PAL-V - The Super Cool Flying Car

Ok, so we all know that a day will come when there will be flying cars in the city, and robots will replace humans for most of the work! And though most of us have just seen flying cars in a movie or a video-game, one Dutchman called Jahn Bakker has put his idea into implementation so you can actually buy a PAL-V Flying Car in 2012! Isn't it cool? wow, future doesn't seem to be as far as I thought! If flying cars become a reality, space travel is not too far ahead, I'd say! So all you enthusaistic budding-pilots out there, get ready for some "serious flying"!!

So what exactly is this Flying car that we are talking about? Well, the PAL-V Flying Car, designed by a Dutch engineer named John Bakker, is actually a three-wheeled car (or to some a motorcycle) on the road; however open up its roof and back to find a foldable rotor, propeller and tail section, and you convert it into a helicopter, ready to take off in a few seconds! PAL-V ONE, is the first Personal Air and Land Vehicle (PAL-V) available for anyone's use. It combines the recent "tilting car" technology of the Carver with the safest and easiest principle of flying, the gyrocopter. It has the exclusive rights to all the basic patents covering this magnificent concept.

After 6 years of concept work, PAL-V Europe BV has now entered the next phase. It is starting to build the first commercial prototype, ready to start production and carry out the market launch of the PAL-V ONE by 2012. Since 2004/2005 new European and American regulations allow people to fly the PAL-V with a simple sports aviation license. It takes between 15-25 hours getting a license for flying while driving can be done with a regular car driving license.

Airborne, the PAL-V flies under the 4,000 feet (1,500 m) floor of commercial air space, and can hold one person only. it is highly fuel-efficient and is powered by an environmentally certified car engine. It runs on petrol/gas like a conventional car and can reach speeds of up to 200 km/h both on land and in the air. At less than 70 decibels, it is much quieter than helicopters due to the slower rotating of the main rotor.

In the US the "High-way In The Sky" HITS-program is being developed to allow extensive personal air traffic. In Europe initiatives have been initiated to develop a copy of this system called "Digital freeways", which provide a safe corridor using GPS technology to aid air-regulation and avoid collisions for low flying vehicles.

And now for the most important question: How much does this cost?? Well, there's no price-tag on the PAL-V yet; Commercial prices will be established depending on volume and competition a year before market launch in 2010. but I bet with the growing trends of owning private jets, this coolest innovation will need to be competitive to make it accessible to local public. Check out some more details about safety and working principles on the PAL-V FAQ's page.

I don't know how this will affect the already struggling air-traffic control, but I know there would be many amongst us who would be thrilled to own a flying car, including me! how soon it becomes a reality, only time will tell!

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The Latest in Designer Cell Phones - Fascinating Figure Mobile Phone

There was a time when cell phones were simply "phones" and nothing else! But thanks to "iPhone", "chocolate" and "music phones", the mobile phone has witnessed a huge revolution and transformed from a phone to a device. You may forget your wallet, but its unlikely that you'd forget your cell phone (unless we are taking about me, of course:)) The phone has also become a style icon these days, and people put in a lot of efforts to personalize their cell phones, whether its the cell-phone faceplates, the ringtones, the themes, cell-phone covers or styles and screensavers, everyone wants a device that represents their identity! So here's something that will simply serve as an answer to all your phone-fantasies (well, almost!) A Shanghai-based designer Xiao Zhihua has come up with the concept of a Fascinating Figure Phone which is both stylish and tranquil at the same time!

The inspiration of this fascinating mobile phone is based on the beauty of reflections on a lake. With stylish cell phone skins, its a beauty to look at. When this phone in the off mode, you can see the screen looks like a still water surface. In operation mode, it's totally a different story! You will see flowing music, film images, pictures, web pages, articles, and user interfaces appearing on the display, reminiscent of the reflections on the water’s surface. As users indulge in the visual experience provided by the large screen, they are reacquainted with the beauty of the lake’s reflections. The display is adaptive, allowing it to automatically adjust the screen settings depending on the user’s environment for optimal viewing. So while you browse and search for stuff, you can still feel relaxed and one with nature:) It also boasts of an adjustable touchscreen interface that can be tailored to a user’s mood. You can change the background to any desired image to fit your preference.

Since this is a concept, you should pretty much be able to do anything with it, right?! Hence it's not a surprise that this cell phone can be operated horizontally, vertically and even diagonally!! Its interface can also be transformed to give it a curved appearance.The user is able to select images according to their moods and preferences, giving a stylish dimension to suit the user’s lifestyle. Pretty neat and funky! Hey, we love all this "lounging by the lake" kind of feeling, but after all, it's a phone and most importantly, it should act like one! I like the concept; its fresh and strikes a chord in this busy world. If it pulls off, it should definitely be able to attract a decent amount of attention, especially because of its looks and style! Apple beware, the next-generation of cell phones may be much more trendier than the iPhone!

