It doesn’t have quite the appeal of sending a robot to do your shopping, but this Smart Cart service being trialed by SK Telecom could definitely take some of the hassle out of trolling the supermarket aisles. Just launched at the Shanghai Lotus Supermarket in China, the system consists of WiFi-enabled, tablet PC-equipped shopping carts and a smartphone app that can be synchronized with the tablet. By utilizing indoor positioning technology and augmented reality, the shopping "Smart" cart becomes a virtual shopping aide.

The Smart Cart application allows customers to search for shopping and discount information, store coupons, as well as to create a shopping list. After getting to the market, the app synchronizes with the tablet PC mounted to the cart’s handle, uploads the shopping list and authenticates the user. Wandering through the store’s aisles, customers get product and discount information linked to their current location within the store, which is established to within three feet via a WiFi network.

Provided the trial period in China is successful, SK Telecom is planning to build even more personalized service. The cart’s tablet PC could gather wide information on the clients’ habits, including analysis of their shopping history, to make product recommendations more accurate.

Further trials are also scheduled to be launched in Korea, in the second part of 2011.

The iPhone SLR Mount comes in either a Nikon F-mount or Canon EF-mount version, and allows iPhoneographers to utilize an SLR lens with the iPhone’s

There’s little doubt that when it comes to snapping spur-of-the-moment photos, nothing quite matches the always-ready convenience of the smartphone. Apple’s iPhone is second only in popularity to Nikon’s D90 for overall image uploads to Flickr, and takes the top three spots in the Cameraphone category. There are now a whole host of apps available that can help add numerous clever effects to the photos taken with an iPhone’s camera, and a growing number of hardware-based enhancements. If you find yourself yearning for a little more zoom than the Eye Scope offers, or the close-up goodness of the Fisheye and Macro/Wide Angle lens is just too small and fiddly for you, then perhaps what you need is an iPhone SLR Lens Mount.

The iPhone SLR Mount from Photojojo is essentially a phone case that acts as an adapter for either Nikon F-mount or Canon EF-mount lenses (although it’s not compatible with Canon EF-S or FD lenses). Placing your Apple smartphone into the tough but lightweight aluminum casing allows you to choose from your collection of telephoto, wide-angle, macro or fish-eye SLR lenses and use it with the iPhone’s camera.

It’s kind of a first step towards bringing the conceptual WVIL proposal to life. Of course, autofocus is not available, the absence of a mirror means that images will appear upside down, and there’s no supersonic dust reduction system so you’ll have to keep the focusing screen free of dirt and dust yourself – but if you want professional-looking depth of field effects, or the ability to bring a distant object into close focus or pop on a fish-eye lens for some wide angle fun, this could be your answer.

Naturally, there are a few other limitations to consider – including a possible loss of image brightness (which can be corrected using the aperture ring on older SLR lenses or via editing software if using newer ones) – but the iPhone SLR Mount certainly looks to be a step in the right direction. The solution comes supplied with a UV filter, includes strap loopholes to allow you to hang your iPhone/SLR lens mash-up from your neck, and it features a tripod attachment.

Photojojo says that iPhoneographers can expect the iPhone SLR Mount to be available from the middle of August at a cost of US$249, for either the Canon or the Nikon flavor.

Billed as "the world’s smallest true 3-way supreme audio earphones," the K3003s’ housings are each handmade from a solid piece of stainless steel. The cord’s Y connector is also made of steel, as is the 3.5 mm jack plug, and the exterior of the cord-mounted volume control/microphone unit. Both earphone cords are rubber-coated, while the single stereo plug cord is reinforced with cloth.

The AKGs are said to utilize "a new hybrid technology for great sound," and like many higher-end earphones, are reportedly able to seal out most ambient sounds using passive noise reduction. Their frequency range is 10Hz to 30kHz.

Although they won’t be officially launched until the IFA electronics show in September, the K3003‘s are available online as a "sneak peek" from June through August, via the website of Parisian electronics retailer Colette.

Play the guitar without having to learn the guitar

Researchers at Tokyo University, along with some help from Sony, created a device that straps onto your arm, sort of like a blood pressure cuff, and sends electrical signals to your fingers that can move them in precise ways. It’s called, of course, the PossessedHand.

The PossessedHand uses an Arduino microcontroller, the low-cost tool of choice for DIYers, and 28 electrode pads that are applied externally. There have been other devices that do this sort of thing, but they’ve often been pretty clumsy, needing electrodes to be inserted into the skin (ouch!). The PossessedHand is entirely external and painless, and, according to PhysOrg, "is said to feel more like a gentle hand massage." The signals are also not unpleasantly strong, apparently feeling more like a nudge to move rather than a forceful automatic movement of the fingers and wrist.

