Isn’t there something about the IKEA brand that we British don’t take entirely seriously? We are full of respect for John Lewis, and Fortnum and Masons and Harrods, but when we picture this jaunty Swedish furniture and household goods company I think many of us can’t resist a smile. At those funny (apparently) made up… Continue reading
Browsing Category Business
3-D print your own tractor (and an infinite number of other things) at home – why wouldn’t you want to do it?
So how far is 3-D printing going to go? There’s a lively debate. (3-D printing is a compellingly simple technology. You take a CAD – computer-aided design – file of the object to be produced. Software then tells the printer how to lay down successive, minute layers of material – anything from plastic to metal… Continue reading →
EDF launches app to let customers submit meter readings, using smart phone camera
Smartphones have been around for several years now, and there’s a legion of apps available to use on them. They are supposed to to make our life easier, as well as entertain us. But how many do something that nothing else can, rather than give us information rather quicker, and more conveniently, when it’s already… Continue reading →
Printing out a bright 3-D future
One of the reasons I’m excited about technology is that new and interesting things are happening so quickly, and, it seems, much faster than in past decades. A shining example of this speed is the proliferation of iPads in the recent Olympic Games in London. At the last Olympics, in Beijing in 2008, the iPad… Continue reading →
British turbine designer one of first to catch business wind from Olympics
One of the mysteries of London 2012 is the line of seven wind turbines, their blades spinning in an elegant triple helix form, right in the middle of Olympic Park. Quietrevolution’s QR5 technology is not exactly new – you may have seen similar turbines made by the company in other public locations, in shopping centers,… Continue reading →
EU drives auto manufacturers to cleaner, greener cars
What makes the new Hyundai i20 CRDi Blue so special, and why should you care? And what is it about the Volvo V40 D2 ES that marks it apart from many other well-appointed, comfortable cars? Does it even matter? In the week of the Rio+20 conference, where the world is likely, once again, to fall… Continue reading →