By Chris Scott Barr

If you’ve never read The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, I’d suggest picking it up. No, watching the movie definitely doesn’t count. One of the coolest ideas (of which there were many) in the book was the Babel Fish. It was a fish that was inserted into your ear, and magically translated any spoken language into one that you would understand. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Yahoo has a text translation service that shares the name.

So why am I babbling about the Babel Fish today? Because it would seem that Google is working on a bit of technology that will work in a similar way (but thankfully without inserting a fish in your ear). Their new speech-to-speech translator will take a person’s words and translate them on-the-fly while on their phone. The software would be installed on the speaker’s end, so that it can adapt over time to the person’s individual voice and speaking patterns, thus resulting in a better translation.

It would seem that this software is still in an early development stage, understandably so. As it is, their speech-to-text translations via Google Voice are laughable. My most recent message was from someone at “James Dot” telling me that my copy of “I Was Shocked” was in, and reminding me that I could bring some “James” to trade in towards the price. (The key words mis-translated were GameStop, Bioshock and Games, for those playing along at home.) Needless to say, I hadn’t the slightest clue who had called until I listened to the message.

VIA [ TimesOnline ]

It apparently wasn’t important enough to make the announcement roster during Samsung’s CES press conference, but the TicToc was on display at their booth and is a clever alternative to Apple’s iPod Shuffle. A built-in motion sensor makes switching tracks as easy as shaking the player, and it’s smart enough to cue up a slow song if shaken slowly, or a fast one if shaken vigorously, should you so desire.

On one end there’s a large button that’s used to power the TicToc on and off, but it’s also used, in conjunction with gravity, to adjust the volume. Hold the button with the player upside down and the volume will decrease, and vice versa. To be honest the gimmick actually seems like kind of a pain to use, but I’m sure it will appeal to the player’s target demographic which is somewhere in the tweens.

According to reps at their booth, the Samsung TicToc will be available later this year in 2 and 4GB capacities supporting MP3, WMA, OGG and FLAC audio formats with 12 hours of battery life. I’m going to assume it also comes with the syncing cradle pictured above, though the designer plastic sleeves used to customize the player’s appearance will be sold separately.

By Evan Ackerman

In a totally obvious move that has only taken years to implement (thanks Apple!), ZoomMediaPlus has released an SD card adapter for the docking port on iPhones and iPod Touches that allows you to transfer content between an SD card and the device. This is a useful accessory for a whole bunch of reasons… Carry it along with your digital camera to be able to view and upload pictures on the fly, for example. Or stuff a bunch of movies onto a big SD card for traveling. Using the zoomIt app, you can transfer files in both directions, which gives you the option of bypassing iTunes’ ludicrously draconian file sharing restrictions.

Personally, I hate iTunes. It’s slow, it’s bloated, and it makes it exceptionally difficult to do even the most basic things. I’d love to use the zoomIt’s accessory to be able to transfer, say, a couple songs onto my iPhone without having to suffer through iTunes. So obviously, the big outstanding is going to be file compatibility. The zoomIt website says that you can “view, listen to, and share all of your photos, music, video and files” which also includes PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and PDF files. If this works as advertised, I’d be more than willing to pay $50 (with a $10 pre-order discount) not to have to rely on iTunes ever again. Available in April.

[ zoomIt ] VIA [ iLounge ]

Today Openmoko announced the availability of the Spring 2010 software update for their WikiReader device. In addition to now including math equations which are rendered as crisp bitmap images, and updates to its database of 3+ million Wikipedia articles, the Spring 2010 update also improves the on-screen keyboard with animated key presses similar to the iPhone, fluid scrolling and a much needed, and much appreciated, back button for returning to previously searched articles. WikiReader owners can download the update for free, but if you’re less tech-savvy there’s a yearly subscription service which includes two pre-loaded microSD cards for $29.

And look for our review of the WikiReader, with the updated software, in the coming weeks.

[ Openmoko WikiReader ]

The first thing you probably said to yourself after seeing the MotKey was, “Wait a minute, didn’t LaCie already release a key-shaped USB flash drive?” And the answer to that of course would be yes. But LaCie’s keys feature slimmer form factors, stainless steel finishes and larger capacities. But what the MotKey has going for it is a rubberized finish and a design making it look more like a key to your car, perfect if that’s a feature at the top of your flash drive wish list. It supports Windows, Macs and Linux systems and presumably any other OS or device that claims flash-drive compatibility, and is available in a 4GB version for $14.95 or an 8GB version for $24.95.

