EN-V Urban Mobility Vehicle

The News - General Motors (GM) and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. Group (SAIC) have come up with a concept two-wheeled vehicle called EN-V.  EN-V(Electric Networked-Vehicle) is a two-seat, local emission-free vehicle propelled by electric motors in each of its two driving-mode wheels. EN-V is to address the need for personal urban transportation in the cities of the future.


The Good -The vehicle has autonomous operating capability which means the vehicle can automatically select the fastest route based on real-time traffic information. Freedom from Traffic Jams !

The Bad - EN-V can only travel upto 40 km on a single charge.

Read more at http://www.gizmag.com/gm-en-v-concept-vehicle/14617/

A mobile phone that works with AAA batteries

The News - An Indian mobile phone company has launched a low-cost handset that uses commonly available AAA sized batteries aimed at the rural corners of India and other parts of the world where power supply is not very stable.

The Good - It is an innovation aimed at the lower end of the pyramid and it will help bring improve the mobile phone penetration of rural areas, which is welcome.

The Challenge - The phone runs only for 1 hour non-stop on the AAA battery though it runs 3 hours non-stop on a rechargeable lithium battery. So definitely scope for improvement on that front.

Read more at - http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/techolic/post.htm?id=63017641&scid=hm_bl

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Google from your TV Set

The News - Google is reportedly trialing a new service which would include its search engine on set-top television boxes. The new set up boxes will run a version of Android and potentially will be integrated with the Google Ads

The Good - How many times you wanted to search more on the something you just saw on TV ? Life will become more easier and information lot more integrated.

The Bad - Will Google be serving us ads in lieu of free cable tv ?

Read more here - http://bit.ly/9qaGN9

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Turn your arm into gaming console or phone

The News - The idea is to turn your skin into a touch screen and your arm into the  input device. The devise is named Skinput (Skin Input), the device can detect different sound wavelengths generated when an arm or a hand is tapped, allowing the wearer to complete a function like sending a text message or making a phone call.

The Good - Skinput has an accuracy of 95% when detecting taps on a users arm and can be used when the body is in motion.

The Challenge- The devise in prototype stage and will take some time to be available commercially

Read more here
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10462255-1.html

Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net