Instead of having the standard set of four wheels–two in the front and two in the back–like a regular skateboard, the STAIR ROVER has a total of eight wheels (earlier designs had as many as 12). The idea is that the pairs of wheels on either side can teeter-totter their way down the flight of stairs while the flexible deck keeps you reasonably balanced and in control.

The STAIR ROVER is the creation of London designer Po-Chih Lai. The current version is the eighth iteration and it seems to be the best one yet. Yes, it’s going to take some practice, but this means that you don’t have to get off your board to get down those stairs… going up a flight of stairs, however, is a different matter altogether.

[Source]

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Urban commuters don’t really need a car, since a bicycle is so much more compact and can more easily weave its way through traffic. Even though you may know BMW better for its cars, it has now unveiled a pedal-electric bicycle that it calls the i Pedelec.

Aside from having a three-speed 42-volt electric hub motor that’ll help push you along, the more unique feature about the iPedelec is that it can fold up. This makes it much easier to transport between locations; two of them can reportedly fit in the back of the BMW i3 Concept EV. Even when folded up, the wheels can maintain contact with the ground. This means that you can push it along when you’re in a subway car, for example.

You get a motor assist of up to 16mph using the 14.75 ft-lbs of torque. There’s an effective range of 16 to 25 miles per charge with a full charge taking about four hours. If you use a quick charge station, a full recharge can take as little as 90 minutes. The 44-pound bike was announced in celebration of BMW open its first iStore on July 25, opening next door to its BMW and MIni stores on Park Lane in London.

There’s no word on pricing or availability on the i Pedelec folding pedal-electric bicycle, but being a BMW product, I can’t imagine it being terribly cheap.

[Source]

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This event is scheduled to take place on May 3 and the invitations have been sent out to various press and other industry folks. The biggest clue is that the invite tells potential attendees that they’ll be able to “come and meet the next Galaxy.” This presumably refers to the Galaxy S III (or S3, if you prefer), but it’s necessarily a confirmation. Maybe Samsung is expanding the Galaxy line into other areas, but I’d say the new smartphone is most likely.

Even if you’re not invited and you’re not going to be in London during that time, you can watch the announcement from the comfort of your own computer. Samsung is setting up a livestream on its Facebook page at facebook.com/samsungmobile.

[Source]

The post Samsung Galaxy S3 Announcement Coming May 3rd appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The Galaxy S 3 is expected to be Samsung’s answer to the Apple iPhone 4S and most likely will also compete against the rumored iPhone 5. We have already seen a lot of rumors regarding the release date of the much anticipated Android device, and today we have got yet another hint, which suggests that the device might indeed be unveiled next month as previously rumored.

As you may remember, we reported earlier about a leak which hinted a May 22^nd London launch for the S 3. Today’s info is suggesting the same. The invitation to a launch event you see above, which shows the half of a new device, was circulated by a Korean website and the words on it are more than enough to get all Android fans excited.

We are not sure whether this is the real deal, but looking at the image, we can see that the render is not exaggerated like some previous renders. Not too much about the handset is shown, possibly to let everyone imagine about what the handset will look like and get excited, if the render is real that is.

This is what Eldar Murtazin has to say on the matter (via Twitter): “My comment about this sgs3 pic….hmmm no comments :-) what do u think? Real or fake?”.

That combination of “no comments” with a smiley face might be his way of confirming things.

There are no hints about the specs of the handset, but we do know that it will have a quad-core processor. Previous rumors have suggested that the S3 will come with ICS, a 4.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus HD display, 2GB of RAM, and a 2250mAh battery.

The post Samsung Galaxy S III May Arrive Next Month appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The Apple iPhone 5 is certainly a much anticipated device, and so is the Samsung Galaxy S 3. We have already heard a lot of rumors regarding the upcoming Android handset and what you see above is thought to have come from a public relations PowerPoint file. Is that really the S3 we have been waiting for all this time? We believe it is most probably not.

The new leak suggests that Samsung is planning a Samsung Unpacked event in London on May 22nd at which the Galaxy S 3 will be introduced. There is nothing unbelievable about that since the “unpacked” events have become a tradition and also a European launch is probable as they went with that for the S2.   London is a good place to introduce the handset as the Summer Olympic Games is going to happen there.   But all the other details available suggest that we might be looking at the work of a good artist who loves working on fake images. As you can see above, Weber Shandwick, which is a PR agency, has their logo on the powerpoint. We’re not sure if PR companies usually do that.  The other tip off, that dedicated home button is all too apple-esque.

The S3 appears to be extremely thin, measuring in at 7.89mm (possible, but still sounds fake). And it isn’t very unlikely that Samsung would design a white device with a black ring around it. The S 3 will probably come without a Home Button, similar to the Galaxy Nexus, which is a design that we also are expecting from Samsung. So the conclusion is that the new leak has come out with a lot of inconsistencies, so it is most probably a big giant fake.

But that date really sounds sweet. As for the specs, rumors so far are suggesting a 1.5GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos processor, a 4.8 inch “full HD” 1080p resolution display, 4G LTE support, Android ICS, and an 8-megapixel rear cam.

Stay tuned for updates.

