GIRL ROBOT TO MODEL IN JAPAN

Love bots could soon be a possibility, now that Japan finally has a humanoid that theyre willing to strut around on their catwalks as a ...

WORLD'S LONGEST TRANS-SEA BRIDGE

The world's longest sea-crossing structure Hangzhou Bay Trans-sea Bridge was formally linked-up after a final section was welded (above) on June 26 one year ahead of the original schedule. The bridge is located south of the business hub of Shanghai.



The bridge links Shanghai to the industrial city of Ningbo across Hangzhou Bay, cutting the distance between them from about 250 miles to just 50 miles.



Costing 11.8 billion yuan (£0.77 billion), the structure will open to traffic 2008 following completion of the six-lane roadway that will permit vehicles to travel at speeds of up to 62 miles (100 km) per hour. .



Earlier this month builders connected the final link in the 20.13-mile-long Sutong Bridge.the longest cable-stayed structure of its kind, across the Yangtze River, north of Shanghai.

MOST EXPENSIVE LAPTOP

If you thought your 17” Apple MacBook or Alienware Aurora mALX qualified as an expensive laptop, think again.

In 1982 GriD Systems released the Compass 1100 laptop costing about $10,000 (inflation adjusted $20,200). Even this cost pales in comparison to the reports of a costly laptop that luxury manufacturer Luvaglio London is set to release in the near future by special order the most expensive laptop ever sold, with a price tag of a million dollars.

As of now all of the details are very sparse and the technical specifications have not been made fully available. We aren’t even sure what this laptop is made with to give it a cost of $1,000,000, but the exterior looks impressive. You can bet with a price this excessive, the expensive laptop will be a spectacle of precious metals and materials and include more than a couple gemstones.


In late 2005 the Dutch company Ego Lifestyle B.V. released the Tulip E-Go Diamond laptop, which was previously the world’s most expensive laptop and this mobile computer had over 80 total carats of diamonds and a retail price of €283,000.

MOST EXPENSIVE MP3 PLAYER

The mp3 player, or digital audio player, is a small portable device which plays digital music files, the most common of which are mp3s. Flash-based players, like the Apple iPod Shuffle, and digital jukeboxes, like the larger Apple iPod, are becoming increasingly gadgets used by millions around the world.

After receiving an order from Russian-Canadian billionaire Alex Shnaider, owner of the Midland Formula 1 team, TrekStor a German manufacturer of MP3 players has developed the most expensive MP3 player ever built. This unique custom-made portable music device was created based on TrekStor’s i.Beat organix mp3 player.

The mp3 player has one gigabyte of memory, a battery life of 25 hours, and supports MP3, WMA, WAV, ASF, OGG audio files. But what really makes this an expensive mp3 player is the exterior.

The TrekStor MP3 player i.Beat organix Gold is cast in 18 carat gold and adorned with 63 diamonds (one carat). The gadget also has a modest chain ornamented with aquamarine gems. The exclusive, unique player was presented to the public for the first time at CeBIT, the world’s largest IT trade fair in Germany.

BLACKBERRY CURVE,BOLD,AND STORM FUSE INTO CURVE 8900

AT&T has the Bold. Verizon has the Storm. Now T-Mobile has their very own next-generation BlackBerry: the BlackBerry Curve 8900, which combines some of the top features from previous BlackBerry lines.
The hybrid Curve takes the Curve's much-loved separated keyboard, and combines it with the Bold's high-res 2.4-inch 360x480 screen, plus the Storm's 3.2-megapixel camera. The device was announced at the CES 2008 show here.


The 8900 is made from hard plastic, much like the Curve, though the black color is Bold-like and the sleek back cover takes a cue from the Storm. Measuring 4.29 inches x 2.36 inches x 0.53 inches and 3.87 ounces, it's ever so slightly slimmer and lighter than T-Mobile's existing popular Curve 8320. Like the 8320, it runs on T-Mobile's EDGE network, for decent but not great Internet speeds nationwide, and supplements that with Wi-Fi, including voice calls over T-Mobile's Wi-Fi "HotSpot Calling" system, formerly known as HotSpot@Home. That Wi-Fi calling feature offers unlimited voice calls for $10/month over any Wi-Fi network.

RCC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY-STUDENT PROJECTS

In technology, providing degrees, diplomas and post-graduate diplomas in electronics engineering, computer networks engineering technology, computer information systems and computer and networks technology.

MAGNETIC DEPRESSION TREATMENT

For the 30 percent of clinically depressed people who don't respond to medication, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new, noninvasive treatment option. With NeuroStar TMS, a wand held over the head delivers highly focused magnetic pulses to a part of the brain that's been linked to depression. A typical course of treatment would involve 40-minute sessions at a psychiatrist's office five times a week for four to six weeks. In two clinical trials, roughly half of patients said that their symptoms were reduced by at least 50 percent.

