BMW techs using Google Glass in pre-series vehicle tests

Google Glass is being used in a pilot program to evaluate pre-series vehicles

Google Glass has had some bad press of late, with users called some very unkind names and some industry analysts calling it this decade's Segway, but BMW has some love for the wearable head-mounted display. At its plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, BMW is running a pilot program to see how Google Glass can improve the quality control of its pre-series vehicles as they make the transition from prototype to full production.

Pre-series cars are a vital link in modern car manufacturing. Cars that begin life as eye-catching concepts and then go on to become working prototypes still have a major hurdle before they're ready to be sold to the public. That's where pre-series cars come in. These are essentially production prototypes that are put together in a production-like setting to see if the design is capable of being reliably and economically mass produced instead of handmade in a machine shop.

It's a vital step because building the pre-series cars can uncover all manner of flaws that wouldn't have been apparent until the car went into production. The problem is, evaluating the pre-series cars requires a lot of communication between the quality testers and the design engineers to determine how the cars are deviating from plan. This is especially tricky because the problems are often vague and difficult to explain. As a result, BMW says written reports and photographs are less than adequate in roughly one out of four cases.

What BMW hopes is that by using a wearable technology like Google Glass, it will be possible to show rather than tell what is wrong. The idea is that the device will use a background video mode to record video feeds in two-minute segments, which can be permanently stored at the press of a button for later reference and discussion between the quality testers and design engineers instead of relying on handwritten notes or similar methods. In addition, the technology allows testers to remain with the vehicle and to sign off on a test using voice control.

The pilot program is part of BMW's 4.0 campaign to introduce new technologies to support planning and production. The company says that so far the trial, which can involve between 10 and 25 individual tests for each car depending on its equipment package, have proven so promising that it is considering using the system in the final assembly of series vehicles.

post from sitemap

LG G Watch R vs. Asus ZenWatch: In pictures

Gizmag takes a hands-on look at the LG G Watch R (left) and Asus ZenWatch (Photo: Will Shanklin/Gizmag.com)

LG and Asus made two of the best-looking smartwatches of 2014. Let's take a quick look at the two fashionable Android Wear watches, the LG G Watch R and Asus ZenWatch.

If you want a smartwatch that hits a nice balance between fashion and function, then we recommend these two, along with the Moto 360, as your best picks this year. We've already talked at length about these three, but we have a few more thoughts, as well as plenty of shots in our image gallery, about how these two specifically compare.

Both watches have luxury watch-inspired designs and could, from a distance, pass for standard timepieces. The G Watch R is still the only Android Wear watch you can buy with a fully round screen (the Moto 360 has a little sliver cut-out at the bottom), and it's one of the LG watch's biggest draws. The diving watch-inspired dial around its bezels might draw some polarizing reactions, but it's grown on me. It also helps that some of LG's clock faces are tailor-made to complement it.

Screen shape is a big part of your decision, but screen size shouldn't be. Though the watches have different diagonal measurements, never mind that: screen area, a more telling measurement, has them at pretty much the exact same size.

Both watches ship with leather bands, and are swappable with standard 22 mm bands. The G Watch R's default black band is more neutral, while the tan-colored band on the ZenWatch becomes a more eye-catching part of its aesthetic.

Apart from the stark contrast in styles, these two are very close to being the same watch. Both have long battery life, and you can leave their always-on clock face settings on and still last a full day with room to spare. Both have smooth performance, and run the exact same Android Wear software (you can check out Gizmag's Android Wear review for more on that).

Asus threw in a couple of optional companion apps that give you a few extra features. Most of these are easily duplicated by third-party Play Store apps, like a flashlight, compass and "leave my phone unlocked when the watch is near" feature (don't turn that on: it kills the ZenWatch's otherwise great battery life). The ZenWatch Wellness app does add a useful nudge feature, inspired by Jawbone trackers: you can set it to vibrate your wrist if you've been sitting still for too long.

The ZenWatch's heart rate sensor is also (oddly) located on its front bezels. The G Watch R measures your pulse using your wrist, so you don't have to do anything but try to hold still. On the ZenWatch, you have to put two fingers on the watch's bezels (like you're making a peace sign) to get a reading. The ZenWatch can also use your heart rate to assign a "relaxation score." I didn't find this to be any more useful than a straightforward heart rate measurement, but your mileage could vary.

