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DVICE ARCHIVE FOR December 2008
It's 2009, a new year dawning with promise and possibilities, or with foreboding and ominous signs of economic collapse, depending on your point of view. But we here at DVICE are optimistic about the techno-future. What technology would each...
POSTED Wednesday, December 31, 2008
You're probably not too good at sewing, but don't blame yourself. It's really you lack of equipment. If you had the Brother Quattro 6000D, you'd be a regular embroidery master. This monster of a sewing machine has a 7-inch HD...
POSTED Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Hulu — one of DVICE's sister sites through our parent, NBC Universal — will be streaming several views of the annual New Year's Eve festivities that pack the streets of Times Square to the gills. If you're the kind...
POSTED Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Maybe this Active Park Assist will help save Ford from the clutches of bankruptcy and ruin. We can only hope. Instead of the cameras in the Lexus LS 460 auto-parking system, this one uses ultrasonic sensors to determine the...
POSTED Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Own a Zune? Well, I hope you weren't counting on using it today, because last night at 2am, every single 30GB Zune stopped working at the same time. Oh my god, it's Z2K! No one seems to know just what...
POSTED Wednesday, December 31, 2008
In light of recent closures and layoffs in the videogaming industry, Garnett Lee at 1up re-examines the conventional wisdom that videogaming is recession proof: …with installed hardware numbers hitting critical mass, you expect publishers would be putting their foot...
POSTED Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Hi, I'm Kevin Hall and I'm bad at math. (Boy, does it feel great to finally get that off my chest.) That's why this nifty little solar-powered Credit Card Calculator actually has quite a bit of appeal for me...
POSTED Wednesday, December 31, 2008
The Elekit Tornader is a remote control robot that lets you spin it in all sorts of crazy directions. It might look like a strange Yo Yo, but it's much more fun than that. Thanks to its unique shape and...
POSTED Wednesday, December 31, 2008
This postcard airplane made of balsa wood gives new meaning to the term "Air Mail." Just pop out the pieces and you have yourself a flying loop-de-loop glider. Great idea if you can wait until late next month to...
POSTED Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Look at these itty bitty musical instruments on their tiny stage. SEGA's LiveDream Band Stage adds each instrument's sound as you place it on the minuscule stage, a musical equivalent to Matchbox cars. Choose a rock or jazz band,...
POSTED Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Japan's anthropomorphizing of gadgetry continues with a new set of characters designed to promote a series of digital watches. These still-nameless Casio G-Shock characters popped up a few months ago in Japan promoting the model's 25th anniversary at retail point-of-purchase...
POSTED Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Gaze with us, back on the tumultuous year that was 2008. Although it started hopefully, as all new years do, it slowly turned into a time when old ways died, gadgets that barely got off the ground ceased to...
POSTED Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Last year, the Times Square Ball got an LED makeover for its 100th anniversary. This year that tradition continues, all 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs of it (and don't forget the 2,668 Waterford crystals). The 12-foot-wide, 11,875-pound ball is...
POSTED Tuesday, December 30, 2008
If you haven't heard of Eazo, a Chinese purveyor of luxury computers, then you probably enjoy keeping your money where it is. That's because a custom, top-of-the-line PC from the company can cost $10,000, and supposedly upwards of $50,000....
POSTED Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Watch out for electronics retailer Best Buy. The company is reportedly scamming customers, making them think they can purchase a magical $300 "calibration" that can make their HDTVs capable of displaying video with noticeably higher quality. The company is...
POSTED Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Toilets are now getting even more sophisticated. Going way beyond that car wash for your butt we tried out with considerable delight, this brainy crapper is an update of Toto's 2005 "intelligence toilet." This one measures urine temperature, accurately...
POSTED Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Maybe, if you're a little off, you want to have an Xbox 360 but would like your friends to think you own a Playstation 3. Why? That's a great question. But hey, I'm not one to judge. The PS360 is...
POSTED Tuesday, December 30, 2008
As the year draws to a close, it's time to reflect on the 12 months that have sped by with remarkable haste. That's easy for photographer Eirik Solheim, who set up his Canon 400D (a relatively low-cost digital SLR,...
POSTED Tuesday, December 30, 2008
You know, so many people just love flying so much that they don't want to get off the plane when they land. The cramped space! The rude people! The dry air! The terrible food! So it only makes sense that...
POSTED Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Sure, while most people drink coffee as a caffeine delivery mechanism, some people actually like the taste and don't want to get the jitters. They are crazy, but hey, different strokes for different folks. For them, if they really want...
POSTED Tuesday, December 30, 2008
If you don't have the premium gadget cash to shell out for one of those pricey tablet PCs, the Airpen Mini might be the product for you. The tiny clip-on device uses an infrared beam to detect and convert your...
POSTED Tuesday, December 30, 2008
This is a massage chair, but a massage chair completely unlike those that they feature in the doorway of Brookstone stores in the mall to lure you inside. No, this one is made of wood, and it has a giant...
POSTED Monday, December 29, 2008
The Big Green Apple will join an ever-growing list of cities with its plan to take advantage of long-lasting LED street lighting — Ann Arbor, Michigan was the first US city to go 100% LED — but NYC is going...
POSTED Monday, December 29, 2008
No, you're not hallucinating. These faucets are modeled after wine bottles, delivering your water from a familiar form factor that looks like Italian techno-plumbing purveyor iB Rubinetterie ran through the Disney cartoon factory. The Batlo faucet by designer Giulio...
POSTED Monday, December 29, 2008
How much of an Apple fanboy are you? Now you can advertise for the Cupertino Fruit Company in glowing electroluminescent folderol, its built-in spectrum analyzer animating those lights like a colorful fountain in response to music or ambient sounds....
