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Triple-display Flip phone powers our dreams with Android (video)
This one's only a concept so don't get your hopes up, but we're loving the design here, called the Flip from designer Kristian Ulrich Larsen. It's a triple-display handset running stock Android that pops out like a tent, collapses into a standard (if curved) slate, and even folds out like a little book. Each screen is said to be Super AMOLED hiding behind Gorilla Glass, with steel mesh acting as hinges -- and there's a full QWERTY keyboard somewhere in there too. Is it magic? No, it's just a render, but we're hoping that something like this becomes rather more physical in the not too distant future. Until then, enjoy the dreamy video after the break. %Gallery-114639%
Lego Mindstorm NXT enlisted for shirt-folding robot
All we have to say about this shirt-folding robot is that it does a better job than we could ever hope to. And for that, we love it. Video is below.
Shocker! Jorno folding Bluetooth keyboard available for pre-order
Of all the Bluetooth keyboards that have been released for portable devices lately, this is certainly one of them. Cervantes Mobile's Jorno doesn't look particularly comfortable, but it does fold up into a tiny square, it's got a cradle that will fit most handsets, and it's compatible your favorite Bluetooth HID profile-enabled devices. It will be out early next year for $99, although if you pre-order it now you can get it for a smooth $79 -- which is probably the upper limits of what we'd pay for it. That is, if we were going on a modern day On The Road-type odyssey with nothing but a backpack and our dreams, and an iPad to keep a journal of our thoughts. Which we aren't. PR after the break.
Willow Garage PR2 robot learns to sort socks for $10k prize (video)
We've been following the evolution of the Willow Garage PR2 robot for a little over a year now, watching as it learned to mooch electricity and hustle pool sharks. That, as it turns out, was only the beginning. The robots are now up for general pre-order should anyone want one (priced well into the "if you have to ask" range, surely), and to celebrate that Willow Garage founder Scott Hassan put up $10k to sponsor a video contest of the PR2 robot doing some impressive things. The winner is a video called "Sockification" from a crew at UC Berkeley in which the PR2 shows some... enthusiastic sock sorting skills. You can see that one embedded below, along with our personal favorite: an ode to StrongBad and his lightswitch rave.
Inhabitat's Week In Green: solar panels, solar planes, solar trains
The Week in Green is a new item from our friends at Inhabitat, recapping the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us. It was an interesting week in green tech, as Inhabitat explored the past and future of solar technology. We dug up the world's first modern solar panel (still working after 60 years!) and wrapped our brains around MIT's plan to create super-efficient photovoltaic panels by folding them up like origami. Not to be outdone, IBM unveiled plans to roll out a new solar desalination system that could transform entire expanses of desert into rivers. Solar power also took to the skies this week as the Solar Impulse plane made its first successful flight. And speaking of futuristic transportation, Minority Report-style podcars may be just around the corner if this solar powered urban transit system takes off. We were wowed by Finland's new all-electric supercar, which will be vying for the Progressive Auto X Prize this summer. We also took a look at several innovative kid-friendly designs including an incredible Game Boy made from paper and a biometric baby monitoring alarm clock that lets parents monitor their babies' temperature and heart-rate remotely, as well as cue up lullabies from anywhere. The past week also produced several promising developments from the realm of energy storage as Hitachi announced that it's developing lithium-ion batteries that last twice as long. And finally, meet BOB, a battery the size of a building that is capable of powering an entire town in Texas. The gigantic sodium sulfur backup battery can store up to 4 megawatts of power for up to 8 hours.
Qualcomm's multi-fold mobile device is the future we keep waiting for
Qualcomm isn't typically in the business of producing consumer-facing hardware -- the company prefers to just build the chips that make your devices go "vroom" -- but we've come across a patent application that details just such an idea. The multi-fold mobile device can be seen as either a foldable tablet or an expandable cellphone, but in either case its purpose is clearly to act as a hybrid device that performs both roles. With all least two displays on its three panels, this concept will also automatically reconfigure its UI based on a folding configuration sensor, and Qualcomm suggests you might also use it as a widescreen TV display, an alarm clock, a media player, or a web browser. Click past the break for a couple more suggested use diagrams, and feel free to write to Qualcomm with demands that this be put into production pronto.
Pomera DM20 Digital Memo puts your old Brother to shame
If the Pomera Digital Memo DM10 appeals to anyone (and we figure it must appeal to someone), you can chalk it up to the device's narrow scope: it's for writin' with, and for folding up and puttin' in your pocket -- and that's it. The DM20, our friends at Engadget Japan tell us, expands the brief ever-so-slightly, bumping up storage to 89MB, upping the display to 5-inches, and adding text to 2D barcode conversion, while keeping same 20+ hours operation with 2 AAA batteries. Seriously, though, in the end it's really just a word processor. Is that how you want to take notes? We didn't think so. Expect to see it hit the shelves in Japan on December 11 for ¥34,650 (just shy of $400).
