Nissan refreshes Taxi for London design

The Nissan Taxi for London goes on sale in December
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Nissan's vision for London’s famous black taxi cabs got a makeover this week as the company unveiled its latest Taxi for London design. Based on Nissan’s NV200 platform and redesigned by Nissan's European design center in Paddington, the updated black cabs not only sport a fresh look, they promise cleaner transport for the city, with the old diesel engines giving way to 1.6-liter petrol and all-electric drivetrains.

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Squealing brakes and all, the classic London black taxi is one of the defining images of the capital. It’s gone through any number of changes from the days of horse-drawn growlers and Hansoms, up through the boxy Beardmores and Austins of today, but the Hackney Carriages, as they’re officially called, are as much a part of the fabric of London as the lions in Trafalgar Square and Big Ben tolling the hours.
Still, time does pass and technology marches on, so Nissan and others figured that it was time to update the black cabs and move away from the smelly diesel engines towards something a bit more environmentally friendly.

The new face of Nissan’s Taxi for London is designed to be immediately recognizable as a cab, but how well it succeeds is open to question. Based on the company’s NV200 taxi as part of Nissan's global taxi program, it’s very boxy and at first glance it looks more like a van than a taxi. True, it does carry over some design cues from current London cabs, but this one won’t ever be mistaken for an Austin even in a bad light.
That being said, the new design does try to emulate a classic cab. Compared to the NV200, the bonnet is softer, the wings are more pronounced, and the round headlamps and remodeled grille are definite echoes of the traditional black cabs. There’s also a LED-lit taxi sign and newly designed front bumper panels.
This isn't Nissan's first go at redesigning the Hackney carriage. In August 2012, the company unveiled its first version, but after receiving feedback, Nissan handed the project over to Nissan Design Europe (NDE) in Paddington to produce a design for London produced in London.

"Having already overcome the unique technical challenges presented by the development of a new Hackney Carriage for London ahead of our launch of the vehicle in August 2012, we turned our attention to making the vehicle look the part,” says Design Excellence Manager at NDE, Darryl Scriven. “The Mayor's office and taxi drivers were very keen that we maintain the character of the Hackney Carriage, making it something that people in the city can be proud of."

The new taxi uses a 1.6-liter petrol engine equipped with an automatic gearbox, which will be cleaner than the current diesel engines. In addition, Nissan says that the taxi meets Transport for London (TfL) regulations, including being able to make the required 25-ft (7.6-m) turning circle, which was first introduced to allow cabs to drop off and pick up fares at the entrance of the Savoy hotel.
Nissan says that a production version of the Taxi for London will be available in December of this year and an electric taxi called the e-NV200 will be introduced in 2015.
The video below explains the design philosophy behind Nissan’s taxi for London.
Source: Nissan

3D Systems cooks up ChefJet 3D printers to print sugary treats

Some of the sugary treats produced by the ChefJet Pro 3D printer
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Last year we reported that Liz and Kyle von Hasseln had modified a 3D printer to churn out custom sugary treats. The husband and wife team's efforts appear to have caught the eye of 3D Systems, with the company responsible for the no-assembly-required Cubify and sub-US$1,000 Cube 3 enlisting them to help develop a 3D printer aimed specifically at the kitchen. The result is the new ChefJet series unveiled at CES, which swaps plastic prints for custom culinary creations.
Joining the likes of the BurritoBot and Foodini in the culinary 3D printing arena, the ChefJet series consists of the standard ChefJet, which will squeeze onto countertop, and the ChefJet Pro, which probably won't. Both are targeted at pastry chefs, with the standard ChefJet producing black and white edible prints with a maximum build volume of 8 x 8 x 6 in (20 x 20 x 15 cm), while the ChefJet Pro pumps out full color prints in sizes up to 10 x 14 x 8 in (25 x 36 x 20 cm).
Instead of plastic filament, both printers use sugar and water as the base materials, with the ChefJet Pro also sporting an inkjet head that adds food coloring to the creations for custom standalone candies or cake toppers. These can be created in a variety of flavors, including chocolate, vanilla, mint, sour apple, cherry and watermelon.
The ChefJet printers will come with a "Digital Cookbook" containing a variety of ready-to-print edible designs, and run software that 3D Systems says is easy for non-CAD users to handle.
Both the ChefJet and ChefJet Pro are scheduled for release in the second half of 2014, with the standard model to be priced under US$5,000 and the Pro to come in under $10,000.
Source: 3D Systems

Hands-on: Oculus Rift "Crystal Cove" prototype

For the last few decades, gaming has basically been the same thing. Sit in front of display, hold controller (or mouse and keyboard), play game. But when you strap on Oculus Rift's virtual reality headset, you realize that it's something truly different. Read on, as Gizmag goes heads-on with Oculus Rift's latest prototype, dubbed Crystal Cove.

