Now this the kind of competition we like to see, resulting in technology that’s truly useful–like lawnmowers.

First we saw the “Lawnbott,” then the “Auto Mower,” and now we have the “GOAT” from Evatech. This mowing monster is strong enough “to pull a fertilizer spreader, climb 45-degree inclines, or even operate as a snowplow,” Gizmag says.

But what truly distinguishes the GOAT–which stands for “Go All Terrain”–is its power source: a hybrid motor that runs on both gasoline and electricity. (We also like the remote, which looks just like the kind we use on the RC cars at RadioShack.) If all this still doesn’t provide enough grass-wasting power for you, don’t despair. Evatech has an even bigger model with tank treads for a mere $11,999.

source : crave.cnet

best regards,

Lionel, CrowdSpirit Founder

With Eee PC becoming a focus of the PC market, Asustek Computer has announced it is planning to launch a family of Eee products including: E-DT (desktop PC), E-TV and E-Monitor. All the products while have low-cost as their major selling point, according to Jerry Shen, president of Asustek.

The E-DT, a desktop PC which will not be sold with a monitor, is scheduled to launch in April or May this year and will be showcased at CeBIT 2008. The first E-DT will adopt an Intel Celeron processor, while later generations will adopt Intel’s Shelton’08 platform with Diamondville processors and the 945GC chipset. The company has set the price of the PC at between US$200-300 and will try to push it down to US$199.

The E-Monitor will be an all-in-one device similar to Apple’s iMac and Dell’s XPS One. E-Monitor will cut into the 19-21-inch market and will come with a built-in TV tuner. Pricing is set at US$499, compared to the iMac’s price of US$1,199-2,299 and the XPS One’s price of US$1,499-2,399. E-Monitor will also be based on Intel’s Shelton’08 platform and will be launched in September this year.

Finally, the E-TV will compete in the over 42-inch LCD TV market, but will integrate the Linux-based PC functionality of other Eee PC products. Pricing is to be set to at no greater than US$200 more than TVs in the same class. E-TV is also scheduled to launch in September.

With the desktop PC market slowing down, while Asustek has shown mediocre performance in the LCD TV market, the E-DT and E-TV are likely to find it hard to achieve success, market watchers noted. However, the competitive pricing of the E-Monitor may create similar waves as the Eee PC did, they added.

In other news, Shen also pointed out the company’s market research has determined that touch screen is not a highly demanded feature for Eee PC customers, and therefore it will suspend plans to include the option of a touch screen panel in the next generation of Eee PCs.

source : digitimes

best regards,

Lionel, CrowdSpirit Founder

An electronic musician from Uruguay converted a “retro-styled pilot suitcase” into a fully-functional PC, spending just $600. It comes complete with AMD 3200 processor, 1GB of memory, 120GB SATA HDD, and 15-inch Viewsonic LCD. Click here for first picture in gallery.

He did it for a simple reason: not enough money to buy a laptop. He needed something truly portable to take to his music gigs and a desktop didn’t cut it. So he designed the case and put every component needed inside

source: techblog

best regards,

Lionel, CrowdSpirit Founder

Drobo now made a drives storage system that can mix and match any types of hard disks to make one device that has easy access. So with the released the DroboShare, which is an Ethernet module that turns Drobo into a network attached storage (NAS) to share your files with several users at Gigabit Ethernet speeds. DroboShare is going for $199 and Drobo is $499.

source: Techfresh

best regards,

Lionel, CrowdSpirit Founder

The “Tagged in Motion” project connects up physical space to live graffiti tagging to build a bridge between real graffiti art and its virtual depiction. Co-created by graffiti artist, DAIM, the video shows the artist tagging while tracked by three cameras and equipped with a Bluetooth controller that allows him to change colors and strokes that relays this information to a computer in his backpack that renders its path as sprayed strokes in physical space. All of this is seen in real-time through wearing a head mounted display. Pretty nice idea and cool run through at the end of the video.

source : makezine

best regards,

Lionel, CrowdSpirit Founder

No office should be without this USB powered mouse, you can work happily away and have the occasional peek at whatever site you may wish, like FaceBook or an online game.

But should the boss come along, then it only take one click of the small red button and this will minimize all of the applications, leaving the desk top visible, not only is this very cool, it could also save you your job.

Priced at $24

source : zedomax

best regards,

Lionel, CrowdSpirit Founder

Apple has filed a new patent that involves a touchwheel/pad that is found on the MacBook/iPod which lights up the moment you touch it. It covers both a light encircling your finger, in addition to blocks of light as you move across areas. There is also a third option where the light intensity varies, depending on the speed of movement of your finger. Anyone wants to place a bet as to when we’ll see this new design take off in some future version of an iPod/MacBook?

best regards,

Lionel, CrowdSpirit Founder

For the billionth time, Google is not making a phone or gPhone to compete against the iPhone, so do not hold your breath, or you’re going to suffocate. My man Vinton Cerf, the father of Internet, now Google’s chief internet evangelist made it clear “that building hardware would be a dramatic shift in the company’s business model.” In a telephone interview earlier this month, Dr Cerf, said, “becoming an equipment manufacturer is pretty far from our business model”.

further details on phonemag

best regards

Lionel, CrowdSpirit Founder

The P-Per Concept Phone hopes to achieve the elusive balance between satiating geeks as well as environmentalists. The P-Per handset comes with four layers, comprising of a printed circuit board, extruded polycarbonate, recycled titanium, and a wrap around flexible haptic LED touchscreen. Since the use of materials is minimized, what you get is a highly sustainable design. With a wrap around screen providing endless user interface possibilities, a 7mm slim form factor, a 3 megapixel camera and an unprecedented 2-minute recharge time, I would love to see this P-Per phone hit the manufacturing lines instead of remaining as a concept.

source: ubergizmo

best regards,

Lionel, CrowdSpirit Founder

So in an effort to make use of those harmful exhaust fumes an Iranian design team came up with this concept. It’s a single burger grill that plugs into your exhaust and uses the heat from those gases to cook the burger.

Its really a rather ingenious idea, it uses a clamshell design to direct the gases around the burger, without them polluting the meat. The only downside is that you’d have to stop ever so often to either change out patties or flip the burger as it appears to only cook one side at a time.

Also, since it dog-legs downward, depending on what you drive, you’d have to worry about hitting the wrong bump and the thing being knocked off without you even knowing. Now if you could cook 4 burgers in the time it took you to run to McDonald’s to get French fries, it’d be nifty, but I doubt the cooking time would be that good. Like I said, its just a design, so it will probably never be made, and even if it did, it would probably cost too much.

source : slashgear

best regards,

Lionel, CrowdSpirit Founder