Designed by a 24-year-old student from London, the bike's claim to greatness is its ability to fold within the circumference one of its wheels. He claims he designed it because he "couldn't find a folding bicycle I liked," and he "wanted something that could take a bit of punishment and that you could have fun with." I'm with him until the "take a bit of punishment" part, because this thing looks about as trailworthy as a collapsible lawn chair.

You might also notice that the pedals don't seem to be connected to anything, and, well, you'd be right. As someone who has watched this breakdown clip about 30 times, completely mesmerized, I'm going to say that's a minor technicality. [Sky News]

The 2UNFOLD laptop works as an urban briefcase, shoulder bag, safecase, rucksack, leather courier, canvas courier (it's reversible!), leather clutch or canvas clutch. No, I don't know what all those variations mean either, but the link at the end of this post contains handy photographs.

In vertical modes, the 2UNFOLD holds laptops up to 17 inches. In horizontal modes, it's suited for 13-inch notebooks. But either way, it makes for a zippy, pockety, and stylish bag that's a bit too beautiful for us to toss haphazardly onto the airport floor. $483.

(Sorry if that price part stings a bit.) [2UNFOLD via bbGadgets]

Holding the Wand, I could perceive no tangible difference (size, shape or weight) from the Wiimote. It's not a bulky or strange product. The Wand is a reasonable doppelganger if you can look past the red, white and blue chromatics.

In testing the Wand with Wii Sports bowling and just browsing through the menus, I didn't notice any quality/responsiveness issues (though, we probably won't be able to judge its precise calibration until mass amounts of users post their impressions after release.) Since the Wiimote isn't a 100% perfectly responsive device as it is, it's tough to tell if anything has been lost in Nyko's translation.

One big advantage to the Wand, however, is that Nyko is using it as the basis for their new Trans-Port peripheral technology. While most Wii peripherals (like the Zapper) use mechanical contacts to link a trigger to an actual button on the Wiimote, Nyko makes this connection digitally.

Examining their prototype Zapper, I could really tell how much simpler the Trans-Port design could be. And Nyko explained that not only could they then remap buttons on attached peripherals, but transfer vibration information as well. So the next Nyko-branded Nunchuk may vibrate.

On the market in a few months, Nyko hopes to price the Wand between $30 and $40—hopefully closer to $30.

The Wand™
The Nyko Wand is the world’s most advanced alternative to the Wii Remote™ and has been designed from the ground up for superior functionality, comfort, and value. The new controller maintains all of the control functions Wii gamers expect with full motion-sensing capability, pointer functionality, vibration feedback, and a built-in speaker, while offering a variety of new features.

The Wand contains Nyko’s all-new Trans-Port™ technology, which enables control and vibration feedback to be electrically replicated on a compatible attachment accessory, providing for faster and more accurate input response. Current attachments made for the Wii Remote can only access buttons through use of mechanical triggers and provide no vibration feedback. One of the many potential uses of Trans-Port technology is a pistol grip that connects to the Wand and electrically replicates key action buttons, providing controls not currently accessible with attachments for the Wii Remote. In addition, enlarged 1 and 2 buttons make the Wand an exceptional choice for classic gaming control when turned sideways, complete with Nyko’s signature rubberized battery cover to ensure maximum comfort and grip.

From the sales pitch: "an executive could conceivably take off from the helipad of a country house outside London, fly in comfort to a meeting in Frankfurt in just 60 minutes, then fly on to Zurich, Milan and back home for early dinner" you can guess that these luxury choppers are going to cost quite the packet. Somewhere between a corporate helicopter (which is simpler in design) and a corporate jet (which is more complex.) So, tens of millions then, but you'll have to wait a bit as the aircraft isn't yet certified.

Plus, with all that rotating-engine tech aboard, they'll cost more to maintain than your average helicopter. And if you're a rich business type thinking of buying one, you'd better get your pilots well trained. Remember how tricky the V22 has been to develop?

[TheRegister via ]

Pathfinder is currently developing two "checkpoint friendly" models: one wheeled trolley with a removable laptop case, one a briefcase that reveals the laptop when it's unzipped. These new foam and nylon cases will set you back between $100 and $200. Targus's X-rayable cases vary from a $39 backpack and a $100 business traveler version. And there are at least four or five other manufacturers also submitting prototypes to the agency for checking.

But there's still a catch, of sorts: the TSA is not certifying these bags, and asks that manufacturers use terms like "checkpoint friendly" instead, and avoid buckles pockets or zips in the design. Does that mean your impractical bag won't seal securely and some officious security guard may still make you fish out your laptop anyway, as he doesn't believe it to be "friendly" to the X-ray machine? Time will tell. [NYTimes]



[Image: Nick Veasey]

Phil Bridge, who is studying Industrial Design, came up with the idea as he was researching reasons why people don't use pedal power to get around town. "A typical round town bike can cost several hundred pounds," says Mr Bridge. "That's a large investment for people who aren't sure whether they will use it. The idea of cardboard is to completely devalue the bike".

The bike is still at prototype stage, and Mr Bridge says he still needs to finalize the design. "The prototype does work but it is still quite limited and there are a few problems," he says. Rain, however, is not one of them, he claims.

