Hasta La Gadget!

We’re selfishly daydreaming of how we could use something like this at the next CES, but chances are that Lockheed Martin is really only fixated on boosting its bottom line by assisting the US military. The company’s HULC exoskeleton, which was originally introduced by Berkeley Bionics in 2008, is seeing a significant upgrade this week courtesy of a fuel-cell power pack from Protonex. The goal? To strap a new, more potent battery onto the Human Universal Load Carrier that will support 72+ hour extended missions. Soldiers tend to carry around a lot more gadgetry now, all of which requires more and more power; with this pack, the men and women in the field could carry fewer conventional batteries while seeing an overall boost in available juice. There’s no mention of when exactly this stuff will be rolled out en masse, but that’s a detail you’ll probably never know, anyway.

Protonex fuel-cell batteries to power HULC exoskeleton for three solid days originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember when Stanford University turned mere paper into a proper battery? That was just the beginning. The same team, led by Yi Cui in the Department of Engineering, now wants your pants to be an electrical storage device. They’ve managed to dye fabric with carbon nanotube ink, still allowing the cloth to stretch and move like normal but also giving it the supernatural ability to hold a charge. Imagine the day when hipster jeans charge Droids, when booty pants juice up iPhones, and when your wristwatch is powered by the very band you use to strap it to your person — assuming, of course, the whole “asbestos-like effects” thing turns out to be false.

Stanford University shows that clothes make good batteries too originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Auto-Lift iron from Italian appliance-monger Ariete will stop you burning that tell-tale mark into your dress-shirt yet again. As soon as you let go of the handle, the steam-iron will lift up and away from the delicate clothing beneath to prevent charring. When you grab it again, micro-capacitive sensors in the handle will detect your clammy digits and lower the iron for continued pressing.

As the wonderfully good-looking members of the Wired.com team can attest after my recent visit to the San Francisco nerve-center, I never iron anything, preferring a lazy, rumpled understatement instead of any actual pride in my appearance. The last time I used an iron was to toast a cheese sandwich after the gas ran out in my student home many years ago (yes, the steam-holes do leave an un-browned pattern). But even I can see the good sense behind this 2400W auto-lifter. After all, putting a piece of hot metal onto a delicate, flammable piece of fabric is clearly dangerous madness. Thank you, Ariete, for making this weird social ritual a little bit safer. €65 ($92).

Auto-Lift Iron [Ariete via Appliancist and Core77]

We’ll go ahead and say what you’re thinking: a silver hose running up the front of your jacket doesn’t really augment any established motorcycle style. This thing looks like a canister vac that’s gone rogue and hitched a ride on a pillion seat, but after reading the literature and watching the video below we want one anyway. It’s the EntroSys Motorcycle Air Conditioner and it not only cools but also heats, meaning it could be the perfect accessory for those who want to extend their riding season into either the middle or end of the year. It clips on the back of the bike and gets wired in to the battery, the hose running to a special vest worn under your gear. A wireless controller mounted on the bars raises or lowers the temp, and while you will admittedly look utterly ridiculous wearing the thing you might be the only one not sweating to death when you get caught in traffic — unless of course you’re of the flip-flop and tank-top variety. If that’s the case, thanks for the high insurance premiums!

Continue reading EntroSys motorcycle air conditioning and heating system now taking pre-orders, we wants it (video)

EntroSys motorcycle air conditioning and heating system now taking pre-orders, we wants it (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have a grandmother or grandfather who tends to go for afternoon walks and somehow winds up on the other side of town? Does that town happen to be in Finland? Aerotel GeoSKeeper system could be your saving grace, a wrist-worn cellphone and GPS combo device that allows for others to keep tabs on the location of the wearer. It was announced back in 2008 and is now going live in Finland courtesy of EcoTec, where families can set up safe zones and receive alerts whenever the wearer decides to wander outside of them, which is reassuring — so long as you’re not the one wearing the thing. Calls can be made to doctors or family with the press of a button should something go wrong, and apparently you can even receive text messages somehow. The one thing it can’t do? Tell time. If you’re going to make someone wear something like this, the least you could do is build a watch into the thing!

Continue reading Aerotel GeoSKeeper hits Finland, keeps mummi from wandering too far away

Aerotel GeoSKeeper hits Finland, keeps mummi from wandering too far away originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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