Latest Posts on Coolest Gadgets

Skatecycle gets a Tron Legacy Makeover
The Wasabi Smoke Alarm – Honey, wake up! I think I smell sushi
IBM supercomputer to play on Jeopardy
Misa Digital’s Kitara is a guitar with a touchscreen for strings
Hitachi releases three more 3TB drives
Seagate goes green with latest Barracuda Green hard drive
Optoma GT100 Mini Projector
Visual Assist Dartboard
Social Artworks – Bringing your Facebook friends home
Gadget Thumbnails for 14-Dec-2010

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 04:45 PM PST

We covered the Skatecycle before, an interesting skateboard with its wheels large enough to put the feet in.

I’m very certain that we also covered Tron Legacy before, as it has quite a lot of merchandise like gaming controllers and the Zero G Light Cycle.

I guess Alon Karpman felt combining the two would be a good idea, which is why the Brooklyn Workshop created this Tron Legacy Skatecycle. I suppose that it is a good idea, because the skatecycle certainly looks like an ankle-high version of the light cycle from the Tron franchise.

It was probably easy to create the colors and glow in the dark effects that are customary in the world of Tron. It’s enough to make Jeff Bridges wish he really was a young man so that he could try it out. Not the Tron Legacy computer generated version that they created.

This is a DIY project, and there doesn’t seem to be a plan to market this. I’m sure that if Tron Legacy is a hit of Avatar proportions, there will be a demand for something like this. As it is, the film could absolutely flop and no one will want to see Tron on anything, ever again.

Source

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[ Skatecycle gets a Tron Legacy Makeover copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

The Wasabi Smoke Alarm – Honey, wake up! I think I smell sushi

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 04:20 PM PST

I don't know about you guys, but my whole family could sleep through a tornado. Every morning various alarms go off in our household and a half hour later, they are still ringing, and we are all still snoring. Usually, there is at least one light sleeper in a house to save the day, but not here.

I guess we still have hope for a safe nights sleep, a fire extinguisher company in Japan has developed a smoke alarm that instead of producing an ear-piercing siren, it spews forth a chemical called ally isothiocynate, which is the compound that provides the kick to horseradish, mustard, and wasabi.

In tests on actual sleeping people, the strong smell of wasabi woke up most of the subjects in less than 2 minutes without causing any damage or irritation to the eyes, nose or mouth. No word on whether or not they craved soy sauce, or a small plate of ginger.

The device has generated some interest, primarily as an alarm system for hearing impaired guests at hotels and is being marketed to establishments where noise or loud music could drown out the sound of a traditional alarm.

At $560.00 for an alarm that covers roughly 50 square feet, I might have to take my chances till the price comes down, till then I'm hoping the smell of my house burning will roust me out of bed.

Source: www.news.cnet.com

Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ The Wasabi Smoke Alarm – Honey, wake up! I think I smell sushi copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

IBM supercomputer to play on Jeopardy

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 04:17 PM PST

Some of you may not have heard of Watson, but it is a supercomputer by IBM. It will also be the first machine that will appear on Jeopardy as a contestant.

As part of some very odd publicity stunt, Watson the supercomputer will go up against Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, two of the greatest Jeopardy players ever on February 14, 15, and 16. So far, I can see two possible outcomes of this, which I will discuss in detail after the jump.

First, Watson might have some technical difficulties and might not be up to snuff. Clearly, someone must have some confidence in Watson to put it on Jeopardy. If it gets a zero score, then we will know for sure that A.I. is not quite “there” yet.

Second, assuming that it can understand speech and answer Alex, it gets the answers instantly and Ken and Brad get zero scores. Then we all know that computers are smarter than we are, and A.I. will just get to the point where The Matrix or The Terminator becomes reality.

Either way, I can totally see Watson getting a contract for his own game show. Perhaps it will be “Are you smarter than a computer?” I wonder who would be the host?

Source

Check out the Coolest Gadgets 2008 Gift Guides, Christmas shopping made easy.
[ IBM supercomputer to play on Jeopardy copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Misa Digital’s Kitara is a guitar with a touchscreen for strings

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 03:45 PM PST

I think we all know that RockBand and Guitar Hero has changed the way that we look at guitars. Considering that these guitar games are played with strumming bars and push-button frets, it certainly paved the way for Kitara.