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Virtual reality has been the subject of science-fiction, futurist fantasies, and cheesy Aerosmith videos for at least a few decades. But Oculus Rift is making virtual reality a reality. It's almost cliche to say that Oculus is like nothing you've ever experienced before, but sometimes cliches are all you have.
When it comes to Oculus Rift, all the standard ways of communicating about a product go out the window. Pictures don't do it. Video can't capture it. The closest we can get is a subjective first-person account of the experience. And even then you still won't truly grasp it until you try it yourself.

"When I was in there." That's how I begin describing my experience of using Oculus Rift. Not "when I wore the headset" or "when I played the game." My brain perceived the experience as some kind of alternate reality that I stepped into. At that point it ceases to be a piece of hardware or a new gaming accessory. It's your portal into a virtual reality.
My colleague Jonathan Fincher took an earlier Oculus prototype for a test drive a year ago, but today was my first time "going in there." That older version only responded to basic head movements – effectively taking your body, from the neck down, out of the equation. But the new Crystal Cove prototype adds a camera (which sits in front of you) that lets you lean in all directions and truly navigate the world you've stepped into.
My first visit to the Matrix took me into a simple tower defense game rigged up for the demo. There was a board full of swinish soldiers infiltrating my base, and it was up to me to activate my defenses to ward them off. The controller in my hand let me to turn my turrets and flames on or off. It sounds simple enough.

But the magic comes when you start leaning and turning. Lean forward and turn your head to the left, and you can closely examine a crucial area of the tower. You then feel like you're a few inches away from your invaders. Lean back, and you get a broader view of the base you're defending. The effect is as if you're looking down on a board game-sized tower full of exploding weapons and living attackers.
For my second demo, I was piloting a space fighter. Apparently I'm terrible at flight simulators because I didn't last too long, but I was "in there" long enough to realize Oculus' potential for bringing new life to tired genres. I'm not only looking into space and targeting on enemies. I can also look around my cockpit, read essential weapons data on my control panels, and even see my arms and legs.
That might be the strangest part of Oculus at this point. You look down, and you expect to see your own body. But in a demo like the flight simulator, you see another body. It almost feels like you've possessed it. When I lifted my arm and my virtual arm didn't move, it felt like I was paralyzed.
There will come a day when virtual reality goes full body (and, trust me, the folks at Oculus are highly aware of this long-term potential), but in games that give you a body, it's almost as if your mind has been injected into another human being – one that you can only partially control.

When talking about Oculus, it's almost easy to forget about technical details and hardware, because the experience is so profound. But that's a statement to the technical leaps that Oculus' engineers have been making. One of the subtle changes in the latest prototype is a reduction – almost elimination – of motion blur. Apparently in the earlier versions, when you'd move your head quickly, your environment would take on a feathery, melted butter effect. Now it stays sharp and clear. The Oculus folks showed me a before/after demo of the new tech, and though it wasn't a huge difference, I can see how it would be a lot more noticeable after being "in there" for long periods.
There are two questions that everyone wants to know. "When can I buy it?" and "How much?" Oculus is staying tight-lipped on both fronts for now, though we did get some hints at pricing. They say they want to stay competitive, and really like the US$200-400 range. Another time I heard the figure $300 pop up as a ballpark.

Oculus will connect to your gaming machine via USB and HDMI. They told me that a wireless version could eventually hit the market, but it brings extra technical challenges (like battery bulk) and won't be in the initial retail version. I say no matter. Once you're "in there," your physical environment disappears. Position the wires so they aren't in your way, and it won't matter one bit.
Oculus also says that it's initially targeting PC and mobile devices. It could, of course, technically work on consoles like the Xbox One or PS4, but that would require cooperation from Microsoft and Sony. It isn't yet clear whether those walled gardens will open their doors to the hot startup from Irvine, CA. The same would go for Apple devices, so it sounds like PCs (including Windows, Mac, and Linux) and Android devices will be the likeliest destinations for Oculus.

