Dyson reveals world's fastest ever motor

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Normally, we wouldn’t bother reporting about the release of a hand-held vacuum cleaner. They’re just not that exciting. But James Dyson – the man who revolutionised the vacuum cleaner and washing machine industries – has claimed that the DC 31’s motor is the “fastest motor in the world, by a long stretch”.

104,000 revolutions per minute make the motor ten times faster than the one found in a Boeing 747 and five times quicker than an F1 car’s motor. I bet the plane and the F1 car could still beat the vacuum cleaner in a race though.

Dyson has stated that the DC 31 is just the first of a long line of products that will include the new motor. He said: “It’s radical. It’s completely different technology. We are the only company in the world producing a switched reluctance motor.”

Get your Dyson DC 31 here. It’s £129.99. Or £149.99 for the Animal version.

(via The Telegraph)

VIDEO: 1cm folding plug on its way?

We poor old Brits must have the worst AC plugs in the world. Well, us Brits and also the 30 or so other nations who use the old type G, BS1363 AC power adaptor. Not only are they bulky, nay huge, and ugly it also hurts like hell if you accidental tread on one.

But, we may not have to put up with the old bulky adaptors for much longer if the video below is anything to go by:

It proposes a new design, measuring just an impressive 1cm thick that works by folding the three copper prongs into a nice, neat parallel line.

It’s just a concept at the moment, but surely someone has got to pick up on this and mass manufacture it. It looks brilliant. I’m going to go home tonight and hack of all of my old bulky plugs in anticipation.

(via Engadget)

Waterless washing machines to hit the market next year

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To be fair, “waterless” is a slight exaggeration, but only slight because a company named Xeros has managed to develop a washing machine that uses just 90% of the water used by a normal houselhold unit.

This utility room game-changer employs reusable nylon polymer beads to wash your undies. They clean the clothes faster, using 30% less energy and each cycle only requires a single drop of detergent too. What’s more, expensive eco-enemy tumble dryers need less time because you’re linen will be less wet too. Therefore saving a few inches more planet. Sounds pretty marvelous really.

The trick has been working out a way to get the beads from your togs at the end of the wash but, now that’s sorted, Xeros reckon they’ll have commerical units in hotels and other such large operations by the end of the year.

And if that hasn’t got your juices flowing green, then check this – if these nylon polymer machines were as standard in the UK, it’d be the equivalent of taking 2 million cars of our roads. Where do I sign up?

(via Cambridge News)

Kerchoons KBox – pocket-sized vibrating speaker

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We’ve seen these things before; vibrating units that turn whatever surface they’re on into giant speakers. The advantage with the amusingly named Kerchoons KBox is that it’s not shaped like a butt plug.

This time, what we’re looking at is a USB-charged device with around 20 hours of battery life and it’s about the size of an iPhone. Do I stutter?

It delivers a slightly bottom heavy frequency response of 40Hz – 20KHz, which isn’t massive, but, then, it does only cost £39.99 plus a fiver in the post. It plugs into just about anything you like and uses a patented gel on the underside to make whatever surface it touches vibrate and create the sweet sounds.

Probably not one for the audiophiles but certainly fun, if nothing else.

KBox

T-Mobile plotting Android home phone and tablet

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Remember, before we all had mobiles, the days of the home phone. Having to drag the cable across the hallway and under your door if you wanted to have a private conversation without the rest of your family listening in? That mysterious ‘Mercury’ button?

Those days are mostly at an end, but there are a few people still buying landline phones. As a result, companies are still making them – including T-Mobile who, rumour has it, will be bringing out an Android version next year. There’ll be a docking station that lets you sync it and recharge the battery.

On top of that, there’s a 7″ Android tablet in the works too. There’s very little detail being shared, but it’ll apparently let you ‘check the weather’ or ‘manage data across a wide variety of devices’. Sounds good. More when we get it.

(via Electric Pig)

Lushlife Shot Carver or how to drink booze out of fruit

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Who needs to buy expensive flavoured vodkas when you can turn any piece of fruit into you own personal shot glass? The Lushlife Shot Carver basically looks like a slightly expensive and rebranded version of an apple corer only shaped to give you the perfect volume for a shot. You can, of course, dig a little deeper.

You might want to work out the permeability of your fruit before you go pouring booze into it but then, I suppose that’s why it’s for a shot rather than a Long Island Ice Tea. You can get one here for 12 Yanky Dollar and whatever kind of horrible postage they might add on for overseas shipping. Might be an idea to just to use a knife.

(via craziest gadgets)

Make your own liquid nitrogen ice cream

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If you’re in the habit of spending upwards of $35,000 per year on ice cream then the credit crunch is probably amongst the least of your concerns. Still, if it is you could save money by making limitless quantities of delicious dairy snack with the £35,000 NitroCream machine.

Now, you’re probably thinking that you don’t need to spend $35,000 to get a good tub, but the reason this little wonder costs as much as it does is because it uses liquid nitrogen to instantly transform cream or yoghurt into smooth, creamy ice cream. You no longer need to take up valuable space with keeping your materials cool and the like.