Smartwatch 33% off

Pebble Steel left & original Pebble right
Credit: Pebble/The Verge

If you've been thinking about a smartwatch, but haven't jumped yet, you might like to have a look at the Pebble, which has just dropped from $149 to $99.

Its among the most popular, with advantages including one week battery life, readable-in-the-brightest-sunlight display, hundreds of apps & watchfaces including design-your-own.

$99 is the new price for the original Pebble. Pebble Steel has dropped $50 too, now $199.

https://getpebble.com/ / smart watch smartwatch Bluetooth on sale price reduction reduced save saving /

iOS 8 shunned by refusenik fanbois

Credit: Fiksu/The Register

Analysis firms differ, & unsurprisingly, Apple paints a rosier picture than anyone else, but take-up of iOS 8 seems to be slower than any version since iOS 5.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/07/apple_ios8_slowest_adoption_rate_ios5/ / Apple persuade fanboi legions old versions mobile operating system OS iOS 8 adoption rates new version stalled equal numbers Apple fanfolk new and old operating system rollout of iOS 8 least successful since iOS 5 mobe app bazaar Fiksu take-up take up slower just under 40 per cent users using the latest operating system failed to persuade fanboi legions abandon old versions mobile operating system adoption rates new version stalled new and old operating system rollout of iOS 8 least successful iOS 6 iOS 7 50 per cent Fiksu analysis analysing version of iOS people running its client apps unreliabl updated visits App Store analysis firms assessments Mixpanel 45 per cent of Apple switched new version Jony Ive flat design parallax parallaxing /

Tesla D announcement — its all-wheel drive + safety features — updated

Update — Tesla D from the bottom up
Credit: Mark Ralston—AFP/Getty Images/Time

Making good on his tweet of a few days ago, at 7pm US Pacific Time, Thursday 09 October, Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, revealed "D" & "something else."

As previously suggested in these pages, the "D" stands for dual motors, one driving the front wheels, the other driving the back, providing all wheel drive.

Tesla claims that unlike fossil fuel vehicles, the addition of 4WD has improved efficiency, yielding improvements in acceleration, range & top speed.

Update 11 October: Tesla claims range at a steady 65 mph is improved from 261 miles for the standard Model S to 295 miles for the 85D.

And the "something else"? Driver assistance features, which have been referred to as "auto-pilot". They include:

● change lane on driver use of the turn indicator
● automatically apply the brakes to avoid a collision
● ability to read speed signs & reduce speed if necessary

http://chargedevs.com/newswire/tesla-d-is-more-revolutionary-than-you-think/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/10/09/tesla-musk-safety-driver-aids/16986665/

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/tesla-announcement-sparks-speculation-26082605

http://time.com/3487514/tesla-motors-d-not-self-driving/ / luxury electric car maker Tesla Motors Model S sedan upgrade faster safer all-wheel-drive CEO Elon Musk something else dual motor rear-wheel-drive power front wheels powering rear heavy less efficient optimizing optimise optimize top speed 155 mph 130 mph rocket SpaceX safety features steer itself lane brake automatically move the car over a lane when driver turn signal use cameras read speed limit signs adjust car's speed auto pilot drive itself driver-assist features Raj Rajkumar pioneer self-driving cars Carnegie Mellon University /

German genius invents machine gun that makes & fires paper airplanes

Yes, it really does make paper airplanes & then launches them.



http://sploid.gizmodo.com/mad-genius-creates-awesome-fully-automated-paper-airpla-1644140869

Or, you could make something similar using Lego:

/ German genius invention inventions fully automated paper airplane machine gun machine gun folds plain paper sheets into airplanes designed design 3D printed crowdfunding mass manufacturing share his plans aeroplane /

Optical zoom for your smartphone?

Many, myself included, have argued that the best camera for the task at hand is the one you have with you & that for most of us, most of the time, that's a camera phone.

Despite the strength of the above argument, a major failing remains the lack of optical zoom, apart from such atypical & bulky examples, as the Galaxy S4 Zoom.

