ITwin - Connects Remote Computers

 

 

You want to send a birthday movie to your mother?
E-mail is hopeless for large files and sharing services are too complicated.
Your best (and fastest) bet is to burn the files to a DVD and mail it.

ITwin is an attempt to fix this, although it comes with its own problems.
The double-ended USB dongle breaks in two and plugs into two different computers, allowing you to transfer files between them over the Internet.
These computers can be Macs or PCs, and the only other requirement is that they be switched on and online.

The dongle auto-installs its software the first time you plug it in, and the two halves generate and share an encryption key between themselves whilst still joined together. Then, when split, the second part can be plugged into any machine and files are transferred back and forth.
ITwin is billed as a connecting cable, without the cable.
We might add “without the speed” to that list, as you’re limited by the upstream connection of the sending computer.

The iTwin is really little more than software disguised as hardware: you could punch a hole in your firewall and encrypt the transfers for free if you wanted to.
The difference is that your Uncle Pete can use this as easily as using a USB stick.

The price is $100, which is cheap or way overpriced, depending on your needs.
The iTwin is available now.

Windows 8 - Bring Microsoft into a New Era

Microsoft launches Windows 8 during his keynote at the developer conference Tuesday morning BUILD.
Executive exhibit flexibility on a variety of operating systems of mobile and desktop platforms, show the cloud-based features such as photo sharing, contacts management and efficient Metro UI improvements.
OS is really Microsoft's push into the tablet and looks, at first glance,
anyway, such a true competitor for mobile operating systems like Android and IOS.

OS designed for PCs and tablet and use the touch interface of life based tile with multi-tasking capabilities. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hinted that we will get Windows 8 tablets next year.

One central theme of the keynote announcement today is Windows 8 is a reimagining of Windows, from the user experience all the way down to the chipset.

Developers at the conference received one of the Windows 5000 Samsung 8 tablets. This tablet includes an accelerometer, gyroscopes and magnetometers, as well as the NFC and built-in AT & T 3G.
It also has a tool that shows how much data you use, which is pretty cool.
Pair of stone with a docking station and wireless keyboard.
From close-ups and screenshots during the presentation, seems to have a 120 gig hard G2 Intel's solid state.

Windows 8 can run on ARM or x86 architecture, and Microsoft showcased its OS runs on multiple devices such as Asus and Acer ultrabooks, a tablet Intel and Toshiba all-in-one setup.
It's interesting that Microsoft would choose to allow the OS to port to so many different devices, the chipsets are different, with different screen sizes, especially when we have witnessed the difficulty Google Android with the ability to do that.

Like Windows Phone 7, Windows 8 has a large social aspect of the built-in.
In a departure from the desktop-oriented OS from the past, Microsoft has redesigned or reskinned a number of services.
Windows 8 also take advantage of the growing movement of cloud-based storage.

For example, new email client looks pretty slick: It is a two panel setup that meshes with the Metro look and feel, with an optional third panel that appears when you are going through e-mail folders.
A contacts application neat set of friends and acquaintances as a grid of square images, which you can click to get more information.
Client email and contacts applications will not be shipping with the release of Windows developers 8.

Applications can pull images from photo services like Flickr, Facebook and SkyDrive after you connected with your account.
This application treats remote storage and storage cloud SkyDrive as if the data is stored locally.
Email and MSN can sync with Windows 7.5 Phone (Mango device).

Some keyboard shortcuts are introduced:
Windows - C open the menu Charm (cross-searching and sharing application toolbar with the option to switch between desktop and view the Metro),
Windows - Z to open a bar application.
Windows - F is not a search.
Internet Explorer Shortcuts traditional way still works.

A task manager is also debuting a redesigned, but can be seen as a direct list of applications and the end or as a full display usage statistics of each process.

Multi-monitor and log-in features that are made easy, with the ability to switch between the desktop and see the Metro with a simple keyboard shortcut.
Far VHDs and ISO images are also treated like a local drive.

Many worry that the traditional Windows problems, such as the need for drivers, will plague the Windows 8, but from the demonstration in the building, everything seemed to go very smoothly.
Accessories such as the webcam to work immediately when installed into Windows 8 requires a mouse, keyboard or touch input, and there is also a digital pad you can use the stylus to draw or write.

