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• New life-changing robotic technology unveiled
  NZ Herald video, 15 July
  A New Zealand-based technology company, Rex Bionics, has unveiled a robotic exoskeleton which could change the lives of disabled people.
  Discussion starters:
  • Characteristics of Technological Outcomes: electromechanical robotic systems
• Google may know your desires before you do
  New Scientist </em> online<em>, 16 July
  Google attempts to return relevant search results in the blink of an eye. But in future it could go one better, delivering search results to its users even before they know that they want the information.
  Discussion starters:
  • Nature of Technology: socio-technological influences; privacy
  • Computer Science: algorithmic engineering
• Taking lessons from what went wrong
  NY Times / International Herald Tribune, 19 July
  Disasters teach more than successes. While that idea may sound paradoxical, it is widely accepted among engineers. They say grim lessons arise because the reasons for triumph in matters of technology are often arbitrary and invisible, whereas the cause of a particular failure can frequently be uncovered, documented and reworked to make improvements.
  Discussion starters:
  • Nature of Technology: Importance of failure analysis
• 'Wolf diet' dog food developed
  TVNZ Business News video, 21 July
  An award winning Canterbury dog food manufacturer has developed a premium dog food product based on the diet of the grey wolf.
  Discussion starters:
  • Product development
  • Process design
  • Social media marketing
• New vibration-harvesting generator could replace standard batteries
  BBC </em> online<em>, 21 July
  A Japanese electronics firm has shown off a vibration-harvesting generator that could replace standard batteries - with the Vibration Energy Cell batteries delivering power after a vigorous shake.
  Discussion starters:
  • Battery technology
  • Technological products: material sustainability
• New crime-fighting technology raises privacy concerns
  TV3 News video, 21 July
  Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) is a new technology that senses vehicle number plates and records them, then instantly matches them to a police database. Now introduced into New Zealand, it is a surveillance technology that has proved controversial when used overseas.
  Discussion starters:
  • Digital technologies – data capture systems
  • Socio-cultural influences – privacy issues
• Facebook now has 500 million users
  TVNZ News video, 22 July
  1.7 million New Zealanders are now on the social networking website Facebook - around 40% of the population. Worldwide, the audience has doubled within the last year to 500 million meaning that globally one person in every thirteen now has a presence on the site.
  Discussion starters:
  • Characteristics of Technology: socio-technological environments; individual privacy issues
• India unveils cheapest ever tablet computer
  NZ Herald, 30 July
  It looks like an iPad, but its less than 1/10th the cost. India has unveiled the prototype of a US$35 ($48) basic touchscreen tablet aimed at students, which it hopes to bring into production by 2011.
  Discussion starters:
  • Digital technologies: hardware innovation
  • Nature of Technology: Socio-cultural influences; dual marketing
• Designing without code
  Cubed webzine, August
  A new system enables designers to create web sites without having to go through the painstaking process of coding and testing.
  Discussion starters:
  • Web site design and build
  • Developing an 'Open widget'
• Design the key to transformation
  NZ Herald, 2 August
  Investing in design is now paying dividends for a Taranaki company facing tough global competition in the niche market of supplying specialised beds used by hospitals.
  Discussion starters:
  • Better-by-design (BBD) programmes
  • Lean manufacturing
• Eco bulbs pass the test
  NZ Herald, 3 August
  A recent survey by the Electricity Commission showed that more than two thirds of the people tested could not distinguish between eco-friendly bulbs and traditional light bulbs.
  Discussion starters:
  • Prototype testing
  • Energy efficiency
• Kiwi emergency response technology goes global
  TVNZ Business News, 4 August
  A NZ research company is earning big plaudits in the United States for its mathematically based emergency response software.
  Discussion starters:
  • Software development
  • Commercialisation of university research
• Artificial life forms evolve basic intelligence
  New Scientist Magazine, 4 August
  Avidians are not microbes, or sci-fi alien life forms - they "live" in a computer world called Avida and replicate using strings of coded computer instructions instead of DNA. But in many ways they are similar to real life: they compete with each other for resources, replicate, mutate, and evolve. They - or things like them - might eventually evolve to become artificially intelligent life forms.
  Discussion starters:
  • Nature of Technology – digital evolution
• 5-hour Europe flight step closer
  NZ Herald, 10 August
  A hypersonic passenger jet has entered its second phase of tests, bringing the dream of trips of less than five hours between Australasia and Europe closer to reality.
  The A2 is a 300-seat aircraft capable of non-stop flight to the other side of the planet at a cruising speed of Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, about 5600km/h.
• Delta passengers to book through Facebook
  NZ Herald, 13 August
  ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines Inc. said Thursday it's launched a new "Ticket Window" on Facebook that will allow passengers to book directly on the social media site.
  It's the first time an airline has allowed customers to reserve flights on Facebook, although nearly all major US airlines use Facebook and Twitter to promote sales.