As of now, Dyson uses the patented Dyson Digital Motor in both the aforementioned vacuums and air blade. A lightweight motor that turns 10,000 times a minute—a stat that's said to put Formula 1 cars to shame—James Dyson believes that the technology could be modified to create a pretty decent electric car engine. And he has his engineering staff on the task.

Other details are scarce, but Dyson will probably not create a car, preferring to partner with a major auto manufacturer instead. And he also feels that solar power is a viable option, given that most of us park our cars for eight hours a day. [Independent via core77] [Source image from Time]

UPDATE: Dyson is now denying any plans "to create an electric car." Whether or not that includes an engine can be your semantical debate.

Given the time frame, the planners on the Orion had even built in defense systems meant to retaliate against the Russians. This project was the first contract funded by DARPA. In this video, George also steps through passenger acceleration profiles, emergency plans if Orion failed to clear the atmosphere and the not so cool 700 rads of radiation you'd get while riding it. George's final take? If an asteroid headed for our planet, an Orion type ship is one of the only emergency plans that NASA could depend on, "off the shelf." And that's why NASA bought roughly 1700 pages of the notes he collected on Orion from him.

George has a book on Orion, but unfortunately, it's on Amazon for 80 bucks, used. [TED, Amazon]

Plus, your unmentionables will be protected from perverts and prying eyes thanks to a shade that blocks the view but not the drying power of Mother Earth. I don't know how popular this sort of thing would be in the States, but if it ever sees the light of day as an actual product, it could definitely find a home wherever cramped living conditions force city dwellers to look for smaller, cheaper home appliances. [Design Awards via ecofriend via Wired]

When you think of Dyson—if you think of the expensive British vacs at all—you probably think "suction." After all, the slogan "doesn't lose suction" is plastered on all of the Dyson vac marketing material. But James Dyson's first innovations were not in vacuums, but in wheelbarrows of all things. Sir James built a wheelbarrow with a ball on it—the ballbarrow—adding stability to a traditionally wobbly device.As you can see in the video above, the DC24 pivots right and left as you twist your wrist, allowing it to corner like it's on rails. It has two tiny rear wheels, but they rarely touch the floor. It's all ball.

Does that make it worth the money? It's up to you—we're not going to tell you it's the best vac in the world. It's just fun to see a product as part of an evolution, rather than some standalone brain fart. If you want to know more about Dyson's early days (he designed boats, too, including something called the seatruck), have a look at this old Core77 interview. And if you want to know how his Airblade did against the Mitsubishi Jet Towel, well, just check out our Ultimate Hand-Dryer Battlemodo. [Dyson]

The Bel-Air uses the leaves and roots of the plant and a humid bath to strip the pollutants from the air and purify it. The idea came from plant research done by NASA back in the Eighties when they were looking for a way to keep their astronauts safe from the polymer-saturated environment found in space travel.

Lehanneur developed the filter-free filter alongside Harvard scientist David Edwards, and describes his invention as being "to the American and Asiatic common filter appliances what Dyson is to regular vacuum cleaners."
The Bel-Air is currently available as a prototype, and is expected to go into production in 2009, but Lehanneur would like buyers to test his machine and report back so that the finished article will be even better. You will be able to see it at MoMA in New York in February 2008, as part of the Design and the Elastic Mind exhibition. [Dezeen]

Notice that the Dyson has a HEPA air filter but the Mitsubishi doesn't? Says the Dyson camp:

The Jet Towel draws the already filthy air through a basic gauze filter (designed to protect the motor) using the heating element stores unfiltered air at around 95°F (ideal temp for breeding bacterial) and then blows it out on your hands and back into the room. Even though you just washed your hands, the air from Jet Towel contaminates them all over again with warm bacteria laden air. It's a vicious cycle.

[The HEPA filter] clogs very quickly and when it does the air flow is dramatically reduced. Mitsubishi found this to be true when they experimented with HEPA filters long ago.

Because the Airblade has no drain tank (unlike the Jet Towel's drain tank which is easily emptied in about five seconds), when the filter runs out and has not been changed the bacteria is exhausted into the environment. Very unsanitary. [Also] water splashes out the sides of the unit and therefore drips down the side of the unit and onto the floor. You will probably notice this happens even after 5-10 uses. It does not happen with the Jet Towel. A serious sanitary issue.

Waste water stagnates in a collection tray mounted right above the storage heater, warming up and brewing bacteria.

The Dyson motor's lifespan is estimated at about 1/3 of the lifespan of the Jet Towel [we have ascertained that this is true]. If there is a problem with the Dyson motor, it is mechanically almost impossible to replace it. On the other hand the Jet Towel motor is modular and can be easily swapped out if needed (but has not happened in our experience).

Jet Towel's DC brushless motor is less efficient and not as powerful, therefore only generating a 200MPH airflow. [Mitsu claims even less at 180MPH.]

We totally feel like Don King right now. Remember when we interviewed James Dyson about his Airblade, and he said it could put a hurtin' on Mitsubishi's Jet Towel? Well, Mitsubishi fired back, saying, "We obviously take issue with his claims and would love the opportunity to dispute it." Then, only a day ago, this arrived at our door:Yep, a freakin' Jet Towel—the latest and greatest one, too.

