BMW presents world’s fastest hydrogen powered car

BMW has an exciting project up its sleeve : BMW Hybrid Car. It’s a hydrogen-powered car that looks like a Hot Wheels model come to life! The BMW HR2 hybrid car is a prototype race car only and we will miss it in the showrooms. BMW is also developing fuel cell cars, using the technology of the Hybrid Cars. BMW promises to launch a dual-mode version of the current 7 Series during the production cycle of the present model, thus introducing the first car of its kind able to run on both hydrogen and gasoline.

Let’s take an awed glance at its stunning features :

– It performs with an output of 285 hp and with a top speed on 185 mph.
- Acceleration from zero to 60 mph takes approximately six seconds.
- The land speed records involve a list of eight other flying start and standing start categories.
- Based on technology used in the BMW 760i vehicle, the HR2 also uses the fully variable VALVETRONIC valve drive.
- The car uses a modified 6-liter, 12 cylinder combustion engine for its propulsion.
- Engine in BMW emits only water thus making is one of the most environment friendly car in the present times.
- BMW hydrogen powered car has higher degree of efficiency due to higher combustion pressure of the hydrogen-air mixture.

The concept has developed at the right time as the gasoline-electric hybrid market will be blooming over the next 5 years or so. This is the kind of vehicle that the environment is in dire need of at present.

ROBOTIC FLY

ANATOMY OF A ROBOTIC FLY

To be able to generate enough thrust to lift off the ground, the robotic fly’s body has to be extremely lightweight and its wings unusually strong. Still to come are a power source, sensors, and a microchip to control flight.

Solar Photovoltaics

Solar Photovoltaics

Photovoltaics (PV) is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material.

Solar panels continue to become very cheap very quickly, resulting in cost parity being achieved in certain areas sooner than anyone expected.

As solar gets cheaper, it will be possible to use it when there's less sunlight out. The IEA (International Energy Agency) under their base case are forecasting that solar will receive $1.3 trillion of investment in new capacity between 2012-35, representing 13 percent of the total global investment in power generation, ahead of gas, and only marginally behind coal.

Software Defined Networking

Software Defined Networking
                                         
 Software-defined networking (SDN) is an approach to building computer networks that separates and abstracts elements of these systems. SDN allows system administrators to quickly provision network connections on the fly instead of manually configuring policies.
 SDN simplify IT networks by separating the Control Plane (the intelligence) from the Data Plane (the packet forwarding engine). "Instead of having intelligence distributed across the network in separate boxes, SDN centralizes the Control plane in an overriding software layer which disseminates instructions to each router or switch," the report states.

Thanks to its affordability, SDN is expected to grow from just under $360 million in 2013 to $3.7 billion in 2016, according to IDC.

The SaaS Opportunity

The SaaS Opportunity

THE SAAS (SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE ) IS A REVOLUTION IN THE IT TECHNOLOGY

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is Internet-based software delivery. Here the consumers can have access to software that otherwise had to be purchased. Google Apps, Microsoft 365 and Amazon web services are already providing SaaS services.

In 2012, the SaaS market grew 26 percent to become an $18B market according to market research firm IDC.  According to Citi's survey, SaaS has already captured 8 percent of their software wallets so far and firms expect to increase spending to 70 percent of their budget over time — a 9-fold increase.

Over The Top Content

Over The Top Content

Streaming movies and music is on its way to bypass traditional networks and distributors. Start-up firms like Roku have sold 5 million boxes allowing consumers to stream web video right to their TV screen, while Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Google are making their own films and TV shows.

Streaming is already growing popular pushing TV ratings down to 1.2 percent since 2010. Meanwhile, Netflix subscriptions grew nearly 70 percent during the same period. Fast internet, mobile devices, and the success of the earliest firms are driving the market’s growth.

Oil To Gas Switching

 Oil To Gas Switching

                    Compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles are already big in the Middle East. Many of the taxi fleets (or autos in India) have already swathed to gas instead of liquid fuel.

CNG vehicles will continue to see robust growth around globe excluding US. The forecasting firm IHS estimates that global CNG are likely to grow from 0.9 percent of global auto production to 1.1 percent by 2020.

Energy Exploration Technology

Energy Exploration Technology

The technologies like hydraulic fracturing, horizontal drilling, and subsea exploration will expand the world’s supply of fossil fuels through oil shale.

Oil shale, also known as kerogen shale, which is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil can be produced. Shale oil is a substitute for conventional crude oil; however, extracting shale oil from oil shale is more costly than the production of conventional crude oil both financially and in terms of its environmental impact.

Some of the processes like fracking, which involves injecting water, sand, and chemicals into the ground to free up shale energy and horizontal drilling that allows oil and gas companies to access previously unobtainable parts of rock formations are beginning to take form.

The shale revolution has only just begun with US leading the way in shale extraction, but it only possesses 13 percent of recoverable shale gas worldwide, so there should start to be more rapid global expansion. Subsea processing equipment has the potential to be a $100 billion per annum market by the next decade. Offshore oil and gas production already accounts for 45 percent of incremental supply.

Mobile Payments

Mobile Payments

                                     With boom in Smartphone market, in near future post of the population in the world will own a handset. Other than its multimedia and connectivity options, the geek gadgets are on the way to become tool for making payments. With NFC (near field communication and Android Beam) the concept is already made its way into mainstream markets. It’s already big in Japan with 55 penetration, as well as emerging markets where cell phones rule. In developed markets, it's likely to be limited to transit and retail transactions.

With about six billion phone subscriptions globally, according to Canada-based IE Market Research Corporation, mobile payments will see a $1 trillion of transaction value by 2016, opening up for new mode of payment.

Genomics And Personalized Medicine

Genomics And Personalized Medicine

With advancements in the technology people are inclining more on tweaking the genome make up to avoid dread full diseases like cancer or genetic disorders like Down’s Syndrome, or simply to have strong progeny.
  The genomics market is already exploding, and sales could increase to $2.1 billion by 2015, compared with $700 million in 2005. So far, cancer screening, pre-natal testing, and "companion diagnostics" (which are used to determine how safe another type of therapy is), are the three main areas where this tech is getting used, but in near future the technology may be used for various other reasons too.

E-cigarettes

E-cigarettes

Cigarette smoking is injurious to health,” the quote is carried every where from the boxes containing tobacco products to the starting scenes once the theaters roll up curtains. The nicotine

addicts try out many ways to combat their addiction like nicotine chewing gum. This is where the technology steps in by offering battery-powered smokes that are ostensibly less toxic than regular cigarettes. They come in both disposable and reusable form.

Though E-cigarettes are only big in US, they will see a 50 percent CAG (Compound Annual Growth) in coming years, depending on regulation and penetration into retail,                       according to CITI.

3D Printing

3D Printing

3-D printing technology helps you print parts and materials practically at your desktop. The technology is poised to explode and become as common as a Smartphone, thanks to falling prices in commodities. In the future, 50% of parts used in a jet engine could be manufactured by 3D printers. 

The 3-D printing market could nearly double by 2019, and become a $6.5 billion industry from less than $3.5 billion today, according according to Wohlers Associates, the independent consulting firm that provides technical and strategic advice on the new developments and trends in rapid product development, AM, and 3D printing.