I have always been a fan of car concepts. Every year we see cars designed by designers who want to take them to the next level. With functionality and being environment friendly, a common trend in recent concepts one would think that there is no way designers can make mistakes. Enter the BMW Lovos.
Designed by 24 year old Pforzheim University graduate Anne Forschner, the name of the car means Lifestyle of Voluntary Simplicity. This name is derived from the 260 scale like photovoltaic cells that recurs at the car’s exterior. Each of these move and follow the sun possibly to power the car in a way.
This video of the Citroën GT is getting a lot of views lately on Youtube.
Set to become one of the most expensive production cars sold today, this vehicle is a true scene stealer with its stylish exterior and drool worthy interior. Originally designed for the game Gran Turismo, the car is set to be launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show this coming September at a whopping $1.8 Million U.S. dollars.
When I first saw the Aptera 2e, I was quick in classifying it as another great looking vehicle concept that will never really have any real world use. With number of wild vehicle designs coming out every year it is very rare to find any revolutionary design that actually gets into mass production. When I heard that the vehicle will come out this fall, however, I felt that the car needs some looking into.
The Aptera is actually classified as a motorcycle with its three wheel and two seat capacity. The most amazing feature this car offers, however, is its battery pack which boasts of more than 200mpg and a 100-mile range between charges.
Totaled- An insurance term that describes the condition of a damaged car when the cost to repair the damage exceeds the actual appraised value of the vehicle.
Urban Dictionary
For many buyers having a car “totaled” may be good as it will provide for them a replacement vehicle. Overall, however, this occurrence in vehicles results to higher insurance rates for drivers. Because of this, car manufacturers and insurance companies are working hard to try and reduce the chances that cars will be “totaled”. A look into the recent developments and innovations that car companies are coming out with, are just amazing. Presently, these developments have successfully lowered the cost of various auto parts and components and may further offer cost savings in the coming years.
Last year, we gave you our predictions of what will be big in 2008. Though, we have seen a lot of the rumors disproved by a lot of the new gadgets that came out, it is undeniable that some of the theories we covered involving the iPhone and some of the games and gadgets in this article were spot on.
This year, we have done more research, and instead of giving you a report on what rumors around the gadgetsphere, we are going to give you a glimpse of what the big Tech boys are cooking for us, the picky and pickle consumers. These five technologies will definitely make you think twice before buying a PC in the next few months early this year, which is just perfect with the bleak economy still trying to make a recovery.
Core Wars: Intel’s i7
One of this year’s biggest buzz maker is the release of intel’s core i7 CPU’s which was known as Nehalem for many. Unlike upgrades from previous chips from Intel, this is a major upgrade from the chip company which boasts of a performance that is even way beyond what their high end quad cores can do.
It is quite sucky that just a few months after they released their quad core chips, Intel has already made those hardware a little out dated if not soon obsolete.
So how big of an update is the i7? Unlike previous upgrades, Intel’s latest chip does not only pack more cores into their CPU for better computing power. It has actually redesigned its hardware for a speed boost previously thought impossible.
With the start of the new year, it has become a sort of habit to look back on the past twelve months and look forward with excitement to the coming days and weeks. The last few days have been that of making assessments and predictions of what the year 2008 holds for us.
The advent of the new year has made me think of the things I hope to achieve as well as a lot of the things I wish for. A chat with friends a few days ago has brought me to asking them about their wish lists for the year. It did not come as a surprise, though, when they gave me a handful of devices for their wish list, instead of, say,a new president of their choice or “world peace”.
Their responses have brought me to think of my own wish list. On my search for that as well as with a few of my friend’s response, here are a list of gadgets that we hope will be available by this year. These gadgets have been the subject of the hottest rumors last year.
After finding out that no Google phone is yet on the wait list, here are a few of the things that might be available by this year.
Apple Macbook Nano/ Tablet
Since mid last year, Apple fans have given rise to a rumor of a smaller more mobile version of its Macbooks. With the company’s great strides in touch and multi touch technologies, it is not surprising it they will indeed come up with something as cool as a Macbook Nano.
Concept cars are not new to us. Almost every year, we get a lot of cool and neat ideas from designers and car manufacturers on what could be the next big thing to hit our streets. Usually, a great lot of these concepts do not even reach the production stage. Still they serve as benchmarks for future concepts and innovations.
It is a challenge then for many auto show organizers to come with a challenge that will stretch the creativity and imagination of different car manufacturers.
In the recent LA Auto Show, manufacturers are made to explore a realm in car concept and design that has not been explored before. They are made to look half a century from now, on what they think the cars of that time will be. This is perhaps the farthest in the future that car makers and designers are made to look at.
The following are concepts from major car manufacturers as they attempt to create a vision for us on what cars will look like 50 years from now.
Almost every driver knows that when it comes to cars, the seatbelt remains as the single most effective safety feature in our rides. With other safety devices coming out, it is getting harder to sort the clutter and truly know which safety features matter. If one goes through the list, most of the cool safety devices in our cars are installed to prevent injury in the event of an accident instead of preventing the accident itself. Read the rest of this entry »
With Hollywood spewing forth Science fiction movies left and right, many times we are given a peek into what the future might be like. Though, many portrayals of the not too distant future is done with an aim to delight the audience, a lot of the devices, and concepts shown in these movies are based on on-going research and might actually be used soon.
One of the things that film makers never fail to include in their visions for the future is the way we travel from one place to another. From the time machine of “Back to The Future”, to the flying cars in Minority Report, we have been given a peek of how our rides might look like a few years from now.
Though flying cars and highway-less cities are still far from becoming a reality, many concepts and innovations are currently being developed which could redefine the way we move around on four wheels.
Here is a peek on 5 technologies that might be available soon for the future motorist. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s a bird, it’s a plane… no it’s SuitSat. Working in space can be a little boring sometimes and every now and then astronauts (or cosmonauts, as they more aptly called) get out of their way to have some fun. What better idea is there then, than to fill an old worn out space suit with junk, shape it like a standing person, and toss it out into space. To add to the classic science fiction scene of a deserted astronaut, why not play some melodramatic song or film it and send it to YouTube.
Though funny, this practice was actually done by Russian cosmonauts to have fun while disposing of some of their garbage in space. This is how the idea of SuitSat1 was born- a satellite recycled from a worn out space suit. Launched early last year, SuitSat1 carried with it a radio transmitter that sent signals or data which include temperature readings, a slow-scan TV image and several specially coded messages for ham radio listeners. Along with the transmitter are recordings of children’s voices, imagery of the hundreds of signatures, poems and artwork they were able to solicit and of course, old laundry. After being in orbit a few days, its batteries eventually ran out and it burned as it re-entered the earth’s atmosphere September 7 of last year. But before that a lot of enthusiasts were able to enjoy the rare opportunity of tuning in to it.
Designed by 24 year old Pforzheim University graduate Anne Forschner, the name of the car means Lifestyle of Voluntary Simplicity. This name is derived from the 260 scale like photovoltaic cells that recurs at the car’s exterior. Each of these move and follow the sun possibly to power the car in a way.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane… no it’s SuitSat. Working in space can be a little boring sometimes and every now and then astronauts (or cosmonauts, as they more aptly called) get out of their way to have some fun. What better idea is there then, than to fill an old worn out space suit with junk, shape it like a standing person, and toss it out into space. To add to the classic science fiction scene of a deserted astronaut, why not play some melodramatic song or film it and send it to YouTube. 