Samsung’s Galaxy S II - The Epic 4G Touch

Samsung Galaxy S II, Sprint Version - Epic Touch 4G.

 In 4:52-inch screen Samsung smartphone Android's biggest screen yet, edging out other offers giant Samsung, the infusion of 0.2-inch 4G.
Epic feels like a mini tablet, similar to the five-inch Dell Streak failed last year.

advantages:
The screen is large and robust 1.2 GHz dual core processor makes the Samsung is clearly aimed at media consumption.
Super brilliant AMOLED screen is made to watch Netflix, browse pics and read e-books.
This all works, and good, but I can not help hoping the Samsung includes a small metal kickstand as we look at the launch of the HTC Thunderbolt.

drawbacks:
While the big screen, opening mechanism to achieve the main menu is weird.
Basically, you have to drag offscreen static screensavers to access your home screen, the task is simple in concept as it is frustrating in practice.
The screen was jerky and awkward when trying to drag the open, often requires some effort.
I prefer the stock Android swiping bar mechanism or even a funky key rings HTC to design the Samsung screen. Rear-facing camera 8-megapixel camera is par for what you'll find on high-end smartphones today.
Sharp images and smooth 1080p video playback.
Digital zoom sucks, but digital zoom is always annoying.

Fortunately, Epic 4G Touch running the latest version of Android (2.3.4, or Gingerbread),
although skinned with Samsung's TouchWiz user interface. That's not a bad UI, but as a purist Android, I could go without the extra layer.

Galaxy S2 is being released by three of the four major U.S. carriers (Sprint, T-Mobile and AT & T), with slight variations more than aesthetics to distinguish hardware.
That's much better for customers interested in a contract-specific parts of the hardware.

Epic Touch 4G has a very large shoes to fill.
Samsung sold more than 10 million of the first series of phones Galaxy S, however the second generation has a promising beginning, more than five million handsets have been sold since the device launched S2 in Europe.

Our first impression is the S2 is a solid phone that will not disappoint fans of the Galaxy S.
nice ...

The Self-Inflating Bike Tire with coin

Believe it or not, I have actually read complaints from people on cycling forums where they whine about having to pump up their tires once a month. Presumably these slobs never wash the dishes, either. Or even get out of bed.

But while I can’t fix their filthy kitchens, I can point them to the PumpTire, the “Self Inflating Bicycle Tire.”
This Kickstarter project is ingenious. The tire has another thin tube running around the outside. As you ride, this tube is squeezed agains the tire and air is squished out. Inventor Benjamin Krempel says it is like squeezing toothpaste from a tube. This air is then passed into the innertube via a specially designed valve assembly, and once the desired (user-selectable) pressure is reached, the valve shuts off.

The tire itself is actually connected to this valve, which is how the air gets from the length of thin pump tube into the innertube itself. You won’t be pumping up a tire from flat this way, but as long as you remain puncture-free, you’ll never need to top up the tires again.

I can’t see myself bothering with this. It’s easier to carry a small pump in my bag along with a spare tube. But I can totally see something like an electric bike coming pre-fitted with these tires. I doubt electric bike riders are the kind to do their won maintenance anyway, so this could be a good fit.

If successfully funded, there will be two tires. A $65, 65psi “City Cruiser PumpTire” and a set of two adjustable-pressure (up to 100psi) 700 x 25c tires for $150. The minimum pledge to get a tire is $45.

About this project

Imagine taking your bicycle out of the garage and never having to fill up the tires or even check the pressure. Or imagine yourself being able to change your tire pressure on-the-fly with a simple adjustment from the handlebars. Our project is to bring two self-inflating bicycle tires to market, the City Cruiser and City Pro. Both tires are intended for the urban cyclists and both tires incorporate the patented PumpTire technology.

With your help we can bring this patented technology to cyclists everywhere!

Why Bicycle Tires Lose Pressure
Bicycle tires lose pressure due to air molecules diffusing through the rubber sidewalls.  This requires cyclists to fill their tires on a fairly regular basis due to the high operating pressures (up to 120 psi) and thin sidewalls of most bicycle tires.  PumpTire solves this problem by incorporating a pumping mechanism directly into the tire.  And this means ... fewer pinch flats, no more pumping, hands stay clean, less time getting ready and more time on the saddle.

