Osmos Orbital Wheel

While Michelin is taking the air out of its Tweel tires, over in the European continent, French company Osmos has been busy reinventing the wheel. Its Orbital Wheel is a hubless wonder that has been stripped down to just the bare essential--the outer ring. In short, sans spokes and hub caps. Osmos claims the Wheel is stronger than its flimsy donut appearance suggests, and plans to apply its creation to bicycles, motorcycles, cars, wheelchairs, trains and even heavy construction equipment. It'll be interesting to see if the US Tweel or French Wheel makes road history first. Whatever the outcome, we're rooting for both.

Click here to see the photo gallery

Price: N.A.
Availability: In concept
Device: Wheel
Basic specs: N.A.

Michelin Tweel

Tire manufacturer Michelin has literally let the air out of the conventional tire to roll out an essentially airless, integrated tire-and-wheel combo called Tweel (tire + wheel, geddit?). Although Michelin has no timeline for introducing its creation into the mass market, Tweel is expected to make its commercial debut in two Segway devices: The Concept Centaur and the equally cool iBOT mobility device which empowers the wheelchair-bound to navigate various terrain and climb stairs. Tweel has been tested to be more resistant to wear-and-tear, not to mention that annoying blowouts and flat tires will soon be a thing of the past. Hurrah!

Click here to read the press release | see Michelin's Tweel photo gallery

Price: N.A.
Availability: In concept, expected to roll out in a decade but slotted to appear first in Segway vehicles
Device: Tire
Basic specs: N.A.

LG 3D game-phone

LG Electronics has developed what it claims is the world's fastest 3D game-phone, capable of playing games with realistic 3D graphics and at five times the speed of currently available chips. Before you get all fired up, 1) it's likely to be a CDMA phone since Korea will enjoy it first for the early half of the year; 2) LG has said it will later put it on the North American and European markets, which still leaves the rest of Asia way back in the Q; and 3) LG is going to position it as a "high-priced, premium product". Whoopee. On a more positive note, we can at least look forward to the Sony PSP coming to Singapore.

Click here to see the LG game-phone closed

Price: N.A.
Availability: South Korea
Device: Game-phone
Basic specs: QVGA (320 x 240) 2.2-inch LCD display, 1.3-megapixel camera, 1 million polygon per sec graphics accelerator chip, "acceleration sensors" that allow users to control the game by moving the handset up, down, left or right

Roborior

An amalgam of robot + interior (hence, roborior), this strange blob is actually a security camera device dressed up to blend in discreetly with the furniture. This little fella even lights up in a translucent glow for some ambient illumination, adding to its rather harmless appearance. But this ain't no table dressing. On duty, Roborior will vigilantly spy out aberrances in an empty home such as intruders, noises, odors, temperatures, and alert its owner via handphone.

Price: 280,000 yen (US$2,724)
Availability: Roborior
Device: Security camera robot
Basic specs: CMOS sensor, 274 x 270 x 259mm, 3.25kg

Scroll Pan

This probably works better on an electric stove or a flat cooking area. We just can't imagine the Scroll Pan sitting atop a naked flame, wok-style. But being suckers for fun-loving, space-saving kitchen concepts, this appliance idea gets our thumbs up. Designed by Brit Sam Hextall for a design competition organized by designboom, each pan, or griddle if you prefer, comes with a storage sleeve which can be hung up and out of the way. Too bad it's still a concept.

Click here to see the griddle version | storage sleeve

Price: N.A.
Availability: Prototype, spotted by popgadget.net at designboom
Device: Kitchen pan
Basic specs: Diphenyl silicone (plasma treated and Teflon coating), storage sleeve

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