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MOBILE TECHNOLOGY Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge bring metal and glass (and much more) to the flagship lineup The last couple of Galaxy S flagships had iterative designs (much like the HTC One M9 that was announced today). But with Apple now making big-screened phones, the pressure is on Samsung – and it just launched two phones that mark the biggest physical changes to the Galaxy S lineup. read more ARCHITECTURE Plans unveiled for Google's new Mountain View headquarters Google has commissioned top-tier architects Bjarke Ingels (of BIG) and Thomas Heatherwick to design its new headquarters in Mountain View, California. Details are lacking at this stage, but the information we do have points toward a sustainable, flexible, and future-proof headquarters. read more MOBILE TECHNOLOGY Microsoft's Lumia 640 and 640 XL: Budget Windows Phones with LTE Microsoft has two new smartphones on display at Mobile World Congress 2015, each offering some compelling specs at competitive price points. The handsets follow the established Lumia design language while offering 720p displays, quad core processors and optional LTE. read more AUTOMOTIVE Magna MILA Plus two-seater concept sports hybrid efficiency Automotive supplier Magna has unveiled a new concept car that will debut at the Geneva Motor Show. The Magna MILA Plus is part of the company's MILA innovation and technology brand. It's a plug-in hybrid two-seater sports car with an all-electric range of 75 km (47 miles). read more HEALTH AND WELLBEING Portable system for real-time monitoring of Parkinson's patients undergoes testing A European group headed by Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain, is in the process of trialling a cutting edge system with the potential to greatly improve the quality of life for those suffering from Parkinson's disease. read more MOBILE TECHNOLOGY Sony's Xperia Z4 tablet has specs to compete with the iPad Air 2 Sony’s latest flagship tablet packs familiar Xperia stylings, a 2K display and a premium thin and light build. The Xperia Z4 marks a significant step up over the Xperia Z2 tablet it replaces, and is specced to compete with the iPad Air 2. read more DIGITAL CAMERAS Nikon D7200 adds a bigger buffer and built-in Wi-Fi Nikon has updated its higher-end APS-C DSLR line-up with the D7200. The 24-megapixel camera offers a number of improvements over its predecessors, including a bigger buffer, built-in wireless capabilities and better low-light focusing and performance. read more MARINE Abandoned sailboat transformed into floating pizzeria Sasha and Tara Bouis have transformed an abandoned aluminum sailboat into a floating pizzeria. Located in the Virgin Islands, Pizza Pi brings the concept of street food to the water, providing a convenient stop for tourists and boat enthusiasts. read more ELECTRONICS New electrolyte promises to rid lithium batteries of short-circuiting dendrites Dendrites – thin conductive filaments that form inside lithium batteries – reduce the life of these cells and are often responsible for them catching fire. Now researchers claim to have produced an electrolyte that completely eliminates them while also boosting carrying capacity and efficiency. read more WEARABLE ELECTRONICS HTC partners with Under Armour to launch GPS-enabled fitness tracker HTC has flagged intentions to get in on a burgeoning wearable gadget trend. The electronics maker has partnered with Under Armour to produce a GPS-capable fitness tracker to offer yet another way of keeping tabs on your well being. read more AIRCRAFT How drones are poised to help build the cities of tomorrow We might be a ways off having buildings pop up at the push of a button, but on construction sites around the world flying robots are already carrying out surveying tasks more efficiently than we can. And experts say that when it comes to automating construction, that's not all they have to offer. read more MOBILE TECHNOLOGY The eyes have it for unlocking ZTE's Grand S3 As smartphone have became repositories for more and more personal information, security in the form of passcodes, squiggles, voice and fingerprints has become standard. Now eye scans have been added to the list in ZTE's flagship Grand S3 smartphone. read more MOBILE TECHNOLOGY SanDisk crams 200 GB into the world's highest capacity microSD card With all the high quality media that we fill our mobile devices with these days, it doesn't take much to hit capacity with the onboard storage. But SanDisk has just introduced a new 200 GB microSD card designed to provide a little more breathing room. read more GOOD THINKING NTT's new projection mapping