Best New Technology

Posted Mar 17th 2008 2:33PM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: Handhelds

Samsung’s already busted out a handful of different Q1 Ultra models, but it looks like it’s now come up with yet another variation to throw out there, this one aimed at the education market. According to Pocket-lint, Samsung is dishing out this latest incarnation in order to compete with Asus’ upcoming 9-inch, Windows-based Eee PC, although it’s not quite going head-to-head with it in terms of price, with this particular model apparently set to demand £399 (or just over $800) when it hits the UK next month (no word on a release ’round these parts). While complete specs are still a bit light at the moment, the new Q1 will apparently drop the spiffy dual camera and cut back on the hard drive to keep the cost down.

AT&T is following the footsteps of Google and Apple, opening a new segment for the market of those with disabilities. AT&T is trying to open up their information to developers and allow them to create applications and systems for users who have disabilities. This method is called Universal Design, and a small range of applications has already been created based on this method to assist those users who are disabled or handicapped.

These Universal Design based application includes Mobile speak or voice command, a screen reader with Braille to help those who are blind, and Mobile Magnifier, a magnification application that supports low and high-resolution screens for those who have difficulties in reading.

Although there’s a lot of hi-end technologies that already assist a lot people in need, AT&T hopes that with this method, it’ll help develop additional tools that will offer further assistance. With this commitment of AT&T, there will hopefully be a brighter ‘tech’ future for those in need.

Via [SMS Text News]

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When toy manufacturers make talking toys, they use the cheapest chips and speakers possible: 4-kilohertz audio samples played through a 30-cent piezo buzzer would be an extravagance in this industry. The makers profit when it comes to bean-counting. But they lose when the low quality sounds are misheard by the unscrupulous, the stupid and those who simply hear what they want to hear. Accordingly, here’s our gallery of the most chilling, offensive and/or ridiculous examples of inadvertently nasty-talking toys.

Elmo Wants You to Kill Yourself, James

The victim’s mom says "Kill James" is "exactly" what it’s saying, and describes how distraught she was after hearing it.

It sounds like typical garbled toy-speak, with a questioning tone at odds with the imperative suggestion it’s claimed to emit. Once you’re told it’s "Kill James," however, it’s hard to imagine what else it could be — but always remember Pavarotti’s classic performance of "Elephants, Yes!"

This particular toy can be also be custom-programmed with new statements, suggesting that it might be easy to get it to say bad things, either by design or because of bugs.

Leapfrog Alphabet Pal Just Wants to Relax

If you can barely make out what it’s alleged to be saying, let alone what it’s supposed to be saying, you wouldn’t be alone. Maybe we should all just frackin’ chill. Here’s more video, from an NBC affiliate. You’ll notice a theme here: reporters having to explain to the viewer what something is saying, or beeping it out so you have to take their word for it.

Heeeeeere’s Elmo! Again!

In another "Local news special," the Potty Time With Elmo talking book is heard to make a startling request: "Who wants to die?"

What is it with Elmo and the fallibility of the flesh? Existential Elmo needs to know.

The sound here is so vague and poorly recorded it could just as easily be "Who wants to try" or "Poop wants to fly." Perhaps this is the perfect example of Rorschach audio.

I’ve Got a Teletubby and I’m Prepared to Use it

"I’ve got a gun teletubby toast." Yeah, that’s definitely what it’s programmed to say.

Fans will know that this revolting little thing is saying "Again Again!," as it does on the show, but that doesn’t stop an ABC reporter claiming otherwise, as if it’s settled fact.

Here’s a unicorn chaser, of sorts: a teletubby openly touting the species’ much-ballyhooed gay agenda.

Furby Wants You to Come Over Here

Click the Furby for the movie evidence. It’s the desperate, fixed gaze that makes it truly terrifying.

Bratz Dolls Are Right Little Brats

Somewhere amid the stream of sonic garbage pouring from this nasty little toy is, some assert, foul language. CNN adds the beeps to make sure you can’t make up your own mind — but at least know where the trash talk is supposed to be.

Little Mermaid to Little Girls: "You’re A Slut"

There is, unfortunately, no video or audio to go with this story about the Little Mermaid that made unwarranted assumptions about its owner. Disney subsidiary ABC’s story does, at least, point out that to make it say "slut," the user has to press the speech button fast enough to deliberately garble multiple statements — and that neither they nor an independent analyst could reproduce it without a lot of effort.

