My Gadget Universe

Power Of Gamer's Mind

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:21:00 +0000

OCZ company, known for power units and high-quality RAM, just recently announced mass production of OCZ Neural Impulse Activator. This device is able to analyze state of mind of player.

Gadget substantially reduces time needed to issue some commands like shooting or carrying out difficult combos using principle of exclusion of "spine > hand > button" chain. Though this device still cannot allow fully mental control of PC, and it cannot emulate functions of mouse for mouselook or moving of cursor purposes.

OCZ Neural Impulse Activator corresponds a band with sensors and signal processing unit. Firstly intended price was $300+ but now company decided to lower it to about $149.

Rival device by Emotive will have wider functionality (analyzing user's face expression, for example) and will cost $300 to customer.

Both are expected to be available by the end of 2008.

via xakep.ru

Technorati Tags: Future Tech,Hands-Free,Weird Gadgets,Mental Control

iPod Goes into the Space Again

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:50:00 +0000

You can see interesting thing looking at hi-res photo of the shuttle Endeavour. One of the International Space Station's cameras caught shuttle's viewport with iPod visible through it.

TUAW.com, that noted this fact, decided to reveal all iPod's space adventures, that's what they say:

When the unmanned Jules Verne spacecraft launched earlier this month for its historic docking with the ISS, it took along several commemorative items, including an iPod containing a special list of songs chosen by the winner of a 2007 contest.
STS crew member Leland Melvin went to the ISS last month aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis, and he took along an iPod pre-loaded with his favorite Christina McBride album and a few songs he'd composed on the piano.
For Charlie Hobaugh's flight last year, he let his kids load his iPod for him. (Wow, that's trusting -- he could have spent the 13-day mission listening to Alvin & the Chipmunks).

By the way, astronauts can't bring iPod on the International Space Station board because it hasn't special certificate.

Technorati Tags: Space,Shuttle,iPod,Apple,Endeavour

Do You Want To Have Your Own Universe?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 17:13:00 +0000

If you want to broadcast your messages to the whole world you can be builder of My PC Universe(or any another blog of MyUniverseRing). We are waiting for your contribution.

Technorati Tags: Blogging , Blogger , Contribution

NPX and Mango team up for Mango Research Magic 380 portable GPS unit

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 22:34:00 +0000

by Paul Miller

NPX's swGPS tech isn't just for making photo location tagging easier, it's also powering Mango's 380 portable navigation unit, claiming to provide better performance and accuracy through software location processing, eliminating the traditional GPS baseband processing chip. Otherwise, the 380 sounds pretty traditional, with a Samsung touchscreen, stereo audio and an optional external RDS/TMC module for real-time traffic and data services. Supposedly the swGPS tech allows the unit to be slimmer than your average device, but we don't have the dimensions on hand to confirm that. No word on price or availability either, but Mango was showing this off at CeBIT, so it shouldn't be too far off.

(c) www.engadget.com

Uni.Gadget Tags: GPS, NPX, Mango, Magic 380

Minibot - friend of pain haters

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:25:00 +0000

Researchers from Ritsumeikan University and the Shiga University of Medical Science have successfully developed a miniature robot prototype that can be freely controlled when inserted into a patient's body through an incision. This extremely tiny robot will be able to perform medical treatment or capture images of affected areas without causing any discomfort to the patient. This minibot is encased in plastic and measures a mere 2cm in length and 1cm in diameter. It can be controlled by applying an external magnetic field near the patient. Hopefully the minibot will soon be advanced enough to perform treatment within the body in order to prevent the need for any surgery.

(c) www.ubergizmo.com

For the pig in everyone-the Piggy Vacuum

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:23:00 +0000

Feel the need to flaunt your pig-like traits? Now you can buy a vacuum that declares it to the world. It’s a little handheld vacuum shaped like a pig and powered by batteries. This means if you were brave enough you could carry this in your car.

My sister has this thing for pigs, I’ve never understood it, but she has pig everything. I generally try not to ask because it makes her happy and anything that can make a 13 year old happy is a friggin miracle. Odds are at some point she is going to find this and add it to her already massive collection, I guess if it makes her clean her room more my Mom would be ecstatic.

Personally, I think the only people who should own one of these are very young girls. It you are above the age of 20 it’s just not right. If you would in fact like to make a girlie in your life happy these only cost $16.