POSTED Monday, December 29, 2008
Nothing beats two items combined in one package, giving you one less thing to carry around. Especially when it's done in a particularly clever way. That's why this eraser flash drive is so great. Yes, it's a USB flash drive...
POSTED Monday, December 29, 2008
Finally, there's over-the-top, realistic weaponry for fans of (the short list of) shooters for the Nintendo Wii. You always wanted to play Chicken Shoot and the leftovers from the other consoles with a submachine-gun-turned-Wiimote, right? The WeeP5, by Instructables user...
POSTED Monday, December 29, 2008
Even if you're not too crazy about the Blackberry Storm smartphone, you might like it a bit better with a full-fledged GPS system on board. This one by GPS ace Telenav takes advantage of the Blackberry's connectivity with live...
POSTED Monday, December 29, 2008
Working out is a good practice to have, but who wants other people to know about your healthy lifestyle? Not you. No, you need to hide your exercise equipment from people so they don't find out about your embarrassing habit....
POSTED Monday, December 29, 2008
Despite the naysayers the iPhone continues to gain steam in Japan. The latest evidence of this trend comes via Softbank's latest software announcement promoting Speeek, a voice-enabled electronic dictionary application that translates Japanese to English or Chinese. Using voice recognition...
POSTED Monday, December 29, 2008
Brazil has a really big problem with car theft. In fact, the criminals and drug dealers that steal most of the cars take them to areas so dangerous, that the police will simply cut deals with the gangs to...
POSTED Sunday, December 28, 2008
Most of us have a few valuables around the house that we want to keep locked away from any would be thieves. Sure, you could lock them away in a traditional style safe that's hidden in a closet, but...
POSTED Saturday, December 27, 2008
2008 has five short days until it becomes 2009. While we're excited as always to think about what's coming next, it's almost sad to think such a great year is coming to a close. We saw a lot of...
POSTED Friday, December 26, 2008
We like architect Matthew Heywood's entry for "A New Bus For London" just as much as the previous entry we showcased, despite it's odd shape and curves. Sure, it looks quite a bit like the Oscar Meyer wiener truck,...
POSTED Friday, December 26, 2008
Look out, everybody — here come the trigger-happy cops with even more non-lethal weapons. Pictured above is the PHaSR, the bad-ass "Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response" rifle that's just about ready for deployment. It puts the hurt on you...
POSTED Friday, December 26, 2008
Unless you happen to be an impressive 500 times the size of your average human being, you'll probably use these oversized earbuds as regular speakers. Vaguely called the 500XL Desktop Speakers, there's nothing much here besides a gimmicky design...
POSTED Friday, December 26, 2008
We've heard of smart cars, but this is getting into a whole new dimension. Mercedes studied the brain waves of sleepy drivers, and matched those up with lackadaisical steering tendencies, resulting in a car that can sense if you're...
POSTED Friday, December 26, 2008
Nintendo is finally clamoring on board the video on demand bandwagon. With the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 already offering robust downloadable video services, it was only a matter of time before the Wii began offering videos as well. Nintendo...
POSTED Friday, December 26, 2008
You may remember that tease Sony was playing earlier this week about its non-netbook netbook, showing us a mere shape of the upcoming tinybook? Now the company accidentally leaked a couple of pics and a few specs on its...
POSTED Friday, December 26, 2008
Apparently, it's better for your plants to water them in the evening, so the water doesn't evaporate quickly and they can soak up as much of it as they want. Unfortunately, that means you need to garden in the dark,...
POSTED Friday, December 26, 2008
Sledding is really fun, but any way to make it faster and probably more dangerous is something I can get behind. After all, if a regular sled is good, a souped-up sled designed to go twice as fast must be...
POSTED Friday, December 26, 2008
The gift giving season has passed and assuming you got the gadget you've been hoping for it's time to look towards the new year. What better way to ring in 2009 than with an uber-geeky software application like iChampagne 2008....
POSTED Friday, December 26, 2008
We've had a great time this year immersing ourselves in gadgets and tech news. Today we're going to take a day off to immerse ourselves in actual gadgets as we play around with all the fun tech toys we...
POSTED Thursday, December 25, 2008
The days of gaming turning your body to jello due to lack of exercise ended with the advent of the Nintendo Wii. But now a new innovative mashup cooked up by Japanese coder Ryo Katsuma mixes Google Maps with the...
POSTED Thursday, December 25, 2008
So, hey, let's talk finances. I know, I know, it's Christmas Eve and you'd rather not look at your pocket book right now. With a gadget like the Supervision, however, you'd really never have to think too hard about...
POSTED Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tankers are essential in today's world, being the main way we get products and oil from continent to continent. Unfortunately, they use a ton of fuel to haul their cargo, driving up shipping costs for everyone. Now, the first partially-solar-powered...
POSTED Wednesday, December 24, 2008
We revere Santa Claus as our mysterious giver of gifts, but the rest of the world may reserve that spot for Josh Silver. Professor Joshua Silver, to be specific — a retired physics teacher at Oxford University who has...
POSTED Wednesday, December 24, 2008
What the heck is Santa up to, I mean right now? Well, he's already on his way, starting in the Far East and working his way westward. Track his progress in 3D on Google Earth by downloading this special...
POSTED Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Colonoscopies are unpleasant. You need to go to the doctor, get naked, and have this stranger do very awkward things in an uncomfortable place on your body. Unfortunately, they're very necessary if you want to detect and prevent colon cancer....
POSTED Wednesday, December 24, 2008
We're thinking e-readers such as the $359 Amazon Kindle and $280ish Sony Reader would be more popular if they just didn't cost so much. Addressing that concern is the PDF-reading eSlick, a $230 reader that might be somewhat of...
