Some of you may already be familiar with the concept of Eink, a new way to make digital readers for all kinds of publications, and a way to make all of the publications more cost effective endeavor for the consumers.
You may have already seen Eink and not even known it. In September of this year in celebration of its 75th Anniversary, Esquire Magazine and the new Ford Flex made the first-ever digital magazine cover released to the public.

New prototypes have been released that will show how the Eink technology can be brought to the markteplace at a reasonable cost thanks to the ability for effective advertising on the site. The prototypes shows a video of an interactive ad on the front page of the New York Times, similar to what you may see on many websites currently.

These new generation of readers can help to reduce the costs of readers and of subscriptions to Eink publications by adding these ads to the page. Which means that Einks may not just show up on the front pages of magazines, with plenty of glossy space inside to pay for the technology but in a wider range of applications as the cost model shifts.

This change of costs will, over the long run, make the devices more cost friendly for the general public.

The head of the Design Team and former world record holder Richard Noble (Project Director of The BLOODHOUND Project) are working to develop the first land speed vehicle that breaks the 1,000 mph barrier and will have its design underpinned through world-class research from some of the UK’s top laboratories.

The team worked with the scientists at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) and Fluid Gravity Engineering (FGE) to advise the world-record bid team on two of the most high-risk aspects of the world record attempt.

Many materials were considered for the wheels including a choice of metals and composites that could be used in the design, providing reports on titanium and aluminium alloys, and metal composites.

Those two aspects are the wheel and rocket designs. To reach 1,000 mph they need to be able to rotate at 10,500 rpm without being damaged by the road surface or any stones that may be in the road. In addition they need to be able to need to be as light as possible to minimise steering and suspension forces, absorb all of the weight, down force loads and stresses and distribute this pressure without causing damage to the vehicle or the surface.

The vehicle will have the first ever mixed powerplant of a hybrid rocket motor and a jet engine that is currently used on the Eurofighter Typhoon. It uses cutting edge jet technology to provide the initial thrust and the novel rocket impulse to achieve the 1,000 mph target. The hybrid engine is being tested by a scale model that is only 6 inches long.

What do they think of the progress so far?

Well Brian Chapman, who is the Project Leader for NPL, said:

“When you’re travelling at 1,000 mph you don’t want to be worrying about your motor holding out or whether your tyres are up to it. That’s why NPL – with FGE and AWE – have spent the last year looking at every eventuality for both the wheel and the rocket motor designs. We have been closely examining the effect that materials properties will have on the rocket performance, the size and weight the wheels need to be to sustain the speed, and environmental effects such as a high speed impact with a small piece of debris could have. We’re confident that our work will help to ensure that Richard and Andy are able to safely oversee another successful world record attempt for the UK, and go faster than ever before.”

OLO Computer has introduced a conceptual design where a clamshell notebook computer will be powered solely by a socketed iPhone.  The computer looks much like a normal laptop, except there will be a slot for your iPhone on the palmrest. The iPhone will then double as a trackpad and as the brains of the computer.

According to OLO’s conceptual image on its website, the system seems to be running Mac OS X, although this may not be exactly accurate. Their website shows no actual specs, description, or pricing other than a message stating “Coming soon… Sorry but your PC is out!”

We are not sure if it will have actual “computer-like” features, or if is just a bigger screen and a keyboard for the iPhone. If the latter, then it will most likely flop like the Palm Foleo or the recent RedFly device.

Engineers at Boston University are developing the next generation of wireless communications technology – LED lights. Information will be transmitted through visible light rather than radio waves. This “Smart Lighting” will use low power light emitting diodes, or LEDs, to deliver faster, more secure data communications wirelessly.

Essentialy, these LED lights would become the equivalent of a Wi-Fi access point.

BU Engineering Professor Thomas Little commented: “Imagine if your computer, iPhone, TV, radio and thermostat could all communicate with you when you walked in a room just by flipping the wall light switch and without the usual cluster of wires. This could be done with an LED-based communications network that also provides light - all over existing power lines with low power consumption, high reliability and no electromagnetic interference. Ultimately, the system is expected to be applicable from existing illumination devices, like swapping light bulbs for LEDs.”

With properly placed LED lighting, a wireless device in sight of the data-filled light would have access to the internet and network. Initial speeds of 1 to 10 megabit per second is expected. Furthermore, because light is unable to travel through solid walls, the data is less prone to “eavesdropping.” Less energy is also consumed by this method as opposed to traditional radio wave technology.

The core of this novel idea relies on the flickering of lights so rapid that it is unnoticable to the human eye. The flickering of light in different patterns would mean different signals, enabling data to be transmitted without noticeable change in room lighting.

Professor Little hopes to bring the technology outdoors to automobiles, in which brake lights of vehicles in front of a driver can be detected and warns the rear vehicle’s driver instanteously or even actively assisting in the braking.

LCD technology is advancing so quickly that the images being displayed are becoming 3D. KDDI Corporation has been showing off a new prototype version on a small scale — for mobile phones. Both images and videos will be displayed in a three dimensional view using two merged LCD screens.

Obviously the screenshots here are hard to convey the 3D effect but the method involves displaying two images, projected and interlaced by two separate LCD screens laid together. One displays the image for the left eye, while the other displays a variation of the image for the right eye. Although the variation is very subtle, these stereoscopic LCD displays trick the eye into seeing a three dimensional image.

KDDI has been demonstrating a prototype with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels with both still images and moving video displayed in 3D. No word when an actual phone using such a technology will be available to the public.

Russian billionaire and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich plans on building an armor-plated, bulletproof-glass-installed super yacht complete with anti-missile radar systems, a private submarine, and two helicopters for more than 200 million euros, or almost $300 million.

With his personal fortune of 16 billion dollars, the tycoon plans on constructing an impenetrable floating fortress with a full defense system against sea pirates. Pirates are becoming more common in the waters around Africa; should Abramovich decide to sail to the 2010 World Cup in Africa, he will be ready to defend. Over 269 vessels were attacked and 300 hostages taken last year by pirates according to the International Maritime Bureau.

Under maritime law, non military ships are forbidden from carrying lethal weapons and firearms. Yacht owners are more commonly equipping their vessels with high powered water cannons, ear-splitting klaxons, and lubricant foam to deter walking.

It’s no wonder that Abramovich’s new ship, called the Eclipse, will include a radar system to warn the crew of 70 former SAS members of incoming rockets. Armored plating and bulletproof glass make the ship hardened against gun fire. There are also two helipads and equipment to deter bugging.

Should intruders make it on board the ship, Abramovich can escape with his 26 year old girlfriend Daria Zhukova in a yellow submarine which can dive to 160 feet.

The Eclipse — overshadowing all other boats at sea – stretches 550 feet and is being secretly built in Germany at the same shipyard that produced the World War II battleship the Bismarck. Abramovich will be adding this new boat to his existing collection of the 377 feet Pelorus, 282 feet Ecstasea, and 160 feet Sussurro.

The mega yacht will also have cabins for 24 guests as well as a movie theater, aquariam, disco, and hospital.

If you love going to a 3D movie, but you hate the long drives and the high prices of getting to an IMAX theater – if there even is one in your area – then your solution may be coming to a regular theater near you next year.

Sony will be demonstrating its latest in digital cinema technology innovation: a single-projector 3D adaptor designed to work specifically with its 4K projectors in movie theaters.

The new adaptor for traditional theater projectors will use the full height of Sony’s 4K imaging device, with the ability to display full 2K images for the left and right eye simultaneously and in parallel, from top and bottom.

The new lens units, models LKRL-A002 (X1.1 -1.9) and LKRL-A003 (X1.9 - 3.3), consists of an optical and mechanical assembly for each left and right eye image. It is designed to meet DCI specifications for 3D digital projection, while overcoming the bandwidth and resolution limitations of currently available 3D systems.

“With the addition of the 3D adaptor to our digital cinema product line-up, Sony can now offer the best of all worlds to exhibition: stunning 4K imagery from 4K movies, and incredible 3D with no triple-flash artifacts,” said Gary Johns, vice president of Sony Electronics’ Digital Cinema Systems Division.

The system was developed to give exhibitors the flexibility to switch between showing 4K and 3D content. The 3D adaptor attaches onto the lens mount of the projector and is compatible with all Sony 4K projectors currently in the field. It can be easily removed or re-attached within minutes.

The 3D adaptor is expected to be available in March 2009.

The new technology will be shown off at ShowEast, the Motion Picture Industry Convention which runs between October 13th and 16th.

The only thing that this blogger really cares about is if the projectors will make it out to us locals in time for the release of the final Harry Potter movie.