technique brings paintings to life If a hanging portrait suddenly smiles back at you, it might be something you've eaten, but it might also be HenGenTou – a new light projection technique developed by NTT Communication Science Laboratories that magically brings static objects like paintings to life. read more WEARABLE ELECTRONICS Samsung and Oculus have a new Gear VR for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge Samsung's Gear VR still hasn't launched its full store with paid apps, but the virtual reality headset is now compatible with two more phones. While the original Gear VR Innovator Edition was only compatible with the Note 4, the new version adds support for the new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge. read more LAPTOPS HP reveals multi-mode Spectre x360 notebook HP's new Spectre x360 offers four usage modes for work, rest and play flexibility, its 13.3-inch screen is available at up to 2,560 x 1,440 pixel resolution and the 56 watt-hour battery is claimed good for up to 12.5 hours on a single charge. read more WEARABLE ELECTRONICS HTC joins the party, makes a virtual reality headset (with Valve's help) It's becoming clearer that the entire tech world is trying to get in on virtual reality on the ground floor. In addition to announcing its latest flagship smartphone, HTC today unveiled a new VR headset, in a partnership with Valve.read more MOBILE TECHNOLOGY HTC One M9 iterates on a beautiful (but two-year-old) formula In 2013, HTC rebooted its smartphone line with one of the most gorgeous phones ever made, the metal HTC One (M7). Since then, the company hasn't so much been flexing its design muscle, as it has been repeating that same design. Meet HTC's latest flagship, the One M9. read more GAMES Tech demo lets you visit the International Space Station in VR Opaque Multimedia has combined an Oculus Rift headset with Microsoft Kinect 2 motion tracking to make it possible for every Tom, Dick, and Sally on the planet to get a first-hand (virtual) taste of life on – or rather just outside – the International Space Station. read more ENVIRONMENT Modular biobattery plant turns a wide range of biomass into energy Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed a "biobattery" in the form of a highly efficient biogas plant that can turn raw materials like straw, scrap wood and sludge into useful outputs for the energy and transportation industry. read more SCIENCE Royal Navy subs provide insights for Arctic science Data on the Arctic Ocean gathered by Royal Navy submarines has been used to study the possible effects of a shrinking of the ice cap in the future. The declassified data from the 1990s was analyzed to gain insights into how diminished ice cover affects turbulence in arctic waters. read more AUTOMOTIVE Audi previews future wagons with gorgeous Avant prologue Audi is previewing its wagon of the future with the debut of a stunning new concept at the Geneva Motor Show. The Audi prologue Avant show car takes the design philosophy of last year's Prologue concept and applies it to a wagon body. read more SCIENCE Eyes inspire more efficient solar cell architecture A tiny structure called the fovea centralis may be the key to a huge boost in solar cell efficiency, thanks to work by a team of scientists at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light that adapted the natural design into silicon as a light trap. read more SPACE ESA offers CubeSats a deep space ride on asteroid mission CubeSats can get into space on the cheap, but piggybacking a ride into space is comes with its own set of challenges. The ESA is widening the scope with a competition for CubeSats to ride with deep space on its Asteroid Impact Mission. read more ELECTRONICS Aluminum "superatoms" hint at a new type of superconducting materials Scientists at the University of Southern California (USC) have made steps toward discovering a new family of superconductor materials that work at relatively high temperatures, with possible applications in physics research, medical imaging and high-performance electronics. read more WEARABLE ELECTRONICS Huawei's round-faced Android Wear watch has looks that rival the Moto 360's (updated) Of the early Android Wear smartwatches, the round ones (Moto 360, LG G Watch R and now LG Watch Urbane) have been the most eye-catching. You can now add Huawei to that list, as it's teasing its new Huawei Watch ahead of its Mobile World Congress reveal. read more SPACE NASA's colossal crawlers mark half a century of service In 1965, a pair of gigantic crawlers were built to move the Saturn V moon rockets to the launch pad. Half a century later, they are still in service. To celebrate, the 6 