Miniature airship, controlled via a smartphone, takes photos and videos
Model cars and miniature helicopters can also be controlled by means of an iPhone, iPad or Android smartphone now. Such models were displayed by Woddon Industrial from Hong Kong at IFA 2012. The “Spy Ghost” car uses a built-in camera to take photos or videos on a mobile phone. And as if this were not enough, a miniature airship, the “Spy Airship” is currently under development too. It can also be controlled via a smartphone and can supply pictures from up in the sky. Each battery charge is sufficient for 10 to 15 minutes operation and the maximum distance from the control unit is 30 to 50 metres.
LG’s steam technology removes dirt from clothing and tableware
LG Electronics displayed new, energy-saving and larger home appliances. The walls of the 60 centimetre wide freezer cabinets are five millimetres thinner but with improved insulation. Sensors in the refrigerators measure the outside temperature and adjust the cooling output accordingly. A number of different washing movements by the drums of the new washing machines ensure the best possible results for every kind of material from the finest fabrics to heavily soiled sportswear. Steam technology is used to remove allergens, and LG employs the same technology in its dishwashers, because steam removes even stubborn, encrusted food left-overs.
Koubachi wireless care for plants
Koubachi is a sensor that wirelessly monitors house plants in real time. It is programmed for the specific plant by means of an app and then placed in the soil, where it checks humidity, light and temperature. Koubachi is incorporated in the home WLAN network and informs the user by iPhone or email about the condition of the plants, sounding an alarm if they require water or fertiliser. Within 14 days this device learns the about the special features of the plant and can then be “repotted“, in this way helping to care for several other plants in the home.
Zagg: Bluetooth keyboards now with choice of background colours
Zagg International brought its latest, ultra-thin tablet keyboards, the Zagg KeysPro and Zagg ProPlus, to IFA 2012. The Bluetooth devices have been designed for third generation iPads and have a magnetic fastening system which locks the i-Pad and keypad and protects them. If used on a daily basis a keyboard only needs to be charged up at quarter-yearly intervals. A distinguishing characteristic: the keys are backlit in such a way that the user can work with his or her favourite colour even in twilight.
Huawei full-HD tablet
Huawei introduced its MediaPad 10 Full HD tablet and MediaPad 7 Lite . The 10 inch display has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels. The internal clock is a Huawei Quad-Core K3V2 chipset with a CPU tact rate of 1.2 GHz and a 1 GByte main memory. With its 8 GB ROM the tablet PCs, based on Android 4.0, offer plenty of space for music, videos, games and other applications. The devices can be expanded with a micro SD of up to 32 GB. The 6,600mAh battery has been designed to enable the MediaPad 10 Full HD to operate for up to 8 hours at a time.
‘Wedge’ cleans tablets with microfibre fabric and silk
Toddy Gear Inc. presented a new cleaning accessory, the ‘Wedge’ at IFA. As its name suggests, it is wedge-shaped and takes the form of a miniature bag, serving as a base for mobile terminals and tablets, but one side of the pyramid is made of a microfiber with which fingerprints and dirt can be removed from sensitive screens. The three remaining sides of the fist-sized polyhedron are covered with colourful silk, which can be used afterwards to polish the surfaces. The Wedge has an antimicrobial coating to prevent microorganisms from contaminating the inside or outside of the bag. Next year cleaning dolls are due to be introduced for younger tablet users.
