Technabob » creative

Kickstart Leebre to Get the Social Book Publishing Movement Going

Hazel Chua — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:30:04 +0000

There are a lot of blogging platforms available on the Internet so you can self-publish your thoughts and random ramblings for the whole world to read. That’s great news for people who want to share their ideas or let off some stream – but what about the writers who want to create complete novels?

I mean, we have social sites for video games, artwork, and music aficionados. Why not one for independent writers? But here’s some good news: it’s coming. Or rather, it will come, once the Leebre project gets funded on Kickstarter.

Basically, Leebre is a social community where readers and writers can connect. But more than that, it can provide authors with a multitude of tools and resources to publish their work independently. The site will not only allow writers to post manuscripts online, but will generate eBook formatted content, as well as give their content a professionally typeset look, then release them with the appropriate Creative Commons license. Writers can put their bios and book previews up online, place “donation” buttons on their works so readers can show their appreciation or even contribute to charities.

For now, the Beta site is focused on publishing fiction, but there’s no reason why it couldn’t support any sort of content. I think Leebre will become a very cool site if it gets fully released, mainly for the fact that more people would be able to gain access to literature that would otherwise remain unpublished. I say this, given the lack of resources that many of these independent authors find themselves in.

If you’re interested in supporting Leebre, head on over to Kickstarter and contribute what you can.

Build Your Own Custom Robot Avatar at My Robot Nation

Technabob — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:00:57 +0000

Ever wanted your very own robot? I’m not talking about one that can do your bidding for you, rather a tiny robotic avatar, customized to your liking. Well if that’s what you’re seeking, today is your lucky day. With My Robot Nation, you can create your own custom robot figure with a few clicks of the mouse button.

My Robot Nation uses 3D printing technology to create bespoke robot figurines to your exacting specifications. Simply head onto their website, mix-and-match your choice of head, torso, arms and legs to build your robot body. If you’re feeling whimsical, you can always just hit the “randomize robot” button too.

Once you’ve figured out your robot’s basic form, you can add details like eyes, visors, weapons, and even costumes. Then pick your colors, and even add robot tattoos. You also get to pose your robot at this point, since the finished product won’t be bendable. So pick your pose wisely, since that’s the position your robot buddy will be stuck in for eternity.

Once you save your design, you pick a size, and order up your custom robot. Prices range from $17.99 (USD) for a 2″ tall robot, up to $169.99 for a 6″ tall model. Check it out for yourself over at My Robot Nation now. Be sure to spend some time in the robot Hall of Fame for some cool creations from prior customers.

It’s probably too late to get one of these in hand for Christmas, but they do offer a gift code option you could give instead. Frankly, I think that’s better anyhow, since half the fun is designing your robot in the first place, so why shouldn’t that be part of the gift?

[via Gizmag via designboom]

Does Your Plug Have A Face?

Hazel Chua — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:00:47 +0000

Okay, so the title of this post is actually a play on words on one of PETA’s slogans for veganism that goes “Does your food have a face?” But this post isn’t going to be about your eating habits or health; rather, it’s going to be about this neat concept design by Jeong-woo Han and Seul-gi Oh that will literally give your plugs a makeover.

These Push Plugs aren’t just plugs with a personality. They’re also pretty functional, too. Aside from bearing subtle decorations to give your plug heads, well, an actual face, they also come with this tiny black knob at the back that makes unplugging your plugs from wall sockets a breeze–especially those hard-to-remove plugs that seem to feel like they’re somehow stuck on the socket. (Whew, I think that’s the most times I’ve ever used the words “plug” and “socket” in a single paragraph.)

I don’t think it would be feasible (or even possible) to have all manufacturers incorporate the Push Plug’s nifty design onto their plugs. However, I think it would be a whole lot easier and simpler if the designers instead applied this design to plug adapters, which are designed to fit over plugs and convert them from three-pronged plugs to two-pronged ones (and vice versa.)

[via Yanko Design]

South Koreans Using Sausage as iPhone Stylus

Lambert Varias — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:16:42 +0000

It’s no secret that the iPhone’s touchscreen is hard to use when one is wearing gloves. But what will iPhone owners do when it’s winter? Stop using their iPhones? Preposterous! Just use a sausage as stylus!

Here’s a video of two – two! – sausages working perfectly on the iPhone:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

According to Korean news site inews24 (Google translated), the sausage has proven so effective as a stylus that CJ Corporation, makers of the preferred snack sausage, saw a 39% increase in their December to January sales.