million-lb Crawler-Transporter 2 (CT-2) made a less than one mph rollout for a visitor and media day. read more LAPTOPS Samsung's ridiculously light/thin Ativ Book 9 (2015) laptop hits stores March 1 Samsung's Ativ Book 9 (2015) impressed us at CES 2015, with its combination of ridiculously light/thin build, razor-sharp screen and (allegedly) long battery life. What we didn't know was when it would launch (apart from "Q1").You can mark your calendars for tomorrow, March 1. read more MOBILE TECHNOLOGY Runcible circular smartphone recalls the pocket watch We've become accustomed to cell phones as noisy, rectangular devices filled with applications. California-based startup Mohohm is looking to buck the trend with Runcible, a round device that doesn't use apps and doesn't beep to alert users. read more SCIENCE Limpet's shell could inspire next-gen transparent displays Scientists recently determined that the material from which the limpet's teeth are made is officially the world's strongest natural material. Now, a study suggests that a specific type of limpet's shell may hold the key to transparent displays that require no internal light source.read more SCIENCE High-performance flow battery could rival lithium-ions for EVs and grid storage A new redox flow battery developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) more than doubles the amount of energy that this type of cell can pack in a given volume, approaching the numbers of lithium-ion batteries. read more OUTDOORS Gila Board brings independent suspension to off-road skateboarding We've seen a number of off-road skateboards hit the market over the past several years, although most of them have little or no suspension, and many do have electric motors. The new Gila Board doesn't have a motor, but instead sports a unique fully-adjustable independent suspension system. read more ELECTRONICS Review: Splash Tunes Pro Bluetooth shower speaker We're really beginning to like singing (or arguing with out favorite podcasts) in the shower, thanks to the Splash Tunes Pro waterproof shower speaker from FresheTech. This small, unassuming suction cup-mounted Bluetooth speaker delivers a surprising amount of sound in a speaker that costs US$70. read more ELECTRONICS FlexCharger charges up to five devices at a time There's no shortage of devices that aim to make charging easier and more efficient. A new player in the game is the FlexCharger, a versatile device that can charge five things at one time – and it does it in style.read more MEDICAL Scientist claims that human head transplants could be a reality by 2017 An Italian doctor has outlined a procedure to transplant a human head onto a donor body. The goal is to help people who are paralyzed, or whose bodies are otherwise riddled with degenerative diseases and other complications. read more SPACE NASA study looks to the ionosphere to improve GPS communications A new NASA study focusing on irregularities in Earth’s upper atmosphere may help scientists overcome disruptions in GPS communication. The findings provide an insight into the causes of the disruptive regions, and represent the first time that such observations have been made from space. read more AUTOMOTIVE Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus unveils SCG003 road and track supercars The company behind the one-off Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina has unveiled its latest creation. Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus (SCG) has developed road and race versions of the new SCG003. SCG says it has downforce and engine torque that are "unknown in the supercar world." read more SPACE Scientists find brightest night light circling impossibly huge black hole A team of scientists from China and Arizona have spotted the brightest quasar from the early universe, centered on a black hole 12.8 billion light years away and as bright as 420 trillion suns. read more ENVIRONMENT World’s first climate-positive data center being built in Sweden Information and communications technology consumes a full 10 percent of the world’s electricity, meaning that whenever a new data center is designed, its efficiency is of paramount concern. EcoDataCenter will be the world’s first climate-positive facility. read more ADVERTISEMENT Save 56% On The Mighty Floating Bluetooth Speaker If you’re looking forward to enjoying the outdoors once the warmer weather arrives, you might want to check out the Mighty Floating Bluetooth Speaker. It is wireless, waterproof, sand-proof and dust-proof, and it currently has 56% off.read more UNSUBSCRIBE You are receiving this email because you signed up for our daily newsletter at http://www.gizmag.com. Copyright Gizmag © 2015