It weighs 2,200kg, has four doors and will retail locally for AU$390,000 before on-road costs. Is it worth it?

Fittingly, it’s the most bullish thing you’ll ever encounter on the road as it bears all the hallmarks of a car that’s been heavily molested by Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise.

But that’s not the real issue here. Lamborghini have created the world’s first “Super Sport SUV” which it believes Australia (the country built on 1960s Toyota Landcruisers) needs.

On paper it’s quite simply the most pointless car to ever roll out of an Italian supercar plant. The definition of SUV alone rules it out as a potential daily transporter for those who just want to move a family from point A to B without the fuss and only the bare essentials (comfort, space, efficiency and road compliancy over mildly rough terrain).

The Urus throws two middle fingers at the rule book by taking those basic requisites and dialling it up to an entirely new level of ‘I-have-too-much-cash-in-the-ceiling’.

Under the bonnet resides a big 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 which develops 478kW of power and 850Nm of torque. Those specs are further paired with an all-wheel-drive system which boasts active torque vectoring and rear-wheel steering designed for rapid cornering – you know, for days when you forget to pick up your beloved child from school.

The eight-speed automatic transmission is also a thing of beauty and absolute overkill as it features up to six driving modes, five of which the typical SUV driver will never touch. It’s all good though because the Urus can dismantle the 0-100km/h sprint in just 3.6 seconds before topping out at 305km/h. The cops will love it when you tell them you’re embracing the new ways of the lead-foot soccer mum/dad.

70% of the Urus buyers to date are entirely new to the brand, and more specifically, female

On the inside there’s cool creature comforts like a driver’s display, eight speakers, a dual screen infotainment system equipped with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Bluetooth, USB connectivity and wait for it…a DVD player (do they sell those anymore?). There’s also 616 litres of luggage space which expands into 1596 litres for those will actually use it.

On the outside the striking design is evident – a low slung roofline to emphasise its super car roots, wheel options which range from 21 to 23 inches with massive carbon ceramic brakes fitted as standard.

Preposterous? Not in reality. We personally quite like the Urus for what it stands for and that’s being a proper trendsetter in a thriving market segment. Whilst it’s not designed for everyone in the realm of casual SUV shopping, the car has proven its detractors wrong with the surprise announcement that 70% of the Urus buyers to date are new to the brand. And more specifically, female.

Whether or not people think the car is pointless is irrelevant. Lamborghini is riding the wave it created and they have to be given credit for that at least.

If all else fails, at least they know the slinky design will be a local hit with the bikies. Enjoy the woeful press photos above.

The post Lamborghini's Pointless $400,000 SUV Proves It's Luring New Customers To The Brand appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Well it’s finally happened. The world’s first whisky-based cryptocurrency has officially launched to give investors a chance to claim a share of a £40 million Scotch whisky portfolio.

CaskCoin is the name of the latest digital currency founded by Ricky Christie, the boss behind the North of Scotland Distilling Company. According to the website, CaskCoin is an “asset-backed cryptocurrency which combines blockchain technology with a physical asset investment in the form of maturing Scotch Whisky”.

In other words, every coin equates to physical ownership of a share of the elusive cask collection. And what’s in the collection? Old and rare malts aged anywhere between 21 and 50 years, according to the website.

Whilst CaskCoin’s initial coin offering (ICO) is looking to raise a lofty figure of over £40 million in just 18 days in March, the company says it will not be increasing the number of ERC-20 tokens which has been capped at 6.5 million at £8.15 each.

According to CaskCoin’s site profile, “whisky is an interesting alternative to traditional or even the alternative SWAG (silver, wine, art and gold) investing”.

“It has several interesting characteristics; It does not go off like wine, but can still be consumed, unlike gold and silver.”

The latest unique cryptocurrency is further compared to art collection where the site explains that once it is consumed, it cannot be consumed again.

“Whisky offers an investment vehicle which could increase over time. Until recently investing in whisky was something reserved for the few, it took time, knowledge, know-how and expertise. With CaskCoin some of those challenges have been simplified.”

The arrival of CaskCoin comes off the back of the launch of The Single Malt Fund earlier this year, the company which gave investors the opportunity to own a part of a collection of rare and limited-edition whiskies alongside exclusive access to buy them.

The point of difference between CaskCoin and The Single Malt Fund is that the latter provides investment via traditional currency across an evolving portfolio. CaskCoin on the other hand relies on the trading of its own digital currency.

Those keen to buy into CoinCask will need to fork out large thanks to a minimum investment of £30,000 paid in bitcoin or ether.

The post The World's First Whisky-Based Cryptocurrency Just Became A Reality appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

It’s time to burn some serious cash with this week’s edition of cool stuff you’ll never need. This is Shut Up & Take My Money, the place where we take your lunch money.