(c) www.slashgear.com

Pantech PX-500 EVDO Card

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:21:00 +0000

Real road warriors know that Wi-Fi’s coverage can’t be relied upon for professional purposes. The Pantech PX-500 is a PCMCIA card that can connect your laptop to Sprint’s 3G network and let you access your emails and data in a much wider area when compared to WiFi.

Once plugged, the card will stick out from your laptop by 1.2 inches. It’s not a lot, but I certainly recommend removing the card when packing your computer in its bag. At the end of the card, the antenna can be raised up to get a better signal, but in our tests, we saw no difference on reception.

The software is very easy to install and should not take more than 5 minutes. A connection icon will appear on Windows’s desktop and a simple click on the “Go” button will connect the user to Sprint’s network.

Let’s go to the crunchy part: performance. When Sprint’s EV-DO (3G) network is available, the connection gets a (real-life) speed* of 480 kbps downstream and 115kbps upstream. It feels like the basic DSL speeds that we were getting on DSL a few years ago, except that the latency is quite high: 330ms with the EV-DO connection, compared to 33ms with DSL. That translates into a less “reactive” browsing experience. Even though WiFi is much faster, I don’t think that it can be relied upon at the moment. EV-DO’s coverage is much wider and the Pantech PX-500 will get you online anywhere a Sprint wireless signal is available.

(c) www.ubergizmo.com

Spy-stick keeps an eye on your kids

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:21:00 +0000

Let’s face it, you can’t trust your kids. Give them an inch and they’ll take your credit cards, laptop and cellphone and run up huge charges on pay-per-view sex sites. So thank the sweet mother Bertie that fear-fuelling companies like CYBERsitter are around, with their remote tracking USB SnoopStick.

The SnoopStick is a two-pronged approach to monitoring your children. First off, you plug it into the family PC and install the software client; CYBERsitter promise that it’s completely invisible, so tech-savvy junior can’t spot it. Then, while you’re out sipping gin with your friends and have a sudden Spidey-Sense tingle that your daughter is chatting with a sex offender, you can plug the SnoopStick into your friends’ computer and it instantly connects online with the home PC.

Then you can monitor both sides of IM conversations, check what sites are being viewed, even send pop-up messages to warn your XXX-hungry son that his saucy-surfing days are numbered and you’re about to log him off.

The full feature list is pretty scary:

Monitor all web site access.
Works with all browsers and web enabled programs.
Monitor both sides of all “instant messenger” communications.
Works with all popular IM programs.
Monitor all email access (SMTP, POP3, IMAP) to see who and when emails were received from and sent to.
Monitor activities in real time, or retrieve activity logs from recent activity.
SnoopStick records everything, whether you are monitoring in real time or not.
Store up to 12 months of activity logs directly on your SnoopStick.
All program modules are updated completely automatically so you always have the latest version.
Send the user a pop up message alert. A good way to tell them they’re busted!
Turn off/on Internet access with the SnoopStick locally or remotely.
Set allowable times for Internet access.
Prevent users from using certain types of Internet programs.
Block access to specified ports.
Block access to web sites.
One click “Block Social Networking” option instantly blocks access to sites like MySpace.com.
Completely secure. Only your SnoopStick can access your computer or change the settings you have chosen.
Works with Windows 2000, XP, 2003, and is Vista ready.

Thank goodness you don’t have to teach your children good internet sense or supervise them any more, you can rely on $59.95 gadgets like this instead.

(c) www.slashgear.com

Maxtor Fusion 500GB Review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:17:00 +0000

The Maxtor Fusion is a Personal Web Server that looks like an external hard drive connected directly to your Ethernet network. I said “looks like” because it’s not just a hard drive: it’s a little computer that acts as silent file/web server.

In the past, such devices where annoying to setup but Maxtor did a good job with the Fusion. The setup program detects the IP address of the unit and brings you to an administration page from which the user can set the IP address, port and even configure a dynamic DNS service, which is handy when the device is connected to the internet with a dynamic (changing) address.

Our 500GB unit can be connected to external USB drives for backup purposes – because it’s never safe enough (most people learn the hard way). I wish that the Maxtor Fusion cannot be accessed by a USB or Firewire connection, this would have been great for the administrator when copying hundreds of gigabytes to populate the drive. I suppose that most users could simply use a Gigabit Ethernet connection, even if it’s much slower *in practice* than Firewire.

