Latest Posts on Coolest Gadgets

As it turns out, Ancient Greek and Roman statues were in color after all
Boeing Engineer creates space-efficient 182 square foot pad
RYNO is one wheeled Segway, again
Coaching Exercise Watch
Lampshade made out of shades
Bird-Friendly Glass takes the fun out of clean windows
Gadget Thumbnails for 23-Aug-2010
Kodak announces new PLAYTOUCH Video Camera
Philips unveils third generation SpeechMike audio recording device
Wireless Racing Wheel for Xbox 360
Personal Towel Warmer for those cold and lonely nights

As it turns out, Ancient Greek and Roman statues were in color after all

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 05:07 PM PDT

Every once in a while, science proves that our ideas that we have about ancient cultures are wrong.

After all, every film that I have seen about Ancient Rome, whether it be Gladiator or Ben-Hur, shows that the civilization was filled with white buildings and statues that were devoid of color.

Sure, it shows how dictatorial and powerful the Romans were, but in reality, all those buildings and statues were painted up in bright colors. All of those centuries of wind, sun, and sand strip the colors away like bleach.

All you need to do is shine an ultraviolet light on it, and, as long as the path of the light is almost parallel to the surface of the object, it makes the brushstrokes obvious. As different paints wear off at different rates, the raised levels of stone reveal the elaborate patterns of paint that was once on the seemingly untouched white surface.

Well, this certainly affects my perception of Greek and Roman history. Now, instead of thinking that their taste in art was monochromatic and bland, I realize that they have the pastel aesthetic of the 80’s decade.

Maybe we should turn that ultraviolet light on Michelangelo’s David. I wonder what colors we would see there.

Source

Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ As it turns out, Ancient Greek and Roman statues were in color after all copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Boeing Engineer creates space-efficient 182 square foot pad

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 04:41 PM PDT

This is the condo of Steve Sauer, who is a Boeing engineer who spent about 7 years creating a 182 square foot basement dwelling into something that he felt comfortable living in.

It reminds me of Gary Chang’s Domestic Transformer, a 344-foot square living quarters that can be turned into a 24 room place by moving around walls.

His place has two beds, a 37 inch television set, kitchen with working dishwasher, bathroom with shower, as well as bathtub hidden underneath the floor. It may look cramped, but, in his own words, “I tend to like things in their place”.

You are probably wondering how cramped this. Believe it or not, he has had parties there, with about ten people. Mr. Sauer was inspired by the space-saving buildings of Scandinavia and Japan. He found a lot of time on the Internet trying to find the right components, or he made them himself.

I suppose this is the way of the future. If the world is going to be as over-populated as people say it is going to be, then we need to have places that can conserve space like this. I have to admit, it really is something I want to mass marketed, and yet have some sort of individual look depending on the tenant.

Source

Check out the Coolest Gadgets 2008 Gift Guides, Christmas shopping made easy.
[ Boeing Engineer creates space-efficient 182 square foot pad copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

RYNO is one wheeled Segway, again

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 04:12 PM PDT

For some reason reason, there has been an excess of one wheeled vehicles like the Honda U3-X, the PUMA by GM and Segway, as well as the eniCycle.

So, why should I report on the RYNO? Well, you can see from the video here that, from the back, this looks just like someone who is riding a motorcycle.

Seriously, if I was behind a person riding the RYNO on the freeway, I would probably just think: “oh, it is a guy (or girl) on a motorcycle”. Then if he or she were to turn a corner, I probably would say: “hey, that thing has just one wheel!”

This is actually the reason why I like the RYNO. I think that the Segway has this reputation of being sort of white and nerdy. If you don’t believe me, just listen to the song “White and Nerdy” by Weird Al Yankovic.

However, the fact that I was able to mistake a RYNO for a cool motorcycle, even if it is only from behind, is a testimony to balanced vehicles everywhere.

I’m not certain if this RYNO is going to be mass-marketed, or if it simply a concept vehicle of some kind. Either why, I would love to know what RYNO is supposed to stand for. Perhaps it is not an acronym, but just put in all caps to make it sound cool like vitamin water is in all lower case letters.

Source

Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ RYNO is one wheeled Segway, again copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Coaching Exercise Watch

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 03:52 PM PDT

Not everyone is born the committed athlete, some of us need a push or two to really get going on our workout program. For me it usually needs to be a really hard shove to get me going. After you are finally getting into it you want to make sure that you’re actually getting something out of it. This watch will let you know when you need to push yourself a little harder.