Overview of the PumpTire System
Each PumpTire set consists of 3 components – a tire, a detachable valve and an inner tube. Unlike traditional tires, the PumpTire inner tube clips into the tire to enable air to pass from the tire to the tube.  When the pump is working, air moves from the atmosphere, through the valve and into the lumen surrounding the outside of the tire. From there the air is pushed into the tube. Once the desired pressure is reached, the valve senses the increase in pressure and closes the air pathway so no more air is pumped into the tire.  The system works on normal rims and does not require any special equipment or modifications.

The valve assembly works by simply screwing it into the valve stem on the inner tube. Although the valve stem looks similar to standard Presta/Schrader stems, it’s actually a custom design that allows air to enter the tire before being pushed into the tube. The valve is either a fixed pressure valve that shuts off once the desired pressure is reached or it’s a user adjustable valve as shown in this drawing. Turning the valve, adjusts the pressure higher or lower to reach the desired setting. The top of the valve has an air inlet and is compatible with Schrader or Presta fittings to use with a traditional pump if desired. A filter keeps dirt, water and other debris from entering the tire.

City Cruiser for Casual Riders (26" x 1.5" tire)
The City Cruiser is designed for the casual, urban cyclist. It’s a 26” x 1.5” tire with a set pressure valve. The pumping mechanism will pump from a flat up to 65psi. It has a moderate tread design and is intended mostly for pavement.

City Pro High Performance Tire (700c x 28mm)
The City Pro is a high performance tire with a 100 psi maximum pressure. It’s a 700c x 28mm tire. The tire works in conjunction with a high performance user-adjustable valve which allows the user to set the pressure from 65-95psi.  This tire is designed for the avid cyclist who is constantly seeking better performance from themselves and their equipment.

How the Money Will be Spent
We are looking to raise $250K to make PumpTire a reality.  This is a large sum of money for Kickstarter projects and equates to about 5,000 tires.  The money will be primarily used for four purposes:

1. Completing the engineering design. This will require us to work with vendors and engineering firms to find the right materials and processes to make the product robust and lightweight. Although we have various working prototypes, we’ll need money to make sure each part of the system works properly.

2. Testing. Once we’ve completed the production design we will build and test prototypes to see what we got right and what needs additional engineering.

3. Purchasing tooling.  We will need to have molds built for each type of tire as well as the lumen and the individual pieces in the control valve assemblies.

4. Purchasing materials.  And finally, we need to pay for the materials and components that go into each tire assembly.

We are very excited about the technology and bringing these products to market. By pre-ordering your PumpTire on Kickstarter, you're helping to make this technology available to everyday bikers, commuters, professional cyclists and bike enthusiasts everywhere!

We appreciate your support!

The PumpTire Team

(Ben, Will P, Fredo, Marcus, Nikki, Yunita, Han, Will H, Beau, Dring, Billy, Nate and Jason, Sebastian)

Motorized Bionic Leg Moves Like a Real Leg

This bionic leg lets amputees walk naturally

Vanderbilt University’s new bionic leg lets amputees walk without limping along like Kaiser Söze. Unlike the average peg-leg, the Vanderbilt leg has motors in the knee and ankle to actively move like the real thing. Sensors and microprocessors predict what the user is about to do and the leg moves accordingly.

An amputee can walk around 25 percent faster on the Vanderbilt leg, mostly because it takes a lot less of his energy to do it. The leg itself is also pretty light on power, running for up to three days (or 14 kilometers) on a single charge. The motors are still noisy, though — despite being a lot quieter than previous incarnations, the current version “is sightly louder than [the researchers] would like.” It’s not all bad: with the whiny motor sounds you’ll sound just like Robocop when you walk.

New ‘bionic’ leg gives amputees a natural gait [Vanderbilt University via Physorg and the Giz]

Gorgeous $5,500 Titanium Bike Checks Every Box

$5,500 for a runaround? Maybe, once you read the spec sheet

Yeah, Paul Budnitz’s bikes might cost $5,500 apiece, but they look frikkin’ awesome. Appearing like a cross between a beach-cruiser, a hard-tail mountain bike and a hipsters’ single-speed, the bikes come with a component spec sheet that reads like a laundry list of all your fantasy bike parts.

