The Virtual Cable is a car navigation system which can display the route as a cable which has the appearance of hanging in the air like a tram cable. The image of the cable appears to be 3D and part of the landscape that you are driving on. The driver then uses his peripheral vision to follow the cable which indicates where corners and bends are. For the cable to appear in 3D the system uses a unique volumetric display which embeds the image on to the windscreen.

This device does look promising. Check out the videos over at MVS.

This new tracking chip is built by S5 Wireless. The chip is smaller then a coin and is a low cost unit coming in either the chip, module or a tag ($2, $7 or $10). Batteries that power these chips have the potential to keep the device going for up to 4 years with a 2100mAh battery transmitting once every 30 minutes. Main uses for this chip could be to attach it to products, people, vehicles or pets. The chip uses signals from S5’s own network of stations in some cities in the US. Eventually it will roll out to more cities and hopefully countries around the globe. Accuracy is not quite as good as GPS, but outdoors it can triangulate you to the nearest 35 feet and indoors to about the closest 45 feet. For a cheap low powered device this isn’t bad at all.

Lets hope they can roll out the tracking stations asap 🙂

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Perfect8 has announced a new centre speaker which costs a whopping $40000. That’s a drop in the ocean compared to the other channel speakers which cost $277k which compliment each other. To buy the whole set up (including rear speakers) you are looking at half a million dollars. In the centre speaker you will find midranges and tweeter in the top section. The unit is adjustable for 4:3 and 16:9 viewing on screen. In total there are 5 speakers in this setup.

Features
Sensitivity: 87dB SPL at 1m
Impedance: 4 ohms
Freq. Response: 35-34,000Hz (+/- 2dB)
Recommended Power: 200 watts
Recommended Room Size: 20-200m^2
Size: 14″ wide x 32″ tall x 22″ deep
Weight: Bass Unit – 77 lbs, Midrange Unit – 22 lbs
Price: $40,000

Via: AudioJunkies

This new bike is a hybrid which uses pedal power and/or electric power. By mixing the two together you get a very environmental friendly bike which makes it easier on the rider to get where they want to go quicker. The bike is limited to 20mph so it does not require a bike license. The bike’s frame is made from 60% post industrial recycled aluminium and houses the NiMH batteries that keep this thing running. The motor which powers the bike is 36V/500W and if used alone can get you to travel 25 miles even if you do not pedal. With the thumb control you can switch the function of the motor which can be either pushing the bike, or be used to generate power if you are downhill or pedaling.

The regular battery can take you about 30 miles with pedaling and an extra battery doubles that. Of course with more downhill’s and pedaling you can increase that range even further.

For comfort the bike includes a gel seat and can be moved around up or down, forwards or back to get the best seating position. Suspension is also included in the forks allowing for more smoothness.

The gear system is also very fancy and is built by NuVinci. It allows a variable transmission which makes the gear changes smoothly increase or decrease.

This is a lot of cool stuff packed in a bike. Would the 25 – 60 mile range be enough to get you to switch to one? I’d still be afraid of being knocked off by a car so probably wouldn’t switch.

Via: GadgetsBlog and Gizmag

GPS is a great system which can track receivers anywhere in the world to just a few meters. It allows for sat nav software to trace where you are and tell you where to go, it can track how fast you are moving and in what direction. GTXC now has integrated a GPS receiver in to one of it’s shoes. The idea behind this is the ability to track where people are should they be out somewhere and go missing. Ideal situations would me missing climbers as it would allow them to easily be tracked (assuming they haven’t lost a shoe). The GPS receiver and transmitter is small too. It weighs just one ounce and can relay information of it’s location via a GSM network. Someone else can then track where you are with software over the internet. There is a cost for this service though and it runs in at $10/month for tracking. For situations where safety is a problem then this could be ideal though.

Via: gopaultech

This pen packs in a ton of features making it more then just your average pen. Inside you will find a wireless low power digital video recorder which also includes a microphone. The pen can capture images at 30 frames per second at a 320×240 resolution. Other features include motion sensing which allows you to position the pen and only start recording when it detects something moving. Information is captured to a microSD card and also Bluetooth is inside which allows you to hook it up to your PC. The pen can record in low light conditions and when motion is detected, an alarm can be sent wirelessly. Audio recording can also trigger the device too.

The pen will hopefully see light in March of 2008.

Via: Gizmag

Sandisk have launched the Sansa TakeTV video player. The TakeTV is a flash memory based device which when cradled has AV outputs compatible with your TV. The idea here is that you download video from your computer on to the TakeTV and then can watch the video on regular TV’s which have AV inputs. The launch of the TakeTV also see’s a beta release of Fanfare which is a service you can use to download video to your device. Formats supported are DivX, XVID and MPEG-4. The USB port works with both 1.1 and 2.0 and 2 models are available which are the 4GB model and 8GB model costing $99 and $149.99.

Via: PMPToday

A new Sat Nav system from Sanyo has been announced. The model number is NV-HD880FT and it has a huge 8″ screen covering the majority of the front. In side you will find a 30GB hard drive for storing everything you need such as maps and we guess MP3’s and video. The device also has a 1Seg TV tuner, and also supports terrestrial channels too. It measures 206.8 x 121 x 38mm and weighs 950g.

This looks like one very nice sat nav system although the price does reflect that at a hefty $1952 when launched in Japan next month.

Via: UberGizmo

Several months ago, Barclays announced a new security system for online banking in the UK. The device is named PINsentry and is used to log in to their online banking sytem by providing it your PIN code. The PINsentry is a small calculator sized device which has a slot for your credit card on the top, a screen and a keypad to enter your PIN number. After successful authentication you then use the number provided on the screen to log in to your online bank account. Not every Barclays online customer will get a PINsentry device right away. Only those who set up payments to new third party accounts will begin to use the PINsentry device. Around half a million customers either will, or have just received their PINsentry device.

I received mine a couple of weeks back and it does what it says it does. I can log in first time, every time with an 8 digit number generated from my card and PIN code. On a security side it is more secure because it requires that the person logging in has the physical card to log in with and also knows the PIN code as well as having a Barclays PINsentry device. The only downside I have found is that it needs to travel with me so that I can access my accounts anywhere I want and I tend to still forget this and find I cannot log on when needed.

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