POLAROID POGO

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in early 2008, a Polaroid spinoff called Zink unveiled a miniature, instant photo printer that went on the market in July as the Polaroid PoGo. The printer has hundreds of precisely controllable heating elements, and it uses special two-by-three-inch paper that contains three layers of nanocrystals. When the crystals are heated, they transform into an amorphous glass. Each layer of glass reflects a different color, and the blend of colors is controlled by the duration and temperature of the heating. The printer can connect to a digital camera with a USB cable or to a camera phone over a Bluetooth wireless connection.

TECH TO PUT UNDER THE TREE:SONY XEL-1

We've picked out a few products that appeared in Technology Review's "To Market" section in 2008 and could make good last-minute presents.
The April 2001 issue of TR devoted an entire feature to a new display technology called organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), which left even "grizzled veterans of the flat-panel industry . . . goggle-eyed." By the end of 2006, we were reporting on the increasing use of OLEDs in handheld devices, but as late as April 2007, we were still saying that OLEDs were "limited to use in small displays, such as those in mobile phones."That changed with Sony's XEL-1 OLED TV. The screen is still relatively small--only 11 inches diagonally. But for some film aficionados, its vivid color, wide viewing angle, low power consumption, and high contrast (unlike LCD screens, OLED screens are capable of true black, rather than the dark gray of a blocked backlight) have been enough to justify its $2,500 price tag.

ELECTRIC MINI

BMW stole a march on some more ballyhooed electric-car programs by releasing an electric version of its Mini at the end of 2008. Where most of its competitors are engineering electric cars from scratch, the German automaker was able to adapt an existing electric drive system from California's AC Propulsion to fit the Mini's chassis. Five hundred of the cars are available for lease for a year, during which BMW will collect data about their use in preparation for a larger rollout.

BUILD YOUR OWN SUPER-CAMERA

Digital cameras and video cameras quickly become obsolete, but a new modular camera system will let photographers upgrade just about any part of their cameras rather than buying new ones.Aimed at professional photographers and filmmakers, the system uses interchangeable sensors, displays, hard drives, and other components that can be assembled in a variety of configurations. The complete cameras can produce both super-high-resolution still images and movies of a quality high enough for major studios.

COFFEINE DETECTOR

Somewhere between 20 and 30 percent of supposedly decaffeinated coffee and tea is actually fairly high in caffeine, but a new test kit can help people tell the difference. A strip of paper soaks up fluid from a sample, and antibodies in the strip produce colored lines if the sample contains caffeine. The antibodies were designed by the test's manufacturer, Silver Lake Research, which also has antibody tests for contaminants in food sources and water.

A SPASE-AGE ROBOT

Astronauts are getting a helping hand in servicing the International Space Station (ISS): a 12-by-8-foot two-armed robot that can perform tasks like replacing batteries or damaged parts on the station's exterior. Such risky tasks are currently performed by the astronauts, who are tethered to a robotic arm.

The new robot, named Dextre, was built by the Canadian Space Agency, and is the third and final piece of its Mobile Servicing System for the ISS. According to Pierre Jean, the acting program manager for the Canadian Space Station Program, Dextre is the most sophisticated robot ever to fly in space.
Each of Dextre's two arms extends almost 11 feet and has seven joints so that it can twist and bend more than a human arm. The robot's "hands" are equipped with grippers to grab objects and built-in socket wrenches for bolting down parts. A rack attached to its waist will carry additional robotic tools. Dextre can replace everything from failed devices as small as a phone book to objects weighing as much as 1,000 pounds, in part because it has a sense of touch--it can "feel" the amount of force necessary.

Dextre will connect to either the Canadarm2, a 60-foot robotic arm with seven motorized joints, or a mobile base that runs along rails connected to the station. The Canadarm2 and the mobile base are the two other parts of the Canadian system delivered to the station in 2001 and 2002. Dextre will be operated by the astronauts on the ISS or the mission control center in Houston.

Dextre flew to space onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour this morning from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In the course of the 16-day shuttle mission--the longest flight ever to the station--the astronauts will conduct five space walks, which will include the assembly of the $210 million robot. Dextre will start work on the station in 2009 and have a 15-year working life.

The robot will serve as an important element in continuing to build and maintain the space station, and it can alleviate the risks associated with astronauts going into space to do mundane tasks, but it will not serve as their replacement. Astronauts' expertise and dexterity is still required for complicated tasks during space missions, including the assembly of the Japanese scientific laboratory, Kibo. (Endeavour is also carrying the first part of the lab to the ISS.) Dextre is, however, a significant step in the future of robotics in space.

