We know, we know, Google has the whole hot air balloon thing covered. But this idea is a bit different. It consists of a group of “helikites,” or small load-bearing balloon-kite hybrids, which can quickly be launched to form a network of LTE or WLAN masts up to an altitude of 2.5 miles, providing data coverage following an earthquake or tsunami. A standalone rugged suitcase, or “Portable Land Rapid Deployment Unit,” contains everything needed for activation in tough conditions. Researchers behind the project, including German R&D firm TriaGnoSys, have even found a way to integrate the temporary network with existing cell towers that remain in tact on the ground — a feature that makes the system suitable not only for emergencies, but also for expanding mobile coverage during planned events in remote locations. Of course, the helikites would eventually drift apart and lose connectivity, probably after around four days depending on the wind, but these things never travel quite as far as you’d expect.
Filed under: Cellphones, Science, Internet, Alt
Via: Technology Review
Source: EAI PSATS (PDF download)
I know that there is this thing known as nicotine patches, but an anti-mosquito patch? Now that is certainly an idea which is worth looking into, especially for those of us out there who love the great outdoors, and yet seem to attract them pesky mozzies far easier than the rest of the family. Well, the 
Italian electronics manufacturer DaVinci Mobile Technology has begun to accept pre-orders for their Kite tablet which is of the Full HD variety, so you can be sure to receive eyeball popping images with everyday use. It is rather something to see an European produced tablet compared to American and South Korean designed ones, as the Kite tablet will come with a 10.1-inch IPS display at 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, complete with a quad-core Samsung Exynos 4412 processor, accompanied by 2GB RAM, 32GB of internal memory, a VGA camera in front for those vanity shots, a back-facing 2-megapixel camera, and for its main selling point, the ability to dual boot in Ubuntu 12.04 for ARM and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
The kite-flying tradition that hailed from ancient China has a new lease of life, as it has resulted in a new tool that citizens can use for monitoring air quality all over Beijing. This project is the collaboration between a Chinese graduate student and a graduate student from the US, where it was inspired from the controversy surrounding statistics of China’s air pollution. Known as the “