Category: Cool

The Sharp eMobile EM-ONE, Super Phone from Japan

Sharp EM-ONE eMobile PhoneGahh! I wish the data network here in America were as advanced as the ones in Japan. 3.6mb/s? That’s better than what I get on my cable modem at my home.

March 31st is going to bring some major changes when eMobile brings it’s unlimited high-speed (3.6mbps HSPDA) service for a flat monthly rate of ¥4980 ($43). The current mobile data leader Willcom offers a flat-rate service of 128kbps for ¥9000 ($77). As Gerhard points out, eMobiles service is 30 times the speed at half the price. Below is an exclusive look at eMobile’s EM-ONE PDA which will work with the new data service and has wi-fi, digital tv, a 4.1 inch Sharp display, a camera, and Windows Mobile 5.0.

YOu have to check the full article out, this is one hell of a phone.

Trends in Japan – Tokyo Blog » A look at eMobile, the EM-ONE, and the coming upheaval in Japan

Micro Wind Turbines

Mini wind turbinesIn urban settings many times it just isn’t practical to install wind turbines in order to harness the energy of the wind. The buildings may not be able to support a large generator or it might be that there just isn’t enough wind. Strange as that sounds, wind turbines won’t work if the wind is too slow. The blades won’t turn. Simple as that. They need at least 20mph winds to be any good. What is an eco conscious urban dweller to do?
The Motorwind might be an answer to some of your power needs. It’s a bank of turbine blades (apx 10" in dia) that are geared together that will generate power in winds of only 7mph (4m/s). That’s a light breeze, just a 3 on the Beaufort scale, and is pretty common. You should be able to get that from just the convection currents coming off from all the cement in the car park next to your office. With one of these Motorwind turbine setups you can charge batteries and power devices directly or with an AC inverter. All in all a good way to get some work out of a nice spring breeze.

The picture below is of the first micro-turbine array set up in Hong Kong. It includes 40 turbines, which has daily production capacity of 960W/h with average wind speeds of 5.5 m/s. This installation was made in November, 2006, and is large enough to power all of the lights in the apartment below.

[via neat-o-rama]
MotorWave

Humand Powered Roller Coaster in Japan

Human Powered Roller Coaster in JapanSure, it could be hard work getting up the first hill but you can sure as hell count me in!

Here is the future of the green amusement park: The Skycycle at Washuzan Highland Park in Okayama, a pedal-powered roller coaster. They clearly have some dramatic topography to take advantage of here, and it looks truly frightening. Most North American amusement parks are on pretty flat terrain but they often build artificial mountains- Demand a green ride like this on the Magic Mountain.
The side-by-side tandem pedal-powered carts have seat belts, and a cute pink basket

TreeHugger-Style Roller Coaster in Japan: It’s Pedal Powered

GFS-UAV N-02 ‘UFO’ Takes to the Sky

GFS-UAV N-01AAt first glance this flying craft looks like a simple ducted fan with a weird skirt under it. Fancy hovercraft? Kind of. In reality the skirt has no air flowing through it only over it. Something called the ‘Coanda effect‘(wiki) causes the air to ‘stick’ to the outside of the craft and in effect creates an inside out hovercraft. The high efficiency electric motor in the top housing forces air to flow over the outside of the main body to create lift. The torque of the motor and the spin created by the prop wash are countered by the fins that ring the mid section and the direction is controlled by the four lower flaps. The platform is quite stable and looks to be a very good platform for just about any UAV application.

[via MAKE]
The GFS-UAV N-02 is now ready to do tests flights

R/C Helecopter With Rockets!

ROV with teethOne of the captions on the page says it all:

Unmanned Attack Helicopter, Ver. 2, 2004
Gas Powered Radio Control Helicopter modified to carry and remotely fire model rockets

Oh yeah… This would liven up the company picnic don’t you think? I wonder how he managed to ignite the rocket without throwing the chopper into a nasty spin? Any one else have something like this? BB gun mounted on a glider maybe?

The artist also has some very impressive sculptures listed in his online portfolio. I like the ‘Bronze Skull’ ones myself.

[via jaf project]
The Sculpture of Christopher Conte
Bronze Skull prototype