Glide Shower Rings Solve an Everyday Problem April 5, 2006
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It's those little annoyances that, bit by bit, diminish your quality of life. Here's one of them: shower curtain rings sticking to the shower rod, sometimes even requiring so much effort that you eventually tear the shower curtain.
Glide Shower Rings solve that problem, with concealed brass ball bearings at the top, letting the chrome-plated brass rings smoothly roll across the shower rod. All it takes is an effortless tweak to open and close that curtain. Nice.
Product page [Umbra]
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Intel-Packing iBooks in June? April 5, 2006
READ MORE Laptops
Now that we've seen Intel inside the Mac mini, iMac and MacBook Pro, what about the iBook (current G4 versions shown above)? We got a sneak peek into what might be happening in a report published by the Commercial Times, saying Taiwan's Austek signed a contract with Apple to manufacture 1.2 million of the upcoming iBooks. The Intel-powered notebooks will reportedly have 13.3-inch LCD displays and will ship in June.
At the same time, Apple reportedly contracted the flat panels for those notebooks from three different suppliers, AU Optronics, stalwart LCD maker Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp, and South Korea's LG Philips LCD. They'll supposedly be delivering those panels in April. If all this is true, looks like the wheels are turning. We say, bring on the Intel Power Macs!
Taiwan's Austek wins order for 1.2 mln Apple iBook notebook computers [Forbes]
Apricorn Releases 8GB MicroKey April 5, 2006
READ MORE Portable Media
Apricorn has released a MicroKey USB 2.0 drive with even more capacity, this one holding 8GB. It stores all that data in a relatively small form factor of 3.4" x 2" x 0.5". Yes, there is a hard disk inside as opposed to more-durable flash memory, but Apricorn says it has built a tank around that disk, surrounding it with a hardened aluminum alloy casing that you can drop or sit on without worrying about your data going south.
The MicroKey has a swiveling USB plug that lets you fit it into tight spot, and if that doesn't work Apricorn includes an extension cord to fit the drive into even more-crowded USB port locations. It's £115, available now.
Product page [Apricorn]
Whirlpool’s Pret-a-Porter Clothes Revitalizer April 5, 2006
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Whirlpool, known for its innovative range of home appliances, has unveiled Pret-a-Porter, the clothes revitalizer. It has the size of a vacuum cleaner and is fully portable. You can use the device for removing odor, sweat and smoke stains from the clothes that do not need a full, proper cleaning. It is designed to look like a piece of fancy luggage and can be used on almost every fabric. It is expected to be launched in the European markets by September 2006.
Product Page [Whirlpool]
Robosapien Gets New Brain April 5, 2006
READ MORE Robots
Feeling a little slow? Now you can get yourself a new brain, at least if you're a Robosapien. Manufacturer WowWee's deal with Evolution Robotics provides their Roboraptor and Robosapien programmable robots with more sophisticated navigation and pattern recognition systems. So now instead of merely frightening your pets, it can ruthlessly hunt them down.
WowWee hints at future deals with other companies, but offers no details yet. Self-awareness, powered flight and crushing human skills underfoot are probably next on the list.
Roboraptor to get new brains [Boston.com]
CTIA: Motorola Announces RAZR V3m April 5, 2006
Here's a minor upgrade to the CDMA version of the Motorola RAZR, this one adding a microSD memory expansion slot which will let you store a gigabyte of tunes and other stuff. It's capable of music downloads via EV-DO and the phone also has a built-in music player.
iTunes on board? No word on that yet, but along for the ride are a 1.3 megapixel camera with a 4x digital zoom and stereo headset support via EMU. Other than that, it's pretty much like a standard RAZR. Mot says this new addition to its CDMA line will be available sometime in the second quarter of this year.
Motorola RAZR V3m Cell Phone [Mobilewhack]
Apple Boot Camp: The Impossible Possible April 5, 2006
READ MORE Software
We got this in email this morning and we just about plotzed. This is Boot Camp, an official Apple beta product, that allows you to dual-boot XP. No BIOS issues, on EFI junk, no hassle. You literally just install it, run it, and rock and roll. The best part? The absolute best part? Read some of the page copy: "Windows running on a Mac is like Windows running on a PC. That means it'll be subject to the same attacks that plague the Windows world. So be sure to keep it updated with the latest Microsoft Windows security fixes. Macs use an ultra-modern industry standard technology called EFI to handle booting. Sadly, Windows XP, and even the upcoming Vista, are stuck in the 1980s with old-fashioned BIOS. But with Boot Camp, the Mac can operate smoothly in both centuries."
