Crave

Analog inhalers make way for GPS

(Credit: Flickr)

Thanks to David Van Sickle, we'll soon be able to track (and hopefully eliminate) recurring asthma attack outbreaks. Van Sickle, a scholar in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is working with students in the biomedical engineering program to create an asthma inhaler with a built-in GPS receiver.

The project is still in its early stages, but David's goal is to eventually map out danger zones that could be life-threatening to those stricken with the lung disease. He already has it all mapped out: "rescue inhalers" will pinpoint the location of each asthmatic attack and cross-reference it with other devices, attempting to detect new locations and trends that previously flew under the radar undetected by asthma researchers. Van Sickle envisions a time when his technology can help researchers discover exactly why people suffer from asthma.

"It will allow us to better target public-health interventions to the places and times when people are really suffering," Van Sickle said.

Asthmatics interested in participating in the trials should be at least 18 years old, and can call 608-261-1036 or e-mail asthmap@mailplus.wisc.edu for more information.

Zap Shuttle

(Credit: Zap)

It's not for road trips, but the van that Zap has introduced at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention might just ease the carbon burden for very local transport.

The Zap Shuttle, which can hold five people, is touted as the nation's first 100 percent plug-in, rechargeable electric van. It's meant to replace small shuttle vans that you see going from airport terminals to rental lots and around other short-range areas such as corporate headquarters, college campuses, indoor warehouses, and sports arenas.

The mini-van has optional accessories, such as solar panels, for prolonged use. It has a per-charge range of 30 miles, which is fairly impressive. And it charges in six hours using any standard 110v wall socket, just like the one in your garage. There's an optional 220v rapid charger for those who are impatient.

Even better is that the van (as well as a new sister-model truck) is street-legal in the U.S. for roads 35mph or under, meaning it could replace scooters in some urban areas. But starting at $14,700, we don't expect that anytime soon.

The four-day auto dealers convention, which is taking place in New Orleans, runs through Tuesday.

While computers continue to get smaller, they're constantly being pushed to do more. Whether they're doubling as a phone, a camera, or an MP3 player, there seems to be no end to the tasks we expect them to carry out. And as always, we say we want them to "do all that stuff and be smaller."

(Credit: IBM)

A limitation of the miniaturization process is that the more computers are asked to do, the more memory they require. One of the computer's basic elements, the transistor, could soon reach its miniaturization limit. The smaller we make transistors, the more susceptible they are to quantum phenomena like electrons tunneling through the barriers between wires. Which, while ticklish for the barrier, can just be really annoying.

This has apparently annoyed researchers at the U.K.'s University of Nottingham, as well, albeit for different reasons. This transistor dilemma has led them to look into the viability of carbon nanotubes to help create fast, cheap, and compact memory that uses little power.

(Credit: High-Def Digest)

This week we have Oliver's Stone's The Doors, with Val Kilmer's riveting portrayal of a volatile 60s icon, another Jean-Claude Van Damme film to add to the many other films in his cinematic canon, and Smart People, starring Ellen Page; you know, that actress who starred in that unknown, Oscar-winning indie film (sarcasm) called Juno.

• 7 Seconds (Sony)
• Beat the Devil (Blu-ray Only)
• Belly (Lionsgate)
• CJ7 (Sony)
• The Doors (Lionsgate)
• Elvis: Viva Las Vegas (CMT)
• Felon (Sony)
• Half Past Dead (Sony)
• Kiss of the Spider Woman (City Lights)
• Last Time I Saw Paris (Blu-ray Only)
• Maximum Risk (Sony)
• Prison Break: Season Three (Fox)
• The Secret (2008) (Walt Disney)
• Smart People (Walt Disney)
• xXx: State of the Union (Sony)

(Credit: Van Der Led)

Maybe there's something to this latest watch phone trend after all. Barely a day after posting an item about a model that didn't send people rushing for the vomitoria, we see that another one has surfaced to pique our interest.

The WM2 from Netherlands-based Van Der Led (we'd never heard of them either) has come up with an innovative solution to the obvious challenge of limited real estate on such gadgets, embedding a keypad on the wristband.

Other specs include Bluetooth, 1GB of built-in storage, 300 minutes of talk time, and 240 hours on standby, according to Dvice. You can also use it as a media player because it can handle MP3s and even video files, though we wouldn't recommend trying to watch them on its 1.3-inch screen unless they're about a flea circus.

Should troubled file-sharing site Qtrax, eventually strike licensing deals with the major music companies, it still may face a significant hurdle.

