Archive for April 15th, 2008

Your very own Milky Way

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008


For the existentialist in your life who has everything, how about the Milky Way galaxy suspended in a glass cube? Supposedly, there are 80,000 stars inside the cube, rendered using three-dimensional data from Japan’s National Astronomical Observatory. In the exact center of the cube is our solar system - a tiny speck, a reminder of how invisible we are in the cosmic scheme of things.

Because it’s a cube, you can view the galaxy from different angles:

Available from Living World for a mere $80,000 JPN (about $770).

Via Crave.

Limited Edition HTC Touch PDA Phones For Charity

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008


HTC and Nic Wong of Nicholas have designed four limited edition HTC Touch, which are being auctioned on eBay for the charity with all proceeds going straight to the Children’s Cancer Foundation (in Singapore). In case you didn’t know, the HTC Touch features Windows Mobile 6 Pro, WiFi Stereo, Bluetooth, MicroSD port (512MB included, 4GB max), and 2MP shooter.
[ Source ]

AutO-Ring

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

How many times do you place your documents in a ring file, only to have them tear away after some time due to the lower paper quality these days? (Come to think about it, virtually everything you buy these days tend not to last as well as our grandpappy’s time) The AutO-Ring helps prevent loose leaves from falling out, ensuring your life is kept in an orderly manner.

Keep pages from a scrapbook, cookbook, portfolio or photo album from getting lost or torn with the AutO-Ring! It quickly and easily applies reinforcement adhesives to strengthen or repair punch holes so pages stay put. Makes a great gift for students.

Parents can get this for their kids, while bosses ought to pick one up for their secretaries as a $7.95 gift.

You have been dying since the day you were born

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

You have been dying since the day you were born

Apr 02, 2008
If you consider that your watch is the most accurate – you are wrong. There is no watch that can show the most exact time than Mr. Jones Accurate Watch. Actually, the watch always reminds the only truth in your life – “Remember – you will die”. The phrase is written on the watch-hands.

At first sight this may seem really cruel. Everything you do will be doubted every time you look at the watch. The Accurate watch warns you that you shouldn’t waste the time and live a full life. It means we shouldn’t waste our energy and do useless things; we have to choose what is the most important and appreciate it.

On the one hand, the gadget really depresses, but on the other hand, it might become rather interesting accessory and help not to pay attention to different trifles.
But, isn’t the price 5 too high for the watch that tells you about your demise so often?

Nokia’s 6212 with Bluetooth NFC: Let the pairing revolution begin!

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

by Thomas Ricker, posted Apr 15th 2008 at 5:16AM


This is the day we’ve been waiting for. While the 3G Nokia 6212 classic doesn’t look like much, what it lacks in style is more than made up by the genius of Bluetooth-enabled Near Field Communication. If you remember the video we showed you way back in March of 2007, the combo makes device pairing and transferring content like photos, video, music, calendar data, contacts, etc. as easy a touching the phone to a NFC-enabled picture frame, cellphone, speaker, or headset like Nokia’s own NFC-variant of the BH-210. It will also work with NFC payment systems. According to Jeremy Belostock, the Head of Near Field Communications at Nokia, “NFC-capable handsets such as the Nokia 6212 classic are set to change the way mobile phone users interact with devices and services in their surroundings.” You said it Jeremy, you said it. Expected to start shipping in Europe and Asia in the Q3 for about €200.

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Filed under: cellphones

Video: Eee PC 900 processor is NOT Atom, multi-touch trackpad demonstrated

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

by Thomas Ricker, posted Apr 15th 2008 at 1:25AM


Oh man, the rumors were true. Asus’ EeePC 900 — the 8.9-inch model — is still plodding along on that same 900MHz Celeron M processor as the original Eee PC 701. Good news: it does run at the full 900MHz without the 630MHz cap of its predecessor (pre-overclocking, that is). Bad News: it’s not the Intel Atom proc promised at CeBIT. A potentional bottleneck when loaded with the relatively CPU heavy XP instead of the Linux-based OS. Still, we’re hoping this is a limitation in the early-launch, Hong Kong / Taiwan models only, and things will get corrected when Atom launches in June. The video after the break clearly demonstrates the multi-touch trackpad (3:50 in) which Engadget was first to discover in the FCC filing.

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Filed under: Laptops

Nintendo’s DS Lite doubles as MIDI sequencer (again)

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 14th 2008 at 9:20PM


Nintendo’s DS Lite tends to find itself intertwined in obscure MIDI projects fairly often, so it’s no shock to see yet another enterprise linking the handheld to some fairly swank beats. By utilizing a homegrown DS MIDI apparatus along with dStep software, the DS Lite is able to transform into quite the potent little step sequencer. Of course, anything musically-related digests easier with video, so jump on past the break for a lengthy demonstration (and peep the read link if you’re eager to replicate).

