Gadgets Blog News

Posted Jan 17th 2008 3:49PM by Donald MelansonFiled under: Wearables We’ve seen plenty of newfangled contact lenses in the past, but it looks like a team of researchers at the University of Washington may have outdone them all, with their latest creation promising not only heads-up displays, but “superhuman vision.” That’s apparently possible thanks to a combination of lights and circuits, which they’ve managed to cram onto lens no larger than your average contact — though it doesn’t even do so much as light up in its current state (that’s promises “soon”). (Read the full post about ‘Researchers put circuits on contact lenses, freak out rabbits’…)

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Posted Jan 17th 2008 5:43PM by Darren MurphFiled under: DesktopsFor those who haven’t been paying attention, the market for sub-$200 (or value-priced, if you will) rigs seems to be on quite the rise. Hot on the heels of the Everex gPC and the recently announced Shuttle KPC comes a $199 Linux box from Mirus Innovations. Available now at Sears.com, this understandably lackluster machine houses a borderline ancient 1.6GHz Intel Celeron 420 processor, a slightly more respectable 1GB of RAM, 80GB hard drive, a CD-RW drive, 56k modem, an Ethernet jack and a 15-in-1 multicard reader. Furthermore, you’ll also get a set of speakers, a keyboard / mouse bundled in, and Freespire 2.0 pre-installed. (Read the full post about ‘Mirus’ $199 Linux PC keeps the trend alive, lands at Sears’…)

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Posted Jan 17th 2008 12:33PM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Misc. Gadgets According to a highly dubious study recently released by a maker of paper-shredders, 47-percent of Americans said they would “like to be Bill Gates.” The other 53-percent said they preferred being powerless, poor, and not knowing what to do with Visual Basic.Tags: DAB, amps, video games, hdtv (Read the full post about ‘“Study” finds half of Americans want to be Bill Gates’…)

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Posted Jan 17th 2008 1:59PM by Darren MurphFiled under: Misc. Gadgets It’s no secret that gadget aficionados like ourselves have mounds of kit that was hot stuff in its heyday, but figuring out what to do with it once its prime has passed is still a mystery to some. ‘Course, the entrepreneurs in the crowd simply offer their previously loved wares up to the world via eBay (or similar), but for those lacking the time / motivation to do so, rest assured, companies are on the prowl to totally take advantage of you. TechForward and NEW are two firms that are looking to make a mint from entering the gadget buyback realm, and as you’d probably expect, the cash doled out to suckers individuals who bite on this is woefully less than market value — but then again, it’s ultra-convenient, shipping is free and it’s guaranteed, hassle-free money. (Read the full post about ‘TechForward and NEW sparking trend of gadget buyback services’…)

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With the slew of gadgets that one carries around these days, it makes perfect sense to provide them with adequate protection since we know that accidental knocks are harder to predict than the weather. Hence, the Pocket Protector. Upgrade your geekwear with this fabulously functional Pocket Protector. Each 5-3/4″ x 3-3/8″ vinyl accessory has multiple storage compartments to store everything from pens and laser pointers to flash drives and MP3 players. It even includes a 36″, nylon, breakaway lanyard so you can wear it around your neck at conventions, conferences and symposiums. Comes with a sheet of 25 cling stickers of various geeky icons and symbols that you can use to add some pizazz to your protector. (Read the full post about ‘Pocket Protector to the rescue’…)

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Razor Horizon Home Theater. We’re trying to work out why you’d want to stick a big black rectangular lump of wood underneath your expensive LCD television screen to power your audio, but we’re failing. Badly. Maybe it’s because the integrated CD/DVD will play ‘the whole gambit of other file formats like DVD-R/RW, CD-R/RW, MP3, VCD, SVCD, WMA, MPEG 1, MPEG 2, MPEG 4, JPEG, and more’? Or perhaps you just need more black in your life? Whatever. $399.95.  The Razor sharp design fits perfectly with your plasma or LCD wall mounted television. You’ll be amazed by the sheer class and functionality of the Razor Sound System with built in DVD player. (Read the full post about ‘Razor Horizon Home Theater - boxify your multimedia experience’…)

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Posted Jan 17th 2008 8:53AM by Darren MurphFiled under: Misc. GadgetsWe’ve no idea what’s up with Europe and its admittedly zany fascination with canine research, but not even two months after a team of Austrians claimed to have trained a litter to use computers, a crew from Hungary is now trumpeting its dog translation software. More specifically, Csaba Molnár (and colleagues) from Eötvös Loránd University have reportedly been able to create an application that can “identify and differentiate the acoustic features of dog barks, and classify them according to different contexts and individual dogs.” The gurus began by feeding some 6,000 barks from 14 Hungarian sheepdogs in a half dozen situations to a computer, and during analysis, it was able to correctly classify the barks between 40 and 50-percent of the time. (Read the full post about ‘Researchers devise tool for understanding dog barks, sort of’…)

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Euphonix MC Control. This new home studio controller is designed to turn your computer based music studio software like Pro-Tools or Cubase into a full fledged DIY studio system. You get some pretty fancy technology thrown in to the system for your $999.99, including a multi-configurable touchscreen panel which automatically sets itself for the software you’re using, motorized auto-recall faders just like the big boys use and full-on jog/shuttle controls for those intimate editing moments. Just another reason why the music industry is becoming irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, who needs a massive studio budget now, eh? Oh, and you’ll need an Apple Mac by the way. (Read the full post about ‘Euphonix MC Control - bedroom music studios suddenly get whiz-bang fancy’…)

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Even though I own the WiFi t-shirt, which shows you - and everyone else - when you’re in a WiFi zone, it’s a little geeky even for me, so I’d prefer this bag by Soyntec. The Wiffinder series of bags will find a signal for you and show you the connection available via a discreet “slideshow” function on the side of the case. The Wiffinder 400 Executive case fits laptops up to 15.4″ and costs 43,02 Euros (about $65). Via Gear Fuse. Tags: ipod, lcd, tests, equipment (Read the full post about ‘WiFi Finder Bag’…)

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Posted Jan 17th 2008 6:29AM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Misc. Gadgets Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee sprinter, has been denied a shot at the Olympics… for being too fast. The runner — who uses carbon-fiber, prosthetic feet — was reviewed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (or IAAF), a review which found the combination of man and machine to be too much for its purely human competitors. According to the IAAF report, the “mechanical advantage of the blade in relation to the healthy ankle joint of an able bodied athlete is higher than 30-percent.” Additionally, Pistorius uses 25-percent less energy than average runners due to the artificial limbs, therefore giving him an unfair advantage on the track… (Read the full post about ‘Prosthetic-limbed runner disqualified from Olympics’…)

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