by Matthew on November 19, 2009
The Levitron Revolution World Stage is perhaps one of the best gadgets you could buy for someone this Christmas. The system uses magnets to make objects levitate in air.
A common object to levitate is a globe, and the world stages comes supplied with a globe. But with other levitation gadgets, all you get is the globe. This particular model lets you open up the globe to take out the special magnet. The magnetic platform that floats above the main platform can take an additional 3 oz in weight allowing you to place any household object that fits in the weight criteria. The main platform is surrounded in lights and also makes the floating platform rotate allowing you to showcase whatever you want in a bit of style. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 18, 2009
If you enjoy climbing then perhaps the ClimbStation could be something interesting for you. The climbing wall is controlled by computer which determines the speed of your ascent and gives 12 levels of challenge for beginners to pros.
The wall is constantly moving on a conveyor belt type system, so with this installation you do not need a high ceiling, safety ropes and professionals to work with you. A fall off the wall results in just a foot or so drop to a mat below. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 16, 2009
Fallingwater is a residential home that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright back in 1934. The famous home has now been designed in to a LEGO set for those who like architecture to build.
The model is described on the LEGO site as being highly-detailed. The model stands 10 inches wide and is built on a gray base that has a name label printed on it. A booklet is provided that contains all the details of the building and how it was constructed. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 16, 2009
If Etch-A-Sketch is one of those toys you cannot master then perhaps the Etch-A-Sketch freestyle might make things easier for you. Rather than having 2 controls that control the X and Y axis, you simply have a simple knob that swivels 360 degrees apparently making it a lot easier to draw on.
I personally prefer the challenge of the original though and don’t believe the toy should be changed. Although awkward to work with, the 2 dial setup is all people grew up with. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 11, 2009
Intel are launching a new portable reader device that is designed for those with vision or reading-related disabilities such as blindness or problems with vision in general. The Intel Reader can be used to capture text from printed material and once captured it converts it to a digital form for magnification or audio playback.
Inside the device has a camera along with an Intel Atom processor that allows relatively fast conversion of printed material to digital text or audio. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 11, 2009
To capture the speed you are travelling, the Police often use bulky radar guns. Pocket Radar is a new system that achieves the same as a large radar gun, but this one fits in your pocket.
The Pocket Radar system can capture speeds of various objects including people, cars, baseballs, football and more and can track speed to within 1MPH +/-. The device uses a set of AAA batteries to run which thanks to energy efficiency allow up to 10,000 measurements to be captured before having to get new batteries. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 4, 2009
The Alex eBook Reader is an Android based device that has two screens and runs Marvell’s ARMADA 166E chip. The new chip allows frame rates of up to 3fps on the eInk screen up top that although not a huge amount of frames could give some basic animation to images/comics read on the eBook.
A high frame rate isn’t the main goal of Marvell though as it’s ARMADA 166E chip is designed to get rid of multi-chip controller boards and put everything on to a single chip that saves both space and battery usage. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on October 20, 2009
Earlier we wrote about the Barnes & Noble Nook eBook reader that suddenly was being made available today. Scanning over their website we see that the information has now been made official and that a colour eBook reader is now available for pre-order. Although the eBook reader does have some element of colour, it is important to know that the reading pane is just regular e-ink, but the device does have a seperate LCD colour navigation area below the screen that acts like a touch-pad.
The Nook measures 7.7″ x 4.9″ x 0.5″ and weighs 11.2 ounces. The main screen/reading pane uses advanced E Ink Vizplex that allows you to read eBooks like a printed page. This allows you to read in sunlight as well as clearly while used in your home. The text size can also be adjusted to suit your needs. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on October 20, 2009
TomTom have created a new satnav system that fits in the dashboard of your car. It is called the TomTom Go I-90 and is designed to fit in a standard double DIN slot completely replacing the onboard stereo that was there before.
Included in the I-90 is an FM radio along with RDS support. AM reception is also possible and the unit has a USB connector allowing MP3 players to be connected. It isn’t known if the unit has Bluetooth although the press release does refer to compatibility with an extensive list of phones for hands free calling. We assume that it will considering many TomTom units have this feature. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on October 19, 2009
The common slot cars are controlled by a single button that can variablly control the speed of the car dependend on how hard you press it. The aim is to get around the track repeatidly as fast as you can without being thrown off on a corner.
A new version of the classic slot cars have been made and it’s called The Realistic Digital Slot Car Raceway. The difference here is that you have to do more than just drive around the track repeatidly. In this version you have to drive around the track and be concious of your fuel consumption, braking responsiveness as well as pit rules. When your car is full of fuel (shown on the large digital display), your car will drive slower because of the extra weight. Drive through the pits too fast then you might get a time penalty. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on October 15, 2009
Google [GOOG] have created Google Building Maker which is a program that allows you to create 3D buildings for Google Earth.
By using this software you become part of a world wide team that is creating a virtual planet a single building at a time (although you don’t get paid, it’s all done with a passion for wanting to create something cool).
To get the software you need to load up the Google Building Maker page (link above) and click to download a 3D plugin the loads right up in your browser. After that you are presented with a map (see image above) where you can zoom right in to where you want to start designing. The problem here is that not all places have good enough imagery, so the other options you have is to find a place that does, or use one of the suggested locations that Google lists. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on October 12, 2009
This little gadget is capable of detecting cameras that can be found at red lights. The system uses GPS to track your location and with this data it is compared to a database that contains information on the whereabouts of 6,000 red light cameras as well as speed cameras located in the US and Canada.
The system provides feedback to the driver with a 1.6″ OLED display that shows where you are on a map and where the next camera can be found.
To keep the system up todate you are able to connect the device up to your computer and download the latest database which has it’s information gathered from various databases from around the US. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on October 9, 2009
Car Cam Voyager is a system that sits under the visor of your car and records whats happening while your on the road. If you are unfortunate enough to have a bump or scrape you’ll now have evidence to present to the insurers to prove you weren’t at fault.
The device is powered by the lighter socket on your car and includes a screen with a 720 x 480 resolution so you can see what is being recorded. Up to 48 hours of driving footage is stored on the 32GB SD card. Footage is stored in 15 minute increments to help you quickly reach the section of video you are wanting to find. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on October 8, 2009
When going anywhere where you’ll find a staircase next to escalators you will find that most people use the easy way where they don’t have to do much work. For this reason the Piano Stairs were trialled to see if adding a bit of fun in to a staircase could tempt more people in to using the steps.
The creators made each step play a different note on a piano so that when people walk up or down they go from the high end of the keyboard to the lower octaves or vice versa. The camera capturing people showed a 66% increase in people using the stairs once they were made a bit more fun. Check out the video below to see it in action. [click to continue…]
by Paul on September 30, 2009
ODROID is an Android OS based gaming device that has a 3.5 inch capacitive touchscreen. The Android OS running is version 1.5.
Powering the ODROID is an 833MHz CPU and 512MB of RAM is available. The developer version is available for pre-order that comes supplied with cables needed as well as a debugging board and batteries. It costs about $320 and will ship about a month before the standard models which will be priced at $250. [click to continue…]
