Gadgets Blog News

Trust the Japanese to bring the Internet from space - the technologically-advanced nation has just launched an experimental satellite that will eventually provide high-speed Internet access throughout Asia, allowing one to check e-mail and surf Coolest gadgets no matter the condition of terrestrial infrastructure. Developed domestically, the H-2A rocket which carried the Kizuna satellite was launched at 17:55 pm (0855 GMT) without facing any problems from the Space Centre on Tanegashima island off the southern tip of Kyushu Island in southern Japan. This communications satellite has been tipped to be in use for five years, and it has the potential to allow extremely high speed data communications that will be able to touch a whopping 1.2Gbps - something I would like to enjoy whenever I hit the Internet. (Read the full post about ‘Japan sends Internet satellite to space’…)

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How can you resist an ipod speaker shaped like a raindrop that you can take into the shower or bath, or keep pool-side or on your beach blanket? I have the one in “Liquid Blue”; it’s about the size of a coconut (so not tiny), and it houses my iPod safely inside its waterproof shell so I can take my music or audiobooks into the bath with me. Sound quality is decent enough, considering my expectations aren’t that high when it comes to bath-side entertainment. It runs on four AA batteries, and external controls consist of just four simple, tiny buttons for up volume, down volume, stop, and playback. The Zumreed Rain Drop iPod Bathroom Speaker comes from Audiocubes for $50. (Read the full post about ‘Rain Drop speakers for the shower or bath’…)

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Posted Feb 24th 2008 11:15AM by Paul MillerFiled under: Transportation It’s really too bad nanotechnology is so gosh darn morally unacceptable, it could do so much good for humanity! Take this new wiperless windshield, for instance. Designed by Leonardo Fioravanti of Pininfarina, the Hidra features an aerodynamic design, and a bit of a nanotech sandwich (mmm, sandwich) to keep the front glass clear of water and debris. The first layer protects from sun and repels water, the second layer features “nano-dust” to push dirt to the edges of the windshield and is activated by the third layer which senses the dirt, while the whole kit is powered by the fourth layer which conducts electricity to keep it going. (Read the full post about ‘Wiperless windshields in your future? Thanks, nanotech.’…)

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You can’t normally fish and kayak at the same time (unless you enjoy getting wet), however that could change with the new fisherman’s kayak. This is the only kayak available that uses a patented extendable outrigger system to stabilize the craft, enabling outdoor enthusiasts to fish from a standing position. Made of durable polyethylene with stainless steel and aluminum hardware, the kayak has two independent outriggers that pivot outward 45 to its centerline, yet both swing back into position to form the aft section of the craft to allow for smooth paddling. The fisherman’s kayak costs $1,899.95 and is available at Hammacher. (Read the full post about ‘A kayak you can stand in’…)

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With the recent demise of HD DVD and all things that surround it, this news from Microsoft comes as no real surprise, they have officially discontinued the Xbox 360 hd dvd player. Current owners need not worry though, because although discontinued the support and warranty will remain in effect. Actually the only real surprise here is that it took Microsoft this long to make it official. A nice follow up would have been the announcement of a Blu-ray player add-on, but that still has not been mentioned. It would make sense though. Via [Gizmodo] Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed → Tags: home theater, pvr, PDA, CD (Read the full post about ‘Further HD DVD casualties, Microsoft discontinues Xbox 360 HD DVD player’…)

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A new online resource from Palm could prove to be helpful for some of the new Palm smartphone owners. With the recent popularity (and the low price) of the Centro we are now seeing a whole new group of smartphone users, some who may not be as technology friendly. These new Self-Paced Learning guides from Palm should offer them the needed help to use their smartphone like a pro. Palm has guides available for the Treo 500v, 680, 700w, 700wx, 700p, 750 and the Centro from both Sprint and AT&T. The guides offer up some tutorials on topics like getting to know your smartphone, setting up your smartphone, sending email, browsing the web, tips, tricks and a whole lot more. (Read the full post about ‘Palm offers free, online Self-Paced Learning Guides for smartphones’…)

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Posted Feb 24th 2008 8:57AM by Paul MillerFiled under: Digital Cameras, Transportation Ever on the lookout for the next step in up in Big Brother policy, there’s a new camera technology being developed in the UK at Loughborough University which can count car occupants by figuring out how much water and blood content there is inside the car. The obvious application is for trimming down those carpool lane offenders, trying to squeeze by the law with a dummy or a pet in the passenger seat. Look, privacy concerns aside, there’s just something awkward about traffic cams tracking quantities of blood and water inside of commuter cars. Do we really want to let the Machines have that kind of inside (literally) inform (Read the full post about ‘New camera tech can detect blood and water content in your car. Ew.’…)

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Posted Feb 24th 2008 5:05AM by Paul MillerFiled under: Desktops Anybody remember when a gigaflop was a big deal? Oh, how far we’ve come. Researchers are now talking about exascale computing, which means systems that can handle a million trillion calculations per second. To put that in perspective, IBM’s BlueGene/L (pictured), the fastest machine running, has a peak performance of 596 teraflops. A petaflop is 1000 times faster than a teraflop, and an exaflop is 1000 times faster than a petaflop. Yeah, that’s a lot of flops. (Read the full post about ‘Exascale computing: it’s the new terascale’…)

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If you love HD and you’re a sports fan, then there’s probably not much better than watching your favorite sports in HD. A HD sports event is the second closest you can get to the game, as long as you know when it’s on.

(Read the full post about ‘HD Sports’…)

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Posted Feb 24th 2008 12:15AM by Darren MurphFiled under: Misc. gadgets We’re pretty certain this isn’t the first time researchers have dove in and tried to accurately gauge laughter, but it just might be the most thorough. (Read the full post about ‘Researchers craft laughter measurement system to gauge aH’…)

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