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See Fabian Hemmert and his amazing, shape-shifting cellphone prototype (video)
Cellphones, whether they be smart or dumb, are pretty amazing things -- but they're pretty lifeless things, too. Design researcher Fabian Hemmert thinks that our gadgets could move us a little more if only they could, well, move. As part of his TEDxBerlin talk late last year he shows off some prototype phones, including one that can get thicker on any of its four corners, and another that can shift its center of gravity similarly (shown above). The possibilities are intriguing, like a status bar that could get physically hefty as it gets weighed down with icons, but we're not sucking down all of Hemmert's Kool-Aid. His idea of devices giving off a heartbeat and changing shape like they're breathing in your pocket is just a little creepy, and more practically we have a hard enough time holding onto our handsets as it is -- imagine all the suddenly top-heavy cellphones leaping out of hands and to their doom.
Sixth Sense creator to release code, wearable gesture interface becomes a reality for all
If we're being honest (and trust us, we're being honest), Pranav Mistry's Sixth Sense contraption has always baffled us. It's kind of like Sony's Rolly. It looks cool, it sounds rad, but we're fairly certain only 2.49 people actually know and fully comprehend how it works. That said, we're more than jazzed about the possibility of having wearable gesture interfaces gracing every human we come into contact with, and rather than attempting to make his invention "comply with some kind of corporate policy," he's purportedly aiming to release the source code into the wild in order to let "people make their own systems." Nice guy, huh? All told, the Sixth Sense can be built for around $350 (plus oodles of unpaid time off), and we're pretty certain that a few talented DIYers can get this thing whipped into shape far quicker than Mega Corp X. So, how's about a release date for that code?
Google signs PowerMeter partnership with The Energy Detective, lets everyone play along
It's hard to lose weight without a scale. That's more or less the idea behind Google's PowerMeter program, enabling users to view real-time power usage and unplug things accordingly to both reduce their demand and increase their feeling of eco-cockiness. Before today you needed to be getting your juice from one of a very few utility companies to audit your infos, but now you can break free thanks to a partnership with The Energy Detective. That company makes a line of straightforward power monitors that simply plug into a power outlet then connect to the internet via Ethernet to dump your kilowatt gluttony online. The TED 5000-series devices start at $200 and go up from there with optional displays and packages that allow the detection of solar or wind generation, and while they previously allowed online monitoring of power usage, this Google partnership ups their hipness by a factor of at least 10. And, if you were so cool you already bought one of these trackers before they went mainstream, you're just a firmware update away from tracking it with the Googs.
Mission One electric motorcycle boasts 150 MPH top speed, extreme price tag
The Mission One EV electric sports bike got a proper unveiling at this week's Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference, and boy does this baby exude power. Mission Motors says the motorcycle's got an 150 MPH top speed and 100 foot-pounds of torque at any point between 0 and 6,500 RPM. That's a good deal faster than the Electric Motorsport GPR-S, which tops out at a now-paltry 100 MPH. The lithium-ion battery keeps it running for 150 miles, and charge time is targeted for under 2 Hours at 240V (8 Hours at 120V). Its stylish form factor comes from famed industrial designer Yves Behar. Yeah, we're excited, too, but here's the part where you flinch: the deathly silent super-scooter will first show up in 2010 with a 50-unit limited edition run costing $68,995 apiece. A more affordable model will be announced sometime this summer. If you've got a need for this much muted speed, be prepared to mortgage a house or two. [Via Autoblog Green]
ted: episode downloader for bittorrent
In the past we've covered the Mac application TV Shows, which automates starting bittorrents for tv show episodes. Sadly, it hasn't been updated in a while (though the main page still promises an update soon). However, I recently ran across another application that works in a similar way called ted.With ted you can select various shows, even see summaries of episodes, then send the torrents off your your favorite bittorrent client (e.g. Transmission). Unfortunately, ted is a cross-platform java application, but it should run fine on any modern Mac.ted is a free download from sourceforge.[via Gizmodo]
Ted Nugent confirms his appearance in Guitar Hero IV on talk radio show
For a game subtitled "Legends of Rock", Guitar Hero III didn't feature that many real-life six-string virtuosos. Sure, you had Rage's Tom Morello, GnR's Slash and a brief cameo by VH1's latest lothario, Poison frontman Bret Michaels -- but many classic rock aficionados who tried their hand at Activision's shredding simulator were left unsatisfied in terms of quantity (and in the minds of those belonging to the churches of Hendrix and Clapton, quality).Until now, we've yet to hear anything about the roster for the next legit entry in Activision's golden goose franchise (no, we're not nor will we ever count Guitar Hero: Aerosmith), however, that silence was recently broken by the whistle of a flaming arrow through the night air, fired from the heavenly compound bow of the Motor City Madman himself, Ted Nugent. Listen to his radio interview on Detroit's WRIF (about 12:30 in), where he uses all manner of colorful language to describe the mocap process. Now, if they could only get the rest of the Damn Yankees involved, it would definitely ensure a purchase on our end. How 'bout it, Blades?[Thanks, Tyler.]
