http://www.techrevu.com Technology Reviews and News en-en http://www.techrevu.com/IMAGES/rss.jpg http://www.techrevu.com http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4090 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4090 With Apple set to publicly unveil its new tablet computer tomorrow (Wednesday January 27, 2010), it's interesting to discover that Steve Jobs was already envisioning a tablet more than 25 years ago. In these 1983 design photos from Frog Design, we see that variations of the 'Bashful' tablet included versions with an attached keyboard, with an attached phone, and with a floppy-disk drive and a handle for portability. Some of the tablet prototypes even included a stylus. At the time, perhaps neither the technology nor the users were ready...today we'll find out if they've both matured. Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4082 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4082 Dipping cotton thread in Carbon Nano-Fiber "ink" lets researchers turn the resulting cloth into a battery. We've got to wonder how much power it might hold, and what it could be used for. Certainly scrolling displays on the fabric, and maybe luminescent safety clothing, but how about self heating/cooling fabric? Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4083 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4083 When Japanese and British scientists gave Physarum polycephalum (a gelatinous fungus-like organism) a problem shaped like the municipal structure of Greater Tokyo, the obliging mold created an almost exact replica of the area's current rail system. We are curious to know whether the slime mold designed a superior rail system than the Japanese planners or not. Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4084 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4084 With NewerTech's Driverless MAXPower eSATA 6G PCIe 2.0 Controller Card offering an easy way to add two eSATA ports to Mac Pros and their promises of "install it and forget it" ease of use, we think they have a winning product if it lives up to the hype. We especially like the idea of being able to install two eSATA ports and then having it work from the get go a lot. Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4085 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4085 The dust from CES 2010 has only just begun to settle, yet pundits have already consulted their crystal balls for what they predict will be this year's hottest new gadgets. At the top of the list is Apple's brand new tablet, believed to be called iSlate or iTablet and due to make its debut today (Wednesday January 27, 2010). Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4087 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4087 Back in 1966, Star Trek's motto was "To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before". Now thanks to Flight Engineer T.J. Creamer, a NASA astronaut working on board the International Space Station (ISS) has "Tweeted Where No One Has Tweeted Before". Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4088 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4088 A couple of years ago Think Tank Photo released the Hydrophobia 300-600 rain cover for larger lenses, but within hours of its release they were inundated with requests for a rain cover for smaller lenses. Now they've released a pair of smaller rain covers: the Hydrophobia 70-200 and the Hydrophobia Flash 70-200 with built-in flash protector. Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4089 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4089 We remember reading how a number of pilots perished in the attempt to break the speed of sound before Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, flying the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 feet (13,700 m.). Knowing that the failed pilots who died did so as a result of turbulence between Mach 0.9 and Mach 1, we wonder if Austrian extreme sportsman Felix Baumgartner will break the sound barrier and if he does, what effects will he experience since he will not be inside a plane when he makes the attempt later this year. Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=3946 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=3946 I expected to be intrigued by the technology packed into Ford's new Fusion Hybrid, but wasn't prepared for how impressed I'd be with it as a car. It's quick, comfortable, fun to drive, loaded with good ideas, and gets great mileage. Innovation appears to be "job one". Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4067 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4067 Nissan's first totally electric vehicle, the Leaf, is on tour in the US. This weekend it was at the Newseum in Washington, DC where we went to get a glimpse of it. You can find out when it will be in your area by plugging your zip code into the app on the official site. Just one thing. If it's a leaf, why isn't it green? Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4043 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4043 If you want to explore the depths of Autodesk's Maya 3D animation software, you'll need a field guide. Here's one of the best. Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4065 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4065 For many men, the search for the "Perfect Shave" is the modern day equivalent of the torment of Tantalus, agonizingly close, but just out of reach. With Panasonic's introduction of the ES-LA93-K Men's Wet/Dry Shaver, that search may be closer than ever before. Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4078 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4078 OMG! The dismal science turns out to be riveting rap in the hands of economist Russ Roberts and Spike TV executive producer John Papola, whose rap video made its debut today on NPR's All Things Considered. They imagined that two of the 20th Century's greatest economists went out to "par-tae" and started slamming down rap to make their points. If every economics course in the country doesn't open with a discussion of this, then economics deserves the label, "the dismal science." Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4080 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4080 While Laser Phosphor-based Displays (LPD) HDTVs have a very low profile compared to LCD, LED, and Plasma HDTVs, they may very well be the wave of the future - or they may not. While the color gamut on laser TVs is roughly twice that of LCDs, this doubled color range may have problems with current and older media like DVDs. In either case, we'd like to see more information on this cool technology. Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4081 http://www.techrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4081 Honda's short film premiering at Sundance shows the human side of robotics, with comments from designers, sf screenwriters, and researchers. "We use a lot of robotics in our daily lives...people don't know that." offers V.A. Submaranian, head of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery at Lenox Hill. The short is terrific, as far as it goes, and is naturally very Asimo (Honda's robot) centric, but it's a great addition to the dialog about humans and robots. Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0700