The administrator can create individual accounts and let users upload and share their files. Each user has a private and a public area and it is even possible to create “micro-links” – a direct URL to a file hosted on the Maxtor Fusion. That’s nice if you want to share a single file or if you want to link to it from your web page.

The good news is that the Fusion has a graphics user interface (GUI). The bad news is that it needs some work. The GUI doesn’t resemble any well known user interface and most people that I’ve created accounts for did search for simple things like saving a file from the Fusion to their local hard disk. A customizable home page would also be great!

I find this device to be very convenient for the tech-savvy user and small-businesses that want to share files but don’t need enterprise-grade security. In my opinion, the Maxtor Fusion is not ready for the average consumer: some knowledge of TCP/IP (network protocol) is necessary to do the setup and this could be a problem for many users. Opening a port in the firewall or in the router could be challenging as well. I can’t blame Maxtor for this, because TCP/IP was simply not designed to be used by consumers. IPV6 might solve some of that by removing the need for routers and network address translation (NAT).

The Maxtor fusion is a good product that lets people share files without leaving their main computer on. The user interface could use some improvements, but it should not stop you from considering using it.

(c) www.ubergizmo.com

The nurian Z1 from Hanuribiz does e-dictionary one better

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:16:00 +0000

by Paul Miller

The category of "electronic dictionary" was already stretched to its limits with all that MP3, game and video functionality manufacturers have been stuffing in, but it looks like we've officially advanced beyond any sort of reasonable definition with this here nurian Z1 from Hanuribiz. For starters, the 5-inch LCD display and Windows CE 5.0 should give you a decent hint that this thing isn't all about the dictionary action -- though there does happen to be English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean dictionary content on board. The unit can handle Flash content, MP3, video, games, PIM functions and even wireless internet. Probably the closest thing to this Z1 in size is HTC's decked Advantage handheld, so if you're looking for a more spacious keyboard, fine with CE 5.0, and can settle for about half the sexy, you can pick one of these up for 500,000 KRW, about $533 US.

(c) www.engadget.com

FoxFury LED Headlamps

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:14:00 +0000

by Evan Ackerman

FoxFury, well known for making seriously professional LED headlamps, is now offering models designed for personal use. Not only do FoxFury headlamps feature an array of 24 (!) LEDs, the LEDs themselves are customized to maximize lighting for different applications. The standard Outdoor model (shown above) uses a combination of white and green LEDs to provide better vision, since the human eye is most responsive to green light (which is one of the reasons that green lasers look so bright). Other versions are optimized in other ways… The scuba version, for example, uses blue and green LEDs, since marine life is most sensitive to red light, and you don’t want to scare the fishies.

The headlamp itself is rugged and waterproof, with recesses to protect the LEDs. It provides a 45 degree field of illumination at 430 candlepower, giving you a good view out to 150 feet. Some versions even have an ambient lighting sensor to help preserve the batteries; it takes 4 AAs and should run 8 hours at full blast. The Signature versions will set you back $169.99.

(c) www.ohgizmo.com

Apple TV -- now due mid-March

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:11:00 +0000

Looks like the Apple TV took a little longer to put the spit and polish on than Apple initially thought. According to Apple PR Director of Mac products Lynn Fox, "Wrapping up Apple TV is taking a few weeks longer than we projected, and we now expect to begin shipments mid-March." Odd, being that Apple first showed this thing off last Fall -- and bummer for everybody waiting for their product. But you'd rather have it right than have it all crappy-wrong-first-gen, no? That was the silver lining for Vista's delayed launch, anyway.
P.S. -For those who just got a pang of sadness on what you're missing out on, maybe these pics of the Apple TV we took at Macworld 2007 will cheer you up.

(c) www.engadget.com

Even Jedi Masters get wet in the rain

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:10:00 +0000

Even Master Yoda would have been unable to create a Force Shield over his head indefinitely to prevent the rain on Dagobah from wetting his coat. Hence, the existence of the Lightsaber Umbrella that helps keep pesky Sith Lords at bay as well as fulfilling its greater mission - keeping the owner dry as a bone. This umbrella's spine features the illuminating properties of an LED flashlight that is bound to thrill and excite the whole legion of rabid Star Wars fans. Even if you can't tell the difference between a Wookie and a Stormtrooper, there is no harm in owning one of these $41 babies.

