See, and you thought the military wasn't current.

In these times of oil concerns, we the consumer aren't the only ones dealing with high prices. The Department of Defense is feeling our pain. Using an estimated 5 million gallons of fuel a day to support the efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq is costing a pretty penny.
The Pentagon is spending research dollars to developing hybrid electric engines (internal-combustion engines with battery power)for the Humvee in order to extend the vehicle’s range, increase its survival on the battlefield, and lower the operating cost. The Army and Marine Corps are testing hybrid vehicles in order to build a vehicle that can operate more effectively in the battlespace. In past wars, the military could race ahead and then stop safely behind the front lines to refuel. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the war is fought throughout the country, and supply convoys are always at risk. Hybrid vehicles could reduce the number of convoys.

Beyond being more fuel efficient, hybrid vehicles provide: 1) near-silent operation by running on batteries alone 2) a source of electricity for field command posts and the vehicle's batteries could recharge other items 3) the hybrids are faster than standard Humvees.

Currently the Army is testing a half-dozen hybrid-electric versions of the Humvee chassis at various testing grounds in the U.S. The Marines are testing a different vehicle called the RST-V (Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Targeting Vehicle), a light truck built by General Dynamics that has an electric motor at each wheel hub. The Marines hope to test the RST-V in Iraq this year, but the details are still being worked on.

Now we've all seen the success of hybrid's for commerical and private use but the military still needs to determine how it they will withstand battlefield conditions. The Army and Marines are combining their separate research efforts this year and it looks like the Defense Department will buy a common Humvee replacement for all services. So again with the cost savings. See, and you thought the military wasn't trying to be current.

Calling George Jetson, your soda is ready.

This may not be the flying car to folds up into a suitcase but it still something right out of the "Jetsons". IPFINI , a company in Natick MA of all places, has designed the ultimate in a "have it your way" sodas. Viola.

They have taken a soda bottle and added customizable flavor buttons. Each bottle is filled with carbonated sugar water with the "push to add" additive buttons on its side. There are buttons for lemon, lime, vanilla, and cherry flavors (for now, more flavors will be added) as well as a caffeine button which will allow for 32 combinations of soda. Add to that a programmable dye container with 20 pigment additive buttons giving the consumer the ability to select from one million paint colors. They're like snowflakes, no 2 sodas are the same.

Can't decide between wich is you favorite Fanta flavor? Push a button. Don't know if you want regular or vanilla coke? Push a button. Caffienated or decaf? Push a button. Ah yes, the future has arrived.

Now if we can just get one of those flying cars that fold up into a briefcase.

I need your help

Okay, I'm working on a couple of things and I could use some help. I'm rewriting/formatting the Digital Blast podcast and I'm soliciting ideas. Should it stay the same (i.e. news, music and then gadgets to try)? Should it just be news? What would you like to podcast to do? Just click on the show tab above, give the show a listen or relisten and tell me your ideas.

The other thing is that I'm putting my program writing skills to the test and will setup a mailer that lets everyone know if there has been new content added to the site. So rather than having to come back and check up every few days or only knowing there's a new show when your RSS reader searches, you would get an e-mail from my site that says there is new "x" content. That way you'd know when there's new stuff. I need e-mail addresses in order to do that though. Would you guys send an e-mail address to me (dutch@thedigitalblast.com) and I'll set it up.

Sound cool?

I'm ready for my close-up.

No doubt that most of us use the cameras on our cellphones to take pictures of EVERYTHING. In the past, that little camera on your cellie was pretty low quality but that's changed over the last couple of years. The number of models that actually capture decent photos is growing but the problem is that many of these phones take great pictures outside during the day but take terrible pictures at night or in low light. Even those camera phones that do have a flash suffer from too little light.
The Phlash has arrived to solve that problem.Helping to shed a little more light on the situation the Phlash is a small round LED-powered light that sticks to the back of your cell or can dangle from the included strap. When its time for the happy snaps, press the button to bathe your target in light. Phlash is designed to provide a wide field of color-controlled light, and while it won't light up your house in the dark it will brighton things in about a 6 foot area. That's just perfect to get that photo of your friends out clubbing or with your favorite star in the corner booth of that restaurant.

And you thought unmanned aerial vehicles were far fetched.

Well certainly you've heard about the success the U.S. military has had with the employment of unmanned aerial vehicles in Afghanistan and Iraq. Oh that's just the beginning, the Defense Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (the real skunkworks group that pursues the only in "sci-fi" technology) is working on plans to develop a living cyborg butterfly.
The Jean-Claude Van Damm Butterfly's (referencing his Cyborg movie here guys, keep up) mission will be to fly into a sensitive areas regular troops can't reach, carrying explosives, detection gear, or possibly even transmit audio and video back to a command post. With the advancement and miniaturization of technology this isn't far fetched at all. The tiny micro system called a Mems would be introduced at the pupa stage of development and the insect would develop around it. The Mems would then interface with the insect's brain functions to control flight and deliver the required data.

