Tech universe: Thursday 2 September

ViewSonic's ViewPad 7 tablet. Photo / Supplied

A round-up of the latest technology news from around the globe.

I HEART MY PHONE: The iStethoscope application uses a smartphone pressed against bare skin to record and analyse your heartbeat. Sound patterns can be emailed to and assessed by professionals. If the phone's been in a pocket, at least it should be warm. More at the BBC.

BIG PHONE: ViewSonic's ViewPad 7 is both a phone and a 17 cm Androidtablet. It includes twin cameras, Bluetooth, VOIP, and GPS. Now hold that to your ear. More at Gizmodo.

BIG EYE: Canon's latest CMOS camera sensor is 20 centimetres square and extremely sensitive to light. Shoot video at 60 frames per second with only 0.3 lux of illumination. The latest spy gadget of choice. More at Canon.

GRAPHENE ONIONS: And to power the monster camera, perhaps a little onion juice. A new super capacitor uses nanodiamonds between 'onion' layers of graphene. An organic electrolyte makes them discharge up to 200 volts every second. The energy could charge a cellphone and be
stored in a battery. More at DiscoveryNews.

SWIM BUDDY: The Finis Swimsense is a swimming computer. Wear it on your wrist where it captures stroke type and count, laps, calories
burned and distance. Upload data after a swim via USB. And remember:
don't be looking at your wrist, just keep swimming. Details at Finisinc.

- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz.