Now Rolling Suitcase Concept Could Charge Your Gadgets With Kinectic Energy

Designer Jung Inyoung has come up with a pretty cool concept of a rolling suitcase that provides power to your devices using kinetic energy. The energy can then be used to charge various gadgets and you can plug your gadgets into the portable battery within the device to charge them up, it certainly does seem like a cool innovative idea.

The hard-shell suitcase consists of several parts. First, there are two gears on the bag's wheels that collect energy as you stroll around, the energy is then stored in a charge battery. At the top of the suitcase is a portable battery (that draws power from the charge battery) where you can plug in your dying smartphone, tablet, or what have you to revive it.

There's also an LED indicator that lets you know how much power is stored in the battery. It's hard to imagine that you could produce enough power to fully charge a device, but when you're facing a wait of an hour or two at the airport, a little can go a long way. Whilst it seems like a great idea, it is just a concept at the moment, there's no word on if or when this product will come to market.

Fujitsu Lifebook: The Conceptual Laptop With Removeable Smartphone, Camera And Tablet

The Fujitsu Lifebook 2013 Concept unites a laptop, tablet, phone and camera together in one device. Even if we've seen devices that come close, this concept takes the cake when it comes to multi-functionality. But those aren't for your standard connectivity. Attaching a gadget to the Lifebook would bring all it's functions to the computer, including using its own processor to run some of the laptop's functions.

Fitting the digital camera to the front would mean pictures could be downloaded to the computer or other devices. Sliding in the smartphone/mp3 player would allow music to be played and other data to be shared across devices. The Lifebook 2013 concept doesn't have a keyboard itself, since an tablet becomes the keyboard once slotted into place. The tablet can also be used as a second display (like a larger Nintendo DS) or as a digital sketchpad with a stylus. Aside from potentially reducing the overall cost, another advantage to this setup would be that all the devices can be synced and updated simultaneously from the same hub.

The proposed Lifebook is a laptop computer concept based on the principle of “shared hardware” explains designer Prashant Chandra. Currently a lot of hardware is wasted when we use separate devices, as there is often a lot of “repeat” of data stored and features. For example if I have my songs on my music player, why do I have to block the same amount of storage on my laptop? Similarly, if I have a processor sitting in my tablet, why can it not also run/assist my laptop? If I have a fully functional camera with its own memory and image processing power, why do I need to have it repeated in my laptop?

The KT Spider Concept is a laptop which syncs your phone with your laptop with a similar slot, but it doesn't replace the keyboard. The Fujitsu Lifebook 2013 concept goes much farther, and also includes a slot for a smartphone on the outer case of the laptop. This innovative concept sounds like a logical step forward for the next generation of laptops.

Lenovo Presents World's First Notebook/Tablet Hybrid

After the launch on Windows 8, Lenovo decided to help those that cannot decide on whether to buy a notebook or a tablet PC. At CES 2012 the company unveiled its latest product called IdeaPad YOGA 13, which according to Lenovo is the world's first multi-mode notebook that boasts a 360 degree flip-and-flop design. The gadget is a mix of an ultra-portable notebook and a 10-point capacitive touch slim tablet. If the user wants to watch a movie that they can simply position the device with its keyboard against the desk. In order to avoid accidental input, the keyboard and touchpad are turned off when you flip the display over 180 degrees. YOGA 13 has a 13.3-inch display and that boasts a resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels. It offers wide viewing angles and, according to Lenovo, is the thinnest convertible Ultrabook, being just 0.67 inches (16.9 mm) thick. The 3.1 pound (1.47 kg) multi-mode device will be available either with the Intel Core i3 or i7 processor, up to 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD storage. The company ensures that the gadget's battery will be able to last for 8 hours on a single charge. So far no addition technical information has been revealed. Lenovo said that IdeaPad YOGA 13 will hit the market in the second half of 2012 and be available at a price of $1,199.