Now some (primarily entomologists) have dismissed this as unrealistic but remember this is the same agency that developed the their Arpanet computer network which eventually became the foundation for the Internet (yeah, no Al Gore involvement). They're also responsible for bringing technology like the exoskeleton to life too. Make sure you keep a close eye on that butterfly in your yard come springtime.

Thank the Gods!

[Trumpets blare for awesome gaming news]
Thanks the Gods is right. The PS2 game God of War is getting a sequel, "GOW Divine Retribution"! Now if you're were not paying attention, asleep or dead you missed out on one of the best games ever! The Spartan soldier Kratos, his fall from the Gods and his subsequent redemption. The story and gameplay are great and the visuals are stunning. Run out to your local store and get a copy and you'll see why it won almost every award conceivable for video games in 2005.

Information about the sequel has been on the hush but here's what we know: 1) the game will pick up where the first left off with Kratos replacing the toppled Ares as God of War and will follow 1 of 3 storylines hinted in the first game
- Kratos' younger brother, abandoned as a child because he was not strong enough to join the Spartan army has fallen to Hades. The unnamed brother vows to seek vengeance on Kratos for having deserted him.
- Kratos visiting his dying mother discovers that his father is Zeus and Kratos decides to take his revenge on Zeus for having abandoned him and his mother.
- after Cronos's death, the Temple of Pandora is rediscovered in modern times, still containing many secrets that have to be discovered.

2) the game is being developed for the PS2 and not PS3. I don't know what that tells us about the PS3's delivery but I'm stoked to get another great game for my PS2! 3) the man responsible for the huge hit first game, David Jaffe, will not be involved. That is saying alot because the whole reason why the gaem was so slick and good was becasue of the guiding artistic/design hand of Jaffe. I'm hard pressed to think Sony would let a great game franchise go south but you never know.

There's no doubt that this game will be unveiled at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in LA in May (I'll be there of course) . I'll let you know the skinny as soon as I hear it. Who's looking out for you?

The PS3 is postponed.....AGAIN!

We gamers live and die by the word on the console wars. And most of us have been holding out for the PS3. It now looks like we won't see the PS3 before September of this year (or after Christmas at the latest). Seems that even the PS3s that were on display at the Computer Electronics Show were not functioning PS3s at all.
Certainly you want to generate press for your product but I don't think this what was Sony was shooting for. The rumors out there ranger from their are just too many bugs hardware bugs, the issue with Sony's Blu-Ray DVDs, and that as of right now it's impossible to get the games running well.

Everyone in the industry knew that the developing for the the asynchronous and highly multithreaded nature of the the PS3's hardware would be difficult but if its proven this difficult Sony will have some very angry developers. Of course while all this is going on, Bill Gates and his crew are not only shipping Xbox 360s but also games that look great to play.

Hmmmm, buying that 360 is starting to look like a better idea everyday.

Recording your favorite show is just a cellphone message away.

If you haven't caught the TiVo bug, what are you waiting for? The ability to pause live TV, record a season's worth of your favorite TV show, skip over commercials and one button searches for actors-movies/shows-content you're looking for makes life too easy. Of course THE standard bearer for DVR's is Tivo.

Well now they've made recording on your TiVo even easier.
Yesterday TiVo announced a partnership with Verizon Wireless to let Verizon customers access their TiVos from Sprint phones. Starting this summer, Verizon customers will be able to download an appllication that will let them set up recordings on their TiVos at home, no matter where they are. There is no such thing as a free lunch, so it'll cost Verizon customers about $5 a month for the service.

Imagine if you will, you hear (or get a text message from your favorite channel) that some show or movie you want to see is going to be on tonight and you (because of your very busy professional schedule of course) won't be there to see it. You flip open your phone, send a message to your Tivo to record and when you get home the show is there for you too watch. Ain't technology great?!

For those of us embarrassed by carrying the English to (insert language here) dictionary.

Fear not world travelers (or those who wish they were), technology has arrived to save us. The hand held Voice Travel Mate is a pocket translator capable of interpreting 700 commonly used phrases among 12 international languages including Spanish, German, French, Italian, and Japanese.
You just cycle through the screens to pick the phrase you need (i.e. where is the train station), punch the red Voice button, and the Travel Mate will spaek your phrase in the listener's native tongue. Concerned tht the voice will sound too Steven Hawking to get you a cheerfule reply? The voices used in the on-line demo didn't sound robotish at all. They certainly won't help you pick up that hot guy or girl though. Now realize what this thing is for, translating everyday phrases. You won't be discussing international fashion or politics with that young woman at the cafe, but it will help you with the basics like food, transportation and greetings. That's a steal for $50.