The only other big difference is price. The G Watch R is going to cost you an extra US$100 (LG's watch costs $300, next to $200 for the ZenWatch), so even if you like the G Watch's look a little better, you'll want to ask yourself if you like it "$100 better."

For a closer look at these two, we invite you to thumb through our image gallery. And for more on the watches themselves, you can hit up Gizmag's individual reviews of the G Watch R and Asus ZenWatch.

Top 10 cycling innovations of 2014

Bygen's Hank Direct Bike features a one-of-a-kind drivetrain along with a telescoping frame, and it was one of our picks for this year's list

Bicycle historians, take note – it's time once again to look back at 10 of the bike-related products that most caught our attention over the past year! As with our lists from 2012 and 2013, these aren't necessarily things that we think are destined to be big sellers. In fact, it's entirely possible that this might be the last you hear of many of them. We like 'em, though, because they're examples of what happens when people dare to try something different ... and that sort of spirit is the reason why we're not still all riding penny farthings.

Schwalbe Procore tire system

Setting a mountain bike's tire pressure is a bit of a balancing act ... too hard, and the tires won't provide decent traction – too soft, and they're likely to get pinch flats, plus they might not stay seated on the rim. As a result, cyclists usually compromise and keep them at a "somewhere-in-between" air pressure.

The Procore system, however, allows for the best of both extremes. A high-pressure tube within the tire helps protect against flats and keeps everything in place, while an air space between that tube and the inside wall of the tire can be kept at a very low pressure, allowing for excellent traction.

Price: Approx. US$230/pair

Zackees turn-signaling gloves

If you want to let motorists know where you're heading on the road, it definitely helps to use hand signals. Zackees are designed to make sure that those signals get noticed.

The back of each glove contains a waterproof array of high-intensity LEDs arranged to form a blinking directional arrow. The lights are activated by touching a pair of metal contacts together – one on the inside of the glove's thumb, and one on the inside of its index finger.

Price: $75

Calfee Design tandem/single convertible bikes

Some couples like to bring a tandem bike along on their travels, so they can ride together without having to lug around two complete bikes. Should one of those people want to go out on a solo ride, however, they're stuck using that big ol' tandem. That's why Calfee Design started building tandems that can temporarily be converted to singles.

The back end of the carbon fiber frame is simply removed by hand via two couplers, the rear wheel is transferred over, and the bicycle-built-for-two becomes a single-seater. Calfee has only made a couple of the bikes so far – both custom orders for the same client – which was reflected in their cost.

Price: Approx. $25,000

Skylock solar-powered lock

Mechanical key-activated locks are so 2013. The Skylock instead communicates with the user's smartphone via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, unlocking either once they press an onscreen button, or even just when their phone gets within close proximity of the lock. Users can additionally grant access to friends who wish to borrow their bike, allowing their smartphones to also unlock the Skylock.

The lock's battery can be charged via USB, although the built-in solar panel reportedly requires just one hour of exposure to sunlight to deliver enough of a charge to provide one week's worth of use. As an added bonus, an integrated accelerometer detects movements associated with both crashes and theft attempts, and responds by contacting the user's phone to check that everything's OK.

Price: $159

Bygen Hank Direct Bike

When it comes to converting pedaling power into wheel revolutions, belt drives are certainly a cleaner, smoother alternative to chains – but they're not the only other way to go. In its Hank Direct Bike, Korean manufacturer Bygen utilizes levers that run from the pedals to the rear hub via an articulated linkage. Although it's a direct-drive system, riders don't need to constantly keep pedaling like they do on a fixie, plus they can switch between three gears.

Another one of the Hank's unique features is its carbon fiber frame, the cockpit length of which can be adjusted by sliding the rear end towards the front. This design also allows the bike to be tipped back and stored vertically.

Price: $5,000

Shimano XTR Di2 electronic shifting

This was the year that Shimano took its existing Di2 electronic shifting system for road bikes and adapted it for use in the company's XTR mountain bike group. As with the road version, this one electronically relays signals from the shifters to motors in the front and rear derailleurs. This means that shifts are consistently quick and smooth, as they aren't affected by the slackening of stretched steel cables or by contaminants within the cable housings.

Additionally, using the Shimano Synchronized Shift function, the system can shift both the front and rear derailleurs at once via a single shifter. Similar functionality is offered by IXOW's Synchrobox.

