Hasta La Gadget!

So you are one of those who prefer to get around town using a mix of public transport as well as your set of two wheels – non oil guzzling ones, that is, in the form of a bicycle. Well, well, what are you to do then in order to maximize your “green” and eco-friendly lifestyle while you are on the move? This is where the ECOXGEAR pedal powered headlight and smartphone charger comes in handy, where it will come equipped with a universal mount so that it can be attached to most standard and oversized hubs. Not only that, there is also a handlebar mounted, water-resistant and touch-screen compatible smart phone/GPS case which is pretty much self-explanatory, so I don’t see the need for me to go there. The ECOXPOWER can be yours for $99.99 a pop if you are interested, but let us take a closer look at what it offers in the extended post.

For starters, the ECOXPOWER will come with an ultra-bright LED front headlight and red rear tail light that are capable of being mounted to your bike’s front wheel hub. The included USB adapter cable will run up the front fork and into the handlebar mounted, water-resistant smart phone case. Each time your bicycle’s front wheel turns, the ECOXPOWER’s clutch engages between the tire’s spokes, kickstarting a generator which will power the lighting system, the integrated lithium ion rechargeable battery and the power jack for you smartphone. Talk about efficiency, yo!

As for the smartphone case, it is touch-screen friendly and accommodates all major GPS devices and smartphone models, especially those from the iOS and Android camps. Not only that, the ECOXPOWER will also come equipped with an on/off remote switch which can be mounted to the handlebars, delivering full control over the headlight and taillight while on a ride.

CEO of ECOXGEAR, Greg Fadul, said, “Typical bike lights have a short life expectancy, most of which are only 10-15 hours or even as low as five if on high brightness. Bicyclist either have to routinely buy batteries, remove the light for recharging, or replace their lights completely. ECOXPOWER is self-powered and with the built-in rechargeable battery, extra costs and inconveniences are non-existent. And if you’re using your smart phone for GPS or music on a long ride, you never have to worry about running out of juice.”

Product Page available on Amazon.com.

[ ECOXGEAR pedal powered headlight and smartphone charger for bicycles copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Plenty of iPhone apps exist to help you stay healthy. You have food tracking, exercise tracking, heart rate monitoring. The list goes on and on. We can’t seem to get enough apps to help us live healthy lives. One more to add to your list for later this year is Lapka Personal Environment Monitor. Lapka consists of 4 small devices that connect to your iPhone. Once the Lapka app is downloaded, attach a device and measure:

• Organicity of food and water: Includes a probe to look for significant nitrates, caused by residue of synthetic fertilizer, indication of a non organic source.
• Humidity: Temperature and relative humidity to exist in the optimum climate.
• Radiation: Each particle is counted to help you understand how it may impact you.
• EMF/Electromagnetic field: Electronics, telecommunication devices and power lines can create adverse effects.

Lapka is more than just a measuring device however. It analyzes data received with both your personal history and with average target values of each environment. You can also collect snapshots of your data through the day to create your own comfort diary. Then Lapka literally helps you optimize your surroundings to live a better healthier life.

After a very successful Kickstarter campaign (raising over $170,000 on an ask of $25,000) Lapka is in production. They anticipate a late 2012 launch with a $220 price point. Sign up for email updates at mylapka.com to stay in the loop.

Think about it. Food tracking apps are good, but you pretty much know that eating the French Fries is not good for you. And apps can check some of your vitals, you can too though. But there are many unknowns in this world that impact our health and that, without a scientist in tow, we can never measure. Lapka is coming, to help us learn more about our environment, stay safe and stay comfortable.

Thanks: Fast Company

[ App (and Device) to Keep You Healthy copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Few things strike as much dread into the middle of my day as much as the laundry. I think its right up there on my list of things I have learned to hate the drudgery  of quite a long time ago. Vacuuming, kitty litter emptying and laundry. Hate em. We’ve put a man on the moon, how come I’m still doing this stuff the way my mom used to? Sure the washing machine is bigger and higher tech… but its the same boring job.

Well, scientists might actually have my best interests at heart. Mingce Long and  Deyong Wu say they have developed a fabric coated with titanium dioxide (think suntan lotion ingredient) That breaks down dirt and kills different microbes when exposed to certain kinds of light, more specifically, their product can clean itself when exposed to sunlight… very nice.

The report on this fabric describes a regular cotton fabric that’s coated with nanoparticles (I told you about them yesterday, they’re a size between molecular and microscopic) made from a compound of titanium dioxide and nitrogen. Their tests show that a cotton fabric coated with theses particles removed an orange dye stain when it was exposed to sunlight, and the coating even stayed intact after washing and drying. What a minute, washing and drying? Am I missing the point here?

A similar study is being done at the University of California, where scientists have created another compound that also allows cotton to break down toxins and bacteria when exposed to light. Heck, I’ll just make my family eat dinner outside in the sun, and kill two birds with one stone. Now we just have to figure out a way for the food to cook itself, then, life will be good.

Source: zmescience.com

[ Do you Think these Clothes are Going to Clean Themselves? copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

My kid is constantly raiding my printer for paper. I probably wouldn’t mind as much as I do, if it weren’t for the fact that said paper keeps winding up with a bunch of useless scribbles on it all over my desk top, and then to make matters worse, when I go to print something… well you know how it goes.

It’s certainly not just my lovely child, there is enough waste paper to be had in every home, office and school on our planet, but what should we do with it? Well, industrial designers Chengzhu Ruan, Yuanyuan Liu, Xinwei Yuan and Chao Chen have an idea, how about recycling our waste paper into useful pencils? Seems like a good idea and the team has produced a concept machine that does exactly that.

The P&P Office Waste Processor allows users to simply feed a sheet of no-longer-necesary paper into the appropriate slot in the machine, which then tightly wraps it around a pencil lead and voila, the Office waste processor generates an artistic, usable pencil. You go from garbage to pencil in no time flat, and a small forest can heave a collective sigh of relief. No word yet on whether or not this concept will eventually become a reality, but if they will offer different colored leads, for making colored pencils I’m all in.

Source: Yanko Design

[ P&P Office Waste Processor – Scrap Paper in, Pencils out copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]