Open Meals 3D Printed Food

First sushi, then the world – i.e. fried chicken. Open Meals debuted the first 3D printed sushi at this year’s SXSW and it’s bloody glorious. The creation of these highly ‘grammable 8-bit looking snacks are made possible thanks to Open Meals, a company specialising in making every type of food possible throughout the world. Their Pixel Food Printer utilises a collection of edible gel cubes which are coded with specific nutrients, flavours, textures, shapes and colours. Once the menu for a special dish is ‘downloaded’ into the computer, the robot begins to piece together the dish on its own. Whilst cool looking, the 8-bit appearance isn’t actually intentional as it’s the result of the printer only being able to produce blocks of a certain size. The final taste result is also reportedly pretty bad since coding the gel cubes with the right flavours is difficult. The robot is a concept for now but we can only imagine where this is heading in the future…3D printed fried chicken, anyone?

Mmmm 8-bit pixelated sushi #sxsw pic.twitter.com/lmztzkFEEt

— Raymond Wong (@raywongy) March 11, 2018

Hyundai Kite

Hyundai is at it again and this time they’ve created a sleek looking beach buggy which can transform into a jet ski. The concept was designed in partnership with students from Turin’s renowned Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) and features no doors, roof or windows. It does however have four electric motors powering each wheel and it can also convert into a jet ski. No details on how but apparently the cockpit is modular meaning it can convert into a single seater watercraft. 

BUY $TBC

Bose Augmented Reality Glasses

Another SXSW debut came from Bose this year in the form of augmented reality glasses. The Bose AR project is a gateway into the digital world (think the Matrix) and it can assist the wearer in interacting with the fabricated environment through sound and movement-based inputs. Bose is serious about the technology too, having set aside US$50 million to develop the technology to be used with apps like Yelp and TripAdvisor to allow users to experience, and dare we say feel, before they buy. The Bose AR glasses will also boast hand gesture controls to switch up music. Whilst not officially on sale to the public, 10,000 pairs of the beta version will be going to developers to refine. 

BUY $TBC

Qarnot Cryptocurrency Heater

We know that mining cryptocurrency consumers a lot of power and generates a bit of heat, so why not use that excess heat to keep your room toasty? That’s the idea behind Qarnot’s QC1 home heater. Conceived by a French startup, the QC1 features a passive computer built in which looks after the data processing part of the crypto game. The twin AMD GPUs is default set to mine Ethers but it can also be set to mine other cryptocurrencies of your liking. Whether or not the crypto pay off makes up for the US$3,600 asking price and hefty power consumption is another question though. But hey, at least it looks cool.

BUY $3,600

Master & Dynamic MA770 Wireless Speaker

Beautiful design meets superb sound quality with Master & Dynamic‘s latest wireless speaker designed in collaboration with esteemed architect, David Adjaye. The design sees an absence of traditional materials found in consumer electronics and instead opts for a full enclosure made from acoustically-tuned concrete composite. An anodised aluminium control panel allows users to toggle between aux input, Bluetooth, Chromecast or Wi-Fi music sources.

BUY $1,800

Pal-V Liberty Flying Car

Another day, another flying car. This time it’s the Pal-V Liberty, “the world’s first certified commercial flying car”. We’re not sure how this one will pass road or air worthy tests but at least it looks cool.

The post Strap In Because Hyundai Is Bringing Back The Beach Buggy [SUTMM #169] appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

As major Australian cities continue to go through the grips of a housing affordability crisis, a potential answer may have been discovered at SXSW overnight – 3D printed houses that cost US$4,000 .

In recent times the technology has conceived everything from plastic objects to advanced sneakers and even firearms. The latest exploit though is likely to be the most audacious one yet.

New Story, a Y Combinator-backed charity has teamed up with robotics company Icon to develop the very first 3D-printed house which meets modern building standards and permits for people to live in. More importantly, it can be completed in just 24 hours.

The idea came about as an initiative to construct small houses for families in disaster-stricken countries like Haiti and El Salvador. The prototype 74 square metre home located in Austin, Texas, costed US$10,000 to build using Icon’s proprietary Vulcan printer, but the company plans to eventually get that price down to the aforementioned US$4,000.

The process is still being refined at the moment but once it gets there, New Story hopes that houses can be completed in just six hours.

The Vulcan printer itself isn’t exactly small but it is still mobile. It works by excreting a special blend of concrete in layers which hardens as it prints, drastically shortening the time it needs for inhabitants to move in. Strength-wise, Icon says that the printed walls are stronger than cinderblocks after a few days of hardening but people can move in right away.