Price: TBA

patchnride flat-patching tool

Ordinarily, fixing flat tires is quite the hassle ... you have to remove the wheel, unseat the tire, pull out the tube, find and patch the hole, and then put everything back together. With patchnride, however, the wheel and tire can be left in place. You just inject a patch onto the tube, right through the hole in the tire – the whole process reportedly takes less than one minute.

Price: $30

Fluent suspension wheel

Although commuter bikes generally don't have suspension forks or frames, it's still nice if they're able to smooth out the ride a little. Tel Aviv-based manufacturer SoftWheel wants to help them do so, via their wheels. The company's Fluent wheel features three cylindrical shock absorbers that radiate out from the hub to the rim, taking the place of spokes. They remain rigid when going over smooth surfaces, but compress when the wheel takes particularly big hits.

Price: Approx. $2,000/pair

Imprint moldable grips

Handlebar grips probably aren't something that you give a lot of thought to. They're just tubes of rubber that make it easier to hold onto the bar – how much room for improvement could there be? Well, more than you might think.

TMR Designs' Imprint Grips are custom-molded to the shape of the user's hands, ensuring an even contact area with a minimum of uncomfortable pressure points.

We tried them out for ourselves, and can definitely attest to the fact that they do make a difference.

Price: Approx. $40 and up

Nuseti sealed-drivetrain mountain bike

As we mentioned earlier, belt drives are certainly a cleaner, smoother alternative to chains. According to Polish mountain biking medalist Gregory Zielinski, however, chains are still a sturdier, more efficient way to go. In order to address their shortcomings, he created the Nuseti – it has a chain, but it's sealed within an oil bath that keeps it continuously lubricated and protected from contaminants.

Additionally, due to the inclusion of a 16-speed planetary gearbox, the chain never has to move sideways between chainrings or cassette sprockets. This greatly lessens the chances of it breaking, as it minimizes the amount of mechanical stress to which the chain is subjected.

Zielinski was raising production funds for the Nuseti on Kickstarter, and unfortunately was unable to meet his project goal. It's still an intriguing concept, however, and one that we may yet see reach the market in one form or another.

Honorable mentions

This was a Top 10 list, but what if it had been a Top 15? Well, we probably would have included things like ...

• IDSG Engineering and Trading's MC2 bike, that can be set into eight different frame configurations
• Cycliq's Fly6 tail light, which also continuously shoots and records video that can be used as evidence against hostile drivers
• Vanhawk's sensor-laden carbon fiber Valour "smart" bike, the navigation system of which guides riders via LED indicators on the handlebars
• The linear-drive MaynoothBike, that replaces the crankset with pedals that slide up and down the sides of the fork, powering the front wheel
• Inspired Cycle Engineering's Full Fat trike, modeled after the fat-trike that British adventurer Maria Leijerstam used to cycle to the South Pole

Raise shields: Protective invisible barrier found surrounding Earth

A natural shield has been found to protect the Earth from 'killer electrons'

The idea of putting a Star Trek-like force field around the entire Earth seems like the fodder for a fairly silly science fiction epic out of the 1930s, but according to space scientists, such a barrier already exists. Discovered by a pair of NASA space probes, the natural shield protects the Earth and near-Earth satellites from so-called "killer electrons" with a precision that cuts it off like a wall of glass.

The barrier was found within the Van Allen Belts, which are two distinct zones of radiation that are shaped like a pair of distended donuts that grow, shrink, shift, and even split or merge under the impact of radiation from the Sun. Formed by charged particles captured by the Earth's magnetic field, they were discovered by America's first space probe, Explorer I in 1958. The inner belt spans from 400 to 6,000 mi (650 to 9,500 km) above the Earth and the outer belt is between 7,200 and 36,000 mi (12,00 to 58,000 km).

The belts are of more than academic importance. The radiation from the particles are a serious hazard to satellites and astronauts, and scientists pay close attention to the belts' activity because a sudden expansion could end up damaging satellites in low Earth orbit and even pose a hazard to manned space missions.

The most dangerous of these charged particles are the ultrafast, ultrarelativistic, or "killer" electrons. These are moving so fast that they pack a massive punch and damage electronic circuits and living tissue.