The uses for such a device are pretty clear, especially as you can preprogram strings of signals. It could be used in music education, to teach the proper finger movements and placings, or it could translate spoken language into sign language, which your hand performs automatically. There are potential medical uses as well; teaching stroke victims how to use their hands again, that kind of thing. It’s not a prosthesis, really, but it could prove useful to a totally new set of people. And it’s definitely more useful than Daito Manabe’s face-electroshocking hobby. Here’s a video of it in action from New Scientist:

If you want to see what Earth looks like from space, become an astronaut (or, barring that, a space tourist). For the next best view, pay a visit to Tokyo’s National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation where a massive, nearly 20-foot spherical OLED orb–the world’s first large scale spherical OLED–offers a satellite’s-eye view of the planet in super high resolution.

“Geo-Cosmos” is made up of 10,362 OLED panels that display continuously-updating satellite footage of our tiny blue marble, representing what our planet looks like from space in something close to realtime. It replaces an earlier model covered in LED panels, offering museum-goers a full 10 million pixels, a resolution 10 times greater than its predecessor.

And like any good museum exhibit, Geo-Cosmos is interactive. Touchscreens surrounding the globe allow viewers to tap all kinds of earth science data streaming in from all over the world, like simulations showing the origin of the March 11 earthquake that devastated Japan and the dispersion of all of that energy via tsunamis that reached all the way around the Pacific. See it for yourself below.

The result of a collaboration between Continuum Fashion and 3D printing experts Shapeways, the N12 is billed as the “the first completely 3D-printed, ready-to-wear, item of clothing.”

The high-tech bikini’s (not particularly sexy) name is derived from “nylon 12″, the material that’s used in the 3D printing process. Nylon 12 is strong, flexible and 3D printable with an impressive thinness of 0.7 mm (0.027 in). The material is innately waterproof so it’s ideal as swimwear and according to the designers it actually becomes more comfortable when it gets wet.

Specifically, a process called selective laser sintering (SLS) is used to achieve the complex geometrical design which combines circles connected by very tiny strings.

“The bikini’s design fundamentally reflects the beautiful intricacy possible with 3D printing, as well as the technical challenges of creating a flexible surface out of the solid nylon,” says Mary Haung of Continuum Fashion. “Thousands of circular plates are connected by thin springs, creating a wholly new material that holds its form as well as being flexible. The layout of the circle pattern was achieved through custom written code that lays out the circles according to the curvature of the surface. In this way, the aesthetic design is completely derived from the structural design.”

N12 was made with the use of Rhino 3D CAD software along with an algorithm written by 3D modeling expert Jenna Fizel. As well as providing the map for the the circle sizes, forms and connections the algorithm also calculates which parts need more strength and which need more flexibility.

“The visual and structural design of the bikini are very well integrated with each other,” says Fizel.

In the future this process could result in complete customization by using a body scan to create an exact fit for the customer.

The N12 bikini is for sale, but quite pricey at this stage. It costs around US$200-300 for each part of the bikini and can be ordered at Continuum Shop. Hopefully prices will fall as 3D printed clothing gains popularity.

Here’s the designers’ outline of the project:

N12.bikini – Intro Video from Continuum Fashion on Vimeo.

With an LCD display housed within the body of a folder, TV in a Card can bring a brochure, greetings card or training booklet to life

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and a moving picture worth even more. Now a company in the UK is enticing businesses to go beyond the confines of eye-catching text, colorful graphics and product photos with TV in a Card.

The brainchild of Russell Lawley-Gibbs and Robert Green, a standard TV in a Card folder has A4 (297 x 210 mm / 11.7 x 8.3 inches) dimensions and opening the cover reveals a 4.3-inch, 320 x 240 resolution, 16:9 aspect LCD display powered by a custom board with built-in storage for about 30 minutes of video footage. There’s an included speaker and headphone jack, and the Li-ion battery lasts about 1.5 hours before needing to be charged via the included USB port.

If required, battery capacity can be increased to up to 7.5 hours and onboard storage boosted up to 2GB – which is said to be enough for 4.5 hours of video. Customers can opt to have the video auto-start when the card is opened or manual control buttons can be positioned under the display (or elsewhere, if desired). Available controls include a power on/off switch, volume control, program/episode selection, play/pause, and fast forward/rewind.

It’s also possible to load several MPEG, MOV or AVI format videos into one TV in a Card folder, which can be set to automatically play one after the other in order or be individually selected by the user.

TV in a Card – which currently has offices in the UK and Dubai but is hoping to shortly open in Perth, Australia – says that customers can take care of folder layout design matters themselves and supply their own video or work with the company’s own designers, who can undertake all aspects of design and manufacture, including video production via the company’s in-house studio. The product is flexible and configurable, with options like design-specific packaging and card sizes from A5 (210 x 148 mm / 8.3 x 5.8 inches) upwards available on request.

