Sharp Unveils World’s First 3D HD Camera Module For Mobile Devices

Sharp Corporation has developed a 3D camera module for mobile devices capable of capturing high-definition (720p*²) 3D video images, an industry first. Sharp will start shipping samples in July. Mass production of these modules will begin within 2010.

The Next Evolution of 3D?

World’s First 256GB USB Flash Drive

Kingston Technology, the independent world leader in memory products, announced the launch of the world’s first 256GB USB flash drive, the Kingston Technology DataTraveler 300. It allows users to carry around a whole digital world, from thousands of image files to a whole database of documents. Users will also benefit from quick transfer rates and the option to password protects their data.

Nokia Patents Cell Phone that Recharges Itself by Harvesting Energy from Motion

Nokia is not adverse to dreaming up futuristic concepts (such as the Morph, pictured above, though the Morph used solar power), but this Piezoelectric Kinetic Energy Harvester sounds like it’ll either do what the company says it will, or bring about the grim future world envisioned in The Matrix where we’re all suddenly batteries. Batteries!

Underwear Made From Bananas Launched In Australia

Australian underwear company AussieBum has been monkeying around and the result is a range of men’s underwear made with bananas. AussieBum’s Lloyd Jones said on Friday that the new eco-friendly banana range of undies incorporated 27 percent banana fibre, 64 percent cotton and nine percent lycra.

Skinput Turns Your Arm Into a Touchscreen Display

Those who find the touchscreens on their ever shrinking gadgets too fiddly to handle, will be glad to hear scientists are developing a new touch surface… your own arm.  Developers at Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University are working together to create an armband that projects an interface directly on to your skin.

How To Make A USB Mini Fridge

Physics, how we love you. You keep our feet on the ground, ontologically-ambiguous cats locked in boxes and photons in two places at the same time. It also enables the Peltier effect, what’s that we hear you breathlessly ask?

If a current is passed between two different materials a heat differential is created; one side hot the other cold. The principle is used in all sorts of situations including cooling processors and mini-fridges, though apparently they’re not that efficient, just small and light…

Cars of the Future Could Be Powered By Their Bodywork

Parts of a car’s bodywork could one day double up as its battery, according to the scientists behind a new €3.4 million project announced today.

Researchers from Imperial College London, UK, and their European partners, including Volvo Car Corporation, are developing a prototype material which can store and discharge electrical energy and which is also strong and lightweight enough to be used for car parts.

Honda’s Solar Hydrogen Station

Honda began operation of a next generation solar hydrogen station prototype at the Los Angeles Center of Honda R&D America. Designed as a single, integrated unit to fit in the user’s garage, Honda’snext generation Solar Hydrogen Station reduces the size of the system, while producing enough hydrogen (0.5kg) via an 8-hour overnight fill for daily commuting (10,000 miles per year) for a fuel cell electric vehicle. Compatible with a Smart Grid energy system, the Honda SolarHydrogen Station would enable users to refill their vehicle overnight without the requirement of hydrogen storage, which would lower CO2 emissions by using less expensive off-peak electrical power.

The Magazine of the Future

8 Incredible Solar Airplanes‏

Blast-Proof Your Walls With The X-Flex Wallpaper

Think prayer is all you can do to keep your home safe in the middle of a warzone?  With the X-Flex bomb-surviving wallpaper, you just might have another line of defense.  It’s not exactly salvation, but it could help keep your fortress intact for just a little while longer.

Audi Autonomous TTS – Driverless Sports Car

Audi is working hard on a car that doesn’t require the driver to anything except sit there and watch the scenery go by. It’s called the “Autonomous Audi TTS,” not the catchiest of names, and it’s “intended to explore the best capabilities of current and future driver assistance technologies.”