Saturday, March 6, 2010

Latest Posts on Coolest Gadgets

Latest Posts on Coolest Gadgets

Aluratek e-book reader, the Libre, hands-on

Posted: 05 Mar 2010 02:54 PM PST

The Libre isn’t the first e-book reader that I have reviewed, and I must admit that I have reviewed few of them. I didn’t find the Libre from Aluratek to be different from the last one that I reviewed.

Then again, last year brought about more e-readers than I think the general public really wanted, as most were only turning to Amazon’s Kindle to satisfy their e-reading needs. I suppose that this will be the year of the tablet and its derivatives.

But I digress. I will discuss what the Libre does that is different. According to the company, the Libre’s 5 inch black and white screen has “the same appearance and readibility” of printed paper. Since it has no backlight, it is just like reading a book. I think that most other e-book readers can do that, actually.

I do like the way that the Libre wants the first-time e-book user to get reading. It is made to be set up to get an easy Internet connection so you can download many free titles from ebook sites from googlebooks.com and gutenberg.org. The Libre also comes with a 2GB SD Card with 100 titles on it. You can see a complete list here.

The battery life is good for 24 hours worth of reading, and it can also do music files. No big surprise there, as for the support of BMP, JPG, GIF, MP3, and animated GIF picture format. I do like the page turning controller on the left hand side, which feels a little like turning the pages of a real book.

You should be able to get the Aluratek Libre for about $150-$170 on Amazon, and many other retail stores.

Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ Aluratek e-book reader, the Libre, hands-on copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

DIY hack of Mindflex has shocking implications

Posted: 05 Mar 2010 02:31 PM PST

I just got finished reporting about a pinball machine that you can control with your mind at CeBIT, and that, in my opinion, is a good use for brain-interface technology. Now, you are about to see a bad one.

This DIY gadget uses a MindFlex, a device that we have reported on before. It is a toy created by Mattel that allows the user/player to control the height of a ball via brainwave interface and “levitate” it through an obstacle course.

The video that you see after the jump is of someone who rigs the Mattel Mindflex to a battery. The object of his new device is to achieve a state of total relaxation. If the player/victim concentrates, even if it is on not concentrating, they will experience an electric shock.

Yes, that is sort of sick, and the video is also sort of sick. Then again, it is designed so we can laugh at another person’s pain, sort of like watching reality TV.

My source has speculated that someone could rewire this device so it would shock you if you didn’t concentrate enough. No matter how this device is wired, mass production of such a device in any form would really produce a very Orwellian society.

Well, the video has a website in case you want to make one of these yourself, but you might have some issues if you want to do this.

Source


Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ DIY hack of Mindflex has shocking implications copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

HandShoe Mouse for customized fit

Posted: 05 Mar 2010 02:28 PM PST

Instead of making your hand fit a mouse, why not have a mouse made to fit your hand?  It’s definitely a more logical concept.  After all, as much time as some of us spend on the computer, our mouse gets used just as much as our favorite pair of shoes.  It only makes sense to measure out your hand and get a sized mouse, much like you’d pick out a set of shoes.  This mouse is said to be the ultimate ergonomic mouse, partially because you measure your hands and choose the proper size.

It’s a great option for those that have large or tiny hands.  The general public is probably just fine finding a comfortable mouse, but if you have big hands you’re eventually going to start cramping from the average mouse.  These come in both wired and wireless, which is great for those of you that have a strong preference one way or the other.  They come in red, white and black.  There are also two version of black, there’s plain black and then there’s black with BlueRay Track.  They come in small (up to 170mm), medium (170 – 190mm) and then large (190 – 210mm).  Each one will cost you €89 or about $121.

Source: Bookofjoe

Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ HandShoe Mouse for customized fit copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Berlin Brain Computer Interface lets you play pinball, with your mind

Posted: 05 Mar 2010 02:08 PM PST

This is an odd way to play pinball, don’t you think? Shouldn’t this man be standing in front of the machine? And what’s with that wired bathing cap?

This is probably what I would have said if I was at CeBIT 2010 and passed by this display of the Berlin Brain-Computer Interface. As it turns out, this man is playing this game of pinball with his brain. I’m not saying that he’s really getting his head into the game, but his head is playing the game.

You can watch a video of the setup of this person in action after the jump. I really have no idea if this man is just some visitor to CeBIT or someone who works for the company, but you can watch him as they set him up to play pinball on this Addams Family themed pinball machine. Yeah, I would have chosen a different theme, but the multiple flippers does make it interesting.

Unfortunately, there isn’t really an explanation about how this works on the video, which has absolutely no voiceover narration. I have no idea if you have to think: “Left flipper, right flipper” to get it to work. I notice that this user has to manually start the ball rolling, and I’m guessing that mentally tilting is not an option.

I suppose we are probably looking at an age where arcade games make a comeback, and the players are jacked into them mentally. That, or come up with a console version of this mental controls. I suppose that this could be the next version of Project Natal.

Source


Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ Berlin Brain Computer Interface lets you play pinball, with your mind copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Solar Powered Window Alarm

Posted: 05 Mar 2010 01:13 PM PST

I’m always all about any gadget that can function well, while being powered by nothing more than the sun.  It cuts down on batteries and it’s basically the lazy man’s way of being eco-friendly.  In that you really don’t have to put in a whole lot of effort and you’re managing to at least help to not make the earth any worse than its current state.  That being said, I’m not entirely sold on this solar gadget.  Since it is an alarm, it almost seems like it’s advertising its presence to burglars.

Sure, it’ll go off anytime someone opens the window at all.  However, I’m curious if someone were to break a windowpane next to the solar panel and were to just shut it off or tear it off, if it would do any good.  Then again many people looking at it from the outside would probably think it’s just a harmless solar gadget probably charging your cellphone.  Which if that’s the case, it could still work.  These window alarms come in twin packs for £24.99 or about $38.

Source: Envirogadget

Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ Solar Powered Window Alarm copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

USB Turtle Drive

Posted: 05 Mar 2010 12:08 PM PST

If you prefer your USB drives to be incredibly adorable, this turtle is the trick.  He’ll lovingly store all of your necessary files and look cute doing it.  What more could you ask for?  Sure, some might claim it’s not the most adult looking USB drive, but not everyone wants to be stuck with a plain looking drive.  Plus, if you have any kids they’d probably fall in love with the drive as well.  Then again, that might be a bad thing once they start stealing it and hiding it in with their toys.

The drive itself is pretty basic, it’s made out of durable silicone casing to make sure that the turtle will last a little while.  After all turtles are supposed to be tough, hopefully it doesn’t have all of the turtle type of characteristics.  No one likes a slow USB drive.  On the drive it’ll hold a whole 4GB of all of your pictures and random word documents.  It doesn’t come at a bad price either.  You can pick it up for $20 through USB Geek.

Source: CraziestGadgets

Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ USB Turtle Drive copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Gadget Thumbnails for 04-Mar-2010

Posted: 04 Mar 2010 09:01 PM PST

Posted by Mohammad khuram shahzad at Saturday, March 06, 2010 0 comments  

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