Gadgets Blog News

Posted Jan 16th 2008 6:17PM by Donald MelansonFiled under: Misc. Gadgets There’s certainly plenty more than just hard science going on in space, and it now looks like a group of researchers from the University of Tokyo are aiming to get in on that action as well. To that end, they’ve teamed up with the brains behind the Japan Origami Airplane Association to develop an origami aircraft that’ll supposedly be capable of surviving the flight from the International Space Station to the Earth’s surface. They even seem to have made some progress already, with them set to test an eight centimeter long prototype in the wind tunnel at the University of Tokyo later this week, where it’ll face wind speeds up to 5,300 miles per hour. (Read the full post about ‘“Researchers” hope to launch paper airplanes from space’…)

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Posted Jan 16th 2008 4:31PM by Donald MelansonFiled under: Transportation They’re not hybrids or all-electrics, and you likely won’t be distracted their overflowing in-car technology, so they’re not exactly in our usual scope of coverage, but this new batch of vehicles from a couple of Chinese automakers is certainly right at home in our keepin’ it real fake series, which is somehow never starved for material. Among those that did their best to blend in at the Detroit Auto Show is Geely and its Cadillac-esque HIFUN model pictured above, as well as the double-take-inducing ChangFeng Hyundai-lookalike and BYD Auto’s Mercedes-influenced F8, both pictured after the break. (Read the full post about ‘Keepin’ it real fake, part CV: Chinese automakers invade Detroit Auto Show’…)

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Posted Jan 16th 2008 1:01PM by Darren MurphFiled under: Storage Remember that 1.3-inch hard drive that Samsung cut loose at CES? Even if that somehow managed to get lost in the blur, you can refocus a bit now that LaCie has decided to slip it into its forthcoming Little Disk and USB Key Max. Reportedly, the devices will be available (as in, real soon) in 30GB / 40GB flavors, and yes, they’ll now fit into even tighter jeans. (Read the full post about ‘LaCie slides Samsung’s 1.3-inch HDD into Little Disk, USB Key Max’…)

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In a move to help support the reduction of data theft Sharkoon have launched the $50 Sharkoon Swift-Case Securita with RFID encryption to help protect against unauthorized access. Built into each of the cases for 2.5-inch SATA hard drives is a RFID transceiver that responds solely to the accompanying RFID transponder which is a simple plastic fob design that attaches securely to key chains. When you first set up the security in produces a unique encryption key after which you can easily lock or unlock the drive using the transponder. Added security comes from the way the radio frequency itself is also protected by 128-bit AES encryption. (Read the full post about ‘RFID encrypted enclosures’…)

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Posted Jan 16th 2008 11:59AM by Sean CooperFiled under: CellphonesAh yes, ye olde we’re-going-to-switch-our-network-technology story surfaces again, seems we can’t have a quarter without this type of story raising it’s head. We heard this same tale back when Bell Canada was involved in all that sale / merger / rumor business, but this time Telus is the center of the fun. It seems that Telus may be set to abandon its ‘Betamax” network and is now ogling the hundreds of millions of dollars in roaming revenue that the GSM carriers enjoy by considering a move to tap into it. Of course, this is merely speculation, but the story does seem to be gaining traction and Rogers shares actually suffered a 2.6 percent drop on this news yesterday. (Read the full post about ‘CDMA provider contemplating move to GSM: The Telus edition’…)

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It seems like everyday we are seeing a new ultra-portable laptop hitting the market. Lately most are being called the Eee PC killer, which I suppose would be a compliment to the folks over at Asus. Just recently we have seen Everex introduce the Cloudbook and now we are seeing reports that Acer is soon to be prepping a similar ultra-portable. The Acer laptop is rumored to have either an 8- or 9-inch display and be priced and spec’d similar to the Eee PC. The new laptop from Acer is expected to be available in late Q1 or early Q2 2008. With a few months before this is even supposed to be available it should be interesting to see what happens with the Cloudbook and what else Asus can show us; possibly a second generation of the Eee. (Read the full post about ‘Acer prepping a laptop to compete with the Eee PC?’…)

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Here’s a true fashion statement for the videogame lover who has it all. Going all out with the retro look, this jacket is emblazoned with hundreds of pixelated little alien dudes from the arcade classic, Space Invaders. Designed by Scandanavian design mavens Junk de Luxe, the shiny synthetic look kind of reminds me of those cheezy old Members Only jackets, only further reinforcing the 1980s theme. Unfortunately, the only place I can find these is from Trendlovers in Denmark. So unless you happen speak Danish, you may be out of luck. If you absolutely must be kept warm by aliens this winter, you can always pick up a toasty Space Invaders scarf. (Read the full post about ’space invaders jacket: wrapped up in aliens’…)

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Posted Jan 16th 2008 9:56AM by Evan BlassFiled under: Misc. Gadgets, PeripheralsTags: cable, gaming, digital, lcd (Read the full post about ‘Mixed meme of the day: Beatles coming to Optimus Maximus’…)

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Yesterday at MacWorld Convention 2008, Steve Jobs has presented the new MacBook Air — the world’s thinnest notebook. The press had been intrigued with the catchline, “There’s something in the air,” leading many to speculate that an ultra-small ultra-thin device would be announced this year. Indeed, Apple has unveiled the MacBook Air, a 3-pound notebook that’s less than one-inch in thickness. The notebook has a tapering thickness, measuring 0.76 to 0.16 inch — that’s a lot thinner than the Toshiba Portege R500-S5002, which is lighter than the Air by 0.6 pounds but is still one-inch thick. The MacBook Air is a “green” device, boasting an aluminum casing and a 13.3-in. (Read the full post about ‘The MacBook Air’…)

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GPS Mobile. GPS/GPRS device combines GPS tracking, a geo-fence (leaving the area triggers an SMS alert) and SOS alerting functions for protecting the young and elderly in one neat package. It also sends you an SMS of the last location if the device is taken underground or loses signal in some other way, and it has a speeding function to send an alert if your kids are racing the lawn mower again. (Read the full post about ‘GPS Mobile - track and alert’…)

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