There are two models, the Nº1 and Nº2, which differ mostly in purpose. Thus the Nº1 has thin, slick tires on 700c Velocity rims, a more upright position and harder gear ratios, while the Nº2 sports a 29er up front and a 26-inch at the rear, lower gearing, a more laid-back position and sweep-back handlebars.

Both bikes have Budnitz’s titanium frame, fork and all-in-one handlebars, Chris King No-Threadset, a choice of Fizik or Brooks saddles, a Phil Wood bottom bracket, Paul hubs and brake levers, Avid BB7 disk brakes and MKS pedals. I told you it was a wish-list, right?

It goes on. Instead of a dirty, noisy chain you get a Gates carbon drive belt drive and Shimano Alfine internal hub (or the already-mentioned Paul hub if you go for single speed, or even a chain). You can also spec alloy fenders, a brass bell and Pitlock locking skewers and bolts.

That $5,500 is starting to look less expensive.
These are both gorgeous machines, to be sure, but more likely to to be bought by Hollywood stars for trips to the store than by you and me. I know that if I had $5,500 to spend on a bike, I might certainly use some of those components, but I’d like to put it together myself.

Budnitz Bikes product page [Budnitz Bicycles via Uncrate]

LG announces LSM-100 Scanner Mouse, saves valuable desk space

You may recall, back at CES, we got our hands on LG's LSM-100 mouse scanner and were able to try it out for ourselves. Well it appears that you may have that same opportunity soon. The company has announced that it will be "opening a new era for scanners" at IFA in a few days with its mouse that boasts a built-in scanner. Simply by holding the Smart Scan button, you'll be able to save or drag and drop scanned images as large as A3 paper size in a variety of formats -- PNG, JPEG, TIFF, and PDF, just to name a few -- by swiping the mouse over it. If that wasn't enough to entice you, the peripheral also features Optical Character Recognition that converts text from said images into an editable Word document. Perhaps lost in all this is the fully functioning mouse bit... which you'll probably need as well. No word yet on pricing or availability, but hopefully soon, you'll have room on your desk for one of these.

Update: Apparently this bad boy is already available the UK for £89.98 (around $148), via the coverage link below. Also, we added a promo video from the folks at LG showing the peripheral in action -- which you can check out after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

High-End Audio Gear Is Caviar for Your Ears

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BURLINGAME, California — Upon arriving at the California Audio Show, we spent a few minutes ogling the Ferraris and Maseratis in the parking lot.

Little did we know that once we walked inside, we'd see stereo systems twice the price of one of those fancy sports cars.

The CAS — far removed from the massive, mainstream industry trade shows — is organized by Constantine Soo, publisher of the high-end audio site Dagogo.com. This is Soo's second year running the show, which is the largest on the West Coast, boasting around 3,000 attendees over a weekend in mid-July.

On display were hand-built monoblock tube amps, omnidirectional speakers, gas plasma drivers, 6-foot-tall subwoofers and laser-guided turntables — objects made for people with the ears, the mindset and the trust fund to appreciate such things. You could trade reel-to-reel tapes with other collectors, or join the debate in the hallway about which test tone is most appropriate for calibrating your digital transport.
Soo is quick to stress that almost everything at the show is for two-channel stereo playback, not for watching movies in surround sound.

"Home theater stuff is for everyone in the family," he says. "This stuff is for the fanatics and the audiophiles who have a dedicated room in their house just for music listening."
Above:

Einstein Audio "The Tube" Preamp

A quality preamp is a necessity for bringing out the dynamics in a recording, and you'd be hard pressed to find a component better — or better-looking — than Einstein's "The Tube." This $18,400 unit from the German company uses 19 vacuum tubes to discretely power as many as five audio sources.

Time Warner Cable will pay for your Slingbox, in exchange for love

If you're a faithful Time Warner Cable customer, your next Slingbox purchase could be on the house. Yesterday, the provider announced that it will offer full rebates to any Wideband internet subscribers who buy the $300 set-top box, as part of a promotion due to launch sometime in September. Jeffrey A. Hirsch, TWC's executive vice president and chief marketing officer, told the New York Times that the offer is geared solely toward promoting his company's $99 Wideband service, though it's hard to ignore the move's larger symbolism -- especially in light of that ongoing legal battle with Viacom over live streaming content to the iPad. Time Warner has yet to pinpoint a launch date for its new promotion, but we'll let you know as soon as we get word. 