POSTED Wednesday, December 24, 2008
It's Christmas Eve, the perfect time for teasing you about things to come, and PC makers are getting into the act. We have three tantalizing examples. First up is HP with leaked pics of this HP Firebird 803 tower...
POSTED Wednesday, December 24, 2008
As nerd culture has ascended to the mainstream dozens of manufacturers have rushed out t-shirts and gadgets designed to make the non-geek look decidedly techy. But while proving geek cred via subtle accessories has become tougher, you can still one-up...
POSTED Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Encasing the wiring and circuitry of a gadget in a transparent shell is pretty popular, but a lot of the concepts we see — such as Nokia's morphing cell phone, pictured above — take it all one step further...
POSTED Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Students at the Royal College of Art in London were tasked with dreaming up what shape light, economical cars could take in this day and age. What did they come up with? Vehicles that are quirky and awesome —...
POSTED Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Rumblings of an iPhone nano have been percolating for weeks now, and here are the first pics of the thus-far fantasy phone. It looks to be a 3/4 size iPhone, slimmer but every bit as attractive as its existing...
POSTED Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Energizer is about to roll out this neat little convenience, a $50 solar battery charger. The weatherproof hotshot also charges your AA or AAA batteries from a wall outlet if it's a cloudy day, and looky there on the...
POSTED Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Remember that Roku set-top box we told you about, the cheapest way to stream Netflix video? Now the $99 player has gone HD with its updated version 1.5 software and firmware, delivered online automatically in the past few days....
POSTED Tuesday, December 23, 2008
In light of recent economic woes not everyone has $300-$400 bucks to shell out for the latest gaming console, but that doesn't mean you catch shell out some pennies to hone your skills on your existing system. For those on...
POSTED Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Meet Eddy, an industrial vehicle designed by Puzon Maciej. This remote-controlled suction excavator is designed to do a big job despite its small form factor — as a suction excavator, it'll suck up all of the dirt and debris...
POSTED Monday, December 22, 2008
Bonfires sure are pretty, but they can be dangerous, too. The Bonfire, by designer Kang Kyung Lee, is an LED lamp that loosely simulates a pile of sticks set ablaze, though the low-heat LEDs won't keep your hands warm....
POSTED Monday, December 22, 2008
The upcoming Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds is not messing around. Not only does this monster of a laptop have a 17 inch screen, Intel Core 2 Quad processors, and the option to have up to 980GB of storage, but it has...
POSTED Monday, December 22, 2008
This Christmas Cannon sure would save Santa — and everyone else — a lot of time. Imagine if ol' Saint Nick just loaded it up onto his sleigh and sped by, firing Christmas cheer in all directions. Or how...
POSTED Monday, December 22, 2008
Landline phones may be going the way of the dodo, what with everyone owning cellphones, but that's not going to stop the fine folks at Bang & Olufsen from releasing a ridiculous impractical cordless telephone. Yes, the BeoCom2 Phone is...
POSTED Monday, December 22, 2008
The same magnetic technology that allows a computer hard drive to read and write data could be used to spot cancer in its earliest stages — something that, for many forms of cancer, means the success in treating it is...
POSTED Monday, December 22, 2008
Sure, getting punched with brass knuckles will seriously mess you up, sometimes you need to deliver even more punishment than the trusty brass knuckles can deliver. That's why Blast Knuckles exist. They're essentially a pair of brass knuckles that also...
POSTED Monday, December 22, 2008
If you're a total germophobe, you probably wash your knives under scalding hot water every time they even get near raw chicken. You don't want to get stuck with any nasty salmonella, after all. But what if you're both a...
POSTED Monday, December 22, 2008
If you are one of those travelers unable to get home for the holidays and need to snuggle up with some choice movies the new Castrade Mini-LED Projector (CV-MP01) offers a convenient way to get that movie theater feel at...
POSTED Monday, December 22, 2008
I lived in Denmark for a couple of years as a kid, and while I loved it, few would argue that the Danish people are Europe's party animals. This tiny Scandinavian country is clearly a design and style powerhouse,...
POSTED Sunday, December 21, 2008
Most of us start out on an exercise plan with good intentions, but let's face it, sitting in a room doing the same repeated motion gets boring pretty fast. I have a rowing machine propped up against my wall,...
POSTED Saturday, December 20, 2008
We're wrapping up our DVICE holiday gift guides with nine of the craziest high-tech holiday decorations of the year (honorable mention to the DIY Dalek Christmas tree, which popped up too late to make the list) and 10 awesome...
POSTED Friday, December 19, 2008
In the wake of the White House's Detroit bailout, we needed a reminder of why we should have any good thoughts about American automakers. Well, we got it in the form of these awesome kitchen appliances by Radi Design,...
POSTED Friday, December 19, 2008
Life is full of dull moments. You know, train rides, waiting rooms, visits with your girlfriend's parents. You crave some form of stimulation, but with none your eyes just glaze over and you zone out. What a waste of your...
POSTED Friday, December 19, 2008
Looking for a watch that's about a million times more distinctive than your crappy Casio? Check out the Cabestan Winch Tourbillion Vertical Watch, a timepiece so stunning that you'll forget that it actually tells the time. It has 1,352 components...
POSTED Friday, December 19, 2008
Using soil to grow plants is so last century. We live in the future, we don't need to get our hands dirty with dirt. No, we're all about aeroponics, where specially formulated nutrient mists replace soil. This Broto Domestic Greenhouse...
POSTED Friday, December 19, 2008
It was the sole heard 'round the world — Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi hurled his shoe at President Bush earlier this week, and the Internet has been ablaze with chatter about the international incident ever since. Everyone's buzzing about...
