Australia
Coaxial Rotor System: the future of helicopter design?
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Helicopters featuring coaxial rotor designs are not exactly new. The co-axial design of a pair of rotors mounted on the same mast and with the same axis of rotation, but turning in different directions, has been utilized on a number of military helicopters for around half a century, most notably those produced by the Russian Kamov helicopter design bureau. The coaxial design offers a number of advantages over the traditional helicopter designs, which makes it difficult to understand why we haven’t seen co-axial rotor designs taking to the skies for civilian uses. Now Australian based Wieland Helicopter Technologies (WHT) is hoping to change that by designing and manufacturing a range of new coaxial rotor system small format helicopters for commercial markets. Read More
Sushi that you sit on
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SUSHI is a multifunctional furniture design that doubles as both a sofa and a stool from Australian University student Winaya Suwarnaga Kamaputri. The elegantly simple and ergonomic concept uses a high gloss finished fiber glass base with fine fabric upholstery and its unique pattern was created using a laser cutting technique. Read More
SharePort enables D-Link customers to share USB devices over their wireless networks
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D-link have provided a firmware upgrade to enable printer and hard drive sharing from the USB port on their Xtreme N family of routers. This new USB over TCP/IP technology is called SharePort, and is available for the DIR-628, DIR-655, DIR-825, DIR-855 and DGL-4500 models. Read More
Smart Lid a winner at packaging awards
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In 2005 Gizmag reported on an innovative way to warn caffeine-addicts when their coffee too hot to drink, by changing the color of the takeaway cup lid. The Smart Lid has now been awarded ‘Best of Show’ at the AmeriStar Award hosted by the Institute of Packaging Professionals. Read More
Designer Wellies: fashion meets function for the farm or play time
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January 4, 2007 Most commonly women’s footwear falls into two categories – fashionable or functional – with precious little overlap. In the spirit of modern fashion, Rosie Roo from Australia is bringing a change to functional women’s wet weather footwear with their spunky new wellies/gumboots/galoshes (depending on what part of the world you’re from). Read More
Wee Target zeros-in on toilet training
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January 3, 2007 Desperate parents resort to any number of incentives to encourage their kid to “use the potty”- special underpants, reward charts and for parents of boys, even floating toys in the toilet bowl for target practice! Inventor Joanna Haymes, a mother of three boys, took the latter idea further and developed the “Wee Target”. Inspired by heat sensitive ink on a packet of batteries and driven to help her boys aim in the right direction, she designed a “target”- a black circle made of heat sensitive ink which is fixed temporarily inside the toilet bowl. When the target is hit by urine, the circle fades and a surprise picture appears. Read More
The V-Rex dreambike - they built it
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March 4, 2007 This is a story of two men, one a dreamer, and the other a mechanical genius, from opposite sides of the globe joining forces to bring something new and astounding to the streets of America. It starts back in December of 2003, in Sydney, Australia when 3D designer Tim Cameron sketched a cruiser motorcycle on a scrap of paper. A pure flight of fancy, Cameron drew out an aggressively poised, extreme, low- riding design. As an out-of-hours project, using his 3D computer modelling skills, Cameron began to build what he called his ‘dream bike’ in the only place he thought it could ever exist, the self-contained virtual 3D world inside his computer. He spent 2 months ‘building’ the design in 3D down to the bolt heads, in a type of program normally used for Hollywood-type special effects, to create photo-realistic images of the bike so convincing that the average person would be hard pressed to pick them from the real thing. These images attracted the interest of an Australian custom bike magazine, Ozbike, and became the basis for an 8-page cover story. This story in turn generated interest internationally and the images went on to be published by leading motorcycle magazines in 10 different countries around the world. This all by itself was a satisfying result for Cameron, but pales considerably in comparison with what was about to happen next! Read More
Australia's Best Games of 2006 - Interactive Entertainment Awards
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February 26, 2007 Last Friday, more than 350 industry types hit Doltone House in Sydney, Australia for the Interactive Entertainment Awards. Twenty awards were handed out - twelve industry voted, and eight based on GfK sales data from January 1 to December 31, 2006. Read on for the unsurprising results of the industry voted awards, and the surprising winners (and some truly bizarre categorisations) of the best sellers. Read More
Nintendo Australia adds four games to Wii Virtual Console line-up
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Nintendo Australia today added four more titles to the Wii Virtual Console service, comprising of Sega Mega Drive games Comix Zone, Bonanza Bros. and Gain Ground, and the NES game Gradius. This brings the total number of games available to 36 - read on for the entire list, complete with recommendations from our Games Editor. Read More
Australia’s Proposed Draconian Copyright Laws