(c) www.uberzimo.com

Even Jedi Masters get wet in the rain

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:07:00 +0000

(c) www.uberzimo.com

Coby MP3 player tastes like Chocolate

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 02:57:00 +0000

CES 2007 - With the astounding success of LG's line of Chocolate cellphones, there are plenty of other manufacturers who decided to implement the touch functionality on their devices, and the Coby C7XXX series is one of them. This portable MP3 player looks really good, featuring touch keys that are lit in red upon contact. There are three models available - the C7055, the C7085, and the C7095 which comes in capacities of 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB. I tested the C7095 and it sounded great even with a pair of generic headphones. Unfortunately, the 1.66" TFT LCD display is a little too small for my liking, and as with everything new and shiny these days, the C7095 picks up fingerprints faster than an investigator on CSI. Alternatively, you can opt for the 20GB hard drive version which supports video in addition to music and comes with a 2" TFT LCD display

(c) www.ubergizmo.com

CES 2007: Handheld navigation Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket LOOX N100

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 02:56:00 +0000

There is a striking similarity between this and the Mio H610, which hopefully means we'll be seeing a lot more of these diminutive GPS handhelds in the coming year. The N100 also has a very basic, minimaist white design and it plays MP3s, videos and displays photos.

NAVIGON provides the mapping software and it has the interesting quirk of showing proper brand logos for various points of interest (read fast food joints) as you pass them. I had a quick check of the map of the surrounding area around the convention centre in Vegas and found a multitude of golden arches and Burger King symbols popping up everywhere. It also does speed warnings, road sign text and lane advice. Although the screen is a bit small to ever have much over a full blown in-car GPS, it all looks rather cute and the speed at which the screen refreshes makes it all nice and smooth too.

Programming the device uses predictive type, which worked very well, although I wasn't bowled over by the sensitivity of the touch screen display. You'll be able to pick the up from March in the US for a fairly hefty sum of $499.

(c) www.techdigest.tv

Harman Kardon Guide+Play GPS-500 Does Nav and HiFi

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 02:55:00 +0000

Harman Kardon has announced their GPS-500. This is a small GPS device that also has media functionality. This GPS unit includes a hi-fi music player (with FM transmitter), video player, 2GB of internal storage with optional SD expandability and support for MP3, MP4, WMA, ASF, WAV and OGG. The 4-inch touchscreen and software doesn't look too shabby, either—nice and clean. It will be hitting the shelves later this month for $500. – Travis Hudson

(c) www.gizmodo.com

CES 2007: Microvision to Debut Miniature Projector

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 02:49:00 +0000

From the department of redundancy department, Microvision has announced today that they will be unveiling (announcing) a prototype miniature digital projector at CES next week. This projector is small (see picture above) and is designed to fit in handheld electronic device such as cellphones, PDAs or other multimedia gadgets. It is nowhere close to being ready for the market, but at least the prototype is done. We'll have more on this live from the show floor next week. – Travis Hudson

(c) www.gizmodo.com

CES 2007: Clean your screen with Alpine Innovations Mini Spudz

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 02:47:00 +0000

When my mobile screen gets dirty, I tend to just give it a wipe on my jumper. But Alpine Innovations has other ideas, with its Mini Spudz range of screen cleaners.

They're basically a 2x6-inch micro-fibre cloth sewn inside a mini neoprene pouch, which clips onto your mobile phone, digital camera, PSP or whatever. When it needs a wipe, pull out the cloth, before stuffing it back in the bag when you're done.

Alpine doesn't sell them direct, mind. It manufactures them for companies with customised designs. But I thought they were pretty cool. If you fancy a few, you can order them in runs of 30, 150, 250, 500, 1,000 or 2,500.

(c) www.techdigest.tv

CES 2007: Sonos adds support Windows Media Player

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 02:46:00 +0000

One major advantage of Sonso wireless home music system is that the company can constantly continuing to upgrade its feature set via firmware upgrades. The latest addition is support for Windows Media DRM protected tracks - that means if you download music from the likes of AOL Music Now, MTV Networks’ URGE, Napster, Wal-Mart, Yahoo! Music Unlimited, and the Zune Marketplace you'll be able to play them over your Sonos system. The news also earned Sonos a place at the luxirous Micorosoft booth at CES.

“We’re excited about the tremendous support and enthusiasm Sonos is providing for Windows Vista at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show,” said Brad Goldberg, general manager for Windows Client at Microsoft Corp. “By working closely together we are helping to provide technologies that will connect, entertain and hopefully surprise people by how easy this next generation of computing makes their lives.”

