Latest Posts on Coolest Gadgets

Wind Explorer car is both electric and kite powered, and crossed Australia
Fling Joystick for iPad
Audio Light Bulb
Do Gong Alarm Clocks ring the bell?
DARPA and Boston Dynamics unite for a “cheetah robot”
Nuclear Assisted Cars – Someday a Reality?
VIA Eden X2 processor ready to make its mark
Tobii Technology rolls out eye controlled laptop
Gadget Thumbnails for 28-Feb-2011
My XtremeMac weekend with three new products

Wind Explorer car is both electric and kite powered, and crossed Australia

Posted: 01 Mar 2011 05:02 PM PST

This is the Wind Explorer, and it is a car that can drive by kite.

The Wind Explorer can take credit for breaking three world records: the first continental crossing by a wind-powered vehicle, the longest distance covered by a wind-powered vehicle, and the longest distance covered by a wind-powered vehicle in 36 hours.

You can catch a video of it after the jump if you want to see it in motion. The Wind Explorer traveled 3,107 miles across Australia in about 18 days, and it uses only $15 worth of electricity. Talk about your fuel efficiency!

It is electrical, and has a battery pack and wind turbine in the back, with a trunk up in front like a Volkswagen. The Wind Explorer is made of carbon fiber and sits over an aluminum frame on top of a bicycle tires.

You will notice in the video that driving this vehicle involves some sort of control that looks like kiteboarding. The kite is powerful enough to have the ability to lift someone off of the ground. The kite pulls the vehicle, while someone else steers it.

The Wind Explorer is quite slow, as its top speed is 50 miles per hour. The best distance was 306 miles per day.

Source

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[ Wind Explorer car is both electric and kite powered, and crossed Australia copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Fling Joystick for iPad

Posted: 01 Mar 2011 04:46 PM PST

The iPad is truly a phenomenon, having grown in stature since its release as a pretty formidable portable gaming device on its own, although the iPhone will probably edge it out still. Well, what the iPad has over the rest is a relatively large screen real estate, so why not take full advantage of it with the Fling Joystick for iPad?

Available for pre-orders at £19.99 a pop, this is a proper stick-on joystick for avid gamers, and to make things sweeter, it comes in an ergonomic design which will certainly have you playing your iPad games for hours on end without any worries. Made from silky-smooth aluminum and engineering-grade flexible resin, this is one gizmo that takes full advantage of suction cups, giving you an instant joystick as and when you need it.

Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ Fling Joystick for iPad copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Audio Light Bulb

Posted: 01 Mar 2011 04:41 PM PST

A light bulb is supposed to just give out light (and some warmth for those who are still in the winter season), right? Apparently not when Hammacher wants to have a say in the situation. The Audio Light Bulb that you see here is a snap to install, working as a wireless, illuminated speaker which can be up and running within seconds.

It will fit unobtrusively within a recessed can light receptacle, so you can toss out your standard light bulb although outfitting the entire house with this might get a wee bit too expensive considering the $299.99 price point that it comes with. Still, this is one great method to experience discreet audio and lighting in your pad, where your ears will enjoy the crisp audio it delivers via the full-range, 10-watt speaker within.

Capable of receiving interference-free wireless audio signals from up to 50′ away from its transmitter, said transmitter can be docked with any iPod/iPhone equipped with a 30-pin connector. If you’re going to do some serious home improvement in the near future, the Audio Light Bulb might be a good bet.

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[ Audio Light Bulb copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Do Gong Alarm Clocks ring the bell?

Posted: 01 Mar 2011 04:26 PM PST

These are some Gong Alarm Clocks, and they are designed for the Wrestling and Boxing fans in your life.

They are modeled after the ringside bells that are at these matches, and I am not certain how they work.

Allow me to explain. According to my Source, the wrestling alarm clock sounds for 3 counts before it counts you out before it sounds the gong. As for the other boxing version, it will count to ten before it “buzzes”.

In other words, it is sending out a message that if you don’t get up, you are a loser. I don’t like the implication, even though it is not verbal. Oh man, isn’t getting up hard enough already?

