Hasta La Gadget!

Salt: sure, you might use it to cure meats for your latest solar-powered circumnavigation. But hold onto your kippers, Magellan, because Singaporean scientists have found that sodium chloride — ordinary table salt! — can also dramatically increase storage capacity. You see, typical hard drives have randomly-arranged magnetic grains, which allow data density of about 0.5 terabit per square inch. But a high-resolution e-beam lithography process, aided by our good friend NaCl, arranges the grains in a tighter, more orderly fashion, upping the density to 3.3 terabits per square inch. Called nanopatterning, this technique enables a 1TB drive to hold 6TB without additional platters; it also works with current manufacturing technology, meaning no expensive upgrades. If that’s got you dreaming of a higher-capacity future, hit the source link for more glorious technical details. We’ll warn you, though: the pictures of luscious, bee-stung lips stop here.

Salt enables six times the storage capacity for snail-unfriendly hard drives originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Oct 2011 05:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are people who ask why, and people who ask why not — and yet others who decide to turn a $2,500 car into a $4.6 million car by covering it with gold and jewels. Yes, that’s none other than a lowly Tata Nano in an extravagant disguise that you’re looking at, and, yes, it’s very much real — and apparently for sale if anyone’s interested, according to the Tata jewelery subsidiary responsible for it (at least once it’s done touring it around for a few months). Head on past the break for a video of the unveiling from ITN.

[Image credit: Megha Bahree / The Wall Street Journal]

Continue reading There is now a $4.6 million Tata Nano made of gold

There is now a $4.6 million Tata Nano made of gold originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flickkey makes it possible to type on tiny screens

The FlickKey Mini is billed as the “World’s Smallest Keyboard.” What’s more, it’s a virtual, on-screen keyboard, expanding the market for possible haters twofold.

Why would you want such a thing? Well, the somewhat confusing PR e-mail talks about putting it on the face of a watch. This opens up the possibility of turning something the size of an iPod Nano into a full(ish)-featured computer.

First, though, the keyboard has to actually work. You can download a free version which puts a keyboard the size and shape of an Nano on your iPhone screen. It is so tiny you’ll have to squint to see the letters. The FlickKey consists of six keys, each one of which contains nine letters or symbols. To type the letter in the center, you tap the key. To type a letter on the edge of a key, you tap it and then swipe in that direction.

It works surprisingly well, although it’s painfully slow at first as you have to re-learn where the letters are. FlickKey will sell you a torture-free version for $2, which puts more practical-sized tiles along which fill the same space as the usual iPhone keyboard, and lets you type and save notes.

Clearly this is a proof-of-concept, and re-learning the key layout make sit a lot harder to start using than the widely-liked Swype keyboard popular on Android phones. But if there ever is an iPhone Nano, expect it to use something like this.

FlickKey product page [FlickKey. Thanks, Will!]

See Also:

• Swype: Text Input From the Inventor of T9
• 8pen

As you may know, crafting a katana is a delicate process that involves carefully constructing a razor-sharp high-carbon edge around a soft shock-absorbent core. One day though, smiths and forging fires could be replaced by electrode-wielding mad-scientists, with the technology to selectively harden and soften metal at will. At least that’s what we envisioned when we read about Jörg Weißmüller’s breakthrough research in the field of nanomaterials. The German scientist discovered that by placing precious metals in acid he could create tiny ducts through corrosion. Once those channels are flooded with a conductive liquid, electrical currents can be used to harden the material and, if you change your mind about the brittle results, the effect can easily be reversed to make it soft again. The tech could eventually lead to self-healing vehicle armor or scratch-resistant cellphones — but, really, we just want to zap our way to a high-quality samurai sword.

Scientist cooks up adjustable strength metals originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jun 2011 01:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is there any sadder sight than a 1958 Plymouth Fury rotting in the woods, Christine-style, its dead headlights staring into the gloaming? We don’t think so. That’s why we’re downright giddy over Kenneth Cobonpue’s Phoenix roadster, a biodegradable concept car made from bamboo, rattan, steel and nylon. Style wise, it’s propped somewhere between Tata’s Nano and Tesla’s Roadster, and there’s no word yet on what might go under the hood — presumably a smallish electric engine… or a stardust-powered unicorn, perhaps. That funky-looking body should last the average length of ownership; after five years (or even longer, depending on the composition), it can be replaced or naturally returned to the Ma Earth. One potential downside of biodegradable vehicles? No more “dead car” Flickr albums. Also, no warranties.

Kenneth Cobonpue’s biodegradable car: time to ditch the Gremlin rusting in your yard originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 03:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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