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Dyson ends its electric car project
Dyson is shutting down its electric car project. The company said while its automotive team had created a "fantastic" EV, the car was not "commercially viable." It will continue to work on the solid-state battery tech it developed for the EV, however.
Dyson plans to release its own EV by 2020
An unlikely player has stepped onto the electric vehicle playing field. Vacuum cleaner and hairdryer producer Dyson announced today that it has already begun working on its own EV and that it should be ready for launch by 2020.
Dyson's first beauty product is a hair dryer
Dyson teased its press event this week by sending out tiny, sharp motor parts to journalists (including this one). Now we get to see the rest of the thing. The company's first foray into beauty is, perhaps predictably, a hairdryer. The Supersonic, as it's called, has all the design hallmarks of a Dyson: It's circular and smooth, with a metallic finish and a splash of loud color. Compared to everything that's come before it, however, it's so... small.
Dyson developed a Google Glass-like headset ten years ago
Dyson is near-synonymous with household electronics like vacuums and fans these days, but we're learning that it could have gone in a very different direction. The company tells The Next Web that it had been developing a Google Glass-like augmented reality headset, the Halo, between 2001 and 2004. The wearable (pictured here) projected visual cues, took voice commands and even sported a virtual keyboard that let you type on any flat surface. Dyson had a prototype, but ultimately canned the design to focus on both its core products and US expansion plans.
Dyson: 'A company that doesn't double its R&D every two years is in trouble'
Sir James Dyson just made a brief appearance in Japan, launching his series of high-end hand-dryers in a region where, according to the founder, people appear to appreciate the design and engineering involved. As the company continues to hone the vacuum cleaners and hand-dryers that made its name (meaning power and less noise, generally), it's also pushing out in more unusual directions -- like collaborating with Imperial College on robotic R&D. It's also still substantially growing its development facilities. According to Sir Dyson: "We're obviously expanding what we do, although we love vacuum cleaners and hand-dryers, surprisingly," cracking a smile. "We're doubling the size [of R&D]... we already have within the last two years and we're going to double again. Partly we want to make extra products, but in order to be competitive, globally, you have to have better technology than all your competitors." He added that competition is global: Japan, Korea, the US, Germany, India, South America -- it's now "everywhere." Many tech companies are similarly folding money into R&D, including Apple, Samsung, even those in tough times, like Nintendo. Dyson sees it in far stricter term: "A company that doesn't double its R&D team every two years, I think, is in trouble."
Dyson plans big R&D expansion, starting with a new 3,000-person tech campus
One in every three Dyson employees is an engineer. That's roughly 1,700 of them and the UK-based company is looking to increase that number. It's announced plans to build a new technology campus in Wiltshire, UK, focused on science and technology research and development. The plan includes four different facilities within a single one leafy compound in Wiltshire, UK. It'll cost £250 million to build it, and could create around 3,000 new tech and science jobs. Dyson will scale up its R&D efforts from here, with collaborative topics like its recently-announced robot research lab expanded and "strengthened" with help from over 10 UK universities -- the company has already cooperated with Cambridge, Imperial and Newcastle while it developed its existing products. Finely-engineered robots, new motors (and probably a few high-end vacuums) are likely just a few years away. Better watch yourself, Roomba. Image Credit: Getty
Dyson invests over $8 million into robot research lab (and it's not just for vacuums)
Dyson has announced that it'll invest £5 million into a robotics labs at Imperial College London, aimed at developing vision systems to help robots "understand and adapt to the world around them." The company had in fact planned to launch a robotic vacuum cleaner way back in 2001, but Sir Dyson said the prototype was too heavy and expensive... and it never hit stores. This time, research won't only concern itself with automated vacuums but other domestic robots, according to the BBC. Dyson has apparently been working on robotics with Imperial College since 2005: the university's Professor Andrew Davison is set to head up the new lab. "We now have the mechanical and electronic capabilities, but robots still lack understanding" James Dyson says there's still a lot of work to be done: "My generation believed the world would be overrun by robots by the year 2014. We now have the mechanical and electronic capabilities, but robots still lack understanding... mastering this will make our lives easier and lead to previously unthinkable technologies." -- and probably some new Dyson hardware that's harder to imitate.
Move-It: the stick-on recyclable cardboard trolley (video)
If you're rockin' the suburbs, chances are your Suburban comes in handy when making those weekend jaunts to Home Depot. But if you're a city dweller, particularly one who has to make his / her way up and down subway stairs, things are just a tad more difficult when it comes to transporting purchases. Enter Move-It, a bloody brilliant concept that has currently been entered into the running for the James Dyson Award in the UK. Put simply, this recyclable, disposal and potential reusable device is crafted from cardboard and fully capable of strapping to any size or shape box. Simply peel and stick the handle to the box's top, and slap a pair of rollers on the bottom -- in about three minutes, you've got your very own trolley. Prayers, answered. Hop on past the break for a video demonstration, and hopefully the collective crossing of fingers will enable this thing to actually hit the market someday soon.
Dyson Air Multiplier fans grow up to Tower and Pedestal dimensions
James Dyson seems to have made the manipulation of air his life's mission, and his most recent product, the "bladeless" desktop fan, has apparently enjoyed enough success to merit an expanded range. You'll soon be able to splash a cool $450 on either of the elongated Tower (above left) or Pedestal Air Multipliers. They function along the same principles as the original: air is stirred up (by blades!) in the base and then thrust through the circumference of the device to deliver cool, calming, and buffet-free chills to your overworked self. Mind you, Dyson's keen to point out that only 7 percent of the air comes from its impeller-driven base -- most of the flow comes from "the inducement and entrainment of surrounding air." Boy, the company sure is getting its money's worth out of that thesaurus purchase. If you want to read more of this highfalutin stuff, go past the break for the full press release. P.S. -- No animals were injured in the making of this image, or so its author tells us. Thanks, Matthew!
Dyson speeds up 'world's fastest motor,' gives it some fancy packaging
Sir James Dyson is on a mission to tick as many boxes as possible with the hetero male demographic. He starts out well, bolting the "world's fastest motor" to a gun-shaped instrument of cleanliness. The product pages advertise 10 minutes of "high constant suction," and the top model is named the Animal, but the fact is it's still a vacuum cleaner. The motor is a direct descendant of the one found in the Airblade, with rotational speed jumping from 88K to 104K RPM. Dyson has said he hopes to harness the technology in other devices, including electric cars, giving credence to previously discredited rumors to that effect. Beyond the read link you will find a picture of the tiny speed demon in the loving hands of its inventor. [Via Tech Digest]