I don’t know if you are thinking what I am thinking, but the first time I saw these alarms, I thought that this was an alarm that has to be shut off by pounding it with the included hammer. That doesn’t seem to be the case, but I don’t see anything in my Source about that.

It wouldn’t be right to assume that this device has this option. However, if I saw any device like this with a bell and a hammer, and someone said it was an alarm, what else would I assume? However, if anyone knows differently about this, feel free to leave a comment.

Source

Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ Do Gong Alarm Clocks ring the bell? copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

DARPA and Boston Dynamics unite for a “cheetah robot”

Posted: 01 Mar 2011 03:58 PM PST

I have seen DARPA’s ideas for defense before, and they always seem to see far-out, right out of science fiction.

Take this particular robot cheetah. It clearly looks like the character Ravage from the Transformers. I think he had a cameo in the last live-action movie.

DARPA and Boston Dynamics are teaming up to create this particular and peculiar robot cheetah. They are shooting for a speed of 20 to 30 miles per hour. Just to put that into perspective, a real cheetah travels 60 to 70 miles per hour. Yeah, that is slower than a cheetah, but it is faster than a human.

Of course, what really makes this interesting is that “take tight corners so it can zigzag to chase or evade, and be able start and stop on a dime”. In other words, it will do the cool things that cheetahs can do, but not as fast.

Personally, this is always the limitations of robots, as they are always so robotic in motion. Normally, robots are so jerky, and I would be very impressed if they could capture even a fraction of the cheetah’s fluid motion.

According to my Source, the robot cheetah has a few high definition infrared cameras for eyes and radio antennas for ears.

We’ll see if this robot cheetah will fly, or, more accurately, run. DARPA is apparently giving Boston Dynamics 20 months for them to have a decent prototype. Let’s see if they meet this deadline.

Source

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[ DARPA and Boston Dynamics unite for a “cheetah robot” copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Nuclear Assisted Cars – Someday a Reality?

Posted: 01 Mar 2011 10:52 AM PST

Okay so we've heard reports that a new form of uranium could potentially lead to portable nuclear power plants and ultimately one that could fit in your car and run it on down the road. How scary is that?

Scientists from the Los Alamos National Laboratory have created a molecule called uranium nitride which they say is cheaper and much safer (I sure hope they're right) then plain old uranium. This new molecule could extract more energy from the usual fossil fuels, making our cars more fuel efficient. This is because uranium nitride has an easier time pulling the hydrogen off carbon atoms and the energy that is usually lost in that process, is now retained and has the capability of giving us all more miles to the gallon.

Scientists have not been without their problems however, this particular uranium nitrade molecule destroys itself after pulling the hydrogen atoms from the carbon atoms. So, for this new molecule to be commercially successful it needs to retain and protect itself, and not self destruct like the messages on reruns of Get Smart.

Think of it, If these guys can actually get this technology to work with uranium nitride acting as a catalyst in the reaction to break hydrogen and carbon atoms, then this could lead to smaller, cheaper and, wait for it… mobile nuclear power plants. So this adds to my long list of good news, bad news scenarios. The good news is, more miles on less gasoline saves me dollars at the gas station! The bad news is, oh come on, people driving nuclear powered cars? The same ones that are already trying to kill me in their regular cars? You know where I'm going with that, don't you?

Supposedly this new molecule contains something called depleted uranium, which is not supposed to have all the radiological implications of the regular stuff, but somehow I just can't shake the image of some guy tailgating me with hazardous materials stickers all over his car, but then again, thats not as scary as what I’m paying at the pump.

Source: www.news.discovery.com

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[ Nuclear Assisted Cars – Someday a Reality? copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

VIA Eden X2 processor ready to make its mark

Posted: 01 Mar 2011 05:06 AM PST

VIA’s upcoming Eden X2 processor is touted to be the lowest power dual-core processor in the industry, where it has been specially optimized for fanless implementation across a broad range of industrial and commercial embedded systems. Of course, if you want to lay your eyes on the VIA Eden X2, expect to be at the Embedded World 2011, Nuremberg, Germany as that is where it will debut.