The curious thing is, the belts are better behaved than originally thought. Instead of drifting down toward Earth's atmosphere, the inner edge of the outer belt has a very sharp edge at 7,200 mi from Earth, leaving a space between the inner and outer belts, and in this this gap there are no ultrafast electrons. This cutoff is so pronounced that scientists studying it compare it to a glass wall that the electrons can't penetrate.

The barrier was discovered using 20 months of data from NASA's pair of Van Allen probes, which were launched in August 2012 and, as the name suggests, work in tandem to study the belts.

A team of scientists led by the University of Colorado Boulder looked through the Van Allen probes' data in hopes of finding the cause of the barrier. After eliminating human activity, such as radio transmissions, and the Earth's magnetic field, they found the most likely candidate in the form of the plasmasphere, which is a cloud of cool charged particles that extends from the upper regions of the Earth's atmosphere from 600 mi (965 km) up to near the edge of the outer Van Allen belt.

According to the team, the ultrafast electrons interact with the plasmasphere and are repelled. Although the electrons' energy is so high that they could easily penetrate the cloud, the electrons instead move around the Earth in huge circles at 100,000 mps (160,000 km/s), grazing the plasmasphere. The allows the plasmasphere to nudge the electrons away in much the same manner as a relatively flimsy traffic barrier deflecting a speeding car back onto the road when the car could have crashed through the barrier if it had hit it dead on. This interaction is called the plasmaspheric “hiss,” because it makes a sound over radio receivers that can be compared to static.

Another piece of evidence for the barrier is when it fails under extreme conditions, such as a massive solar flare, which can erode the plasmasphere and push the electrons through and into the gap. However, such a breach would only last a short time, which scientists say demonstrates the strength of the "hard, fast" barrier.

The team's results were published in the journal Nature.

First known official Batmobile up for auction

The 1963 Batmobile goes on auction next month

Everyone knows what the original Batmobile was, right? It was the redesigned Lincoln Futura concept that Adam West drove in the 1966 Batman television series – or was it? It turns out that the earliest known officially licensed Batmobile was built in 1963 and is going to auction at Heritage Auctions next month after receiving extensive restoration.

Determining which was the first Batmobile is tricky. The first one in the comic books was a red convertible that graced the pages of Detective Comics in February 1941 and the first "real" Batmobile was a painfully ordinary off-the-peg 1939 Cadillac convertible used by the Caped Crusader in the 1943 serial. But it was in 1963 that the first known Batmobile that looked like something that Batman would drive was built and later given official approval by DC comics.

The 1963 Batmobile began life as a 1956 Oldsmobile 88 frame with a 324 Rocket engine. In 1960, 23-year old Batman fan Forrest Robinson along with his friend Len Perham decided to replace the body with something a bit more Batmanesque. It took until 1963 to complete the job, which turned out to be an open-top two-seater complete with a "bat nose," pocket side doors, and a single rear fin that made it look very much like the Batmobile seen in the comics, despite its silver paint job.

According to Heritage, Robinson used the car for his personal transport until the 1966 series and its Futura-derived Batmobile caught the public imagination. That was when All Star Dairies stepped in and leased Robinson's car as a promotional device for its New Hampshire affiliate, Green Acres Ice Cream, which was selling Batman-themed ice cream under a DC Comics license. The silver Batmobile was repainted in a Batman livery and decked out in official Batman badges. It may not have looked like the Futura and it didn't have a Bat Ray or Batcomputer, but it was close enough to the comic's version to be dubbed "Batman's Batmobile" as it traveled around the eastern United States until late 1966, when it was returned to Robinson.

Unfortunately, like a lot of movie & TV cars and other pop culture material, no one realized what the first Batmobile would mean to later collectors. It spent the next fifty years in neglect as it was sold by Robinson for US$200, then ended up rusting quietly in a field. Rediscovered in 2008, it was sold to a rare car dealer and swapped hands several times before being bought by Toy Car Exchange LLC, which commissioned Borbon Fabrications in Sacramento, California to restore it to its former glory right down to the frame and engine. It was exhibited at the Sacramento Autorama earlier this year, where it took first place in the hand-built sports car class.

The 1963 Batmobile goes on the block on December 6 at 11: am CST at Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, though internet bids will be accepted the night before. Bidding will start at US$90,000 – a figure well short of the US$4,620,000 fetched by the more familiar 1966 Batmobile in 2013, and not quite enough to make it onto our most expensive movie & TV cars and motorcycles list. We'll find out when the hammer falls.

