Friday, February 19, 2010

Latest Posts on Coolest Gadgets

Latest Posts on Coolest Gadgets

Swarvoski Covered Luxa2 M4 Laptop Cooler

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 02:20 PM PST

Typically when you’re looking at laptop coolers, most of what you’ll see will also double as a lap desk.  Which is good for some, but it’s not necessary for everyone.  If you’d like something a little more minimal, this one is the way to go.  It would be far easier to fit inside of your laptop bag too, which is a serious bonus.

They look like nothing more than a set of portable speakers.  When in fact they’re laptop coolers crafted with Swarvoski crystals to add a little more elegance.  Although it seems odd to add crystals to something that’s going to be underneath your computer, you might like the added sparkle.  These are completely USB powered and can be purchased for $49.99.  Which for having the added crystals isn’t a bad price.

Source: Gizmodiva

Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ Swarvoski Covered Luxa2 M4 Laptop Cooler copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

The Solar Pool Heater

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 02:00 PM PST

I should have known before I even checked just who this product would come from.  It just screams Hammacher, but somehow I didn’t figure it out till I looked.  This Solar Pool Heater will make sure that you never will have to go diving into an ice cold pool of water.  Instead it’ll stay slightly warmer to keep you from going into shock over the temperature.  Sure, it won’t turn your pool into a giant hot tub, but at least the water won’t initially seem icy.

Thankfully your pool will remain heated purely through the power of the sun.  The heater just attaches to your pool’s pump-operated filtering system.  The water is then warmed by moving through the heater’s coiled black heating system that’s exposed to the sun’s energy.  Those coils measure 20 feet long.  If you don’t like the speed that it warms up the water, you can hook up to four heaters to your pool.  You can purchase these for $199.95.

Source: RGS

Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ The Solar Pool Heater copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Our voices, preserved for history, starting with Roger Ebert

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 02:00 PM PST

Some of you may not know this, but film critic Roger Ebert has recently lost his voice due to a complication after cancer surgery.

If he still wishes to continue his career, he could just stick to writing, or he could get one of those text-to-speech devices like Stephen Hawking.

That, or work with Scottish company CereProc by combining the hours of recordings from At The Movies, Siskel and Ebert and the Movies, and Ebert and Roeper and the Movies to create a database for his voice and daily vocabulary. It would be relatively easy to make any word from the sounds of other words.

I suppose that this is a way to create a library for people who will be losing their voices, like Ebert. Of course, you would probably have to have a lot of vocal recordings to get that database. I’m not certain how many syllables and vowel sounds there are, but it sounds like a complicated process.

In a way, I suppose that this is a way of preserving someone’s voice for an eternity, really. I once heard that a company can use a celebrity’s image after he or she is deceased. This definitely explains how John Wayne can appear on Coors ads.

I suppose if you really had vocal databases of every person, then you could have late celebrities say anything you want. This would explain a recent ad for One Laptop Per Child with John Lennon.

Take this tech one step further, and deceased could cut some new tunes. Man, that probably isn’t right.

Source

Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ Our voices, preserved for history, starting with Roger Ebert copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Artificial foot harnesses kinetic energy while walking

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 01:29 PM PST

It’s pretty amazing what they can do with prosthesis these days, but these mechanical arms and legs tend to drag a little as the human walks.

In order to make these prosthesis parts more in sync with humans, people from the University of Michigan and Delft University in the Netherlands are conducting some new experiments. These researchers are tying to create an artificial foot that can recycle the kinetic energy generated by the stepping of the foot itself.

Here’s the basic concept: this foot mimics the natural “push-off” of the human ankle, and then uses “a microprocessor to control the device and capture the energy that is normally dissipated by the leg”. Current studies with the experimental foot have shown that “energy recycling restored ankle push-off to normal and reduced the net metabolic energy penalty to 14 percent”.

I am told that this prosthetic leg requires a small battery to operate, and it runs off less than one watt of power. Of course, if you are harnessing the kinetic energy of walking, then is there any reason that we cannot set it up so that the walking and running will charge the battery?

Of course, I don’t really know much about this technology to assume something like that. After all, this is still concept technology. So if it is possible to charge the battery by walking, I’m sure they’ll figure that one out.

