Electric cars may be the way of the future, but it is taking some time and a lot of R&D to work out a way to increase the range on a car that runs on heavy batteries and takes a long time to recharge. Toyota have come up with a plan: simplify it and lighten it. The Toyota iRoad is an electric personal mobility vehicle that is designed to create flexible transport solution in an urban environment. In South Africa we would call this vehicle a “hijacking target”. It seats two and runs off a pair of 2kw electric motors straddled to the front wheels. “Active Lean” technology helps with maneuverability, no helmet is required and you have a range of 50km. That’s not a great amount, but think about it, if you live in Randburg and work in Sandton…
Ferrari Sergio windshield-less concept car NEW CAR
You would be forgiven for mistaking the ass for the face of this concept car from Ferrari, but here is a clue: this is a windshield-less coupe supercar. I know, not a good idea but there it is. With smackings of Smart car around the middle, Nike training shoe in the back and Alfa Romeo 8C in the front, the Pininfarina Sergio Ferrari concept car is named for the irreplaceable Sergio Pininfarina who passed away last year. The man responsible for styling such iconic cars as the Ferrari 250 GT and the F40 in the 90’s get his own car out of respect for the unstoppable design power that a Pininfarina -styled car has. It’s powered by the Ferrari 4.5-litre V8 engine with 570bhp (423kw) and will 0-100 km/h in 3.4 seconds. Adequate for a legend.
Cristiano Ronaldo: Tested to the limit
Technology should be used for good, right? Just like Superman’s Xray vision and our taxes. This short documentary demonstrates some amazing technology being put to good use, showing what a phenomenal athlete Ronaldo actually is. It’s a fascinating look at how the body works and more specifically how one of the world’s top footballers work. Learnt a lot about sprinters for example!
Ferrari LaFerrari takes over from the Enzo NEW CAR
Dodgy French-sounding name aside, this is the successor to the iconic Enzo Ferrari…meet LaFerrari. Some quick facts to drop your jaw: It’s the fastest road car Ferrari has ever made 950 BHP (705kw) take it from 0 to a top speed of 350km/h It’s a hybrid, Ferrari’s first But don’t let the “hybrid” disappoint you. Ferrari are still mental motor-heads at heart. They insist that the 120kw, 60kg battery pack is there purely to increase the speed and acceleration, it has nothing to do with emissions. The fact that it will probably decrease the carbon tax on the 499 LaFerrari’s that will be built is just gravy. The majority of the grunt comes from the 6.3-litre V12 found in the Ferrari F12 and the LaFerrari makes use of technology similar to F1’s KERS system which charges the battery under braking and cornering. Main competitor, the recently announce hybrid from McLaren,… Read More »
Everki laptop backpack with Checkpoint Friendliness FULL REVIEW
Steve is unaccustomed to doing reviews on such trivial products as a laptop bag. Steve is accustomed to the cool things in life, things that go fast and turn heads as you use them. So why then is there a backpack on the pages of AskSteve.co.za? Because this bag will take you from 0 to past security, quicker than any other laptop backpack on the market, and will turn the heads of all the other people flying to Cape Town on business. All thanks to its “Checkpoint Friendly” feature. As you pull up to the security checkpoint, you simply open the bag 180 degrees, lay it flat on the conveyor, and watch your device pass through the x-ray machine without the mess and inconvenience of removing it. No doubt the “rubber stamper” at security is going to have a problem with this, so they’ve made it easy enough to pull… Read More »
Soccket: the energy harnessing soccer ball NEW GADGET
Kick it around for 30 minutes and it’ll generate and store enough power to run an LED light for 3 hours. It’s lightweight, soft to the touch and made out of durable EVA foam so it never needs re-inflation. Inside there is a pendulum mechanism which captures the kinetic momentum generated during play and stores it for later. A great idea for soccer-mad 3rd world countries like Brazil and I dunno, South Africa. Help them make it a reality by supporting them on Kickstarter.
Take a look at the G63 AMG 6X6: the 2nd most expensive Mercedes ever NEW CAR
Mercedes have announced that they will (and this is not just to get us excited and let us down later) be adding in to their G-Class range, a 6×6 all-wheel drive behemoth of a machine. The massive AMG G63 SUV will also be getting the full AMG treatment, and will slot in (pricewise) just below the epic SLS electric supercar as the second most expensive car they make. The AMG styling means driver and passenger will be comfortably hosted within in full leather interiors and contoured sports seats and a spacious rear cabin. And what do you commission to haul the world’s most lavish and capable off-roader? Their twin-turbocharged 5.5-litre V8 of course. What else? That means an enormous 397kw (540 brake horse power) of power blurring the 6×6 to 100km/h in just over 6 seconds. The G63 AMG also has 5 locking diffs and a compressor tank for re-inflation… Read More »
poolLiveAid brings augmented reality to the pool table NEW TECH
A collection of geniuses at the University of the Algarve in Portugal have developed a top-mounted camera that brings an element of Augmented Reality to your average pool-hall game. Granted you’re probably going to have to be playing in a science lab to get the effect, but here it is. The laser guided system detects the table, the cues and the position of the balls to suggest to you where your shot might land up and what your next move could be. Still a prototype, so stop bobbing your head!
5 years from now, we’ll be able to TOUCH through our phones NEW TECH
At least that’s a prediction being made by IBM in this new viral they’re teasing the world with. We’ll hold you to that IBM.
Wi-Fi: Getting there…The Belkin N750DB and Range Extender FULL REVIEW
REVIEW BY NIR APTIR. FOLLOW HIM @knifeatgunfight The new N750 DB and Range Extender from Belkin is a subtly styled, soberly built device, and manages to make setting up W-Fi just a little simpler for anyone wanting to install or upgrade a Wi-Fi network. It’s refreshingly different in terms of design when you put it next to some other wireless routers – they’re normally very bulky with antennas jutting out, not something you would want hanging around in full view. With that, there’s also no wall-mounting ability, but it’s not problem because it just looks awesome, you wouldn’t want to mount it on a wall anyway. For those of us that are arriving on the slow train, the era of dual band is upon is. The 5 GHz radio band is making its way to the mainstream for a supposedly higher throughput of data over wireless. If you don’t have… Read More »
