Tech Award winners include fortified rice and fuel cell

Projects that turn slaughterhouse waste into energy and fertilizer, and zinc oxide from fuel cells into fertilizer, as well as programs to fortify rice with nutrients, feed Indian children, and boost wages for artisans were honored Thursday night at the Tech Awards for technology benefiting humanity.

Established in 2001, the Tech Awards recognize 15 laureates in the categories of education, equality, environment, biosciences economic development, and health. One laureate in each category receives a US$50,000 cash prize. The winners were announced at a ceremony at which Al Gore, former U.S. vice president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, received a humanitarian award.

The Intel Environment Award went to the Cows to Kilowatts project, which Dr. Joseph Adelgan conceived of after realizing that people in his hometown of Ibadan, Nigeria, were being exposed to high levels of Salmonella, E.coli and other disease-causing microorganisms from waste runoff from the local slaughterhouse that ended up in surface water and groundwater.
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Imation's USB hard drive goes wireless

If you've wished you could connect your external hard drive to your computer without having to use the USB cable, now you can.

Imation announced recently the availability of the first wireless USB external hard drive, the Pro WX. The hard drive works just like any other USB hard drive, with one exception: It doesn't require a USB cable.

Wireless USB has been under development for about five years, and some of the first products were demoed at CES 2009. This technology allows you to connect USB 2.0 devices to a computer wirelessly from up to 10m away with a throughput speed of up to 480Mbps.
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Japan unveils remote which runs without battery

Don't you hate it when your TV remote runs out of juice? Or when your clicker gets totaled by a battery leak? NEC and Soundpower Corporations' new battery-less remote control may be the solution. This technology is based on three key components:

Vibration power generation which harnesses energy created by clicking a remote button.

A microprocessor which transmits and receives data in varying bandwidths.

A power supply controller that drives the electronics with minimal electricity.

It will probably take some time for this technology to mature, but both companies are planning to promote its adoption in the consumer electronics market as early as 2011. That said, do we have to click such remotes furiously just to get them running fresh out-of-the-box?

Via Tech On

Filed under:  Future Tech, Home AV
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3D-ready PS3 scheduled for 2011

Sony has a strategy for upping the quality of its content and providing an incentive for gamers to upgrade their home entertainment systems next year, and it involves the PS3 going 3D.

A presentation to investors yesterday underlined that the PlayStation 3 will be a fully 3D-capable game console by the end of 2010, and that a firmware update would share this upgrade across all existing PS3s. A few demos of PS3 3D gaming have been shown previously, but the news of an across-the-board firmware update is new. Of course, a gamer would still need a 3D-capable Bravia HDTV and glasses, the latter of which haven't been announced yet.

We're curious how the quality will be--Nvidia's 3D game technology, now being embedded into laptops, looks great, but requires a 120Hz monitor for fluid motion. But it's a smart idea, if manufacturers want anyone to adopt 3D tech, to include it as a Trojan horse inside laptops and game consoles. And we hope it works on HDTVs other than specific Bravias. It doesn't sound like the PS3 will double as a 3D Blu-ray player, but we certainly hope that's the case.
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Pretend to have a V-8 with the SoundRacer

Have you ever caught yourself thinking, "I wish I had a V-8?" Well, what if I told you that you could give your crappy car a V-8 rumble or even a V-10 scream for US$40? Now, what if I told you that you wouldn't actually be getting any extra performance to go along with that sound? If you're still interested in this shady deal, then you're probably a poseur. In any case, you'll want to check out the SoundRacer.

The device plugs into your vehicle's cigarette lighter, where it uses fluctuations in the power flow to calculate your engine's RPM. It then broadcasts a fake engine note to your car's stereo via an FM transmission. The general idea is for your vehicle to sound like it's powered by a V-8 or V-10 engine, but I predict that the outcome will probably sound like a crappy, fake revving played through crappy speakers on top of your car's already crappy existing engine note. Of course, your mileage may vary.
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