Dyson's on board. Not long ago, he wrote us personally, saying:

I hear our demo sparked Gizmodo's curiosity in seeing a battle take place between Airblade and the Mitsubishi Jet Towel... I never shy away from such fun and I look forward to seeing the outcome!

We're not sure the world is fully ready for an Ultimate Hand-Dryer Battlemodo between Dyson and Mitsubishi, but baby, ready or not, here it comes... Stay tuned for Battlemodo details and a tale of the tape early next week.

Special thanks to Mr. Frucci for the cartoon witticisms above!

In a normal, iPhone-free week, you might have been buzzing about announcements from the other big mobile carriers: T-Mobile introduced HotSpot @Home, a way to save mobile minutes by talking over Wi-Fi. Verizon Wireless upgraded its nationwide EV-DO data network to a faster Rev. A status. Sprint announced a follow-up to the LG Fusic names Muziq. (OK, maybe some of these stories were intentionally buried.)

In gaming news, Sony made some rumbles about the return of the PS3 SIXAXIS Rumble controller, while the Wii got itself a billiard cue.

D-Link was the first to get not one but two products approved by the Wi-Fi Alliance as draft 2.0 compliant for 802.11n, meaning guaranteed compatibility with the final draft.

In the world of home theater, Toshiba mounted a renewed HD DVD offensive, at long last announcing the availability of downloaded content on HD DVD players, and officially lowering the price of two models to celebrate. Meanwhile, the dubious hybrid Blu-ray and HD DVD format known as "Total HD" experienced a bit of a setback.

Dell wins a prize for most products announced while everyone was paying attention to something else:
• New Inspiron Notebooks in Splashy Colors and Re-branded Inspiron Desktops, Plus a Slim-Trim XPS Notebook
• A Speedy High-End Mobile Precision M4300 Laptop
• A Full HD 24-inch Monitor With 92% of NTSC Colors
Of course, it did help that Dell leaked the best bits of the announcement in preceding weeks.

And finally, vacuum wizard James Dyson came to town to show Gizmodo how to wash and dry its hands, inadvertently sparking what will definitely be a historic Battlemodo between the Dyson Airblade and the Mitsubishi Jet Towel.

Are you caught up? Good, now get back to the home page and keep reading about iPhone, because iPhone news will never, ever stop!

Dyson Airblade Copied Mitsubishi Jet Towel? [Gizmodo]

James Dyson Shows Giz His Airblade [Gizmodo]

So does this mean there's a more sophisticated robotic vacuum lurking around the corner? Could be, though I'm still waiting for the day we have robot maids. – Louis Ramirez

Dyson Preparing a Roomba Killer [New Scientist via Gadget Lab]

What I'm trying to say is, I'm hot for a vacuum cleaner. Does it work? The good news, is yes. It lacks the guttural howl of the standard Dyson, but whirs along just fine. Think of it as a V8 vs a turbo charged 4-banger in some light rally car. That's the good news.

The bad news is that my apartment is gross. Click through for an icky picture of what one minute of vacuuming picked up off what I thought was a clean floor. (And hit the gallery for a component by component tour.)

I'm not one to say if a vacuum like this is worth $450, but I wouldn't throw the svelte Slim out of my hall closet.–Brian Lam

Dyson [Gizmodo]

The device is quite sturdy and large, much bigger and beefier than a Dust Buster or other similar devices. In terms of sucking, boy does it suck. We were able to grab big hunks of dirt outside as well as flour in the kitchen. It comes with a long nozzle attachment along with a little brush attachment, a recharger, and a battery.

Interestingly enough, the Root 6's motor is so powerful that the vacuum begins to shift when you turn it on, making you feel like it might go out of control and suck up your pets. We haven't completely dirtied it up yet, so we haven't tested the suction claim, but if its anything like the Ball we have now, we'll be pretty impressed.

Sounds like this baby is worth every penny of its $149.99 price tag. – Jason Chen

Dyson Root 6 Puts Its Root Down [CrunchGear]

It's relatively cheap for a Dyson at $149.99, meaning we're definitely picking one to clean up the mess our kids make in our precious car when the Root 6 is available October 23. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Dyson]

Press Release [Yahoo - Thanks Jeremy!]

Called the Jet Towel, the dryer works in a virtually identical way to removes water from the front and back of freshly-washed hands.

We'll give Dyson the benefit of the doubt here, since there's only so many ways you can get water off your hands using air. – Jason Chen

Dyson Airblade appears to be a copy of Mitsubishi Jet Towel [Pocket Lint]

This might be a great device for those of us who really don't want to touch anything in a public bathroom, and don't much like standing around for 30 seconds at a noisy hot air blower waiting for the hands to dry. – Charlie White

Dyson goes 400mph in toilet [The Sun]

The drums have about 5,000 perforations, while most have about a 1,000, presumably to get better water flow during a cycle. And the front door is made from polycarbonate plastic, hard and light enough to be used in riot gear shields. There's also a pull out handle for moving it around. Which is cool, but really useless at the same time. Who moves a washer? Never mind the gripes, though. We just like it because its freaking purple. –Brian Lam

Dyson washing machine - 2-drum wash action [Appliancist]