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You may have to travel to Hong Kong or Macau to find this gold-plated, limited-edition, "Gold Lightan" "transformer-style" robot made by Hung Hing Toysthat converts into a lighter (well, a fake lighter), but we do believe it'll impress the ladies. [Via Sensory Impact]
Read MoreIt's not often we see a meat grinder hooked to a PC, but Russian cutting-edge often means oddball high-tech and muscle power combos. (Also see the Blue Space leg-powered submarine). Invented by video artist Sergey Teterin, the "Movie Mincer" allows users to manually stream together digital image files like JPEGs without using video software. Apparently the mechanical action of the grinder is transferred electronically to whatever images you have waiting, so you can get sort of an early-days-of-cinema feel to your video. The ground beef-maker/video-cranker peripheral comes packed with features, including pause (stop turning the handle) speed change (speed up the handle), rewind (turn handle in opposite direction) and scratch (jiggle the handle). It's also both PS/2 or USB-ready and really quite a bargain at just $399.
Read MoreWe'd say something snarky about how the T-pod, this t-shirt with iPod headphones printed right onto it, might be a bad idea given how muggers in Britain are targeting people wearing Apple's signature headphones because the odds are pretty good they're also carrying a precious iPod. But as we wrote back in March, that story turned out to be a hoax.
Read MoreA new worm is spreading that's got eyes and ears. Upon infecting your PC the Rbot-GR worm goes straight for webcams and microphones, meaning that if your setup is infected and your webcam is plugged in, an attacker can look in on you without you even knowing it (somehow we had this idea that having strangers watch you was what webcams were always for). Besides the voyeuristic stuff, the worm can also gather registration info and steal PayPal passwords, but don't fret, so far Rbot-GR hasn't been particularly widespread.
Read MoreAfter inventor John LeBourgeois read of New York City police killing unarmed Amadou Diallo with 41 bullets, he decided it was about time to create a less-than-lethal weapon that officers could use. By stuffing piezoelectric material into regular bullet casings he created an electric bullet that releases a shock 1 to 1.5 times the strength of a heart defibrillator. The new bullet makes most people drop immediately and barring heart attacks isn't likely to kill them, though some people are criticizing the powerful punch of the electric bullet as still plenty dangerous and say that other non-lethal methods need to be employed. [UPDATE: Amadou Diallo was shot at 41 times, but was hit with19 bullets.]
Read MoreYou probably held your first cellphone like it was a tiny, precious baby. But now you're on, like, your fifth phone and drop-kicking it just for laughs. Nokia picked up on your mounting abuse last year and built the rugged (if not clunky and feature-poor) 5100, and now they're back with the 5140. It's got a slimmer body, a digital compass and thermometer, and a whole lot more connectivity features than the 5100, including GPRS, WAP 2.0, Java support, and infrared. It can sync to a PC, although via a separately purchased data cable. Bluetooth is absent but at least it's water resistant, with a rubber and plastic casing to protect the electronics, while the battery has its own seperate water resistant cover. The 5140 is meant for people who go to sea or something but it just feels good knowing you can keep it in your back pocket on your next trip to the bathroom (i.e. it might be unpleasant, but your phone will survive). [Via Panbo.com]
Read MoreKids these days. With all their chat rooms, rampant texting, kiddie websites, and WiFi content, marketing to these fledgling gadget-status seekers is like shooting fish in a bucket. To cash in (again and again), Virgin, MTV, and Kyocera are offering a host of catchily marketed "Live Without a Plan," pay-as-you-go cellphones with minor feature differences to encourage constant upgrades. For instance, the newest model, the K9, is much like the recently-released V5. Both offer superphonic ring tones (they sound like actual music), "rescue rings" (like when you need to escape some unfortunate situation), a flashlight, and "exclusive" MTV content. But on top of all the TRL-appreciation both phones will encourage, the K9 also features sarcasm-instilling content from Comedy Central. Unfortunately for the kiddies, the K9 does not have the slide design of the V5. Maybe next time.