The Commons: Inside Australia's most sustainable apartment building

Since its completion in 2013, The Commons has received numerous architecture awards (Photo: Nick Lavars/Gizmag.com)

Throughout the traditionally working class suburb of Brunswick in Melbourne's inner north, apartment developments are popping up everywhere as urbanites scramble for their own slice of inner-city living. These buildings are modern and comfortable, though many are cut from the same commercially oriented architectural cloth. But among them stands a beacon of green and thoughtful design. The Commons by local firm Breathe Architecture is a beautiful five-story apartment block with sustainability emanating from every square foot, from the bicycle rack to the communal veggie garden on its roof.

Around seven years ago, Jeremy McLeod, who started Breathe Architecture in 2001, had grand plans of creating Australia's flagship sustainable apartment building. But the onset of the global financial crisis didn't exactly make things easy, as he had trouble securing a loan and finding a developer with whom his priorities aligned.

"It started with a big dream," McLeod tells Gizmag, resting against the wall outside apartment 101, the home he shares with his partner. "As is usually the case with such a big plan, parts of this was stripped away over time, but I still think we came away with something epic."

McLeod isn't the only one who would describe The Commons as such. Since the completion of building late last year, awards have rained down on him and his team. The Commons was recognized at the Victorian Architecture Awards as the year's "exemplar of apartment living." It then took out the Multi-Density Residential and Best of the Best Categories at the 2014 Sustainability Awards and went on to receive both the Award for Residential Architecture and Sustainable Architecture at the 2014 National Architecture Awards earlier this month.

The Commons is located just off Sydney Road, Brunswick's bustling thoroughfare lined with everything from bakeries to dressmakers to beer-soaked bars frequented by patrons from all over the city. Nestled in hard up against a train line, the building houses 24 two-bedroom apartments, whose residents enjoy a ten-step wander to bike path connected to the city's network, 20 steps to the train platform and a block to trams bound for the city center.

"One of our main design approaches was this exercise in reduction, we took out everything that wasn't necessary, starting with the car park in the basement," says McLeod, gesturing toward the buffet of transport options. "We built a storage room for 72 bikes instead."

Further to discouraging residents from engaging in the gas-guzzling exercise of inner-city driving, this also saved around A$750,000 (US$638,000) in construction costs. As much of the soil in the area is contaminated, making way for a basement car park wouldn't have been your standard excavation job. Leaving it be meant that money that could be directed toward the other sustainable elements of the design.

A 360 mm (13.8 in) thick, acoustically insulated wall on the western side shields the building from the rattle of trains that run well past midnight. Its outer skin is made from corrugated opaque fiberglass with a corrosive-resistant gel coating. Built into the wall is 75 mm (2.95 in) ventilated cavity, drawing air through perforated copper panels to flush hot air out of the top. On the north, balcony side, dangling chains host climbing wisteria vines that sprout healthy green leaves to shade the apartments in the summer, before shedding them in the winter to let in warmth from the sun.

None of the apartments feature air conditioning, instead relying on the building's thermal efficiency and simple ceiling fans to keep cool in the summer. Heating is provided by way of two gas hydronic boilers, and each apartment is fitted with a "kill switch" at its front door enabling residents to cut power to all outlets and appliances (bar the refrigerator) when leaving home.

McLeod's exercise in reduction is evident all throughout the building, enhancing the raw, minimalist aesthetic. Recycled bricks make up the foyer walls on the ground floor, while untouched concrete complete with pencil scrawled during the two years of construction lines the staircase up to the second floor.

Unfinished timber floorboards are used throughout The Commons and are top-nailed, meaning there's no glue involved so that the materials can be ripped up and reused at the end of the building's life. There's no plasterboard ceilings, leaving piping, fire sprinkler systems and cables exposed overhead. You won't find tiles in the kitchens and bathrooms and none of the metals used for fittings have been chromed, further reducing the carbon footprint of the construction.

While these measures on their own are commendable, the community spirit fostered by the building is equally important. Affectionately known to McLeod as "The Commoners," residents go without personal laundries, using a row of six washing machines and a shared clothesline on the rooftop instead.

"The laundry has been key," says McLeod. "It allows everybody to meet each other and works as a lubrication for social interaction. Once you've washed your underwear next to someone, it kind of makes that awkward elevator conversation a bit easier."