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November 22, 2006 French philosopher Joseph Marie de Maistre's famous quotation, “Every country has the government it deserves”, seems particularly apt with Australia’s citizenry continuing to put up with ongoing ill-considered legislation as the country tries to keep apace with the fast changing world of digital media. The Australian Internet Industry Association (IIA) has issued a warning that changes to Australia’s copyright laws being rushed through Australian Parliament risk making criminals out of everyday Australians. The IIA in conjunction with QUT Intellectual Property Law Research Program has compiled these risk analyses (teenagers, families, small business and industry - all in PDF format) of how Australians could be liable for heavy fines and even jail under the new copyright regime by engaging in activities which many would regard as commonplace. The illustration is just one example - there are dozens of other frightening potential scenarios. “We can’t be sure if this is the government's intent, or whether there has been a terrible oversight in the drafting of this Bill. Either way, the consequences for the average Australian family could be devastating, “ said IIA chief executive, Peter Coroneos. Read More
Gizmo launches Australian comprehensive in-home and phone support technology support taskforce
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August 9, 2006 There’s a fundamental shift in consumer digital technology currently underway as the world embraces the digital lifestyle. Led by the growth of broadband, home networking, digital devices and digital media services, the uptake of new technologies has been extraordinary despite complexity, integration and interoperability issues. A recent GfK Group study showed that 77 percent of Australians now have more than eight digital devices in their homes so it’s timely that Australia is about to get its equivalent of America’s GeekSquad – a reliable, comprehensive in-home and phone support technology support taskforce. To be known as Gizmo, the comprehensive support service is designed to help Australians get the most out of their computer and related gadgets, launched today by announcing the opening of its Sydney operation. The Gizmo service provides home support with customising, setting up and maintaining computer systems, home networking, peripherals and media/entertainment centres. Read More
The Australian OffShore Challenge - one of the last great adventures
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December 15, 2005 Bass Strait will rate on any list of the most treacherous places on earth – separating the world’s largest island (Australia) from one of the world’s largest and most pristine wilderness regions, Tasmania, it claimed its first recorded shipwreck in 1422 and has been claiming lives at an alarming rate ever since, including the infamous 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht race in which six souls were lost. Already it plays host to one of the world’s great boating adventures, in the form of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, it will be joined by a second great competition next year - the Australian OffShore Challenge. Run in the form of a navigational rally, the OffShore Challenge will run annually from June 2006 and enable competitors from all over the planet to bring their own boat or hire one and safely sail, much less compete on a stretch of water of such renown. Travelling Bass Strait can be very dangerous and would not normally be recommended so the event offers the unique proposition of travelling in an organised event with charts, organization, air support and the company of other boats through some of the most spectacular, dangerous and remote scenery on the planet. It begins in Hobart at Wrest Point Casino on February 22, 2006, with competitors heading south on the first morning through the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, before their first taste of open water across Storm Bay. Then it’s up the east coast of the former penal colony around Tasman Peninsula, Maria Island, Freycinet Peninsula, the Bay of Fires and on to Eddystone Lighthouse. At that point, the event enters Bass Strait, but in a series of short stages around Clarke Island, Cape Barren Island, to Flinders Island. The final part of the crossing is taken after a break , navigating a passage to the mainland state of Victoria via Deal Island, the Hogan Group, to refuel at Port Albert. Next day, the national park of Wilsons Promontory before heading west to the sheltered inlet at Inverloch, then Westernport Bay via the San Remo narrows. A final rest and preparation for the big one - through The Rip at Port Phillip Heads to Geelong. The last day is then a short sprint across the Bay to St. Kilda and then a cruise to the Docklands marina in the heart of Melbourne for the gala finish. We believe this event will become one of the great adventures on the planet as it is designed to bring small motor yachts together from all over the world for a celebration of the finest yachting has to offer in relative safety and comfort. Read More
Crossing the Australian Continent by Raptor
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September 25, 2005 As we reported last week, a pair of Yamaha’s potent fuel injected YFM700R Raptor All Terrain Vehicles has just completed a trans-Australian crossing. Matt Brown and Ross Ledger left Byron Bay Lighthouse, the eastern-most point of Australia and spent two weeks in the harshest environment this side of the moon before arriving in Steep Point, WA and earning a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest trip ever completed on an ATV. The pair kept a daily diary and took pics along the way. This is the diary kept by a team of Matt, Ross and the support crew, in their own words, and these are the images taken by the support crew. If you’ve ever wondered just how big Australia is, check out the image library.