There’s still some extra custom work required in the form of installing windows, roofing, plumbing and electrical wiring, but all of it can be done in under 24 hours. Icon hopes that in the future they’ll also have robots to accomplish this last part of the puzzle whilst drones spray paint the exterior of the home.

“Affordability is important,” Icon cofounder Evan Loomis said. “Regardless of whether you’re in Austin or El Salvador.”

We have fast food. Now we have fast housing. Watch the video below to see how it’s done.

The post A Clever Innovation Revealed At SXSW Could Be The Solution To Australia's Housing Crisis appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The phallic cacti images. The minimal Instagram aesthetic complete with muted pink and greys. This isn’t your usual coffee scrub e-commerce site – this is the latest multi-million dollar dick idea which is now valued at US$200 million after launching three and a half months ago.

Hims is the new direct-to-consumer erectile dysfunction and hair loss brand dedicated to the millennial man. Since debuting online on November 1st last year, the men’s wellness startup has managed to move US$10 million worth of products whilst raising an extra US$40 million in funding from venture capitalists.

According to Wired insiders, that new round now values Hims at US$200 million – non-inclusive of the initial funding it had received.

What’s intriguing however is the brand’s meteoric rise above its existing competition, a result of its unique approach to marketing two of men’s most feared setbacks in life: losing their hair and a penis that won’t work.

Hims have seemingly turned these two traditionally serious notions into a simplified millennial concept of having an answer for everything, i.e., “chill dude, there’s a pill for that”. And it’s working.

This is a fine example of today’s millennial branding and its massive sales figures reveals that it’s resonating amongst today’s trendier males.

Andrew Dudum who is the 29-year-old entrepreneur behind Hims told Fast Company last year that the idea had come to him naturally.

“These are all issues that I and my friends thought about or struggled with at some point in our lives,” he said. “Inevitably, what happens is we Google-search really scary stuff at 3:00 a.m. and the results are either WebMD or snake oil products.”

The popularity of Hims follows in the footsteps of direct-to-consumer brands like Frank Body’s coffee scrub, Casper’s mattresses and Warby Parker’s online glasses. The underlying commonality amongst these social media savvy brands is their ability to put a weird or quirky twist on life’s traditionally mundane necessities.

Hims have capitalised on this notion by making millennial male insecurities cool and it’s not alone. There’s also the company Keeps which is a hair loss-focused startup and Roman which looks after erectile dysfunction.

Whilst the latter two have had success with venture funding, Hims looks to become a serious frontrunner in the space thanks to its rebellious brand message which tells men on the site that baldness and erectile dysfunctional are “optional” and “Prevention. More effective than denial”.

Additionally there’s also this profound message from their site.

“If you look good you’ll feel good, you feel good you’ll play good, you play good they pay good, they pay good you live good, you live good you die good.”

Welcome to the future of the men’s personal care, a market which is slated to be worth $166 billion by 2022.

The post Hims Is The $200M Hipster Startup Making Hair Loss & Penis Pills Cool appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Three seats. Over 391km/h. The McLaren F1 successor is almost here and it’s promising to be the British marque’s fastest road car ever, overtaking its predecessor’s world record speed of 243mph back in 1992.

Tentatively codenamed BP23, the car’s performance was confirmed at the Geneva Motor Show by CEO Mike Flewitt who also revealed that the car will arrive later in 2018. The McLaren BP23 name stands for “bespoke, project two, three seater” and it will follow the same iconic layout as the original car – a centre driving position with two seats either side.

Interestingly, the BP23 won’t be chasing elusive Nurburgring laptimes once it debuts. The new model will instead be a grand tourer with more power than a P1’s 673kW. The drivetrain will also be hybrid powered, likely making use of the 720S’ twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 paired to electric motors.

Once the BP23 arrives it will sit alongside the McLaren Senna as part of the brand’s Ultimate Series which means that it will have a real name instead of the usual alphanumerical nameplate of the Super Sport Series.

Keen to express your interest? You’re too late. McLaren will be hosting a private showing of the car to just 106 people – of the 106, all are customers who have already purchased the car for £1.6 million or AU$2.8 million.

The post McLaren Confirms Its Fastest Three-Seater Road Car Ever appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

In the week that was we had the Oscars which are often the barometer for what’s hot in black tie / formal attire. In addition, Paris Fashion Week was in full swing with the kids (who try way too hard) taking to the streets with the weird and wonderful in menswear.

Here’s our sixteen best looks on men from London, Los Angeles, Paris and other parts of the world. Honourable mentions to Simone Marchetti, Pierpaolo Piccioli and Jared Leto.

The post The Best Dressed Men From The Week That Was Feat. John Legend, Jared Leto & Sam Smith appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

When Sierra Leoneans went to the polls on Wednesday, they hoped to elect a leader who would help the country recover from a deadly mudslide, 2014’s Ebola epidemic, and an 11-year civil war that ended more than 50,000 lives. They also made history.

