Your's Web Tech Power Blog's: Aug 3, 2011

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Latest Posts on Coolest Gadgets

Tour bus has detachable bikes
Blind Camera takes other people’s photos
Hanging by a thread at the Edge Walk at Toronto’s CN Tower
Flip Clock Wristwatch
iPad Head Girl turns, well, heads
ViewSonic does 3D with V3D245 monitor
How long can you last on Dance Dance Revolution?

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 10:12 AM PDT

This is the “Bike Guide Concept”, a way of travel that could be the next form of tourism.

As you can tell from the image, the Bike Guide uses bikes attached to the bus itself. The bus has a screen to announce information about the next destination, and then each bike has a screen to share even more. Screens are also used in bus stops, and the user scans their credit card to arrange a bike/bus tour.

You can watch a video of it after the jump, and you see that the bus parks and drops off the bikes. The tourists pedal around the attraction, and I believe that there is a timer on each bike to let the rider know when it is time to return them.

You will notice that the bikes are completely without spokes, and how it locks in place. I’m not certain how much trouble tourists can get into with a locking mechanism like that. Something tells me that the bus driver will be pulling double duty.

This is still a concept designed by Kukil Han, Daehyun Kim, Bojoong Kim, and Jihwan Yun for Korean tourism. I can see this being used in any country with tourist attractions.

BIKE GUIDE from Kukil Han on Vimeo.

Source

Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ Tour bus has detachable bikes copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Blind Camera takes other people’s photos

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 09:40 AM PDT

This is the “Blind Camera”. I realize that this sounds like an oxymoron, until you realize what it does.

This camera doesn’t allow you to take a picture, but it will show you other people’s pictures. How it works is this: you push a button, and the Blind Camera shows you other pictures take at your location.

I don’t know how it can pluck all photos from the Internet and produce a few taken at the user’s exact spot, but I would imagine that a GPS is involved in some way. It doesn’t have any lens, sensor, or optics.

The Blind Camera is not meant to be the next model from Nikon, Canon, or Kodak. It is part of a “Blinks and Buttons” art exhibit by designer Sascha Pohfleep. The vision behind this project is that photos are a memory in of itself, and then making that memory public on sites such as Flickr is now part of the photo-taking process.

Considering that most cameras or smartphones are connected to the Internet, is there any way we could somehow make a Blind Camera App? Actually, Google Googles on Android does something similar as the user can take a picture and have it search for something visual online.

Source

Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ Blind Camera takes other people’s photos copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Hanging by a thread at the Edge Walk at Toronto’s CN Tower

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 08:00 AM PDT

While I was in Las Vegas last January, I went to the top of the Stratosphere. I saw that people were jumping off the top with bungee cords, and I asked them how much. They told me $100, and I almost did it. Until they told me that I would have to pay the hundred dollars.

Apparently, there are people who have these type of thrill issues, and are willing to pay a high price for it. These adrenalin junkies would love the Edge Walk at the CN Tower in Toronto.

As you can see, a small tether is all that stands between you and leaning over and falling 1,168 feet. You can also pretend like you are falling backward on this five foot wide ledge as well.

I wonder what you would be thinking at the point of leaning. I can imagine that panic might set in if you lose your balance. You know how you are leaning in a chair, and almost fall backwards, but catch yourself at the last second? Picture that times one hundred seventy-five.

Why that number? It is about the same cost as the Edge Walk. The $175 includes a 20-30 minute living cliffhanger, a 90 minute tour, plus a video and photos to prove how brave you are.

Source

Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool

[ Hanging by a thread at the Edge Walk at Toronto’s CN Tower copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Flip Clock Wristwatch

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 06:30 AM PDT

Most of us do not really need a watch these days, as chances are our phones will be the primary means of telling the time. Having said that, the watch industry isn’t exactly down in the doldrums, as it still makes anyone look really smart wearing one, and the really expensive ones tend to appreciate in value as time passes by like a precious family heirloom.

The $199.95 Flip Clock Wristwatch, unfortunately, isn’t decked out in jewels, but it does work in a rather clever manner. For starters, this timepiece will employ the mechanical rotation of 23 tiny two-sided rotors in order to give you the illusion of a digital display. Inspired by the classic flip-disc displays that are seen in buses and trains of yore, there will be one side of each rotor which holds a number of Swarovski crystals to match the watchface.

When activated by an electromagnetic field, the rotors will flip 180º, taking less than 10 milliseconds to do so, helping contrast the crystals so that they can form easily recognizable digital numerals for you to tell the time with a quick glance. Nice to know the Flip Clock Wristwatch comes with a lifetime warranty.