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Alight Kitchen - A Cool Concept in Eco-friendly Kitchen Designs

With every passing day, we see more and more people tend to lean on designing their homes and interiors to be more "green and eco-friendly". Some people go to extreme lengths to hire reputed designers that can give meaning to their ideas and design something captivating yet useful. "Conceptual Kitchens" that are in sync with the decor of your home, but at the same time add an element of "green" seem to be the in-thing these days. But looks like some Turkish designers have come up with a truly revolutionary kitchen set-up with a host of features to give it a stylish modern look, at the same time designing it to minimise wastage of food and water. It looks too fancy to be true, but you have to read on to admire the motive behind such an innovative design!

Altera Design Studio’s latest concept comes in the form of a retro-looking kitchen design called "Alight Kitchens". It was recently awarded a design win at the Incheon International Design Competition 2007 and will be exhibited at International Design Fair this December. The project deals with global shortages of clean water, food, resources. What role can a designer play in minimising wastage of resources became the theme behind the birth of this beautiful kichen. The system is designed to not only minimize waste materials but to make people aware of how much they are consuming.

If you can take your eyes off the vibrant kitchen, take a look at some of the cool features that the Alight Kitchen boasts of:
Only ready-made food and beverages can be consumed in sheet-metal packaging so people will be conscious about what and how much they eat.

The cooling unit provided in the design will only allow storage of 3 days' worth of food.

A Smart oven warms up the food in groups to minimize how often it’s used. It arranges the ideal time and temperature for the packs by reading their barcodes!!

There are 4 hollow plates located on the main dining table. Each of them can rotate on its center-axis so you can eat on the either side of the plate. The center of the table also features a small flatware station.

The integrated dishwasher conserves water by using a biological solution for filtering and reusing the dirty water. On the table, there are two lids for detergent and capsules of filtering solution, and also a lid under the table for changing water after several usages.

All plates are stored underneath the table in their own compartments, in sheet-metal packages which is easy to collect, store and recycle after usage.

This may not be a kitchen that you cook in daily; I for one simply CANNOT imagine myself using this for my everyday chores, especially as cooking for me is an elaborate affair, and I'd prefer a spacious open kitchen with a window overlooking some green field!:) But even then, I really admire the intention behind this design.
It brings an innovative kitchen concept that focusses on minimizing waste of time, food, energy used in appliances like refrigerators and dishwashers, and the need for a large kitchen space. This design can surely fit the bill for bachelors or vacation homes, condos or places that you use occasionally. I love the look and design, and I'm sure more and more people would eventually warm up to the idea of such innovations!

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"sQuba" -World's First Zero-Emission Underwater Sports Car

The Swiss have been known for their outrageous yet creative innovations, and albeit pricey, they surely attract buzz from those who seek to own something fancy and exclusive. From watches to cars, it has been an interesting journey, and their latest offering goes well beyond one's imagination as they develop a Concept Car called "sQuba" which can instantly grant you the "Bond Appeal"!! Remember James Bond’s amphibious car, Lotus Esprit from "The Spy Who Loved Me", the all-in-one fictional vehicle that looked like a car on land, but when chased by bad guys in a helicopter, plunged into the water and became an airtight submarine — complete with "torpedoes" and "depth charges"!! Looks like the Swiss are about to realize your fantasy with their latest design!

The concept car, named as "sQuba", was developed by Swiss designer Rinspeed Inc. and is already making a splash at the Geneva Auto Show that's going on right now. The company's 52-year old CEO Frank Rinderknecht, a self-professed Bond fan, had been waiting 30 years to recreate the car he saw Roger Moore use to drive off a dock, and has finally achived his dream! Just to let you know, this innovative company has presented transparent, flying and voice-activated cars too in previous Auto Shows!

Some of sQuba's cool features include the ability to plow through the water at a depth of 30 feet (with electrical motors to turn the underwater screw). The car has an open top, making that a convertible sports car! The open car helps if passengers need to get out to explore the aquatic wealth around, or to make a quick emergency exit! I would have felt more protected with a covered shelter when I'm in the midst of sharks and whales though, but the open top was necessary to counteract the unwanted buoyancy within water.

To enable normal breathing, the car is equipped with an integrated tank of compressed air similar to what is used in scuba diving. And if you are thinking whether this fancy underwater car can be used on land too or not - then let me tell you that the sQuba’s top speed on land is about 77 mph, but it slows down to 3 mph on the surface of the water, and 1.8 mph underwater.

So how does this underwater car work?? He removed the combustion engine from a sports car and replaced it with several electrical motors. Three are located in the rear, and one provides propulsion on land while the other two drive the screw for underwater driving. When you take the car into the water, it floats. But the moment you open the door a little to let the water in, it starts going "underwater", like a submarine! Without occupants the "sQuba" surfaces automatically. It is even capable of autonomous driving on land thanks to a sophisticated laser sensor system from the Hamburg company Ibeo - without any help from the driver!! You can get more first-hand details here.

This highly innovative concept car runs on rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries, and is also a totally "zero-emission" vehicle! And it's not just a car, its a sports-car convertible, and can strongly be categorised as a "Green Underwater Car". Even the Motorex lubricants used in the ‘sQuba” are biodegradable!! Can you beleive that! Hats off to the designers for having thought about everything. It's truly an innovation that not only realizes a fantasy, but actually stands out in terms of creativity, planning and achievement!

