Bangkok International Auto Show – the Detroit of the East under the spotlight

Welcome to the newsletter for Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine. These are the headlines for April the 2nd, 2013. Bangkok International Auto Show – the Detroit of the East under the spotlight The presence of the head of Ford Motor Company at the Bangkok Auto Show was no accident – the New York Motor Show was on at the same time. The Detroit of the East produced 2.45 million cars last year (up 68% on 2011), sold 1.43 million locally (up 80%), and became a global top 10 auto producer. It was already the world's second largest producer of trucks, behind only the United States. With just 18 vehicles per 100 population (America has 76), the Thai domestic market offers promise. The world's auto makers are focusing their quest for growth on Asia and Bangkok is now key to the Asian automotive market. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Terra Motors hopes to clean up in Southeast Asia with new electric tuk-tuk Auto rickshaws, also known as tuk-tuks, three-wheelers or by numerous other names, are a common sight on the streets of many Asian cities. An evolution of the traditional pulled or cycle rickshaw, the gasoline-powered vehicles, which are used as taxis, are a major source of pollution in many Asian cities. Japan's Terra Motors hopes to capitalize on efforts to cut tuk-tuk pollution with its new electric three-wheeler aimed at emerging Southeast Asia markets. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile LineCam – a zip line for your video camera If you've watched much in the way of higher-end mountain biking or snowboarding videos, chances are that you've seen shots obtained using a cable cam. Essentially, a cable cam is a small video camera mounted on a gondola-like shuttle that rolls along an elevated cable suspended parallel to the path of the action. The result is smooth, high-angle tracking shots, that look almost as if they were shot using a low-flying helicopter. Oregon-based entrepreneur Nick Braun now hopes that his LineCam system can make such shots possible for a wider variety of action film-makers. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile "Smell-o-Vision" display emits localized virtual odors Localized dimming is a feature found in many televisions these days, but what about a display capable of producing localized smells? That's exactly what a team from the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology in Japan has created. The "smelling screen" that was recently presented at the IEEE Virtual Reality 2013 conference in Orlando, Florida can produce odors that appear to emanate from specific areas of the screen. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile ESA develops "snap-proof" space tether This month, the University of Helsinki and the European Space Agency (ESA) will test a new space tether that has less chance of snapping under the stresses of operating in orbit. Installed aboard Estonia's ESTCube-1 cubesat, the new tether is scheduled to be launched with ESA's Proba-V satellite atop a Vega rocket as part of an experiment in developing an electric solar sail. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Tablet-based system analyzes voice to detect concussions Concussions should be tended to a soon as possible after they occur, but it's often difficult to tell whether or not one has actually been sustained, without taking the person to a hospital. That's why scientists at Indiana's University of Notre Dame have developed a tablet-based test that detects concussions on the spot, by analyzing the voice. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile MiiPC: Android-powered PC lets parents monitor kids' online activity It's a fact of the digital age that parents will worry about what their children get up to online. While some try to address this by teaching their kids how to behave safely online, others will simply place a family computer in a shared room and lurk behind young users watching what they do. The MiiPC is an Android-powered PC for children which allows parents to monitor and control what they are doing via a parental control mobile app. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile The new Jeep Cherokee gets official After more than a decade, the Jeep Liberty has announced its retirement and appointed its predecessor its successor. The new 2014 Jeep Cherokee trades the hard-lined edge of the XJ for a more consumer-friendly small-crossover design. Jeep promises that it offers plenty of capability for those that want it but in a more refined, practical package than ever before. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Vibrating helmet designed to guide firefighters through smoke Firefighters can quite often find themselves in smoke-filled rooms, where it's impossible to see more than a few inches in any direction. Not wanting those firefighters to run into walls, researchers at the University of Sheffield have created a prototype helmet that vibrates against the wearer's forehead, letting them know the location of nearby obstacles. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Pars aerial robot delivers a payload of life preservers to drowning victims If current technology trends are any indication, it's possible that human lifeguards could be replaced by robots in the future. So far, we've seen a remote-controlled rescue buoy and a salamander-like bot that travels on both water and land, among many others. Rather than having to cut through rough water to get to folks in trouble like many search and rescue robot designs, an Iranian research center proposes a quadcopter called Pars that launches from a floating platform and drops life preservers precisely where they're needed. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Mercedes presents all new, all-electric B-Class In spite of this year's collection of distracting concepts at the 2013 New York Auto Show, there were in fact a few real world surprises. One that will actually see the light of day was Mercedes Benz' new B-Class electric drive – the German manufacturer's latest foray into the green market. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Festo demonstrates BionicOpter dragonfly robot The dragonfly is quite the show off when it comes to flying. It can hover in mid-air, maneuver in all directions, and glide without so much as a beat of its wings. After succeeding in capturing the essence of a herring gull with the SmartBird, the folks over at German pneumatic and electric automation company Festo challenged themselves with the creation of a robotic addition to the dragonfly family – the BionicOpter. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Sony adds NFC to wireless speakers Thanks to the growing number of wireless speaker systems, those of us who have a good-sized digital music collection on our smartphones or tablets no longer have to concern ourselves with docking our device to hear our favorite tunes. Sony is aiming to make complicated wireless setup and fiddly pairing a thing of the past too, with the introduction of a streaming audio system with one-touch near field communication (NFC) connection. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Bamboo bee aims to bring bamboo bicycles to the masses Following a solo expedition around Asia on a self-built bamboo bicycle, Sunny Chuah was inspired to create a range of bamboo bikes suitable for mass-production. Thus the company Bamboo bee was born, and now Chuah has turned to Kickstarter to help realize his ambitions, seeking to raise funds to buy equipment that will help lower production costs. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Supraflux Video Camera Stabilizer makes for a smooth change in direction We've seen plenty of video camera stabilizers, from ones aimed at steadying your wobbly smartphone footage to those which hold DSLRs. But while stabilizing rigs can be great at smoothing out your shakes, they're typically difficult to operate if you also want to change direction and pan while shooting. The Supraflux Video Camera Stabilizer aims to solve this problem by adding an electronic pan axis lock. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Review: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 "What the hell is a phablet?" There's a good chance you've either heard this phrase or uttered it yourself. And for good reason: "phablet" may be one of the silliest words in the English language. But it appears this portmanteau of the words phone and tablet is here to stay. Scratch that: Samsung's hot-selling Galaxy Note – the only significant product in the category – is here to stay. Is it the real deal, or just a flash in the pan? Read on, as we review the Samsung Galaxy Note II. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Fraunhofer develops modular, compact radar for rescuers and industry Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF) have developed a lightweight, compact radar that can "see" through non-transparent materials and whiteout snow conditions. The compact radar operates at frequencies of 75 to 110 GHz in the millimeter range W-band of the radio spectrum. Radars at this frequency can not only identify small objects up to three kilometers (1.8 miles) away, but they can also penetrate all manner of non-transparent, dielectric, and non-metallic materials, such as clothing, plastic surfaces, paper, wood, snow and fog. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Grizzly Robotic Utility Vehicle does the heavy-lifting, whatever the terrain Canada-based robotics company Clearpath Robotics has unveiled the aptly-named Grizzly Robot Utility Vehicle: an unmanned four wheel drive robotic platform that promises to tackle the most demanding agricultural, mining, and defense tasks you can throw at it, whatever the terrain. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Atomic layer deposition and art conservancy – a marriage made in Maryland Silver is a remarkable medium for artistic expression. It takes well to engraving, sculpting, casting, and fine detail while also having sufficient strength (especially in alloys) to insure the durability of art objects formed from this metal. Unfortunately, silver tarnishes when exposed to moist air, and removing layers of tarnish can damage the fine detail of artistic treasures. A new method for preventing the ravages of silver tarnish is now being developed by researchers in Maryland. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Subaru's tantalizingly assertive WRX Concept breaks cover in New York Subaru's latest WRX concept shown at the New York Auto Show this past week was needless to say, light on specifics, but heavy on the visuals. Those visuals though, reveal a design that as a whole is significantly lower, sleeker and more confident in its brashness than its predecessors. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Chevy surprises New York with return of the Camaro Z/28 At this week's New York Auto Show, Chevrolet rolled out its restyled 2014 Camaro line with the highlight being the return of the Camaro Z/28. The four-passenger, front-engine, rear-drive coupé is billed as the "most track-capable offering in Camaro's history" and the "most significant redesign since the introduction of the fifth-generation Camaro as a concept car in 2006." Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Walgreens plans to build first net zero retail store in the U.S. Drugstore chain giant Walgreens has announced its intention to build what the company believes will be the first net zero retail store in the United States. Once open for business, engineers anticipate that the combination of solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal technology, energy-efficient building materials, LED lighting and ultra-high-efficiency refrigeration will allow the new store to produce energy equal to or greater than it consumes. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Kia's compact four-seater urban CUB concept Kia's new CUB concept unveiled at the Seoul Auto Show has been designed with the trendy urban demographic in mind. Measuring just 13 feet (3.96 m) long, the concept vehicle still manages to provide space for four within its compact cabin. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Genetically modified microorganism could convert atmospheric CO2 into fuel While much research is being done on capturing carbon dioxide emissions at their source to reduce the amount expelled into the atmosphere, researchers at the University of Georgia's Bioenergy Systems Research Institute have taken a different approach to tackle the problem. Taking a leaf out of the process used by plants to convert CO2 into something useful, they have uncovered a way to take CO2 from the atmosphere and transform it into useful industrial products, including, potentially, fuel. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Hyundai's provocative HND-9 concept unveiled at the Seoul Motor Show The New York Auto Show may be the big draw north of the equator this week, but down south in Seoul, Korea another auto show is bringing out some very interesting concepts. The sexiest and most likely to be a superhero's vehicle of choice is Hyundai's HND-9 coupe. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Facebook set to hijack Android on HTC's next phone For the last couple of years, the "Facebook phone" has lived in a faraway land – along with the unicorn, the Yeti, and the Apple TV set. Though we'd still be skeptical of any reported Yeti sightings, your eyes won't be deceiving you if you soon see the mythical Facebook phone. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Soyuz breaks speed record to ISS A manned Soyuz spacecraft set a record for traveling to the International Space Station (ISS), arriving six hours after launch instead of the usual two days. Soyuz 34 lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday, March 28 at 4:43 p.m. EDT (08:43 GMT) and docked with the ISS at 10: 28 PM EDT (03:28 GMT). It was able to catch up and match trajectories with the ISS in only four orbits using new techniques previously tested in ISS rendezvouses with Russian unmanned Progress cargo ships. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Activision R&D reveals stunning real-time character rendering at GDC 2013 GDC 2013 (Game Developers Conference) wraps up today after a week of presentations and late night parties. There have been some impressive tech demos shown, like Kojima Productions' FOX engine running Metal Gear Solid 5, but what really got people talking is Activision R&D's latest attempt at photorealistic characters. Check out the lifelike skin and eye shading in the uncanny video after the break. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Ghost town: Post-earthquake Fukushima added to Google Street View It's been over two years since the Great East Japan Earthquake and resulting tsunami hit the nation's northeastern coast, devastating the population and creating a nuclear incident at the Fukushima power plant. Despite concentrated efforts to repair the damage though, there are still areas that remain vacant and almost untouched since – but that doesn't mean you can't still explore these places yourself. Google Maps recently added the evacuated town of Namie-machi to Street View as part of a larger project to document the destruction and restoration of areas affected by the earthquake. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Dr. Guero's back with another robot balancing act When it comes to the diminutive robot kits you find at hobby stores, most have what can only be described as a primitive sense of balance. If, however, you happen to be an expert roboticist like Dr. Guero (aka Masahiko Yamaguchi), then it's surprising how much can be squeezed out of these pet projects with the right programming. His latest trick is to have his robot balance on a pair of nail-like stilts, which you can see it do after the break. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Mars displayed in interactive four-gigapixel panoramic glory Most of us will probably never make it to Mars, but the Curiosity Rover is there trying to give us the next best thing – tons of pictures. A diligent individual by the name of Andrew Bodrov has painstakingly stitched together 407 photos from Curiosity to create something that feels like Google's Street View, but with the Martian landscape as the subject. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Raytheon developing 3D hearing for pilots Pilots need sharp eyes, but Raytheon is looking to their ears as well. The company has developed a new 3D Audio system for aircraft, that turns information into an audible three-dimensional picture. It helps pilots identify where threats are coming from, and keeps radio channels untangled. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile BioAid app turns the iPhone into a hearing aid It's so obvious when you think about it. The iPhone has a microphone, a computer that can process audio, and earphones – why not use it as hearing aid? That's just what a group of scientists from the University of Essex have done, with their BioAid app. It has the potential to replace thousand-dollar hearing aids with a free download ... as long as users don't mind keeping their phone close at hand. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Solar Impulse announces details of upcoming flight across America Last December, the team at Switzerland's Solar Impulse announced that they were planning on flying their record-breaking HB-SIA solar-powered aircraft across the United States this spring. Today, the details of that project were revealed to the public. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Minox reveals its latest miniaturized retro-style digital camera Minox has revealed the latest version of its miniaturized digital classic camera, the Minox DCC 14.0. The tiny camera – which is made to a scale of 1:3 and can fit in the palm of your hand – features a 14-megapixel sensor, a fixed lens and an optical viewfinder. But users shouldn't expect image quality to rival higher-end (and considerably larger) retro-shooters like the Fujifilm X100S. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Virginia Tech develops a better robotic jellyfish Last year, a team of researchers from the Virginia Tech College of Engineering unveiled RoboJelly – a robotic jellyfish in development since 2009, that's about the size of a man's hand. While the squishy little robot is certainly an impressive feat of engineering, the same team has now created a bigger, better jellybot, known as Cyro. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile The DUO DIY 3D sensor changes the way users control a computer Controlling a computer with a mouse is so last decade. Products like the Leap Motion are on the forefront for using a 3D space to control a PC, and Microsoft's Kinect is bringing similar technology to the gaming world. A new product called the DUO is entering the fray, but with the key difference being that it includes an open source SDK and is available as a DIY product for more adventurous users. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile LCC details bike-friendly Safer Urban Lorry design According to the London Cycling Campaign (LCC), though only five percent of all motor traffic in the UK's capital are lorries (trucks), they account for half of all cycling deaths in the Greater London area. Last November, the group launched its Safer Lorries, Safer Cycling campaign – which calls on councils to take a pledge that insists on cyclist-aware training for drivers and the use of the latest safety technology in all council-operated lorries and for all lorry contractors. Now LCC has released details of a lorry design overhaul that helps make cyclists more visible to drivers, while also lowering the chances of a rider being dragged underneath the wheels. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Recyclable solar cells created using trees Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology and Purdue University have developed new solar cells based on natural substances derived from plants, including trees. The organic solar cells have an efficiency of 2.7 percent – a new high for cells on substrates derived from renewable raw materials – and can be easily recycled. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile You are receiving this email because you signed up for our daily newsletter at http://www.gizmag.com. If you would like to switch to our weekly newsletter, click here If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter please click here to unsubscribe. COPYRIGHT GIZMAG (C) 2013