The Energy Stream Radio&TV 120 has built-in Wi-Fi and can stream music from over 15,000 internet radio stations and over 2,000 internet TV channels. In addition, it’s can play a wide variety of audio and video formats through its internal speaker (or headphones) and its 2.4-inch LCD screen. It’s got 4GB of on-board storage, and can be expanded up to 16GB extra using a MicroSDHC card.

Energy Sistem hasn’t posted its dimensions or weight, but the entire device is clearly small enough to carry around in your backpack or bag, though it looks like it might be a little big to fit in your pocket.

If you’re interested in the Energy Stream Radio&TV 120, it sells for €89.90 (~$119 USD) over at Energy Sistem’s website.

These cool Shinkansen chopsticks from Daiwa Toy [JP] are modeled after the various bullet trains in service in Japan. They’re available in a variety of styles, sure to impress the most avid fan of Japan’s wicked-fast railways.

At $25.99 (USD) a pair, they’re not the world’s cheapest chopsticks, but they are officially licensed by Japan’s JR, and are bound to be collector’s items down the (rail)road. If you’re ready to eat some sushi in a hurry, you can hop on the Chopstick Express over at AudioCubes.

The GoPad was made to allow you to use your tablet like a sort of digital clipboard. The strap goes around your neck and the articulated stand allows you to place your tablet into the optimal position to get stuff done. It also works as a stand for your tablet when you’re not wearing it, and can hang it over your shoulder like a laptop bag, too.

The GoPad sells for $89(USD) from their website. It’s available in versions for the iPad 2, Samsung Galaxy, RIM PlayBook, Samsung Galaxy, Kindle Fire, and Motorola Xoom. For some reason, I can also see dads and grandpas using this and being quite happy about it.

[via Ubergizmo]

This weapon, made by BAE Systems, is targeting a range of 50 to 100 nautical miles to start with and the Navy plans to increase the range 220 nautical miles. The railgun uses 32-megajoules of electromagnetic energy to fling a projectile down a pair of rails at anywhere from 4500 to 5600 mph. That is seriously hellafast.

In fact, it is so fast that explosives aren’t needed to destroy a target. No gunpowder, or high explosives, just pure raw speed and momentum will obliterate whatever that projectile hits. The Navy said to be in testing the new prototype this month while it waits for a second prototype to be delivered that is constructed by a different contractor, General Atomics. The day I can deer hunt with a railgun, will be the day I kill my first Bambi.

In case you’re not familiar with the device, a chorded keyboard has fewer keys – the user presses multiple keys at once to enter a single command or character. This not only leads to a smaller device but makes it possible to type with one hand. Entering the patterns on such a device is similar to playing chords on a piano, hence the name. This is an example of a chorded keyboard. I’m not sure if the Kee4 Keyboard also qualifies as a chorded keyboard, but it does work in a similar way.

As for Teague Labs’ app, it uses five virtual buttons which appear when the user places all five fingers on the screen. Theoretically, it addresses the three weaknesses of traditional on-screen keyboards. The buttons are large. If you can memorize the patterns for characters, then you don’t need tactile feedback. Finally, the buttons go away when you lift your fingers off of the tablet’s screen; they can also be dragged in another area of the screen. Then again they take up the whole screen while you’re typing. Here’s the app in action:

If you have an iPad or Android tablet, fire up your tablet’s browser and go to this page to try out Teague Labs’ chorded keyboard prototype. Note that the app doesn’t allow for punctuation marks – those will be included in the second set of buttons, which are still in development. It’s a nice concept but I think I’ll stick to the default keyboard on my iPad. I don’t do a lot of typing on it anyway and I’m already looking at the screen when I’m typing so I don’t need to touch type.

What I really want is for Apple to include a numpad-style button, similar to the ones available on older cellphones. Years of owning Nokia phones have burned the memory of that interface to my thumbs. Also, I’m not sure if the guys at Teague Labs are aware of this, but there are already virtual chorded keyboard apps for both the iPad and for Android tablets, although the ones I saw are designed for use with two thumbs.