This sharing mentality spills over to a garden on the north side of the rooftop. Rows of planter boxes play host to lettuce, tomatoes, flowers and herbs, with one half allocated to individual lots and the other half the collective responsibility of the building. A chalkboard watering roster on the ground floor keeps the system ticking over and saves the plants from getting thirsty.

Whether this pretty picture of green utopia is as sustainable as the structure itself remains to be seen, but McLeod already looks to be pretty much living out that long-held dream of his.

Five Windows 8.1 tablets under $200

Windows 8.1 has well and truly arrived in the budget tablet space, with prices starting as low as US$100

Windows 8.1’s tile UI makes it better suited to touchscreen input than other desktop operating systems, and by now we’re used to seeing hybrid systems, like Microsoft’s own Surface 3 Pro, that offer both tablet and notebook functionality. Over the last six months we’ve seen the OS expand into a new category – the budget tablet. These devices combine functionality and low prices, and can serve as alternatives to the wealth of wallet-friendly Android tablets available this Christmas.

While there are some downsides to running a desktop OS on a tablet, particularly a low cost one, they present an undeniable value proposition. Trying to navigate the traditional desktop side of the OS doesn’t always make for a good user experience, so it’s best to view the tile UI interface as your go-to computing environment, resorting to the traditional desktop only when the need arises. For more on the ups-and-downs of Windows 8.1 on a tablet, check out our full review of the Toshiba Encore 2.

Caveats aside, let’s jump straight in to our roundup of five of the most wallet-friendly Windows 8.1 slates out there.

HP Stream 7

The Stream 7 is one of the nicest looking devices on this list, offering a sleek, uncluttered design and black plastic finish. The tablet is rated for 8 hours on a single charge and weighs in at 0.36 kg (0.8 lbs). Its 7-inch 1,280 x 800 display (with 215 PPI), quad core Intel Atom processor and 1 GB RAM certainly aren’t anything to get excited about, but its price tag makes it worth a look.

In addition to a one-year Office 365 subscription, the Stream 7 comes with 60 minutes of Skype video calls for a month and 1 TB of OneDrive storage for a year, making it one of the best value tablets on the market.

Price: US$100

HP Stream 8

HP’s 8-in tablet shares its little brother’s design language and specs, including a 1,280 x 800 resolution. While the extra 30 percent screen real estate will likely make OS navigation easier, its pixel density also drops to an even-more concerning 188 PPI.

The larger of HP’s two tablets does have the added benefit of a 4G radio, with 200 MB “free” monthly allowance included in the price.

Price: $180

Toshiba Encore Mini

The Mini sits at the bottom of Toshiba’s Encore range, offering a 1,024 x 600 display over 7-inches. That’s a step down from what you’ll find on the HP Stream 7, and equates to just 169 PPI – the lowest pixel density of the bunch.

There’s a single gigabyte of RAM on board, and a quad core Intel Atom processor powering the device. Like the other tablets here, it ships with a one year subscription to Office 365.

Price: $120

Toshiba Encore 2

The 8-inch offers the same 1,280 x 800 resolution as the HP Stream 8, but strips things back to a single gigabyte of RAM, paired with a quad core Intel Atom processor. Toshiba claims that the tablet is capable of running for 10 hours of general usage, and offers stereo speakers, 32 or 64 GB storage, as well as both a Micro HDMI port and microSD card reader.

In our review we found that the Encore 2 provides a good experience if you stick to the tile UI side of the OS, but its lack of horsepower and uninspiring resolution make using the traditional desktop a chore.

Once again, you’ll get a year of Office 365 subscription included in the purchase.

$200

Acer Iconia Tab 8 W

Acer’s latest Windows tablet offers a familiar 1,280 x 800 resolution over eight inches. It’s not the most stunning tablet we’ve seen, but its simple white design is attractive and is fairly thin and light at 9.75 mm (0.38 in) and 370 g (0.8 lbs). The slate is equipped with dual stereo speakers and there’s a microsSD card included, meaning you can easily up its 32 GB internal offering.

The company offers a full-sized keyboard dock with the Iconia Tab W, meaning you can significantly increase functionality if you’re willing to shell out the extra cash for the accessory.

Acer isn’t currently listing the tablet as available for purchase in the US, but the last we heard it was scheduled to launch in November, so we’d expect to see it start hitting shelves any day now.