The post Samsung Galaxy S 3 To Arrive in May? Photos “leaked” appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

3D printing is becoming more and more popular these days and the researchers at the Vienna University of Technology have come out with an interesting development. Their new high-precision 3D printer can create nanometer-sized objects and that too in record breaking speeds. As you can see above, they have 3D printed a nanoscale racing car perfectly.

With their nano 3D printer, which is capable of creating objects no bigger than a sand grain, they have precisely created complex structures including a racing car, a model of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, and the London Tower Bridge. That’s impressive considering the size of these objects.

The technique that they are using for making objects at this scale is known as two-photon lithography. Using a series of mirrors, the team directs a laser through a liquid resin. The laser beam hardens the liquid resin at precisely the correct spots. What you get will be a “polymerized line of solid polymer”.

The 3D printer is capable of printing 100 layers (200 lines per layer) in just 4 minutes. That’s about five meters of polymer printed in a second, which is reportedly a world record. Their biggest hurdle in the printing process was controlling the movement of the mirrors for making sure that the laser was directed precisely.

And what’s the future of all this, you ask? The researchers have started to experiment with bio-compatible resins. That means in the future, they might be able to create biological parts, which can be used in human bodies, via a 3D printer. And the technique can be used to create large 3D objects with precision and without spending too much time.

Check out the video to see the nano printing process.

The post Nano Race Car Printed In 3D (Video) appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

This isn’t exactly official, per se, as CrackBerry simply found the leaked slide, but this is pretty darn close. The BlackBerry London was hinted at and leaked before, but that was when we were still calling it the first BBX phone. Now, it’s BlackBerry 10 and the hardware design is distinctly different. There’s almost something about it that reminds me of the Galaxy S II and others of that slim smartphone ilk.

Some people are saying that the BlackBerry London is more like a shrunken down, phone-sized version of the BlackBerry PlayBook. That almost makes sense, especially with that great rubberized-feeling back. As far as specs, we’re hearing of either a TI OMAP5 or Qualcomm chipset, both of which are of the 1.5GHz dual core variety. They’ve seemingly done away with hardware buttons too, not unlike the PlayBook.

The London will also be joined by the BlackBerry Lisbon and the BlackBerry Laguna, all of which will be doing the BlackBerry 10 thing and all of which should be due for release later this year.

The post Revealed: BlackBerry London Superphone with BlackBerry 10 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

We recently showed off the Blackberry London, an allegedly new phone from Blackberry that features a full-screen, the upcoming BBX OS, and no traditional Blackberry keyboard. If the leak proves true it shows off a device that is very different in design from the company’s traditional offerings and follows the footsteps of Android smartphones and iPhone designs.

According to Engadget, a source from RIM states that the company still intends to support its traditional keyboard layout phones as well. The source didn’t confirm the London but it did talk about RIM’s intention to maintain choice within its product portfolio. This leaves us to speculate what exactly is meant by that. Is RIM intending to keep their older Blackberry OS running alongside its BBX-based phones? Or will we have both keyboard BBX phones and models like the London as well?

In recent years Blackberry has lost a lot of ground to Android and the iPhone. Even Windows Phone 7 it starting to fare better than RIM. So why has this occurred? A major criticism has been that RIM’s phones just don’t look as sleek or modern as other smartphones on the market. The Blackberry OS is also starting to fall behind, from a technology point of view. So is their really a need to keep the old-style keyboard phones or the older-style OS? I guess it depends on who you ask. There are probably legacy apps for some business users that they just can’t leave without, though I’m sure alternatives for such programs will become available for BBX. Until we get more solid information all we can do is keep speculating.

The post RIM Continues Commitment To Its Signature Keyboard-Style Smartphones appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The photo shows the phone running some variation of the PlayBook’s OS, though the coloring and icons are somewhat different. According to the source the photo was of a ‘dummy’ model and so the OS in the screen is likely just a static image.

The phone has some similarities in design to the RIM Porsche Designed P9981. It is still unclear whether or not this is a scam or the real deal. The website BGR also speaks up on the Verge story and claims they have a source saying the this a real BBX handset, and that the original Playbook-looking model, the so-called Colt, was scrapped in favor of the London. According to the source the London might not be ready until the 3^rd quarter of 2012.

For now it’s best to take these reports with a grain of salt. Obviously Blackberry has not made any official comments regarding the supposed leak. Blackberry isn’t the king of smartphones like it was just a few short years ago, but I have to admit that the London is an interesting looking device at the very least.

The post BBX Phone Leaked? Check Out The Blackberry London appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

So, to help spread the word about Windows Phone 7 (and WP7.5 Mango), Nokia is planning to launch 26 Wi-Fi hotspots spread out around London. These free hotspots will utilize existing telephone boxes, connecting them to 20Mbps DSL lines. That said, speed will be capped at 1Mbps downstream and 500kbps upstream. Naturally, connecting to these WiFi access points will lead you to a promotional splash page like the one shown above.

This is a similar strategy as that employed by Google in airports a couple years ago, building the brand awareness with free WiFi for the random populace. This gives Nokia a way into the heads of consumers to promote the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710, since they may not be able to get their attention otherwise. It also helps that they can collect some data about the people who use these hotspots, since that’ll surely be a part of the T&C agreement.

If these are still around when the 2012 London Olympics take place, I imagine they’ll get quite a bit of attention (and data).

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