POSTED Friday, December 19, 2008
Honda is celebrating its 50th anniversary of doing business in the U.S. and the automaker is doing it in a major way: with a 49-foot-tall replica of its famous Asimo robot. The bipedal giant will serve as the company's...
POSTED Friday, December 19, 2008
Toshiba is firing the next salvo in the Solid State War with a drive that's an impressive 512 GB large. As it pretty much always is in the wild world of tech, that's double the size of the last SSD...
POSTED Friday, December 19, 2008
Dubai's new Palazzo Versace luxury hotel is going to be the first in the world to artificially cool the sand on its beach. A system of coolant-filled pipes buried under the sand will absorb heat. Working with giant fans...
POSTED Friday, December 19, 2008
Although Japan had its Great Recession in the 90s devices like the blingtastic, shiny new USB U-22 Jewelry drives from Magnetic Laboratories prove that the country refuses to acknowledge the current economic tumult. The good news is that the "bling"...
POSTED Friday, December 19, 2008
In the interest of full disclosure, let me start off by stating that I was a fan of satellite radio from Day One. After seeing what both had to offer, I even bought stock. Lots of stock. In both...
POSTED Thursday, December 18, 2008
If you go biking at night, it's a smart idea to have reflectors on your bike so cars don't accidentally run you over. But what if, rather than slapping reflectors on your bike, you made your entire bike a reflector?...
POSTED Thursday, December 18, 2008
The idea of being able to carry around a portable, renewable energy source is an attractive one — especially if you're lugging around a laptop, iPod and a cell phone. You've already seen solar-panel-laden backpacks — and I've spotted...
POSTED Thursday, December 18, 2008
Some of us live, breathe, eat and sleep sci-fi. If you're not included in our merry band of Snow Crash-ing nerds, you're probably wondering what to buy geeks like us for the upcoming holiday giftathon. That's why you're going...
POSTED Thursday, December 18, 2008
Porsche, what the heck are you designing now? A sled? You're whoring out that storied name to clock radios, pocket knives, toasters, pipes, cell phones, and now this aluminum sled? But look at its clean lines, its sparse design,...
POSTED Thursday, December 18, 2008
Got a dog that can't swim but live in an area prone to flooding? That's a pretty lousy combo for your dog, don't you think. That's why the Float-a-Pet system was developed. It lets your pooch roam free with no...
POSTED Thursday, December 18, 2008
Coming in just a bit too late for our roundup of the craziest decorations of the year, this Dalek Christmas tree has finally arrived to invade the holidays. Made by Minnesotan Lindsey Testolin, this Dalek probably has more flashing...
POSTED Thursday, December 18, 2008
When Philippe Starck designs anything — even a lowly iPod and iPhone dock — we take notice. Zikmu is another winner, a pair of wireless speakers the famed industrial designer created for Parrot. The 2.5-footers radiate sound from 360...
POSTED Thursday, December 18, 2008
This clock radio is just pretending to go retro, but that doesn't make us like it much less. Decked out in Spirit of St. Louis trim, it reminds us of the old 1920s trans-Atlantic airplane's cockpit, accompanied by its...
POSTED Thursday, December 18, 2008
While this may look like a photo of New York City, it isn't. It's actually a shot of NYC taken from inside Google Earth, thanks to a new update that introduces thousands of new photo-based 3D building models. And it's...
POSTED Thursday, December 18, 2008
Here's a remote-controlled, quarter-sized scale model of a German King Tiger panzer that could crush most other RC models under its treads. That's not just because of its size — the World War II era panzer weighs a monstrous...
POSTED Thursday, December 18, 2008
In our latest installment of Jobs Robots Are Secretly Stealing From Humans we present you with the KAR (Kitchen Assistant Robot) dishwashing robot from Japan. Developed by teams at Panasonic and The University of Tokyo, the one armed robot can...
POSTED Thursday, December 18, 2008
Some people celebrate the holidays with quiet conversation, a bit of eggnog, a festive meal, an exchange of modest gifts, and maybe a song or two. Others, well, they go stark-raving mad. Crazy light shows, absurd ornamentation, juxtaposing objects...
POSTED Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Metal Gear Solid is coming to the iPhone, which isn't terribly surprising considering publisher Konami's previously announced iPhone releases. Expect touchable tiltable Apple Store versions of Frogger, Silent Hill, and Dance Dance Revolution before the year is out. Eurogamer,...
POSTED Wednesday, December 17, 2008
We all know to take weather forecasts with a grain of salt. Weathermen can tell us what's coming with pretty decent accuracy a day or two in advance using a bevy of sensors all over the country — as...
POSTED Wednesday, December 17, 2008
I took a stab at explaining why Bluetooth headphones haven't taken off a couple of months ago. One of the big things that people have a problem is the setup process. It's typically not hard, but it's an extra...
POSTED Wednesday, December 17, 2008
The X-Touch Mixer by Italian home-and-bath atelier Newform allows you full digital control over your sink, which is a cooler thought than I realized. The faucet is electronically controlled by a keypad, and you can easily adjust the flow...
POSTED Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Designer Frederic Sofia put together his 35H Relaxation Armchair with cast aluminum, adding high-tech pneumatic springs to coordinate the seat, back and headrest for ultimate comfort. Somehow, all these fine adjustments are controlled from the arms. Choose leather or...
POSTED Wednesday, December 17, 2008
We told you about video streaming set-top box Vudu's new update yesterday, adding 120 on-demand TV channels, photo sites Flickr and Picasa, YouTube, a few games, and the promise of more applications to be developed. We gave the new...
POSTED Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Attention sticklers: the perfect tool for the anal-retentive chef has arrived. This Admetior Digital Spoon Scale aims to please, measuring by both volume and weight, take your pick. Or, you can eschew this digi-frivolity and wing it like my...
