Using an Arduino UNO, a WiFly Shield, a GoPro Hero 2, a three-axis accelerometer and lots of other bits and bobs that do important stuff, Kelly was able to turn a Tamiya Mini M05 R/C car into an analog arcade racer. The toy car connects to its base station via Wi-Fi, allowing it to be controlled wirelessly via a variety of controllers (including a steering wheel) and in return send a live first-person – first-toy car? – view as well as force feedback. He can even set it so that the camera pans in sync with the steering.

Want to know how to make your own Arduino WiFly Mini? You’re in luck: Kelly has a staggeringly comprehensive how-to on his website that is longer than the entire Harry Potter series. It was a compelling read. I couldn’t put it down. I like the part where Kelly realized he should be putting a series of instructions into one packet instead of sending packets with each instruction so the method more greatly resembles a PPM stream.

[via Make:]

This wallpaper has special patterns of silver crystals, which have been placed to block the Wi-Fi frequencies of your router, keeping signals from leaving(or entering) your space. The wallpaper goes on sale in 2013 from Alhstrom, a Finnish company, and it will cost the same as mid-range traditional wallpaper, so you won’t break the bank putting this up in every room. Of course, if you put it up in every room, there’s a good chance you’ll disrupt Wi-Fi inside your own home, so you might just want to stick with exterior walls. It’s probably best used in a commercial setting, like an office building to keep other businesses from hopping on your network.

If don’t like the pattern it comes in, you can cover it up with paint, but I actually think the pattern looks cool. You’ll also have to put this wallpaper up on the ceiling as well as the floor for it to work. Naturally windows are still a problem, so if you don’t live in a basement or a Batcave, you still might be out of luck.

[L'informaticien via DVice]

reaDIYmates are described as “fun Wi-fi paper companions that move and play digital sounds depending on what’s happening in your digital life.” Basically you select the behavior of the reaDIYmate. You could animate them or have them play a special sound whenever you receive an email, get a Facebook message, a tweet, or other stuff like that. Inside the body of each toy or sculpture is a small box with a mini servo motor and a speaker. This is connected to a “brain” which has an MP3 decoder, 2GB of memory, Wi-fi connectivity, and a push-button on top.

These cute companions come in a bunch of cool designs and colors, or if you are more creative, they come in plain white so that you can customize them yourself.  They are also Arduino compatible, so that you can implement your own ideas. They can even interact with one another as shown in the demo video below:

Check out the reaDIYmate’s Kickstarter page for more details. A pledge of $130(USD) or more will get you a complete reaDIYmate brain, along with a paper toy or kinetic sculpture of your choice. $100 will get you the Barebones edition which includes the hardware, but you’ll have to make your own paper sculpture.

[via Ubergizmo]

If like me, you thought that the cufflinks would give you a mobile hotspot on their own, prepare to be disappointed. You have to plug either of them to a computer that’s connected to the Internet before it can create a network. You do know you can do this for free with software like Connectify already, right?

It would have been awesome if they worked like the MiFi and could turn a person into a walking wireless network. You’ll surely be a hit at parties. People will flock to you so they can go online and post about this dude who has a Wi-Fi hotspot on his wrists. Eh, I guess they’re still useful, but I’m just not sure if they’re worth the price – Cufflinks.com is selling them for $250 (USD) a pair.

[via Cool Material]

This device is called the MeoTune and it’s a Wi-Fi-enabled 1-Seg TV tuner that will work with Android and iOS devices. It will tune into local TV channels through regular airwaves (no cables required!), and content is viewed through a special app. The MeoTune has got a battery life of 4 hours, which sounds adequate. It can also function as an emergency charger for your smartphone, which is cool.

It’s an interesting device that offers a view into the way that the Japanese use their smartphones. It will probably not make it to the US, and if it ever does, it’ll need a different digital tuner module to be compatible with our networks.

[via Ubergizmo]

Super WiFi is currently being developed at Rice University. The picture above shows Rice U grad student Ryan Guerra installing a Super WiFi antenna. As I mentioned above, the trick was to downshift the high frequency WiFi signal – which has trouble going through physical obstacles like walls and trees – to a lower frequency (and vacant) TV channel.

Eager to test it in real world conditions, Guerra tested Super WiFi in a house a mile away from the transmission tower of the home owner’s service provider. Whereas the traditional set up was “frustratingly intermittent” due to the trees and foliage surrounding the house, Super WiFi “has been quite stable, even with leafy trees and through bad weather, and has yet to show any interference or connection problems, even at a mile from the transmitter.”

Pictured above are most of the components needed to set up a Super Wifi connection – a UHF-band filter, a frequency translator, a PC motherboard and WiFi card, and a power supply. The crucial component here is the frequency translator, a prototype device made by Alcatel Lucent. It’s the one that does the downshifting of the signal.

Another benefit of the technology is that, like the TV broadcasts that it replaces, anyone in the path of the signal from a Super WiFi transmitter can take advantage of the connection. It’s very promising, although it’s far from being finalized and has a couple of weaknesses, including a significantly lower bandwidth and network congestion.

I hope that Guerra and his colleagues can fine tune Super WiFi. I think it’s a great and relatively cheap way of providing Internet access. Even if it doesn’t totally replace conventional transmission it could come in really hands in rural areas, field work and in emergency situations. Check out Ars Technica for more info.

[via GizmoWatch via SlashGear]

The ANDI-ONE can interact with devices via Wi-Fi, IR or RF. It also remembers the last 20 actions that you made, so you can quickly search the list and repeat them, although frankly I don’t know exactly how this works, or what it counts as an action. You can also set up macros and organize devices by room. Downloading channel guides is also an option.