Tsunami House built to handle nature's worst

The decor is distinctly low-maintenance and industrial (Photo: Lucas Henning)
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From Hurricane Katrina to the Polar Vortex which has buried large swathes of North America under snow, we're frequently reminded that when extreme weather hits, the results can be devastating. Tsunami House, by Designs Northwest Architects, has been built to withstand the worst nature can throw at it: high winds, storms, and yes, even a tsunami.

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Located in a flood-prone section of Camano Island, Washington, the recently completed two-story (plus loft) waterfront home sits atop 1.5 m (5 ft) high pilings designed to take abuse from a high velocity tsunami wave. The ground floor, dubbed the "flood room," is a multi-use space which sports walls designed to break away if a tsunami hits, thus leaving the integrity of the upper areas intact.

The main living area is on the second floor, accessed via tough bent plate steel stairs. It contains bathroom, kitchen and dining area, master bedroom, and a loft bedroom accessible via ladder. The decor is distinctly low-maintenance and industrial, with concrete and glass the order of the day. However, Designs Northwest Architects strove to add some warmth to the main living areas with the use of cedar wood and plenty of windows to assure ample natural light.
Of course, we'll only ever really know for sure if the design of Tsunami House is successful should the worst happen. Hopefully that day never comes.
Source: Designs Northwest Architects via ArchDaily

Best gadgets and gear for fighting (and embracing) winter

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We take a look at a few gadgets and gizmos to help you through the cold winter months
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Winter has officially set in across the Northern Hemisphere, bringing with it feet of snow and record-breaking low temperatures across the US. That doesn't mean that you have to pen yourself indoors for the entire season and pray for Punxsutawney Phil to go blind, however. We've got some of the latest winter gadgets and gizmos to help you brave the cold, frost and snow.

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Fight over flight

Most folks don't have the option of migrating to warmer climes for the winter, nor can they hibernate inside for three + months of the year. They'll have to stay and fight Old Man Winter. These weapons will help in battle.

On-demand traction

Strap-on traction systems are a great way to add a little stability on slick, icy ground, but they have a couple of problems. If you encounter ice unexpectedly, the traction spikes you left at home are of absolutely no value. Elastic traction systems also have a tendency to slide off shoes.

The Tecvision system that Meindl integrated into its winter boots eliminates both of those issues. Because the spikes are built into your boots, they're always at the ready and never slip off. Simply crank the spikes when you need extra grip and retract them when the sidewalk is clear. One pair of boots is ready to walk nimbly over all types of winter ground.
If €360 (US$490) is a little too rich for your blood, the $170 Korkers SnowJack is another traction boot option.

Crank up the heat

Slipping and sliding is only one of the hazards that your feet face this winter, the other notable one being freezing toes. If you want to turn your Meindls (or winter boots of choice) into cozy warming huts, a set of heated insoles is the way to make it happen. With the help of a small wireless controller, ThermaCELL Heated Insoles avoid overheating, hot spots and sweaty feet by automatically turning on and off to keep your feet at normal body temperature. Your boots maintain a steady, comfortable temperature inside, no matter what's going on outside the leather.

Fill up the float

Glass-slick sidewalks and cold toes are common problems in all types of cold-weather environments, but waist-deep snow is one that many folks don't even consider. A broken-down snowmobile or vehicle can leave even the most prepared winter adventurer fighting for his life against virtually unnavigable deep snow.

The average set of snowshoes is too big and heavy to serve as an emergency tool, so you won't find them in most roadside emergency or survival kits. That's where inflatable snowshoes come in. Inflatables like the Airlites and Small Foots pack small and light then blow up to give you the extra surface area you need to walk atop deep snow.

Fully functional flushed fingers

While technology has long helped man fight the winter, it's also opened up new doors for the feisty old man to weasel his way in. The age of the touchscreen and text message has created the dilemma of whether to navigate nimbly with frostbitten fingers or punch at buttons in vain with warm, blunt mitts.

BearTek smart gloves let you have the best of both worlds. They won't be able to draft text messages for you, but they allow you to take calls, control music playback and operate a camera while keeping your hands dry and toasty. A couple of snaps of the finger is all it takes to control the paired device. The $250 Snow model includes an Aquatex waterproof insert, Primaloft insulation and goatskin leather exterior.

A jacket to watch over you

Back when we were kids, we had mom to call us inside when she thought we were going to catch cold from the winter weather. Adults that spend a lot of time outdoors for work, play or otherwise don't have that little childhood convenience.

