Best New Technology

When you think of “music on the go” you most likely think of an iPod or another portable music and video player. But what if you’re the type of person who likes to make music, especially electronic music? It’s pretty difficult to cart around all your synthesizers and equipment just for the time when you feel the need to make some music.

From the unlikely source of Think Geek you can find the Kaossilator Touchpad Synthesizer. What looks like an innocent pocket-sized touchpad with a few buttons and a dial is really quite a complex and robust musical creation tool. From the website:

Rather than using keys or buttons to play musical notes, the Kaossilator features a revolutionary touchpad design. Move your finger from left to right to change the pitch of the note, and up and down to change the sound. But musical sounds are only the beginning, the Kaossilator can also be used like a drum kit with dozens of built in beats and drum sounds. Plus you get some amazing sound effects from laser blasts to Pac Man. You can put everything to good use with the built-in loop recording feature which lets you layer virtually unlimited tracks to create complex songs combining lead instruments, drum beats and sound effects together.

Also on Think Geek’s site is a clip showing the Kaossilator in action. Watching the development of layer upon layer of great sound in a loop is really amazing to watch. If you’re a musician, or somone who just wants to be, and needs that compact little package, pick one up today for $199.99.

Product Features

• Pocket sized Musical Synthesizer uses a Touch Pad to Play Music
• Easy to use. No previous musical experience required.
• Built-in Synth, sound-effects, and drum sounds, for a total of 100 powerful sound programs.
• 31 scale patterns let you easily play a wide variety of “always perfect” phrases.
• 50 types of gate arpeggiation help you perform complex rhythmic patterns.
• Loop Recording allows multiple phrase overdubbing to create complete grooves
• Output stereo audio via the built in headphone jack with volume or use the RCA style audio-out jacks
• Runs off of 4 AA Batteries (Not included)

Product Specifications

• Different Sound Programs : 100
• Musical Scale Patterns: 31
• Key Range: +/- 12
• Types of Gate Arpeggiator: 50
• Connectors: Headphone Jack, RCA Style Audio-Out
• Stereo Playback
• Sampling Frequency: 48kHz
• D-A Conversion: 24-bit Linear
• Battery Life: Approximately 5 hours
• Dimensions: 106 mm (W) x 129mm (D) x 29 mm (H)
• Weight: 154 g / 5.43 oz. (without batteries)

[Think Geek]

Posted Feb 3rd 2008 1:55PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Digital Cameras

We already witnessed the overseas announcement of JVC’s palm-friendly GR-D850, but now it looks as if the firm is making it official here in the US of A along with a slightly (and we stress “slightly”) more advanced sibling. The GR-D870 High-Band Digital Video Camera features the same 1/6-inch 680k pixel CCD, 35x optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD monitor, DV in / out and 3D Noise Reducer, but steps it up ever so slightly by tossing in a SD / MMC card slot for snapping digital stills (up to 640 x 480) while recording footage to miniDV. So yeah, nothing to get too antsy about or anything, but the GR-D870 can be snapped up immediately for a nickel under $250, while the GR-D850 will run you $20 less.

[Via LetsGoDigital]

Gallery: JVC intros GR-D870 miniDV camcorder with 35x zoom

SYMA 603 Remote Control Super Flier Helicopter

The Syma 603 RC Helicopter is the easiest and simplest remote control helicopter there is. This ready to fly model is ideal for the novice and younger people who wish to start flying their own helicopters! Gone are the days when a remote control helicopter would set you back hundreds of pounds. But dont think that because of the low price it is low quality! This is one of the best constructed helicopters on the market. The sturdy design and simple function make this helicopter ideal as it is light, strong and susceptable to a few knocks and crashes (which we all have to admit we do when we first get a new chopper!). Simply turn the main helicopter unit on, hold the lightweight hand moulded remote unit, move the knobs and off you go.With simple flying options and the ability for the helicopter to glide at height, this really will enable any age or any level of experienced person to fly straight from the box.

TECH SPECS:

- Model: Syma 603 R/C Helicopter

- Main Rotor Diameter: 495mm

- Length: 510mm - Width: 200mm

- Height: 150mm

- Tail Rotor: 148mm

- 2 Channel Radio Control Helicopter

- Battery: Rechargeable 7.2V Ni-MH

- Radio Controller: 2 Channel

- Main Motor: Type 370

- Flight Time: 25~30 minutes

- Available Colors: Red and Black

INCLUDED:

- SYMA 603 R/C Helicopter

- 2-CH Radio Transmitter (8 AA Batteries are not included)

- 7.2V Ni-MH Rechargeable Battery Pack (For Helicopter)

Technorati Tags: Toys 4 Boys

Battery Lamp

You can have this for ?14.95

Posted Feb 3rd 2008 5:24AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We’ve seen (though not felt, for obvious reasons) a few touchless interfaces before, but the latest development coming from Elliptic Labs is a real treat. Dubbed a “touchless human / machine user interface for 3D navigation,” the firm has somehow figured out how to allow mere mortals to manipulate on-screen images without requiring any sort of funky gloves to be worn or a microchip to be installed in your fingertip. Sadly, little is said about the actual technology behind the magic, but don’t worry, the video waiting after the jump should provide plenty of satisfaction.

