The Ziggurat Green Pyramid Development
August 28, 2008
The Dubai based Timelinks company has dreamed up a staggering idea for future, sustainable property development. If it were from any other company in the world you might doubt the efficacy of it actually being built but if Dubai has taught us anything, it’s that monumental projects like this really can and often do come to fruition.
Even with that in mind, it’s difficult to see the green pyramid becoming reality any time soon. Measuring 2.3km square Timelinks predicts that it would house 1 million people while only using 10% of the floor space normally require for that many city inhabitants. This is achieved because the city is essentially encapsulated within its own structure.
The pyramid city will use wind and solar power to provide all of its own power and the transport systems would allow vertical and horizontal transport negating the need for cars within the city confines.
The plans include biometric security systems to ensure complete peace of mind for residents but, as this is only a pipe dream (so to speak) there’s currently no word on what would be done with the ablutions and other such unthinkables. Still, it looks incredibly futuristic considering its design is based on one of the oldest types of structure in the world.
Microsoft Patents Page Navigation Buttons
August 28, 2008
It’s quite incredible what can be patented in modern technology and news that Microsoft has been granted a patent on Page Up and Page Down buttons is quite incredible. In fact, though, it follows something of a precedent that has been set and reaffirmed many times by Microsoft – the patenting of ideas that many argue and sometimes demonstrate to be based on another person’s or company’s idea.
Document navigation using measurements of entire pages is nothing new, and there’s evidence to suggest that Microsofts development was based on technology used 25 years ago. Similar arguments arose when they successfully patented double clicking mouse buttons and the mouse scroll wheel.
This is nearly Microsoft’s 10,000th successful US patent application so they’re clearly doing something right and are fervent supporters of the patenting application process. They’ve really picked up the pace recently, according to the ZDNet news site, having only reached their 1,000th patent in March of 2006 they have nearly managed ten times this figure now.
Presumably they won’t stop others from offering the same paginated style of navigation but they may opt to charge a fee for the use of the patent from other companies and manufacturers. Look out for the days when your Mac keyboard has the Windows Page Down and Windows Page Up buttons.
Medion PC With Blu Ray Rewriter For £600
August 27, 2008
We’ve regularly been caught bemoaning the poor range of overly priced Blu Ray players and recorders for some time now. While the situation is still far from being perfect, Blu Ray equipped PCs are more commonplace and represent one of the very few viable alternatives to owning a PS3 or paying out an absolutely fortune for something with fairly limited use.
New LG Scarlet TV – The LG70
August 27, 2008
LG is readying itself to announce a new addition to its Scarlet range of televisions and the specifications and boasts sound pretty impressive. The LG7000 is essentially the UK bound version of the LG70 which was announced recently and specifications include a 4,096 step procedure to automatically determine the most appropriate brightness and contrast setting according to the amount of ambient light.
Cinema, Sports, and Game modes offer pre-set levels to give enhanced viewing for each of these events and the TV packs 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. Professional sound quality has been afforded through consultation with expert Mark Levinson and the TV includes a built in speaker that surrounds the entire perimeter of the frame.
In terms of connections you won’t be left wanting. Four HDMI ports, a bluetooth connection, and a USB port basically enable you to attach any multimedia device. As often seems to be the case, we in the UK are missing out on a few of the features that American watchers can enjoy.
The American LG70 uses LED backlighting to improve its contrast ratio to a hugely impressive 1,000,000:1 and it will also feature a 3.1 full surround system; we’ll just have to do without.
In Space Nobody Can Hear You Scream At Your Antivirus
August 27, 2008
You’re never safe from viruses no matter where you are and what you do and complacency is probably the biggest weapon in a hackers or malicious software author’s arsenal. Yet you would probably forgive the residents of the International Space Station for allowing a little complacency to creep into their own digital security efforts.
Whether complacency was to blame or not, the ISS has managed to contract a virus. The virus, Gammima.AG, is perhaps a little redundant on its current host machine because it lies in wait until you attempt to log on to online gaming websites and then it attempts to record the log on details and transmit them back to a host server.
Several laptops have been infected and while that means none of the astronauts will be able to play WorldOfWarcraft for a while, it shouldn’t hamper the nutritional data recording that the computers are used for.
The virus is not affecting operating systems are mission critical software and is said to be little more than a nuisance. As well as an unconfirmed formal written warning for using the IT infrastructure for non-operational pursuits, the ISS and NASA will now add a security system to the space station that will include anti-virus software.
New Nokia N Series Phones Announced
August 26, 2008
The Nokia N95 still represents, in my opinion, one of the best mobile phones that money can buy with excellent features. While the design wasn’t for everybody, that problem is about to be remedied according to the latest news out of Nokia’s press office. They have confirmed happily that the rumours and mumblings of a new N series phone are all true and they’ve given some details regarding the N79.