Johnny Lee's Wii-nnovations blow TED's collective mind
We've all witnessed the incredible ways that technomancer Johnny Lee can put a Wiimote to good use, but apparently, attendees of the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference were unaware of the handheld peripheral's vast potential. You can actually hear their minds crackle, then implode as Lee shows off two of his cost-efficient tech demos -- the multi-touch whiteboard, and 3-D head tracking (which was further confirmed to be in EA/Speilburg's Boom Blox as an easter egg). Like all Johnny Lee videos, we can guarantee this to be the coolest thing you've seen today -- unless, of course, you've just watched the entire "American Ninja" quintology.
Johnny Lee rocks the TED conference
The TED (Technology Entertainment Design) conference gives some of the brightest people in the world, across wildly divergent disciplines, a forum to share their brilliant ideas. This year's lineup of speakers included names like Stephen Hawking, Al Gore, and ... Johnny Lee. In the midst of a bunch of Very Serious Discussions about Very Serious Topics, Johnny manages to totally make a highbrow crowd care about the Waggle Wand. He does this by being awesome. There aren't any new demonstrations here, but it's totally worth it to see an audience's reaction to what is pretty much magic for the first time.
Today's most delayed-and-ambitious video: TED Spore demo
Video of Will Wright's TED Spore presentation from March has recently appeared online. Wright expands on prior Spore demos, giving an overview of the game and explaining parts of his design process. The information-packed 17-minute video keeps us interested in the total life simulation -- from origins to galactic colonization -- but reconfirms how wildly ambitious the project has been. We've been trying to play over/under on the projected ship date window of April, 2008 and March, 2009, but nobody wants "under." But whenever Spore finally arrives, we hope Wright and the other designers can deliver on the unique concept. [Thanks, Guillaume and Kevin]
Ted and Gadget weep as MAST tether project fails to deploy
While a number of recent space-based experiments have proven quite successful, it must not have been Ted nor Gadget's day. The daring duo that made up the MAST project was supposed to "test the survivability of a thin, braided tether in space," but due to a glitch in the restraint system that "kept Ted from pushing away hard enough to keep unreeling the tether from its spool," the once hopeful mission has come to an ill-fated close. Rather than reaching a full kilometer, the tether was only able to reach a few meters before coming to a stop, but the team at Tethers Unlimited aren't calling it quits just yet. They did admit to not knowing precisely what caused the costly mishap, but the crew also suggested that they'll try to use the small amount of data they did gather to analyze "how a short tether behaves in microgravity." Don't worry fellas, there's always next time.
Ze Frank talks video games, we laugh
Video from internet gadabout (and host of the excellent The Show) Ze Frank's speech at the 2004 TED conference (Technology, Entertainment, Design) has been making the rounds and, despite our appreciation for performance readings of spam, it was his video game demos that we're interested in sharing with you.For starters, he throws some numbers at us (did you realize the industry makes over $100K/year?) before walking us through three games titled Atheist, Buddhist, and Christian. Think they look like fun, try em out yourselves! Check out the entire embedded video after the break, or jump directly to his segment on video games here:Watch - Ze Frank on video games at the 2004 TED conference