It's like some OS X interns got drunk, wrote this, and then put up a "UJ SUXORZ!MIXCRO$OFTLOLOL" page. Give it a try and report back on your findings.
Product Page [Apple.com]
Give Steve Jobs A Makeover April 5, 2006
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Steve Jobs may have the Midas touch when it comes to making a few quid but he’s often at pains to - literally - dress down those billions. However, it has long been revealed that his carefully crafted fashion sense – aka the ‘ordinary man look’ - of jeans etc. is actually comprised of expensive ordinary man look-alikes.
In an effort to help Steve jazz up those jeans, the gang over at Geek Culture are offering you all the chance to dress Steve in an array of clothes from ordinary to outrageous. Have fun. I did. Via Realtech.
online apple steve jobs humour fashion
The Nap Alarm, Another Innovation From Japan April 5, 2006
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A Japanese company by the name of Takanoha has come up with a tiny gadget that prevents you from falling asleep. Putting the Nap Alarm behind your ear, the gadget vibrates once it detects that you are falling asleep. It measures the speed of head movements in order to determine whether or not the user is falling asleep. Just think of all those times you stayed up all night cramming for an exam--or, at least you planned on staying up. With the Nap Alarm, waking up 15 minutes before said exam may be a thing of the past, though falling asleep while driving is another matter entirely. (Hint: Find a place to stop, pull over. Problem solved.)
Japanese Nap Alarm [I4U News]
Instantly Boil Water With the Hyrdotap April 5, 2006
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While the Zip Hydrotap may look like an ordinary tap, don't be so easily mistaken. What sets the Hydrotap apart from other taps is that it can dispense boiling water at the touch of a [child-proof] button. Of course, it'll give you plain old cold water for those hot summer days spent on a lake in the Heartland. It's easy to install as well, either free-standing or mounted on a sink. As long as there's plumbing nearby, the Hydrotap will go to work, making fiddling with kettles a thing of the past.
Zip Hydrotap [Shiny Shiny]
Goddamn Liar!! April 5, 2006
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Liars. Can’t stand them. Can’t often detect them either but I still hate them. Like that friend that borrows your Frank Miller comic collection before moving to Australia. Grrrr. Considering the high possibility that most people lie to you everyday this might not be the gadget for those of you with really thin skin. The Truth Detector is well-named and at about £25 very well priced. It even looks good. In a nutshell, the unit uses “proven” techniques to measure stress levels in the voice to reveal whether the speaker is truthful of a lying sack of shit. It will even work on televised or recorded voices. According to the blurb:
“Two of the most effective indicators are the Psychological Stress Evaluator (PSE) and the Voice Stress Analyzer (VSA). These tests have been imported into the Truth Detector, a specially designed device that analyzes and measures the frequency changes that occur in the voice when a person undergoes stress. The machine’s detections are then displayed by an LED band so that the results can be measured and analyzed through a bar graph comparator.”
Then, once that red light starts flashing, you go the shed, pump that shotgun and head back indoors. Via Red Ferret.
New Microsoft mouses...zzzzzzzz April 5, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets , Laptops , PC , Peripherals
I’m not sure if mouses do it for you anymore but it’s my painful duty to report that Microsoft has expanded its range of wireless mouses. The company says the new mouses will be cheaper but still use it’s High Definition Optical technology to boost responsiveness, tracking and precision. I’m sorry but doesn’t the term “high definition” actually refer to super-high res images and the new movie format coming out soon? What the hell does that have to do with mouses? Anyway, first up is a revamp of its Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse - the Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000 - with a smaller receiver. There’s also the Wireless Optical Mouse 2000 for ambidextrous sorts and with three buttons. Finally, there’s the Wireless Laser Mouse 5000, another ambidextrous mouse with 5 buttons, a Magnifier button for enlarging stuff and a Tilt Wheel. Arriving in funky grey and platinum, prices will range from £20 to £40.
peripherals notebook mice microsoft
6502-Powered Nixie Clock April 5, 2006
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Today Ryan Brooks is our nerd hero of the day, and this is why: "So, I wanted a Nixie clock and I really wanted to design the hardware and program it myself. Most of the kits out there are based around a PIC or some other new, easy to use microcontroller. I thought it would be much more interesting to make a clock powered by an old school computer. The result is a 6502-powered Nixie clock."
We'd make one for ourselves from the instructions and diagram Brooks thoughtfully provides except that the last time we soldered anything we burned three of our fingers. If you've got time to kill and fingers to spare, feel free to make us one for, um, Easter.