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Nestle's Research Shows that Machines Can now Smell and Analyze Your Espresso!

Anyone who's addicted to coffee and its flavor can vouch for the fact that your daily cuppa-joe needs to be brewed perfectly, if possible. Simple events like change of baristas, change of venue or change in ingredients can kill the taste of your coffee. That's why most of us stick to the same cafe for our drinks! But here's some sizzling news - Robots or Machines that can smell coffee are in the making, research by the food giant Nestlé suggests. A team led by Christian Lindinger at the company's research centre at Lausanne, Switzerland, has developed a machine that can correctly predict the judgements of trained human coffee tasters - and may eventually replace them.

Designing a machine that can identify the aroma of complex coffee flavors and describe it has proved challenging for flavour scientists. Seems like they have finally achieved it. To establish a connection between the verbal description given by humans and the chemical analysis performed by machines, Lindinger and co-workers compiled "sensory profiles" for 11 different espresso coffees by asking tasters to score each one in 10 different taste categories, such as bitter, woody, or acid. They then fed the results of proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry of the gas phase above each coffee into a computer program that was able to 'learn' from experience and matched up the mass spectrometry results to the human sensory profiles.

Finally, to test the program, the researchers used it to predict the sensory profiles for eight new types of espresso. The predicted profiles closely matched the evaluations of human tasters, even though the machines were not able to taste the coffee, only analyze its smell! As the machine only needs two minutes to take each sniff, the Nestlé researchers say their method would be suitable for high-throughput analysis of coffee quality. From there, a machine that can brew a cup of coffee to suit every customer's unique taste profile is surely just a small step away.

Nestle researchers have stated that the machine has "nearly" the taste accuracy of a panel of trained espresso tasters, who, if this machine is any indication, may soon have to switch professions! Will Nestle market this machine as a product? While there's apparently still quite a bit of work to be done on the coffee tasting machine, Nestle eventually sees it being used as a quality control device for the entire coffee industry. Right now, it has no plans to sell the concept as a "product".

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A PC in your Coffee Cup?? - An Interesting Concept by Yuno PC!!

When technology and creativity come together, you can be sure that an innovation is born! What are the two things you rely on the most to get you through your work day? I bet most of you answered "Coffee" and "Personal Computer". So you'll be glad to know about a new personal computer concept that combines the power of both these essentials in one unique design! Its like being connected to the world, without carrying the bulk of a laptop, and sipping your caffeine that is sure to keep you on your toes. Check out this cool, trendy, yet amazingly useful gadget that will take your breath away!

Designed by Jason Farsai, this looks simply like your regular Starbucks Coffee Cup, albeit more colorful and trendy. Everyone has their own routine, what they read, watch, listen to, and of course drink. The Yuno PC mug incorporates all the important morning alerts such as weather, time, traffic, stocks, and more on its touchscreen display, so you no longer need to log on to your laptop or newspaper! You can customize your alerts and that will help you get the most out of your morning by providing you computer tools and accessories right on your Coffee Mug. Just imagine your life when you can play songs, drink coffee, get weather reports, send email using the same coffee mug that you use several times in your daily life.

Sounds really interesting, right? Before you get all excited and ready to buy one, let me tell you that this is just a concept, and though it sounds plausible, it does raise some questions too about how you could achieve it. The processing power, the memory, internet connectivity, protection from beverage, touchscreen capability and more need some serious thought. But then, look how much technology has developed in merely the last decade and you'll know that there's a great chance you'll buy one of these for yourself before you get too old to drink coffee or trade stocks! Any takers??:)

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The Lazy Teapot - A blessing for the Disabled and Elderly

It's true that the entire gadget craze is aimed at making us lazy, but it's better to go with the pretense that they make life more simple! At least my hubby would agree with this theory, and so would many others in this world. You have to admit that some of these design innovations are not the same for all. What might be a lame device for someone, could actually be a blessing for someone else. And this Lazy Teapot seems to fit the bill! It's a classic teapot that relieves you of that cumbersome task of actually picking up a teapot and pouring its contents into a cup:) And there's a little more!

Designed by Lotte Alpert, this concept is both stylish, elegant, and could actually come in handy. Most of the cool gadgets simply sell on a style appeal, and the few that work towards making lives simpler, are an instant hit! This elegant porcelain teapot, available in classic white, comes with a matching silver docking base, which allows you to pour your cofee or tea without having to lift it up. The pout is long and ensures that you don't spill your hot drink and create a mess while serving your guests.

Furthermore the holding device is able to boil up the liquid in the teapot and to keep it warm precisely on different temperatures. The measured temperatures are read at the diodes in the region of the operational controls and compared with the temperature that was manually chosen. So now you don't even have to worry about reheating your beverage! It is great for clumsy people as well as for handicapped, disabled or elderly people who find it hard to lift or balance the pot. Plus, the Lazy-Teapot looks really chic and is sure to impress your guests too! And if it makes you a little bit lazier, who cares? After all, that's the mantra the entire "La-Z-Boy" company runs on, right!!

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