Invention of The Year

The thing is hard to type on. It’s too slow. It’s too big. It doesn’t have instant messaging. It’s too expensive. (Or, no, wait, it’s too cheap!) It doesn’t support my work e-mail. It’s locked to AT&T. Steve Jobs secretly hates puppies. And all together now we’re sick of hearing about it! Yes, there’s been a lot of hype written about the iPhone, and a lot of guff too. So much so that it seems weird to add more, after Danny Fanboy and Bobby McBlogger have had their day. But when that day is over, Apple’s iPhone is still the best thing invented this year. Why? (more…)

The trouble with most green-concept cars is that they require regular “refueling” with hard-toget hydrogen or ethanol. The Venturi Eclectic runs solely on wind and solar power. Solar cells blanket the rooftop, and a wind turbine provides extra juice. When that’s not enough, a backup electric outlet can recharge the three-seat Eclectic in five hours.

Aiming for the sweet spot between the comfort of a private vehicle and the efficiency of public transportation, the City Car from MIT’s Media Lab is a stackable electric car that can be checked out like a luggage cart at the airport, then returned to any station around the city. Electric motors in each wheel eliminate the need for a mechanical drivetrain, and these 5-ft.long (1.5 m) two-seaters zip along at 55 m.p.h. (about 90 km/h).

The future of automotive technology may lie in the past. Bruce Crower, 77, an auto-racing designer with a thriving business in San Diego, has invented a hybrid steam engine in which water is sprayed into a traditional gasoline-powered cylinder, turning waste heat into usable energy. How much energy? Enough to travel 40% farther on a gallon of gas.

Turns out DMV is actually a pleasant acronym in some parts of the globe. JR Hokkaido Railway Company began testing its Dual Mode Vehicle last April on a picturesque route along the Sea of Okhotsk in Japan’s largest prefecture. When the perky yellow trolley runs out of rails in rural areas, it retracts its steel wheels and hits the road. The transition takes about 10 seconds. Initial demographic target: tourists.

Drawing on its aviation roots — Saab was founded by aircraft engineers — the two-seater Saab Aero X is a concept car that might make the future a little cleaner. Styled like a jet, with a cockpit canopy instead of doors, and fueled by a bioethanol V-6 engine, the car suggests a future without conventional dials, instead displaying information in 3-D graphics on its clear acrylic dashboard screen.

Electric cars are so 2006. French R&D firm MDI signed a deal this year with India’s largest automaker, Tata Motors, to start manufacturing compressed-air-technology vehicles. These ultra-eco-friendly cars run on air, and the only thing they emit is colder, cleaner air. Another convenient feature: a built-in air compressor can be plugged in to refill the tanks within minutes.

Delivery of the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a year away, but the 250-seater is still the most successful commercial jet in aviation history. Fifty clients expecting bigger windows, better air pressure and humidity and more legroom have ordered 710 planes, worth $120 billion. The 787’s 50% composite structure makes it the greenest wide-body, using 20% less fuel than others its size. Available: All Nippon Airways flights as of December ‘08; orders sold out till 2014

Boeing Phantom Works, with NASA and the Air Force Research Laboratory, has tested what it calls a “blended wing body,” an 8.5%-scale prototype of what Boeing hopes will eventually be a fuel-efficient, quiet, high-capacity multipurpose jet for the military. The X-48B is destined for transport, bombing and intelligence. Wanna book a flight? Don’t count on it ever going commercial. Available: In 15 to 20 years

It’s not just for show: WowWee’s FlyTech Dragonfly may be the first remote-controlled toy to use flapping wings instead of a propeller to fly. Its carbon-fiber body makes it ultralight (it weighs just 1 oz., 0r 28 g) but sturdy enough to survive several crash landings while you work on your technique. Available: Now