The AGV—translated, it means "high-speed, self-propelled carriage" was unveiled by Nicolas Sarkozy (who, given his recent marriage to former supermodel Carla Bruni, is probably no stranger to le petit train pulling into the station at regular intervals) at a ceremony in La Rochelle today. Italy has already bought a stack of AGVs and plans to run them on its own rail network from 2011. [BBC News and Railway Gazette]

A telescopic pole beneath the vehicle enables the car on a stick to be raised when not in use, keeping it off the road and transforming it into a street light. Sat-nav equipped, the bubble cars respond to voice commands and gather energy via a solar canopy on the roof.

There is about as much chance of this becoming reality, sadly, as there is of me editing Engadget. Yeah, I keep turning down their desperate advances. [Dezeen]

The 12-meter-long aircraft, which has never flown above a height of seven feet, is powered by a secondhand 133 horsepower engine from a Honda Civic. In the basic cockpit there are two Toyota car seats, with a couple more in the cabin behind. Controls are simple, with an ignition button, an accelerator lever to control vertical thrust and a joystick that provides balance and bearing. A camera beneath the chopper connected to a small screen on the dash gives the pilot ground vision, and he communicates via a small transmitter.

Mubarak says he learned the basics of helicopter flying through the internet after he decided it would be easier to build a chopper than a car. Flying his creation is easy, he claims. "You start it, allow it to run for a minute or two and you then shift the accelerator forward and the propeller on top begins to spin," he explains. "The further you shift the accelerator the faster it goes and once you reach 300 rpm you press the joystick and it takes off."

Undeterred that his home-made transporter, which lives in a hangar on campus, lacks the gear to measure atmospheric pressure, altitude and humidity, Mubarak is working on a new machine which "will be a radical improvement on the first one in terms of sophistication and aesthetics."

A two-seater with the ability to fly at 15 feet for three hours at a time, Mubarak's new creation will be powered by a brand-new motor straight from Taiwan, normally found in motorbikes. [Yahoo! via The Raw Feed]

There's a custom-designed lens system for optimal beam quality and seven top-grade LED lights. Its three modes include a low power-consuming emergency mode, which gives you up to two weeks' light using just 0.25W. Using its strongest battery, it will last all night for a month. But is that worth $1,185? Depends how safe you want to be. [Lupine via Book of Joe]

The event was part of the Centennial Challenges, the government-sponsored competitions that aim to have us all flying to the office in the morning and taking holidays on the moon as soon as possible. The money was given out in six categories: speed, short takeoff, efficiency, handling, noise and overall best.

The grand prize of $100,000, plus two $25,000 prizes, went to a slightly-modified Pipistrel Virus, like the one shown below. It costs $70,000 new, so the team was basically awarded a free plane and $80,000 of gas money.

Another standard looking plane, a modified Vans RV-4 as shown below, won $25,000 and $50,000 for speed and noise sections.

One team were flying a Cessna 172, which has been in production since the 1940's, and even they won a prize. Next year I'm going to turn up with a remote controlled plane - it would probably win me enough to take a decent vacation. [CNet]

From China, these Foot Trolleys of Death are controlled via a handheld throttle and can burn up to max speed in just a few seconds. Instead of a brakes, there is a shut-off button (probably bright red with "SHIIIIIIIIT" inscribed on it in a nice Gothic script) which acts like an emergency stop—meaning that when the skates come to a brisk halt, you probably won't.

A 10-pound engine encased in a seven-inch box on the heel of the right boot sits above a plastic fuel tank—that will make for some interesting ankle burns in a worst-case scenario—which holds one liter of two-stroke petrol.
Because of its exhaust vent and starter cable, safety officers have likened the Fireball Suicide Shoes to a lawnmower. I can think of two uses for it: birthday presents for Paris, Lindsay and Avril Lavigne, and as a modding experiment—cutting the grass (and burning stubble if you live on a farm) will be so much more fun. [Daily Mail]

If this is the future of travel, where do I sign up? A bunch of Swiss aeronautical designers have spent the last five years working on the SmartFish project, a lightweight, fuel-efficient hydrogen fuel cell-powered aircraft. Now at the small model prototype phase, they claim that a full-scale model of their invention will carry two people at 560mph using less fuel than a car.

The HyFish prototype (you can see it in action on the SmartFish website) has a small wingspan, so flight relies on an aerodynamic configuration known as a lifting body. It is this and the craft's fuel-cell turbofan technology that make it work. Construction is simple and, with few moving parts and low operating and maintenance costs, it shouldn't be too costly to build - well, that's what they say.

There are two plans afoot: firstly, to make a 20-foot two-seater; and later on, a design that will fit 20 people on board. Finally, someone is making the minibus sexy. – Ad Dugdale

Product Page [SmartFish via Sci-Fi Tech]

This eye-shaped sleeping and zone-out cocoon surrounds you with blinking LEDs that pulsate to music—it's crammed with high-quality satellite speakers and a couple of huge subwoofers—taking you to a galaxy far, far away. But it just looks like it would get stuffy in there.

Find out more at the designer's annoying website, the web home of Las Vegas architect Alberto Frias. – Charlie White

Curl Up and Transcend [New York Times, via Born Rich]