The initial assessment test figures up your overall fitness, maximum oxygen uptake and resting heart rate. Then while you’re working out it’ll let you know if you need to ease up or push it harder. It’ll also show your average heart rate, the time you’ve been going and your kcal consumption. It’ll also let you know if your daily goal was actually met. You can purchase it with a telemetry strap that goes around your chest for $149.95. Just pick it up through Hammacher Schlemmer.

Source: FunniestGadgets

Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ Coaching Exercise Watch copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Lampshade made out of shades

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 03:22 PM PDT

What better way to block the light than a whole lot of sunglasses? Particularly a bunch of shiny aviator sunglasses. If you have a thing for aviator sunglasses, but just can’t seem to pull them off well, then you could always pick up this lampshade and at least make your lamp look incredibly cool.

Surprisingly this lamp managed to fit 40 pairs of mirrored aviator sunglasses. Purchasing 40 pairs of those sunglasses alone would cost a whole lot of cash. I am a little shocked that the Celebrity Lamp doesn’t cost a whole lot more money than it does. I thought that it would cost an insane amount and it does cost a bit. However it could be a whole lot worse. Considering the look of this fancy lamp $160 isn’t all that catastrophic.

Source: Gearfuse

Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ Lampshade made out of shades copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Bird-Friendly Glass takes the fun out of clean windows

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 02:29 PM PDT

It’s not that I’m mean to animals or anything, but when you’re sitting in the kitchen staring out a bay window only to see a bird plow into it, a small giggle just seems to escape. I am happy when they shake it off and fly away, if I noticed they were hurt I wouldn’t find it nearly as humorous. Truthfully, when someone walks into a glass door I laugh just as much at them, so it’s not just birds. Well there are those occasions when the unseen glass can be deadly for birds, one person decided to make fancy glass that takes a cue from spiderwebs to help the situation.

Now honestly at home I’ve never seen a fatality from my windows, but I could easily see larger buildings causing more casualties. Which is the reasoning behind a German company, Arnold Glas, creating their award winning spiderweb inspired glass. On their glass is a special ultraviolet coating that can barely be seen, but is enough to divert birds. Considering that 100 million birds die every year in the United States from window crashes, it’s probably a wise design. They’d be great for the numerous storefronts that are completely glass.

Source: GadgetLab

Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ Bird-Friendly Glass takes the fun out of clean windows copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Gadget Thumbnails for 23-Aug-2010

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 10:01 PM PDT

Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool

[ Gadget Thumbnails for 23-Aug-2010 copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Kodak announces new PLAYTOUCH Video Camera

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 07:46 PM PDT

Kodak isn’t just all about photo prints, you know, as the company also has its own range of digital imaging hardware. The latest among the entire bunch would be the PLAYTOUCH video camera, where it will attempt to keep up with the times by featuring a 3-inch capacitive touchscreen display that allows you to go through your entire collection of high definition videos using nothing but the swipe of a fingertip. Thanks to new on-camera editing as well as Kodak’s exclusive Share Button, it will make the PLAYTOUCH Video Camera all the easier for consumers to share their favorite moments with friends and family – in full 1080p HD, no less.

Coming in a rather unique design, the Kodak PLAYTOUCH Video Camera is not short on features to help even the budding videographer to capture their memories with clarity and precision. Among the features thrown into the mix to make life a whole lot easier (and more fun) would be built-in image stabilization, a LCD glare shield and an external microphone jack. If you want to share your videos with family and friends, the process is made a whole lot easier thanks to its built-in USB connector as well as Kodak’s Share Button which allows you to tag videos and pictures on the camera itself for direct, automatic upload to popular social networking sites the moment the camera is hooked up to an Internet-connected computer.

For the list of features and capabilities of the Kodak PLAYTOUCH, here they are below.