POSTED Wednesday, December 17, 2008
We may have just found the perfect replacement for that klunky Bluetooth keyboard we've been using in our home theater. Brando's outdone its tiny keyboard we touted a couple of months ago with this new backlit model, scarcely larger...
POSTED Wednesday, December 17, 2008
You can always depend on the numerous gadget companies hailing from Japan to come up with the coolest tech you'll never need but definitely want. The latest example of this comes in the form of the Yorozu Audio Universal Speaker...
POSTED Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Buying a holiday present for a gadget lover is tricky and complicated, especially when you're not knee-deep in the technology world every day. We're the ones who constantly keep tabs on the gadget universe for you, so who better...
POSTED Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The Tima Watch, by French designer Julien Bergignat, is just another example of why more things should be made utilizing e-paper. It's a simple, sleek watch that tells you what you need to know about the date and time...
POSTED Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The design teams taking part in the LA Auto Show's Design Challenge: Motorsports 2025 weren't just creating cool looking future cars, they also cranked out some pretty great science fiction. Take the Honda Great Racer we showed you, for...
POSTED Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Killing bugs can result in more than one downside for those with a sensitive constitution. For one, you kill a poor, helpless bug. Secondly, you leave said helpless bug's entrails smeared all over your wall, necessitating a cleanup, which is...
POSTED Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The LED-embedded sidewalk of the future is here. These steel Catwalk modules have sparkling arrays of LEDs lighting your path, giving your sidewalk that glamorous look that might remind you of a disco floor. The panels come in three...
POSTED Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Techno-guitarmaker Ovation just came up with another great idea. This one's aptly named the Ovation iDea, the first guitar ever equipped with a built-in mp3 recorder, snagging your best ideas anytime. Besides recording your playing, it can play back...
POSTED Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Artist Reuben Margolin just installed his Magic Wave at the Swiss Center of Technorama near Zurich. The sculpture is made of 450 aluminum rods hung by 256 wires connected to 3,000 pulleys and sliding bars. The whole thing is controlled...
POSTED Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Vudu's on a roll. After busting out its ultra-sharp Blu-ray-like HDx video downloads a few months ago, now it's opened up its internet-connected set-top box to the likes of YouTube, Flickr, and Picasa. Along for the ride is plenty...
POSTED Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Here's something you don't want to see coming your way: a big remote-controlled helicopter with a .45 pistol attached to the front. Yes, it's flying death, controlled from afar, and it's terrifying. There's not a lot of info on...
POSTED Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The Consumer Electronics Show is just a month away, but the pre-show buzz is in full swing. Our parent company NBC Universal will be at CES 2009 with a huge interactive TV exhibit from the show floor that befits...
POSTED Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Following up on their James Bond-style spy camera watch, Thanko has introduced the even cooler MP4 Watch, just in the time for the holidays. The watch offers a full color screen that tells the time and date but also doubles...
POSTED Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Boy howdy, these LightSpeed Binoculars by Torrey Pines Logic seem to be able to do anything. They act as binoculars, but also as short-range communication devices for sharing information covertly. Using infrared LEDs, two people looking at one another...
POSTED Monday, December 15, 2008
As if landing a probe on one of Saturn's moons wasn't amazing enough, now we find out the tiny Huygens craft sent back the first pictures of an extraterrestrial liquid ever taken. After Huygens was launched from its mother...
POSTED Monday, December 15, 2008
Mamoru is a pint-sized elder-care robot created by the University of Tokyo that even looks like a diminutive granny, what with that cute little plastic bun. It's not designed to nag, however. Instead, it helps the elderly or disabled...
POSTED Monday, December 15, 2008
Good thing we don't have an extra $109K lying around, or we would have already bought that pricey electric car, the Tesla Roadster. But Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson dampens our spirits when he takes the electric rocket out for...
POSTED Monday, December 15, 2008
Never mind that this baton-on-a-stick is a clock. Just think of Chronochrome as an odd and colorful object that only looks exactly the same twice a day. But if you want to go to the trouble of deciphering its...
POSTED Monday, December 15, 2008
We long for the day when all cell phone cameras are as good as a typical point-and-shoot digital camera. That day may be slightly closer with the U.S. debut of the Samsung M8800 Pixon, a cell phone with an...
POSTED Monday, December 15, 2008
Here's one of those ideas that you wonder what took so long: a power driver that holds your screw for you. The Black & Decker LI4000 SmartDriver's arm extends out to just the right spot, and its magnetic tip...
POSTED Monday, December 15, 2008
Flying in a glider seems like an incredible experience, allowing you to soar through the air without the rumblings of engines around you. But because of the whole lack of engines thing it also seems kind of terrifying and dangerous....
POSTED Monday, December 15, 2008
Spycams don't get much better than the Digital Window. Unlike most spycams, which show just one angle with grainy quality, the Digital Window shows a full 180-degree panorama in full high-definition. Of course, shooting that much footage at once means...
POSTED Monday, December 15, 2008
In these tough financial times, it makes sense to try to make things on your own that you used to buy in stores in better days. Well, why not start with the most fun thing to make and use: beer!...
POSTED Monday, December 15, 2008
When it comes to new ways of generating energy, it doesn't get any greener than the contraption recently installed in Tokyo's Shibuya train station. Developed by Japan's Sound Power, the FB-0001 platform generates electric power when the hundreds of thousands...
POSTED Monday, December 15, 2008
There's no shortage of amazing racing simulators that can give you a mind boggling visual and sonic experience, but most leave you firmly planted on terra firma in their bucket seat. A few do throw in a little motion...
POSTED Sunday, December 14, 2008
Now that winter's coming, many of us are finding out about the downside of our fancy new touchscreen phones. Just answering an iPhone requires your bare finger on the screen, and that's a problem if you're all bundled up...