Conference Calendar – The global conference and expo finder.
[ Flip Clock Wristwatch copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

iPad Head Girl turns, well, heads

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 06:00 AM PDT

There’s an app for that – and in the case of the iPad (or iPad 2, it is your call), surely this must be one of the zanier ways to promote or advertise an app. The iPad Head Girl as she is called, is actually an advertising campaign by viral marketing company Thinkmodo, as they decided to come up with this unique looking piece of headgear which looks really realistic, sporting a girl covering her head with four iPads standing in a vertical manner. This ad intends to promote the launch of what used to be a girly magazine – but it has been injected with plenty of testosterone, calling it Cosmo for Guys.

Since many guys love gadgets, it makes sense that Cosmo for Guys is an iPad exclusive magazine courtesy of Hearst – no newsstand copies for you to look out for! Definitely one of the more interesting advertisements that we have come across to date, not to mention creative in its very own way. Watch a video of the iPad Head Girl in action after the jump.

Source

Conference Calendar – The global conference and expo finder.
[ iPad Head Girl turns, well, heads copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

ViewSonic does 3D with V3D245 monitor

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 05:30 AM PDT

ViewSonic is somewhat like the Vizio of the monitor world – they tend to roll out pretty great hardware without breaking the bank when it comes to pricing, keeping customers everywhere happy. Of course, it still lacks the clout of far more established brands, but ViewSonic is certainly getting there from where they are at the moment. Stereoscopic 3D is said to be the next big thing, what with huge 3D capable TVs hitting the market already for sometime, and ViewSonic jumps aboard that bandwagon with their new 3D Vision V3D245 Monitor.

Just what can you expect from the 3D Vision LED Monitor? Well, for starters, it will come with NVIDIA’s 3D Vision Wireless Glasses alongside an integrated 3D Vision Emitter which is said to usher in a new era of 3D entertainment. This will be a 24″ LED monitor, so it ought to offer more than adequate viewing real estate regardless of the line of your work – unless, of course, you’re in the desktop publishing line or are part of the digital artist revolution.

Not only do you get to enjoy LED technology that is advanced, the V3D245 Monitor will also feature extraordinary power-saving performance. Hardware specifications read in an impressive manner, sporting a stunning 120Hz frame refresh rate, ultra-fast 2ms video response time, and HDMI 1.4 input, making it more or less perfect to cater for immersive 2D and 3D entertainment – in addition to gaming, of course. When you have that work in tandem with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, a 20,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and 300 nits of high brightness, surely your eyes will be blown away by the stupendous color accuracy and picture detail.

Each pair of NVIDIA 3D Vision wireless emitter that ships with your purchase can be connected to an NVIDIA GeForce-equipped PC, letting you enjoy over 550 3D games in full 1080p, 60 fps resolution. Of course, it also works great in letting you view 3D videos and photos, while streaming 3D web content to boot. Users can also opt to connect directly to the latest Blu-ray 3D players or PS3 consoles courtesy of the standard built-in HDMI 1.4 input.

Apart from that, with built-in two-watt SRS Premium Sound audio speakers, you have at your disposal what some might deem to be the ultimate multimedia entertainment display. Expect the ViewSonic V3D245 Monitor to arrive Stateside later this month for $499 a pop.

Press Release

Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool

[ ViewSonic does 3D with V3D245 monitor copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

How long can you last on Dance Dance Revolution?

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT

I am quite sure that those of you who were involved in the video gaming scene back in the late 1990s would definitely have heard of this arcade phenomenon known as Dance Dance Revolution, where you are supposed to align your movement with indicators on the screen right in front, stepping on the corresponding sensor pad at the right time in order to progress in the game. Of course, many iterations of this game have been released after that including those with motion sensors, but the one which started it all off was the Dance Dance Revolution franchise.

Who would have thought that a video game like that might end up as a world record of sorts in the Guinness Book of World Records? Carrie Swidecki, a 35-year-old public school teacher from Bakersfield, California actually decided to prove to the world that she has the endurance to play the game for 15 hours straight – adding on to that 17 minutes and 44 seconds, besting the previous world record which stood at 13 hours, 33 minutes and 56 seconds that was set in the UK last October.

Carrie is the world record holder under the Longest Marathon on a Dance/Rhythm Game category with Dance Dance Revolution, or more affectionately referred to as DDR. According to Carrie, "I couldn't be more excited to have broken the Guinness World Record through exergaming. I started playing Dance Dance Revolution 10 years ago, and when I saw that it was helping me become more physically fit, I integrated it into my physical education program at school and the students love it. Since then, I've become more active, lost 75 pounds and set a new world record!"

This second grade teacher trained for half a year in order to make this attempt, and her presence would surely boost the case for students at her school pestering their parents to purchase a new Wii, Xbox 360 or PS3, that’s for sure!

Source

Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ How long can you last on Dance Dance Revolution? copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]