[Via MAKE]

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Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio

Top 5 gadgets in order to feel yourself artistic

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

Top 5 gadgets in order to feel yourself artistic

Apr 14, 2008 Modern devices help to imagine yourself a painter or musician. But if you have enough creativity, there are five equipments to feel yourself a part of the world of art.
Thanks to the latest devices and technologies almost everyone can be called an artist.

Nowadays it is so easy and pleasant to realize your creative ideas. The following gadgets will help you with that, but, anyway, don’t forget that you need enough patience and talent.

1. If you like drawing but it is really annoying for you to buy all the necessary tools, like tones of paper, pens, pencils, paints, then Wacom’s graphic tablets will easily resolve the problems and guarantee you just pleasure while working with them.

Wacom tablets start from the budget-friendly Bamboo series (starting at ) to the most advanced Cintiq line (which tops out at 99).

Anyway, the principle of the work is the same: while drawing with a stylus on the tablet, it will display directly all the gestures on the screen. The gadget gives the possibility and provides the most natural way to draw on a computer.

With the help of the eraser on the end of the stylus you will be able to correct your picture very neatly. The stylus is a great tool; it can draw thicker or thinner lines according to the pressure. Moreover, it can even alter your pictures depending on your software.

2. Another kind of art that you may also study is stop-motion animation. As a result, you can make your own collection of the works of this interesting art of animating using real-world objects instead of drawings.
The technology is very simple: at first take a picture of an object, then move it a little and take one more picture, etc.

Then, if you play the still frames back, your object will become alive. If you are a fan of these works of art, then you should know that it is so hard to keep the same approach how you moved the object in the previous picture.

In such situation Nikon will help you. The majority of the company’s budget-friendly Coolpix digital cameras have stop-motion function.

You have to activate it just once, and the camera overlays dim versions of the previous pictures on the LCD preview. The feature gives you the possibility easily to line up the next snapshot. After your first work of art, the camera will automatically assemble the pictures into a QuickTime file.

3. If you have a desire to create your own action film on independent labels without spending much money, you can realize it. But you will definitely face the problem while choosing a camera.

Every extreme scene will need its own camera: one should be for scuba-diving scene, another one for fighting scenes, and so on.
So, you need all-in-one but not too expensive camera. Panasonic’s line of cameras based on SD Card has the water-resistant 9 SDR-S10P1 and the 9 SDR-SW20, which is waterproof, shockproof, and dustproof.

Both of them feature shooting wide-screen video. The cameras will help you to create your own extreme films.

4. The Percussion Tubes and the Keyboard Experience are the result of development of modern technologies of ToyQuest’s partnership with the Blue Man Group.

The Percussion Tubes are an order of eight motion-sensitive tubes you may play. They also feature inequable volume and tempo you can influence by waving your hands in the air above them.

Actually, you can use the included drumsticks, but isn’t the first variant more interesting? The Keyboard Experience has two tubes and includes a 37-key synthesizer.

Both devices have an input for an mp3 player, a recording mode and an audio-out jack.

5. If you are a DJ, then you should have a lot of devices, such as turntables, a microphone and an interesting collection of records. Scratches have always been the main problem.

That’s why MixMeister is one of the companies that make DJ software, but MixMeister Scratch might be the only truly portable scratching tool you’ll find.

It runs on the iphone or the ipod Touch. All you have to do is to play a song from your great collection, choose a scratch type, spin the song on the screen and enjoy your favorite music.

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SPOT Hands-On

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

We covered SPOT back in November last year, and here’s what the folks at Gearlog have to say about it.

During my time with the SPOT, I used it periodically from my office and on my commute to work to see how quickly it would send a message with my exact position. In each case the SPOT was accurate enough that it would be easy to find me, and the pointer on the Google map was only a few meters from my actual location. The device is reliable enough that the service has been endorsed by “Survivorman” Les Stroud of Discovery Channel fame, who regularly strands himself in deserted locations with only his cameras and his wits to guide him to safety.

The SPOT device retails for $169.99 while an annual subscription to the satellite tracking service will set you back by $99.99 annually. Depending on how much more you are willing to fork out, other features like progress monitoring and search-and-rescue benefits can be added.

DEAL: HP 22″ Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor - Only $249 !

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

This was a deal we had to share with our readers. Until they run out, Tiger Direct is selling these HP w2207 22″ Widescreen Flat Panel Monitors for only $249. Dang.

Specs:

  • 5ms response time
  • 0.282mm pixel pitch
  • 1680×1050 (WSXGA+)
  • 1000:1 contrast ratio
  • 300 cd/m² brightness
  • DVI-D input
  • VGA input
  • USB Hub
  • Speakers
  • Rotates to a vertical (portrait) screen.

Don’t wait too long. These are going to sell out quickly!

Posted in Computers, Gizmo of the Day