POSTED Saturday, December 13, 2008
It's T-Minus 13 days until this holiday season reaches critical mass, and lucky for you we've got gadgets pouring out of our ears. Check out our lists for the filthy rich, bizarre gifts you can only get outside the...
POSTED Friday, December 12, 2008
The other day Charlie White offered up some car technologies that could save Detroit, and on that list was "build a tiny car like the Smart." Well, I've got a provision to that motion: make those tiny cars look...
POSTED Friday, December 12, 2008
The most detailed and sophisticated R/C car system in the world is about to make its U.S. debut. Kyosho's dNaNo radio-controlled 1:43 scale race cars are exquisitely detailed, and they're packed with high-tech gyros, 2.4GHz radios, and precision-crafted bodies,...
POSTED Friday, December 12, 2008
You know, it's never too early to get your kid hooked up to Web 2.0 social networking services. That's why I like the Kickbee, an apparatus that allows the kicks of in utero babies to be turned into Twitter posts....
POSTED Friday, December 12, 2008
If you're looking for a chair to both intimidate your underlings with as well as a chair that will allow you to nap with impunity, you can't go wrong with the Workbay chair from Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. This imposing...
POSTED Friday, December 12, 2008
What first appears to be an innocent bust of The Bard turns out to be a sneaky switch as you tilt his head back. Hey, Willie, whatever happened to "to thine own self be true?" You might recognize this...
POSTED Friday, December 12, 2008
If the only thing keeping you from getting a tried-and-true skateboard is portability, and if scooters are too nerdy, then the Pumpboard may appeal to you. A concept by designer Maciej Puzon, the Pumpboard can deflate down into a...
POSTED Friday, December 12, 2008
Those iconic double-decker Routemaster busses are disappearing from London streets, now running on only a few "heritage routes" in the city. Industrial Designer Hugh Frost wants to bring back a similar bus with this radical idea he calls Freight*BUS,...
POSTED Friday, December 12, 2008
What's the problem with floor lamps? Right, exactly — they're made so that "one size fits all." Not so much if you're over six feet, and you end up staring into the white-hot bulb every time you stand up....
POSTED Friday, December 12, 2008
If you've ever tried to take a picture of someone with their back to the sun, you know what kind of results you get: crappy ones. The sun makes the person look totally dark, rendering your photo useless. That wouldn't...
POSTED Friday, December 12, 2008
Those kids today: yammering on their cellphones all day, and the texting. It's all fun and games until you start doing it while driving. Yeah, that would be a big no-no regardless of your age, though University of Utah...
POSTED Friday, December 12, 2008
Here's a phone that may just strong-arm its way into the hearts of business-minded folks who always need a charged phone and a firm handshake. The idea behind the phone is that by squeezing the grips flanking the unit as...
POSTED Friday, December 12, 2008
Science fiction movies have long been obsessed with the as yet unattained ability to project the thoughts of humans (dreams, intentions, etc.) onto a video screen. Now a group of Japanese researchers at the ATR Computational Neuroscience Lab in Kyoto...
POSTED Friday, December 12, 2008
As Congress debates the controversial bailout/bridge loan/taxpayer-money-down-the-drain for the Big Three American automakers, be glad camcorders are made by Asian companies. Why? Sony, Canon, JVC, Panasonic and Samsung are sliding down the same razorblade of doom as the Big...
POSTED Thursday, December 11, 2008
Gyroscopes. They help us shake apps around on our iPhones (the iPhone doesn't have a gyroscope in it as reported — yet), simulate tennis and boxing on the Wii, and now they may even help you get that perfect...
POSTED Thursday, December 11, 2008
We've seen some pretty interesting mouse designs before, but none have taken their moniker quite as literally as this insane and relatively-morbid specimen. That's because it incorporates the skeleton of a formerly living and breathing mouse. Yes, it's a mouse...
POSTED Thursday, December 11, 2008
Finally, a fair speed bump. Its smart sensors flatten it when a car driving slowly approaches, but stays tall and obnoxious if a car's flying along at more than around 19mph. This could be a suspension saver for those...
POSTED Thursday, December 11, 2008
Here's a smart shower head that stops wasting hot water. The Evolve shower head uses ShowerStart technology, stopping the flow to a mere trickle as soon as the water gets hot enough. Instead of 2.5 gallons of hot water...
POSTED Thursday, December 11, 2008
Most headphones look the same. You're either going to get standard-issue earbuds or standard-issue over-the-ear headphones. That's not the case with Perfect Unison's beautiful wooden headphones, which are adorned with custom screen printings by the Dutch artist Parra. There are...
POSTED Thursday, December 11, 2008
Seems like just yesterday we were extolling the virtues of having a screen in a car's front seat, and along comes Splitview Command, an 8-inch screen to be available in Mercedes S-Class cars next summer. It miraculously displays two...
POSTED Thursday, December 11, 2008
Researchers at the University of Nevada-Reno have pioneered a process to separate the oil out of used coffee grounds and convert it into biofuel, creating cheap biodiesel from what was once trash. The resulting java-fuel has two big advantages...
POSTED Thursday, December 11, 2008
There are plenty of ways to generate energy from day-to-day objects and activities, it just takes a keen and creative eye to spot them and take advantage. In the Netharlands, at a train station, they're harnessing the energy generated by...
POSTED Thursday, December 11, 2008
Before you think you're looking at some obscure and geeky computer part, realize this: You're looking into the future. This Fusion-io ioDrive prototype is a solid-state hard drive that plugs into the PCI bus, that place inside your computer...
POSTED Thursday, December 11, 2008
The Internet has connected the world in ways never before imagined, but the peculiarities of local flavor still exist. Every country sees itself through a different lens of subjective reality giving birth to tech oddities so numerous we here...
