Baseball Bat

Latest

  • Adidas' RBZ baseball bat can boost your swing speed and power

    by 
    Edgar Alvarez
    Edgar Alvarez
    06.11.2015

    There are plenty of gadgets out there to help you improve your baseball skills, including motion-sensing connected sensors. But Adidas wants to take that to a whole different level, for recreational players and college-level athletes alike. Meet the EQT X3 RBZ, a bat designed to increase the speed and power behind a player's swing. To make that possible, the sporting goods company is relying on materials like carbon composite and precise weight distribution throughout the bat, while a new EQT grip tape control aims to provide a tighter fit in players' hands. For being a baseball bat, the EQT X3 is as sleek as it gets -- and it would probably look great next to your Nike Vapor 360 glove. Adidas is launching the RocketBallz bat tomorrow for $400, in celebration of this year's College World Series.

  • iRobot's DARPA-funded mechanical hand can take a beating, lift 50 pounds

    by 
    Sean Buckley
    Sean Buckley
    11.17.2012

    Most companies might think twice about inflicting blunt force trauma upon their carefully crafted prototypes, but most companies just don't love baseball the way iRobot does. While developing a mechanical hand for DARPA's Autonomous Robotic Manipulation program, iRobot took a metal baseball bat to its three-fingered prototype. No need to cringe, though -- the artificial appendage came away virtually unscathed. The hand's durability comes from its flexible feelers, fingers molded from soft polymers with embedded tactile sensors. Rather than bending at metallic joints, these digits are pulled tight by inexpensive cables made from fishing line -- not only can they take a beating, but should one snap, they're easy to replace. The soft fingers can pick up small objects, such as keys or credit cards and can hold about 50 pounds before slipping up. The hand's current iteration is in use on a DARPA test robot, but you can see the prototype take its licks in the video after the break.

  • Go batty with the Left 4 Dead 2 pre-order bonus

    by 
    Griffin McElroy
    Griffin McElroy
    10.02.2009

    Valve is offering a number of enticing pre-order offers for their upcoming zombicidal action title, Left 4 Dead 2. For the impatient among us, dropping a reservation on the game garners early access to the demo (which is set to drop October 27). For the thrifty among us, pre-ordering the game through Steam (or other participating digital distributors), knocks 10 percent off the total price of the game. However, for the truly patriotic among us, Valve is offering a singularly thrilling bonus: An in-game "American baseball bat." We've contacted Valve to find out exactly what this means -- is pre-ordering the game really the only way to get our hands on this implement of the Great American Pastime? Or is it just a special "American" skin for the bat, which was previously confirmed to be one of the title's brand new melee weapons? We hope it's the latter, if only so we can sing "Courtesy of the Red, White And Blue" during our undead massacres.

  • Diagrams for wacky Wii remote peripherals

    by 
    Eric Caoili
    Eric Caoili
    01.30.2008

    var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Diagrams_for_Wacky_Wii_remote_Peripherals'; Third-party accessory manufacturers aren't the only ones coming up with ridiculous things to attach your Wii remote onto! A recent patent application posted at the European Patent Office's site reveals some of the crazy peripherals Nintendo dreamed up to explain the controller's potential, like the goggles shown above. ThinkGeek's Wii Helm seems like a respectable, thought-out product, compared to this silly idea. Wouldn't that unbalanced weight give you a sore neck after a minute of wearing this headpiece?And there are much zanier diagrams in the application document -- Wii remotes in racing helmets, bike pedals, skateboard wheels, and teddy bears! How would this stuff even work? There are also drafts for a docking station and the old shotgun-design Zapper (the GameCube and wireless receiver demonstrating the Zapper shows the artwork's age). You can check them all out in our gallery below!%Gallery-14911%[Via 22Hundred]

  • PS3 violence spreads to Hawaii

    by 
    Kyle Orland
    Kyle Orland
    01.03.2007

    A bat-wielding SUV driver allegedly attacked two brothers in Big Island, Hawaii for their PlayStation 3 on Saturday. According to KPUA News, the attacker stepped out of the car and hit one of the brothers with the bat before being disarmed by the other brother and fleeing the scene. Frankly, we're getting a little tired of having to report on the continuing violence and theft surrounding the PS3. We understand there was a lot of hype surrounding the launch and the system's high price makes it attractive to thieves, but you would-be criminals should know that the system's after-market value isn't what it once was. Oh yeah, and crime doesn't pay. [Via PS3Center]