[via TUAW and Kottke]

Pocket HD Camcorders Round Up From the Past: Chris Pirillo Overload

Lambert Varias — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:52:46 +0000

It seems that what people want nowadays are rectangular camcorders that can capture 720p video. Not one to question thousands of paying customers, Creative is reeling in its share of the HD – and YouTube – loving crowd with the Vado HD. Then there’s Kodak and their Zi6, and of course the Flip Mino HD and Ultra HD. Now the video reviews I’m about to share with you were posted by famous geek Chris Pirillo more than half a year ago – December 31, 2008 to be exact. The guy’s a workaholic.

Anyway, even though it’s ancient by Internet standards, Pirillo’s reviewing ninjutsu is quite effective and convincing. To maximize the efficacy of his review, you have to play the following clips at the same time. The video below is the Flip Mino HD’s recording of Pirillo’s review. You can get the Flip Mino HD for about $190 (USD) at Amazon. The Mino HD has 4GB of built-in memory.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

That wasn’t so awesome, but the Kodak Zi6‘s performance is actually a tad worse. It currently sells for $126 at Amazon. The Zi6 only has 128MB of internal memory, but you can add up to 32GB more via its SD/SDHC memory card slot. Here’s Pirillo one more time:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Finally, here’s the winner of the PirilloPirilloPirillo show: Creative’s Vado HD. The Vado HD has 8GB of built-in memory. For some reason it’s currently cheapest among the three – only $99, at least on Amazon. And did I say it was the best of the bunch? See for yourself:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Did you watch all 3 at the same time? Are you insane? Why would you do that? Lucky for you, Pirillo didn’t make another video pitting all 3 against the newer Flip Ultra HD. Seriously though, you should do that, Mr. Pirillo, or at least a Vado HD vs. Ultra HD head-to-head. Splitscreen please.

Better Than Bento? the Rubik’S Cubewich

Alisha K. — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:08:24 +0000

We’ve seen some pretty badass bento around here, but nothing quite like the Rubik’s Cubewich, a puzzling and meaty creation that’s almost too clever to be eaten. Almost.

Salami, kielbasa, cheese, bread–there’s all sorts of goodness in this cubewich! It’s got everything but real puzzle factor, because I’m sure if you tried to turn it, the whole thing would just fall apart, and that would be a waste. Guess you’d just have to eat it instead.

I’ve been trying to think of other foods you could do this with besides fatty and processed meats and cheeses, and I’m drawing a blank. I guess you could cube come chicken, but would it be the same?

[via ForeverGeek]

Creative’S Zii Pmp Snitched by Fcc, May have Built-in HD Camera: Ziis is Gonna be Awesome

Lambert Varias — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:35:09 +0000

Forget rumors and *gasp* blogs: if you want to get your hands on legit cutting-edge gadget news, the FCC is the place to be. Take these diagrams, taken from the FCC’s website, of what are supposed to be Creative’s contender for the touchscreen-crazy PMP market, the Zii. That by the way is an extremely awkward name for a device. Not what you’d expect from a company named “Creative”.

As you can see, Creative may be planning on trumping the Walkman X , the iPod touch and all other PMPs by including an HD camera in their device. Engadget‘s Thomas Ricker also reckons that the “developer edition” Zii EGG (seriously, wtf is up with these names) means that Creative is intent on going Apple’s route, e.g. apps, making the Zii more than just a media player, just like the iPod Touch. Hopefully the price won’t be as ridiculous as the gadget’s name.

[via Electricpig]

Creative’S Zen Mx Media Player: for People on a Monk’S Budget

Lambert Varias — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:10:31 +0000

Creative has added another PMP to their Zen product line, and they’re calling it the Zen MX. While its specs are as exciting as meditation, it will sell for about a hundred bucks, so it’s a decent option for people who are looking for a PMP on a budget.

The Zen MX has a 2.5-inch LCD screen at 320 x 240 resolution, an SDHC card slot, an FM radio tuner, and a microphone. It can play various audio and video formats such as mp3, wma, audible 4 at video-CMV. The Zen can playback 30 hours of audio or 5 hours of video between charges. Available in Japan starting on May 5, the Zen MX is priced at $102 (USD) for the 8 GB version and $144 for the 16 GB version. Not bad. Not too good either.

[via SlashGear]

Pixel Drink Coasters: Punch Out Your Own Art

Technabob — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:40:37 +0000

These fun drink coasters may just look like an abstract dot pattern on the surface, but thanks to some cleverly placed perforations, you can actually make your own custom pixel creations out of them.

Each coaster is made up of 110 individual 1cm square “pixels” which are perfed in a way that lets you selectively remove blocks from each square. Through what sort of amounts to “pixel sculpting”, you can create your own personalized designs.

They come in a stack of 50 coasters, which start out conjoined into a 500cm (almost 200″) long chain which can be broken apart into individual pieces. Each square has a random arrangement of color shades, so each coaster is just a little different from the next one.

