Kia unwrapped its KOUP concept at the New York Auto Show. The car is a coupe (hence, the ‘KOUP’ name) that sports a rather aggressive styling, which is not what Kia is known for. The KOUP concept is outfitted with front and rear carbon fiber diffusers, carbon fiber side view mirrors, two-tone seats, panoramic glass roof, and Brembo brakes. Engine-wise, Kia has plans for a 2.0-liter Theta II turbocharged engine with direct injection pushing 290 horsepower and 289 lb-ft. of torque at 2,000 rpm. The car also gets MacPherson struts up front and a dual-link arrangement in the rear for a nice balance in handling. The KOUP is also blessed with Continuous Damping Control (CDC).
Not quite a reality, the Tron Hoodie (actually called “The Electronic Gladiator”) is was up for vote at Threadless. So, if you want to make the Tron Hoodie a reality so we can all purchase one go vote now!
Looks awesome, though. It even glows a light blue in the dark.
The helmet design to be printed on the hood looks like this:
Do you ever wonder what’s causing your energy bill to skyrocket? You’d be able to with a concept called the Current State. The idea is simple. By using what are called “Plug-Ends”, which plug into your electrical outlets, you connect all of your devices (TVs, computers, refrigerator, light lamps, etc) to the Plug-Ends and it’ll monitor the amount of electrical juice your appliances are consuming. Simply install the software onto your iPhone/iPod Touch and not only do you get a graphical representation of your home’s energy usage via Bluetooth, but you can also remotely turn off your devices. No more high energy bills!
The Philips GoGear SA52 media player is a pretty decent looking player that supposedly upscales your audio files for enhanced audio quality. Yeah, I don’t believe it either. Regardless, the GoGear SA52 sports MP3, WMA and AAC audio support and WMV video playback. It’s also got a 2.8-inch QVGA LCD display, 4GB of storage, FM radio, and of course the Digital Signal Processor that upscales your audio for a “symphony-like experience”.
Whatever, Philips. Whatever.
No availability or pricing details were announced.
If you have ever shredded a large amount of paper, you probably know how much a hassle it can be. You have to make sure that each and every page you attempt to shred doesn’t have a staple or paper clip lingering on it, or else you end up jamming or breaking the machine.
If you find shredding to be a pain in the ass, it might be time to replace it with Rexel’s Auto+. The Auto+ puts most shredders, like the Ziszor, to shame. The Rexel Auto+ can handle up to 500 A4-sized paper at one time, even if the pages have staples or paperclips. This thing will eat ‘em right up. Just dump your boxes of papers into the machine and let ‘er rip!
The problem is what you’ll end up doing with all of the confetti…
More information and the spec sheet after the jump.
For engine and motor heads, check out the USB Engine Hub. It’s a 3-port USB Hub that revs and roars like an engine. It features a kick start and a “throttle” to rev through the gears. To add realism, the USB Engine Hub vibrates (up and down) and shakes just like a real engine. $69.04 at GeekStuff4U.
Features:
* Realistic moving engine parts including moving engine, rev and gear stick.
* Realistic sounds
* 3 x USB ports
* Plugs into your computer USB hub
The uber geeks at MIT, have developed a fully autonomous UAV that can take off from the ground and hover, much like a helicopter. It can also take off from a vertical perch (vertical take off) and hover. It can even return (land) back at the perch, which is an amazing sight in itself. But that’s not all. The Autonomous UAV can also transition from a hovering state to horizontal level flight, allowing to to zip around the room. It actually looks weird when it hovers, it almost looks like some sort of special effect. Watching the airplane transition from hover to level flight mode is insane.
Wow. Watch the speed on the ABB IRB 340 FlexPicker. It is essentially a robotic food assembly line worker, the IRB 340 FlexPicker can sort the “good from bad” ridiculously fast. It can do 150 picks per minute, corresponding to a cycle time of 0.4 seconds. The accuracy of the IRB 340 is freakishly impressive. It has a maximum carrying weight capacity of 2 kg (just under 4.5 pounds). Watch the videos below to see it sort croissants and hot dogs.