Fujitsu cellphone design contest yields mind-blowing results: hands-on
Fujitsu has been wowing us with cellphone concepts for quite some time, but this year's round at CEATEC is undoubtedly a show-stopping bunch. Some of the hottest ideas to come from the outfit's most recent mobile phone design contest were on display here in Japan, and we went end to end capturing the lot. The clear pebble mock-up (shown above) was easily the crown jewel (in our mind, anyway), with a small black blob able to morph into different screens (media panels, a keypad, web browser, etc.) depending on which corner you drag said blob into. There was also a design reminiscent of paper mache, not to mention one with a circular vibe that just has to be a long lost cousin to Motorola's AURA. Have a gander at the masterpieces in the gallery below, but don't bet on these hitting your favorite carrier anytime soon.%Gallery-74738%
Kyocera shows off preposterous, beautiful EOS folding OLED phone concept
We're big fans of reality and feasibility, we swear, but something like this "EOS" concept phone Kyocera was showing off at CTIA is just too good to pass up. The handset folds up into what could roughly be described as a wallet shape, but folds out into two configurations: portrait QWERTY mode (pictured), and full-on widescreen OLED display (after the break). Samsung was showing similar screen-folding folding abilities, but a much less impressive handset, at CES. Things get even wilder, tough, with Kyocera envisioning shape memory keys that can morph flat when not in use, and a kinetic charging method based on piezoelectric generators and Mary Poppins. Sure, our great grandkids are going to have a good laugh at us for thinking this is lovable, but they always were a bunch of theoretical brats. Kyocera plans on implementing some of the concept ideas into its "near future" lineup of devices. We'll see how that pans out.[Via Inhabitat, photo courtesy of Jeffrey Sass]
ASUS CEO: Fold / Unfold laptop will cost between $1,000 and $1,500
We had already heard that ASUS' Fold / Unfold laptop concept -- which we originally spotted at CES in January -- would be shipping later this year, but that little fact just got a lot more official. In an interview with TechRadar, ASUS CEO Jerry Shen confessed that this very machine would be shipping in the September to October time frame, and that the end-user price would be "somewhere between $1,000 and $1,500." Just make sure we're not stuck with integrated graphics and we'll be pleased as punch, okay Jerry?[Via Notebook Choice]
ASUS plans to ship Fold / Unfold laptop concept this year!
It may sound like sheer insanity, but it's the right sort of crazy sauce if you ask us. ASUS is planning to make its Fold / Unfold laptop concept into a for-reals product this year, with plans to ship by Q3. That seems pretty accelerated for something we've only seen in concept form, and something with such a new and interesting form factor -- Fold / Unfold's keyboard slides backwards as you open the display to maximize room for keys, trackpad and palm rest (video of the "folding" action is after the break). The concepts we've seen have also been suspiciously thin, so hopefully ASUS can pull this off without compromising this delicious form factor too terribly much. Sadly, that dual-touchscreen concept is further out, there's currently no slated window for commercialization.
Nokia dreams up four-way folding Communicator
Not that Nokia's current Communicator is in need of a major refacing or anything, but we're always up for some innovation. A recent patent application from the outfit showcases a completely bizarre four-way folding Communicator, chock full of hinges, keys and pixels. In fact, the verbiage spells out a future device consisting of "at least four device parts," leaving open the option for a handset that miraculously unfolds to completely envelope you in a glass case of emotion. Hit the read link for the full dream spilled out in entirely too much detail.[Via Cellpassion]
ITRI's folding TFT-EPD display: ready for smartphones next year
While everyone wants their gadgets, particularly smartphones, to become smaller and smaller we paradoxically want the screens to get bigger and bigger. That's why so much R&D money is spent on wearable, folding, projecting, swiveling, and rollable displays: there's a gold mine to be had by the first to offer a solution with mass-market appeal. Here's Taiwan's great economic hope developed by its Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) with some help from industrial design house, PilotFish. The TFT-EPD (Thin Film Transistor Electrophoretic Display) panel combines a folding-top display with a bottom-sliding secondary (separated by a 1-cm flexible strip) to double the total panel size to 5-inches -- other screen sizes are also in the works. What looks like a break through the center of the combined display above is actually a software taskbar. While these are obvious mock-ups, prototype displays do exist with plans to take the technology -- which will included touchscreen capabilities -- into production sometime next year. Imagine this applied to an N97 followup and you might appreciate our enthusiasm.%Gallery-38648%[Via Computerwoche]
Samsung concept phone unfolds to hypnotize onlookers with flexible OLED
Cellphones are caught in this awkward spot where they've got to be small -- like pocketable, doesn't-look-ridiculous-on-your-face small -- and yet somehow big enough to pack an expansive, pretty display that's capable of displaying a lot of stuff at once. That's a paradox that has forced manufacturers into some curious form factors over the years, but ultimately, if you want to somehow cram the desktop viewing experience into a device the size of a pack of cigarettes, you're probably going to need something that projects, rolls, or folds. That's where Samsung's new concept phone shown off at the FPD International show in Yokohama comes into play, opening like a book to reveal a flexible OLED big enough to handle those cute puppy videos that no plain-vanilla, 2.5-inch display can do justice. There's no word on when a so-equipped handset might see production -- but we think it's appropriate that it's being shown off in Japan in all places, if you catch our drift. Follow the break for a video of the display in action.
