Retro is in - it’s time to dig out all those Etch-a-Sketchs and Diablos and get playing! More alarm clock gadgets. This one looks like a Rubik’s cube, and includes time, date, alarm and temperature. To keep the cube theme going, you rotate the top row to switch between the different functions. Not as easy as pushing a button, but hey, you wanted a Rubik’s cube alarm clock, right?
Well folks, it's happening. The HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) robot suit is going into mass production and will be available in Japan sometime soon for around $4,200.
This is great news for HAL's target market: Its ability to grant its wearer tenfold strength increases during specific actions could change the lives of people with degenerative muscle diseases, or accident victims who would otherwise need long, difficult rehabilitative therapy to regain basic mobility. And with a five-hour battery life, it could be quite practical for day to day use.
Thanks, but no thanks. I don't care if I was just a head, I would never ask a robot for help. But that's just me and my genius brain talking. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who would gladly use a HAL suit to better their quality of life. And those people -- those people are the enemy.
An asthma inhaler with GPS built in is being used by an American academic to track the triggers of asthma attacks and find out at risk locations around the globe.
We’re used to GPS in phones and watches, but here’s something equally useful. David Van Sickle, a scientist, is running a trial where asthma sufferers carry around an inhaler with a small GPS device fitted in. Anytime they need to take a puff, the GPS device registers it. Van Sickle hopes the GPS inhaler will reveal the causes of outbreaks, as clusters around a certain spot suggest something’s wrong with the air there.
“It will allow us to better target public-health interventions to the places and times when people are really suffering,” Van Sickle says of the GPS inhaler.
The GPS inhaler is only a prototype at the moment, but the Centres for Disease Controla and Prevention in the US is now funding the device, so keep an eye out for this one on pharmacy shelves in years to come.
OK, so the only watch like thing about this Mirror Spy Watch is the fact that it sits on your wrist. So you can pretend to be checking the time while actually you’re scoping out whoever’s tailing you. But even if there’s no timekeeping involved, it could also be useful as a personal bicycle mirror, no? Just a thought. $4.98.
Checking your wrist for the time? That’s what they think! Really, you’re scoping out the scene behind you. Convex chrome mirror with plastic casing sits on a heavy duty webbing strap with hook and loop fastener.
I caught some early impressions of iCloud and thought it was right up my alley. The beta service is free to try and runs a virtual operating system in your browser. It’s lightweight and best supported on Internet Explorer at the moment: Firefox support is an alpha, although it worked fine for me this morning. Well, there were some compatibility warning pop-ups, but that’s to be expected for alpha browser support.
If you take a look at iCloud and you’re familiar with Microsoft Windows, you’re sure to see some similarities. The user interface is very XP-like, although there’s an optional sidebar that’s Vista-esque. Applications are fairly limited — you’ll see a basic Write app and a Mail app, for example, as well as a bunch of games and such. Call me crazy, but if I was creating a “web OS,” I’d look to put desktop applications in it that aren’t readily available as web applications. There’s already a number of online document editors that are accessible in a browser and most mail applications are also available through a URL.
Still, this is just a beta and I’m not writing it off by any means. The interface is clean, performance isn’t bad and there are a number of collaboration and sharing options available. I plan to watch the iCloud form over time and give it a much closer look as it matures. With a very basic device, connectivity and a web browser, the iCloud is an idea that has merit.
Cats are a great pet. They are affectionate and pretty much self sufficient. Too bad there wasn’t a way to teach your cat how to clean up after itself.
Almost as good is the Litter Robot LRII Automatic Self-Cleaning Litter Box. Its “patented” sifting process cleans the litter automatically after each use. It is completely safe for your cat as it works without rakes or wires that could jam, clog, or break.
A weight-activated sensor detects the presence of the cat once it enters the globe-shaped litter chamber. After seven minutes, a clean cycle starts with the slow rotation of the globe in a counter-clockwise direction. The rotation sifts and separates clumps from the clean litter and deposits all waste in the large-capacity drawer, which can be lined using any standard kitchen garbage bag.
Specifications
Whether you're preparing for some serious Easter-egg cooking or you just love a good hard-boiled egg, scientists at the University of Oslo want to help you boil the perfect egg using the power of science.
