Lighter Yikebike EV models join growing Transport Appliance marketplace

Welcome to the newsletter for Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine. These are the headlines for April the 15th, 2013. Lighter Yikebike EV models join growing Transport Appliance marketplace With big changes likely in the global transport infrastructure, the race is on to create the missing link – the smallest, lightest man-packable form of motorized transport yet known. Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW and Nissan have all shown vehicles in this area, but none have yet hit the market. The best-of-breed is currently the Yikebike and it announced today that it has further extended its lead, lightening its US$4,000 Carbon model from 11.5 kg to 11.2 kg and extending its range to 15 km (9.3 miles). There's also now a choice of Yikebikes with two cheaper versions at 12.7 kg ($3,000) and 14 kg ($2000). Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile 2013 New York auto show round-up We've already covered the featured stars of the New York Auto Show, including the Jeep Cherokee and Subaru WRX Concept. Now it's time to take a look at the supporting cast, some of which may just outshine their bigger-part co-stars. From the sporty 2014 Buick Regal to the Bentley Flying Spur, here's a look at the hottest, techiest hardware from the Big Apple. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile boomBOTTLE: a rugged wireless speaker for outdoors types The near-ubiquity of smartphones has led to a boom in the Bluetooth speaker market, and consumers are spoiled for choice. How then can a manufacturer hope to attract attention in such an over-saturated space? Scosche reckons it's got the answer with boomBOTTLE: a rugged and portable Bluetooth speaker. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Statoil's Norway HQ: one of the best offices in the world? Is this one of the world's best office buildings? These are the new offices of Norwegian oil and gas outfit Statoil, built at Fonebu near Oslo in Norway. The building was lauded well before its completion towards the end of 2012. In 2009 it was singled out as Future Project of the Year at the World Architecture Festival. Last year it received the Best Commercial Building prize at the World Architecture News Awards, and more recently was nominated in the Best Office & Business Development category at this year's MIPIM real estate exhibition in Cannes (where it was beaten by The Squaire in Frankfurt). So what's significant about the design? Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Bell unveils V-280 Valor tiltrotor concept for U.S. Army program Bell Helicopter has thrown its tiltrotor hat into the ring for the U.S. Army's Joint Multi Role (JMR)/Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program with the unveiling of its V-280 Valor tiltrotor concept at the 2013 Army Aviation Association of America's (AAAA) Annual Professional Forum and Exposition in Fort Worth, Texas. The aircraft is up against an X2-based design from Boeing and Sikorsky, a coaxial design from AVX Aircraft, and a still unknown proposal from EADS. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Heineken's "smart" beer bottles create a synchronized light show Heineken is introducing a new twist on the ordinary beer bottle with the Heineken Ignite, which uses LEDs and wireless sensors to light up when two bottles are clinked together and flashes in time with music. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile In Pictures: Milan Design Week 2013 This week the Salone Internazionale del Mobile (aka Milan Design Week) opened in Milan, showcasing an endless collection of the latest home-furnishing designs from Italy and around the world. This year marks the Salone's 52nd edition and features a strong focus on innovation and the use of natural materials. Over 2,500 exhibitors filled the 204,850 square meters (2.2 million square feet) of the Rho Milan Fairgrounds in Italy, and we were lucky enough to be among the 300,000 visitors to attend this year's event. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile A tale of two tests: why Energy Star LED light bulbs are a rare breed Just over a week ago we reported that Philips' 22 W LED light bulb, designed as a like-for-like replacement of a 100-W incandescent light bulb, was the first LED bulb of its type to receive the stamp of approval from Energy Star. But looking at the Energy Star requirements reported by Philips in its press release, it seemed a little strange that Philips' product is the only one to have been certified – given that products long on the market appear, at face value, to meet those requirements. Since then, Gizmag has spoken to LED light bulb makers Switch Lighting and other industry players to find out why they're apparently playing catch-up. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Russian space enthusiasts may have found lost Soviet Mars lander Russian space enthusiasts have pinpointed the resting place of what is believed to be the Soviet lander, Mars 3, which failed shortly after landing in 1971. Using images returned by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a crowdsourcing effort has found what may be four components of the lander, its parachute and descent module. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Ross Lovegrove and Renault create the high-concept Twin'Z city-car In automobile design there are concept cars and there are high concept projects. And now, apparently, there are concepts that exist on a seemingly LED-infused plain. Renault, with the help of famed British designer Ross Lovegrove, took the latter route, and developed one of the most enlightened concepts to come along in years: the Tron-styled Twin'Z Concept. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Audi Motorrad Concept based on Ducati 848 French automotive designers Thibault and Marc Devauze and modeller Clement Couvreur have created this Audi roadster motorcycle concept based on a Ducati 848 engine but with elements of Ducati's Hypermotard and Monster, all wrapped in Audi Design Language. The purchase of Ducati by Audi means such a motorcycle is not all that improbable, and Audi's carbon fiber knowhow and Direct Shift Gearbox might also help. Audi-owned DKW was once the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world - wouldn't it be nice to see a real one of these surface. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Stromer ST1 e-bike comes to the U.S. Swiss manufacturer Stromer, an electric-bike brand of BMC, recently launched its ST1 pedal-assisted electric bike in the United States. The 500-watt ST1 was designed to blend function, versatility and style into a commuter-friendly bicycle. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile U.S. Navy to deploy Laser Weapon System on warship The U.S. Navy took a step farther away from John Paul Jones and closer to James T. Kirk as it announced that a solid-state laser weapon will be deployed on a U.S. Navy ship in fiscal year 2014. The announcement that the Laser Weapon System (LaWS) will deployed on board USS Ponce (AFSB[I] 15) two years ahead of schedule was made on Monday at the Sea-Air-Space exposition, National Harbor, Maryland. The deployment is the latest in a line of recent recent high-energy laser demonstrations carried out by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Naval Sea Systems Command. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Ressence Type 3 watch features a fluid-filled display On a regular analog watch, there's a small pocket of air between the face of the watch and the inside surface of the crystal. On his new Ressence Type 3 watch, however, Belgian designer Benoit Mintiens has filled that space with a clear refractive fluid. As a result, its revolving indications appear to be projected right onto its domed crystal. You could almost think of it as the Magic 8 Ball of high-end timepieces. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile DJI announces stabilized HERO mount, and camera-equipped Phantom quadcopter Well, that didn't take long. Just this January, DJI Innovations released its GPS-enabled Phantom quadcopter. Now, at this week's National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas, the company has unveiled a self-stabilizing camera mount that can be added to existing Phantoms, plus an upgraded Phantom that includes its own HD video camera. Additionally, DJI's new iOS app allows users to view onboard video output in real time on their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch via Wi-Fi. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile DARPA develops non-GPS navigation chip The Global Positioning System (GPS) has proved a boon for those with a bad sense of direction, but the satellite-based system isn't without its shortcomings. Something as simple as going indoors or entering a tunnel can render the system useless. That might be inconvenient for civilians, but it's potentially disastrous for military users for whom the system was originally built. DARPA is addressing such concerns with the development of a self-sufficient navigation system that can aid navigation when GPS is temporarily unavailable. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile LifeSaver Jerrycan purifies 5 gallons of water for drinking and showering The LIFESAVER Jerrycan is a large water purification jug that could be of great use to everyone from campers to inhabitants of remote villages. The Jerrycan incorporates a built-in filtration system which can purify 18.5 liters (4.9 gallons) of water at a time, along with an integrated shower attachment that lets you use the water for cleaning as well as drinking. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 vs. Galaxy Mega 6.3 You didn't think the Galaxy Note II was the last word, did you? That Samsung's 5.5-inch phablet had filled the last gaps between smartphone and tablet? Think again. If the Note is two parts smartphone, one part tablet – the huge Galaxy Mega flips that around. Let's see how the two versions of the Mega (Mega 5.8 and Mega 6.3) compare. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile World's largest wind farm, London Array, brought fully online Phase one of the London Array usurped the UK's Greater Gabbard to become the largest operational offshore wind farm in the world when its final turbine (its 175th) was commissioned on Saturday afternoon. Though construction was completed back in December, it is only now that all of the farm's turbines are supplying the UK's national grid with electrical power. The array has a total capacity of 630 MW. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile High-speed camera system catches close-ups of snowflakes in mid-air Falling snow can play havoc with radar systems, so the more that we know about the manner in which snow falls, the better that those systems can be equipped to compensate for it. That's why for the past three years, researchers from the University of Utah have been developing a device known as the Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera – or MASC. Using three cameras and two motion sensors, it captures 3D photos of snowflakes in free-fall. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Bugatti sets world convertible speed record Bugatti may have had its production car world speed record thrown into question, but it didn't take it sitting down. It picked itself up, grabbed one of its newest cars, and went out and set a new record. While it's a step down from the overall record, Bugatti's latest feat crowns its Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse roadster the world's fastest open-topped production car. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Blackmagic announces Pocket Cinema Camera and Production Camera 4K Blackmagic Design has announced two new cameras at the 2013 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show, providing both low and high-end alternatives to the popular Digital Cinema Camera it launched at last year's event. The Production Camera 4K is the beefier of the two devices and boasts some compelling features including an EF compatible lens mount, a Super 35 sensor, as well as 4K support. The Pocket Cinema Camera packs a Full HD Super 16 sensor into its slim magnesium alloy body, and offers some impressive functionality at a very competitive price point. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Photon 3D scanner digitizes real world objects on your desktop While 3D printers are gradually becoming more popular, their possibilities are limited if you lack the skills to create custom 3D models. This has led to a surge in the development of user-friendly 3D software, as well as affordable 3D scanners that can digitize real world objects. Matterform's Photon 3D scanner is the latest and most affordable example to be launched via a successful crowdfunding campaign. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Special promotion for Gizmag readers Linux® Quick Fix Notebook- Free 696 Page eBook Instant access to precise, step-by-step solutions for every essential Linux administration task from basic configuration and troubleshooting to advanced security and optimization. If you're responsible for delivering results with Linux, Linux® Quick Fix Notebook brings together all the step-by-step instructions, precise configuration commands, and real-world guidance you need. This book's handy Q&A format gives you instant access to specific answers, without ever forcing you to wade through theory or jargon. 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