Business customer pricing will depend on requirements and quantity, with pre-fitted components available to larger agencies wishing to undertake the printing and design themselves. Video content can be managed via USB connection to a PC or Mac.

"For the retail/consumer market, the cards will soon be available online via our dedicated website," Green told Gizmag. "Cost will be in the region of GBP55 (US$90). This will include us adding their video which can be uploaded via our website. Customers will also be able to choose from a range of customizable full color designs for the front cover of the card, which will be added before sending out."

The product could also meet the needs of consumers wishing to send a special video keepsake to distant loved ones, musicians looking to give something extra to fans or training institutions wanting to engage students with more than just written instruction.

The Rolltop concept proposes wrapping a flexible OLED display around a central column for easy transport, and unrolling it when needed for tablet, monitor or laptop functionality

Notebooks and tablets already offer pretty convenient computing on-the-go solutions, but Germany’s Orkin Design proposes rolling up both devices into one ultra-portable package. The Rolltop concept will take advantage of advances in flexible OLED and touchscreen technologies to create a cylinder-shaped laptop computer that can be rolled out to form a notebook, a tablet, or display monitor. The concept has been floating around for a while, but has recently received a few tweaks to the design. Although specifics are in short supply, read on for what we do know …

Rather than carry around a notebook in a laptop bag, full to the brim with all manner of cables, the Rolltop concept proposes bringing everything together in a flat panel display that’s wrapped around a central cylinder. The top of the column detaches and acts as a power plug while the carry strap doubles as a power cord (presumably some sort of battery technology is also included, although this has not been mentioned). The central column also contains speakers, a camera, USB ports, and a LAN port.

After unlocking the catch, the user would roll out the Rolltop display like a mat and then either leave it flat for 17-inch tablet computing, or raise one end up for something resembling a notebook. The lower part of the screen is then used for keying on a virtual, onscreen keyboard while the upper part becomes a 13-inch display for viewing content. A pull-out support at the back also allows the flattened device to be used as a monitor-like display, and a stylus pen has been incorporated into the body of the panel.

When rolled up, Rolltop will be 11 inches (28 cm) long and have a 3.26-inch (8.3-cm) diameter – and that’s about all we can tell you. As it’s a concept designed to be built in the future, some of the technology kinks are still being worked on, but Orkin has stated its intention to see this design through to an actual, real-world product. There are, of course, quite a number of technical hurdles to overcome before that happens and unfortunately the designers do little to shed light on how such difficulties will be dealt with, leaving us to speculate.

It requires no great stretch of the imagination to visualize the various technologies already used in dual-screen notebooks, all-in-one computers and cutting edge tablets being incorporated into the Rolltop. Recent developments in bendy screen technology might also make this device a current possibility. However, details on how the internal components like processors, memory, storage and graphics cards will be dealt with have not been forthcoming, so it looks like we’re just going to have to wait until there is more substance to this project.

In the meantime, have a look at the following video of how the designers see Rolltop being used and let us know your thoughts on this appealing concept.

The Planon SlimScan SS100 is a credit card-sized high-resolution color scanner, designed for scanning and keeping track of receipts

Keeping track of receipts can be a hassle. The paper itself has a tendency to curl up, it creases very easily, and trying to sort out a sheaf of curly, creased-up receipts is no one’s idea of fun… or at least, the folks at Planon hope it isn’t. They’ve just released the SlimScan SS100, a “credit card-sized” high-resolution color scanner designed specifically for scanning receipts. The device – which was on display at CES – comes with Planon’s PaperPort SE software (for Windows only), which allows users to organize their scanned receipts once they transfer them onto their PC.

The SlimScan has a snazzy stainless steel body, and a color LCD screen that displays scans as they’re taking place. The PaperPort software allows users to sort their receipts in a variety of ways, such as by purchase type, expense category, business trip, client, travel date, location, week or month.

Besides its intended use for receipts, the company suggests it could also be used on business cards, warranties, or on price labels, when comparing prices (although in that case it might be simpler to – God forbid – use a pen and paper).

The SlimScan SS100 is now available for preorder via the Planon website, for US$119.99.

Gone are the days of old boring cell watches. In the age of electronic boom, how can we still use the same old pattern in watches? A French designer named Oliver has finally designed an elegant solar LED watch that utilizes a sort of free energy to illuminate a string-like structure on its LED membrane. The time is shown by LEDs, with the hours on the perimeter of the design in blue, five minute groups in the same locations in purple. Four single minutes are shown on the cross bars in the center.

There is a solar cell in the watch that stores up energy in the battery to make sure the watch keeps operating throughout. The LED watch that looks like an electronic bracelet is ideal for people who are looking for the latest techno and stylized products. Designer Oliver has designed the watch in such a manner that makes it completely user-friendly. It is a watch that can be worn by men and women alike. Don’t hesitate to put this one on your wrist if you want all of them to go “all wow!”