First, the futuristic-looking frame (3.53 pounds) is made from carbon fiber and it houses a touchscreen-equipped computer with WiFi, plus the necessary lithium-ion battery pack to power it. The wheels (1.32 pounds each) are made from carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). Together, this keeps the weight down to just 46.3 pounds including the swappable battery and, thus, helps to make the e-bike more efficient. The motor peaks at 2.3kW for 250 Nm of torque.

Second, there are five “travel” modes on this e-bike. They range from getting you to rely on your pedal power alone to allowing you to cruise on electric power alone, the latter of which has a top speed of about 31mph. There are also two “wheelie” modes where the power is controlled to help you keep that front wheel in the air, offering better stability and balance.  No word on price or release date.

[Source]

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Yes, it’s obviously not the only credit card knife on the market, but this one is made with carbon fiber. That has to make it faster or something, right? At the very least, it makes it look pretty cool.

Dubbed the Creditor, this carbon fiber knife folds up into credit card form when not in use. Carbon fiber on its own might not be sharp enough and that’s why there’s some D2 tool steel and titanium backing it up. That’s why it’s a cool $200 compared to the $25 bargain model we saw late last year.

Either way, I imagine that the TSA won’t like you trying to smuggle this on board your flight to JFK.

[Giz via CarbonFiberGear]

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I would imagine a $45,000 bicycle to look somewhat futuristic, perhaps with big streaking fenders and solar panels. But not the Fairwheel bikes made in Tuscon Arizona, it’s a simple looking ten-speed made almost entirely of carbon fiber making it weight just six pounds! Looks don’t really matter when your racing across pavement passing the competition, this is where strength and lightness come in handy; with carbon fiber wheels, titanium spokes, and everything else being ultra-lightweight. The world’s lightest bike is still just a prototype, but has been tested on over 20k of pavement – it was shown this past weekend at the Interbike Show in Las Vegas.

[InHabitat via TriRig]

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Sleek Audio SA7 Carbon Fiber Headphones

For a few years, I really got caught up in the “tuner” culture. I hung out with a couple of car clubs and we would talk about the different upgrades that we had done to our cars and any future plans we had for more modifications. Carbon fiber always made its way into the conversation.

While getting a carbon fiber hood can reduce some weight and potentially improve your performance, it won’t mean much when you’re weighed down by a couple of giant subwoofers. Then again, the carbon fiber and aluminum used for the Sleek Audio SA7 earphones could indeed make you go faster. Or not.

In all seriousness, these are some super premium headphones for your mobile music enjoyment. The SA7 pair are made from military-grade solid aluminum and carbon fiber, giving them not only a unique look but also a unique performance dynamic.  Carbon fiber would provide a tight fighting sealed enclosure, giving you a very sweet tuned sound. The two drivers are protected by shock-absorbent silicone too.

According to Sleek Audio, these brain-rattlers should withstand up to 14,000 Gs of force and the aluminum design actually heightens the audio quality, providing an extra octave of sound to boot.

Expect the Sleek Audio SA7 premium earphones to go on sale soon in the $350 to $400 range. The wireless version chimes in at a $100 premium above that.

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There are two models, the Vaio VPCZ11Z9E and Vaio VPCZ11X9E. Basically the same design, however a little less memory and storage. You can have your choice at the Intel Core i7-620M 2.66GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology (max. 3.33 Ghz) or the Intel Core i7-520M 2.4GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology (max. 2.93 Ghz). 6GB DDR3 SDRAM (1066 Mhz) or 4GB DDR3 SDRAM (1066 Mhz), but here is the clincher, a total of four, yes you read correctly, four 256 GB or 128 GB SSD drives running RAID 0.

With these quad SSDs, the Z-series are going to be blazing fast, incredible, like you’ve never experienced before on any type of portable or ultra-mobile computer. Sony is saying they are 6.2x faster when compared to a regular notebook running 5400 rpm drives, but wait until the benchmarks are out to really see it shine.

Video is a beefy 1GB GDDR3 VRAM Nvidia GeForce GT330M graphics chipset using a “Hybrid Graphics System” that somehow optimises performance and auto detects usage conditions which will switch automatically between STAMINA and SPEED modes, depending on the task.

The display is a 13.1” high efficiency screen with LED backlighting. Resolution will be Full HD at 1920×1080 on the VPCZ11Z9E.

Connectivity is also no where near lacking, with WLAN 802.11a/b/g/n; VAIO Everywair WWAN; Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; keyboard backlight; MOTION EYE camera; HDMI out; VAIO/Assist buttons; fingerprint reader; black finish to list a few.

The entire setup is made with tough, light carbon fibre and aluminum weighing in at less than 1.45kg. No idea on the street price, but we can only imagine. Due out near the end of March in Europe, these ultra-mobile machines will be running Windows 7 Professional. No date on a North American release just yet.

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