But more than that, the Android 2.1 remote is also a portable media player. It can have up to 8GB of internal memory and supports microSD cards up to 64GB. You can watch videos on its 3.5″ touchscreen, connect a 3.5mm jack or just use its built-in speakers and play tracks on it, and you can even download and use over 10,000 Android apps. You can even make VOIP calls on it. And what about its charging cradle? In addition to having a couple of 3W speakers, an HDMI port and an Ethernet port, you can also dock an iPhone or iPad on it.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I wonder why the remote in the video has a different layout than the one on Conspin’s website; must be a prototype or something. Anyway, now that you know what the ANDI-ONE is capable of, you’d be a fool to think that this remote is cheap. Its suggested retail price is $350 (USD), but Krex already has it listed at about $290. They’re out of stock right now though. If you’re looking to replace your your remote and your Android media player, keep an eye out for the ANDI-ONE.

[via Conspin & Talk Android via Gadgetell]

It runs off a replaceable C-battery and acts as the interface between your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad and your home theater system. The iOS app shoots the commands to the Peel hardware over WiFi, and it then shoots it out to your components via infrared. The app portion allows you to change channels and run your DVR, and also can suggest shows based on what you like to watch.

You can set up macro activities with the app that allow you to change inputs and turn components on and off for TV and other things with one button. My Logitech Harmony One remote does that too and it’s an awesome feature. Once you choose your program with the Peel, you can control the DVR and volume using gestures on the iPhone. The Peel system is shipping right now for $99 (USD).

The program devised by the R&D department of WinWise Tech is very user-friendly, especially due to the size of the virtual buttons. There are controls for the altitude, rotation and cameras of the AR.Drone, and a big red stop button. The app also has an altimeter and battery meter.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

To be honest, I was as surprised by the amount of noise that the quadricopter makes as by the novelty of the hack.

[via Engadget]

Trendnet is finally fixing the issue of gigantic wireless adapters with a tiny little adapter that looks a lot like the Logitech line of Unifying Receivers for wireless keyboards and mice. The tiny little Trendnet TEW-648UBM is hailed as the world’s smallest 802.11n adapter and it supports speeds up to 150Mbps.

The tiny adapter measures 0.59″ x 0.74″ x 0.28″ and only sticks out of the USB port 0.3″ when installed. That means the thing is small enough that you can plug it in and just leave it. The adapter has a list price of $39.99 (USD), but they’re selling right now for just $15.99 over at the TrendNet online shop if you get over there quick.

The just-unveiled Robovie mR2, robot comes courtesy of Japan’s Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute. The cute desktop ‘bot stands just about 1 foot tall and weighs 4.4 pounds.

The robot can be controlled via the iPod when it’s in the chest cavity or via WiFi or Bluetooth, and Robovie mR2 can find its way around using an array of built-in sensors and microphones. You can see it in action here.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Maybe it should have an iPhone in its belly instead of an iPod Touch, so it could make calls for you too.

[via Crunchgear]

It uses GPS and WiFi to locate hotspots, uses the camera, compass and accelerometer on the iPhone 3GS to show locations on a heads-up 3D screen wherever you point your phone. You can also toggle to a 2D mode if the 3D is too difficult for you to follow.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The best thing about WorkSnug is that this app is that it’s currently free. The worst part is that it only works in London and Barcelona at present. But if you’re fortunate enough to live in one of those places, you can download WorkSnug for iPhone here.

[via Ubergizmo]

The AR.Drone from Parrot is one amazing toy. It can be controlled via iPhone or iPod Touch thanks to WiFi and it will provide a live video stream of what it sees. How cool is that?

There is another camera facing downward to measure speed and to compensate for turbulence. In case the drone looses contact, an autopilot kicks in and lands the thing. This is kind of like having your own little spy plane, only it’s more maneuverable and stable since it’s a quadricopter.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

There’s even going to be an open AR.Drone SDK, which will allow developers to build custom applications for controlling the remote drone. Cool!

Expect the AR.Drone to hit stores sometime later this year. No word on pricing or an exact release date yet.

[via Make:]

At this rate, pretty soon we’ll have gadgets that could easily fit in our nostrils. Fortunately, the Nubbin sells for just $39 USD, so you can still probably afford to buy another in case you lose it, and you probably will. Head on to MvixUSA’s online store to order.

[via popgadget]

The Wi-Fire is a USB device that boosts WiFi signals. It uses a directional antenna, a powerful receiver along with proprietary software to enable a computer to detect and access wireless sources up to 1000 ft. away. I haven’t personally seen the Wi-Fire at work, so I’ll let the experts from Maximum PC do the talking: “Our jaws really dropped as we moved the notebook ever further away: 350 feet from the router, with the signal passing through an insulated, double-thick interior wall and a steel garage door, the Wi-Fire delivered TCP throughput of 14.5Mb/s.”

Dr. Macenstein even said that the Wi-Fire works even better than advertised, giving him not 3 times but 5 times the normal range of his G4 Powerbook.

The Wi-Fire works with the three major operating systems. It has a retractable cable for portability and easy storage. The Wi-Fire is sold at hField Technologies’ store for only $79 USD.

It does have it’s flaws though, like its size and the boring design. It also only supports 802.11b and g, so you won’t be able to run at 802.11n speeds. Dr. Macenstein also said that when you attach the device on your computer using the clip, “a slight breeze will send the Wi-Fire toppling, as the “clip” aspect of the stand is pretty much useless”. But overall, I think the Wi-Fire is a really neat gadget. I really hope it’s being sold here; the free internet signal boost will be a lot of help.

[via CoolTools]