt the living ocean through the eyes of a shark! MY3D 360° SHARKS immerses you in an underwater shark adventure. Choose your shark and then roam underwater, exploring and hunting for new species of prey. As you explore, search for treasure, shipwrecks and other surprises, and learn about the species around you. You can even break the surface to see the upper world. With six unique environments, there is always a new adventure around the next reef.

MY3D SECTOR 17
Welcome to MY3D SECTOR 17, a one-of-a-kind 3D, 360 degree shooter game in which you are the galaxy's last defense. Assume your role at the gunner station, select from an arsenal of weapons, and stop all enemies as they approach. Move fast because danger comes from above, below, and behind you. Watch out for asteroids! With 22 incredible 3D levels including an "endless" survivor mode, cool bosses, upgrades, and multiple weapons, it's time for you to dominate the battle.

MY3D TELEPORT L.A.
With my3D Teleport L.A. you can explore exciting Los Angeles attractions anytime and anywhere…like you're really there! This unique 360°, 3D interactive virtual tour allows you to experience L.A. from the Santa Monica Pier. You can simply explore or play fun interactive games. You'll love your visit to Los Angeles!

MY3D BUBBLE BOLT
Welcome to the wacky world of MY3D BUBBLE BOLT! Become a Fish, Shark, or Starfish and navigate your way past obstacles by tilting and moving your viewer. This frenzied puzzle game is easy to learn, highly addictive and provides endless fun with 25 3D levels. Watch out and don't fall off the edge, or your bubble will drop into the sea!

MY3D TUNNEL PILOT
The next generation of racing takes place in 3D tunnels underground. This futuristic game allows you to compete against other hover vehicles by tilting and turning your MY3D viewer. Use your cache of weapons to battle for supremacy in land, sea, and air. But, you will need quick reflexes to avoid steel door traps, and enemy racers on 12 unique racetracks. Choose from one of six racers. Do you have what it takes to be the best in this 3D reflex-testing racing game?

MY3D SHATTERSTORM
Defend the galaxy from the invasion of the drones. As humanity's last hope in this futuristic pilot shooter, you’ll need fast reflexes and an even faster trigger finger to save the galaxy from dangerous enemies with a deadly array of attacks. Rack up points by destroying enemies quickly in succession and earning multipliers. Compete for the top spot on the high score list as you play 60 challenging levels that transform as you progress.


Hyundai’s Blue2 Fuel Cell Concept Is What A Future Car Should Be

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 12:30 PM PDT

Hyundai plans to reveal their rather fetching Blue2 (pronounced “Blue square”) hydrogen fuel cell concept later this week at the Seoul Motor Show. We haven’t been seeing many hydrogen-powered cars lately — most of the ongoing eco-craze involves electric cars. Nonetheless, hydrogen-powered cars are considered to be the industry’s endgame, and the “liberator” for polluting vehicles. Exciting stuff.

Blue2′s powertrain delivers a stack power of about 120 hp while managing to get about 82 mpg. Also, like the Volt and Prius, the Blue2 was designed to have an extremely aerodynamic shape and low-rolling-resistance tires to reduce wind and road friction.

Inside the cabin, the Blue2 has some pretty high-tech features. You see those tablets? This Hyundai has tablet mounts in the rear — not just for iPads either. That is exactly how it should be. (None of that proprietary automaker infotainment tech in this concept.) It may be hopeless to ask, but it would be really, really nice if Hyundai followed through with this concept in less than 20 years.


Press Release

Hyundai to Showcase New Thinking at the 2011 Seoul Motor Show

- Hyundai unveils next-gen FCEV sedan concept ‘Blue2′ and Sonata Hybrid
- Cutting-edge eco-friendly and telematics technologies show Hyundai’s future
- Separate booth displays Hyundai’s latest commercial vehicle technology

Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea’s largest automaker, showcased its latest `new thinking’ on products, technologies and services to the world at the 2011 Seoul Motor Show, which opened today under the theme of ‘Evolution, Green Revolution on Wheels.’

