US Department of Energy pours $30 million into plug-in hybrids

While some automakers are already promising to have plug-in hybrids on the road by 2010, the US Department of Energy is now pouring some cash into a slightly less ambitious joint effort with Ford, General Motors, and General Electric, which would see plug-ins capable of driving 40 miles on a single charge roll out by 2014. Under the new effort, General Motors will be tasked with improving lithium-Ion battery packs and charging systems, and integrating them into its own research with a test fleet by 2011, while Ford will be aiming to speed up the mass-production of plug-in hybrids, as well as improve its batteries and build prototype vehicles. Rounding things out, General Electric will be partnering with Chrysler to develop a dual-battery system, which promises to let vehicles travel 40 miles on a charge. All of that is still subject to appropriations by Congress, however, and the aforementioned companies would obviously be pouring in a good chunk of change themselves, as a mere $30 million isn't exactly quite enough to shake up the auto sector these days.

Toshiba unleashes the Qosmio X305 gaming laptop

For those of you dreaming of a super-fast gaming laptop that's also adorned with a chic red and pink "flame" pattern, your days of searching are over. Enter the Qosmio X305, Toshiba's entry into the lap-cooking gamer notebook market. The X305 features a 3GHz dual-core Intel CPU, a 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics chipset, dual 7200RPM 200GB hard drives, up to 4GB of RAM, and sports a 17-inch 1680 x 1050 LCD display. Of course it's also kitted out with a whopping four-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system as well as S/PDIF and HDMI ports. The pink powerhouse is set to launch July 14th, no word on price just yet.

Genepax shows off water-powered fuel cell vehicle

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Genepax shows off water-powered fuel cell vehicle
by Donald Melanson, posted Jun 13th 2008 at 1:49PM

We've seen plenty of promises about water-powered cars (among other things), but it looks like Japan's Genepax has now made some real progress on that front, with it recently taking the wraps off its Water Energy System fuel cell prototype. The key to that system, it seems, is its membrane electrode assembly (or MEA), which contains a material that's capable of breaking down water into hydrogen and oxygen through a chemical reaction. Not surprisingly, the company isn't getting much more specific than that, with it only saying that it's adopted a "well-known process to produce hydrogen from water to the MEA." Currently, that system costs on the order of ¥2,000,000 (or about $18,700 -- not including the car), but company says that if it can get it into mass production that could be cut to ¥500,000 or less (or just under $5,000). Head on past the break for a video of car in action courtesy of Reuters.

Pal Technology's REEM-B humanoid shown off in Abu Dhabi

that Pal Technology's REEM-B would be "fully revealed in Q1 2008," and while things seem to be running ever-so-slightly behind, we can't gripe too much. The creature was recently shown off in Abu Dhabi, where onlookers swooned and secretly crushed on the totally macho being. Its creators have also announced that the 1.47-meter tall robot was the last prototype to be formed, as it has plans for a commercial venture "in the near future." The overriding goal for REEM-B is to have it act as a service bot for the elderly and disabled, and considering that it has no qualms reacting to voice commands and "engaging in simple conversations," we'd say it's pretty well suited to do just that. Check out the video after the break to see it in action.

M-POWERED Car for Diabetics

At this year's ADA scientific session at Moscone Center in San Francisco, Medtronic Diabetes unveiled its new M-POWERED car, a Lincoln sedan equipped with a system that wirelessly incorporates a patient's continuous glucose monitor with a dashboard to make driving safer for those who can go from 120 to 60 mg/dl within a matter of seconds.

From the statement issued to Medgadget by a company rep:

Medtronic Diabetes unveiled its new M-POWERED concept car at this year's American Diabetes Association (ADA) annual meeting in San Francisco, June 6-10. The M-POWERED concept car would allow a person with a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) device to receive readings of their blood sugar through both audio and visual cues from the car's dashboard.