The GM OnStar Ant vehicle uses a Nanorb wheel system, “independent robots that can arrange themselves in any configuration” along with artificial muscles called “electro-active polymer actuators” to change the position of its body panels. It’s probably made of adamantium too and it can transform itself faster than you can say “Optimus Prime” into any kind of vehicle, a shelter and, I bet, even in a killer ninja robot if programmed correctly. Fortunately for humans, is just a concept for the Robocar 2057 Design Challenge. [GM OnStar Ant]
Toshiba has recalled the AC adapters sold with its SD-P1600 portable DVD player between Jan 2005 and April 2006. The power units are, apparently, a “burn hazard.”
iPhoneSIMFree, the company that released the first GUI iPhone SIM unlock, has just provided an updated version of their SimFree unlocker for iPhone 1.1.1 phones. According to them, they can apply their unlock thanks to the iPhone Dev Team’s 1.1.1 Jailbreak. Their new software will work with virgin, never-unlocked iPhones with firmware 1.1.1 and bricked iPhones too. If that’s you, head over to their page for a step-by-step tutorial. This is just for IPSF unlocks, so people who unlocked with anySIM or iUnlock will have to wait; though hopefully not very much longer.
(UPDATE: Actually, they claim that their new application also restores the baseband of your iPhone if you used any of the free unlocks. The result: a bricked iPhone can now be fully brought to life and unlocked with their paid solution. People who already unlocked the iPhone with iPSF just need to jailbreak their iPhones and activate because, according to them: “there’s no need to re-apply the unlock because the unlock survives the firmware upgrade. It’s permanent.” – Jesús DÃaz) [iPhoneSIMFree]
Not only is the newest addition to Sony Ericsson’s Cyber-shot line a sleek black 2-megapixel number, there’s 3g HSDPA, 4GB Memory Stick Micro support (256MB included), tri-band GSM, FM radio, MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA/Microsoft DRM support, Bluetooth Stereo A2DP, and MPEG4/WMV/H.264/H.263 video all in a shell with a talk time of 9 hours. The K630i is definitely not the top of the line in the K-series, but it’s good enough that you can safely buy one and not feel like you’re missing out on too many features (it’s no MILF phone).
All those rumours about the new Wii SKU popping up in retail inventory systems has turned out to be nothing more than a new Wii system that comes with the Wiimote jacket. We’ve no clue why the system was called the “Wii Play ‘n Learn” internally, but perhaps it to imply that you should learn to use the safety jacket and not throw your Wiimote into your furniture like a five year old hopped up on pez and pop rocks. [Wired via Kotaku]
The possible Australian ban of plasmas and LCDs for poor power consumption has caused quite the stir (sidenote: there was quite the heated discussion of this story, and the fallacies of this report, on an Aussie IT journalist email list yesterday). The mothership mentioned things overnight, and this story from Asher Moses from SMH had some of the juiciest issues flagged, while he also quotes Jez Ford from Sound & Image on why the reports timelines are, well, INSANE (my word, not his).
Philips were the first company with a press release affirming their commitment to a global approach, and that the industry is already pushing standby power down below 1W and general consumption is trending down relative to size.
Read on for a general rant on this whole affair.
Blackberry maker RIM announced a partnership with Eatoni Ergonomics Inc to develop a new text keyboard technology. A signed agreement grants RIM licence to use Eatoni’s keyboard hardware and software tech. [Reuters]
Sarah at Lifehacker AU got a great tip yesterday. I’m confident most of the GizAU crew knows about StaticICE – if you don’t, get thee there post haste! Well tucked away in a tools area you can also find StaticICE browser search plug-ins for IE7 and Firefox. So the next time you’re tracking down the best price on some tech gear, you can search with impunity. [Lifehacker Australia]
The Cayago Magnum is the latest in Seabob’s line of underwater propulsion devices, and one look at the statistics will tell you that riding this bad boy will either kill you or give you the ride of your life. Perhaps that is why they are pitching it to rugged military professionals and not pasty nerds.
The limited edition Cayago is powered by 30 CAYAGO-Power High-Energy Li-Ion accumulators with a 10 speed electric motor that will provide continuous operation for up to 4 hours-even at extreme depths. A comprehensive navigation and location technology system is also thrown in for good measure-which will make it perfect for long range missions. Exact pricing details have not been announced, but if you think you are up to the challenge expect to pay well over $14,000 if it ever makes it to the consumer market. [Seabob via Gizmag]
We might like to throw barbs at Telstra now and then, but a little Aussie pride goes their way when we heard they won an International Engineering Consortium (IEC) 2007 InfoVision Award for the NextG wireless broadband service. [iTWire]
