106mpg Air Car comes to US by 2010

A company named Zero Pollution Motors plans on bringing a car powered by air to the US sometime in 2009 or 2010. The six pistons in the Air Car's engine are pushed by compressed air rather than gasoline combustion, an idea developed by F1 race car engineer Guy Negre.

The car carries a compressor, making it possible to fill its compressed air tank by plugging it into an electrical outlet. At low speeds, the engine is cranked solely by air from the tank. At high speeds, it uses gasoline to heat a chamber, giving the air pushing the pistons more pressure. In high speed mode, it also compresses air to put into the cylinders.

According to its initial, estimated specifications, the Air Car will go 848 miles with an 8 gallon tank of gas. The size of the compressed air tank isn't included in the specifications. Further, the car has a top speed of 96mph, with its powerplant putting out 75 horsepower. When traveling at low speeds, the car has zero emissions, while in high speed mode it has some emissions due to its use of gasoline.


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SpaceStation desktop organizer

As I type this blogpost, I can hardly see my desk because of the mess of cables. My headphone wires are strewn between my speakers and keyboard, a couple of USB cables are found on my left connected to the computer, and more often than not, I'm charging some mobile phone or handheld using a charger that will emerge from the power strip found behind my monitor.

Those who find such an arrangement an eyesore (like the colleague who sits beside me) will like the SpaceStation from Bluelounge. This desk organizer for laptop users cleverly hides cables and has an integrated four-port USB hub. Its raised feet make it hover slightly above the table, so the ends of your cables can peek out from the front or sides when you need to use them. Another added convenience is a paper/cardholder on the right side, good when extracting information from cellulose-based documents.

The SpaceStation isn't cheap at US$79.95 and comes in either black or white. The good news is the US dollar isn't that strong these days, and Bluelouge offers reasonable international shipping rates. Ultimately, you can't really put a price on neatness, can you? For me, I'll stick with my mess. It gives people the impression I'm working hard--even when I'm really only browsing the Internet for gadgets like this one.

Click for more images, including a "before" shot



Via Cool Hunting

Concept mobile Internet search device way cool

If this concept Internet search device by designer Mac Funamizu takes off, we'll probably see many people up in arms protesting about privacy invasion.

It's like having Wikipedia wherever you go, but way cooler and more advanced. The artist's impression is for the said portable device to have a touchscreen panel, built-in camera, scanner, Wi-Fi connectivity, Google Maps and Google Search capabilities, etc.

The screen will probably double as the camera viewfinder, so it's like looking through a piece of transparent glass. And when you point it at an object, the device will be able to show you more details about it--such as the name of an insect, a car model, or food on the table--on the screen. We suppose at this point of time it will use the onboard Wi-Fi to grab information off the Web.

A concept like this isn't new. We've written about it before, but Funamizu's rendition takes it up a few notches. While it's great to have information at our fingertips, it's not so fun if someone were to point the device at us.

Ya know, we prefer to remain anonymous.

Via Tuvie.com

Optimus Maximus keyboard finally shipping

We're almost reluctant to post this because it's been promised (and not delivered) for so long. But, with our luck, the Optimus Maximus OLED keyboard will come out on schedule, and we'll be lambasted for not having passed along the news.

"We begin shipping Optimus Maximus keyboards to those who ordered it last year," creator Art Lebedev announced today on its Optimus Project blog. To further show it means business, according to Gizmodo, the first "Optimus Configurator" software is now available for download, for both the Mac and PC. All hail the most-hyped keyboard in the history of humankind.

Via Crave CNET

iPhone clones roundup

The sheer number of new mobile phones out there doesn't allow us to include every single one in our extensive database, let alone review all of them. As you'd probably expect, knock-offs of iPhones are especially low priority in our "to review" list. That's not to say they aren't interesting though, in a "should I get one for my boss because I hate him" kind of way.

Well, the people at The Red Ferret Journal have an interesting roundup of five iPhone clones. And as the comments and scores from the author show, none of them really come close to the iPhone. Is anyone actually surprised at the results? Maybe the planned Meizu M8 will buck that trend, that is, if it ever sees the light of day.

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