Gizmag News - The 1100 bhp Koenigsegg Agera R - with the world's fastest roof box

Welcome to the newsletter for gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine. These are the headlines for March the 7th, 2011. The 1100 bhp Koenigsegg Agera R – with the world’s fastest roof box Christian von Koenigsegg has once again created a hypercar of the highest order – the new Agera R is capable of approaching 400 km/h and features so much innovation that we’re not going to even attempt to squeeze it all into the introductory paragraph. The 5 litre V8 bi-turbo engine is the lightest and most compact hypercar engine in the world, and produces 1100 hp on E85 bio fuel with peak torque of 1200 Nm spread over over a 3300 rpm rev range. It’s most notable feature though, is a Thule Roof Box which ensures you can take all your gear as well as having a show car with the standard roof when you get there. Read More The world's first hybrid automobile goes on show again - 111 years later We’re a little non-plussed on Porsche’s announcement of a reconstructed Semper Vivus, which it is claiming was presented at the Paris Show of 1900. There’s a video of the construction of the vehicle, but the scant info available is at odds with previous Porsche historic information on the Lohner Porsche and the normally fastidious Porsche press department hasn’t issued any details of the Semper Vivus yet. The Semper Vivus was a series electric hybrid with its two engines charging the batteries and Porsche electric hub motors delivering the power. It must be said the Porsche execs looked anything but comfortable driving the Semper on stage. Read More 'Digital observatory' allows global information-sharing to protect biodiversity Thousands of organizations around the world are working towards protection of ecosystems, yet the sharing of data is extremely limited and often localized – swathes of information that could be important are unknown, unpublicized and from a global perspective, wasted. The Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA), developed by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), could pave the way for a new era of understanding. It aims to bring together multidisciplinary data allowing researchers and decision-makers the means to assess, monitor and forecast protected areas globally. Read More The most remarkable Mercedes Benz F1 display One of the most remarkable things we’ve seen in a long time is this deconstructed 2010 F1 car on display at Mercedes-Benz World in Surrey, UK. The Mercedes GP Petronas F1 comprises 3200 components and every one of them is hung in the display. The display itself was arranged by Dutch artist Paul Veroude and definitely fits into the “how can you do that?” category. Its subject is equally as fascinating, accounting for 90,000 man hours of design time, 200,000 man hours of manufacturing manifested as 600 kg finished form manufactured to the most exacting tolerances of the world’s most exotic substances - carbon fiber, titanium, aluminum and magnesium. To look at, the car is predominantly carbon fiber (85% by volume) but it’s so light that it accounts for only 30% of the mass. Read More Pininfarina 2uettottanta and Range Rover Evoque take car design awards There is no greater accolade than to be judged the finest by your peers. This year the car design fraternity has delivered an overwhelming verdict for the concept design of the year to the Pininfarina – 40% of all the voters (all car designers) voted for the Pininfarina 2uettottanta ahead of some quite outstanding competition in the form of the Jaguar C-X75 and Renault DeZir. The Car Design of the Year 2010 Production category gong went to Range Rover's Evoque ahead of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and Audi A7. Read More Plan designates 1,680 miles of interconnected bikeways for Los Angeles As the Missing Persons song goes, “nobody walks in LA.” But with the release of the 2010 Los Angeles Bicycle Plan, the city hopes to make it easier to ride there. As part of the city’s commitment to transform LA from an auto-centric metropolis to a city with a multi-modal transportation system, the City of Los Angeles has released the draft 2010 Los Angeles Bicycle Plan, which designates 1680 miles (2700 km) of bikeway facilities and proposes three new bicycle networks that will crisscross the city. Read More ASUS outs RoG gaming gear-a-plenty at CeBIT ASUS Republic of Gamers came out in force at CeBIT 2011 to launch some new additions to its gaming range. On show were some new notebooks, a couple of motherboards, graphics cards, a 3D monitor, a router and some headsets. Features of note include a wide-viewing-angle, glasses-free 3D experience from one of the notebooks, XONAR audio and 802.11n on a Black Edition mainboard, and a Wireless-N router that can support simultaneous connections for lag-free, online gaming. Read More Elfoid: creepy mini-robot meets smartphone We can’t say we weren’t warned. Last August, Japan’s Eager Co. Ltd. announced that it was planning to begin sales of the Telenoid R1 telepresence robot in October. The toddler-sized ghostly-looking robot is intended to be a physical stand-in for a remote user during internet communications, mirroring that person’s movements via real-time face tracking software on their computer – their voice also comes out of the device. Well, Telenoid now has a little sibling. The Elfoid P1, as it’s called, was unveiled at a press conference yesterday in Japan, and is intended to serve as a combination mobile phone and mini telepresence robot. Read More HDR and HD video for under $200 with the Optio S1 digital compact The new Optio S1 brings High Dynamic Range functionality to a Pentax compact snapper for the first time. The pocket camera also features a 14 megapixel CCD sensor, wide-angle optical zoom lens and high sensitivity. You'll also get high definition video recording with a dedicated movie button, translucent control buttons, and a selection of modes and settings designed to help users get the best shot with ease. The best news, though, is that all of this compact power comes under the US$200 radar. Read More Software developed to match police sketches to mug shots We’ve seen it in numerous TV shows and movies – the witness to a crime looks through a book of mug shots, then works with a police sketch artist to come up with a likeness of the nasty person they saw. After looking through hundreds of mug shots, however, it’s possible that the tired-brained witness could look right at a photo of the guilty party and not recognize them. It’s also possible that there is a mug shot of the criminal on a database somewhere out there, but that this particular witness will never see it. A computer system being pioneered at Michigan State University, however, could be the solution to such problems – it automatically matches faces in police sketches to mug shots. Read More New portable camera sees inside solid materials and structures A research team from the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) has succeeded in creating a portable scanning system that's capable of looking inside objects or structures and revealing hidden secrets. Using technology similar to that used for full body scans at airports, the new transmission mode camera system can detect, collect, process and display millimeter-wave and microwave signal information in real time and at adjustable focus points between the transmitter and collector aperture. The whole setup is powered by a single laptop-sized battery, with the results being displayed on a notebook screen. Read More Apogee JAM guitar interface plugs into GarageBand on iPad 2 Personally, the most interesting part of the announcement of the new iPad on March 2 was GarageBand for iPad. Sure, the cool-looking drum kit and dynamic piano are worth a passing mention but my weapon of choice is the guitar. But rather than tap onto the touchscreen's virtual instrument I would prefer to plug in my own. The new JAM input from Apogee will allow me to do just that. Read More If you would like to refer this newsletter to a friend or colleague, please point them at our free subscription page. 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