The tech world had a monumental week, rolling out a raft of astonishing products and ideas that could change the world, while familiarizing us with other worlds at the same time.
Cars were in the news, with a remarkable milepost passed by Google‘s self-driving car, the rollout of Poland’s first supercar, and the spectacular show where NASA landed a car-sized rover on Mars.
Meanwhile, back here on terra firma, chatter reached a fever pitch about the impending iPhone, and we found even more evidence of its alleged larger screen and maybe even unibody construction.
And that’s just the beginning of the treasure trove of techno-goodness we found for you, bringing you only the most important technological achievements right here on Top 10 Tech This Week.
1. Phosphor Touch Time
Phosphor has made some spectacular E-Ink watches in its time, but now its latest Touch Time watch is a departure from that, sporting an LCD screen with an LED backlight and seven built-in apps. There are plenty of styles and colours from which to choose, with $89 getting you a black watch, and other styles priced up to US$159.
Phosphor Touch Time
It can't connect to the Internet, but its smart software lets you select 7 different faces/functions. Looks like it's smart enough - with its upside being you never have to charge it - and the company says an annual battery change keeps it powered up. It's a fully funded Kickstarter project, and Phosphor plans to ship these ultra-nerdy watches in November.
2. Strut LaunchPort for iPad
This is what happens when a company famous for its "automotive jewellery" creates an iPad case and dock. Whoa, is this fancy! Look at that dock, the US$1,000 pedestal made by Strut's partner LaunchPort that wirelessly charges up your iPad.
Strut LaunchPort for iPad
Check out the gorgeous case, looking like the dashboard of a Rolls-Royce and protecting that iPad in grand style for a mere US$250. Interested? You'll have to wait until next month before it makes its debut at the New York International Gift Fair.
3. Curiosity
It's been a spectacular week for space buffs, and NASA's car-sized rover on Mars has been a complete success so far.
Some of us were reminded of the first manned landing on the moon when the Mars Science Laboratory, whose rover is named Curiosity, went through its complicated landing procedure involving a supersonic parachute and a sky crane. Here you see a remarkable shot taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of Curiosity slowing down with that super-chute.
Curiosity Rover
To get an idea of the scale of the Curiosity rover, take a look at the size of its tires compared to the man standing next to it. This sucker is big. The rover is currently receiving a software update as it sits on the Martian surface, getting ready to go from landing mode to exploration mode.
Curiosity Rover Pic
This is just one of the first of many pictures and data that will find its way back to Earth from the surface of Mars. This is the first 360° colour panorama sent back by Curiosity, taken from its landing spot inside the Gale Crater and looking at the base of the 3-mile-high Mount Sharp.
The excitement that was the landing is only the beginning for curiosity, which will be trying to find out if life ever existed on the Red Planet.
4. Google's Self-Driving Car
It's going to take a lot of confidence and positive PR to get people to sit back and let a car do the driving for them. But this startling stat might convince some early adopters: This week Google said its self-driving cars have racked up 300,000 miles' worth of accident-free driving.
That's an astonishing number, especially considering that U.S. drivers can only go 165,000 miles before an accident, on average. A sobering thought: This machine can drive better than I can.
5. Scary Glass-Bottomed Pool
Jump into this lap pool high atop the 24-story Holiday Inn Shanghai Pudong Kangqiao, and you'll be in for a surprise just before you execute that flip turn. You'll feel like you're both swimming and flying as you gaze through the glass on the pool's bottom.
Building such a novelty is tricky, and designers at Singapore's Chan Sau Yan Associates left nothing to chance, enlisting the support of aerospace experts to ensure the glass will be strong enough to hold water and humans without mishap.
If you've ever stood on the glass floor at Toronto's CN Tower, you'll know that giddy feeling you must get when swimming through this unique sky pool.
6. Sony Experia Tablet
Everybody's gunning for Apple's iPad, and Sony's next attempt, the Xperia Tablet, has been allegedly leaked to the world for all to see. Not only does this device look different from any other tablet we've seen, it's packed with serious components such as a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor.
