Have you got some days off during the X-Mas period and no plans? Are you lucky enough to own a digital reflex camera… and a few hours to spend taking one (yes, 1) photograph? Then you can be the next record holder of the highest resolution image.

But today, this is the greatest (at least in terms of pixels) picture ever taken: a combination of 1.665 full frame pictures taken with a Canon EOS 5 D at 21,4 megapixels each (that means… 26 gigapixels!) recorded with a photo-robot during 172 minutes. Processing took 96 hours from the 104 gigabyte original frame down to the impressive 26 gb result that you can check right here.

The shooting took place in Dresden, on the roof of the building Haus der Presse.

If you want to play with the image, just use the zoom and other control buttons you will find on the lower left corner of the image. Or just click on any of the 9 preselected details right below. It’s really impressive!

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Source: gigapixel-dresden.de

Yes, this is a blog devoted to gadgets. And yes, these are real gloves. So why are we writing about a pair of 90% cotton, 10%polyamide gloves today? Well, it’s quite simple: they are the best option for using any touchscreen device (iPhones, iPod Touch, Blackberries, eBooks, laptops) when the weather is not rather pleasant.

Let’s say you are waiting for a taxi in Helsinki, temperature is below zero and you want to play “Surfin’ USA”  in your phone, but do not want to take your gloves off. This is not a problem anymore with the new Touchees, developed by a team of spanish engineers working for high-tech company AISoy Robotics.

The good news is that these gloves are quite cheap (less than 19 €); the bad is that there is only one size available for the moment and colours are… well,  somewhat boring. But they do perform as expected.

In fact I have already purchased a few of them, and I’m sure they will be a very  original and well  appreciated gift this X-mas. Unless you are lucky enough to live in the Caribbean.

Want to see a real demo? Watch the video.

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Source: www.touchees.com

It’s monday, 7 am, hooray hooray, time to go to the office… but first, let’s suffer the daily 60 minutes traffic jam that is already part of our lives. Fortunately we still have a slight hope that things will not always be the same, at least for our kids when they grow up in a world that’s changing much faster than our own capacity to assume it.

According to japanese conceptual artist and illustrator Norio Fujikawa, this spectacular scooter with small wings will be ready for production by 2025, and should be part of a solution to chaotic traffic and pollution. 

And the good thing is that this jet-powered vehicle is just one of a full set of concepts developed by this visionary engineer, that you will find right here.

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Source: DTLux

Ok, so you feel bored with your actual GPS device… they all look the same: square or rectangle, but always those four boring corners.

Now, let’s bring some fresh air and hope for the future: Art Lebedev’s Studio has developed (not yet produced) a new concept that we expect to see in the stores in the near future.  Forget square screens and please  welcome a beautiful round touchscreen, plus USB adapter, microSD, lighter adapter and a nice detachable stand. Isn’t it beautiful?

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Source: Gizmodo

Olympic champion and professional cyclist Chris Boardman has designed, with UK’s SkySports, a revolutionary bike prototype that employs carbon fiber (a very strong material, yet lightweight and malleable)  and features a fingerprint-activated locking system, self inflating puncture-proof tires, a battery-assisted motor powered by solar panels and a computer attached to the handlebars to count calories, plus a clock  and an mp3 music player.

Unfortunately the cost of this marvel would be too high for mass-market adoption in 2009, so we will have to wait… 15 to 20 years. So relax, you still have plenty of time before replacing the bike you just bought one month ago…

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Source: Fast Company

Are you tired of using Google maps to guide yourself inside a new city? Now iPhone owners with the software upgraded to 3.0 have a wide selection of navigation softwares to choose from.

Navigon has recently released their version for the USA and Canada, while the European version (covering 40 countries) was released one month earlier.  A version for Australia is available too from the iTunes store at an affordable price. An excellent software from one of the main manufacturers of Navigation systems, now available for your iPhone, which includes  interesting features like Lane Assistante Pro, 2D and 3D map displays, Reality view pro and information on speed cameras (not available for all countries).  I had the opportunity to use it recently  driving from Czech Republic to Austria, and the result was excellent!! Just try not to use your phone too much, otherwise you will miss the turn (the navigation system will temporarily turn off while you speak on the phone and will resume after finishing the conversation).

And just recently a new software came to compete with a very atractive offer.  ”iGo MyWay 2009” is available in three different versions: America (USA and Canada), Europe and Western Europe.  Although being a new competitor in this market, it offers a very attractive 3D navigation display showing the shape of famous monuments and free map updates till 2010.

But if you leave or you are planning to travel to Asia, Brazil or  Russia you will also have the opportunity to use your iPhone like a Navigation device. Go to iTunes and look for “Sygic mobile maps“. With the most exstense selection of GPS maps (and an attractive price too), it will for sure become a serious competitor for the other manufacturers.

And very soon, TOM TOM will introduce its own software.  We will cover this story when the software is released. Meantime, you can see an introduction video here

Who will be the winner? Time will say. ..

Amazing. This is the best word to define the new device from Creative, at least on paper. Despite we all thought this company was not going to survive this crisis period, suddenly we receive the official news of an incredible device (should we say platform?) that might become a small revolution in the world of portable devices. Some specs just to make you dream:

• Capacitive 10-point multi-gesture touch display
• 3.5” 320×480 true-color display
• Up to 32GB internal plus SDHC slot (supports up to 32GB of external SDHC Card)
• Supports: MP3, WMA, AAC, WMV, H.264, MPEG-4, AVI, and MOV (These are unconfirmed codecs for now)
• X-Fi audio processing
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• 3-axis Accelerometer
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• Hardware GPS receiver
• 32MB NOR (Linux Kernel Boot ROM)
• 256MB Mobile DDR RAM
• Supports 720p and 1080p HDTVs via HD cable
•Headphone socket, built-in speaker and microphone
• Dual cameras
- Forward facing HD camera
- Rear facing VGA camera
• 1200mAH rechargeable lithium-ion
• 115 x 62 x 12 mm (108grams)

And let’s not forget Creative’s new software development kit for the device,called “Plaszma”. The kit (designed for OEM manufacturers; the Zii consumer version has not yet been announced) comprises of an open-source OS with C++ support (compared to Android’s Java) combined with the Zii chip (ZMS-05). The platform also includes a version of Android optimized for the Zii chip. Both the Zii Egg and Plaszma OS are targeted at manufactures who want a market ready device and OS platform.

And now it’s time for a demo video, enjoy!

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Source: epiZENter, ZiiLabs