POSTED Thursday, December 11, 2008
Flickr user Kickinthehead says that these artful Japanese-style bento boxes are "cute lunches made for me by my girlfriend!" Cute they are, but if I opened up my lunch to find such an arrangement inside, I'd be torn between...
POSTED Thursday, December 11, 2008
Anyone who had any doubt that the future of humanoid robots would inevitably veer towards the seedy side need only look to the example of Le Trung and his fembot Aiko. The Vietnamese-Canadian tinkerer put Aiko together and controls her...
POSTED Thursday, December 11, 2008
Boston Power has created a new line of Lithium-Ion batteries dubbed the Sonatas, batteries that deliver an average of four hours of laptop use per charge. In addition to that, they also don't show a degradation of charges after a...
POSTED Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Here's an idea: instead of throwing away a product's packaging, make it suitable for re-use as another product of even greater beauty and usefulness. That's the idea behind this Cava wine bottle packaging by Spanish design firm Ciclus. After...
POSTED Wednesday, December 10, 2008
As someone who uses multiple screens when I'm working (or playing games) the idea of having a laptop with some extra screen space as portable as the unit itself is really exciting. Sure, that extra space would come in...
POSTED Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Digital picture frames are a dime a dozen, but this ImpactV from eStarling is different. That V is for video, letting users send DVD-quality video/audio clips directly to the frame via its own e-mail address. Accepting clips up to...
POSTED Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Many of the following ten games are great. A few came close to being on my top ten list (to be posted tomorrow). I would call a couple of them works of genius. But I think they're the most...
POSTED Wednesday, December 10, 2008
The era of handheld flexible displays just got a little closer when HP rolled out this prototype it developed with the Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University. Said to be unbreakable, the plastic scrolling screens use HP's self-aligned...
POSTED Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Have you ever needed to swing across a gaping chasm but were woefully unequipped with the proper tools for the job? I know, it's the worst! Well, if you were wearing a Survival Bracelet, you'd be all set for any...
POSTED Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Even those of us who don't have pools can appreciate the Ecolight, the pool light that's a microcosm of a hydroelectric plant. This design concept is super-easy to use — mount it on the water jet from the filter...
POSTED Wednesday, December 10, 2008
The U.S. government is wrapping up its haggling over a bailout of the auto industry, and since We the People are shelling out at least $15 billion to the Big Three auto makers, let's dictate tough terms to them...
POSTED Wednesday, December 10, 2008
You could use a normal wheelbarrow to transport various materials while working outside, but that doesn't involve anything mechanical. No fun! What about this insane Honda HP450 Power Carrier? It'll put any other wheelbarrow on earth to shame. The Power...
POSTED Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Back in the summer we told you about the new Korg DS-10 synthesizer software for the Nintendo DS. Now an outgoing Japanese geek named Jetdaisuke has uploaded video of an innovation originally cooked up by Korg engineer Kanamori-san that allows...
POSTED Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Artist Antoinette J. Citizen has put together a room making me wish I could be a kid all over again. Called "Landscape," it's a pretty faithful recreation of what a level from Nintendo's iconic Mario series of video games...
POSTED Tuesday, December 9, 2008
I've always wanted to walk on water, but thanks to my lack of deity-like qualities, it's never really been an option. But now, thanks to a mixture of technology and human ingenuity, my dream might just become a reality. Say...
POSTED Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Clock radios don't get any greener than this. Minute Glass is a clock radio powered by magnetic induction so there's no need for batteries or electricity at all. It wakes you up in the morning with music, and its...
POSTED Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Cameras have gotten small enough to stick in just about anything at this point, as demonstrated by Thanko's new video camera wristwatch. The classy-looking analog watch has a hidden camera embedded on its face, allowing you to surreptitiously take video...
POSTED Tuesday, December 9, 2008
For a robot — and even for a human — the MechRC has some seriously impressive moves. It can perform pretty much any motion you can program, including head-stands and backward tumbles, and it really maintains its balance well...
POSTED Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Embed a high-efficiency LED underneath a coathook, and you have "Alone," shedding light on the darkest areas of your home. Available in red, black or white, the hooks have a cool white "illuminated circular outline" underneath, and are powered...
POSTED Tuesday, December 9, 2008
This toy jet engine is not going to fly you anywhere, but it'll sure demonstrate what goes on inside those fiery turbines. Your kid can learn how to be a jet engine mechanic, putting together the kit's 50 parts,...
POSTED Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Mobile broadband is a wonderful thing, capable of giving you a decent 3G internet connection almost anywhere. This Novatel MiFi Intelligent Mobile Hotspot is about the size of a deck of cards, and turns 3G connectivity into Wi-Fi that...
POSTED Tuesday, December 9, 2008
We all love keeping a clean house, but it comes at a cost: Vacuum cleaners are a big contributor to any household's carbon footprint. Showing more foresight than certain car companies, Electrolux decided to create a green vacuum cleaner,...
POSTED Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The cuckoo clock design is one that we don't see implemented much these days. We're all digital, it seems, so something based on analog mechanics like a cuckoo clock just feels out of place. It's too bad, really. But luckily,...
POSTED Tuesday, December 9, 2008
DSLR cameras are great for taking the best pictures you possibly can, though they're worse than point-and-shoots and cameraphones in one key feature: keeping a low profile. Pointing a bulky camera at someone pretty much guarantees they'll know you're...
POSTED Tuesday, December 9, 2008
As the club DJ transition from vinyl turntables to CD turntables to dual iPods has progressed audiences have become more accepting of the changing dynamic. But some DJs still long for the old school vinyl aesthetic. Japanese design and software...