A smart jacket being developed by Scandinavian research outfit SINTEF could one day be a sort of wearable "mom." The jacket uses sensors to monitor outdoor temperature, body temperature and activity level, sending the data to a computer. The idea is that supervisors can view the data and call workers in before issues like cold, fatigue and stiff joints become dangerous.
While the jacket is still in the early stages and aimed at outdoor workers, it's easy to imagine the technology one day trickling down to a retail smart jacket connected to a smartphone app. The app could include a series of alarms warning you to take a break or head inside for the day. The only thing that'll be missing is mom's hot chocolate.

Revel in winter

Winter comes every year, so outside of keeping yourself warm and safe, there's no sense fighting it too hard. Instead, welcome it with open arms by enjoying its bounty of cold, invigorating air and fresh snow.

Ripping snow like Clark Griswold

If an adult shows up to the local sled hill alone, with nothing but a snow saucer in hand and pom-pom hat on his head, he's likely to find himself answering police questioning as to why he's loitering around young children. However, if his sled is the Snolo Stealth-X, parents and guardians will be too busy jealously ogling the carbon fiber monocoque to even think about dialing the local department.
The $2,549 Stealth-X is designed for adults looking for serious snow performance – sledding that's a ski/snowboard alternative, not just a way for children to while away a snow day in the front yard. It straps to the rider's back for more comfortable climbs into the hills and mountains, and on the way back down, it sends its rider shooting to speeds up to 40 mph (65 km/h).

Go Ziesel

Not all snowy terrain is hilly, so one cannot rely on gravity alone for winter thrills. The Ziesel is a tracked, motorized chair designed to rove right over winter's bounty. While it's designed mostly for work like ski rescue and transporting gear across the snow, we have to believe there's some fun spewing snow at speeds of up to 22 mph (35 km/h), all from the comfort of an armchair. At €21,710 (US$29,500), it's not really the most practical snow toy, but it sure looks fun in the video.

Get Defiant

Want to stretch your muscles a little more than you can in a moto-chair? The Defiant Big Easy is one of the latest electric fat bikes to come to our attention. The 500-watt, pedal-assist powertrain helps spin the chunky, 4.7-in tires over all types of terrain – from sunny, dry summer commutes to slushy winter treks. The motor has a range of up to 56 miles (90 km) and offers speeds of up to 20 mph (32 km). The bike is available for preorder, starting at $3,950.

Gone... with a Trace

Every year, we see more and more devices and apps aimed at tracking various sports stats. What we like about the Trace from ActiveReplay is that it comes in a small, simple, 2-oz (57 g) package that's adapted to several specific sports.

Instead of wearing the Trace on your face, like Recon goggles, or strapping it to your wrist, like any number of performance monitors, you mount it to your equipment. With extra mounts, it easily moves from one sport to the next. On the snow, it uses its GPS and 9-axis sensor set to track your movements, logging standards like vertical and speed and more advanced measures like tricks thrown and air time.
ActiveReplay completed a successful Kickstarter campaign last year and plans to start shipping Trace sensors early this year. The Trace is currently advertised for a preorder price of $169. The device and software are still under development, so its final specs could change.

Uphill skiing

Parachutes and paragliders have mingled with ski equipment over the years, resulting in such extreme sports as speed riding and ski BASE jumping. These sports work with gravity, but new outfit UpSki reverses directions for what it calls "wind mountaineering." It believes that you can have just as much fun skiing up mountains as you can skiing down them, and has designed a round sail to pull skiers uphill. The UpSki could eliminate the need for long, arduous backcountry ski climbs, providing thrills on the way up before the thrills on the way back down.
The company claims that the sail is powerful enough to pull you up 45-degree slopes and maneuverable enough to avoid obstacles and come to a comfortable stop on a ridge. It says that the system has been used on ascents of 14,000-ft (4,300-m) peaks in the U.S. and on 22,800-ft (6,950-m) Aconcagua. Once at the top, the UpSkier packs the 10-lb (22-kg) chute into a backpack and skis back down.
After a successful Kickstarter campaign last month, Colorado-based UpSki is working to make good on its promise of winter 2014 production. That includes fulfilling its Kickstarter orders and building a demo fleet for those that want to try the experience without spending thousands of dollars on equipment. The UpSki started at a special package price of $2,400 when offered on Kickstarter.
And if none of these options take your fancy, there's always the old tried and true approach of putting your feet up in front of the fire with a steaming cup of hot chocolate.