[Teague Labs via Hack A Day]

Sad, isn’t it? I mean, I have nothing against social networks. In fact, I think they could actually be helpful and useful in many cases. But sometimes, there are those who put too much of their worth or their life into these sites, that they’re driven to do really crazy stuff in some extreme situations.

Just a few days ago, a couple from Tennessee were murdered because they “unfriended” a woman named Jenelle Potter. In a fit, her father and some other guy went to the couple’s home and shot them in the head. Their 8-month old baby was found unharmed in the mother’s arms. Maybe there was more to this than just the Facebook unfriending, but as things stand right now, the whole thing sounds pretty sick.

Image credit: DarkDelaqroux

There’s also this video on YouTube that’s gone viral the past few days. It’s from an IT pro named Tommy Jordan who talks about Facebook parenting. In the clip, he shoots his daughter’s laptop because she posted “disrespectful status updates.” There’s some NSFW language in the video, so be aware before hitting play.

Maybe the video was just made to drive traffic, but it kind of makes you think: what’s happening to society? It’s not that the daughter’s status updates were appropriate by any means, but it’s a bit of a hyperbolic response to her behavior. Why not just take her laptop away – or donate it to charity?

I really don’t think that anything that happens on Facebook is worth taking someone else’s life – or shooting a laptop, for that matter.

Tesla has unveiled a third model for its all-electric line of cars and it is dubbed the Model X. This new vehicle is actually an SUV that borrows much of the Model S’ drivetrain with tweaks to make it all-wheel-drive. As big as this SUV is, Tesla claims it will scoot from 0 to 60 mph in only 4.4 seconds – impressive for a sports car, let alone an SUV. Especially one that can seat seven.

Anyone that grew up in the 80s will see those gull wing doors on the Model X and immediately think about the DeLorean and Back to the Future. I happen to know for a fact, that the doors on one of those DeLorean’s are very far from friendly in a crowded parking lot. As a kid I watched a local man that owned a DeLorean standing at the grocery store waiting for the person parked next to him to move their car so he could get in his stainless steel ride and drive home. The “falcon-wing” doors on the Model X shouldn’t have that problem; Tesla says they actually need less space to open than conventional doors. They also arc high enough that an adult can stand underneath them.

Production versions of the vehicle won’t arrive until 2014 and when they do hit dealer lots, they should sell for $50,000-$70,000. I would expect the car to have a driving range on a single charge in the 200 to 300 mile range, much like the Tesla Roadster and Model S, though that might go lower when fully loaded with passengers and cargo.

To see the reveal of the Model X for yourself, jump to about 13:30 in the video below:

[via Engadget]

This 6-legged robot is remote controlled and the central area can be fitted with several different projectile-shooting modules. Now do I have your attention? Good. The two shown here can fire discs or ping pong balls at varying angles, achieving great distances. It looks like there is also a dart module that isn’t talked about.

That’s cool all by itself, but he has also designed two types of armor that can be clipped on to the robot. The first is to change the color scheme, the second is for battles with other robots, and when it gets hit, it flies off. This will make for some cool robot battles for sure.

You can give Jamie suggestions for a name on YouTube. You could win a free robot if he picks your name.

[via Geek]

These attractive sleeves for your tablet and laptop come in two designs: a composition notebook and an interoffice envelope. They’re pretty tame to bust out my device from their current state of boringness, but I’m just the type of person who finds it amusing to dress them up in something they aren’t (or are they? I mean, it could very well be a notebook, and you can use applications in the device to deliver messages to your colleagues, replacing the need for interoffice envelopes. Just saying.)

The outside of these sleeves are comprised of water repellent microfiber, while the insides are lined with soft fleece. Diana is currently ramping up for a large production run of Wonder Threads, which are currently up for funding on Kickstarter. A minimum pledge of $35(USD) will let you get your hands on one of these fun sleeves.

For example, as it is right now, Alpha Dog is really loud. That could give away troops positions to the enemy. This is one area where it could be improved before the live field tests, which are scheduled 18 months from now.