NASA SATELLITE IMAGES BURMA CYCLONE

NASA has captured the effects of the powerful cyclone that struck the Myanmar coast on Saturday, May 3, using an imaging instrument onboard its Terra satellite. The instrument, called the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS), measures the reflective solar radiation and emitted thermal radiation from the earth's surface and atmosphere. Atmospheric scientists are currently using the instrument to study the behavior of clouds and aerosols in our atmosphere so that they can, for example, pinpoint the locations of active fires and track the paths of pollutants.

The instrument scans broad swaths of the earth--about 2,300 kilometers at a time--and is able to image the entire earth in one day. Because it is observing the earth all the time, MODIS is able to capture events that only happen occasionally, like Cyclone Nargis.
NASA Satellite Images Burma Cyclone
A novel imaging instrument on NASA's Terra satellite captures the devastation that Cyclone Nargis caused to the Myanmar coast.


MODIS captured images of the Myanmar coast before and after Cyclone Nargis struck. The image on the left is the coastline on April 15, and the image on the right was taken May 5, after the cyclone hit the Irrawaddy delta and plowed across the country and through the main city of Rangoon. At landfall, winds were approximately 130 miles per hour, with gusts of 150 to 160 miles per hour, accompanied by a 12-foot wave. In the images, the water is blue or nearly black, vegetation is bright green, bare ground is tan, and clouds are white or light blue.

U.S. diplomats in Burma are estimating that the death toll may reach nearly 100,000, but official reports from the Burmese junta are announcing 22,980 deaths, 42,119 missing, and 1,383 injured.

MITSUBISHI RELEASES SPECS OF THE "FRAKKING" LASER TV

We finally have the details of the TV to be powered with ‘freakin lasers,’ and Dr. Evil is nowhere to be found. Or is he controlling Mitsu through a ghost subsidiary of the Evil Corporation? (Picture an impossibly arched eyebrow).

According to the latest statement straight from Mitsubishi’s Japan headquarters, the new LaserVue TV will be available in monster sizes only, 65″ and 73,” and is supposed to come out in the first part of the third quarter later this year. That translates to the first couple of weeks of September, if you’re fixing your planner at home, or even if you’re alone.


Laser TVs have been anticipated for quite a long time, even as far back as the 1960s. But the cost and the semiconductor processing needed to power quality, consumer grade light engines was too prohibitive (check out the field of optoelectronics for more information). Only until recently, when companies like Novalux started showing their new semiconductor laser tech, did we think we’d see any significant improvements or an actual product.

The Mitsubishi LaserVue will include several interesting breakthroughs that could build it a nice niche (until the expected high prices fall, down the road).

FIT PHONE

Designed for the elderly, the Fit Phone “comes with a central movable scroll with which one can move up and down the menu, reduce or increase the size of the number pad and dial the speed dial images by tapping on the specific image.” Click here for first picture in gallery.

THE DIGITAL PEN

Move over computer. All you may need is a pen.

Livescribe, the Oakland, Calif., digital-pen maker recently started selling its Pulse smartpen with built-in memory that digitally transcribes written words and at the same time records audio.

That means college students that record a professor won’t have to manually transcribe the lecture or taking minimal notes in a long meeting won’t leave you scrambling.

LIMITED EDITION ASUS EEE PC

Asus’ Eee PC has taken the world by storm, and even though it comes in a wide range of pastel colors, I suppose there is always room for something more striking. Our friends in Korea have the benefit of getting their hands on a limited edition run of the Eee PC 1000H that comes in red, albeit with a white keyboard and some snowflake-like patterns on the front. I’m not too sure whether the pricing will have changed with a change in color, but rest assured the specifications ought to remain the same.

SOLAR PANELS FOR HOUSEHOLDS

First Solar has been selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of solar panels made at its plants in Ohio, Germany and Malaysia, but nearly all of them have gone to build huge solar-power plants in Europe and Asia.

The company said it inked a deal with Foster City, Calif.-based SolarCity Corp. to sell the residential-installation company enough panels for 25,000 homes in the next five years.

2ND WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE CELL-PHONE

Diamond Crypto: 2nd world's most expensive mobile phone
The Diamond Crypto Smartphone has won the second place amongst the worlds most prestigious and expensive cell phones. It was designed by Australian jeweler Peter Aloisson, famous for his luxurious creations.


The Diamond Crypto Smartphone price of ≈ € 829,270 ≈ £737.243
$1,10 million has been energized with 50 diamonds, 10 of which are blue diamonds and equipped with specially developed Windows CE-based smartphone created by Russian firm JSC Ancort.

2 MOST EXPENSIVE COMPUTER GAMES IN THE WORLD

Grand Theft Auto IV is officially the most expensive computer game ever developed. Rockstar North president and Grand Theft Auto IV producer Leslie Benzies reveled in an interview with the Times Online that this super game had a budget estimated at ≈ € 75.39 million ≈ £67,02 million$100 million.