THA THING: September 2008


	Golf Coach on Hand Tiny sensors and an on-board computer in the SensoGlove analyze your golf swing and coach you with visible and audible tips. It also rates your grip.

	Hyperdunk Nike's latest shoe is loaded with technology. Synthetic tendons, stronger and lighter than cloth, are made of fiber spun from liquid crystal polymer--the kind used in professional bike tires.

	Wireless, Battery-Powered TV Sony has launched a completely wireless, battery-powered OLED TV that can be wall-mounted.

	World's Largest, Strongest six-axis Robot FANUC Robotics has introduced a heavy-duty line of robots, designed to handle a 900kg payload of truck, tractor, and car parts.

	Automated Sprinkler Aquarius is an irrigation control system that is solar powered and remotely managed to adjust its water flow depending on the soil, crop and weather conditions.

	Flying Car Moller International has designed a two-seater hybrid flying car that claims to be capable of lifting off vertically from a traffic jam and flying at up to 150 mph for a short distance (about 15 minutes).

	World's Highest Capacity 1.8-inch HDD Toshiba Corp. has launched world's first dual-platter 240GB HDD (MK2431GAH) that delivers the highest capacity and areal density in the 1.8-inch drive category for integration into portable media players, camcorders and mobile PCs.

	Solar LED Street Lights with Built-In Seismic Detection Sharp Corporation will be launching two new models of solar-powered LED street lights with in-built Seismic Motion Sensors which detect earthquakes of 5 or greater.

	Technology for Bonded Aircraft Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Materials Research IFAM in Bremen have developed a hybrid technology that combines mechanical joining with adhesive bonding to create a lightweight aircraft.

	Fitness Gadget for Losing Weight The Fitbit Tracker is an innovative wireless device that tracks the exercise, calories burned, steps taken, distance moved, and sleep length and quality, in order to motivate you to become more healthy.

	Washing Machine Toilet? The washing machine/toilet stores water after each washing cycle that is used to flush the toilet below it, saving water and space.

	Lighter Robo Legs Researchers at Oregon State and Carnegie Mellon Universities are building robotic legs that recycle energy stored when the leg is bent.

	Thinnest iPod unveiled Apple has unveiled the latest version of its iPod Nano that is thinner than previous models. It also has arsenic-free glass and a mercury and PVC-free body that is recyclable.

	Toshiba's 100-gram LED projector Toshiba will be launching a mobile phone-sized LED projector weighing in at just 100 grams, including battery, early next year.

	Eye Care Glasses for Computer Professionals Gunnar Optiks' Sphere glasses feature an ultrawide wrap around format creating a microclimate which protects your eyes from the drying effects of glare, heat, and dust.

	Portable Prototype Scout Copter Students at the Stevens Institute of Technology have devised a tiny prototype scout copter that would allow soldiers to check tall buildings for enemies before they go in.

	Capturx Excel Forms Capturx™ Forms for Excel is a combination of hardware (the pen) and software that allows things written in forms to be transferred automatically to an excel spreadsheet.

	Vertical Farming Environmental scientists at Columbia University are proposing an innovative farming solution: skyscrapers filled with robotically tended hydroponic crops and lab-grown meat.

	Plastic e-newspaper Plastic Logic has unveiled a lightweight electronic newspaper device that is the size of a piece of standard printer paper and can be updated automatically over wireless connections.

	Robotic Dog to Assist Military A computerized canine known as ‘BigDog’ has been created by Engineering Company Boston Dynamics to assist the U.S. military in combat operations.

	World’s Biggest Physics Experiment The $9 billion Large Hadron Collider that has been built over the last 20 years and represents the work of at least 7,000 scientists from 60 countries, will be turned on Sep-10-08. It is world's biggest, most highly-anticipated physics experiment.

	Harnessing Gym Energy The Green Microgym in Portland, OR, features machines that capture the collective power of exercisers as they pedal and turn hand cranks, in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint.

	Space-Saving TV/DVD Player Ikea has unveiled its under cabinet TV with DVD Player that makes perfect sense in this era of space crunched apartments.

	Washable Antimicrobial Keyboard Seal Shield has unveiled the new Silver Seal Flex, an antimicrobial keyboard that can be cleaned by washing it with water.

	Buffalo’s MicroStation Buffalo has launched MicroStation, the world’s first external solid state USB drive with 32GB, 64GB and 100GB capacities, and a maximum data transfer speed of 35MB/s.

	Virus-Powered Batteries Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are building tiny microbatteries, about half the size of a human cell, that are built with genetically engineered M13 viruses.

	Verizon Super-Rugged Phone The G'zOne Boulder, a new phone from Verizon Wireless is a super-tough phone that meets military specifications for water submersion, shock and dust resistance.

	Lifeware’s Media Center Drives Ten TVs Lifeware has crammed eight CableCARD tuners into a dual Intel Quad Core, 12TB RAID 5 box that can stream out to ten Media Extenders.

	Xerox’s 3-D Complex Document Visualization Xerox’s latest technology uses 3-D software to view the entire layout of brochures or flyers before they go to print.

	Airbag System for Helicopters Engineers at Bell Helicopter have designed airbags to protect helicopters in emergency landings.

	High-tech Tools Fight Wine Fraud French scientists have developed a fraud-busting technology that consists of zapping wine bottles with beams of charged ions generated by a particle accelerator, that enables them to distinguish how old the bottles are and, roughly, from where they originate.

	France Tests USB Train Tickets French public Transportation Company SCNF is testing the Weneo ID Smart USB card that allows passengers to book tickets online.

	Internet Phone fits Inside Laptop The Vo200 Bluetooth Internet Phone offered by Kensington fits into the PCMCIA slot of a laptop and mimics the shape of a telephone handset.

	Robot Servants Japan-based robot-making company, TMSUK, has designed a cell-phone-controlled robot servant that can accept commands via a cell phone.

	GYM Electric Car The GYM electric car is a concept car full of gym exercise equipment.

	Experience Recorder The Experience Recorder is a high tech glove that records the sounds, touch sensations and images that you experience throughout your day. Upload it to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. and share your experiences with your friends.