Pomera DM10 is tri-folding overkill for note takers
Oh, we get it. The SPH-P9000-inspired, Pomera Digital Memo DM10 is built for quick data entry on the go. As such it features a full-size folding keyboard, 2-second startup, 20-hour battery life, microSD expansion, and 4-inch VGA display in a device the size of a 1.18-inch thick paperback. But we're not going to hand over $269 of our hard-earned cash when we can take home an 8.9-inch netbook for $30 more. You, however, are free to do as you please when the DM10 lands in Japan on November 10th. Just prepare yourself for haughty looks of contempt from behind our pipes and moleskins -- hmph.[Via Impress]
New Folding@Home update: nothing to write home about
A minor update for Folding@home dropped in this morning. In fact, the picture above pretty much sums up everything you'll need to know about the update. "Operations for handling network errors related to the uploading and downloading of work units have been improved." Exhilarating! Riveting, even. Though the update's description is vague, it does bring a bit of the "curiosity cat" out of us. Have you had many problems with downloading/uploading work units? Does this update relieve those network connection woes that have been keeping you up at night?[Thanks, SirRealVision!]P.S. Join our Folding team: #57793. All the cool kids are doing it!
A million PS3 owners have signed onto Folding@Home
It hasn't yet been a year since the Folding@Home client was released onto the PS3, but in the 10 months since its inception there are now over a million PS3 owners on the Folding@Home network. How do we know this? Sony has sent out a rather handy press release telling us all about it - which includes the fact that this equates to 3000 people signing up every day. Or, if you prefer your linear time nuggets in smaller doses, two people signing up every minute. Vijay Pande, Folding@Home Project Lead, has said that the research is increasing "in leaps and bounds" since the partnership with Sony started up in March 2007. Only six months later, the network exceeded a petaflop of data. The research taken from the project simulates the folding of protein molecules in order to see in what environments and situations they fold incorrectly, which is what causes various cancers as well as Alzheimer's disease. We're happy to see more PS3 owners join the Folding fold, but are slightly startled by the figure. With upwards of 8 million PS3s out in the world, why are only a million joining the fight. This figure is to be congratulated, but we can't help but feel slightly disappointed that it's still relatively low.
Folding@Home improvements coming soon [UPDATE]
Firmware 2.10 has paved the way for an update to the Folding@Home client. which will arrive soon. The improvements are definitely quite interesting in that they are actually very useful. No longer will you need to worry about leaving your PS3 on all the time - F@H will be able to shut down your console after either the current work unit has completed, or after a certain amount of time.Not only that, but we can confirm that Folding@Home will receive custom soundtracks. No longer will you have an attack of conscience when using the PS3 to play music - no more will you think to yourself "I'm really enjoying this music, but I feel so guilty that I'm not curing cancer ... ", for now you can do both at the same time. Astonishing!In all seriousness, though - this is a very handy update and we'll certainly be running our music through Folding@Home over the holidays. No word on exactly when the updated version will be available, but it should be pretty soon, all things considered.[UPDATE] The update is now available to download. Simply start Folding@Home and you will prompted to upgrade.
Valeswood's Pearl: the hydrogen powered bike
Listen -- we know you want to do your part for the environment, but you don't have to wear jean shorts while doing it. By all means, take a gander at the Valeswood Pearl hydrogen-fueled, power-assisted bicycle, which motors up to 15 MPH and takes you about 80 miles before you need to juice the batteries. When you're finished with all the hard labor of pedaling, the bike folds up neatly and can be tucked away in the trunk of your 9 MPG SUV. If you're the eco-centric cat or kitten that we think you are, you're not going to be too miffed about that $4000 price tag, and we're sure the only kind of short you'll be rocking will be of the organic hemp variety. We wish we could say the same for the chap in the photo.
Samsung's SPH-9200 gets specs, leaked manual
You may remember our old friend -- the Samsung SPH-9200 UMPC -- from way back in the hot and humid days of August, when we first laid eyes on the contraption (a re-up of the SPH-9000). Well, the little flip-out, fold-up has gone and gotten its manual leaked out to the internet, and we understand that at least two ultra-nerds have read it cover to cover. Of course, there's an upside -- we've got confirmed specs. What does it look like under the hood you ask? Well, the whole package runs atop a VIA C7-M CPU, sports 512MB of RAM, a 5-inch, 800 x 480 touchscreen, a 30GB hard drive, a 1.3-megapixel camera, WiFi, WiBro, HSDPA, and between two and five hours of battery life. No word on price or release date, but you can watch the most boring video possible of the device in action after the break.[Via SlashGear]
