Several companies have offered sleeves that transform your smartphone into a satellite phone, but the Thuraya X5-Touch is touted as the “world’s smartest satellite phone”. Featuring LTE, GSM, and satellite connectivity to keep users “always on,” while boasting a dual SIM setup that integrates seamlessly with terrestrial networks when you’re in range. “With the Android platform there is already a multitude of Apps readily available to work on the Thuraya X5-Touch, and developers will have easy access to develop and customize Apps for the needs of their customers. It complements the “Bring Your Own Application” (BYOA) concept, customers have the flexibility to download any App of their choice, thereby breaking the paradigm and revolutionizing the way the satellite handset will be used,” said Ahmed Al Shamsi, acting Chief Executive Officer at Thuraya. Read more for a video and additional information.
This isn’t the first all-electric Mustang, but Charge’s sports an officially licensed shell from a 1960s Mustang, but with a few modern twists, including revamped lighting units, a revised grille, a high-performance braking system with gold calipers, and ten-spoke wheels. The powertrain consists of a 64 kWh battery pack that enables the car to generate 402 hp and 885 lb-ft of torque, good for a 0-62 mph time of under 3.1-seconds. When fully charged, you can expect a 124 mile range. Read more for additional pictures and information.
In the future, just about everyone will be able to 3D print whatever they need on demand, and the HRE3D+ wheels just show one more possibility. They’re touted as the world’s first 3D-printed titanium wheel, created using a process called Electron Beam Melting. More specifically, the rim is titanium, while the rest of the wheel is carbon fiber for structural integrity and strength. Read more for additional pictures and information.
The Anki Vector is basically a tiny home robot with interactive artificial intelligence technology that enables you to ask it questions. That’s right, this voice-activated sidekick can react to sound, the environment, and even recognize people while performing a variety of tasks, such as setting timers, giving the forecast, as well as snapping photos. When you’re not around, he self-charges, navigates around objects, and avoids edges. Its skills and features are being continuously updated, with Alexa integration coming soon. Product page. Read more for another video, additional pictures and information.
You can either play video games to control characters that can agilely evolve in virtual environments, or use Disney Research’s PuppetPhone. Simply put, this augmented reality experience reduces the gap between physical toys and virtual characters. As you move your smartphone around, a puppet responds in real time to the manipulations seen through the screen. “The virtual character moves in order to follow the user gestures, as if it was attached to the phone via a rigid stick,” according to the paper. Read more for the video and additional information.
Whether Samsung’s new foldable phone will be called the Galaxy X or Galaxy F, nobody really knows yet, but one thing’s for sure, at least one device with the company’s new Infinity Flex Display is coming. If you missed the official unveiling, this foldable smartphone will automatically transfer the screen’s contents in the folded-up “closed” position to the “open” position. Read more for additional pictures and information.
Dual-screen smartphones have been around for quite some time, but ZTE’s Nubia X puts an innovative twist on the design. In addition to its 6.26-inch main touchscreen display, there’s a 5.1-inch OLED display that is invisible when not in use. Other features include: a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 AIE Octa-core 2.8GHz processor, an Adreno 630 graphics processing unit, up to 8GB of LPDDRX RAM and 256GB internal storage. To keep things cool, the smartphone boasts multi-layer graphene cooling technology for heat dissipation. Read more for another hands-on video and more information.
JACKYLED’s Power Strip Tower has a total of 10 outlets and 4 USB ports, all for $18.35 shipped with coupon code: ROXH3B3E, today only, originally $26.99. The USB ports (total 5V/2.1A) can charge up to two cellphones together, or one iPad, MP3, digital camera, tablet, etc., at the fastest speed possible. Product page – be sure to enter coupon code: ROXH3B3E during final checkout for the additional discount. Read more for another hands-on video review, additional pictures, and information.
NASA held a multi-year challenege to design a 3D-printable Mars habitat using on-planet materials, and a handful of teams have taken home their share of a $100,000 prize, with first place going to Team Zopherus (bottom in image above). Since the five winners have already been chosen, they’re all set to build scale models next year of their digital representations. “We are thrilled to see the success of this diverse group of teams that have approached this competition in their own unique styles. They are not just designing structures, they are designing habitats that will allow our space explorers to live and work on other planets. We are excited to see their designs come to life as the competition moves forward,” said Monsi Roman, program manager for NASA’s Centennial Challenges. Read more for another video and additional information.
The Lilium Jet Air Taxi could hit the skies before its previously announced launch of 2025, as it has already completed its maiden flight tests. This was originally planned to be sold as a private aircraft, but this all-electric VTOL aircraft is now designed for Uber-like air taxi services. Read more for another video and additional information.