Archive for December 2010

When we first started to hear about 3D TV in the home, I had an idea that the companies would be using active glasses not because they were better than passive, but because they could share more to users for the tech than they could for passive glasses.

How’s that for search engine optimization eh? I should get a Guinness World Record for the most number of Mass Effects in a title. But on to the great news! The PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 has gone gold, i.e.

Otavio Good and John DeWeese worked for two and a half years to produce a program that, to paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke’s famous line, is indistinguishable from magic. Good and DeWeese’s app Word Lens is a essentially an OCR (optical character recognition) program.

There are already remote-controlled robots out there that allow an operator to control robotic arms using their own hands. Doctors are even using such technologies to perform remote surgery. But this is the first time I’ve seen a robotic arm that can be controlled simply through gestures.

I can’t figure out what the obsession is with companies dipping gadgets in tacky crystals. Maybe it’s so bloggers like me will write about them. Damn. I’m just perpetuating the madness. I’m part of the problem, not the solution.

Clocks. Such simple devices, yet so many people have to make them so complicated. Yes, I know that the innards of a clock can be rather complicated, but I’m more referring to the parts that we see.

Fossil has been toying with Bluetooth watches for a couple of years. Their latest concept will connect to your precious smartphone and give you tidbits that are supposed to stop you from digging into your pocket to grab your iPhone.

Terminators and LEGOs? Now that’s a combination that I hadn’t thought of before, but that didn’t stop Martin Latta from completing this amazing LEGO T-800 bust. This bust boasts an impressive number of details, and looks slightly menacing.

Here’s a sneak peek at the Star Wars-themed shoes and apparel that adidas will release next year. To be honest most of the designs are too loud for my taste, but they’re not all garish. I like this Darth Vader sweater the most:

We have seen and talked about a bunch of watchbands for the iPod nano and all of them that I can think of have been made of plastic or silicone, and look modern and slick. If you are the emo sort of geek, that just won’t cut it.

I can tell you from experience that it sucks to break a gadget. I broke my iPhone 3GS a few months back and it was not fun. Thankfully, I was able to upgrade. It think if I dropped my iPad and broke it, I would cry.

Here’s a high-tech tweak to one of the most popular kids’ toys. With the Doodle Track car, you don’t need to assemble or create race tracks. Just plot and create your own course using a plain black marker.

This concept device reminds me of that episode of The Simpsons where Bart tries to use the headlight dynamo to get some light when riding his bike at night, but the thing makes the bike so hard to pedal he can hardly move.

Want to play the guitar, but don’t want to deal with those pesky broken strings and having to keep it in tune? Misa Digital’s Kitara is a unique all-digital guitar that replaces strings with a touchscreen for strumming and buttons for frets.

If you haven’t managed to become completely addicted to Angry Birds, you probably have at least 8 hours more a week of productivity than I do. But if you are completely drawn in by those hostile birds and their endless battle with the green pigs, you’ll love these new cases for your various Apple iGadgets.

If you have ever tried to take a picture of yourself or you and other people without using a timer by just holding the camera out from you in your hand you know that can be hard.