Math Is Hard — For a Doll

What better way to sign off than a doll saying something horrible by design? Talking Barbie, most infamously, chirped "math class is tough," precipitating a crisis that set feminism back at least 50 days.

Kill Mommy, but Only in English

The ur-Chucky is 1982’s legendary "Kill Mommy" doll, which turned out to be a mis-imported Spanish-language product chirping "Quiero a Mami." It’s now hard to find online evidence of this particular example of suburban mothers looking for something to be scandalized by. But it’s still the original trash-talking toy scandal.

This NET-2000 device here may look like a flashlight, but if you turn it on, a net will shoot out. That’s right, someone actually took an idea from a comic book and made it into a publicly-available net-shooter that you can use to take out bad guys.

This net-gun uses compressed gas through a pneumatic system, which I’m told is a better alternative to “traditional gunpowder activated net guns”. Yes, I had no idea that there were any traditional gunpowder activated net guns before today. You learn something new everyday. I’m guessing the ones that use gunpowder are for official or private use, and I’m guessing you might not need a license for a net gun.

The NET-2000 can shoot over 3-8 meters in a few seconds for sixteen square meters of capturing potential. In fact, pictures from the China Grabber website show it taking out two bad guys at once.

This NET-2000 is a nice alternative to apprehending criminals who are fleeing the scene. It’s a little safer than guns and less shocking than tasers. Hey, I’d rather be netted in the back rather than shot. Then again, hopefully I would never be in a situation where I was fleeing the scene of a crime.

Blogs everywhere can’t help but compare this device to Spider-man, for obvious reasons. Well, if you want to live out those old dreams, it will only cost you $419.

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Do you remember all those cool gadgets that are described in the sci-fi movies and books? All those transparent displays that show holographic image right in the air, implanted supercomputers that are analyzing all that you see, and so on. Of course, it is a very distant future, so we cannot say anything serious about the existence of this gadget in the future. However, gadget implants are not as far as you might think. Many scientists were interested in enhancing a human’s body with help of electronics and nanotechnologies. One of the products of such interest is this curious concept, which looks just like it came from a sci-fi movie.

This concept from Jim Mielke is amazing - a thin electronic screen with touch interface which can be implanted under the skin and will show information just like a tattoo! Instead of ink, the display uses tiny microscopic spheres, which can be colored from clear to black. It powers from the coin-sized blood fuel cell that converts glucose and oxygen from the blood into electricity. Not only it can show some useful information, it is also Bluetooth enabled, which means it can connect to any Bluetooth device inside or outside your body. Sensor technology used in this display makes it possible to control all that is happening on it. It can be used even for a 3G phone calls, with image shown right on your arm! Apart from that it can display all the health information we need, which is collected by monitoring the blood state.

Fact that something will be implanted right into your organism is somehow frightening. However, imagine all the possibilities that you get! cell phone that is always with you, organizer, even ID card - all can be done using this amazing technology.

As long as we do not mess with our brain these implants are safe, but, in any case, we are afraid that cyborgs from sci-fi movies are not as far from us as we think.

When you are driving at night, the eyes rapidly get fatigued from the huge contrast between light from the headlights, and surrounding world. If we will not see what is surrounding us something bad might happen. Maybe some night vision device could help… But they are too bulky and expensive to be used in normal life. Tag Heuer, high-end sports watch maker, decided to correct this night driving problem, in a very elegant way.

This glasses, originally designed for Le Mans 24 hour races, is invented to help driver see better at night and to reduce the eyes fatigue level. It is known that only 10% of light reaches photosensitive part of the retina. Therefore, these glasses are designed to boost the contrast on the darker areas and to reduce it on the very bright areas, so you will be able to see more at night. The pale yellow lenses offer constant clear, sharp vision with a very high light transmission rate in order to contrast dark blue and green surroundings without changing color perception. Moreover, these lenses are anti-reflective, to increase sharpness and reduce glare. The anti-slip elastomeric arms will keep glasses on your head firmly, so they will not fall from your head accidentally.