The candybar form phone weighs 97 grams and is the lightest Nokia N yet and it looks sleeker and less bulky than its predecessors. It will also feature a media player, A-GPS, and the Carl Zeiss 5MP camera that users have grown to love on the N95 and a few other Nokia phones. It’s WiFi enabled and includes 4GB of microSD memory so you should be able to store a very reasonable amount of pictures, music, and other media. Geo tagging support, a 2.4” high quality display, and an FM transmitter just about rounds off the extensive feature list
The N85 is a step up from the N79 and as well as offering the same features it has a slightly larger 2.6” screen because it’s a more traditional slider style phone. It also has a TV out port and 8GB of memory. Both models are expected in October and will be priced at £300 for the N79 and £360 for the N85 so the design is likely to be the most important factor when choosing one.
Formula Zero Racing
August 26, 2008
The red car and the blue car had a race… but it was the zero emissions, hydrogen fuelled, formula zero car that won. Rotterdam was the venue for the first ever formula zero race featuring hydrogen powered carts cleanly zipping around a track and the result was impressive to say the least. The event is already recognised by the FIA as being an official motorsport race and various events were held including sprint races and endurance races.
The sprint race was won by the Spanish team EuplatecH2 clocking up a time of 36 seconds while Delft University from Holland won the rather nauseatingly titled zeroth place in the endurance event Teams from five countries including the UK took part in the event over the weekend and because it proved such a success it looks highly likely that the new event will continue.
Four similar kart races are planned for 2009 while it is expected that the zero emissions formula, as it were, will develop into formula three and then full size racing classes too. Of course, it begs the question of just what kind of transporter they use to get the karts to the event because if they stick the kart in the back of a transit that bilges out hideous emissions it’s kid of defeating the ethos of the event.
The Panasonic 103 Inch Plasma Monster
August 26, 2008
You know that you’ve got more money than sense and an unerring talent for wheedling out the most expensive gadgets when a 50 inch plasma screen is just too small. Fortunately, Panasonic is more than happy to bow to your every over-the-top demand and has created the alarmingly large 103 inch Plasma screen and, what’s more, it costs just £25,000 to fill your entire living room wall with Coronation Street.
The television will be displayed (and we’re guessing it’ll be hard to miss) at the IFA Show which starts on Friday and for that are interested in purchasing one the model number is TH-103PZ800. Don’t forget that because you wouldn’t want to walk away with the wrong 102 inch Plasma TV when you next visit Currys would you?
Surprisingly, though, this is actually the third in a line of 103 inch TVs put out by Panasonic and is cheaper than the last one by some considerable margin. A 10,000:1 contrast ratio is pretty much unfathomable and while it doesn’t include any speakers it does weigh 756 pounds – it costs considerably more than that though at £25,000 give or take a few pennies that you’re not likely to squabble about if you’re buying one.
The Chrome Styled Gaming Pad
August 25, 2008
While developers like Sony and Microsoft are constantly trying to appeal to the older and apparently more affluent generation of gamers (namely, those with jobs and their own income) the design of consoles and peripherals certainly seem more plastic than anything we would typically chuck in the front room next to all the chrome finish devices.
The same is also true of PC gaming, although there’s obviously less requirement to stick your PC gaming pad next to the TV unless you really want everything in one place. Dream Cheeky, a Chinese manufacturer, has developed a chrome finish gaming pad that is compatible with both PC and Mac computers and looks infinitely more stylish than the usual fare – it’s almost good enough to put in the display cabinet in fact.
As ever, little is really known about the device except that it looks good and it was made in China. Details are available on the Dream Cheeky website and more news will most certainly be forthcoming should it prove to be a decent product. Of course, it may prove to be a bit cold on the fingertips until you’ve warmed with a couple of hours playing the upcoming GTA IV release on PC. Also, fingerprints are going to be enough of a problem that it will bring a whole new meaning to the term “polishing your joystick”.
Intel UrbanMax Slider Laptop
August 25, 2008
Among the treats that Intel has bestowed on the computer world at the IDF, Intel Developers Forum, one of the more intriguing has been a concept slider laptop design that is quite unique and aims to offer a unique experience to all users. Very little has been released regarding the specification of the laptop but then the concept is all about the form design rather than the laptop itself so that’s hardly surprising.
Engadget has an image of the little laptop which not only uses a slider design but also incorporates a tilt function to make it increasingly user friendly and to ensure that you still get the same feel as you would with an ordinary folding mechanism. For now it’s carrying the working title of the UrbanMax although that could change numerous times before it’s actually developed and released.
It is also known that the display isn’t just a display and offers reactive touchscreen features and combined with the tilt/slide mechanism that means complete flexibility in how you view your media, games, and work on the miniature device.
All in all, while it is a unique concept to the laptop world, it’s debatable whether it offers any more value to users than a normal laptop design. The display has less protection and all the sliding and tilting in the world means you can only get the same layout as you would with an existing laptop.
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