However, a solution may be at hand: under development is a compact zoom lens which uses elements similar to progressive focus lenses used in glasses. It allows changing focal length (i.e. zooming) by moving the elements of the lens, sideways

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/531246/lenses-that-move-sideways-could-improve-smartphone-snaps/

Galaxy S4 Zoom

http://www.google.com.au/url?q=http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4_zoom-5447.php&sa=U&ei=yPU0VLfUH8jX8gWnpICoAg&ved=0CDYQFjAB&usg=AFQjCNG5w3qjRwV5gR8tmLAdNJQWSnPfRg / startup DynaOptics lenses move side to side forward and backward high-quality optical zoom smartphones pack a camera-quality optical zoom into a smartphone lenses magnify moving from side to side forward and backward digital zoom software pixelated photos progressive lens bifocals overlapping fashion CEO cofounder Li Han Chan samples testing phones point-and-shoot cameras curved lens concave convex aperture simple electric motor image sensor prototypes magnify image quality fine tune Allen Yi professor Ohio State University studied /

A charge for your phone in 5 minutes — update

You're leaving in 5 minutes & your phone is dead. We don't have an app for that, but Power Practical does have a piece of hardware:

Enter the Pronto: it's an external battery, which will accept enough charge in 5 minutes to recharge an iPhone 5. In the scenario above, if the Pronto is dead too, plug it in for the five minutes left before you leave. If it has some charge (indicator lights for state-of-charge), you may be good to go.

Either way, when you leave, take your phone & Pronto, & charge when convenient.

Pronto comes in two models, 4,500 mAh & 13,500 mAh capacity, with significant differences in capability. E.g. the 5 minute scenario above is for the 13,500 mAh model. With the 4,500 model, you would need 20 minutes.

Pronto is a Kickstarter project. More details at:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/powerpractical/the-pronto-fast-charge-battery

Update: after less than 24 hours, Pronto has already exceeded its funding target & all "early birds" for the 13,500 mAh variant have been taken up./ Pronto Promtus Latin quick battery pack store power fast wall outlet recharge battery pack high-power 2.4 Amp USB port capacity small milli Amp hour capacity dual high-power 2.4 A USB ports 12V adapter charge larger devices laptops DSLR cameras drone batteries Power Practical price project products fast charging design battery cells safely safe safety universal battery packs developed custom circuit boards quickly charge dedicated AC wall chargers high quality lithium polymer cell custom circuit board charging indestructible enclosure tough portable devices die cast hard anodized aluminum enclosure abuse accidents damage durable case water dirt elastic nylon strap stand charging charge blue cap orange silicone seal ports nylon strap cap protects prototype energy universal battery cell working prototypes Pronto 5 Pronto 12 designs production invention PowerPot /

Oxygen absorbing material may allow us to breathe underwater

Colour changes with oxygen saturation: black when saturated, pink after oxygen release
Credit: Credit: University of Southern Denmark/Gizmag

Scientists at the University of Southern Denmark have synthesised a new material which is able to absorb oxygen from air or water, & subsequently release it in a vacuum or when heated. A few grains could supply enough oxygen for a breath. A bucketful could absorb all of the oxygen from a room.

Possible uses include SCUBA & medical oxygen without large, heavy tanks

http://www.gizmag.com/crystalline-material-absorb-oxygen-denmark/34064/ / specially synthesized crystalline materials absorb store oxygen high concentrations release stored oxygen controlled manner few grains divers diver carry bulky scuba tanks new material element cobalt bound specially designed organic molecule available oxygen ambient temperature barometric pressure absorption of oxygen surroundings reversible reaction irreversibly oxygen absorbs oxygen selective chemisorptive process Professor Christine McKenzie University of Southern Denmark sensor container for oxygen bind store transport oxygen solid artificial hemoglobin crystalline material changes color absorbing releasing oxygen black saturated pink oxygen released varying constituent structure bind release oxygen different rates regulate oxygen supply fuel cells face masks use layers of the material provide pure oxygen directly from the air bulky air tanks lung patients carry heavy oxygen tanks artificial photosynthesis journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry Chemical Science /