Share Button for easy video upload to YOUTUBE and FACEBOOK sites, and email
3-inch capacitive touchscreen LCD optimized for reviewing in landscape mode for the ultimate 1080p HD video sharing experience
On-camera editing features to trim and extract still pictures from video
5 MP HD still pictures
Sharper videos and less blur with built-in digital image stabilization
Built-in USB arm for easy sharing, charging, and transferring
Smart face tracking technology
LCD glare shield feature
External stereo microphone jack to add high-quality sound to videos or to plug in headphones for discreet playback
4 capture effects, including B&W, sepia, high saturation, and ’70s film look
HDMI output (HDMI cable included)
Up to 10 hours of HD video with expandable SD/SDHC card slot (up to 32 GB)
Li-Ion rechargeable battery with in-camera charging
PC and MAC iLIFE product compatibility

You will be able to choose from Smoke Gaze (Black), Chrome, Wine Country (Magenta), Cabana (Orange) and Spa Blue (Teal) colors as it hits the US market this fall for $229.95.

Press Release

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[ Kodak announces new PLAYTOUCH Video Camera copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Philips unveils third generation SpeechMike audio recording device

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 06:49 PM PDT

Mention Philips, and what comes to your mind? For many of us, it would be a slew of home consumer electronics that flood into living rooms, bedrooms and where else throughout your home. Well, things are slightly different this time around with Philips rolling out the third-generation of its SpeechMike audio recording devices. This freshest model of the wired dictation device series will include essential new functions as well as design elements which were previously limited to the wireless SpeechMike Air. Talk about merging both form and function into a single device.

This redesigned model will sport updates which were specially thrown into the mix to enhance the user's experience. The device itself will have an antimicrobial surface which ought to make those who are paranoid about catching a superbug somewhere (or hate to say “No” when it comes to lending their stuff to others and yet want it to remain squeaky clean) happy. The spanking new housing will impede the reproduction of microorganisms, and that alone makes it important for use in a clinical environment while bringing benefit to individuals who suffer from allergies. One technology update would also be the noise-reduction technology which will more or less completely eliminates noise interference resulting in a distinct improvement in the accuracy of voice recognition systems. Great for folks who hate making dictations in noisy areas only to realize later that whatever they have spoken did not turn out right.

Some of the other updates in the new SpeechMike include :-

An increased size of dictation function buttons, which creates a more ergonomic form and facilitates fast and convenient thumb control
A newly positioned trackball with a laser sensor, which allows precise cursor movements and contains an integrated confirmation button for simple control of PC functions and can be used to control volume
An integrated LED indicator, which shows users the current recording status in different colors so users can avoid errors in post-correction of a voice recording

Press Release

Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ Philips unveils third generation SpeechMike audio recording device copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Wireless Racing Wheel for Xbox 360

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 06:33 PM PDT

Do you love racing games on your Xbox 360? Then you would do well to pick up the Wireless Racing Wheel for Xbox 360 from Mad Catz. After all, forking out $129.99 for such a peripheral bodes well if you want to take your racing game experience to the next level, and with the Wireless Racing Wheel for Xbox 360, you can race straight to victory (how idealistic) as it boasts a complete set of racing pedals, an interchangeable gear shift, full rubber grips, lap rest supports and desk clamp, where it ought to fit into just about any home comfortably and nicely. Not only that, since it works across a wireless spectrum, you should be able to enjoy lag-free response within a 40 foot radius. Southpaws need not worry either, since its interchangeable gear shift will target both left- and right-handed drivers easily. An integrated headset port for Xbox LIVE has been thrown into the mix as well, and nice to see the manufacturer introduce a trio of AA batteries in the bundle – a simple yet thoughtful gesture.

Check out the Coolest Gadgets 2008 Gift Guides, Christmas shopping made easy.
[ Wireless Racing Wheel for Xbox 360 copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Personal Towel Warmer for those cold and lonely nights

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 06:22 PM PDT

Hot towels are a great way to freshen up whenever the mercury drops, just as with cold towels on a particularly hot day. Well, you might be single and do not have any domestic help back home to provide you with a nice, fresh hot towel at the end of each working day, but at least you are able to fork out $79.95 for the Personal Towel Warmer. This warming bin has enough space to heat up to three average-sized bath towels in five minutes, letting you enjoy a spa-like experience right in the comfort of your own home. It will heat up towels to a soothing 135º F while maintaining that particular temperature for up to 20 minutes, making sure you will be greeted with a nice, warm towel right after you shower. Of course, some of us might take longer than normal to shower, but try to keep it within 20 minutes and you’re good to go – it will help conserve water as well in the long run. The Personal Towel Warmer uses up as little floor space as a tiny garbage can, and will get about its business the moment the lid is closed with the button pressed. An illuminated LED will signal whenever the towel is ready. It works great with bathrobes, blankets, or other pieces of clothing as well.