The New York Times

Origami Concept Clock Sports Funky Folds

The foldable F.O. Clock concept is inspired by two Japanese art forms. Furoshiki (literally “cloth wrapping”) was popularized by cartoons in the eighties and nineties. The other stems from the Japanese art of folding paper, or Origami.
When folded, the F.O. clock is sleek, shiny and could fit right in at a modern art exhibit. When unfolded, the F.O. shows off its carefully crafted rib structure.
Straight from the brain of New Zealand designer Shiping Toohey, the F.O clock is composed of 18 tessellated pieces and a digital clock unit whose LEDs are readable from a shiny, semi transparent covering.

Mad Catz Major League Gaming controllers offer swappable thumbstick layouts, fancy arcade buttons

If we didn't already know those cats were mad about customizable controllers, we just got a reminder: the Mad Catz Major League Gaming Pro-Circuit Controllers. These professional-grade PS3 and Xbox 360 controllers allow competitive gamers to adjust the gamepad's weight and swap out key components -- such as exchanging the controller's analog stick for a D-pad. Want your PS3 controller to have a Xbox 360 layout? No problem. If the insane kitty's ambitious Onza competitor isn't your thing, check out the MLG Tournament Edition Fightstick, featuring the same Sanwa Denshi components used in Japanese arcade cabinets. It may not have its sibling's stick-swapping action, but its 13-foot controller cable, classic layout, and left-right stick toggle mode (for emulating the missing analog thumbstick) still aims to please. The Arcade Fightstick can be had now at the GameShark store to the tune of $160, but the Pro-Circuit gamepads aren't due out until closer to the end of the year. Hit the break for a pair of extra pictures and the standard PR.

SOL Republic intros Amps and Tracks headphone lines, we go hands-on

Oh my is this interesting. Monster Cable's VP of marketing Kevin Lee (a key figure involved with its Beats by Dre headphone line) has co-founded a new headphone company dubbed Soundtrack Of Life Republic, and we were able to get a very brief hands-on with some handmade prototypes. It's no secret that we're not fans of Monster around these parts, but being that SOL Republic isn't directly tied to it -- and because the headphones bring with them some interesting features without being crazy expensive -- we've decided to give them a quick whirl. It's all detailed just past the break.

SOL Republic Amps & Tracks headphones hands-on

The whole line-up consists of the $60 Amps in-ears and $100 Tracks on-ear headphones, which both also come in slightly souped-up and pricier HD variations at $100 and $130, respectively. To start, the Amps in-ears look fairly simple; the ear pieces are flat and circular, and moving down the cable you'll find an iPhone-compatible remote remote with mic along with a very sturdy feeling right angle jack. The HDs look nearly identically, but gain a tangle-proof flat cable, slight color change with clear accenting and most importantly -- we're told -- clearer sound, but we weren't able to give either a listen.

Moving along to the Tracks is where things get interesting. The standard version is finished in a glossy black with a matte headband, while the HD version goes for a brushed metal look with a shiny black / see-through headband; it also comes with a soft travel pouch. There's no denying that these headphones vaguely resemble Beats, but they definitely hold their own ground. The Tracks can essentially be pulled apart into 4 pieces as the iPhone-compatible cable, sliding earcups and headband are removable. SOL refers to the drivers as "sound engines" that will eventually give users options to swap up to a different voicing without buying a new completely new set of headphones. The company also claims that the plastic headband is "nearly indestructible", and we'd agree -- after bending the clear and matte versions aggressively they mostly went back to shape without a crack or blemish. Lastly, the remote's buttons didn't have a very responsive feel, but again, these aren't production versions.

Unlike the the in-ears, we were able to give the Tracks a listen -- while there's no way to make a definitive call on sound in a few minutes of ears-on time, both headphones seem to push out an exorbitant amount of bass. With the standard definition model, Hip-hop and dubstep tracks really got the cans thumping, but the mid-range and high-end sounded veiled especially with rock tracks. Graduating to the HDs things got a bit clearer: there was better extension in the highs and the mids were clearer, all with the same amount of bass. The comfort level of the headphones was passable at best due to a lack of articulation in the earcups mixed with slim amount of padding -- we doubt these would be suitable for extended periods. Overall, the headphones didn't seem terrible for the price and they do have some interesting design elements to them. They'll be available by the month's end in a variety of colors if you're interested in finding out just how sound they are for you and your budget.

