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No more a long waiting time in cafes, as a vending machine can actually offer us a cup of coffee with a patterned foamy top too while costing less time and less money. This special vending machine appeared at the Yojiya Cafe in Haneda Airport, Japan, which uses drips of coffee poured carefully through milk to form a face on the top of your hot beverage. Currently the machine only offers coffee with the face of a woman floating on the top, and possibly in future the machine would come with other options like a hello kitty.

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The development of bio-batteries is now pushed to a new level, after electronics giant Sony announced that it has developed a battery powered by paper. The batteries were demonstrated at the Eco-Products exhibition in Tokyo, where they have successfully powered a mini fan to work. Sony’s actually utilizes cellulose enzymes to accomplish this technology: after breaking down the paper, the enzymes were left with sugar that had been created from the cellulose; and then the sugar is processed to create hydrogen ions and electrons. Theoretically, a piece of A4 paper is expected to produce about 18 watts of electricity, equivalent to the electricity power of six AA batteries. But currently the electricity power we get is fewer than that, which is also a drawback of this bio-battery.

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Hot egg is the most popular food in my family whenever the winter comes, as it not only warms my hands but also warms my stomach. It’s a pity that the eggs cannot keep hot for a long time, and they usually become cold after my way to offices. Thus I need something to reheat them. The ultra-portable Heater Egg Card seems like a good choice. It utilizes a wire-web and thin skin that envelops the egg to reduce heating time; features a collapsible casing that can be folded as thin as a credit card, thus to ensure us an easy carrying; still, it also comes with a USB charging style, which makes it practical in places without an electricity outlet.

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Measuring merely four inches thick, this solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) can generate electricity from gasoline to diesel fuel to natural gas, featuring a power-to-size ratio that’s 10 times better than other fuel cells, and thus it’s really a high-efficient fuel cell that may surprise the users. Of course there’s still disadvantage of the SOFCs, which is that you have to heat the fuel cells up to 600 degrees to get them to work. But with further development on the SOFCs, we bet they’ll soon come to the market to serve us better.

Though claimed “zero waste” or “no waste”, these earthCell batteries actually are not something decomposing completely in the earth and leaving no footprint to the environment. Instead, they’re introducing to us a new way of selling and using batteries: since the used earthCell batteries can be returned to the company where they may get re-used again, the company and consumers would cooperate to reduce the amount of throw-away batteries, and thus to ensure the environmental friendliness. On the other hand, the earthCell features a good performance of rechargeable, as each pre-charged LSD-NiMH battery can last 30-50% longer than alkalines, even in high-power devices.

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Smart and cute, these electrical outlets not only feature an outstanding appearance, but also come with new functions: their little “arms” can be used to hang your plugs until they’re in use again.

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Researchers at the University of Michigan are currently busying with their cyborg insects that would be used in small spaces or nuclear disaster locations to assist people to collect information or do something else. These insects are all installed with sensors in their bodies, which are powered by the energy generated from their own wing motion. When fully-developed, these insects can help to investigate hazardous environments that are dangerous to humans, thus to find their application value.

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Researchers from Northwestern University have developed a breakthrough battery technology that features both high efficiency of re-charging and better electricity energy storage. Compared with ordinary batteries, the new lithium ion batteries allows for using 10 times longer and recharges 10 times quicker. Generally it could keep your cellphone charged for a week and recharge in 15 minutes; when applied on electric cars, the battery can power it to run 500 miles with 10 minutes of charging.

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Pull and fix to provide your electrical appliances with enough electricity, to use an outlet is just as simple as that. Composed of 5 pods along a 15 foot-long cable, the Pod Power is an extension cord that brings the outlets to you, and in the meanwhile keeps your cables tidy and organized. With adhesive stripes included, the Pod Power can be stuck onto walls or tables once you’ve already adjusted the distance between the pods.

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No doubt we people are selfish to some degree, because we really want everything belonging to us is exclusive, never the same as others’. ‘Artist’ Phone Case Printer, exhibited on ‘The Korea International Sign&Design Show (KOSIGN 2011)’, is rightly a device that prints out our own cellphone cases. It’s similar to ‘Photo sticker machine’, printing out your favorite pictures on a leather or silicon case within two or three minutes.

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This is a unique electrical switch designed for your books. It is subtly hidden inside your books and turns your light on when you move the book, while it doesn’t bring any damage to the books. So what do you think, pull out your favorite book to turn a light on or turn on a light to find your favorite book?

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Wish you iPhone, iPod, or iPad more powerful than they are now? Get the chance to change them into a medical device or magnification apparatus with the aids of the AirMicro Model A1then. It’s a portable wireless microscope that can magnify something to 50 or even 400 times the original image. Via a free application downloaded onto your iPhone, you may get a clear view of what you’re magnifying, even including your skin conditions.

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Magical Blow On/Off Light Switch is something especially perfect for lazy people like me. It can attach to any electrical appliances and then lets you to switch on or off them via an easy control of the device. That means, if you sleep with a Light Switch besides your pillow, you can conveniently turn on the light when you need to get up in the midnight… Cool, I love the idea.

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Well, seemingly we’re really in deep love of products from the Apple Company or those designed for the Apple, coz we’ve been focusing on the iPhone, iPad, iPod, etc for quite a continuous period. Here comes something for the iPhone too. It is a portable printer that can print out prints 4×6 photos with crystal-clear 300 dpi resolution directly from a docked iPhone or iPod touch. The new printer is easy to use, and can be controlled via a free downloadable app. Just imagine that any time you shot a photo, you can print it out almost at the same time, isn’t that great?

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With the Apple Company is promoting their products almost every year, the Twelve South is designing and launching new accessories for iPad, iPhone, iMac from time to time too. PlugBug is rightly a product from Twelve South, created to let two gadgets reenergized at the same time with merely one charger. It is essentially a splitter for the iPad/iPhone charger, and allows two devices get charged once attached to your MagSafe.

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