Hasta La Gadget!

Polytron Technologies, a Taiwanese technology manufacturer, has unveiled designs and a prototype of their transparent smartphone. The entire touchscreen is transparent and is made out of what Polytron calls “Polyvision Privacy Glass”.  The technology behind “Polyvision Privacy Glass” is “Switchable Glass”. Basically liquid crystal molecules react when an electric current is passed through them to form a special sequence and they allow light to pass, making it transparent, when the charge is removed, the molecules reflect light.

(more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: LG Showcases Panorama Note Feature For Optimus Vu 2, Samsung Readies 5.5-inch Flexible Smartphone Display For CES 2013,

I’ve seen wingsuits used in basejumping and skydiving, but I guess it makes sense to use something akin to those suits underwater, since some animals like ray fish use their “wings” to fly underwater.

The Oceanwings neoprene suit from AquaLung Dreamlab is supposed to help humans in their subaquatic activities. The suit was created by French designer Guillaume Binard and Frédérique Gouin. It looks like the suit lets you sort of “fly” through the water without much energy expense, though it will probably take some time to get used to the way that it makes the water flow around your body.

You can see the suit in action in this underwater video directed by Jérôme Espla, featuring Pierre Frolla as he dives into the abyss.

[via designboom]

The CBBC’s Blue Peter program is the world’s longest running television program made specifically for children, run after 54 years as a magazine / entertainment show for learning and engaging with kids. This show has this week prepared an award for none other than Apple‘s Sir Johnathan Ive, here sending the designer off with the show’s “highest accolade.” Though those of you outside the UK may never have heard of this show (thumbs down to you), this award has stricken Ive (born in Chingford, London) as “absolutely incredible.”

The gold Blue Peter badge, as it’s called, is a rarity in the history of the show – so to speak – having only been given out to the most honorable of guests over the program’s many years on the air. Right around 1,000 badges have been given out, according to the BBC, others having been handed to the likes of JK Rowling, Damian Hirst, and The Queen (of England, of course).

Acting Editor of Blue Peter Ewan Vinnicombe spoke up on the event, saying that Ive “is an inspiration to children around the world.” The award was given on an episode of the show that will be broadcast on CBBC Saturday the 16th of February at 10AM GMT. In the episode, Ive conducts miniature reviews of product designs sent in to the show by Blue Peter audience members. He gives advice to the children who designed said products, and lets them know what they can do to make great products in the future as well.

Also during the show you’ll see Ive being interviewed by presenter Barney Harwood, who has Ive recalling the influence the program had on him when he was as child. Speaking about how “vividly” he remembers watching the show in his early years, Ive speaks about how he enjoyed the way the creators of the show “reused products that you though were no longer useful.” Fun stuff!

BONUS: Having been given a tip that he’d be getting a gold Blue Peter badge before going on the show, Ive came prepared. Having been handed an official badge, Ive gave Barney a giant aluminum (aka aluminium) badge in return – one that took 10 hours to craft!

Be sure to catch the program as you eat your cereal in your footie pajamas in the fabulous England morning and let us know how it goes! For those of you in the USA that’ll be asleep at that point, just bust out your typing fingers and have a search for it – the CBBC will certainly post it up sooner than later. Can’t wait!

Apple’s Jony Ive nabs legendary gold Blue Peter badge is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Many people have a home theater PC sitting right next to their HDTVs. It’s not always the best-looking solution to manage your media, but oftentimes it’s the most functional. There’s no reason why your HTPC should look ugly. Check out this awesome design that Jeffrey Stephenson came up with.

Project Ayr is a fanless home theater PC that’s encased in an Art Deco-inspired mahogany shell. It’s definitely a nice retro style case and would look great sitting in your living room. Inside the wooden case, which has an aluminum frame, there’s an Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of RAM, an Intel Cherryville SSD, 150W Pico PSU and an illuminated Silverstone HE02 passive heatsink, which occupies the majority of the case, and is cleverly integrated into the design.

Jeffery states that his custom design is “a solid state, fanless, no-moving-parts, dead silent home theater PC,” cutting down on the drone of fans while Jeff watches his favorite movies.

[Jeffery Stephenson via Engadget]

Parking a car can be a real hassle in big cities, and there are plenty of reasons why I drive a scooter: parking is free and it’s no problem. That being said, I can already imaging people toting around this foldable, electric scooter to go where they need to, completely eliminating the need for parking.

The Antro MOVEO can be folded up and wheeled about like a suitcase. When unpacked, it can weave its way through traffic, and get you wherever you need to go on short urban hauls. It weighs only 55 pounds, and has a seat mounted on the chassis. The scooter has an enclosed body and can go up to 28mph. It’s powered by in-wheel electric motors that have a range of 22 miles, while taking only an hour to charge.

Antro anticipates a production run of about 4,000 scooters per year, and the MOVEO is expected to sell between $3,100 to $4,600(USD). I can already see people packing these in the trunks of their cars so they can make short runs around town without losing their parking spaces.

[Antro via Gizmag]