Australian Army scores Bulls-Eye with first Hellfire II launched from a Eurocopter Tiger ARH
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August 11, 2005 The Australian Army scored a first when it performed the first successful firing of a HELLFIRE II missile from Australia's Eurocopter Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter (ARH), at the Woomera test range in Australia's southern desert earlier this week. The Tiger is the first non-U.S. platform to integrate the HELLFIRE II missile. The missile was equipped with an inert warhead and was launched in the lock-on-before-launch mode by a Eurocopter test pilot, targeting a simulated armored personnel carrier (APC) target six kilometers downrange. The target was designated by the launching ARH helicopter. The missile struck dead center, leaving a gaping hole in the target. The Hellfire II comes in four models: the high-explosive anti-tank missile, the blast fragmentation missile, the millimeter-wave radar Longbow missile and the thermobaric Hellfire missile. Watch the videos inside to understand the differences between each lethal variant. Read More
Australian F1 Grand Prix
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March 7, 2005 The Australian Grand Prix marked the beginning of the Formula One season and once again offered intrigue at almost every turn of the wheel. In the end, the Mild Seven Renault Team had its best result since returning to F1 three years ago and clearly has the speed to be a challenger to Ferrari this season. Renault won the weekend from a team viewpoint, with Fisichella first and Alonso third, though most of the leading contenders could take some heart from the weekend’s proceedings. McLaren is clearly a contender again, Ferrari’s 2004 car was competitive (the 2005 car won’t be ready for several races yet) and Red Bull proved that small budgets and a good driver can get results with two point-scoring finishes using last year’s Jaguars as a basis. Read More
The Joint Strike Fighter on show at Australian International Airshow
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February 24, 2005 The future of military aviation, the potent Joint Strike Fighter, will be featured at to the Australian International Airshow in March where a full scale and technically detailed replica of this massive and imposing warplane will be on static display for close inspection by military decision makers, aeronautical engineers and the general public to inspect the aircraft. It will be equipped with the latest computerised control and combat systems. Read More
Ceramic Decanters inspired by Australian motoring
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November 15, 2004 A novel range of limited edition ceramic alcohol decanters in the shape of a motorcycle frame, oil drum and bowser, engine motor and eclectic objects like an eightball are now available from Australian based Ceramic Innovations. The decanters are designed to catch the eye of the discerning Aussie bloke and cosmetically enhance the home or office bar.
All 'Eclectic Vessels' feature a brass tap, a chemically inert grommet, a ceramic body for the decanter, food grade glazes and hand made wooden or metal stands to complement the shape.
Segway Distributor for Australia
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October 16, 2004 Segway has appointed an exclusive Australian distributor, SegwaySouthernCross which will distribute and market Segway machines in Australia.
The Segway Human Transporter was released in April 2002 amid much fanfare and hype generated by the secrecy surrounding the project (aka Project Ginger), the presence of serial entrepreneur and inventor Dean Kamen and the number of high profile luminaries who had invested in the project during the early round private funding. It was seen by many as the future of human transport, a difficult claim to live up to and one which some parts of the media seemed to delight in negatively assessing it against. Read More
Australia's first Intelligent Home Show
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The Information Age will change our lives in many ways over the next few decades, most significantly in the way our home environment will change to support our lifestyle. Almost every home will benefit in myriad ways and home owners will be able to create unique personal living, recreational and working spaces. Of course the most difficult thing will be understanding the breadth of the offerings of the convergent technology sector, and it is hence significant that Australia's first exhibition focussing entirely on digital lifestyle in the home opens on October 15. Read More
Alfa Romeo 8c Competizione at Australian Motor Show
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Alfa Romeo will provide one of the highlights of the 2004 Australian International Motor Show by displaying the 300 kph Alfa Romeo 8c Competizione.
Designed and developed at the Alfa Romeo Style Centre and debuted at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show, the 8c Competizione is a new icon for Alfa Romeo, evoking the great sports car tradition of which the name is part.
In the Thirties and Forties, the '8c' signature identified the racing and road cars that were equipped with the new eight cylinder engine developed by the famous engineer Vittorio Jano.