Their "Art of cooking an egg" page contains a handy little Flash application that turns variables like egg circumference, desired yolk hardness, the egg's current temperature, and your elevation, then spits out exactly how long you should boil that egg. The site is in Norwegian, but this page provides a translation (minus the Flash app)—and reader Martin offered a quick rundown of what each segment of the Flash app asks for:
Once you've entered all your variables, just boil your water and hit the Play button to start the timer countdown. We're not necessarily saying you need all of these exacting measurements to successfully boil an egg, but if you've never felt like you've ever been able to get it quite right, this little app can hopefully help. While you're perfecting your egg skills, check out how to improve your egg-peeling skills and how to cook perfect scrambled eggs1st slider: The circumference of the egg (in cm)
2nd slider: How hard you want the egg yolk to be. (Hard = Hard, Middels = Medium, Bløtt = Soft)
3rd slider: Start temprature of the egg (on the botton, its directly from the fridge. In celcius)
4th slider: How high over the sea level you are in meters. (Because water boils faster the higher you are.) moh = meters over the sea level
We instantly like the idea of the Jaromatic because it seems like something you'd find in the Jetsons' kitchen. Designed and patented by Jerry Russell, the Jaromatic can open jars and bottles that are at most a foot tall or shorter of any shape as long as they are 5¼ inches or less in diameter. It really isn't picky: "Just place the jar or bottle in the appliance, press the button, and the Jaromatic will open it and break the safety seal. Even opens most safety-lid medicine bottles!"
Russell's little device performs it's lid-opening magic behind a sliding door, so no one gets a finger caught while it's working. The Jaromatic simply lowers a rod powered by a motor and twists off the desired lid — but it's stronger than your average husband/boyfriend/man-in-the-room, so, when the door opens, you're presented with an opened jar.
Russell reckons the Jaromatic would retail for $40, though it's not on shelves yet. At 68 years old, he's ready to part with his investment of $80,000 and 10 years for $250,000, for patents and all.
This Unreal Watch USB Hub combines a 4 port USB hub with a watch. Sigh. OK, you got us, it’s not a real watch. $10.00.
This USB 4-port hub is designed as a watch shape. It allows you to connect 4 different USB devices. It’s another fancy on your desk.
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If you like unique gadgets, this analog clock known as the Book Clock would be something to consider.
This unusual clock consists of three hardcover books upon which the clock face printed. The clock would look great sitting amongst the other books on the bookshelf of your home office or study.
If someone were to have a quick glance in the direction of this clock, it would be easy to mistake it for just another series of books on the bookshelf. It’s only on closer examination that you see the clock hands and the time printed on the books themselves.
This battery operated clock 1 AA battery and is available in two versions, a colorful version with yellow, red and blue books and a more elegant stealth black version.
You can buy this clock for $27.99 through Perpetual Kid.
Mice being created with fans are nothing new. They’re nice to keep your hand cool when your office gets a little too warm. After all, computers can produce a bit of heat and the more that are running in one room, the warmer it’s going to get. However, leave it to Japan to take it about three steps further. You have to love their flare for taking an average product and giving it an LED twist.
Each mouse has LED lights on the inside and you can program the mouse to display a personalized message. If you’re wanting to change that message while you’re away from the computer, it even has a handy little remote control. Of course, you’ll have to keep your messages a little short, the max amount of characters is 12. These are being retailed in Japan for about $21 and might be a bit difficult to get a hold of outside of Japan.
Are you a feline fanatic? Here’s a fun way to keep all of your USB devices connected to your computer.
Perhaps Neko the USB hub cat ($19.50 USD) will tickle your (cat) fancy. Just plug Neko into your computer’s USB port, and the little kitty provides 4 extra ports for connecting devices to your Windows, Mac or Linux PC. There’s three ports on his back, and another one in his mouse-hole.
Now I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve never seen a blue, silver, pink or aqua colored cat in my lifetime. I guess I’ll just chock it up to artistic license. Or cats dipped in paint.
