The latest UMPC coming from Korea is the Tango Wings. This UMPC has GPS built in as well as a full keyboard. A webcam is also included and it runs the latest OS from MS named Vista. I have no clue what its called Tango Wings, but do not let the name put you off. This UMPC actually looks quite nice from the picture abobe. It features a 6.5 inch WVGA screen and a 30GB hard disk which is just 1.8 inches in size. Network connectivity is provided by wireless running at 802.11 b/g standards or via a standard RJ45 ethernet port. When running Windows Vista you need to have a decent amount of RAM and the good news is that Tango Wings doesnt lack here either. It has 768MB built in.
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New UMPC From Korea – Tango Wings
May 9, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Creative X-Fi Soundcard
May 9, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Creative have created some great soundcards in the past, and this latest called the X-Fi Xtreme is no different. The card plugs in to the ExpressCard slot and allows you to use their Crystallizer and 3CMSS-3D technology. The unit is set to cost $106 and features a 7.1 channel speaker docking module. Making use of the ExpressCard slot is a good use as it does allow simple installation on a laptop which can be removed when not needed. Unfortunatly no tiny speakers exist yet in a 7.1 form for you to cart around with your laptop.
Nintendo Gameboy XP PC
May 9, 2007 by Leave a Comment
If you think back a good 15 years you will remember the Nintendo Gameboy hitting the shelves. Like me, you had to get your hands on this cool handheld gaming device. Before the Gameboy was launched I was used to game and watch LCD type games. Having the ability to play different games was something that amazed me. I seem to remember the gameboy cost 69.99 pounds with Tetris although ours was free as my sister won it in a packet of crisps.
Anyway, I came across this Gameboy today which has been hacked apart and fitted with a fully fledged PC inside its case. It has a VGA port, 2 USB ports and runs from a 4GB compact flash card which can boot in to Windows XP. No screen is included, but we assume that you use the USB ports for connecting a mouse and keyboard. More pictures after the jump.
Wall Climbing Robots – Stanfords StickyBot
May 6, 2007 by Leave a Comment
The Stickbot has been introduced by Stanford. It weighs 300g and can climb glass at 4cm per second. Not bad for a robot trying to emulate a creature that can actually climb. It appears to work by having sticky toes which grip to the window when attached to the window at the right angle and speed. Check out one more video after the jump and also OhGizmo linked below for a more detailed explanation.
YouTube Camcorder – The Pure Digital Flip Video
May 2, 2007 by Leave a Comment
A camcorder has been created to make uploading your home made videos to YouTube easier for the less net savvy people. The camera is a small white device which can fit in the palm of your hand and features a USB connector. The basic idea behind it is that you record a video, plug it in to your PC and the video is automatically uploaded to YouTube. 1 more picture and pricing after the jump.
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Motion Sensing Devices
April 29, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Motion sensors or accelerometers are little devices that fit inside electronic devices which allow the device to know when it is moved and which way it is tilted and at what speed it moved. With these sensors a computer or similar device can get a whole new dimension in the way it is controlled. One of the more popular devices to use this technology is the Nintendo Wii. The Wii has a controller which has accelerometers inside and this allows your actions to be converted in to movement on the screen. Take the bowling game for example, you hold down a button, pull your arm back and move your arm forwards as though you were bowling the ball. Twisting your wrist allows for spin to be added to the ball. Accelerometers are cool and becoming more popular in devices.
As well as being in gaming controllers you can find accelerometers in cameras, phones and laptop computers. The iPhone from Apple which is due out soon features a sensor which when the phone is turned on its side the image follows rotating it in to landscape mode. As well as being able to follow the movement there, the phone can also sense when it is lifted up to your ear when on a call and it then switches the screen off to save battery power.
The Apple PowerBook is also another device to feature sensors in allowing for all sorts of different applications to make use of them. Some of the more simple ideas are controls for your music. You tap the laptop to the left to skip back, tap it to the right to jump forwards and tilt it to play.
For such a tiny device the accelerometer is a great device which is appearing more in mobile phones and gaming devices. Although in some cases they do not do much they are still cool little devices which can add a new dimension to your device and well worth looking out for.
Palmsize Helicopter – RC Living Room Flyer
April 27, 2007 by 3 Comments
Tiny RC helicopters are great fun to play with. The main one you are probably aware of is the Picoz which came out late last year. The palmsize helicopter looks to be slightly smaller then the Picoz and it capable of being fully controlled. The helicopter can be turned left or right as is slowly moves forwards. It can also take off right from the palm of your hand. This is a perfect toy for those like me who like toys in the office.
The helicopter comes in 2 colour which are red or silver and each has a different frequency which allows 2 helicopters to be flown together. Luckily the helicopter is light enough not to actually break when it crashes.
The remote control is infrared, so you need to be in line of sight to use it although you would be stupid attempting to fly a helicopter you couldnt see. Attached on the front is a Multi colour LED for night flying. The helicopter is supposed to be flown indoors but can fly outside if there is ZERO wind. I did try an indoor helicopter once outside and smashed it with in seconds because of ignoring a zero wind rule 🙂 For 15 mintues of charging you can get around 7 minutes of flying time… so maybe you need to purchase 3 to keep one in the air constantly.
Via: ThinkGeek
Shinshoku from TokyoFlash
April 24, 2007 by 1 Comment
The guys at TokyoFlash launch some seriously interesting watches and this latest watch is no exception. It is named the Shinshoku and is a continuous stainless steel band which wraps around your wrist. Holes have been put in the band allowing for several colours of LED to shine through which some how show the time. 3 versions of this watch are available with the 3 colour LED watch being the easiest to read. The other options are all red or all green LEDs. To tell the time you will see that the watch is divided in to 3 sections. The left shows the number of hours, the right lower shows the quarter past marks (15, 30, 45) while the upper right is the minutes with in the quarter past marks.
Its a crazy but kind of cool looking watch which has animated effects when wanting to see the time. It is available from TokyoFlash and costs around $114 which isnt bad.
BluEye – The Bluetooth Hands Free for iPod
April 17, 2007 by Leave a Comment
BluEye is designed for the iPod and is compatible with your mobile phone. It seamlessly connects both devices together allowing you to listen to music and make and take calls through your iPod. When this device is connected to your iPod you then pair it up with your mobile phone. BluEye has a built in microphone allowing you to speak and the iPod headphones act as a speaker. When the call is finished the music resumes playing from where it left off. This device is one of those genius type devices. Mobile phones themselves can be ok for listening to music, but for some reason I personally just prefer my iPod for this. Being able to listen to music with out fear of missing a call is ideal, especially as I am on call and its crucual I do answer my phone when ringing.
The BluEye is not only a Bluetooth transmitter/receiver, but it also is capable of receiving FM signals so you can listed to radio stations over your mobile phone. Yet again, this is another smart move. The BluEye also allows you to store your favourite 15 stations. One last cool feature is that it works as a remote control for your iPod. Being designed in White it fits in well with the style of the iPod and makes the device look like it was meant to be there.
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Very Cool Collapsible Webcam
April 17, 2007 by Leave a Comment
This Webcam is an excellent idea that has been created. As can be seen in the picture above, the camera is collapsible and folds up to make it easier for transporting. The camera will fit on a laptop or work as a stand alone camera. It has 4 bright LEDs built in and the camera works at 300k pixels. Resolution runs at 640 x 480 and video can be captured at 30 frames per second.
When folded up the camera is just a fraction of the size. As well as being used as a webcam this camera can be used as a security camera too catching motion and recording to your computer.
Via: Coolest-Gadgets
The Best Holographic Displays
April 13, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Over the last year I have written about several holographic displays and it got me wondering which is best and which shows the most potential. For those Starwars fans you will remember the famous scene of R2D2 projecting Princess Leah in to the air with a message playing. Since seeing that when I was a kid the thought of a fancy 3D or holographic floating display has fascinated me. The displays I am writing about today are what is actually available today and built and not just theory.
Sega Hologram
Lets start with a little bit of an oldy… The first I remember was made with a clever use of mirrors and it was produced by SEGA and was named SEGA Hologram. The game was called Time Traveller. The unit was a large white case with a black shiny screen laying horizontal in the machine. While looking at it the smart use of mirrors gave a 3D holographic effect in which it shows the characters walking on top of the screen. Game play sucked, but it still made me spend money just so I could control the characters who appeared right in front of me.
Fog Screen
Fog Screen was introduced in 2002 and interactivity was added a few years later. Fog Screen works with non-turbulent airflow which keeps the display crisp and clean. A projector with a 4500+ ANSI lumen rating is then used to project the image on to the fog. This allows the viewer to walk through the screen unharmed and is ideal for creating interesting and eye catching displays.
Heliodisplay
A few years later (around 2005) the Heliodisplay was revealed by io2technology. The unit displays the image on to a virtual screen as it were, which creates a thermal differential in the air which then allows the air to pick up the projection. Well, that is my explanation of it 😉 As well as being a screen the Heliodisplay can be moved around as it has optical sensors built in which can detect the slightest movement of your hand or an object with in the picture. This allows a large 3D display to be more interactive which works well at trade shows.
True 3D
Next in line is True 3D which uses yet another method to display its image. This time the use of lasers is needed which fires to intersect each other. This generates small amounts of plasma which in turn light up to display an image. This seems like a dangerous way of getting 3D to work and suddenly the Helio seems like the safer option to me. True 3D at the time of writing the original article last year was capable of displaying 100 dots per second.
Vizoo Holographic Projector
The next screen has been used by Lexus in New York. The Vizoo allows for a complte 360 viewing angle and can accomodate large screen sizes. Unfortunatly the video of the Lexus is now off line due to copyright reasons. It did show a Lexus on display in a show window which was made interactive. The 3D image could then be rotated around by the user to help customise their life size model of the car they want to buy.
The Hole – video powered by Metacafe
Although the images are not 100% clear, these are all great advances in holographic/3D type screens.
Which is the best? I guess it all depends on what you intend to use it for. Looking at the True 3D version you might need to be more careful as plasma is used which indicates it is hot. For me, the simplicity seems to land on the Heliodisplay. But as each of these is in excess of 5 figures then I think it will be a while yet before they are available to the consumer.
Tomtom and Garmin Jumping on the Mobile Wagon
April 10, 2007 by 1 Comment
Several phones such as the Nokia N95 have built in GPS receivers and built in mapping software. According to speculation this is making Garmin and Tomtom look in to the GPS enabled phone market. This really isnt a big surprise because if I went with a GPS enabled phone and it had decent mapping software I would ditch my TomTom navigator right away. Tomtom do have a good edge as they create software for mobile phones and do have Tomtom Go which can have a SIM inserted for hands free use. However, none of these are true phone options and should a provider have decent software then why would you go spend extra?
Via: Engadget