Price: $150

Your take?

Have you used any of these tablets? Do you find that they're worth a look next to similarly-priced Android slates? Drop us a line in the comments.

Xhibitionist superyacht knows how to party

The Xhibitionist – a superyacht designed for big events (Image: Nedship / Eduard Gray)

Next time you have a party to organize, there may be one more venue to add to the shortlist. The Nedship Xhibitionist Event Super Yacht design has been penned with the express purpose of hosting celebrations and soirées for up to 600 guests.

Such is the flamboyance of the Xhibitionist concept, there's every chance we'll be seeing it make an appearance at the World Superyacht Awards ... perhaps it could even host the ceremony.

Designed with the profile of a supercar by the celebrated high-end yacht, car and motorbike designer Eduard Gray, the Xhibitionist design is a 70 m (230 ft) trimaran powered by diesel-electric hybrid system. The engine batteries are fast-charging and there's an option to operate in batteries-only mode for a number of hours.

The craft's layout can be extensively reconfigured to meet the requirements of each event. It has a number of ready-made "modes" that can be set up depending on the type of event. Guest mode sees the Xhibitionist set up to welcome people for parties or receptions, with a Steinway piano completing the lavish look. In contrast, retail mode allows partitions to be put in place from which different outlets can operate and showroom mode sees the interior cleared so that cars, for example, can be put on display.

The Xhibitionist design includes a restaurant for between 220 and 350 guests, a conference venue, lounge areas, product presentation and placement spaces and catwalk and fashion show facilities. Nightlife includes a disco and bar, as well as a casino and nightclub.

The Xhibitionist's party piece is the large deployable platform stored at the front of the craft. The four-piece platform unfolds to provide space for three helicopters, or can be used as a stage area for bands and performances.

Amongst its other features, the yacht has sun decks, a jacuzzi, a large viewing window at the front and special lighting designed for night-time illumination.

Nedship tells Gizmag that construction of of the Xhibitionist is due to begin soon and is expected to take 18-24 months.

The video below provides an overview of the Xhibitionist.

Moto 360 vs. LG G Watch R: Up close with the best round smartwatches

Gizmag takes a hands-on look at the Moto 360 (left) and LG G Watch R smartwatches (Photo: Will Shanklin/Gizmag.com)

If you're looking for a round-faced smartwatch this holiday season, you have two sharp-looking Android Wear watches to choose from. We have the Moto 360 and LG G Watch R in house right now, and have a few thoughts (and plenty of pictures) to help you decide.

These are two gorgeous watches. And since both of them run the same Android Wear software, much of your decision is going to come down to which style works better for you. For that, I refer you to our image gallery.

But there are a few other things to keep in mind.

The Moto 360's round screen is around 39 percent bigger than the G Watch's. The G Watch R has a wide, raised bezel around its edge, including diver watch-inspired clock markings, while the Moto 360's front face is almost all screen.

The only asterisk attached to the Moto's display is that little sliver cut out of the bottom (the screen is about 97 percent of a full circle). This little black bar isn't a huge deal to me, but if you're looking for a fully round Android Wear watch, then the G Watch R it is.

The Moto 360's huge screen and skimpy bezels make for a striking effect, but look at its side and you'll see a pretty beefy watch: it's 19 percent thicker than the G Watch R. The G Watch doesn't strike me as being any thicker than standard men's designer watches.

The G Watch R also has better battery life, and can easily last a full day – even with its always-on clock face turned on.

The Moto doesn't have an always-on display, but you do have the option of using an ambient display (it shows a dimmed clock face when you hold your wrist within a range of typical viewing angles). If you use ambient display on the Moto 360, though, it's battery might be running on fumes – if not completely conked out – by the end of the day.

So if you're leaning towards the Moto 360, and you want it to safely last a full day, then it's probably going to spend most of its day with a black screen.

If you only care about seeing a watch face when you're actively looking at your watch, then there's no need to use the Moto's ambient mode: just lift your wrist and the screen will turn on. But the always-on clock does add to the G Watch R's almost-like-a-regular-watch aesthetic.

If you do want to use the Moto's ambient display all day long, you can always just charge it for a few minutes during the day. The watch juices up quickly, and includes a wireless charging dock.

Performance isn't a concern on either watch, but the G Watch R does seem to run a little smoother. That's probably because it has a Snapdragon 400 processor under the hood (also found in the Moto G smartphone), while the Moto 360 gets by with a dated Texas Instruments CPU.