Web Sheriff, a company representing music acts such as Prince, Van Morrison, and The Black Crowes, has notified Qtrax that it shouldn't think about offering their music, photographs, or other intellectual property until it has secured the artists' OK.

"Whilst Qtrax is an interesting model, many major label and indie artists will not be happy about their music being given away free (to consumers) in return for a currently opaque return from advertising revenues," said John Giacobbi, Web Sheriff's president, in an e-mail.

A British firm that protects digital content from piracy, Web Sheriff has informed Qtrax that in some instances artists must give permission--in addition to the music labels--before their songs can be legally distributed, Giacobbi said.

While Qtrax doesn't appear to have begun offering music downloads, there are photos posted to the site of artists such as the Foo Fighters, Daft Punk, and Wyclef Jean.

Daft Punk is on the EMI label while Jean and the Foo Fighters are represented by Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Representatives from Qtrax and the labels could not be reached for comment late Monday evening. It's unclear whether Qtrax has permission to use the photos.

"Any unauthorized use of copyright photos and/or copyright artwork is in violation of (the law)," Giacobbi said.

Qtrax wants to harness the popularity of illegal file sharing by offering a free, legal peer-to-peer service. The company said that it had deals in place that called for it to share ad revenue with music companies.

But Qtrax has been awash in controversy since Sunday, when questions were raised about whether the company possessed the rights to offer music from the four largest record companies.

For weeks, Qtrax managers had led reporters to believe that it had locked up licensing deals with the top record companies. Just hours before the site's scheduled Monday-morning launch, the labels began denying that the deals existed. Qtrax executives responded by holding up the unveiling of the music service.

Since then, sources close to the company said that Qtrax executives have waged an all-out campaign to tie up the loose ends. They have held numerous meetings with the labels during the Midem music conference in Cannes, France.

If nothing else, Qtrax's troubles show how hard it is to secure the many varied rights and releases needed to legally distribute music.

Giacobbi said he informed Qtrax's leaders that before offering music online, the start-up would first have to obtain master recording copyrights, musical composition copyrights, artwork copyrights, trademarks, performers' rights, moral rights, and publicity rights.

(Credit: Crave Asia)

If there was ever a comic book hero named Mapman, this would be his ride. Tele Atlas, a map content company out of Netherlands, is the owner of this orange van and the attached equipment. It creates maps of the roads it plies using a potpourri of location capture devices.

Mounted on top are four cameras, each capturing three images per second. The van can be configured with up to eight cameras depending on the landscape it is mapping, making it possible to capture 24 images per second when needed. Those are accompanied by laser scanners that help to determine the outline of buildings, allowing Tele Atlas to make 3D models of the environment for its 3D navigation maps. Check out our photo gallery to see more of what's in and on Tele Atlas' mapping van.

Tele Atlas operates 47 mapping vans all over the world, and this one in Singapore is the second vehicle in Asia Pacific after Taiwan. The company already has maps of Singapore since 2000 derived from GPS data and field survey. The purpose of the van is to improve on those maps already available, as well as to create 3D models of the cityscape.

It will take the van anywhere from six weeks to two months to complete its drive around Singapore, after which it will be deployed in other countries in Southeast Asia. It will be redeployed in Singapore at least once every year so that map data can be updated.

3D maps for Europe are already used by some device manufacturers. An example is the Mio which has deployed the 3D maps into some of its PNDs (personal navigation devices). Mark Steele, chief operating officer of Tele Atlas in this region, told us that 3D maps of Singapore will be available in navigation devices from the third quarter of next year.

(Source: Crave Asia)

(Credit: Popgadget)

Move over, Mr. Softee. There's a new ice cream truck in the 'hood, and it probably doesn't play that annoying jingle, either. According to Popgadget, a UK-based company called Scoop is unleashing these flashy little vehicles, which look like the Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine with a new-rave makeover, throughout London. They feature "hot lights, funky beats, and high end ice cream served in slick Chinese take out boxes." The blinged-out vans sure do look cool, and I bet they serve some pretty neat flavors (You think they'd have Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream?) On the other hand, I can see childhood-ish elation ("Yay! It's the ice cream truck!) and adult party-heartiness ("Dude, I'm soooo drunk!") to be a potentially dangerous mix. Y'know, mob scenes.

But I'd still be pretty pumped if we saw these stateside at some point in the near future.

P.S.: Today is unofficially a Party Friday here at Crave. In case you couldn't tell.