The term 'Competizione' is a tribute to the 6C 2500 Competizione, the sports coupe driven by Fangio and Zanardi in the famous Mille Miglia race in 1950. Therefore, '8c Competizione' is not an invented name, but a clear reference to Alfa's racing history. Read More
1 in 5 Australians would save money ditching their fixed line
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According to a new study, one in five Australian households would be financially better off if they ditched their landline and switched to mobile.The findings, released by independent research company PhoneChoice, show that the average household currently spends significantly more on a landline than they would on some of the latest pricecapped mobile offers available in the market. Read More
Australia considered as location for Suborbital Spaceport
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American adventure company Space Adventures has confirmed that Australia is now the most likely location for its planned suborbital spaceport. The company which offers space experiences to the very wealthy, and is the only company to have successfully launched private tourists to the International Space Station (ISS), is headquartered in Virginia, USA with an office in Moscow, Russia. Read More
Maiden Flight of the Australian ARH Tiger
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The first Tiger production helicopter ARH (Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter) version, for Australia, performed its maiden flight at Eurocopter's Marignane plant on 20 February 2004. This 50 minute flight gave the flight test pilot, Jacques Larra, and the flight test engineer, Bernard Jansonnie, the opportunity to check that all systems were operating correctly and to check out the complete flight envelope. Read More
Australian Invention of the Year Award Finalists Announced
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The seven finalists in the Australian Design Awards Australian Invention of the Year Award 2004 have been announced. Judging for the awards is based on six main criteria; commercial viability, inventiveness, functionality, technical feasibility, safety and social/environmental consideration and eligible inventions must not be in mass production or available widely in the market place. Read More
Australian Student wins International Award
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Australian Saul Griffith, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology doctoral candidate, has won the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for inventing a machine which quickly tests vision and a desktop machine which manufactures low-cost eyeglass lenses. These machines could dramatically improve life for billions of people in developing countries who cannot access, nor afford, prescription glasses.” Merton Flemings, director of the Lemelson-MIT Program, which sponsors the annual award for inventiveness, cited Griffith’s innovative device eyeglass manufacturing and his work creating comic strips that inspire children to learn about science and engineering as important reasons he was chosen this year. Read More
smart roadster hits Australia
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The smart roadster two-seater convertible will launch in Australia next month promising purists the chance to sample an "intensive open-air motoring experience". The diminutive roadster has an engine output of 60 kW, weighs only 790 kilograms and can accelerate from 0 - 100 kmh in 10.9 seconds. Read More
Mobile phone based ticketing launched for Australian events
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Saturday November 8, 2003: The Metro Theatre in Sydney will introduce mobile phone-based bar code ticketing in Australia next month. "Mobi-tickets" are received in the form of an sms containing a barcode that is subsequently scanned by the ticket attendant when you arrive at the gate. Read More
Australian invention combines wake-boarding with flying
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Story originally published October 25, 2003 - Company now appears defunct: Whether riding a single-ski, wake-board, biscuit or banana lounge, you're unlikely to obtain the airtime promised by the SharkSki, a new Australian invention that achieves lift-off when towed behind a boat at 40 kmh per hour, flying 4 to 18 inches above the surface on a stable "cushion of air". Read More
Barcolona win gives Australian Supermaxi victory number 63
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Tuesday October 14, 2003: The 2002 Rolex Sydney to Hobart race winner Alfa Romeo beat a huge field of 1983 yachts to take line honours in the Barcolona 35 in Italy at the weekend. A quarter of a million spectators watched 24,000 sailors compete in extremely light winds in the European classic which is based in the port of Trieste... Read More
Australian Cocoon benefits surgery patients
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Tuesday September 30, 2003: "Cocoon" is a complete patient warming system designed to maintain normal body temperature before during and after surgery. Manufactured by Australian company Care Essentials, Cocoon utilises a process of warm air passed through micro-porous holes to give an even distribution of airflow across the patient and achieve maximum efficiency. Read More
Henry Ford's Historic Race Car to Tour Australia
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Friday September 19, 2003: One of the most celebrated cars in automotive history is coming to Australia - the car which Henry Ford drove to victory in an important motor race in 1901 which reversed his flagging fortunes of the time and enabled him to go on and build Ford Motor Company. Read More
New turbocharged diesel C5 Estate arrives in Australia
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Saturday September 20, 2003: The Citro'n C5 Estate wagon has added a direct injection, common rail, turbocharged diesel HDI engine to its list of advanced features that include self-levelling suspension, the ability to "kneel" to aid loading or to lift its tail up to loading docks, plus automatic wipers, lights and emergency brakes. Read More
Same-day Digital Newspaper Publishing launched in Australia
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Saturday September 13, 2003: A digital newspaper printing service that allows Australians to read newsprint versions of international publications at the same time they roll off the presses overseas was launched yesterday by the Premier of NSW, Mr Bob Carr. Read More
Young Australian Designers
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Thursday August 28, 2003: An alternative to the humble beanbag and a sleek ice-cream scoop with a functional heated base topped this year's Sydney Morning Herald Young Designer of the Year Awards. Answering the award brief to "Chill Out in White", 21-year-old University of NSW Industrial Design student Lan Nguyen-Hoan was the top winner for her entry Knot Cushion... Read More
Australian Bionic Eye approaches human trials
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Wednesday September 10, 2003: Researchers at the University of Newcastle are at the forefront of international research into ways that new technology can be applied to restore sight to the blind. By using a tiny electronic circuit to deliver controlled, electronic stimulation to the surviving nerve cells of the retina, the team hope to replace some of the physiological events that take place on a normal, healthy retina. Read More