They’re made from a resilient paper fiber that should hold up to the condensation you might get on the bottom of your cup, or the occasional spill. In addition to the blue palette (which I prefer), there’s also a hot pink version if you’re looking for something a bit more girly.

At this point Pixel Coasters are only available from Taiwanese design retailer 25togo, I’m hoping somebody eventually imports these to the States. A pack of 50 coasters sells for 260 Taiwan Dollars, or just about $8 bucks.

Creative Travelsound I50 Speaker for iPod Shuffle

Technabob — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 03:08:16 +0000

Creative Japan today took the wraps off this cool portable speaker for the 2G iPod Shuffle. The compact speaker goes great with the brushed metal finish of Apple’s tiny media player.

Just dock your 2G Shuffle on the top of Creative’s new Travelsound i50, snap on the clear protective cover and you’re ready to go. The compact speaker has a nifty carabiner-like loop that lets you clip the speaker onto your backpack or belt loop. Plus, it’s got a built-in rechargeable battery which can be charged through a USB port.

The Travelsound i50 is currently available in Japan for ¥7,980 (about $69). A release date and pricing for other countries hasn’t been announced yet, but given Creative’s worldwide track record, it’s only a matter of time.

[via le Journal du Geek]

Creative Zen Stone, Made Out of Wood

Technabob — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 23:23:19 +0000

Somebody sure likes their Creative Zen Stone media player. In fact, this guy loves his enough that he created a mammoth wooden version of his portable media player.

Captain Ødegård’s giant-sized wood media player measures in at 8.25″ x 5.5″ x 2″, giving it about 90-times the volume of a regular Zen Stone player. He even got out the old woodburner to provide all the logo and control icons.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The larger-than-life player is fully functional, packing in 4GB of memory on an SD card, and wooden control buttons that actually operate the player.

[via Anythingbutipod]

Creative Zen Stone Plus Adds OLED Display, 2gb Memory

Technabob — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 05:01:52 +0000

Just a few short weeks after announcing their ZEN Stone mini music player, Creative today rolled out a higher-end model, the ZEN Stone Plus.

The new model takes all of the features of the original ZEN Stone and adds a bright blue round OLED display for song title and other pertinent information. In addition, the Plus bumps the memory up to 2GB vs. the 1GB that’s in the first model. The Plus also adds a voice recorder, clock, stopwatch and FM tuner which weren’t in the original Stone. Battery life is just a tiny bit shorter at 9.5 hours vs. the 10 hours of the original, but that’s to be expected whenever you add a display.

Now all these features do bump up the cost a little bit. While the 1GB ZEN Stone costs just $39, the 2GB ZEN Stone Plus is expected to run about $65 when it’s released later this Summer.

[via epiZENter via Gizmodo]

Creative Zen Stone: Tiny Mp3 Player, Tiny Price

Technabob — Thu, 03 May 2007 13:03:43 +0000

Creative today announced their latest MP3 player, the ZEN Stone. Aimed squarely between the eyes of Apple’s iPod Shuffle, the Stone is a small, flash-based player designed for the low-end of the market.

The 1GB Zen Stone will retail for the amazingly low price of just $39.99 (roughly half the price of the equivalent iPod.) Capacity is enough to store up to 250 songs. Like the iPod Shuffle, there’s no display, so you have two simple choices: “play” or “random.” It can play tracks in MP3, WMA and WAV formats and its rechargeable battery provides to up to 10 hours of tunes on a single charge.

The player will be available in six colors: black, white, blue, red, green and pink, as well as optional skins for further embellishment. A variety of Stone accessories will also be available, including an armband, a keychain holder, and a docking amplified speaker. The Zen Stone should start shipping on May 14.

Order from Amazon

[Press Release]

Creative X-Fi I600: One Serious iPod Dock

Technabob — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 21:32:51 +0000

Creative has released their latest iPod docking stereo, and this one looks really substantial.

The X-Fi Sound System i600 is a complete 2.1 stereo system, with dual 2-way satellite speakers and a powered subwoofer. The speakers are each amplified at 35 Watts per channel, while the subwoofer offers 130 Watts of power for some serious bass. The system features a slick piano black finish, and has a decidedly high-end look about it. It features Creative’s X-Fi audio processing technology, which provides virtual surround and playback quality enhancement which is said to dramatically enhance the detail and vibrancy of compressed music.

The i600 system ships with a full-size wireless IR remote which can operate the iPod and stereo controls, and can charge your iPod while docked. The X-Fi i600 will be available this May for $599.

Creative Announces Wireless Bluetooth Headphones

Technabob — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 20:43:57 +0000

In my never-ending quest to eliminate all wires, cords and other unsightly appendages from my life, I’m pleased to hear that Creative has revealed a new set of high-quality wireless headphones, designed to transmit audio using Bluetooth technology.