Ryan Brooks' 6502 Nixie Clock [Hack.net]
Propello Cageless Fan April 5, 2006
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From the always entertaining, Museum of Modern Art Store comes this gem, a cageless fan. First off, the blades are rubber, so no worry about your cat's tongue getting mangled. Next, the fan costs a blistering £80. This product was the work of Daniel Black and Martin Blum.
Cageless Desk Fan [Popgadget]
Breath Test for Breast Cancer April 5, 2006
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Joerg Lahann with the University of Michigan has received the funding to start developing this device that will use nanotechnology to detect breast cancer through the breath.
Says Lahann: "A woman would breathe into an over-the-counter device and cancer-indicating metabolites would be attracted into the nanopockets, causing the pored surface to fill and become dense. Then, an electrical charge would be applied so that the straight particles would bend, ejecting the metabolites so that multiple tests could be done in the same device. The metabolites could then be detected through a change in conductance or optically."
Good news for early detection.
Nano breath test for cancer [we-make-money]
Buffalo Announces 2TB TeraStations April 5, 2006
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Buffalo has announced two new products in their TeraStation line of network storage devices. The TeraStation Home Server—pictured right—is available in capacities of 1.6TB and 2.0TB. The other device is the TeraStation Pro that is available with 2TB capacity.
The TeraStation Home Server includes media server software that was developed by Mediabolic. This isn't a media center, but it does allow media management easily over multiple PCs. The Home Server also includes four USB 2.0 ports, a USB print server and file server. This will be available in May and prices will begin at £855 for the 1.6TB model.
The TeraStation Pro features Active Directory member support, two USB 2.0 ports, four serial ATA hard drives, lockable front panel and even an LCD monitor that will display operational mode, disk usage, network information and any problems. This is available now for £1140.
Lemur Multi-Touch Touchscreen, Reviewed April 5, 2006
READ MORE Peripherals
Dreaming of a multi-touch touchscreen future? For musicians, the future is now -- if you can pony up the £1400 price of admission, that is. The Lemur, the Star Trek-like touchscreen hardware built for musicians, has now found its way into the hands of actual users. What's the verdict? Depends on whom you ask. The colourful interface, with floating circles and faders that respond to simulated physics, can indeed be programmed to perform some amazing tasks. Getting it up and running is a challenge, however, and might have you running back to dramatically cheaper MIDI controllers with old-fashioned faders and knobs. Keytar, anyone?
Dualing Reviews of Lemur Multi-Touch Control Surface [Create Digital Music]
Kattbank Conceals Litter Box April 5, 2006
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When you're living in close quarters with a cat, there's no good solution to the problem of kitty litter. Now here's Kattbank, a bench designed to conceal that cat litter box, achieving a delicate balance of adequate airflow while keeping offensive odors from escaping. Plus, the designers made sure that the little critters would like this thing. There's even a special "walk off area" inside to keep the litter inside the box and out of your house.
Kattbank [Yanko Design]
Apple Acknowledges, Attempts to Fix Macbook Pro Quirks April 5, 2006
READ MORE Laptops
As the saying goes, you should never purchase the first version of Apple products since they have been known to ship with a few kinks that must later be worked out. As it has turned out, the MacBook Pro, for all its praises, is no exception to this old wives' tale. Users have reported issues of irregular Airport connections, screen flicker when the brightness is set to the lowest setting, and uncomfortably warm running temperature, especially over the F key. As a result, Apple, which has admitted that these issues do exist on more than an anecdotal level, has started to replace the motherboard inside the computers. Starting with revision D (serial number W8611), Apple has fixed many of the reported problems and will be replacing affected MacBooks with this newer version at customers' requests.
Apple Addresses MacBook Pro Issues [DailyTech]
Smart Glasses: Dynamically Changing Lenses to Replace Bifocals April 5, 2006
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Here's a pair of glasses from PixelOptics that replace bifocals, changing from distant vision to close-up with the flick of a switch. Sure, this prototype is rather odd-looking, but its developers say future versions will be indistinguishable from conventional eyeglasses. The technology works using an extremely thin layer of liquid crystal sandwiched between two pieces of glass. Nasser Peyghambarian, a professor of optical sciences at Arizona State University, helped develop the "dynamic" glasses, and had this to say: "Bifocals effectively work the same way they have since they were invented by Benjamin Franklin. But as any of more than 40 million people in America who need bifocals know, they're a pain."
PixelOptics says it plans to begin shipping glasses using this technology within two years. The first commercially-available smart lenses will be able to switch between near and far vision, but the company is also developing an autofocusing version.
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