Cannondale Jacknife Concept Is ON
We post a lot of concept designs here at the Lab. Most will never make production, but that doesn’t stop us from hoping. In the case of Cannondale’s ON concept, overwhelming popular demand means the bike company will actually be…

We post a lot of concept designs here at the Lab. Most will never make production, but that doesn’t stop us from hoping. In the case of Cannondale’s ON concept, overwhelming popular demand means the bike company will actually be putting the folder into production.

Previously named the “Jacknife,” the innovative bike has grown up into a rather hot looking beast. The current pics show that it still uses single arms instead of forks (the rear one is a pivot to fold the bike), and it now has a much cooler-looking matte-black paint job.

Full details are still not available, but Cannondale’s Torgny Fjeldskaar says “Stay tuned.” We’ll.

He also says “Urban transport as we know it is about to change forever.” Last time we heard that, it was in reference to the Segway.

Cannondale Folding Bike Concept Gets Real [Gadget Lab]

From Concept To Reality: Urban Cycling Is Reinvented With The On Concept Bike [Cannondale via Treehugger]

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Supersafe Lock Lets You Swap Out Keys
High-tech lock maker Kwikset has announced the SmartKey. Its banner feature is anti-bumping technology, which supposedly makes the lock unpickable (bumping is about the quickest and easiest way to break a lock, involving a hammer, a dummy key and, well,…

High-tech lock maker Kwikset has announced the SmartKey. Its banner feature is anti-bumping technology, which supposedly makes the lock unpickable (bumping is about the quickest and easiest way to break a lock, involving a hammer, a dummy key and, well, that’s it).

But we don’t care for the security so much as the convenience. The SmartKey lock can be re-keyed by the owner. You put in your old key, hit a “learning” button inside the lock and then swap in any key. That key is now paired with the lock. Very neat, and very easy, allowing a single key to be used in a multitude of locks. The downside? Let’s just say you might want to keep a spare.

Product page [Kwikset via Apartment Therapy]

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Batteries Explode, But Industry QA Remains Unchanged
The latest consumer device to burst into flame made us wonder: Are manufacturers doing anything to guarantee the safety of their lithium-ion batteries through superior quality assurance (QA) testing? The surprising answer: Not really. Gadget Lab called Marijana Vukicevic, a…

The latest consumer device to burst into flame made us wonder: Are manufacturers doing anything to guarantee the safety of their lithium-ion batteries through better quality assurance (QA) testing? The surprising answer: Not really.

Gadget Lab called Marijana Vukicevic, a senior analyst of
power management at iSuppli, to find out about the current state of battery manufacturing. What she had to say about the testing methods employed by various consumer electronics manufacturers gave us pause. Turns out, even after the large battery recalls of 2006 and 2007, most companies still use what seem like incredibly low standards for battery quality testing.

“Usually when they test these devices, they test only one batch that comes off the manufacturing line,” Vukicevic stated. “They’ll perhaps sample 25 out of thousands in a given batch. Even if one or two fails out of that 25, they will assume those devices are OK,” she added.

What? Two failures out of 25 is a pass for the entire batch of thousands of batteries? Granted, these are rigorous tests that measure battery performance in a number of different extreme heat and moisture conditions. The tests often take days to complete. Still, if 2 out of 25 of your devices are failing a battery test, that seems like an awful huge gamble for companies to take. Sony, you might recall, spent $429 million on its own battery recall in 2006.

According to iSuppli, manufacturers use such low criteria because quality testing is considered way too expensive to employ across broad swaths of newborn devices. What’s more, there’s always an expectation of some rate of failure, since there are always a number of unknown factors (not necessarily battery related) that can cause problems, said Vukicevic. Faulty circuitry, using a higher current than the battery spec, or a variety of different environmental conditions can set off an unpleasant chain of events … as we’ve seen before.

Still, you’d think the 10 million recalled batteries might prompt the industry to be a bit more thorough in its testing. Apparently not.

We also took the chance to ask Vukicevic about one comment on our previous post regarding the presumed danger of extended charging times.

“Leave your car charging for 12 days and blame the maker if it explodes. Sorry. Charging it for an extended period is the owner’s fault,” reader Ed said.

Sorry, Ed, that’s not true when it comes to modern electronics. Vukicevic stated that this day every device has circuits built into them that recognize when the battery is fully charged. Once this happens, circuitry within the battery shuts off the current, she said. That’s not to say these circuits don’t occasionally malfunction, but in nearly all cases, Vukicevic states it’s totally safe to leave your phone, laptop or any other device plugged in for as long as you want.

Battery University, an on the web resource for general battery knowledge, notes that all lithium-ion batteries have these protection circuits to maintain safe operation:

Built into each pack, the protection circuit limits the peak voltage of each cell during charge and prevents the cell voltage from dropping too low on discharge. In addition, the cell temperature is monitored to prevent temperature extremes. The maximum charge and discharge current on most packs are is limited to between 1C and 2C. With these precautions in place, the possibility of metallic lithium plating occurring due to overcharge is virtually eliminated.

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NASA Sending Robots into Space to do Astronauts’ Dirty Work [Robots]

NASA is sending a $200 million, Canadian-built robot named Dextre (Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator) up to the International Space Station to help carryout spacewalk missions too perilous for humans to attempt. The currently disassembled robot is being flown up on the Space Shuttle Endeavour and will be built up on the Space Station. Once constructed, Dextre will be 10 feet high, 5 feet wide and have two arms comprised of seven joints apiece. [ABC News]

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Toshiba Takes $1 Billion Hit on HD DVD (Still Turns a Profit) [Format War]

The Nikkei business daily is reporting that Toshiba will take a $986 million hit this year for its ill-fought HD DVD campaign, though somehow the manufacturing supergiant will manage to post a roughly $2.5 billion profit nonetheless, down from a projected $2.9 billion or so. The estimated cost of HD DVD for the company this year was supposed to be closer to half a billion, but the halt in production means expensive line changes and “other charges.” Toshiba itself isn’t saying a word yet, but damn if there ain’t truth to this. [Reuters; Bill Image Source]

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Coolers get the job done, but you have to deal with ice and the fact that the bulky boxes are often awkward to carry. I’m lazy, which means that I want to get my beer from point A to point B as easily as possible (and I’m not willing to ride a Cruzin Cooler to do it.) The “Boxcooler” concept from designer Sebastian Bertram offers a stylish solution with a backpack cooled by refrigeration.

Thermoelectric Peltier elements would replace traditional freezer batteries to keep food fresher, longer and the compact design makes it simple to pack and carry. However, even with a space saving design I don’t see much room for all that beer I was speaking about earlier—and it would probably be the most high-priced picnic basket of all time. On the plus side, check out the exposed thong in the drawing. Nice. [Yanko Design]

Via [gizmodo]

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Now we know that we’ve posted movie trailers on Gadget Lab before. Why would we do that? They’re geeky, awesome, have tons of tech and usually they’re ten times superior than the actual films themselves. Our latest obsession? The full…

Now we know that we’ve posted motion picture trailers on Gadget Lab before. Why would we do that? They’re geeky, awesome, have tons of tech and usually they’re ten times superior than the actual films themselves. Our latest obsession? The full trailer for Speed Racer.

Yes, the seizure-inducing visuals and dialogue that sound like it was written by a brain-damaged Chim Chim are the watermarks of a Wachowski brothers film. But hey, will that stop us from shelling out $10 for admission? No Speed Racer, no.

But what do you think, dear readers? Will you be gunning to theaters to check this one out in Might? Or will you just wait and download the torrent file? Hit those comments and let us know!

Via [wired.com]

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