It looks like there's a lot to look forward to, that's if you own a Zune. According to Microsoft XNA's big wig, Chris Satchell, the Zune game concepts are now progressing very nicely.

Aside form this, he was able to discuss briefly the developments currently going on. Details on what he said after the jump.

BMW sent prototypes of its revolutionary new Hydrogen 7 cars to NASA for testing and the clean, mean and green vehicles came out with flying colors after being graded for their efficiency.

The Hydrogen 7 is based on the design of the BMW 760Li and carries a dual combustion engine which can use either gasoline or fuel hydrogen. What's more, it can switch seamlessly between the two and deliver the same results each time.

It's strong V12 engine delivers 260hp, a top speed of 143 miles an hour and accelerates from 0 to 60 miles in 9.2 seconds. The high performance comes with the distinctive BMW look and ease of handling that luxury drivers look for.

The best part about the BMW Hydrogen 7 is its contribution to the prevention of climate change. When running on hydrogen, its emissions are essentially as harmless as water vapor.

A patent given to Intel revealed in the US Patents and Trademarks Office suggests that the giant company best known for its work with microprocessors has invented a method to revolutionize electronics displays as we know them.

Near as we can figure, the product hinges on technology which makes use of two flexible sheets. These sheets have magnetically charged particles which control reflectivity.  The onscreen pixels are generated via a flexible ring between the two magnetic flexible sheets.

The techno;ogy, the patent says, is intended for use in mobile devices. Mobile phones, laptops and PDAs could all benefit directly from the new methods, but at this earl stage we can never be sure. Some concepts make it to paper and prototypes are never constructed. Still, it's a nice idea and it's good to know that our currently good displays can only get better.

It looks like inventor extraordinaire Dean Kamen (same guy who came up with the Segway PT) is all set to make more stuff again. This time his latest project focuses on soldiers wounded in the war.

Details are still scarce, but apparently, Kamen is currently working on developing a next gen prosthetic arm for soldiers who'd lost limbs to improvised explosive devices and such. News trickled out last month that Kamen had been approached by the Department of Defense last year regarding this project.

Kamen presented an early video of the prosthetic limb in action at TED, and the arm does indeed show promise, performing such precise actions as picking up stuff (a pen, a pad of paper, a water bottle) and scratching a nose. Word is that prototypes of the new six-pound prosthetic limb have already been fabricated, but that's pretty much it. No news yet on how far along the project Kamen is.

Have you ever wondered what the biggest plane in the world to take flight more than once is? It is actually Russian Antonov-225, a strategic airlift transport aircraft made to carry the Buran orbiter, the only fully completed and operational space shuttle from Soviet Union's Buran Program.

Antonov 225 has a wingspan of 290 ft., a height of 89.4 ft., and a length of 276 ft. Another plane has a larger wingspan, the Hughes H-4 Hercules known as "Spruce Goose". But Spruce Goose flew only once, and the Antonov 225 beats it in all other aspects. Antonov 225 has a maximum gross weight of 640 tons, making it the heaviest plane in the world. In 2004, the Guiness Book of Records acknowledged this plane for all its unique attributes.

The aircraft can carry over 275 tons of load. This is what it's made for: carrying load, specifically the Buran orbiter. After being produced in 1988 the Antonov 225 has been used to transport cargo. The US has been using the Antonov 225 quite a lot mainly for transporting military supplies to the Middle East. This is a testament to the quality of the aircraft, no other American-made aircraft compares to it.

Only one aircraft of this model is currently working while another one is still in the making. The US made a long-term contract with the makers of Antonov-225 to make more of these sorts of planes. They are to be used to carry more load for the US military. Here are some pictures of An-225 to admire.

   

Remember the iriver S10? If you do remember how it looks like, then you might see some similarities between the S10 and this iriver concept USB watch. This thingamajig's rubber watchband is actually a USB cable attached to an mp3 player...and oh, it also tells you the time. Anyhow, the resemblance with the S10 doesn't end in the looks department as they also seem to have similar button locations and other what-nots.

