Posted: 05 Nov 2013 05:00 AM PST
It seems like biking is becoming more and more popular these days. With more cyclists on the roads, this brings up a very important safety question – how many bikers actually wear helmets all of the time? Now, we’ve all heard tons of excuses as to why bikers don’t always wear helmets, from them not being comfortable on their heads to some people not thinking them fashionable enough. According to Jeff Woolf, a cyclist from the UK, one of the main reasons most people don’t wear helmets when they’re biking is that they take up too much space. Woolf has a solution to this problem – the Morpher helmet.
What Is A “Morpher” Helmet?
The Morpher helmet is unique in that if goes from full-on bike helmet to virtually flat in a matter of seconds, which makes it a space saver for anyone in any situation. It can go from your head to your bag or case quickly without taking up hardly any of your valuable space. In case anyone is wondering about the quality of The Morpher, it has already passed several UK and European safety tests.
Woolf is currently seeking money to ensure further production of The Morpher helmet through the site Indiegogo. On the site, he describes the bike crash that might’ve taken his life had he not been wearing a helmet. That crash got him thinking about how he could help promote bike safety around the world, and, years later, after he surveyed some of the populace of London came the Morpher helmet. What’s even more interesting is the fact that if the Morpher helmets are successful with cycling, Woolf also hopes they can be used for other sports, such as hockey and snow boarding.
As of this writing, the Morpher helmet has raised $4,310 of their $35,000 U.S. goal. Once they are produced, they will initially be selling for approximately $110. If you contribute a certain amount to their cause now, though, you can get one for around half of that price.
[Image via Morpher Helmet]
[SOURCE: Indiegogo]
The post Morpher Helmet Saves Space & Lives appeared first on TechBeat.
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Posted: 05 Nov 2013 04:00 AM PST
If you are the kind of energetic person who relies on their bike to get around, you are well aware that bike theft is a massive problem. Current locks on the market can be ineffective as theft deterrents, since bike thieves have found numerous ways to beat the particular device’s security features.
If you have been the victim of bike theft, then you will be fully aware of the impossibility of finding your bike once a thief gets his dirty hands on it. Now we have the technology to improve the chances of bike recovery, because we are now able to track a bike via GPS if a thief manages to take it.
The newly launched features of the Lock8 bike security product are designed to keep thieves from trying to take your bike in the first instance, but if they do manage to steal it, thanks to GPS, then you’ll know exactly where it is! The device connects to your bike’s frame, so unlike your typical chain or D lock, it’s always with you. The system does not rely on a typical lock key, which can be easily misplaced, Lock8 is paired to your iPhone and you use its mobile app to lock and unlock the bike once the lock chain is connected.
Lock8 contains six sensors to ascertain if an attempted theft is in progress, it can detect changes in temperature to the cable of the lock, it can tell if the cable has been severed and it can detect motion and vibration. Any of those effects will then trigger a 120-decibel alarm to scare the thief away. At the same time, the owner will be notified of the alarm via push notification on the owner’s smartphone and can then track the bike’s movement. While the main use for Lock8 is to keep your bike from being stolen and locating it if it is actually taken, there are some side benefits. Since the lock is unlocked via smartphone, customers can easily share their bikes with friends or can even rent them out!
In fact, the Lock8 system could be widely adopted by bike-rental agencies as a way to keep track of their fleets of bikes and stop them from being stolen, especially when rented out by a tourist who may not lock the bike correctly. CEO Franz Salzmann and CTO Daniel Zajarias-Fainsod, had been victims of bike theft. Because of this, they decided to design and produce a product that would not only protect their transportation, but would also enable users to keep track of their bikes and loan them out to friends or colleagues.
Now the team is ready to make the product available to customers. To start production, the company is launching a crowdfunding campaign. The team plans to sell the device for $199, but early backers of the project will be able to purchase it for $149 by contributing to the campaign.
[Image via lock8]
The post Lock8 Smart Bike Security appeared first on TechBeat.
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Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:00 AM PST
Ashton Kutcher made some waves in the tech/geek scene when he was chosen to portray Steve Jobs in the movie Jobs. I don’t know what you think about the movie, and I can’t really give my opinion as I have not seen it myself, but judging by IMDB ratings, I probably should not waste time on it.
Mister Kutcher is not done with the scene, though. He was recently announced as a Lenovo Product Engineer. To be fair to the Hollywood actor, he is not a stranger to technology. He is a self-professed techie and has been involved in investing in the tech scene for some time. Perhaps he does have something going for him.
In an interview conducted by Joanna Stern, Kutcher says that he was “looking for a company that was willing to take risks and wasn’t making ‘me too’ devices.” That is supposedly how he and Lenovo got together.
This is not the first time that a celebrity has taken on such a role. Remember Alicia Keys and BlackBerry? While her role as Global Creative Director is not exactly the same as “Product Engineer”, I suppose it is understandable for people to have reservations at this kind of juxtaposition of Hollywood and technology companies.
