thermometer
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Poker chip-sized device non-invasively measures brain temperature, intrigues Le Chiffre
Do you ever feel like Portal 2 is making your brain overheat? You should get that checked, and thanks to researchers in Norfolk, Virginia, there's an easier way to do so. The Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters has developed a device the diameter of a poker chip that sits atop a patient's head; by detecting the microwaves that all human tissues produce, it calculates brain temperature without the need for messy skull-popping. The waves pass through the bone to give doctors precise, up-to-the-minute results, which can help prevent brain damage due to overheating. One possible use for the technology is helping hypoxic (oxygen lacking) infants, who can be treated with cooling therapies. Of course, you can probably make do with that old home remedy: just put a bag of frozen carrots on your head next time GlaDOS has you stumped.
Thermo Mirror measures body temperature, gives us something else to stare at
As good looking as we are -- and you know we are -- we sometimes get tired of staring into the mirror. Honestly, aside from reminding us of our resemblance to a young Sean Connery, the standard mirror really doesn't do much, but the Thermo Mirror is another story. The device, designed by Japanese electronics firm NEC/Avio, uses an infrared sensor to measure an onlooker's temperature from up to 30 centimeters (about 1 foot) away, without physical contact. The subject's temperature appears on the mirror's surface, and, if they have a fever, an alarm sounds. Thermo Mirror is available in two versions and costs between 98,000 and 120,000 yen (or $1,180 and $1,440). When not in use, its face displays date, time, humidity, and temperature. Now if it could just make us a martini -- shaken, not stirred, of course.
iGrill wireless thermometer combines meat, heat, iPhone
No two ways about it: the day before Christmas Eve is a sleepy, office mostly empty, finish your online shopping, take a long lunch kind of day. It would take a very special press release to break through the pre-holiday, here-comes-CES fog that's hovering over the TUAW home offices this week. I'm here to tell you, though, that one very special press release just arrived in our inboxes, and we're drooling with anticipation about this product. Literally drooling with anticipation. Yes, it's the iPhone peripheral that every red-blooded American male absolutely needs for next 4th of July: the iGrill. It's a meat thermometer... with Bluetooth... and an app. You set it up by your grill. You put the probe in the roast, ribs, steak or salmon. You walk away. You enjoy a frosty beverage and tasty appetizers with your guests and family, knowing your iPhone or iPad will tell you when the food is ready. The base unit operates as a stand-alone thermometer, but if you're within the 200 foot (optimistic!) wireless range, you can track the progress of your culinary effort remotely. The app will alert you when your food hits the target heat, or give you a readout of the estimated cooking time remaining. It also includes cooking tips, recipes and more content for the backyard chef. Got more than one kind of food on the grill? Fear not; the base unit has dual probe support, so you can track both target temperatures at once. The catch? Each probe is US$20, and when you add that to the $99 price of the main unit (which includes a single probe) you've spent a lot of dough on what is, essentially, a digital meat thermometer that serves the same function as a $10 manual unit. You can get a really simple or quite sophisticated remote-enabled sensor for well under $40. Even still. So very Jetsons. The same neural pathways that trigger hunger at the smell of grilling meat are telling us... we want. If you're going to CES, look for iDevices and the iGrill in the Dr. Bott booth. [h/t Engadget]
iGrill meat thermometer for iPhone is the expensive, unholy marriage of the meat thermometer and iPhone
OK, we didn't see this one coming: iGrill is a Bluetooth-enabled meat thermometer. That's right, this bad boy not only displays the temp of whatever you sink the probe into, it also takes that info and transmits it to your iOS device for remote monitoring. Hell, the app itself even features a kitchen timer, alerts for whatever temp you set it to, and more. Because really, you do everything else with your smartphone, so why not use it to free yourself from the tyranny of the kitchen once and for all? Oh, that's right -- because this thing costs $100. See for yourself by hitting up the source link.
FedEx Senseaware tracks everything about your package, probably causes OCD
What do you get when you throw cellular and GPS radios in with an accelerometer, a thermometer and a light sensor? If you answered a decently featured phone, you'd be almost right. FedEx has concocted the above tracker to be able to tell you everything about the package it's in -- if it has been opened, dropped, outside of temperature range, or insufficiently loved by its deliverator. The GPS and cellular signals are used to provide a real time position, and all that data is fed through a web platform for the increasingly obsessive sender to monitor. It is now being deployed with 50 medical clients -- who actually have a use for all the intel -- and once production ramps up and economies of scale kick in, the opening price of $120 a month is expected to drop rapidly. You can expect the Senseaware tracker to show up worldwide some time next year.
Rota-Rota USB hub doubles as a thermometer for reasons unknown
You know what's not uncommon on Brando USB hubs? Weird things. You know what is uncommon on USB hubs in general? Thermometers. The Rota-Rota hub takes USB hubs where they've likely never, ever been before (and may very well never return to) by including a trio of rotating USB ports, a multicard reader and dials that read out the current room temperature in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. If those tools sound like the perfect addition to your desk, hit the read link and hand over $15.50.[Via Coolest-Gadgets]
USB indoor / outdoor thermometer: for when walking outside is just too hard
Believe us, we've seen a variety of unorthodox thermometers before, but this one just shines in a very special way. Brando's USB indoor / outdoor thermometer ($22) is pretty self-explanatory, but we'll humor you a bit by going into detail. The unit itself is powered via your USB port and provides a much more precise reading than those silly weather websites that just take samples from an area nearby. There's even software bundled in to log readings every second for 12 whole hours. Science project, anyone?[Via Coolest Gadgets]
Xbox 360 Hot Rock Case changes color as temperature rises
As if your options when scouting a replacement Xbox 360 case weren't endless enough, here's yet another alternative to ponder. XCMLive's Hot Rock Case may not do much to actually cool your potentially toasty console, but the LED-infused enclosure sports a digital thermometer that informs users of just how warm things are getting within. Additionally, the internal lights change color depending on the temperature range, and if it gets beyond a certain point (118-degrees Fahrenheit), the obligatory "flashing red" will act as your cue to take a momentary break or submerge your console in dry ice. No word yet on pricing or availability, but be sure to check an alternate shot after the break.[Thanks, Bobb]
Temperature-monitoring case mod for the Wii
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/mods/Temperature_monitoring_case_mod_for_the_Wii'; Evolving from the designs of Team Xtender's past mods, the ii-Hot Rock case aims to do more than just light the Wii with colorful LEDs. The $62.95 shell comes equipped with a digital thermometer that displays the console's internal temperature, and the LEDs shift with that measurement. Every 5° change pushes their hue towards either a colder or warmer glow, luminescing a light blue at sub-28°C and glaring klaxon red when temperatures over 55°C are detected. If you're paranoid about overheating consoles, a mod like this would be perfect for quickly warning you to either shut your system off or execute an emergency saucer separation, putting distance between you and the rest of the starship before the Wii's warp core breaches. Let's all hope it never comes to that. Set a course past the post break, and check out a couple more photos of Team Xtender's ii-Hot Rock case.
Nuvo Wino infrared wine thermometer sports retractable sensor
There's no shortage of gadgetry designed to keep your wine legit and chilled, but the Nuvo Vino infrared thermometer is hitting the market to ensure that your pre-drink rambling doesn't lead to you drinking an overly warm glass. The simplistic device sports a retractable sensor that purportedly measures the exact temperature of the wine itself, and there's plenty of accompanying documentation to inform you of what perfect degree you should look for before indulging. As expected, it also features a fairly attractive motif in order to catch the eye of the affluent, but until they add built-in aural cues that blurt out whether or not your beverage is ideal, we'll hold onto our $49.95.