Kitara from Misa Digital also has a very non-traditional way of making a guitar. As you can see from the video after the jump, they have abandoned the strings for a touchscreen.

The video also shows that the Kitara can do some very interesting things, and can make some very interesting sounds. In fact, there are some noises it makes that sound like a synthesizer, rather than a guitar.

This Kitara has about 28 frets as well. I’m wondering why Misa Digital didn’t just make a giant iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad accessory that could do what the Kitara could do. That way, there would be an App for these interesting things that it could do. It could be a “player guitar”!

I suppose the Kitara is an instrument of the future. I can’t help but wonder if we are looking at an age when all guitars will be like Kitara touchscreen guitars. This would most certainly change the sound of music, wouldn’t it?

The Kitara has a very steep price at about $850.

Source

Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool

[ Misa Digital’s Kitara is a guitar with a touchscreen for strings copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Hitachi releases three more 3TB drives

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 06:30 AM PST

Hitachi certainly knows that with the proliferation of High Definition movies, it makes perfect sense for people to run out of hard drive space faster than ever. Well, in order to make sure that doesn’t happen to you, Hitachi has decided to roll out a trio of 3TB drives that ought to capture your fancy, regardless of your needs or budget. First off, we have the new 3TB Hitachi Deskstar Internal Hard Drive Kit that breaks the 2.2TB capacity limit on 32- bit Windows XP systems without the need for additional hardware, while the 3TB Hitachi XL USB 2.0 drive offers reliable, high quality external storage and backup. Last but not least? The 3TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 and 5K3000 hard drive families which has begun to ship to OEMs and the Channel for System Builders and Value Added Resellers. We will look at all these hard drives in greater detail right after the jump.

The Hitachi Deskstar Internal Hard Drive Kit has been touted to be the perfect gift for that special someone who wants more storage space for their desktop computer, boasting a high-performance Deskstar 7K3000 hard drive, mounting screws, step-by-step instructions, and a software download that allows 32- and 64-bit Microsoft Windows, Apple OS X and Linux systems. Those who are running on 32- or 64-bit Apple Mac OS X or Linux systems can enjoy the drive as a data drive or a boot drive straight away without having to download any software.

As for the Hitachi XL Desktop External Hard Drives, we would have pretty much preferred to see these come in USB 3.0 connectivity, but right now, USB 2.0 will just have to do – presumably because it is still cheaper to produce them with USB 2.0. Regardless of whether you’re a Mac or PC user, this new XL Desktop range has enough capacity to store or backup your growing music libraries, digital photos and movie collections. It looks equally good when placed vertically or horizontally, coming in capacities of 3TB, 2TB and 1TB that retail for $249.99, $169.99 and $99.99, respectively.

Finally, the Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 and 5K3000 Hard Drives has already started to ship to OEMs and select distribution partners worldwide, so you can more or less expect to see these in action in due time across home or business PCs, high-performance workstations and gaming systems. With so much storage space at hand, just how many of these do you think you’ll purchase this winter to satisfy your storage needs?

Press Release

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[ Hitachi releases three more 3TB drives copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Seagate goes green with latest Barracuda Green hard drive

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 06:15 AM PST

As you can tell by its name, the latest Seagate Barracuda Green hard drive has a heart for our environment. Yes, years after the hard drive industry has added countless toxins to Mother Nature, Seagate has recently developed a conscience that delivers technology without resulting in Greenpeace activists protesting outside of their offices. OK, so we’re kidding about that part, but you do get the point, right?

The Seagate Barracuda Green hard drive is the industry's highest performance eco-friendly 3.5-inch desktop drive that is meant for low-power personal computers, multi-drive home networking systems and external PC storage. Apart from offering environmental improvements in power consumption and material usage, these drives will also be among the first hard drives from Seagate that come with SmartAlign technology.