Creative’s SE2300 Bluetooth Wireless Headphones can work from up to 10 meters away from the transmitter. They feature high-fidelity neodymium drivers, with a frequency response range of 20 Hz ~ 20 kHz. The headphones come with a small transmitter which plugs into your media player, laptop or other audio source via a 1.5mm mini stereo plug, but you can also use them to pair directly with other Bluetooth enabled devices such as mobile phones and PDAs. The headphones have a rechargeable battery quoted to run for appx. 6 to 8 hours (YMMV), on a 3 hour charge. If you don’t want to carry a charger, you can also charge them using a USB port.

The headphones are listed at $129.99 USD on Creative’s North American website, but just $99.99 USD on their Singapore site, so hopefully the price will come down in the US to match that.

Zune Price, Jaws Drop

Technabob — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 23:26:35 +0000

After early assumptions that the 30GB Zune media player would run $299, it’s been reported that Microsoft’s “iPod killer” will actually launch at the surprisingly low price of $229.99.

This surprise announcement certainly shakes things up, what with both the iPod 30GB and Creative Zen:M 30GB both just reduced to $249. Given the wireless capabilities and FM tuner in the Zune, this could give them a big competitive advantage going into the holiday season.

Will wonders never cease?

[via Gizmodo]

Apple and Creative Price Drops Put the Squeeze on Zune

Technabob — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:52:30 +0000

Hot on the heels of Apple’s recent announcement to drop the price of it’s latest (5.5 generation) iPod 30gb model to $249, Creative Labs has just dropped the price on their Zen Vision:M 30gb model to $249 as well.

With so many rumors pointing to a $299 launch price for Microsoft’s Zune 30gb model, the question is: Are people willing to drop an extra $50 for Microsoft’s as yet unproven social networking and song sharing features? Will Microsoft feel the pressure to drop the price and lose some profit margin? What do you think?

Creative Announces Widescreen Zen Vision W

Technabob — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 15:23:20 +0000

Creative Technology has just announced the release of their new ZEN Vision W. The new mobile media player features a 4.3 inch diagonal 16:9 widescreen TFT display (480 x 272 resolution) for video playback, and either 30GB or 60GB of hard drive storage. Creative claims that the 60GB version can store a whopping 240 hours of video or 15,000 songs. Battery life is quoted at 13 hours for music and 4.5 hours for movies.

The Vision W also features a built-in Compact Flash slot, so you can easily import photos directly from a digital camera without a PC. The device supports a decent number of video codecs, including WMV9, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4-SP, MJPEG, DivX 4.x/ 5.x and XviD-SP. An AV cable is also included for playback on your television (composite only, though). In addition, it includes an FM tuner, voice recorder and personal organizer software that can sync with Microsoft Outlook.

The Creative ZEN Vision W (30GB) premieres in Singapore today for S$649.00 (appx. $412 USD) The 60GB model for just S$749.00 (appx. $475 USD) will be available by the end of September. US release dates have not been announced.

Apple to Pay $100 Million to Creative

Technabob — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 22:56:20 +0000

Apple and Creative Technology, Ltd. today announced a broad settlement ending all legal disputes between the two companies.

Apple will pay $100 million to license Creative’s patent in all Apple products. Apple can recoup a portion of its payment if Creative is successful in licensing this patent to others. In addition, the companies announced that Creative has joined Apple’s “Made for iPod” program and will be announcing their own iPod accessory products later this year.

Creative filed a lawsuit back in June, alleging that Apple’s popular iPod media players infringed on its patent for the system used to navigate and play music on its Zen media players.

Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and CEO of Creative stated that the $100 million will result in approximately $0.85 in extra earnings per share in the current fiscal quarter. On news of the agreememt, Creative’s stock rose sharply (up about 33%) in after hours trading.

Creative Announces Zen Neeon 2 Mp3 Players

Technabob — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 23:48:28 +0000

Creative Labs has announced the release of a new version of their Zen Neeon music players, improving significantly on the original models by adding a color screen, video playback and greater memory capacity.With these specs, these players look poised to take on the Apple’s rival iPod Nano line:

1, 2, and 4GB options
1.5″ Color Display
(128 x 128 pixels)
Audio: MP3, WMA, and WAV
Video: Transcoded AVI
FM Tuner
5-band Equalizer
Voice Recorder
Line-In Recorder
20 hour battery life for audio, 8 hours for video
5 brushed-metal colors
Dimensions: 81 x 42 x 12.5 mm; Weight: 50g

Initial pricing has only been announced in Singapore, as follows: S$199.00 (appx. $125 USD) for the 1GB model, S$269.00 (appx. $170 USD) for the 2GB model and S$309.00 (appx. $195 USD) for the 4GB model.

Product Information