After a 2 day adventure to Bosch Tools North American home office in Mount Prospect, Il it is hard not to still be excited about all the cool new stuff coming. So many new products to such a wide range of fields from woodworking to concrete to metal working to cordless and so on. Maybe they put something in the water but it was very impressive to see so much innovation from just 1 year ago. We will work hard to get several posts up over the next few weeks, in the mean time we will do our best to focus on thing at a time.

Starting at the top, the Crown Jewel of the event would have to be the new Axial-Glide 12” Miter Saw GCM12SD. Available shortly at Ohio Power Tool with a current target price of $699, although no official dates on when these will hit the shelves, we are hoping soon! Of course the new Bosch GCM12SD will share/improve upon some of the great features on the current Bosch 12” Miter 5312 ($590, Ohio Power Tool) including upfront controls and built-in material support extensions.

As you can see in the pictures (more in this 32 Pic Album) the slide arm is the biggest innovation here but if you look close it is actually 2 arms working together, one on X and other on the Y axis. This mechanism is an extremely sturdy feat of engineering, and my last reservations were cleared away when the Bosch product manager started swinging a 2x4” at it like Mark McGwire in ‘98. The bearings are also sealed so no matter how much saw dust or debris gets on the arm, the travel will not become jerky unlike other slide saws where the rails are exposed.

Another great benefit an event like this offers is to have all the competitors’ latest & greatest models in one place to inspect and test alongside the Bosch. It takes great confidence in your products to set up a demo like that and while there were no price tags on the units it was pretty obvious the Bosch offered a clear advantage over the competition in terms of depth of work area used. For more details on the new Axial-Glide Miter Saw GCM12SD read the full Bosch Press Release below.

This bright idea by designers Annisa Fardan Nabila and Aulia Amanda Santoso minimizes waste by re-purposing incandescent light-bulbs into a gorgeous set of spice containers. The fragile nature of each light bulb provides a delicate modern container that is every bit as elegant as fine china. These beautiful pieces are more than just functional — they are sure to add personality to any kitchen. The RECYCLAMP SERIES is one of 23 finalists in our 2010 Spring Greening Competition, which challenged designers around the world to come up with innovative new uses for common household objects. If you think this design should be our grand prize winner, vote for it now!

VOTE FOR THE RECYCLAMP SERIES >

SPRING GREENING FINALISTS >

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Post tags: Annisa Fardan Nabila, Aulia Amanda Santoso, eco design, green design, Inhabitat's Spring Greening Competition 2010, Recyclamp series, recycled light bulb, spice rack, sustainable design

Nokia has released a pedal powered cell phone charger kit slated for developing nations where the power supply is limited, unreliable or expensive. The kit includes a bottle-dynamo, like the ones used to power a bike light, plus a cell phone holder that attaches to the handlebars. Nokia hopes to begin selling the kits by the end of 2010 for around 15 euros in countries that have a large bicycling population. These dynamos are great sources of renewable and human power and make it that much easier for people to want to choose biking as their main mode of transportation.

Read the rest of Nokia Unveils Bike-Powered Cell Phone Chargershttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/ohttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=better_feedptions-general.php?page=better_feed

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Post tags: bike charger, bike-powered cell phone charger, cell phone, cell phone charger, dynamo, eco design, green design, green gadget, Greener Gadgets, human power, Nokia, pedal power, sustainable design

Along with the most extensive high speed rail network, China also has the world’s fastest train, which rolled off production lines last week. The 380A built by Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd, can go up to 380 kph (236 mph), which is a slight decrease from previous claims, but still very fast. This new line of high speed trains will run on the railway between Beijing and Shanghai when it is completed in 2011.

Read the rest of World’s Fastest Train Rolls Off Production Linehttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/ohttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=better_feedptions-general.php?page=better_feed

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Post tags: alternative transportation, china, eco design, greeen design, green transportation, high speed, high speed rail, high speed railway, high speed train, HSR, world's fastest train