The SPEED-VEST is a bicycle safety device which displays the rider’s current speed on their back. The vest was designed by Brady Clark and engineered by Mykle Hansen, and has just won the Hub Bike Shop’s Bike Gadget contest in Minneapolis, MN.

The vest functions via a wheel sensor, a numeric display, and a small computer to do the processing. The device can run for 6 hours on a 9 volt battery (I suggest rechargeables if you intend on buying one). The numeric display is composed of electro-luminescent wire – by CoolLight dot com – that glows brightly with a very low voltage.

To read more on how the vest was designed, check out this article at mykle dot com.

Intel Corp. and Yahoo Inc. released a project this week that showed plans to display their services on the screens of Internet-connected TVs.

The idea behind this plan is to be able to do more with your TV set – and therefore spend more time on that comfy couch. It would enable TV users/Couch Potatoes to do things such as check stock prices or browse your photos, while watching your favorite show. With the continuous growth of the internet, one could say the Intel-Yahoo partnership, called ‘The Widget Channel’ is an advantageous move.

Apparently the companies displayed a screen shot of the program, showing a baseball game on the main part of the screen, while programs such as Flickr were being run along the bottom of the screen.
Intel and Yahoo are not alone in this project; they are working with various other companies such as Blockbuster, Disney, and MTV to build more widgets.

‘The Widget Channel’ is only the beginning of this Internet TV phenomenon; we are bound to see other big Internet companies develop similar projects in the near future .

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This week at the Leipzig Games Convention, Sony unveiled a wireless keypad peripheral for the PlayStation 3 controller (both SIXAXIS and DualShock 3). The keypad apparently sits on top of the controller and connects via mini-USB. There was also a ‘touchpad mode’ mentioned that will be used for mouse input, as well as phones and other Bluetooth accessories. A price has yet to be released; however the device will be launched in November in 8 different languages.

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One could say phones such as the 3G iPhone and the Blackberry Bold are top notch in terms of their technologically advanced features. For the most part, however, these features are not never before seen. There are some innovations in the works that will be deemed ‘next-gen’ or ‘revolutionary’ when released.

Video Chat

The concept of video chatting is not new, however it is a high bandwidth activity that has not yet been made possible. The development of fourth generation wireless technology (4G) should change this in the next couple of years.

Mobile Payments

Have you ever thought of paying for your purchases by swiping your phone as opposed to your card? Cell phone manufacturers say that a cell phone is the number one thing you never leave home without (besides your wallet), so why not combine the two? In Japan and Austria you can make small purchases with your phone by swiping it over a sensor. In the future, big credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard may utilize this function.

Video Projectors

Sick of the tiny screen on your phone? 3M, Texas Instruments, and Redmond have all come up with a solution - install projectors into cell phones. Cell phones equipped with such technology will be able to project their displays on a white wall or desktop. 3M seems to be the furthest along with this technology, planning to install the technology in Samsung phones maybe as soon as late 2008.

Unfolding Screens

If you thought cell phones with projectors were neat, what about a screen that folds around the phones core? Dutch company, Polymer Vision, has developed a cell phone called Readius, which features exactly that - a foldable, 5-inch electronic ink screen (slightly bigger than the screen on the iPhone). It is safe to assume we will seen larger than 5-inch folding screens in the future.

Wireless Charging

This is actually a concept I thought about a few years ago that could be used for laptops. Of course I did nothing with my thoughts and was shocked to see them as an actual design for cell phones. A company named Wildcharge has developed a flat panel that can charge cell phones by resting them on the surface. Cell phones will need an extra adapter in order to connect to the charge plates, which means you will have to buy one for each cell phone you use. Another company named Powercast is actually working on a more advanced concept, which involves using a small amount of energy transmitted in radio waves to charge a phone by placing it near a device, without touching in.

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I was watching TV today and was having some problems with the remote not changing channels, which inspired me to write this post.

Why is it that whenever the TV remote is not working, our natural instinct is to push the buttons as hard as we possibly can, as though we think were going to squeeze the buttons so that they make connection. Once we realize this isn’t working (although sometimes it does seem to work), we then proceed to smack the back of the remote. To our surprise, this method works more often then not.

My question is why? I have done some research and failed to find anything that answers how smacking the remote fixes the problem. Is it just a coincidence or is it actually a remedy?

If anyone knows the answer to this question, or wishes to take part in the topic, feel free to leave a comment.