So, from now until then, Boston Dynamics has several goals, like making the robot capable of traveling 20-miles in a 24-hour period without refueling. They will also add voice recognition so that Marines can give audible commands to Alpha Dog. I can’t wait to see what happens when this thing gets even more capable.

[DARPA via IEEE Spectrum via Geek]

I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I think these ugly, bulbous vehicles look more like something Woody Allen would have driven in Sleeper than something you’d see rounding the track at Nürburgring. That said, you’d hope that at least they’d do the cell phone thing well.

I’m not holding my breath on that one either. These things sport an anemic 2-inch LCD screen, and a camera which offers “200 lacpixel; support to shoot MP4 with sound, the time depends on storage, with front camera, flash, telescopic cameras” I didn’t know what a lacpixel was before today, but I’m going to assume they meant it was lacking 200 pixels, because this calculation clearly doesn’t apply. It also supposedly has a QWERTY keyboard, but I think they meant they were typing the product listing with one, as there’s clearly none in sight. At least this thing makes phone calls, right?

If you absolutely must have one of these for the sheer novelty of the thing, you can get one over at AliExpress for about $76(USD). Me? I’m going to save my money to buy some soap to go wash my eyes out with.

The Ecobot-III does just that, plus it can poop itself. So, that’s more poop for the planet. Ecobot-I had an E. Coli engine that ran on refined sugar and Ecobot-II had sludge microbe engine that ate stuff like dead flies and prawn shells. The only problem was that they could not eject waste. They just kept cramming in new batteries until there was no room. You might say they became the world’s first constipated robots.

This third version can collect its own food and water and poop in a litter tray, which should prolong it’s life, but I guess someone has to change that tray now and again like changing a diaper. Ecobot is being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who, coincidentally have also invested in the creation of some shiny new toilets.

[via Scientific American via Geekosystem]

The device will work for all sorts of smartphones and 7 to 10-inch tablets. The cradle can rotate 360 degrees, which will allow you to use your gadgets in portrait or landscape mode. Its hinges also move 180 degrees to give you lots of additional flexibility.

On the plus side, it will get your smartphone out of your hands, which is a good thing when you’re driving.  On the other hand, it means you might start using your Kindle, Nook, iPad, Playbook or Galaxy Tab to play games or watch movies while driving, which would probably be even more distracting than making a phone call or texting.

If you can resist using this thing for evil, or can insist that its for passenger use only, the Satechi SCH-121 sells for $29.99(USD) over at their website.

[via Ubergizmo]

An 83-year-old woman needed a new lower jawbone last year for transplant and instead of a traditional implant, the medical team used a 3D printed jawbone manufactured by LayerWise. The transplant was carried out in the Netherlands last June and it has just now been announced. The implant was printed out of a titanium powder using a laser, layer-by-layer until the finished product was completed. The implant is a complicated part with articulated joints and cavities to provoke muscle attachment along with grooves to direct the regrowth of nerves and veins.

According to the team, it took 33 layers of titanium melted using the laser for 1 mm of height. That means that the finished jawbone had many thousands of laser passes. One of the interesting parts of the 3D printed jawbone is that it has a special double bridge that was attached and false teeth screwed in the that dental bridge. Also interesting is that the finished titanium jawbone weighs 107g, which is about one-third heavier than the replaced bone.

[via BBC]

The Klipsch M40s are the first active noise-canceling headphones from the brand, designed to drown out distracting background sounds like jet engines and subway rattle. They feature dynamic dual 40mm woofers and 15mm tweeter drivers in order to provide solid sound. They are powered by a single AAA battery, and each is supposed to last for about 45 hours. One cool thing is that they don’t need batteries to provide sound. Some noise-canceling headphones, like the Dr. Dre Beats Studio, have no sound when the battery runs out. These continue running, and only the noise-canceling is deactivated.

