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Satarii Star camera base follows your every move, might exist if the money's raised
Looking a bit like a universal Sony Party-shot, the Satarii Star is up on fundraising site IndieGoGo right now with a simple goal: finding enough people who are willing to pay for an action-tracking base for their camera to get the thing produced. The concept is simple enough -- use the included iPhone and standard tripod mounts to insert the camera of your choice, grab the remote sensor and attach it to the object, animal, or human you want to track, and let 'er rip -- as long as you stay within 8 meters (roughly 26 feet), the base station with camera attached will rotate up to 180 degrees to keep the action in the frame. As of this writing they're about halfway to their goal to $20 grand -- and they've already slapped together a functional prototype, so you know you're not funding pure vaporware. Follow the break for a demo, and while you're at it, go ahead and tell off all your friends -- you won't need 'em to hold your camera while you film magic tricks for YouTube anymore. Score!
Peerless' RMI-1 spins your display right round in 15-degree increments
If you just couldn't be bothered to use a level when hanging that new flat panel or you want to make your living room look more like the SportsCenter set, the Peerless Rotational Mount Interface (RMI1) might be what you need. The RMI1 rotates displays up to 71-inches large through a full 360-degrees in 15-degree increments with the pull of a lever and a spin of the display. At $149, this is a relatively cheap way to either salvage some pride from that install that went terribly wrong, or have a display you can flip between portrait and landscape at between plays; either of these is way more fun than the suggested "waves, zigzag and 45-degree angle patterns."
Maximum PC reviews the Phantom Lapboard, for real
Maybe we're confused, but we were under the impression that the oft-delayed, mist-like device known as the Phantom Lapboard had been released to the public. Apparently, we were mistaken. Regardless, Maximum PC has gotten a thorough, in-depth look at the $130 pivoting keyboard / mouse / mousepad combo. We won't bore you with the details of their encounter with this beast -- which they claim is due in June now -- though we can tell you that they complain of a "wimpy" left mouse click, which frankly is a deal-breaker for 4/16ths of the Engadget editorial staff. The other 12/16ths don't like it because they had a bad experience with a matte black keyboard once.
Home theater installation includes rotating seats
Granted, the $6 million Kipnis Studio Standard is still apt to blow minds (and fuses) more quickly than Donny Hackett's "ultimate multipurpose room," but for folks looking for a way to squeeze a bona fide home theater into their existing den / living area / etc., this one provides some excellent food for thought. Aside from the 12-foot-wide custom-built screen, 7.1-channel audio system and InFocus SP777 three-chip DLP projector, this room also boasts a unique seating arrangement -- one that rotates 180-degrees at the touch of a button. The installation enables the front row to swirl around and face the second row, essentially creating a conversation pit for times when board games are preferred over catching a BD flick (and that's when, exactly?). There's no mention of how much dough was coughed up in order to make this happen, but we're confidently guessing it wasn't even close to cheap. Hit up the read link for a slideshow of pictures and a construction video to boot.
Impact Acoustics' rotating HDMI / DVI adapters make installs easier
It's a simple concept, but there's little doubt that the item shown above would prove mighty helpful in tight spaces. Impact Acoustics has rolled out a line of rotating AV adapters, most notably the HDMI and HDMI-to-DVI versions. As the title leads you to believe, these wee devices allow users to run their HDMI / DVI cables at any angle, enabling gear to be wired up in tighter corners without fear of damaging any of those precious cables. The adapters are available now in a number of flavors, all costing $12.99 apiece.[Via Audioholics]
UK sculptor designs rotating wall for Liverpool
While we're sure more than a few citizens of Liverpool could think of much more productive ways to spend £450,000 ($887,490), there's nothing sweeter than turning a wall completely inside out for sculptor Richard Wilson. This uber-expensive piece of art was constructed at the former Yates's Wine Lodge building, and a massive oval shaped section of the building's exterior now rotates around and gives onlookers a glimpse of the interior without ever stepping foot inside. Dubbed Turning The Place Over, the installation will officially launch on June 20th and will run until the end of next year, and while we can't deny that this here project was more about making jaws drop than actually improving the city center, it's certainly something to look at. Check the video after the jump.[Via HackedGadgets]
Dubai's Time Residences tower: world's largest gadget?
We've seen lots of ridiculous claims in our day, but this time we're not sure which is more absurd, that someone thinks that Dubai needs another ridiculous high-rise building, or that the Time Residences tower is going to be a solar-powered 360-degree rotating version. Yes, all that solar power (the UAE gets a lot of sun over there on the Tropic of Cancer) could be used to power individual units instead -- but instead, all that energy will be used to power the ginormous motors needed to turn this building a full rotation over the course of a week. Tav Singh, the director of Dubai Property Ring, the local branch of UK Property Group which is funding the project, said that the company plans on building similar structures in every time zone around the world. Regardless of which room in the Time Residences you decide to set up shop in, it's bound to be significantly more overpriced than your Manhattan studio.[Via Gear Factor]
Pantech's SKY IM-R100 rotating slider
Now here's one we'll forget ever existed before the day's out. We guess we can understand adding a rotating screen to your slider, if it does DMB -- Pantech's SKY IM-R100 doesn't, yet holds on to the impossibly complex form factor. In fact, the form factor is the most interesting thing about the handset, which packs a 2-megapixel camera, media player, microSD slot, and not much else. Sure, you might drop some vids on that memory card that benefit from a landscape display, but might we simply recommend you turn the phone sideways? As you might guess, this one doesn't stand a snowball's chance of making it outside South Korea's borders, and for once, we're just fine with that.