[Via Technabob]

Posted Feb 3rd 2008 9:53AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Robots

C’mon, be honest — the unofficial cutoff age for playing with Legos sans kids is sometime way before puberty, but thanks to a new development from Carnegie Mellon University, we adults may soon be able to unashamedly indulge in those desires once more. Posey, hailed as a “hands-on way of interacting with computers,” features a plethora of snap-together, sensor-laden parts that can communicate with PCs through ZigBee. When a user attaches a leg to a body, for instance, an on-screen representation immediately mimics the movement, providing hours of fun and some real promise for future applications. No word on whether these things are set to go commercial anytime soon, but we’d sure love to replace this aging (and seemingly busted) voodoo doll with one of these critters, pronto.

[Image courtesy of Posey Code Lab Wiki]

What kind of chair do you sit in? I’ve got a pretty decent chair that I’ve had for around five years. It’s nothing fancy, just a black high-back computer chair. If you like to sit in something that differs from the norm, and happen to be an aviation enthusiast, this B-52 Stratofortress Ejector Seat Chair should be right up your alley.

This rather eccentric-looking chair is modeled quite accurately to the ejector seats found in B-52 bombers. I’m going to guess that when you pull on the straps, the seat will still remain firmly planted on the ground.

I’m going to venture a guess that only the most dedicated of aviation enthusiasts will want to pick one of these up. Besides the obvious fact that it’s going to draw a lot of strange looks, it doesn’t appear to have any real armrests. Those yellow and black straps really don’t look too comfortable if you ask me. No word on pricing or availability.

Source: BornRich

Posted Feb 3rd 2008 7:41AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Unfortunately, Dr. Chunlei Guo of the University of Rochester hasn’t yet figured out how to turn scrap metals into gold, but he, along with Dr. Anatoliy Y. Vorobyev, has discovered how to colorize a variety of metals. By utilizing a “femtosecond laser processing technique,” the duo has crafted a method for turning even aluminum into aluminum with an impeccable gold finish. Furthermore, they’ve also been successful in turning tungsten dark blue, leaving reason to believe that nearly any metal could be altered to appear as a different color. Ah, just imagine what these folks could do with your MacBook Pro.

[Via The New York Times, thanks Jonathan]

At the moment there are a lot of different speakers that have original design. Moreover, due to the fact that many designers and producers have a great deal of new ideas the variety of these devices will go on increasing. So taking into consideration impressive supply of speakers it should be mentioned that a device has to possess at least one distinctive feature in order to be sold.

Thus, Chinese designers have recently invented new speakers in the form of an apple. It’s quite possible that they wanted to make consumers think that their newly-made device is an Apple product. But in fact it doesn’t really matter because given gadget is very stylish and original as it is. Besides that the price of this concept will probably be moderate enough, so the majority of customers will be able to afford it. As regards available colors there is possibility to choose between green and red.

Of course, new Chinese “Apple” USB speakers won’t ever replace iPod Hi-Fi, but they could possibly be useful as a travel accessory for that ultra-modern laptop of yours. In addition, the compact size of the given gadget can be considered as a significant advantage, because it’s very easy to find a place in your baggage or back pack for a usual “apple”.

CNET reviews the Motorola Z6c and writes, “With the Z6c’s camera you can take pictures in five resolutions (from 1,600×1,200 down to a special Picture ID size), and choose from three quality settings. Other features include a self timer, three color effects, brightness and white balance settings, a digital zoom, nine fun frames, and three shutter sounds (plus a silent option).The camcorder shoots clips in two resolutions (176×144 pixels and 128×96 pixels) with sound; editing options are similar to the still camera. Videos meant for multimedia messages are capped at about 30 seconds; otherwise, you can shoot for as long as the available memory permits. The Z6c offers a solid 40M of integrated memory, but we suggest you purchase a memory card just the same. The handset can handle cards up to 4GB. Photo quality was quite good with sharp details and vivid colors.”

Read more about the Motorola Z6c.