Hyundai unveiled its latest eco-friendly creation, the Blue2 (Read as “Blue square”) concept vehicle, the company’s first sedan-style Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) powered by hydrogen. The automaker also introduced its first gasoline-hybrid vehicle, the Sonata Hybrid, to its home market. Most importantly, Hyundai applied its new brand direction, “New Thinking. New Possibilities.”, throughout its exhibition, including its customer-oriented booth design, entertaining displays and cutting edge future technologies.

“Hyundai’s goal is not to be the biggest car company, but the most loved. We want to be a reliable partner to our customers, supporting their happiness, rather than a company that pursues its own interests,” said Steve S. Yang, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor. “We will ceaselessly introduce world-class products of the best quality to overcome the difficult market environment and turn it into an opportunity, while modestly listening to the voice of the customer.” In particular, Hyundai will focus on “improving quality, creating new values through new thinking, and developing advanced eco-friendly technologies to contribute to a greener society,” Yang said.

Blue2

Hyundai Motor staged a world premiere of its new concept car, Blue2 (codenamed HND-6), a mid-size FCEV which shows a blueprint for future sedans. The name ‘Blue2′ is a combination of Hyundai’s sub eco-brand ‘Blue Drive’ and the number `2′ from H2, the symbol for hydrogen gas.

Aiming at gaining early leadership of the FCEV market, Blue2 is powered by a fuel cell electric system that delivers a stack power of 90kW(1.65kW/L) and fuel economy of 34.9km/ℓ. The Blue2 is materialized in a sporty and luxurious style, a combination of futuristic, flowing designs and eco-friendly features. The Blue2 is equipped with low-resistance tires and alloy wheels which are designed to improve aerodynamic performance, while the car’s interior design encompasses a futuristic look by using eco-friendly new materials.

Hyundai’s concept keywords for the exterior design are ‘Intersected Flow,’ featuring innovative and dynamic designs. The vehicle’s condition is visible via unique and futuristic images on the exterior of the car through outside LED screen panels, which are located on both the front and rear of the car. Blue2 also features a welcome system which recognizes the driver, while an automatic opening door system enhances the driver’s convenience. Conventional side mirrors are replaced by side cameras and a roof camera, offering a state-of-the-art driving environment.

The exterior designs flow inside the vehicle, with asymmetrically-designed dashboards and doors to optimize a driver’s convenience and add emotional value. Wider seats enable people to get in and out of the vehicle more comfortably.

Hyundai combined the cluster and center fascia, applying an advanced Transparent Organic Light Emitting Diode (TOLED) monitor and ultra-light tempered glass, called Gorilla® Glass, providing more accurate and vivid graphic information. The infotainment system is operated by a Motion Sensor Moustick, a haptic wheel and motion sensor that respond to the driver’s touch and hand movements, respectively, giving drivers a new experience.

Blue2 aims to satisfy all the senses of future drivers, including the air they breathe: A cluster ionizer freshens the air inside the vehicle, while antibacterial genuine leather with leaf-shaped patterns, called ‘eco-graphic perforation,’ enhances an eco-friendly look and feel.


Better Place Opens Up An EV Battery-Swapping Joint In Its Home Country, Israel

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 12:00 PM PDT


Back in August of ’10 (them were the days) we posted about how an Israeli company called Better Place was testing out a system for switching out batteries in Japanese electric taxis. They drive in, get their new battery, and drive out. A good idea for fleet vehicles, we said at the time, but it would take some refinement before coming to regular cars.

Well, Better Place is taking that step now, showing off its first “domestic” station, located in Israel. They’re planning on rolling out a total of nine such stations over the course of the year, and have put charge points at many parking lots and gas stations.

The system really is pretty simple, but not every car is supported, obviously. The single central battery is one approach to design, but others have opted to spread the weight of the battery around, or make it less easily accessible. The car in the video is a Renault Fluence Z.E., which of course we don’t have here in the States.

Better Place isn’t just a charging company, though — they’re working out a whole deal by which you buy an EV without the battery, and then sign up for Better Place’s service, which includes battery swapping, free charger access, and so on. Is this the future of driving? In some places, it might be really practical. Read more about their plan at their website, or check out the extensive wheels-on at the station over at The Truth About Cars.