N-Control's Avenger for PS3 begins pre-sale, officially debuts November 8th

 

Been just a teensy bit jealous of your 360-owning, Avenger-toting friends? Well, Playstation owner, that resentment ends now -- sort of. Having promised a DualShock 3 version by the end of 2011, N-Control's gone and soft launched its controller appendage with a limited production run before it officially goes on-sale. Apparently only 5,000 of the $48.99 extras will available early, which means you'll have to act quick to get one. Those of you missing the pre-sale will have to wait until November 8th, when it'll hit retailers alongside the release of Modern Warfare 3. In the interim, hit up our review of its Redmond-friendly relative to see the gaming greatness that awaits you.

 

do you whant..???

New Roku Streaming Box Gets Smaller, Angrier

From its humble beginnings as the Netflix box to its current status as one of the pre-eminent media streamers, Roku has come a long way in just two years. And while the new Roku 2 XS doesn’t really move things forward much, it does just enough to retain that title.
If you’re keeping track, the XS usurps the XDS as the new king of the new series, with the XD and HD following in its path. I’ll just go ahead and say it at the outset: Ff you already own a previous gen, 1080p-capable Roku, this is probably not the box for you. Like the XDS, you get ethernet support and a USB port. The UI also remains relatively unchanged, with the standard horizontal scrolling “channels.”
In fact, the only differences I could find was the addition of Bluetooth support, an SD card slot, and — wait for it — a shiny little Wii-like motion controller that doubles as your system remote. Yes, it appears Roku wants to join the casual games party. And its first gift to customers is something everyone’s already sick of: Angry Birds. For free! The company promises to have more games — including Angry Birds Rio and Angry Birds Seasons (sigh) — soon, which presumably explains the SD-card slot. Still, none of this is enough to justify dropping another 100 bones.
The other obvious difference here is the look of these new boxes. This XS, along with the rest of the series, has been sufficiently shrink-rayed so it now beats even the Apple TV in terms of footprint. The tiny box virtually disappears when you place it next to your TV, which was great considering all the other multicolored junk I have attached to mine.
Roku has always done a fine job of offering a satisfying mix of big-name streaming options like Rdio, Pandora, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and Hulu Plus, with more esoteric choices like, say, Crunchyroll. That trend continues here.
What hasn’t happened is any attempt to make the box useful to media hoarders with separate video libraries. Once again, the XS’s limited media file support casts a great big ol’ bummer cloud over what is otherwise a solid device.
Officially, the XS only supports MP4 (H.264), AAC, MP3, JPG and PNG, which, for me, meant more than half of the videos and music sitting on my external drive were useless — unless I wanted to do some converting, which I didn’t.
It’s a strange deficiency, considering the Roku’s main strength is the hefty helping of internet video it serves up to its customers. Offering a USB port and then throttling what it can play just seems, well, dumb. Still, this isn’t anything new to previous Roku owners. And the fact remains there just aren’t many media streamers out there that can offer all the things the XS does at this price.
WIRED Netflix channel now has 1080p streaming, 5.1 surround and subtitles — if your bandwidth supports it. Big, beautiful HD content on some channels like Vimeo.
TIRED Lengthy setup time. Forget about playing your MKV and other high-bitrate files, unless you convert. RF Bluetooth motion controller feature is limited to playing games, provides no navigation or UI functionality.

Photo courtesy Roku

Scion iQ Is Like a Smart Car, Only Smarter

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This fall, Toyota’s Scion division will be rolling out its latest ride, the iQ, into dealer showrooms on the West coast.
With the small, extremely fuel efficient and feature-laden iQ, Scion is aiming for the same sweet spot as other undersized city cars — the Smart ForTwo, Mini Cooper and Fiat 500 — but it’s doing so with a much more affordable, and, it hopes, hipper package.
With a starting list price at a little under $16,000, the iQ continues Scion’s reputation for making inexpensive, funky-looking cars for young urbanites.

Cleverly dubbing the car a “3+1 seater,” Scion has massaged the overall design so the front passenger seat can be slid very far forward, allowing an adult to occupy the back seat immediately behind it without sacrificing leg room for either passenger.

