GoodDesignExpo
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Unreleased Sony Alpha A77 already nominated for Good Design Award, reveals several new features
Sony may have yet to officially announce its upcoming Alpha A77 camera, but thanks to a nomination page ahead of this month's Good Design Expo, we can finally get a glimpse of what this imager will pack internally. Indeed, the A77 will come with a 24 megapixel Exmor CMOS sensor, along with a translucent mirror that enables full-time continuous autofocus. Additionally, with the help of its new BIONZ engine, we have a "world's fastest" burst rate of 12 frames per second, which goes nicely alongside the camera's 60p and 24p video recording modes (presumably in AVCHD). What also caught our eyes was this "world's first" XGA OLED electronic viewfinder, while the A55 and A35 come with just LCD versions. Well, only time will tell whether this camera lives up to expectations -- by the sound of it, we'll probably be able to play with one within a few weeks from now. [Thanks, pontsuku.] Update: And just like that, the nomination page has promptly been taken down. Good thing we saved a copy, though -- check it out after the break, if you want to practise your Japanese.
Nagoya Institute's folding X-Frame car lacks S-foils, hyperdrive, rolls on a big orange ball
Welcome to the future, dear readers, where boring black tires are replaced with bright orange and yellow ones and where your car can dynamically expand or contract. This is the X-Frame Folding Vehicle, a concept from the Nagoya Institute of Technology that was first shown at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, but rolled out of hiding again for the city's recent Good Design Expo. The car changes shape to offer seating for either one or two and can raise or lower itself dynamically based on terrain, speed, and proximity of Clown Gang members when you're cruising in Neo-Tokyo. No word on when or if it will see production, but don't let a complete lack of crash-worthiness get you down on this vision of tomorrow.