[via casdr and Engadget]

eBay Releases Sales Data For The iPad 2

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 11:30 AM PDT

Shortly after Apple releases new products into the market, they find their way onto eBay — at a premium, of course. According to data released by eBay, the iPad 2 has been one of eBay’s most popular items over the last few weeks; eBay sold 12,000 iPads in the first two weeks (65% to US customers and 35% to international customers).

eBay says the largest population of iPad buyers abroad were in Canada and Russia, while China and Japan followed close behind. The two most popular iPads sold were the base 16GB WiFi-only model (for almost $200 higher than retail) and the fully-loaded 64GB 3G model ($406 higher than retail).

It all makes sense now. No wonder people form lines to get these things. Profits!

[via Yahoo News]

Metacritic Moves Away From Developer Ratings

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 11:00 AM PDT

Look, numbers without any context!

Perhaps we’re finally moving toward a world where slapping an 8.2 score on a video game will become a thing of the past. Metacritic says it will do away with its plan to list developer ratings. The system had launched last summer but has generated a bit of controversy in recent days as high-profile developers like Cliff Bleszinski (from Epic Games) began to complain. A few more days go by, and now it’s dead and buried.

Metacritic told GamesIndustry.biz that it "has no plans to bring it back," noting that their idea now is to slowly build a developer database based on more solid data than

The idea, while, again, ludicrous from the start—what’s the obsession with labeling what amounts to works of art with a number?—was even flawed in execution.

Let’s say Developer A worked on 20 games, but Metacritic only had scores for the last five. The "developer score" would only reflect these last fives games.

The sooner publishers stop putting "SCORED A 9.5/10 ON METACRITIC" on game boxed the sooner we can move past this nonsense. Review numbers are silly to begin with, but to then aggregate these numbers is even sillier.


A. Lange & Sohne Richard Lange Tourbillon “Pour le Merite” Watch Hands-On

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 10:37 AM PDT

One of the best surprises at SIHH 2011 was how much I enjoyed the A. Lange & Sohne Richard Lange Tourbillon “Pour le Merite.” The regulator style watch took influence from a pocket watch made in the Dresden area a while back. It had three overlapping subdials, with one for the hours, minutes, and seconds. Lange took the concept and added to it some very complex mechanical features that make this not only a neat looking watch, but one with a very sophisticated inside.

Read the rest here…

ESPN: Contracts Prevent Us From Being On Time Warner iPad App

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 10:30 AM PDT

Time Warner Cable received rare praise these past few weeks with the launch of its iPad app. Not familiar with it? It lets Time Warner Cable subscribers view 32 different TV networks on their iPad provided they’re connected to their home (read: Time Warner-provided) Wi-Fi network. (You can’t watch these channels while at the park and connected to 3G, in other words.) As you might expect, several networks have reacted by freaking out, arguing that Time Warner Cable doesn’t have the right to develop such an app and stream their content. It’s madness that we still have to deal with this in 2011, but I’m confident that in the future we’ll look back on these controversies and laugh heartily. "Ha, what simpletons, thinking you should only be allowed to watch video content on a TV. I’m watching the game on my Internet-connected contacts lenses* right now!"

One network not available on the app is ESPN. The sports network, which is regularly the top rated network in the country (as if I need to remind you of Monday Night Football’s gigantic ratings this past season), said yesterday that its current contracts won’t allow the network to be on the app.

ESPN needs to be subject to regional blackouts in order to fulfill various contractual obligations. If the network is showing a big Yankees game, viewers in the New York City area won’t be able to view it there. (They’ll have to watch on the YES Network.) Along those lines, at least; I haven’t seen a Yankees game since Wade Boggs was riding on a horse. Substitute your own local team to make the idea work.

ESPN wouldn’t elaborate, wouldn’t say when it expects to work out these contracts, or if it ever will.

*See Michio Kaku’s new book, Physics of the Future.
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