Filming of Toyota Auris-hybrid

• Managed to track down the creators of the video commercial for the new Toyota Auris, Hybrid. Impressive array of technology. The wheels are surrounded by phosphorescent lighting strips used in boutique hotels and discos. The rest is lighting projectors, 3D CGI mapping overlays. The second video shows the manufacturing process of the car. You get to see how relatively small the battery pack is. The battery pack is covered for 8 years under warranty and can be factory returned and recycled. At one time it had a solar roof, but for the UK at least, they took it off, because it wouldn’t be cost effective, plus in the concept car it looks a bit distractive
• The battery uses NiMh – Nickel Metal Hydride technology which is environmentally friendly according to Wikipedia, There is also a very interesting and revealing post on patent encumbrance by Texaco/Chevron. It’s well worth the read, because it explains why up until recently, why there have been few pure EV cars like the iMiEV on the market..

72 Windows 7 phone tips

• Reposting a tips blog post

New Toyota Auris hybrid hits the UK

• My next car perhaps?

Toyota Auris hyrid. 70mpg. We shall see..

What is BI–Business Intelligence

• I am currently brushing up on SharePoint 2010 BI and stumbled upon a Office 2010 Developer Training kit

Download

Windows 7 phone–recipe vault

Windows 7 Phone - Office 2010 mobile and SharePoint

• Very nicely done indeed. Make’s an iPhone look like a toy by comparison

Windows 7 Phone–Office Mobile/SharePoint–yeah baby!

Microsoft Lightspace

• Interesting video demonstrating a 3D interactive system, whereby presenters can move light objects around a table, from table to screen, or person-to-person utilising infrared sensors Aka an interactive surface. I think we may have borrowed some ideas from external folk, because I have seen something similar using a reverse engineered Wii remote and a wearable interactive projection system. Cool tech though. Look’s like you need a steady hand to not drop the ball

Popplet

• Interesting application for sharing ideas via a kind of white-boarding flowchart like app. Also available on the iPad

• Here’s a video done with Popplet for a Work Smart from FastCompany

The age of gadgets

• At the tail end of this video short from Engadget on the Jimmy Fallon's Late Night Show, you’ll see a quadricopter flying in the studio, controlled from an iPhone. Some very clever stabilisation electronics in the puppy, that’s for sure:

  The AR.Drone uses a pile of pretty sophisticated magic to enable it to fly -- those aforementioned cameras are just the start (one forward facing, one facing down running at 60 fps that allows stability in light wind) because you've also got two ultrasonic transmitters for vertical stability, a three-axis accelerometer, and a two-axis gyroscope paired with a single-axis yaw precision gyroscope for good measure

• Windows Phone, Blackberry control to be added later hopefully A tad pricey though at $299