Sony outs lightweight, Wi-Fi-enabled α5000 interchangeable lens camera

Selfie-obsessed snappers can make use of the rear LCD screen which is rotatable to 180 degrees, taking the guesswork out of self-portraits and odd-angles, but also coming in handy when shooting HD video from a tripod. Another practical feature for those wanting to shoot video is the optical zoom lever positioned on the camera body.
The Sony α5000 can be fitted with any of the E-mount interchangeable lenses (of which there are now 22 on the market) and comes with a 16-50mm motorized zoom lens as standard.
The asking price will be around the US$600 mark with a when the α5000 becomes available in March 2014. It will come in three colors: white, black or silver.
Source: Sony

Hands-on: Neptune Pine smartwatch

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Gizmag goes hands-on with the Neptune Pine, a smartwatch that can actually replace your smartphone
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Every smartwatch we've used so far has played the role of companion device. They may allow you to leave your smartphone in your pocket a little more often, but they're still a ways off from letting you cut those smartphone strings altogether. At CES 2014, we just got some hands-on time with the Neptune Pine, a smartwatch that can actually replace your phone.

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The Neptune Pine is easily the bulkiest smartwatch I've used, but it's also one of the most intriguing. While most smartwatches' screens are in the 1.2-in to 1.6-in range, Neptune Pine gives you a spacious 2.4-in screen. To get some perspective, that's 108 percent more screen area than the Galaxy Gear gives you. It's also half the size of the iPhone 4s' screen. It's very much a tiny smartphone that happens to live on your wrist.

That size is a tricky balancing act. On one hand, you don't want it to take up too much space on your wrist (the Neptune Pine is very much toeing that line). But the flip side is that it's big enough to actually type on, using one of the many Android keyboards. Neptune CTO Aaron Wilkins told me that the 2.4-in screen was the smallest size they could make while still allowing for easy typing. Voice input may end up replacing typing on most wearable devices, but it's nice having the option of hammering out a text or email – especially if you're in public and don't want your dictated messages heard by everyone around you.
Neptune Pine has a VGA front-facing camera, meaning you can use it to video chat right from your wrist (Dick Tracy would be very proud). The lighting was pretty poor in our testing area, so the camera didn't exactly knock my socks off. But considering the conditions, it's about what you'd expect from a VGA front-facing camera.

The Pine also has a 5-megapixel rear camera. Why would you put a rear-facing camera on a watch? Well, that's because you can actually pull the watch's main body off of the strap, as you can see above. At that point, you have in your hands what amounts to a mini-smartphone. Just point and shoot like you would with a full-sized smartphone.
Pine charges via a micro-USB port that reveals itself when you pull the main body off of the band. Neptune claims up to seven hours of internet use on Wi-Fi. Wilkins told me that, with regular use, he has no problems getting a full day of use out of it.

Unfortunately the Android 4.1-running Neptune Pine doesn't yet have the licensing in place to include the Google Play Store and other Google services on the watch. That will be a bit of a bummer if it ships without Google's apps – especially if it's a case of Google blocking access to smaller companies until it can release its own smartwatch (purely speculation on my part, by the way). In the Play Store's place, Wilkins told me the company is working on its own app store for Pine. Hardly an ideal solution: yet another third-party app store layered on top of Android. But under the circumstances, it might be the best route they can take.
Even if those Google services don't ultimately ship with the Pine, though, the device is fully rootable. Having handled the watch, I can confidently say that developers and tinkerers won't have any problem sideloading Google's apps and services, as well as third-party Android apps. The process should be similar to how you'd sideload those services on, say, a hacked e-reader or a custom smartphone ROM.

Based on the few minutes I spent wearing Neptune Pine, I'm eager to spend some more time with it. Having full smartphone functionality on your wrist might not sound like that big of a deal. After all, how hard is it to pull your phone out of your pocket? But it's still very cool having all of that functionality just an arm-lift away. I like the idea of skipping the smartphone altogether, saving some pocket space, and replacing it by popping a SIM card into your watch. Pine is the first device I've used that actually lets you do that right now. It's still early days – with a bulky design that won't be seen on a fashion runway anytime soon – but I still think it's pointing towards the future.
Wilkins says Neptune is hoping to start shipping Pine to its Kickstarter backers by the end of this month. He also mentioned that a 2nd-gen hardware revision is in the works, which he's hoping will be ready within the next few months. You can pre-order Neptune Pine now for US$335 from the product page below.
Product page: Neptune Pine