Excerpt from the article: Device Gives New Meaning to “Power Walking” | By Devin Powell | Science NOW Daily News | 7 February 2008

“The latest fad in self-powered wrist wear is the kinetic watch, a device that converts the momentum of a swinging arm into milliwatts. But researchers have unveiled a new accessory for your knees that puts the trendy timepiece to shame. Generating more than 1000 times more energy, the “Biomechanical Energy Harvester” may provide a green way to power the portable devices of the future.

Every time you take a step, you use two different groups of powerful muscles connected to the knee. The first group pushes to kick the lower leg out. Just before full extension, the second group pulls to put the brakes on. But for Max Donelan, director of the Simon Fraser University Locomotion Laboratory in Burnaby, Canada, and his colleagues, this braking process is just useful energy going to waste. His team has created a modified knee brace with a drive train that converts the mechanical energy into electricity. “A similar principle is used in hybrid cars to make electricity when you press the brakes; it’s called generative braking,” says Donelan.”

Info via inhabitat

Royal College of Art students were set the challenge of designing a mobile phone to “outperform, outsmart, and outmanoeuvre everything on the market.” Read the BBC article.

Deadline March 1, 2008.

The 4th edition of the Pocket Films Festival, organized by the Forum des images, will take place at the Pompidou Center, Paris, France, on June, 13-14-15th 2008.

INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR PROJECTS
We are looking for all types of audiovisual participatory projects using mobile technologies, to be presented in Paris during the festival.

2 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVE SECTIONS : CINEMA SCREEN and MOBILE SCREEN
Main Jury Prize for each section : 1,500 euros
Participate to the international competition “Cinema Screen,” open to all films shot with mobile phones and / or digital cameras.
Pocket Films also launches this year a section open to all video contents developed for portable screens, “Mobile Screen.”

More informations about the Forum des images (in French) :
http://www.forumdesimages.fr

Pocket Film Festival
http://www.festivalpocketfilms.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=94

Online entry form
http://www.forumdesimages.fr/fr/divers/inscript_pocket/formulaire2.php

Download entry form
http://www.festivalpocketfilms.fr/IMG/pdf/2008_Formulaire_inscription_film-2.pdf

Download Regulations
http://www.festivalpocketfilms.fr/IMG/pdf/2008_Reglement-Regulations_Pocket_Films-2.pdf

Via netEX.

Via Yanko Design… An inflatable mouse for ultra portability! Mais où va le monde? :)

Pictures from website

“The Jelly Click takes mouse portability to the extreme. All the electronic circuity lives on a small flexible board. The body itself is just soft plastic. Whenever you need a mouse, blow up the Jelly Click, attach the USB cable and you’re good to go. As a bonus, it’s a total floaty for you swimming challenged people.

Designers: Bongkun Shin, Heungkyo Seo, Jiwoong Hwang & Wooteik Lim”

I am drooling. MacBook Air: