<![CDATA[Gizmodo: frost]]> http://tags.gizmodo.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gizmodo.com.png <![CDATA[Gizmodo: frost]]> http://gizmodo.com/tag/frost http://gizmodo.com/tag/frost <![CDATA[Frost Snow Sport Car Changes Tires for Treads [Concept]]]> I don't know how fast the Th!nk Frost—an electric car that uses treads instead of tires—could go. But since it's a concept, I'd just drool over how cool it looks.

The 2-seat Frost was created by Norsk designed Anders Gloslie as a concept proposal for Th!nk, an electric car company from his country. The cracks in its surface hides the lighting system, while the rear includes massive fans for adjusting the temperature of the electric engine and the interior, as well as sensors that send precise information about weather conditions to the cockpit's screens. [Think Frost via Dvice]

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<![CDATA[Japanese Ice-In-a-Can Spray: Better Than a Personal Fan [Uh..Cool?]]]> icecan.jpg I hate coming home to Georgia during the summer because it's hot and muggy as balls—granted NYC sidewalks in the summer make you feel like you're walking on a clay oven. But Osaka's Kiribai Chemical Co. has us covered with its canned "ice spray," which blasts 14-degree (F) frost into your face (you're supposed to hit a towel to wipe your face with, but whatever—frostbite feels fine right about now).

The spray works out to a little under 10 cents a shot since it boasts 70 pumps per bottle at two second intervals and runs about $6.50 a can. Or you could buy a three-dollar bottle of canned air, turn it upside down, and my guess is get more or less the same effect—I've frozen many a foe (and friend) with my ghetto Mr. Freeze tactics.

Product Page [Kiribai via Cool Hunting]

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<![CDATA[Grope: Helio Drift GPS Buddy Stalker Vs. Dodgeball [Cellphones]]]> IMG_5168wtmk.jpgHey, you know our exclusive on Helio's Frost White, GPS-enabled Drift phone? Well we've had a bit of time with the phone, and basic stats aside, the buddy finding, GPS, and mapping features are outstanding. But I'm not sure if its better than the combination of the already-downloadable Google Maps and Dodgeball buddy finding service.

Our tour begins with the very robust location-aware Google maps implementation:

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The screen's QVGA (320 by 240 pixel) res shows tons of details on Google maps, including satellite view (but no hybrid view, unlike the java version I have downloaded onto my Sony Ericsson.) Coolest thing ever is that the Drift can map your current location with a single click. It feels as if the receiver in the phone is very quick. So quick that away from a window, and within seconds, it mapped my location within 200 feet. Which is too fast to be believed, so I think its using triangulation of cell towers. Either way, you can use the current location to set your starting point for turn by turn directions (of course, without voice nav, and with such a small screen, you'd better have someone sitting shotgun directing your drive). The phone also works with Google Maps Traffic, which shows congestion on major roads with a few minutes delay. Green lines mean the cars are flowing freely, while yellow and red mean delays.
Then there's the buddy finder.

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Basically, you can use the phone to find friends on you buddy list, with a few conditions. They have to have a Drift phone, too. They have to be on your buddy list. They need to have pinged the server with their most recent location. Still, very cool.

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Helio shipped Gizmodo's phones with each other on buddy lists. I can ping buddies to ask them to update location, and I can see their location on mapquest, too. (Yep, it doesn't use Gmaps for buddy finding.) Nextel has something like this so employers can spy on their lazy workers...BTW, Jason, get back to work, damn it.


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Those familiar with google's Dodgeball service will recognize the concept. This is like that, but Dodgeball's feature list (crush lists, ex girlfriend stealth, photos, friends of friends, yelp-like search engine) is extensive, and although you have to check in to the system using SMS, well, lets face it, everyone has SMS, and I think its rare to find two Drift users who aren't already bosom buddies. BTW, two gorgeous people I know found each other on Dodgeball, so its maybe worth a shot if you haven't tried it before.

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Anyhow, back to the Drift. Very cool, super-futuristic GPS and buddy finding features. Mapping yes, useful, but you can already download Gmaps to phones now. Buddy finding, very cool, even if of limited use. The phone itself is basically a high speed 3G mall, with most of the functionality limited to buying stuff for a few bucks (vids, music, etc) and the browser still doesn't quite feel like it can provide a fraction of the power of the mobile opera browser. The hardware is solid, but until more phones have buddy finding in an open standard, it seems like a fantastic idea that'll work best if you muscle all your Saturday night buddies into getting one, too. Or getting Dodgeball.

Helio Drift [Gizmodo]

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<![CDATA[Exclusive: White Helio Drift Gallery [Cellphones]]]> IMG_5201wtmk.jpg
There are only 10 Frost White Helio Drift in existence, and Gizmodo got 3 of the GPS-enabled sliders straight from the factory today. As it turns out, the frost version of this tricked-out phone is only going to be produced in small numbers—only about 3 percent of all Drifts will be made in this lustrous shade.

We'll be testing out the Buddy Beacon GPS and buddy-stalking functions a bit later. But first, let's just get an eyeful of this frosty phone in the photo gallery...

UPDATE: We've spent time with the location-aware buddy finding and mapping services. Here's a tour of how it works, and our first impressions.

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Helio Drift [Gizmodo]

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