Sony Experia Tablet
I really like that fold-over design. Pricing is rumoured at around US$400 for a 16GB tablet, US$500 for 32 gigs and US$600 for the 64GB model. For the hard facts, we'll have to wait until August 31, when Sony is rumoured to be announcing this Xperia tablet at the IFA trade show in Berlin. The company's expected to ship the Xperia Tablet in September.
Sony Experia Tablet
7. Nikon 1 J2
Canon rolled out its first mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses last week, and now Nikon rolls out its second, the Nikon 1 J2, slightly improved over its predecessor, the Nikon 1.
Nikon 1 J2
An impressive feature shared by this camera and its predecessor is its burst mode that lets you snap 10 frames per second. And, you can capture superfast motion with its maximum shutter speed of 1/16,000th of a second.
Nikon 1 J2
Certainly welcome will be the Nikon 1 J2's new viewfinder, a 3-inch screen that now has 921,600 pixels, compared with the 460,000 of the Nikon 1.
Nikon 1 J2
The camera's 1-inch imaging chip is larger than garden-variety point-and-shoot cameras, and has interchangeable lenses. That's too bad, though, because many photography enthusiasts were disappointed that the one-inch imager was too small.
The good news is, even though pricing hasn't been definitively announced yet, the improved basic model with the kit lens will probably be cheaper than its predecessor, costing around US$550.
8. iPhone Rumours: Unibody iPhone
When he saw spy pics from iLab Factory, industrial designer Don Lehman was convinced that not only is this the next iPhone, but that it will have unibody construction. Similar to the construction of the MacBooks, Lehman says its rigid frame will result in "the thinnest, strongest, and lightest housing to date."
iPhone Rumours: New Dock Connector
You've heard about those new iPhone connectors that are on the way, right? Here's a comparison of the alleged smaller docking port compared with that of current iPhones.
iPhone Rumours: New Dock Connector
The plot thickens: When French site NowhereElse.fr uncovered what it says are the actual connectors using the new format. Here it is pictured next to a USB connector, giving you an idea of its much smaller size.
iPhone Rumours: iPhone Parts
And then there was this leak, also from NowhereElse.fr, showing lots of alleged iPhone components, including a protective glass cover, sensors and a few buttons. Many were interested in that thin sheet of black metal, supposedly protective shielding that goes behind the new iPhone's alleged 4-inch screen.
iPhone Rumours: More Icons
And finally, 9-to-5 Mac found a tantalizing clue about that taller screen, using an iOS simulator application included in Apple's development tools.
When running that simulator for iOS 5.1, there were four rows of icons as usual, but they were stretched. Then when running the iOS simulator for the upcoming iOS 6, they were five complete rows of icons. It's yet another piece of evidence that could point to a taller display on the next iPhone.
9. Smart Fingertips
The nascent capability of receiving physical sensations from afar continues with these smart fingertips, designed by researchers to actually fool your brain into thinking it's feeling something it really isn't. The scientists are using this delicate flexible circuitry to figure out how to send certain electronic signals to the fingers, which then travel to the brain, reproducing various sensations such as heat, pressure and texture.
Imagine the possibilities! At the moment, the medical industry could use this to train doctors to perform surgery. There's even talk of surrounding entire organs with these sensors, allowing doctors to remotely determine changes in blood flow and temperature. Or this technology could be involved in that bellwether industry of technological advancement, porn, where the experiences could go beyond just sight and sound.
10. 2014 Arrinera Hussarya
Car company Arrinera Automotive is just about to roll out the first Polish supercar, and from the looks of these renderings, this is going to be quite a road rocket.
2014 Arrinera Hussarya
Even with that chunky rear end, this baby weighs a mere 1300kg (2,866 lb), letting it zip from 0 to 124mph in just 8.9 seconds, with a dizzying top speed of 211mph.
2014 Arrinera Hussarya
Called the "Hussarya" (a Polish word for the country's formidable cavalry units from the 17th century), this beast will crank out 650hp with its 6.2-liter V-8, and it's said to go from 0 to 62 in 3.2 seconds.
2014 Arrinera Hussarya
The project involves more than just a rendering, though - according to TopGear there's already a prototype of this lovely vehicle in existence, built to entice investors to chip in the megabucks required to develop such a conveyance.
2014 Arrinera Hussarya
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