Another minor difference: the Moto 360 checks your heart rate periodically (in the background) throughout the day. The G Watch R also has a pulse sensor on its backside, but it only fires up when you ask it to.

Apart from these few differences, though, it's going to come down to which stainless steel design you prefer. The Moto probably has more of a wow factor, but the G Watch R is better at passing for a regular watch.

We aren't here to declare a one-size-fits-all winner, but know that both of these are in the top three fashion-meets-function smartwatches you can buy right now (along with the Asus ZenWatch). If I had to pick one to use exclusively for the next year, I'd probably give the slight edge to the G Watch R. As much as I love the Moto 360's design, I love the G Watch's always-on display, slimmer profile and longer battery life just a little bit more.

The Moto 360 and LG G Watch R are both available now. This Moto 360 with leather band rings up for US$250, though you can also pay $300 for a version with a steel band. The G Watch R retails for $300.

You can flip through our image gallery for a closer look at the two round-faced designs, and also get a deeper dive from Gizmag's full reviews of the Moto 360 and LG G Watch R.

Aura tree ornaments for those dreaming of a wireless Christmas

The Aura Christmas lights are powered and controlled wirelessly

Christmas is centered around the concept of light, as people in the Northern Hemisphere are struggling through the darkest parts of winter when the days are their shortest. That’s why Christmas lights are such an icon of the festive season. The tradition is now about to get a touch of wireless magic, as a company called Powered by Aura has developed a system to wirelessly power up Christmas tree lights.

The centerpiece of the system is the forest green Aura Power Ring, which can be placed underneath smaller trees less than 5 ft (1.5 m) tall, or snapped around the middle of trees measuring between 5 and 10 ft (3 m). Plugging into a standard outlet, the ring wirelessly transfers power to the LED ornaments that light up autmatically when entering the power field. To do this safely, the transmitter and receivers are precisely tuned so the energy does not interfere with the surroundings.

"There are other safeguards in the system just in case third party or non-intentional receivers enter the field," Powered by Aura’s Christopher Higgins tells Gizmag. "But the technology is fairly straightforward – put the Aura power ring around the tree, plug it in, and as you hang the Aura ornaments they light up."

Higgins adds that wireless power transmission has laid dormant for most of the 20th century, but recently it has started to gain momentum as more research is carried out into radiative power transfer – when an antenna pushes energy into the surroundings regardless of the presence of receivers in the field – and non-radiative power – when the transmitter does not emanate to the surroundings, which is the case with Aura.

With this type of transmission, energy isn't transferred unless a tuned receiver enters the field of the transmitter, creating the field necessary to pull power. Other systems that use such technology include WiTricity, PowerMat, with even Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) uses similar technology.

Power isn't the only wireless aspect of the Aura system, with users able to connect to the power ring via Wi-Fi and control the ornaments with a remote control or through an app available for Android and iOS. This allows the user to remotely turn all the lights on and off, set schedules, and set timers.

Aside from the ease of decorating a tree without dealing with a tangle of wires, the Aura system also cuts the risk of fires as there is no direct heat involved and no wires to short circuit. Additionally, unlike wired lights where the bulbs are all connected and one broken bulb can mean tossing the entire strand, the Aura bulbs all operate independently of each other. Besides being safer and tidier, the absence of wires also allows for more flexibility when placing lights around the tree.

In the same way that dogs are for life and not just for Christmas, Aura ornaments are also meant to last through quite a few Christmas seasons as they come with a lifespan of 20 years. The company says the system will be compatible with US and European voltages.

Aura is also enlisting the help of artists, musicians and developers to explore the possibility of ornaments with other capabilities, such as playing music and motion activation. For now, choices are limited to a five-color palette – clear, red, green, blue and orange – and three texture options – clear, frosted and crackle glass. The Power Ring, which has the ability to power up to 100 lights will also come in two sizes – 42 in (107 cm) diameter for larger trees, and 30 in (76 cm) for smaller trees.

Unfortunately, the Aura system won't be available in time for this festive season, with a Kickstarter campaign to help take the system to production running until January 15. For US$65, backers can get an Aura Power Ring and a box of 12 wireless lights with deliveries slated for October 2015 is all goes to plan.

The team's video pitch can be viewed below.