archive for May, 2007

the wii controller has a little secret

Wii-Mote Innards

The editors over at Fortune magazine were kind enough to dissect the Nintendo Wii controller recently, revealing an interesting tidbit.

In addition to all of the well known features of the controller, the Wii-mote appears to have a special chip on board which is designed for voice processing applications. According to Fortune, the so-called “Audio…

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May 31st, 2007 comments (3) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: video games

i-panda and i-piggy electronic piggy banks teach kids to pinch their pennies

i-piggy and i-panda electronic banks

These piggy banks from i-Kiddo are not only goofy looking, but they’re actually quite tech savvy.

The i-Panda and i-Piggy digiBanks automatically identify each coin placed in the bank, then calculate the total and display them on the bank’s LCD screen. The banks can also be programmed with savings goals and can play celebratory musical…

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May 31st, 2007 comments (3) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: gadgets just plain fun

nokia 8600 luna: style over substance

Nokia 8600 Luna

Nokia today revealed their latest high-end phone, the 8600 Luna. Constructed mostly from stainless steel, the new model’s main appeal comes in its sexy industrial design.

The phone’s most striking feature is its illuminated numeric keypad, concealed beneath a smoked glass slider. In keeping with its minimal design, the phone uses a single microUSB port…

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May 31st, 2007 comments stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: design mobile tech

tokyoflash eleeno lcd watch has me scratching my head

Tokyoflash Japan Eleeno EG3 Watch

Leave it to the high-tech watch guys over at Tokyoflash to create another totally baffling digital watch design.

Their new Eleeno EG3 features a colored grid of LCDs, masked by a layer of raised glass “windows”. In order to read the time, first read the number of LCD blocks in the top row of windows…

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May 31st, 2007 comments (5) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: design timepieces

win a home theater makeover

old console tv

Denon Electronics and Boston Acoustics have announced a contest which gives you a chance to dump your crappy old home theater and replace it with a brand-spankin’ new system.

The Makeshifters contest asks entrants to submit videos, photos and an explanation of why their current home theater setup sucks. The Grand Prize winner of the…

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May 30th, 2007 comments (7) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: home entertainment just plain fun

palm foleo turns smartphones into stupid laptops

Palm Foleo

Palm today rolled out the details on a new device which extends the functionality of smartphones. Dubbed the Foleo, it’s a companion product for both Palm OS and Windows Mobile versions of Treo smartphones.

In a nutshell, Foleo adds a big screen and a full size keyboard to your mobile phone. It interfaces with your…

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May 30th, 2007 comments (2) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: computing mobile tech

led flashlight looks like a light bulb

LED Keychain Lightbulb

While I question the utility of this flashlight, the idea of carrying around what looks like a traditional incandescent light bulb on your keychain is just wacky enough that I thought I’d give it a mention.

While this little light bulb doppelganger might look like a real bulb, you won’t be mistaking it once it’s…

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May 30th, 2007 comments (12) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: gadgets just plain fun

microsoft surface: interactive multi touch tabletop computer revealed

Microsoft Surface Example

Microsoft today announced the launch of a new product line known as Surface. The tabletop system is designed to create interactive experiences using gestures, touch and objects placed on the surface of the tabletop.

We’ve seen earlier research prototypes of this technology under the moniker PlayAnywhere, but now Microsoft is commercializing it. The initial Surface…

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May 29th, 2007 comments (11) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: computing future tech interactive

super high definition tells 1080p who’s boss

Super Hi-Vision Video

The new technology, called Super Hi-Vision (SHV) was shown off to reporters in Tokyo recently, and has an astounding 7680 x 4320 resolution. To put that in perspective, you’d need to connect sixteen of the highest resolution 1080p monitors you can buy in a 4 x 4 grid to reproduce that quality.

Don’t throw away…

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May 29th, 2007 comments (4) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: future tech

philips gogear video players now available

Philips GoGear Mobile Video Player

Philips has released their new line of GoGear mobile media players with video playback capabilities.

The GoGear SA6000 series features a 2.2-inch color LCD screen (320×240 resolution,) and can play back WMV vid clips. Philips also throws in a software converter for AVI, QuickTime and DVD (VOB) format files. Audio playback includes MP3, WAV and…

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May 29th, 2007 comments (16) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: media players mobile tech

slurpr: fast free wi-fi access, with a (big) catch

Slurpr

Slurpr may sound like another “Web 2.0″ site, but it’s actually a piece of networking hardware. The beastly device, designed by Dutch hacker Mark Hoekstra, is designed to aggregate a bunch of Wi-Fi access points into one big fat high speed connection.

The device automatically seeks out the six strongest open Wi-Fi channels, connects to…

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May 29th, 2007 comments (3) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: computing gadgets

wii controller hacked to control xbox 360

Wii 360 Controller Mashup

A console modder known as sir crx has fabricated a mashup between an Xbox 360 controller and a Wii-mote, allowing the Wii control to operate the Xbox 360.

From what I can tell, he modified the 360 controller to accept Bluetooth commands, then uses it as a proxy for connecting to the Xbox through Microsoft’s…

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May 28th, 2007 comments (6) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: hacks + mods video games