Read MoreWe haven't gotten around to watching too much of the Athens Olympics but when we have watched we've been pausing the TiVo frequently to try and catch what technology they're using to time events. And it's the time-obsessed Swiss gadgeteers at Swatch determining who gets the gold, silver, and bronze (you may remember our feature about timing the Tour de France). During last Monday's 100-meter backstroke race, for instance, Swatch touch-sensitive pads accurately measured the one-hundredth-of-a-second difference between second- and third-place swimmers. The call would have been impossible without the technology. Track event cameras are even more sensitive, taking 1,000 images per second at the finish line. Swatch is also measuring volleyball serves with sonar, pacing cyclists via transponders, and tracking marathoners with microchips tied to their shoes. But what we really want to know is, will they be able to aid the beleaguered judges of men's gymnastics by 2008 in Beijing? (Poor Paul Hamm). [Thanks, Brian]
Read MoreRemember dittoes? In schools across the country, there isn't much in the way of "take one, pass it down" anymore. Paper and pen are being upgraded to mouse and keyboard. Classrooms full of computers (never mind cellphones, PDAs, and iPods) present special problems and opportunities for teachers. And according to The New York Times, teachers are learning to fight fire (wire) with fire. Network software NetOp allows teachers to freeze student's desktops during instruction and watch what each student is up to during work time. Other teachers employ high-tech gadgetry to wow students into paying attention. The PC-projected lesson is replacing the chalk board and instead of chalk, teachers are using wirelss keyboards and mouses, typing up pop quizzes on screen which students respond to via remote controls. But before you think everything's gone Jetsons on us, a lot of today's gadgets are only modifying, not replacing, old-time teaching methods. During physics demonstrations, one MIT professor keeps his students awake by "accidently" blowing up a capacitor. "You have to make loud noises once or twice to snap them back to attention," he said.
Read MoreWe expected Intel to be interested in materials science, but anthropology? Apparently an anthropologist working for the semiconductor giant is putting the finishing touches on a three-year study of how Asian families interact with technology. The anthropologist, Genevieve Bell, lived with families in seven Asian countries and found Chinese people take their mobile phones to temples to be blessed (check), Muslims use their cellphones to locate Mecca (check), and other cultures burn paper cell phone offerings for their ancestors to use in the next world. Bell's anecdotes will enable Intel to create "cultural profiles" to help design teams come up with new product ideas. The study counteracts Intel's earlier ideas that a global middle class was emerging in Asia who use consumer electronics the same way the Western world does. Where they ever got that idea, we're not sure, being that China is one of the largest, poorest nations in the world.
Read MoreNow that advertisements are being put pretty much everywhere anyone is ever going to look (think coffee cups and toilet stalls), marketers are wising up that it takes something extra to get our attention these days. Which is why we now have the Human Locator, which creates dynamic billboards and window displays that change based on who is watching them (need we mention Minority Report?). Developed by Montreal-based Freeset Interactive, the Human Locator uses off-the-shelf PC computers and cameras to track people (say, at the mall), analyzing their location, speed, and movement in real-time, then can appropriately tweak a battery of LCD projections, video monitors, even stereo equipment and water fountains to best catch their eye. Human Locator even tracks the number of people passing by, keeping tabs on who notices the ads, and can deliver these stats to its clients online.
Read MoreThat old HP inkjet we used to use for college essays may soon go on to loftier achievements—like saving the lives of burn victims. Researchers at Wake Forest, Clemson Universities, and the Medical University of South Carolina have found that skin cells can safely pass through the larger nozzles of older Canon and HP inkjet printers. After harvesting skin cells from healthy skin biopsies (sounds pleasant), the cells are printed on a gauze scaffolding, which form into sheets of tissue over a few weeks' time. The printed skin grafts are sturdier than conventional skin grafts (and more valuable than a senior thesis). Researchers believe printed skin may be clinically tested in a few years. [Via Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends]
Read MoreRelying on DNA's ability to hold a vast amount of information in miniscule, molecular codes, Korean scientists have created the world's first Nano-DNA Barcode System (NDBS). Suspended in a DNA-friendly buffer solution, the synthetic DNA may be sprayed-on or suffused into items that are normally hard to tag with a sticker, such as oil, agriculture products, or even money, providing invisible information on product origin, quality, or supplier. And unlike the stuff in us, this barcode DNA doesn't mutate and is unhackable, making code alteration impossible. NDBS may soon be used to track an oil spill or an outbreak of mad cow disease, or even prevent counterfeiting money or luxury goods. Just don't expect to find Hermes DNA in your fake Kelly bag any time soon.
Read MoreAs if there weren't too many DJs in the world already, now people who've never owned a record can become a celebrity DJ with their Smartphone and a new DJ mixing software app for Pocket PCs and Smartphones called SSEYO miniMIXA (there's already something somewhat similar available for Motorola phones) that promises to help you create hit mash-ups faster than you can say "DJ Keoki". The party gets really pumpin' when you start mashing up of downloadable audio and MIDI samples, ring tones, mic recording option, pre-recorded sound effects, and your own compressed audio files. Too bad miniMIXA isn't compatible with Nokia phones, there's nothing like a Nokia Tune, Hopping Bird two-step... [Via The Inquirer]
Read MoreAfter taking a look at their puffy aluminum designs for 2005, it's no surprise Nissan invested big bucks in a new-fangled design review room for checking out their prototypes. The centerpiece of the room is a 5.5 meter-wide "power wall" which can display life-size car designs in three-dimensions using a complex twin projector computer system (it's even able to rotate the designs 360-degrees so they can be examined from all angles). The room also has the added bonus of helping replace the expensive, time time-consuming method of building life-size clay models with something that is a little more likely to impress the ladies.
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