While I think Neko is pretty cute in these pictures, I’m not sure how darling he’d look with a bunch of wires jabbed into his spine and mouth. I think it might look a bit like cat torture - or something out of a Trent Reznor video - but that’s just me. Maybe Neko would be better off just sitting on your desk without any devices connected.
And remember, help control the desktop animal population - have your USB pet spayed or neutered.
There’s something just so wrong it’s right about this wacky camera. At first glance you’ll think this is just a gigantic roll of 35mm film. But pop open the side, and it reveals an actual 35mm camera under the hood.
The thing that really makes my brain ache is the fact that you then load a roll of 35mm film into the back of the camera. It makes me wonder if that roll contains another tiny little camera inside of it. And another even tinier roll of film in there. Then another camera, followed by another roll of film, and so forth. Infinite recursive loop. Application FAIL.
Never mind the fact that this thing is called the Transformer camera, but contains no robots that I can see. Unless they’re really, really well disguised.
Thankfully, you have to go all the way to Korea to buy one of these, so hopefully your head won’t hurt too much because you’ll probably never own one. In the mean time, if you happen to live there, you can enjoy one along with your bowl of Bi Bim Bop. The 35mm Transformer camera sells for 27,000 KRW (about $20 USD) over at 10×10.
Wallet fully loaded? Let's see: Visa, American Express, MasterCard, cellphone…
Yup, its a phone the size of a credit card, only 0.58mm thin (less than a quarter inch, about the width of three credit cards) and weighs just 1.3 ounces. Appropriately it's from a company called Real Phone Card.
As you can see, an advertising message can be printed on the phone's face. Spec-wise, it's a dual band GSM GPRS, comes with either a color or monochrome screen, gets around 200 minutes of talk time, and there are canned text messages included. You dial it by navigating an onscreen dialpad, but it also has built-in voice dialing, which happens to be language independent. Plus it's waterproof.
Available in June or July, the Phone Card will hit India first, then maybe the U.S.
A while back we introduced the Candle Carver. This gadget allowed you to create prefect cylinder holes in fruit to allow for candles. Well, the ShotCarver does pretty munch the same thing but, it’s marketed as “make your own shot class out of fruit” gadget. Simply push and twist the ShotCarver into the fruit and gently pull up. Use with apples, pears, lemons, oranges… whatever your heart desires. A great idea for the next pool party!
If you’ve always dreamed of a tablet PC but you don’t want to pay those outrageous department store prices, Brando has a $99 USB kit that’s sure to tickle your giggle bone.
Called the SISO Tablo for Laptop, the getup consists of a webcam-size receiver that looms over your notebook’s screen to capture input via a special pen.
The pen has left and right mouse buttons and – AND! – one of those fancy “pen points” we’ve all heard so much about.
The kit is compatible with XP and Vista only, but works with a bunch of artsy-fartsy and notesy-wotesy applications such as: Microsoft Word, Sticky Note, Journal Note, Paint, Photoshop, Illustrator, and more.
Although only a limited trial - 300 hand-picked Citibank MobileOne (M1) Visa cardholders will take part - it marks the first step in making this mode of payment, currently only commercially used in Japan, available here.
The trial is aimed at determining customer spending patterns, such as where consumers will use such a service, and the system will be rolled out to more people if results are promising.
Trial participants have been given cellphones embedded with a computer chip that contains their credit card details.
They can pay for purchases of up to $100 at more than 400 merchants, including cafe chain The Coffee Connoisseur, music store Gramophone and Popular Bookstore outlets islandwide, by simply tapping their phones against a wireless payment terminal - a process similar to using an ez-link card.
Unlike normal credit card transactions, no signatures are required. If a phone is lost, users can cancel an account in much the same way they would with regular plastic.
The trial will last three months, said Citibank Singapore's business director of credit payment products John Denhof, and will help the bank get a better handle on the types of products and services consumers buy using this payment method.
In Japan, the world's most sophisticated mobile payment market, millions of consumers use their mobile phones as credit cards, paying for a wide array of products and services from petrol to airline tickets.
After being used for payment, the phones even double as tickets, storing an e-receipt that can be checked at an airport, for instance.
The possibility that such services could become available here soon piqued the interest of several people contacted.
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