Friday, August 12, 2011

Latest Posts on Coolest Gadgets

Latest Posts on Coolest Gadgets


The Zike, world’s first hybrid scooter

Posted: 11 Aug 2011 01:47 PM PDT

If you are too old for a trike, and love to ride a bike, maybe you would like a Zike. I realize that intro sounds like something Dr. Seuss would write, but the Zike is a real product, and is the world’s first hybrid scooter.

I suppose by “hybrid scooter”, the company means it is the first product to successfully combine a scooter, bicycle, and stair-stepper together. Inventor Nathan Scolari was “compelled to combat the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States”, and this is what he researched and created.

Zike will introduce four models to the marketplace. The Hotshot is an entry level model for children ages 5-8. The Flyby is the next step up for children ages 8-12, and it has two chains for faster speeds and increased agility. The Slingshot is for children 10 and older, and it has the speed of a BMX bike. The Saber (pictured) is a 7-speed scooter for anyone aged 12 and up.

The Zike has been receiving a lot of media attention after being on Extra with Mario Lopez. Not only did Slater from Saved By The Bell like it, but national expert Doctor Gadget rode it on The View. He told the co-hosts that “childhood obesity wouldn’t have a chance if every child in America had a Zike”. It looks like the Zike creator’s dreams came true. You can read more about the Zike here.


Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool :)
[ The Zike, world’s first hybrid scooter copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

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Fast concept car is very flaky

Posted: 11 Aug 2011 12:56 PM PDT

This is the Flake project, a concept car that even the designer does not expect to work, but solely designed for inspirational purposes.

The “flakes” on the car are carbon fiber microspoilers, and they are programmed to shift around during the drive to enhance speed and performance. As you might have guessed, the flakes go flat when it is time for a burst of speed. Turning causes the flakes on one side of the car to stand up, which “locks” the car to the road.

There is a video of it after the jump, and I can assure you, that although it may look real, it is CG. You may also notice that unusual lack of tires, which the designer calls D-Wheels. These extendable legs allow for an adjustable contact surface.

Is it just me, or do all the cracks and flakes in this car make it look like one of the Transformers? If I ever saw this Flake Project coming down the road, shifting its hide, I would probably expect it to unfold into Bumblebee.

It also reminds me of some nineties TV show called Viper which featured a shape-shifting car. Does anyone remember that show? I don’t think I ever watched an episode, but I seem to have a vague memory of a morphing car.

Source


Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ Fast concept car is very flaky copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

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Second Flight of DARPA’s HTV-2 does not go as well as its first

Posted: 11 Aug 2011 12:10 PM PDT

DARPA is always coming out with some interesting experimental stuff, and the latest is the Falcon Hypersonic Technology 2 (HTV-2).

It was just given a field test today, and it was launched aboard a Minotaur IV Lite rock from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It was expected to glide over the Pacific Ocean and deliberately splash down near Kwajalein Atoll, 4,000 miles away at a speed of 13,000 miles per hour.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like things went as planned. DARPA has reported via tweet that “downrange assets did not reacquire tracking or telemetry. #HTV2 has an autonomous flight termination capability”. What you see in the image is an artist’s conception.

It is too bad, as 13,000 mph is more than impressive. At that speed, you can go from New York to Los Angeles in about 12 minutes. This is actually the second test for this vehicle, and the first flight in April 2010 produced the impressive result of Mach 17-22 for 139 seconds. During that test, the fast-moving craft still maintained a GPS signal and two-way communication.

Hopefully, more tests will be conducted to see if communication signals can be performed at high speeds. However, if these aircrafts are flying this fast, perhaps the plane will arrive faster than it takes the message to transmit.

Source


Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ Second Flight of DARPA’s HTV-2 does not go as well as its first copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

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Mantis LED Desk Lamp

Posted: 11 Aug 2011 06:30 AM PDT

There are times when you are working late into the night, and since you live in a one-bedroom apartment with very little space and have a wife who is totally bummed out after a long, hard day at work, it makes sense not to disturb what little sleep she will be getting. So what happens when you need to work late into the night? Apart from getting one of those silent keys keyboards, you might also want to switch off the room’s lights – and just settle in your little enclave with the Mantis LED Desk Lamp. Yes sir, this $24.99 purchase can be clipped on just about anywhere, so we are suggesting placing it right on top of your monitor so that it can shine down on your desk area, letting you see where your fingers are going to dance over the QWERTY keyboard or not.

Since the Mantis is battery powered (by a couple of AA batteries) and is tiny enough to tote around, this is useful for those who do a lot of traveling as well. The two AA batteries are able to deliver around 30 hours of light. Heck, it even goes green by turning itself off after a couple of hours in order to conserve energy – how about that?


Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ Mantis LED Desk Lamp copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

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Oscillating Table Tennis Trainer

Posted: 11 Aug 2011 06:00 AM PDT

Want to pick up mad table tennis skills like Forrest Gump? Perhaps he had a really, really good coach or trainer, or he might have actually traveled to the future to purchase this $199.95 Oscillating Table Tennis Trainer – and dedicated all of his spare time to it in order to become a world champion. Similar to a tennis ball machine albeit coming in a much smaller form factor, this scaled down automatic oscillating table tennis trainer is capable of serving non-stop stream of balls for solo practice in order to make sure you’re ready to face just about any situation that comes your way.

There is a tethered remote that controls just which serve direction the ball is headed for, letting you practice both forehand and backhand strokes. Three spin settings will further help you hone your response – Backspin (where the ball rotates away from the receiving player, requiring a chopping stroke to return); Topspin (where the ball rotates toward the player); and a challenging Heavy Topspin (high rpm rotation that must be returned with a controlled downward stroke).

Capable of holding 110 balls, you can have it sending balls to you at any rate from 12 to 70 per minute.


Conference Calendar – The global conference and expo finder.
[ Oscillating Table Tennis Trainer copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

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Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader

Posted: 11 Aug 2011 05:30 AM PDT

Amazon certainly takes its electronic reading business seriously – they have been rolling out a far flung collection of free Kindle reading apps over the past couple of years which will allow customers to "Buy Once, Read Everywhere." Folks at the moment are able to read Kindle books over the largest number of the most popular devices and platforms, ranging from Kindles to iPads, iPhones, iPod touches, PCs, Macs, Android phones and tablets, and BlackBerrys.

Well, it seems that the net is cast even farther today, where Amazon.com has just announced their latest service – the Kindle Cloud Reader. The Kindle Cloud Reader is a reading application which will harness the power of HTML5 so that customers are able to read Kindle books in a jiffy using nothing but their web browser, regardless of whether you are connected online or offline – without any need for downloads or installation.

Similar to other Kindle apps, the Kindle Cloud Reader will be able to automatically synchronize your Kindle library, in addition to other small details such as the last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights for all of your Kindle books, never mind how you want to read them. In fact, Kindle Cloud Reader will also boast an integrated touch optimized Kindle Store that is already available for Safari on iPad, Safari on desktop and Chrome.

Other features of the Kindle Cloud Reader include :-

  • An immersive view of your entire Kindle library, with instant access to all of your books
  • Start reading over 950,000 Kindle books instantly within your browser
  • An embedded Kindle Store optimized for your web browser makes it seamless to discover new books and start reading them instantly
  • New Kindle Store for iPad is built from the ground up for iPad's touch interface
  • Your current book is automatically made available for offline use, and you can choose to save a book for reading offline at any time
  • Receive automatic software updates without the need to download new software
  • Select any book to start reading, customize the page layout to your desired font size, text color, background color, and more
  • View all of the notes, highlights, and bookmarks that you've made on other Kindle apps or on Kindle
  • Sync your last page read across your Kindle and free Kindle apps so you can always pick up where you left off


Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool :)
[ Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

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Ouku Night 3G Android-powered tablet

Posted: 11 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT

The iPad and its sequel, the iPad 2 have certainly caused ripples in the industry what with their stunning design and ease-of-use, basically giving the whole tablet market a huge wave for other manufacturers to ride on. Of course, being iOS-powered, this is the only one of its kind, but what about the iPad’s rivals? The majority of those tend to run on the Android operating system, hailing from a gazillion manufacturers, but none of them have truly managed to be declared as an “iPad killer” to date.

Well, this does not mean they don’t stop trying. No sir, there are still new Android tablets being churned out each day, where the latest among them would be the Ouku Night 3G. We are rather surprised that it runs on the Android 2.2 Froyo operating system – which is seen to be rather outdated, as most phones already have Android 2.3 Gingerbread running on them, while tablets are supposed to come with the tablet-optimized Android 3.0 Honeycomb version. Perhaps reading on about the Ouku Night 3G after the jump might change my perspective on it.

The Ouku Night 3G will feature a 7″ capacitive touchscreen display as well as 3G connectivity (as long as you have a working 3G SIM card inside, of course), in addition to front and rear facing cameras to shoot photos and make video calls. With the 7″ form factor, it is small enough to tote around in just one hand ala HTC Flyer, making it feel as though you’re carrying a paperback book with far more multimedia capabilities.

The Ouku Night 3G allows you to surf the Web, watch 720p HD videos, enjoy your favorite music, read your downloaded e-books, play Android platform games, send emails, check Facebook and stay up to date with Twitter. It currently retails for $227.69 a pop which is dirt cheap, and it might prove to be a decent introductory tablet to those who are still mulling over whether to get their feet wet with yet another device or not. The Qualcomm MSM7627 800MHZ powering it is not the fastest and neither does it have dual cores, but it should be able to get the job done.

Press Release


Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool :)
[ Ouku Night 3G Android-powered tablet copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

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