The Barracuda Green hard drive is also known as the Barracuda LP if you were to have a sense of continuity, where it will merge the industry's highest spin speed (5900 RPM) with Seagate's aforementioned SmartAlign technology, delivering best-in-class performance. Just what does SmartAlign technology offer? Well, it enables all the benefits of the new 4K sector standard while simplifying drive installation, doing away with the need for utilities that are more often than not required to ensure optimum drive performance. Not only that, being cool-running, this lower-power Barracuda Green hard drive will be pleasant on your ears by delivering whisper-quiet acoustics while reducing system costs associated with the fans and power supply devices often required for power-hungry systems.

Over 70 percent of the materials used to build the drive can be recycled – now how green is that? In addition, all Barracuda Green drives will utilize low halogen components to further reduce the negative environmental impacts related to these substances. There is no word on pricing as at press time, but if you’re interested in picking up this puppy while doing your bit for the environment, it will come in 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB capacities.

Press Release

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[ Seagate goes green with latest Barracuda Green hard drive copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Optoma GT100 Mini Projector

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 06:00 AM PST

Mini projectors haven’t really caught on ever since they were introduced to the masses some time ago, and we’re guessing that’s because there really isn’t a deep rooted need for one of these puppies. Well, that doesn’t mean manufacturers will stop churning out such devices, otherwise we wouldn’t have the £229.99 Optoma GT100 Mini Projector to play around with. Capable of throwing an image of up to 75-inches in size, the Optoma GT100 will play nice with just about any video game console, set top box, DVD players, notebooks as well as other compatible devices onto any flat surface.

The brightness level needs some looking into though at just 50 lumens, which means your room will need to be pretty dark – otherwise your audience will be treated to washed otu colors. Apart from that, external speakers are a must if you’re watching a movie on this thing since the integrated 1.5w speaker isn’t going to add much ambience to the whole situation. Maxing out at WVGA resolution (854 x 480), you can forget about watching High Definition videos on this thing, although regular DVDs will do just fine. The lamp life of 30,000 hours ought to last you for quite a number of years, as we don’t forsee this being used regularly. Reasonable enough to be placed under the Christmas tree though.

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[ Optoma GT100 Mini Projector copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Visual Assist Dartboard

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 05:44 AM PST

Love a round of darts with your mate? It gets all the more tense if you’re into betting, especially after downing a few rounds of Guinness at the local pub. For those who want an edge over their opponents, practice is the key here. The $199.95 that you fork out for the Visual Assist Dartboard might just be recouped after a few rounds of darts at the local tavern, as this electronic dartboard is capable of illuminating sections of its surface as a game progresses in order to assist players in scoring. It relies on bright LEDs to illuminate different segments of the board, where the dartboard will suggest the fastest way to zero points during games of 301, 501, and 701. Pretty smart for what used to be a dumb board, huh? Not only that, it comes with additional games such as Blackjack, Count Up, and Treasure Hunt, where players will have to place a guess on where a secret “treasure” is buried simply by targeting each segment. The whole board will illuminate when the treasure is “found.” Definitely something worth looking into for a Christmas present this year – or the next, if there is still enough stock.

Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ Visual Assist Dartboard copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Social Artworks – Bringing your Facebook friends home

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 04:09 AM PST

I really enjoy Facebook, it allows me to keep in touch with friends that I would ordinarily never have had the time to catch up with. I have found old friends that I never thought I'd see again. Add to the list, a few ex boyfriends, grade school buddies, a stalker and a dozen or so people that I have no idea where they came from or why, and it all adds up to good clean fun.

Well, now you can transform your Facebook friends into a professional montage with Social Artworks. This unique item uses photos of all, or just some of your favorite Facebook friends to create a top quality poster print or a stretch frame canvas masterpiece. Finally, you can take your Facebook buddies off the computer and into your home or office. Safely.

Unique and personalized, Social Artworks allows you to make contemporary art out of your on-line digital life. Fun to make, fun to own and fun to share. Social Artworks communicates directly with your Facebook page and allows you to hand pick your most treasured friends or just include the whole group, after all, you "friended" them in the first place, didn't you?

Available in many different sizes, as a poster or on canvas, with a choice of 3 background colors and unique spacing options, your Social Artworks print will certainly be one of a kind. Now if I could just get my daughter to make her bed, instead of trying to find herself on my poster.

Get yours now at www.socialartworks.com starting at €12.00 International shipping is available.

Source: www.socialartworks.com

Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ Social Artworks – Bringing your Facebook friends home copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]