Tag: Open Source

An LED Matrix Display is a very affordable and versatile tool for showing information. But Stephen Wylie and Stacy Devino made an even more affordable and useful version of it. They call it LEDgoes, a display that you can expand by snapping modules together like LEGO.

Back in January, we heard about the mobile variant of the Ubuntu operating system and Canonical’s plan to launch phones that double as Ubuntu desktop PCs when docked. Now the company is launching the most ambitious crowdfunding campaign yet.

Dane Christianson’s X-Cube is not the weirdest, most complex or most sophisticated puzzle cube I’ve ever seen. But Dane didn’t really want to make the world’s most difficult or intimidating take on the Rubik’s cube. His aim with the X-Cube was to make a fun and relatable product to raise people’s awareness about 3D printing.

Some of you may have heard of Philips’ Ambilight, a technology that’s only present in some of the company’s high end TVs. Ambilight projects ambient lighting that matches the colors and brightness of what’s being displayed on screen.

Ever wished you had more control over how your flashlight worked? Or did you run out of gadgets to tinker and mess with? Then the HexBright Flex is for you. The flashlight has three modes of light by default, but you can also re-program it using Arduino code.

Since I already have an AR.Drone 2.0, I’m not really sure I need another quadrocopter. But that doesn’t mean I can’t want another quadcopter – especially one that I can fit in the palm of my hand.

A new challenger steps in the niche market… ring of portable consoles built to run emulators of older systems. But like the relatively famous Pandora handheld, the GCW-Zero aims not just to let players enjoy old games but also let those with programming skills tweak and play with its software.

Earlier this year, Canonical threw its hat into the mobile arena when it announced Ubuntu for Android, a variant of the open source operating system that can be installed on phones already running Android. But today the company unveiled Ubuntu for Phones.

As far as competitive videogames go, you can’t get any simpler than Pong. But times have changed, and so have our tastes and need for mayhem. We can’t just have birds, they need to be angry birds.

Finally. I think the mobile controller that I’ve been waiting for has arrived. And it’s not from Apple, Samsung or any of the major mobile device manufacturers. It’s from a small company, the same one who made the iControlPad.

With the music games out there these days, there are already some high tech ways to learn the guitar. However, most of these don’t let you play with an actual guitar, strings and frets, so it’s not exactly a realistic training experience.

I’ve found my favorite alarm clock! Created by software engineer/hardware designer/part-time MacGyver Michael Krumpus, the defusable clock works just like the bombs in movies. You can stop it’s alarm within 10 seconds… if you cut the right wire.

Check out the iNecklace, which is actually a piece of jewelry that you could replicate if you really want to, but you can also buy one if you’d rather not make one yourself. The unique part of this piece is that it pulsates, kind of like what the LEDs on a Mac do.

PixelInvaders is a computer-controlled RGB LED matrix project by Michael Vogt. The goal is to use these panels, which can be interconnected, as effect lighting in clubs, bars, fairs, museums, on stage, in a lobby or in your living room.

Last month we saw proof that practical technology can be seamlessly integrated into fashionable items. The Déjà Vu concept is another promising example. Made by MIT students Heidi Chen and Nicole Tariverdian, it’s a bag that can tell you if you’ve forgotten to put particular items in it.

If you’ve ever had a hankering to create photography that’s based on some sort of automatic trigger, have I got a cool gadget for you. The Triggertrap will let you use just about any electronic signal to make your camera snap a picture on cue.