The ear pads use a low repulsion foam (like in Tempur-Pedic pillows), making them good to keep on for long periods of time. One of the cables comes with a remote control and a built-in microphone. For those of you buying on specs, frequency response is rated from 20Hz to 20kHz, sensitivity is 97.5dB@1mW, at an impedance of 32Ω.

The new Klipsch M40 active noise-canceling headphones sell for $349.99(USD) at various online retailer and on the Klipsch website.

[via Fareastgizmos]

Unlike the Apple and Microsoft mice, the M600 does not support multi-touch gestures. Think of it as a basic trackpad in a mouse’s body – you can point, click, scroll and swipe anywhere on its surface. Nothing more, nothing less. The M600 does make up for its simplicity with a practical feature. The M600 can run on either one or two AA batteries. Put one battery in and you’ll be able to mouse around for three months; add a spare one and you’ll get twice the amount. You can think of it as either having the ability to run at half the power or store extra power. Both sound good in my book of good sounding thoughts. One other thing to keep in mind is that Logitech currently lists the M600 as Windows 7 only, so Mac users will need to stick with the Magic Mouse for now.

Point and click to Logitech’s website to pre-order the Touch Mouse M600 for $70 (USD). Yes, batteries are included.

[via SlashGear]

Namely, it would keep me from the daily morning conversation with my seven-year-old about the weather outside. She rolls out of bed each morning and comes in my office and wants to know how hot or cold it is outside. Her little brain doesn’t work in absolutes, so telling her it’s going to be 65° out means nothing to her. She’s also got a lot that fiery Italian in her thanks to her mom, so she gets pretty upset if I tell her she needs long sleeves and a jacket in the morning, and then she gets hot on the playground.

What she needs is this Cryoscope gadget, which lets you feel what the temperature outside is like without leaving the house. An LED glows to give you an indication at a glance if it’s hot or cold outside. The current build actually lets you feel what tomorrow’s temperature will be like, but there’s no reason it couldn’t be used for current weather too.

To build the Cryoscope, Godshaw took a Peltier element and placed it on top of a heat sink with a cooling fan, and a RGB LED on the bottom. The system gets its temperature information from a web-based application, relaying it to an Arduino controller. The controller and the Peltier element then heat or cool an aluminum cover to the appropriate temperature, with a range of 0 to 100°F. Then you simply lay a hand on it and know exactly what it will feel like when you go outside tomorrow. It even compensates the temperature to account for wind chill, humidity and the properties of the aluminum cube itself.

I wonder how hard it would be to build one of these for myself.

[via CNET]

Check out the video. I love the way this thing moves and lights up. This is a hack that any Invaders nerd will want to do, but only a few of us will ever answer the call. Grant Gibson, we salute you.

[via Make:]

The ADzero is made from bamboo and it will probably be sold in design boutiques, not cell phone stores, since it won’t be mass-produced. The overall weight of this phone is half of an iPhone, despite its larger screen. Woodhouse is a design student at Middlesex University who was contacted by Jerro Lao, a tech entrepreneur after he saw some early concept images of the wooden phone.

The prototype runs Ice Cream Sandwich and will have access to the Android Market. Other than a mention of a built-in ring flash, there’s not much other detail about the specs of the final phone. A production version of the ADZero bamboo phone is expected to be launched in 2012 in both China and the UK. There’s no word on any North American distribution at this point.

[via Pocket-Lint via DVice]

I think the perfect thing to assure that assistance would arrive is these Buhel Speakgoggle G33 Intercom goggles.

The goggles are designed to keep the snow and glare away, and to keep your eyes nice and safe from tree limbs and the flailing ski poles of the people nearby. But the real differentiator in this particular pair goggles is the integrated Bluetooth headset, which pairs with your smartphone so you can answer voice calls and control your music playback.

The cooler feature for me is that even without having a smartphone, these goggles have an intercom function that will allow you to talk to six other people wearing them at the same time. The microphone the goggles have uses bone conduction technology for clear audio even when you’re flying down the slopes.

I think between six people, someone would be able to come and pry me off the tree I ran into.

[via Ubergizmo]