Camera Phones Plaza

Most of the car concepts I see today tend to adopt a more aerodynamic shape. But in order to provide enough power to make a car go as fast as possible, you need to use some sort of fossil fuel. However, car constructors are trying to provide alternative ways to power your car, as the green house effect leading to global warming has become an important issue. For instance, in a hydrogen-powered car, fuel cells turn hydrogen into electricity, so that they completely do away with the use of fossil fuels. Moreover, these hydrogen-based engines are unbelievably efficient as well as clean and safe. One of the latest “green” cars conceptualized by Peugeot is the Ozone car, not your aerodynamic fast car anymore, but it's a peculiar concept nonetheless.

Gizmodo tells us that this hydrogen powered fuel cell transportation vehicle seems to be addressing kids, rather than adults. The whole barrel-like structure is encased between two giant wheels that are controlled by two separate electric motor powered by fuel cells.

The car comes with only two seats and it can be controlled via a joystick panel in the dashboard. Although it seems awkward at first, the design with a semi transparent glass casing offers a great interior volume and exterior view. In case you want to get in or out of it, all you need is to activate the huge glass doors that slide 360 degrees into the symmetric metal body.

Although the battle between the LCD and plasma displays hasn’t ended yet, a new technology is set to stir things up once again on the display market. Presented a couple of years ago, the laser rear-projection displays are ready to be commercialized sometime this year.

Mitsubishi first presented its brand new rear-projection laser-based TV tech dubbed LaserVue back at CES this year. The Japanese maker claims that the new display models should be hitting stores worldwide in Q3 2008.

LaserVue will be primarily released in 65-inch and 73-inch versions. Engadget reports that Mitsubishi didn’t reveal much about the laser technology, other than the fact that LaserVue provides 200 percent color gamut, more than twice of what most traditional HDTVs are capable of. Mitsubishi’s models also run at 120Hz, and boast 500 nits of brightness. When compared to the current LCD and plasma displays, LaserVue doesn’t seem to be offering anything else besides improved color depth (particularly in the red part of the spectrum).

All in all, it looks like blacks are black and the viewing angles puts any DLP out there to shame. The 10-inch thick laser displays will have prices comparable to those of LCDs and plasmas, which could make these models best sellers towards the end of 2008. Las, but ot least, Mitsubishi claims that LaserVue draws under 200 watts, about half that of LCD and a third of plasma.

What do you do when you want organize an important meeting, but some key persons can’t make it to the event? Sure, you can do an advanced webcast and let the missing guys communicate their important thoughts over the Internet. But sometimes, that isn’t enough to fully transmit the intended message. What you need is the DVE Telepresence Stage.

DVICE informs that this is an advanced setup that lets you project a person that can’t make it to an important meeting (be it guest, professor, CEO or whatever other function) in 3D in front of other gathered people. It's a dual projector system where the result resembles a Star Wars-style full color hologram. However, there’s a big difference: the speaker who broadcasts can move freely around the "stage area."

Of course, this is not to say the person who couldn’t make it to the meeting is miraculously materializing into the room, teleporting herself or making some kind of astral projection. Nonetheless, it could leave a good impression. In case you can’t afford an entire Stage system, DVE also provides a Telepresence Podium, which allows you to see to see half of your speaker's body anyway.

Apparently, the two systems aren’t that cheap, but, in time, it should save you some airplane ticket money that you’d be frantically spending in order to make it to those important meetings.

It’s been a while since I last presented a cool watch. Everybody is crazy about watch phones, but real connectors know that mechanical timepieces are the best. Of course, mechanical timepieces are way pricier than digital ones, even though they might not look that interesting and sleek. Once in a while, however, we get to see some cool out of the ordinary design that makes me question the need for digital stuff.

<-234x60 Half Banner - left->That is the Chapter One watch from a new company called Maîtres du Temps. According to DVice, this timepiece was created as a collaboration between three of today's leading watch designers, Christophe Claret, Peter Speake-Marin, and Roger Dubuis. Chapter One is equipped with an advanced tourbillion mechanism, along with a retrograde GMT and date indicators, plus a mono-pusher chronograph totalizing 60 minutes. Additionally, just under and above the dial is a pair of rolling displays showing the day of the week and the moon phase, respectively.

Maîtres du Temps only made 33 Chapter One watches, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem after all, as one watch proves to be more expensive than a pretty spacious home. That would be around $400,000, if you really have to know.

Some people really like to take their cameras everywhere they go. On top of Mount Everest, underwater, in the desert, Moon, Mars…. they need to take pictures of those cool places. Unfortunately, not every digital camera can operate in extreme conditions. There are some solutions out there, but apart from the ruggedness they offer, they don’t really provide the needed picture quality. Olympus now comes along and offers a solution that is both rugged and offers good quality for your snapshots.

<-120x240 Vertical Banner - left->The new 10.1 megapixel Stylus 1030 SW digital camera from Olympus is waterproof down to 33', withstands falls from 6 1/2', and is impervious to temperatures as low as 14 F, allowing you to capture high quality shots in extreme outdoor conditions with impunity. The camera resists up to 220 lbs. of pressure, thanks to its rugged metal body encased in a frame pressure-sealed with rubber gaskets to prevent penetration from water, sand, dirt, and dust.

Olympus even thought of integrating a manometer that measures air and water pressure, displaying the readings on the LCD so you can quickly determine depth and altitude of your photographs. If you are concerned about the picture quality, know that this is no ordinary digital camera. It uses the same technology designed for professional digital SLRs, as the image processor delivers true-to-life color with sharper detail and less noise than typical digital cameras.

The compact rugged camera also features a 3.6X optical zoom (5X digital) and the 2.7" LCD lets you see things clearer underwater or in direct sunlight. It also comes with a cool panoramic mode which connects three consecutive images, allowing you to print 5.4" x 21" wide-angle photographs of mountain ranges or landscapes.

You won’t be shooting only natural wonders and spiffy landscape with this one, because you also get an advanced face detection system for clear portraits, plus digital image stabilization, and shadow adjustment technology that ensure high quality photographs in all environments. IN case you need to shoot a short clip, the Olympus rugged camera lets you record AVI Movie videos (up to 640 x 480) with sound. It only has an internal memory of 14.7 MB which is dedicated to the firmware mostly, but you can use XD and microSD memory cards. The package also includes a rechargeable Li-Ion battery.

The rugged camera is already available and you can get it from Hammacher Schlemmer for $499.95