This blunt little box seems like a knock off of the two-seater Smart ForTwo, but it’s actually a four-seater. Cleverly dubbing the car a “3+1 seater,” Scion has massaged the overall design so the front passenger seat can be slid very far forward, allowing an adult to occupy the back seat immediately behind it without sacrificing leg room for either passenger (though the seat behind the driver is still a very tight squeeze). Scion bought the extra room by relocating things that normally occupy the area in and around the front seat passenger to other parts of the car. The glove box has been moved under the seat, and the heater/air conditioner unit has been miniaturized and moved to the center console. The airbag and dash remain the same.
And speaking of airbags, the iQ features eleven of them — a record for any car, and a feat made all the more impressive considering the iQ’s minuscule size. There are separate airbags for the head and knees of both the driver and the front passenger, side-curtain airbags, seat-cushion airbags, and even an airbag for rear window, which is a first.
Just how small is the Scion iQ? A tenth of an inch over ten feet long. That’s a little more than a foot longer than a ForTwo, and a full 20 inches shorter than a Fiat 500. It definitely makes the Mini look anything but. The iQ also tips the scales at a flyweight 2,127 pounds, or about as much as a first-gen Miata.
Speaking of Miatas, although the upcoming iQ is not sports car, nor does it possess handling that would make Colin Chapman smile, it does have an amazingly small turning radius. The front wheels can be spun to nearly 45 degrees, giving the iQ a turning radius of an astonishingly low 13 feet, or about the length of a Miata. Ergo, maneuvering this little guy through inner-city traffic and hanging a quick U-turn to snag that last parking spot is a snap.
The iQ is motivated by a 1.3 liter inline four. Nothing fancy, no turbos or superchargers. And no, there won’t be a hybrid version — lord knows where they’d put the batteries and other hybrid gear. To keep the length down, Toyota did some rather ingenious things like push the wheels and suspension bits way, way out to the corners of the car, much like Mini and Fiat have done. The 8.5 gallon gas tank has also been relocated so it resides under the drivers seat. Yes, that gave me a rather disconcerting feeling when I was tooling around Seattle in the iQ, but I eventually got past it.
With that little size and weight, and that small of an engine, the mileage numbers are very, very impressive for a non-hybrid car. Scion’s iQ returns 36 MPG city, 37 MPG highway and a combined figure of 37 MPG. These numbers make the little iQ the current record-holder when it comes to combined figures for internal combustion engine cars. Toyota is holding off on trumpeting that last fact until the EPA confirms it, though.
The iQ’s four-cylinder engine produces 94 horsepower and 89 pound-feet of torque. No, you won’t be walking away with any drag trophies from the local strip with this thing, but that’s more than enough juice to get you out of your own way when driving around town. Also making city driving easier is the iQ’s Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), and the iQ is rated an Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV-II), which is nice.
The tech and gadgetry extends to the interior appointments, where the top of the center console houses the Scion Drive Monitor. It’s a small screen that displays information like outside temperature, average MPG, and an ECO-drive indicator that helps the driver maximize the iQ’s fuel efficiency.
Hipsters need music, so the iQ comes standard with a 160-watt, four-speaker Pioneer audio system with an AM/FM radio, CD player, a USB port, HD radio and a built-in hands-free phone connection with streaming audio capability. The audio system also features an organic electroluminescent (OEL) screen, and an RCA output for hooking up an aftermarket subwoofer.
There’s an optional “premium” audio system that has the same features as the standard unit, but ups the output to 200 watts and includes extras like a 5.8-inch LCD touch-screen display that allows iTunes tagging, Pandora radio (connected through your iPhone), and six RCA outputs to add external amplifiers. Plunk down even more cash and upgrade to the top-tier Scion Navigation package. You get all the goodies in the 200-watt audio system, plus a navigation system and DVD player — all accessible through a seven-inch touch-screen LCD display.
All in all, it’s a great city car, and it should hit a bulls-eye on price, performance and interior features with a certain demographic.

WIRED Tight turning. Great MPGs. No muss, no fuss CVT tranny. Comes with hipster cred.

TIRED 100 MPH speed limiter. That +1 seat is for pee-wees only. Hipster cred.

Photos courtesy of Toyota Motor Corporation