The range of VIA Eden X2 processors will bring together VIA's signature 'Eden' fanless design principles, and it will come in a highly optimized, power-efficient dual-core architecture. This translates to rock-solid stability for mission critical embedded systems that will not see any compromise on performance or features. Your peace of mind is further ensured With a component longevity guarantee of 7 years, now how about that? This will certainly raise the bar and then some for other component manufacturers.

Taking advantage of the latest 40nm manufacturing process, VIA Eden X2 processors will merge a couple of 64-bit, superscalar VIA Eden cores on one die, while delivering enhanced multi-tasking and superb multimedia performance without sipping up too much juice. After all, it is well noted that VIA Eden X2 processors are the most power-efficient processors on the market, and were specially designed to offer the ideal solution for fanless system design.

VIA Eden X2 processors will also deliver additional features which include VIA VT virtualization, which actually is a technology that enables legacy software and applications to be used in virtual scenarios without having any adverse impact on performance.

All VIA Eden X2 processors are natively 64-bit compatible, and this makes for an essential transition for the future of the embedded industry as 64-bit operating systems such as Windows Embedded Standard 7 will pave the way for vastly improved data throughput per clock cycle. You won’t expect it to hit the market anytime soon though, as VIA Eden X2 Processors are currently undergoing sampling at the moment.

Product Page

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[ VIA Eden X2 processor ready to make its mark copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Tobii Technology rolls out eye controlled laptop

Posted: 01 Mar 2011 04:51 AM PST

The disabled have yet another way to let technology work for them – and this time round it will be Tobii Technology that will help them out, with the introduction of a new eye controlled laptop. This is still not the final deal just yet, but a prototype at the moment and has been developed in collaboration with Lenovo of China. For those who are interested, you will be able to drop by CeBIT which is happening in Germany from March 1 to 5.

It makes perfect sense for Lenovo to be the manufacturer – after all, they are the world's fourth largest manufacturer of personal computers, and it must be their honor to build the world's first eye-controlled laptop, thanks to eye tracking technology from Tobii. The laptop, after all, is a fully functional conceptual prototype and will be an important breakthrough for Tobii as they intend to bring their own eye tracking technology to other serial production and consumer products.

It makes perfect sense to use one’s eyes to control your computer, after all, it is a natural form of movement, and boy are we glad to see technology progress to such a point where one is able to use one’s eyes to point, select and scroll through a myriad of windows.

According to Henrik Eskilsson, CEO of Tobii Technology, "More than anything else, the Tobii laptop prototype is proof that our eye tracking technology is mature enough to be used in standard computer interfaces. To reach a state where the technology is part of the average computer, we need to make it smaller and cheaper. We believe that this can be realized in a couple of years by partnering with the right manufacturer.”

You can’t find these in stores immediately though, since the first batch of eye-controlled laptops will only comprise of 20 units split evenly between Tobii Technology and Lenovo, and they’re up and available for development and demo purposes.

Press Release

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[ Tobii Technology rolls out eye controlled laptop copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Gadget Thumbnails for 28-Feb-2011

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 09:01 PM PST

Check out the Coolest Gadgets 2008 Gift Guides, Christmas shopping made easy.
[ Gadget Thumbnails for 28-Feb-2011 copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

My XtremeMac weekend with three new products

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 06:08 PM PST

At CES 2011, I saw a lot of products from XtremeMac, and I couldn’t believe that it has been three years since we reported on anything from them. I had a chance to try out three of their products.

The first is the 3 in 1 Microdock. It turns the iPod/iPhone into a stereo speaker, and an alarm clock app turns it to an alarm clock. It also serves as an iPhone/iPod dock that charges the iDevice twice as fast as USB.

Speaking of chargers, I also had a chance to try out the XtremeMac Incharge Mobile. It is designed to be a battery/case for the iPhone 4 with a full lithium polymer battery charge. It works just like Mophie’s Juice Packs, but it has a shut off switch so it will only work when you need it to. Also, it has a kickstand for watching videos or using FaceTime.

Then there’s the InCharge Auto Aux, which is designed to be charging while in the car. It also has an auxiliary cable that can attach the iDevice to the car stereo.

You should be to get these devices on the XtremeMac site, and most will be available as of next week. The InCharge Auto Aux costs about $49.99, the Incharge Mobile is $79.95, and the 3 in 1 Microdock is $59.99.