In other news, which Microsoft probably wanted to dumb down, the Sonos 2.1 software release also includes improved playlist and volume normalization support for Apple iTunes 7.0.

(c) www.techdigest.tv

Meccano to unveil WiFi-enabled Spyke Robot Set

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 15:31:00 +0000

Meccano is all set to unveil a WiFi-controlled, Erector-branded robot kit at CES. The Spyke certainly improves on Meccano's earlier metallic attempts at robot sets: this little fella is capable of feeding a webcam video stream to a PC over the aforementioned wireless connection, as well as climbing stairs with its triangular tank-track; that's right parents, your staircase can no longer keep your kids safe. These basic specs combined with the teaser image on the right should be enough to perk up the ears of all the consumer robot enthusiasts out there -- who are now no doubt waiting to hear how competitively priced the Spyke will be in comparison to Lego's Mindstorm series of robot kits -- but unfortunately there's no other information (availability, pricing, etc.) about the Spyke as of yet. Don't fret though, because when CES kicks off in a couple of days, all will be revealed.

(c) www.engadget.com

Wine Bottle Vacuum Seal

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 15:13:00 +0000

by Andrew Liszewski

I can’t really speak from experience but apparently once a bottle of wine has been opened the clock starts ticking on how long it stays fresh. And while there are many suggestions on how to keep an opened bottle fresh for a longer period of time, from what I’ve read none of them really work.

So I don’t know for sure if this device would be any more effective but it sounds convincing. Before you stick that opened bottle of wine in the fridge just cap it with this vacuum seal which will automatically turn on and pump all the air out of the bottle. You’ll know when it’s completely sealed via a built-in LCD which also keeps track of the wine’s temperature letting you know when it’s the optimal time to be served. The Wine Vac runs on 2 AA batteries but I don’t know if it will maintain its seal if the batteries die. The Wine Vac is available from The Sharper Image for $34.95.

(c) www.ohgizmo.com

Micro-Helicopter, Evolved

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 15:11:00 +0000

CES Unveiled - Any CES event has to feature micro-helicopters. This year, what looked like a smaller version was presented and the in-crowd flight demo was quite impressive. There was also another model that is equipped with a webcam on the nose, in case you want to spy on the neighbors. (Last year’s demo)

(c) www.ubergizmo.com

CES Unveiled: Shure announces new line of in-ear headphones

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 15:05:00 +0000

by Doug Berger

I know all you loyal Gadgetell readers may be slightly confused, but yes, Greg , the podcast producer is taking a crack at writing! Under the watchful eye of my two fearless editors I will give it my best shot.

At CES Unveiled, we had the opportunity to speak briefly with the PR people from Shure - who said the company will be showcasing their new product line of in-ear headphones. The SE210 ($149.99), SE310 (249.99), SE420 ($349.99), SE530 (449.99), and finally the SE530PTH ($499.99)

The new line builds off the success of the E Series headphones that have proven to be popular with audiophiles and non-audiophiles alike. Shure took notice of the complaints about poor fit for their ears, and opted to introduce a new sleeve that they hope will alleviate the problem for those with the ficklest of ear canals. And let me tell you, they were damn hard to get off of the headphones.

Yes, $500 may seem a bit steep for earphones, check that….$500 seems a bit CRAZY for earphones, but as Shure has proven to be dedicated to providing an audio experience everyone can enjoy. The new line of earphones will be available to the public in February of this year.

(c) www.gadgetell.com

Avoid Scalding Burns With The Tip N’ Sip

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 14:53:00 +0000

by Andrew Liszewski

While I’ve already made my indifference towards coffee quite clear in earlier posts there are still plenty of hot beverages I do enjoy that have occasionally left me with severe internal burns.

To avoid this problem the creators of the Tip n’ Sip have added a special ‘temperature control chamber’ to the top of the mug that can be used to cool down your next sip while the rest of the beverage remains piping hot below. Just tip the mug to fill the top chamber with a mouthful of your drink and then swish it around a few times to take advantage of their “thermodynamic transfer technology!” which cools it down to the “perfect zone” of 150-170º. The lid of the mug can be locked making it leak and spill proof for traveling and the temperature control chamber can be bypassed all together if you prefer to walk on the wild side.

The Tip n’ Sip mug is available from the Herrington Catalog for $19.95.