Light Start – Windows Phone, vape-phone, Land Rover, 8UP, and SpaceX human delivery
Brett Venter
Microsoft has an Android app to convince you to drop Android
Man, there really is an app for everything, isn’t there? Microsoft have launched an Android app whose sole purpose seems to be nudging you in the direction of Windows Phone as a platform. The app, called AppComparison, takes a gander at your installed Android apps and then tells you which of those apps you’ll find on Windows Phone. If that exact software isn’t available, it’ll suggest a WP alternative. Of course if you can’t find any of your favourite apps or an alternative, you might be put off Windows Phone for life – perhaps they didn’t think this through.
Yes, really. Vaping is a big thing among those trying to quit conventional smoking and we’ve seen people who smoke using smartphones so there must be a crossover market there somewhere, right? That’s the point of the Vaporcade Jupiter, a smartphone that incorporates a vape inside its workings, as a clip-on addition. And it comes with its own vaping app. You can pre-order your device at the link below, if that’s your thing. There are three models available, with the most expensive costing $500 (R7,000). Actual phone specs are lightweight but there are two LTE models and one 3G version available. Just don’t blame us if you morph into the Ultimate Hipster upon delivery.
Land Rover creates a bridge out of paper, drives a Rover over it
What is it with car manufacturers and paper just lately? We’ve seen several companies in the past months building origami versions of their vehicles, some of which could actually still drive around (not recommended in the event of an accident). Land Rover, to promote the 45th anniversary of the Range Rover, built a five-metre bridge made out of paper (and nothing else) in Suzhou in China and then drove the vehicle over it. The engineering behind the paper bridge isn’t new but putting something as heavy as a Range Rover on it is a little unusual, certainly. And yes, the bridge managed to hold up.
8UP is the low-tech water-tracking bottle you’ve been looking for
Water intake is important, especially since it’ll have to be carefully managed what with South Africa’s current water shortages (no, a few days of rain doesn’t fix that). There was ways to make sure you’re drinking enough, from apps to just… remembering, but ain’t nobody got time for that. 8UP has a low-tech, though elegant solution for you – a water bottle that holds three glasses of water. The glasses are each marked with a line and, once you pass the line, just give the base of the bottle a twist for the built-in number counter to remind you how far you’ve come and how far you have to go. The Kickstarted project is looking for $20,000, at present they’ve managed a little over $12,000 with just under two weeks to go.
To Infinity (or the ISS) and beyond with SpaceX – Seriously, they’re taking passengers soon
Private space company SpaceX has been doing some remarkable things with rockets, in between delivering cargo to the International Space Station, of late. And in 2017 that trend continues, with the company acting as a passenger service to astronauts on their way to the International Space Station. SpaceX will, in 2017, be taking some cargo to the ISS as well as four human passengers – which should mark the first time that such a service has been provided by a private company. Mars next, please.