Behind the scenes, voting startup Agora turned the heated race between 16 candidates into the world’s first blockchain-powered presidential election, and though the results have yet to be tallied, proponents are already calling it a momentous step in the fight to eliminate voter fraud.

Patiently waiting to vote in #SierraLeone pic.twitter.com/m6O6ZKaPus

— Umaru Fofana (@UmaruFofana) March 7, 2018

Agora implemented a private, permissioned blockchain – which differs from a public blockchain by placing restrictions on who can interact with the blockchain’s network – to oversee the results of the election in real time and ensure no corruption of the democratic process.

Following an initial vote on traditional paper ballots, an Agora team of impartial observers is now hard at work manually counting the votes and logging them on a blockchain.

“You’re looking at a country that you probably wouldn’t normally expect to be the first to use transparent voting tech,” said Agora’s COO, Jaron Lukasiewicz, to CoinDesk. “A country like Sierra Leone can ultimately minimise a lot of the fall-out of a highly contentious election by using software like this.”

This is the first time blockchain has been implemented in a national election. It’s also the first time Agora’s stack of blockchain services, which the company calls “skipchain” technology, has been tested in a real-life scenario. Sierra Leone was chosen precisely because of its history of fraud, corruption, violence and unreliable elections – but if all goes well with the experiment, it could be just one of many countries bringing blockchain technology into politics.

Says Thomas Alieu, “This is the first time in the history of this country where a #blind person like myself can vote independently with the aid of the Tactile Ballot Guide. I am so happy and thank God the whole atmosphere has been peaceful.” pic.twitter.com/KuL055Qlzl

— National Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (@NECsalone) March 7, 2018

In fact, Agora claims it’s already in conversations with other nations interested in hosting future elections supported by the company’s fully transparent, auditable voting processes.

“It has been incredible to play a role in helping Sierra Leone’s citizens exercise their democratic rights, and to help their country maintain a transparent democracy,” Agora CEO Leonardo Gammar told CoinDesk. “I strongly believe that this election is the beginning of a much larger blockchain voting movement.”

The post Sierra Leone Just Held The World's First Blockchain-Powered Presidential Vote appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

“Exercise in a pill”. It has a sensational ring to it but that’s exactly what scientists from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California are currently working on.

The drug tentatively named 516 is designed to mimic the effects of high intensity training and fat burning without the need to actually set foot in a gym. Whilst the breakthrough research will inevitably be seen in the same light as dodgy get-fit-quick schemes (Shake-Weight, anyone?), there’s actually a lot of resources being poured into the study of 516 to make it a legitimate fitness tool for humans.

Ronald Evans is the Salk Institute researcher who’s leading the study on the exercise pill which is currently the frontrunner for human subjects. Prior to this, scientists have been working on 516 for up to decade to ensure it does exactly what it’s supposed to.

It works by breaking down body fat instead of carbohydrates through the altering of signals that your genes send to your muscles – a process similar to what elite athletes go through when they exercise.

Think about it this way. Exercise is often perceived as the physical activity which leads to muscle growth and calorie burning in the human body. On a molecular level, the act of exercise is simply a trigger that starts a chemical process which results in strength and weight loss. The 516 drug is attempting to replace exercise as this trigger, and it can do so without you working up a drop of sweat.

“We’re trying to develop a drug that can help us game the system that is naturally activated during exercise.”

Controversial? No doubt.

Evans explained to The Washington Post that he’s trying to “develop a drug that can help us game the system that is naturally activated during exercise”.

Whilst one can only imagine the collective irk of personal trainers and gyms around the world, there’s actually a legitimate use for 516 and that’s for the physically disabled. 516 can be used on those with genetic disorders which prevents them from growing muscles, the elderly and the obese, giving them with their greatest fitness goals without the need to exercise.

It’s not all good news though. The drug is still in its trial stages and an earlier study of 516 (before Evans’ research) rendered mice subjects with a higher rate of developing cancer. Modifying genetic and molecular signals in the human body doesn’t come without its risks, but neither does steroids or peptides.

Those keen on giving 516 a crack need to know that early variants have already been on the market for a while and is most popular amongst bodybuilders and elite athletes. It’s also a trend which has led to the drug being banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The science-approved version of 516 that Evans is working on is still going through several more years of trials and the FDA isn’t going to approve it anytime soon since it doesn’t recognise an “inability to exercise” as a disease requiring a drug. It’s legitimacy, if it does come, will most likely fall in the realm of people with muscular dystrophy.

The post Forget Leg Day, Scientists Are Working On A Pill To Replace Exercise appeared first on DMARGE Australia.