POSTED Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Are video games just not immersive enough for you? Do you feel like you really need to feel those headshots? Well, the TN Games HTX Helmet is designed to do just that, rattling your head around when it gets shot...
POSTED Monday, December 8, 2008
What's up with Black & Decker lately? The company's gone all green on us — and we're glad — first with that Thermal Leak Detector we showed you last week, and now this ultra-cool EM100B Energy Saver Series Power...
POSTED Monday, December 8, 2008
Precursor LLC, a research firm backed by the telecom giants including AT&T and Verizon, is unsurprisingly throwing punches at Google. The search-engine-turned-everything is charged by Precursor as using 21 times the bandwidth than it pays for, and claims Google...
POSTED Monday, December 8, 2008
Now that Pure Digital has challenged the HD camcorder world with its $230 Flip Mino HD, Creative has beefed up its cheap Vado camcorder, jumping into the act with its answer: Vado HD. It's no coincidence that the Vado...
POSTED Monday, December 8, 2008
Tivoli makes fine, great-sounding radios, encased in real wood and oozing with first-rate workmanship. Now the company is finally shipping its newest creation we told you about back in May, NetWorks, which can tune in thousands of internet radio...
POSTED Monday, December 8, 2008
Do you ever get bored with the way your lights look? The ZiPP Light Shade, by designers Arash and Kelly, have a simple polypropylene covering that you can adjust depending on how you feel. All zipped up, the covering...
POSTED Monday, December 8, 2008
Is this a real electric vehicle or a clown car? It's as real as a prototype can get, put together by Fiat and a few other designers, all of whom must have a substantial sense of humor. The Fiat...
POSTED Monday, December 8, 2008
While you might not want to whip out this Shots Gun Drink Dispenser at a rowdy nightclub among all those gun-totin' patrons, it might be the perfect addition to your home bar during the holidays. Never mind fancy inventions...
POSTED Monday, December 8, 2008
It's probably not a good time to be the purveyor of personal luxury submarines right now, what with global financial markets crashing and burning lowering the number of rich people dramatically. But hey, that doesn't mean said submarines aren't pretty...
POSTED Monday, December 8, 2008
Do you own an Xbox 360 but don't have a TV to use it with? No? Yeah, I guess that doesn't make a lot of sense. But hey, if you did, wouldn't this Xbox 360 modified to have a 7-inch...
POSTED Monday, December 8, 2008
Movie rental monster Netflix continues its quest for world domination with today's release of Netflix on TiVo. Add this to the Netflix/Roku box, Netflix access on LG Blu-ray players, on the Xbox 360, and the ability to play Watch...
POSTED Monday, December 8, 2008
With the sputtering economy, many folks are being much more conservative with their gift-buying. It only makes sense, and it's why we gave you a list of gift suggestions last week that were cheap but still awesome. But if...
POSTED Monday, December 8, 2008
The folks at Strapya World have figured out a way for financially strapped geeks to save money and simultaneously serve their tech lust with the introduction of the Tetris and Atari Breakout Arcade Gaming Piggy Banks. The mini-arcade machines require...
POSTED Monday, December 8, 2008
We've seen people stuffing webcams into all kinds of strange and cute places, but most of the time they were designed to capture your face for other to see. That's why I'm kind of confused by this headphone/webcam combo,...
POSTED Sunday, December 7, 2008
Anyone who has used a pressure washer to clean the porch or at the car wash, knows about the sense of power you get when that wand is in your hand. Now you can get that feeling each morning...
POSTED Saturday, December 6, 2008
Sometimes it's hard to read and write about all of this technology and not feel like we're already living in the future. Just take a look at this 400 GB optical disk Pioneer was showing off, for instance —...
POSTED Friday, December 5, 2008
French fixture makers Arkiane have two gorgeous wall-mounted fireplace designs — Icoya is inspired by an ancient Incan deity, and the other, the Yàn-Li, is a more obvious flame shape. The beauty of a fireplace like both of these...
POSTED Friday, December 5, 2008
If you like the idea of cloud computing, you'll love this Pano Zero Client. It's minimalist, to say the least. It has no CPU, no memory, no local software, no nothing. Well, there's a network connection, and the idea...
POSTED Friday, December 5, 2008
One way researchers are trying to restore the ability to speak for those who have lost — or never had — the capability is by translating neural signals into sounds and sentences. In other words, if you think of...
POSTED Friday, December 5, 2008
Someday soon, your entire broadband experience could be wireless — and blazing fast at the same time. You've heard of 3G? Now get ready for "Next G." Network-building heavyweight Ericsson took a big step toward that super-fast wireless goal today,...
POSTED Friday, December 5, 2008
The motorcycle nuts at ICON Motorsports make an interesting observation about their Warthog bike, inspired by the USAF's A-10 ground-attack fighter that shares the same nickname: "Obviously the first thing that grabs one's attention is the 800-watt MTX audio...
POSTED Friday, December 5, 2008
This world is getting so techno-advanced, now even the lowly bolt is getting into the act. Behold the Smartbolt, fitted with a tiny indicator disk on top that shows you just how tight it is. There's nothing electronic about...
POSTED Friday, December 5, 2008
The Grippity is a crazy-looking device that's designed to completely change the way you type. You hold it in your hands and type from the back, as you're able to see through the keyboard to your fingers behind it. There...
POSTED Friday, December 5, 2008
When you're away from home and want to check on your dog, what do you do? Well, if you're an enterprising Ph.D. student, you create a custom dog-cam system/treat dispenser that runs via your iPhone, allows you to see just...
POSTED Friday, December 5, 2008
That experimental broadcast of an NFL football game in 3D we told you about last month took place last night in specially-equipped theaters in Los Angeles, Boston, and New York. After a couple of lost satellite feeds and some...
POSTED Friday, December 5, 2008