iDance Wall-e Reviewed

Topic: Other Stuff

I am sure that parents of kids around the world old enough to see movies have been asked once or twice if they could go see Wall-e. It was a cool movie and being a kids flick has spawned toys to tie into the film.

Pocket-lint has reviewed one of these toys called the iDance Wall-e. The device is a speaker that can play your tunes and dance to the beat. It retails for £20 so you can’t expect high end sound from the device. Read more

Posted on Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:04:11 GMT | by Shane McGlaun

60,000 Oyster Smart Cards Rendered Inoperable

Topic: Other Stuff

About 60,000 Oyster smart cards were made inoperable over the weekend when the cards were swiped at ticket gates in the London Underground. Transportation for London is working with card supplier Transys to figure out exactly how this happened.

As it stands now, there is no word on what caused the damage to the huge number of smartcards. ZDNet UK says the first cards were affected on Saturday at 5:30am BST and that the problem was fixed by 9:30am. Read more

Posted on Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:06:54 GMT | by Shane McGlaun

New Windows Double as Solar Panels

Topic: Other Stuff

Researchers at MIT have discovered a new method for making solar panels that allow light to pass through them and can act as windows. The discovery could allow the installation of windows to generate power from the sun with little structural changes.

The windows work by concentrating the light at the edges of the glass where it is then collected by solar panels. The researchers say that the method can produce 10 times more energy than typical solar cells. Read more

Posted on Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:27:19 GMT | by Shane McGlaun

System Makes Hydrogen for Cars from Water and Electricity

Topic: Other Stuff

One of the technologies that could someday remove our need for oil is hydrogen power. One of the problems with hydrogen power is that there are no fueling stations in most areas that can refill cars running on hydrogen.

A company based in Sheffield called ITM Power has unveiled an in home hydrogen refueling station that promises to free users from the need for hydrogen stations. The refueling station produces hydrogen from an electrolyser process that makes hydrogen from water and electricity. Read more

Posted on Wed, 9 Jul 2008 16:46:51 GMT | by Shane McGlaun

Robot Bartender Serves Up a Pint

Topic: Other Stuff

A robot bartender was introduced by Selfridges and Asahi beer that reports to be the world’s first robotic barkeep. The robot is now on duty at the flagship Oxford Street store. Mr. Asahi as the robot is known uses a combination of robotics and animatronics.

The robot is able to serve ice-cold beer and draught pints, halt pints and de-cap bottles of beer. The robot is powered by compresses air controlled via regulators and switches attached to a PC. The bot reportedly took a team of eight engineers 200 hours to assemble. Read more

Posted on Thu, 3 Jul 2008 14:19:33 GMT | by Shane McGlaun

Virgin Meida In Hot Water with ASA

Topic: Other Stuff

Virgin Media is in some hot water and the ASA has targeted Virgin Media for some of its claims on download speeds in advertising campaigns. The complaint was bought against Virgin media by rival BT.

The heart of the complaint is centered on Virgin's “Hate to Wait” campaign that has been running in newspapers. The ads hail the fast speeds Virgin estimates its broadband subscribers can download songs and TV shows. Read more

Posted on Wed, 2 Jul 2008 13:57:38 GMT | by Shane McGlaun

Concept Clock Counts Time in Millionths of a Second

Topic: Other Stuff

If you are the sort who likes to be very precise in your time and I mean really precise, we have found your clock. The clock is called the Digital Time concept and is really long and bulky looking. It reminds me of a clock from the 1980’s or something you would see hanging above the door at missile command.

The clock counts time in one millionth of second intervals. I don’t know why you would need to know millionth of a second intervals, but I guess if your boss is really picky about clocking in or out early this would do the trick. Read more

Posted on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:26:38 GMT | by Shane McGlaun

LG opens European Design Center in London

Topic: Other Stuff

LG Electronics has announced the opening of its new European Design Centre in Covent Garden, London, UK.
The facilities were formally opened by HRH Prince Andrew, The Duke of York, in a ceremony attended by leading members of local government and the UK’s design community.

The purpose of LG’s new Design Centre is to create European designs based on European consumers’ requirements. The designers will also be called upon to adapt products that will appeal to the European market, but which have been developed elsewhere. Read more

Posted on Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:19:18 GMT | by Luigi Lugmayr

English CCD Cameras May Hear and See Crime Soon

Topic: Other Stuff

Researchers from the University of Portsmouth are working on technology that could allow the CCTV cameras around Britain to be able to hear crime as well as see it. The researchers say that AI software could be use to position the cameras to point at crime scenes by listening for the sound of breaking glass or crowd noises.

The cameras would be able to rotate and focus on the relevant areas in only 300 ms. The project could help increase the number of crimes caught on tape but the tech will undoubtedly lead to debate on Britain becoming a “Big Brother” state. Read more

Posted on Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:22:12 GMT | by Shane McGlaun

Scottish Ambulance Service Disc with 900,000 Records Lost

Topic: Other Stuff

The Scottish Ambulance Service has had a disc lost by a courier that has 900,000 records of ambulance calls made to the Paisley Emergency medical Dispatch Centre near Glasgow, Scotland. The disc was sent to MIS Emergency Services LTD responsible for maintaining the IT system used by the ambulance service.

A TNT courier lost the disc and it was reported missing ten days after it was shipped. The Ambulance Service says that there is little chance of the data being misused because it was encrypted and password protected. Read more

Posted on Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:11:17 GMT | by Shane McGlaun

Firefox Sets Download Record

Topic: Other Stuff

Firefox 3 launched earlier this week and the downloads were audited for the first 24 hours it was available in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record. Mozilla says that the software was downloaded more than 8 million times in the first 24 hours.

Despite a record setting launch, security firms found flaws in the browser already. Mozilla had trouble from the start trying to set the record when the servers crashed under the traffic load from users looking for the new version. Read more

Posted on Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:55:53 GMT | by Shane McGlaun