Toshiba Unveils the World’s Thinnest 10-inch Tablet

Toshiba announced last week that they would be unveiling what they called the worlds thinnest tablet at CES, the device is now official and it is called the Toshiba Excite X10. The tablet measures just 0.3 inches thick and weighs in at 1.18 lbs, it will come with Android 3.2 Honeycomb, it features a 10.1 inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. The Toshiba Excite X10 is powered by a dual core 1.2GHz TI OMAP4430 processor, there is also 1GB of RAM, plus a rear facing 5 megapixel camera and a front facing 1.3 megapixel camera. Perhaps more surprising is the number of buttons and ports Toshiba squeezed onto this tiny frame. Like the much-thicker Thrive before it, the Excite offers a pleasing set of inputs and outputs, including micro-SD, Micro USB, Micro HDMI and, of course an audio jack. The Excite also has a physical volume button—a welcome choice when compared to the market’s second most popular tablet: the Amazon Kindle Fire. It has just one button for power and no ports beyond the audio Jack.

It will come with a choice of 16GB or 32GB of built in storage, the 16GB version will retail for $529.99 and the 32GB version for $699.99, there are no details on an exact release date as yet. It look pretty interesting from the photos, and certainly looks thin, although it costs around $130 more than the iPad, we wonder if people will pay the extra, especially considering all the tablet price drops we have seen recently.

22-inch USB-Powered Monitor

The developer of USB-powered monitors, AOC, has recently upgraded its line by launching the e2251Fwu, a 22-inch LED backlit monitor. The new television set receives both power and signal via USB connection. With the help of a USB cable connection the user can benefit from a dual- or multi-monitor setup, and take a second monitor on the road and link it to their laptop. The new 10.6-milimeter-thick e2251Fwu boasts a Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution and works at 60 Hz. It has a response time of 5 ms, a 250 cd/m2 brightness and a dynamic contrast ration of 20,000,000:1. In addition, the device is also HDCP compatible. It features a built-in USB 2.0 port that allows the user to connect an extra monitor or other USB devices. The USB monitor also includes a removable stand that, according to the company, allows the device to be used as a digital photo frame or play the role of a presentation display. The e2251Fwu is equipped by a DisplayLink chip and is compatible with Linux, Windows XP/Vista/7 and OSX Tiger/Leopard/Lion systems. The company will unveil its innovation at CES 2012 and launch it onto the market in February. The device will be priced at $199..

PC Mouse that Doubles as a Handheld Scanner

LG has recently unveiled its latest creation - a mouse that can also be used as a portable scanner. Besides a laser sensor that is used for usual mouse duties, the new device from LG dubbed LSM-100 features scanning technology that allows the user to scan pages up to the A3 size. In addition, the mouse has an additional Smart Scan button (apart from the left, right and back buttons) that makes it possible for the user to swipe the device over the material to be scanned. According to LG, its mouse is equipped with improved scanning technology that allows the mouse to register better accuracy and speed of the scanning process. The images scanned using the LSM-100 can be saved in several format, including PNG, JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PDF, XLS or DOC. Another interesting feature included in the mouse is called the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. It is used to turn the scanned text into editable content within a Microsoft Word document. The device is expected to be launched into the market at the end of August, wearing a price tag of $150.

System that Produces Electricity from Vehicle Speeding on Highways

Today we can already observe highways that make use of kinetic energy to produce electricity. But designer Fang-Chun Tsai has come up with another original idea - to use kinetic energy from vehicles passing on magnetic highways to change a magnetic field to produce power.

The designer says that the Magneter system is quite easy to mount in existing vehicles. The technology could lead to the development of a self-sufficient energy grid.

Here's how the system works: cars equipped with a magnetic device located on the underside of the chassis run across the road and charge an energy-producing device that would be mounted on the road.

There's no need to use a generator and the system would produce power from whatever systems requiring it. In addition, the invention could be used to produce electricity on rail and subway lines as well.

This system would function together with a Smart Grid. It allows power to be stored and redirected to areas when it is required during peak power times