Source

Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ Artificial foot harnesses kinetic energy while walking copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

The Rotobotmouse

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 01:08 PM PST

Everyone has their own personal spin on what a steampunk mouse should look like.  Which is just fine by me.  It’s definitely better than staring at the same old ideas all of the time.  Where most steampunk gadgets look extremely old, more of the 1920’s range, this one almost looks like it belongs in the 50’s.  Although it might not appeal to some steampunk enthusiasts, if you’re looking for something different this is it.

The most surprising part of this mouse is that it’s actually available to be purchased.  Usually all you just get the joy of drooling over several pictures.  This time you have a shot to pick one up.  Sadly though it definitely comes with a steampunk price tag.  The odd coil on the side of the mouse is where you slip your pinky through.  Then you can pretty much guess how the rest of the buttons work.  Don’t worry, it is an optical mouse.  You can purchase it for $300 through Makers Market.

Source: Gizmodiva

Check out the Coolest Gadgets 2008 Gift Guides, Christmas shopping made easy.
[ The Rotobotmouse copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Robot Land amusement park set for South Korea

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 01:01 PM PST

What you’re seeing here is the Robot Land theme park, scheduled to be completed in 2013 at Incheon, South Korea.

This theme park is planned to feature all manner of robot entertainment mostly from films that featured robots such as I, Robot and The Matrix as well as Minority Report. I actually don’t remember any robots in Minority Report. As far as rides go, there is a robotic arm ride, as well as some sort of aquarium that allows visitors to watch and manipulate robotic fish.

I’m told that there will be robotic performers and cashiers, which should save money on human labor. Just kidding. Robot Land is expected to boost the national economy by creating 18,000 jobs to serve the 2.8 million visitors. By the way, there is more to populate Robot Land than just robots. Robot Land is also a technological park for residential complexes and office buildings.

Of course, I think we all know what is going to happen next. Remember that episode of The Simpsons where they went to a park inhabited by Itchy and Scratchy robots? As I recall, it didn’t take them long before the robots just up and attacked the humans. Yeah, it’s Westworld after all.

However, we have hopefully learned from science fiction and won’t make the robots in Robot Land sentient, yet.

Source

Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool :)
[ Robot Land amusement park set for South Korea copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Toshiba rolls out Highest-Capacity Small Form Factor Enterprise HDD

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 05:30 AM PST



Toshiba Storage Device Division (SDD) is one of the pioneers in the industry to bring small form factor enterprise-class and mobile hard disk drives (HDDs) to the market, and they relied on their expertise by unveiling a new high-capacity, high-performance, power-efficient small form factor product line which will target enterprise applications. Capable of holding up to 600GB of storage space in its high end range, the new MBF family will represent the industry’s highest-capacity 2.5″ enterprise-class HDD which boasts Toshiba’s first enterprise-class self-encrypting drive (SED) offering. We will see more about it right after the jump before you come to a conclusion on whether you would want to make a purchase decision or not.

The new MBF series is capable of demonstrating the successful integration of Toshiba and Fujitsu’s HDD business last year, where it underlines Toshiba’s capability and commitment to consolidating their leadership in the enterprise segment. This series is more than capable of meeting the exacting standards of the enterprise market with 10,025 RPM spin speed and a 6Gb/s SAS interface which is great for action in mid-range volume servers, mainstream storage arrays, blade and rack-mount servers and other business-critical, power-conscious, data-intensive applications. Apart from that, Toshiba has not forgotten about being green, thanks to its inherent lower power consumption which reduces power consumption up to 28%, thanks to a new enhanced power condition state that allows the hard drive to spin at a lower RPM when it remains idle.

Selected models of the MBF series do come with an option of drive-based encryption that was specially designed to the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) Enterprise Security Subsystem Class specification. Basically, it means that you don’t have to worry (too much) about your data being hacked into, leaving you with peaceful nights of sweet slumber whenever you are away from work. The MBF product line will come in 300GB, 450GB and 600GB capacities as they ship in volume this April 2010, where samples are already available for design development.