When asked about this “issue”, Kutcher seemed to take it quite well, saying:
“Name-dropping” notwithstanding, this guy actually went to engineering school. Who knows? This career pivot might just work out better for him.
What do you think?
[Image via ABCNews]
The post Meet Lenovo’s Product Engineer: Ashton Kutcher appeared first on TechBeat.
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Posted: 05 Nov 2013 02:00 AM PST
As someone who has owned an iPhone and an Android phone (specifically the Samsung Galaxy S3), I can say that I wish some of the features overlapped. Don’t get me wrong, they are both great phones – I just wish I could do some of the same things on both of the phones. Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks this way.
In a recent interview with the BBC’s Click program, Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, had some very interesting things to say about Apple and Google. Indeed, Wozniak wishes that Siri was able to locate random places half as well as its Google Maps competition. Apple and Google are often seen at odds with each other, but if Wozniak had his way, their relationship would be mended in the near future. Partnerships are great in theory, but they are something entirely different in reality.
How Likely Is This Partnership?
When asked if his wishes were ever very likely to be fulfilled, he responded, “I don’t know. If I were there, it would be pretty likely. I’m probably wrong, there’s probably an awful lot I don’t know about the business concerns and one thing you’ve got to remember is a company has always got to make money…”
He continues to expand his thoughts throughout the interview by saying that one company shouldn’t be able to hold all of the technology and that it should be able to be shared for the greater good. Could you imagine a world where the Apples and the Googles of the world played nice with each other? Just think of the technology that could be developed if each of the companies worked together instead of in competition. But, even as Wozniak laments, there’s probably some behind-the-scenes reason why Apple and Google will never clasp hands in partnership.
If by some chance they did team up though, would they create the world’s first iDroid? What an impressive phone that would be! One can only hope.
[Image via iphonehacks]
The post Steve Wozniak Wishes Apple & Google Would Team Up appeared first on TechBeat.
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Posted: 05 Nov 2013 01:00 AM PST
A European research project has developed a portable device that makes fire from water. It doesn’t use flammable gases either and it produces its own fuel as needed! The system works by combining Hydrogen and Oxygen at the very tip of the torch, creating a flame that is cooler and much easier to handle than other, more commonly used mixtures of oxygen with propane or acetylene.
Research Technologist with ITM Power, Andrew Ellis explained: “This is an electrolyzer system we’ve got here. It’s been developed to use a standard mains electricity supply, and water. The water is split into hydrogen and oxygen gases and fed into a torch where a flame is produced, which can then be used for brazing or any other industrial application where flame is used. So it’s just using water to make a flame, basically.”
Typically, the use of electrolyzers has been limited by the high costs of membranes and of catalysts that require precious metals such as platinum or other similar metals. The researchers behind this project, wanted to make this technology more affordable. Ellis said: “We’ve got a whole team of chemists working on new formulations of membrane, which have shown increases in the performance of the electrolyzer. We’ve also been doing lots of research on catalysts, trying to reduce the amount of platinum and looking into much cheaper materials that can be used in the cells. And this research has led to big reduction in the cost of electrolyzer systems.”
Welding consultant, Rory Olney, said: “You can see from the flame that it’s a lot softer compared to something like an oxy-acetylene flame. There’s no actual hot spot just off the tip of the nozzle, so glare from the flame is a lot less aggressive on your eyes. So you see I’m just wearing clear goggles.”
TWI/SafeFlame Project Coordinator, Steven Baines, said: “We have high temperature, high velocity, which can melt the work piece very quickly, and that’s one of the principle downsides.”
Acetylene must be kept in pressurized bottles and are dangerous and inconvenient. In fact, their use is banned in locations where gas leakage could be risky. The hot oxyacetylene flame requires extra care when working with sensitive metals such as aluminium. But a Hydrogen-based flame is gentle and it is cleaner too, because it only produces water when it burns. Nick Ludford, a materials scientist with TWI, said that compared to acetylene gas, they anticipate that the cost of the gas in their new unit would be at least 20 times cheaper than acetylene. This is due to the absence of expenses like gas storage, transportation and insurance.
Rory Olney said: “One of the main benefits of this torch, this system, is that the torch always remains cold because the flame, as it’s being produced, burns on the outside of the torch. So it’s cold to touch, and as I’m using it, the torch never gets hot. And when you turn the flame off at the [end] of operation, the torch will also remain cold afterwards, so you can put it down anywhere you want.”
The advantages of this system will be assessed by small and medium-sized enterprises in the near future when the technology will likely to become commercially available. As of now, the prototype electrolyzer system is being thoroughly tested by welding professionals in the UK.
[Image via astrologyunboxed]
The post SafeFlame Project Creates Fire From Water appeared first on TechBeat.
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Tuesday 5 November 2013
Morpher Helmet Saves Space & Lives
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