The basic buttons could be found on the four sides of the watch which iriver calls the D-click navigation. There also seems to be a Bluetooth logo under the screen, could wireless stereo streaming be in this little fella's future? Anyhow, the concept USB watch is still lingering in the prototypes department, so one could only hope that this thing see the light of mass production. For now, feel free to examine the watch and we'll be sure to update you as more info comes our way.

Pretty soon, those nurses frantically walking from one hospital room to another are going to be pitted against a different breed of nurse - the robotic kind.

EU-funded scientists are currently developing these robot nurses through something called the IWARD project. These mecha-Nightingales will perform basic tasks such as cleaning up spills, taking messages, distributing medicines, checking a patient's temperature via their laser thermometers, and guiding visitors to hospital beds.

These robot nurses would also be able to work in teams (something that most human beings can't seem to do). They would communicate with each other and coordinate their duties in their own high-tech way. The robots would also employ face and voice recognition technology to communicate with fellow "nurses" and patients, and to spot unauthorized visitors.

Scientists from the Universities of Warwick, Cardiff, Dublin, and Newcastle are participating in the IWARD project, with three robot prototypes targeted for 2010. Project leader Thomas Schlegel noted, "The idea is not only to have mobile robots but also a full system of integrated information terminals and guide lights, so the hospital is full of interaction and intelligence".

Anything that lessens the pressures for nurses (the human types) is a good thing. The only thing we're worried about is that these mechanized angels might not be built to aid the nurses, but rather to replace them.

If you think that making an airplane cost billions and billions of dollars, the people at Lockheed Martin's top-secret "Skunk Works" research facility in Palmdale, California, US, is out to prove to everyone that making a plane is cheap and as easy as clicking a mouse button. Recently, an unmanned aircraft - tagged as the Polecat unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) - made from "printed" parts rather than traditional machine-tooled components has been unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show, UK.

How did they do it with a limited budget? Through a technique called 3D rapid prototyping, or "3D printing", which is the best way to lower costs. How does this work? A 3D design for a part is fed from a computer-aided design (CAD) system to a chamber dubbed as a 3D printer. Inside the chamber, a computer steers two finely focused, powerful laser beams at a polymer or metal powder, sintering it and fusing it layer by layer to form complex, solid 3D shapes. Too techie if you ask me and still expensive, but if you have the skills and the resources, why not do it?

Apparently, this method of cost-cutting has long been adopted in making prototype parts. As prototypes, they are used to see if a particular airplane part, say a wing strut, is of the right thickness or shape. But because technology has immensely improved through the years, the prototypes have become at par with the original and working components.

This method wasn't only cost-saving, but it was also time-saving as well. This only took 18 months to finish. There are times when prototype making takes longer than making the working contraption, but oftentimes, prototype production costs as much- if not more - than making the final product. This method, amped by its performance, may just be the answer to lessening costs and saving time. And who knows, maybe the time will come when we will be riding 'printed' airplanes to get us to far away destinations.

Some smart students at MIT (Marije Kanis, Niall Winters, Stefan Agamanolis, Cian Cullinan, and Anna Gavin) thought of an interesting idea - the iBand, and as they call it "wearable device for handshake-augmented interpersonal information exchange."

Very handy if you don't want to take your cards everywhere along with your cellphone, laptop, keys and the like. When you shake someone else' hand data gets transferred through infrared and you can hook your device into your lappy later to get their info.

"The prototype is a wearable bracelet, adjustable in design for different kinds of users (male, female). When worn, the circuit board and battery lay flat under the wrist and an infrared (IR) transceiver is positioned near the back of the thumb pointing toward the hand such that it is visible to an IR transceiver on another device when shaking hands. A handshake is detected via infrared transceiver alignment combined with hand/wrist orientation and gesture recognition using a 2-axis accelerometer."

You can also create your own logo to go on the LED display with your computer. With the same software you can set how much and what you want to send and receive. Obviously this is aimed at the business market but it could be handy in any environment in the future. There have been working prototypes but as of yet no price or release date has been announced.