There are also a infra red model; which will help those working in a harsh environment of snow or on beaches, where up to 80% of ultra violet rays and infra read heat are reflected in the eyes. It will definitely save your eyes from those blinding reflections, and depending on model, will help you to see with or without powerful light.

The price is yet unknown, but it is for sure that these glasses will be a perfect purchase for those who often travel at night or for those who work in a very lighted areas, like Ski Patrol or lifeguard on the beach.

Since I prefer text-based forms of communication that don’t shame me for not having brushed my hair and still being in my pajamas at 4 in the afternoon, I’ve never been a fan of the web camera. I tolerate the presence of the ones built into my mobile devices, but I rarely install the corresponding software to get it to work.

Pair that with the fact that this skull web camera ($65.36) from GeekStuff4U terrifies me to the core (the pained expression of that evil skeleton being strangled by the cobra’s tail will haunt me tonight), and you’ll understand why you won’t ever see me online.

And no, it doesn’t make a difference that the 1.3-megapixel camera will record my movements at a fluid 30 frames per second. Because you know for a fact that the minute I look into that lens, those skulls will come to life and shoot laser beams from their eyes. And don’t even get me started about the centipede/millipede.

Via Shiny Shiny.

As expected, Apple has updated the Airport Express. The WiFi router now uses the faster, longer ranging 802.11n networking standard, and if you’re still too cheap to pay for the $2 Pre-N Patch for your year-old Mac, it now comes in the box.

Otherwise, nothing has changed. Same old $99, same printer sharing, and same AirTunes. The product page says that “AirPort Express works flawlessly with Apple TV, iphone, ipod touch”, but this is just for internet access, the same as any other router. Would it really kill Apple to let us stream music from our iPhones right to the Express?

Product page [Apple]

Amazon.com increased the options you have when wanting to shop at the online retailer. Its latest expansion implements two new Facebook applications that allow users to see what items their friends would like and buy products direct from Amazon.com.

The first Facebook application is called Amazon Giver and basically displays Amazon wish lists on the social network. Friends can then view these lists and purchase items off it if they so wish. Giver also recommends items for purchase based on a user’s Facebook profile information.

The second application is called Amazon Grapevine. This differs, as it gives information on what friends have updated or added to Amazon.com. So, for example, your friends will get updated if you change your Amazon wish list, add a review about a product, or tag a product via News Feed updates.

Eva Manolis, vice president of Amazon.com, said of the new applications:

Amazon.com is pleased to bring the convenience of shopping on Amazon to our customers, many of whom are also Facebook users, with the Amazon Giver and Amazon Grapevine applications on Facebook Platform … By combining Amazon’s vast selection of products with Facebook’s millions of users, we are able to make activities like gift-giving more efficient and rewarding for Facebook users.

Amazon is also keen to stress that the information you share and who that information is shared with is in the control of the user through an opt-in mechanism.

Read more at Silicon.com and the Amazon.com press release.

Matthew’s Opinion

I think one of the main reasons Amazon.com has been so successful is because it continues to expand and diversify its offerings. This Facebook tie-in is just another example of that diversity.

It may seem like just a small extension, but when you consider the number of Facebook users and the simplicity this adds to buying products direct from Amazon through Facebook, you should see the potential for additional sales.

With recent problems relating to Facebook tracking user information, Amazon has made the right decision launching with an opt-in feature. People do not want their information automatically shared with other people and want to retain control over their personal details. I hope Amazon has given users total control to the point where they can have individual preferences per friend on Facebook.

If anyone has used either of Amazon’s Facebook apps, let us know your experiences in the comments below.

Hey, we’ve no qualms with Frontier crafting a 12.1-inch laptop that weighs less than some obese MIDs, but c’mon, a 800MHz Intel A110 processor?Yep, the same chip that resides in quite a few UMPCs has somehow found its way into this creature, along with 1GB of RAM, a WXGA (1,280 x 800) panel, 80GB hard drive, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, 4-in-1 multicard reader, integrated graphics and a built-in 1-watt speaker. Additionally, you’ll find an integrated microphone, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, a 56k modem, VGA out and a biometric scanner to keep your files under wraps. Granted, it does weigh just 2.73-pounds, but until this thing gets a handle on the processor situation, we’d divert that ¥129,799 ($1,264) elsewhere.
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