[ MotKey ] VIA [ SlashGear ]

By Chris Scott Barr

If you’re still rocking an original Xbox, you might want to take note. Starting April 15th, Microsoft will be discontinuing support for all original Xbox games. Yes, that also means that your old copies of Halo 2 won’t work on Live, even if played in your shiny new 360. You’ll need to have a good old-fashioned LAN party if you want to play those titles with a significant amount of players.

So why the lack of love for Microsoft’s original console? It seems that the company is working on some updates that wouldn’t be possible to implement with the current limitations of these titles. They’re fairly mum on what these new features will be, though it likely has something to do with the Project Natal which is supposed to drop later this year.

[ Microsoft ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

In reality, the Cool Shades Tape from Azumi and David is meant to be nothing more than just a stylish alternative to boring, clear packing tape. But there’s nothing stopping you from tearing off a few inches and wearing it as a disposable, yet cool, fashion accessory. They’re available in two different flavors, Disc Jockey & Supermodel glasses, or Architect & Intellectual, and each 60mm wide/60m long roll is available from Azumi and David’s online store for about $17.

[ Cool Shades Tape ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Evan Ackerman

Lithium ion batteries are way, way better than nickel metal hydride batteries or (shudder) nickle cadmium batteries. But still, batteries are batteries, and they have a way of going from cool to sucks in a matter of only a few hundred charging cycles, whatever their supposed lifetimes are purported to be. The six cell battery on my netbook, which incidentally cost about a third as much as the entire computer, was advertised as being able to last six hours, lasted four brand new, and is now (a year later) down to three on a good day.

By doing something clever involving keeping tin particles bonded together, a Japanese company called Eamex is saying that they’ve been able to develop a battery that can be charged and discharged some 10,000 times, which means that they should last about 20 years if you recharge them about 1.3 times a day. Also, they’re talking about having a battery with a power density of 10,000 W/kg by the end of the year. Most of this stuff is probably headed for electric cars and such, at least initially… Guess it’s time to go buy one of those, then.

Oh, and I spent 20 minutes looking for an interesting picture of a lithium ion battery. I couldn’t find one, so instead here’s a picture of a bunny with a pancake on his head.

[ Eamex ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Evan Ackerman

The internet can be a lonely place. You have no idea who you’re really talking to, whether they claim to be a 48 year old guy in his mom’s basement or a hot lonely teenage girl (like me), which is why instead of real people, you need Chatman. Chatman is a friendly yellow PC accessory who has no secrets and is “destined to become every kids new best mate” thanks to some fancy artificial intelligence software. Chatman spies on your instant messages, web surfing, gaming, and social networks and somehow “gets involved” by “tell[ing] you exactly what he thinks and how he feels about the discussions exchanged.”

In addition to moving eyes, arms, ear things, and an LED emoticon mouth, Chatman has 3 personality options, 25 moods (whatever that means), and over 500 different actions. You can program Chatman with new actions and stuff, but before he’ll use them, they have to get approved by his parent corporation. Incidentally, while Chatman won’t actually prevent you from visiting no-no websites, he will tattle back to your parents and verbally chastise you. There isn’t a lot of information on these features specifically, and that makes it all seem a little bit sinister, like Chatman is actually designed to be some nanny software in a kid-friendly and “fun” (sort of) disguise. Your friendly, round, and yellow little bit brother should be available around Easter for nobody knows how much.

[ re:creation ] VIA [ Pocket Lint ]

The Beauty and Cosmetics Industry is going through a serious transformation and Shiseido is amongst the leading companies driving this change to make you look better. Shiseido has just launched a Digital Cosmetic Mirror which allows you to test your make-up without even having to pick up a Mascara brush. The in-built camera in Digital Cosmetic Mirror scans your face and gives you tailored recommendations. Choose your make-up options from the list of recommendations and see the results they’ll have on the screen.

Virtual Make up is easy and more importantly, it’s quick!

[ Shiseido ] VIA [ Ubergizmo ]