Press Release

Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool :)
[ Toshiba rolls out Highest-Capacity Small Form Factor Enterprise HDD copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Texas Instruments announces brand new nHD chipset

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 05:00 AM PST



Does it seem to you that the world of pico projectors have remained largely stagnant in terms of technological advancement? We think so in some ways, but it is nice to know that companies have not ditched this niche market just yet – with Texas Instruments coming up with their latest nHD chipset as an addition to the DLP Pico suite. Just what can nHD deliver? For starters, it will enable the thinnest, smallest DLP Pico engines to date, where nHD production availability is tipped to commence from the second quarter of this year onwards, further expanding DLP’s commitment to achieving world-class performance while enabling projector technology to be embedded into smaller devices in a wider range of product categories.

As you can see in the image above, the nHD chip is really small, that when placed with countless grains of rice, it is of a slightly larger size. With such a physical dimension, we are excited to see just what other devices will be able to incorporate projector technology which will enhance our everyday lives – guess we will just have to leave that up to the imagination of those engineers who are able to realize such dreams. Apparently, Texas Instruments claim that this new nHD chipset will set new industry-leading benchmarks in pico projection by enabling products with the highest efficiency and brightness from the industry’s thinnest, smallest physical footprint. It can deliver stunning picture quality in a small, dynamite package – what is there not to like? Among the features of the new DLP Pico solution include :-

  • nHD (640 x 360) resolution
  • Enables leading contrast ratio of better than 1,000:1 for the blackest blacks and most accurate whites
  • Enables true RGB LED wide color gamut for rich saturated colors
  • Improved power efficiency and electronic footprint
  • Incorporates a new low power Pico DPP2601/2607 ASIC/Processor
  • Enables a greater than 20 percent thinner optical module than WVGA chipset with full offset
  • Enables a greater than 50 percent smaller optical module volume than WVGA chipset with full offset

Press Release

Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ Texas Instruments announces brand new nHD chipset copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Forearm Exerciser helps you stay toned

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 04:30 AM PST

Do you spend plenty of time in front of the computer that you don’t have enough minutes left to stay fit and trim? Well, the Forearm Exerciser comes in handy as described in the indented paragraph below. It does look pretty cool wearing one, and your boss might just think you’re goofing around the office with part of your son’s Halloween costume until you explain to him that this is what keeps your forearm nice and toned. Would you want to spend less than one month’s gym membership fee for this $49.95 Forearm Exerciser? Anyone who has already tried this out, how did you find it?

This is the exercise apparatus that strengthens your wrists and forearms as additional training for racquet and ball sports. Unlike free weights that can be awkward and unwieldy for wrist and forearm conditioning, the cushioned exerciser secures your forearm while you grasp the foam-padded handle that can be adjusted to your hand size. A cable and spring mechanism provides resistance as you curl your wrist; three levels of resistance offer a more vigorous workout. You can also reverse your grip to perform wrist extensions.

Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ Forearm Exerciser helps you stay toned copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Gadget Thumbnails for 17-Feb-2010

Posted: 17 Feb 2010 09:01 PM PST

Lonpos Pyramid and Rectangle Game

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 04:00 AM PST

The more cerebral ones among you would probably find puzzle games to be a joy to attempt, be it wordplays like crosswords, or something that requires your motor skills such as the Rubik’s Cube, you are all a kindred spirit. Here is yet another puzzle game that is touted to build your brain power while keeping boredom at bay – the Lonpos Pyramid and Rectangle Game (personally, I would choose a Nintendo DS and the entire Ace Attorney series as it offers a whole lot more humor, but hey – to each his/her own).

If you want to dive into its 2D rectangle games, just locate the problem in the booklet which you would like to have a go at, place the game pieces on the board according to the illustration, followed by fitting the leftover pieces into the remaining spaces. 3D games require one to set up the pyramid according to the illustration in the booklet, followed by fitting the remaining pieces in order to complete the pyramid, placing you in the shoes of all those slaves thousands of years ago as they were involved in the backbreaking work of constructing a pyramid. Sounds like a snap, eh? Not eally, since there are 360,984 2D rectangles and 2,592 3D pyramids which can be completed, guaranteed to offer you plenty of sleepless nights.

The Lonpos Pyramid and Rectangle Game is going for $15.99 from ThinkGeek.

Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ Lonpos Pyramid and Rectangle Game copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Posted by Mohammad khuram shahzad at Friday, February 19, 2010  

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