Throw your SatuGO!

http://www.satugo.com/

Simply throw SatuGO into the motive to catch the moment, where it hits you get a picture, or take air photos by activating the timer before throwing (it)(…) SatuGO is based on a simple wish to be able to take more fun and edgy pictures where the photographer is part of the action.

Camera tossing is a technique for taking pictures by throwing a camera in mid- air; it is fun and quite addictive, but it can be quite risky too, especially for newcomers: -“I failed to catch the camera, and it almost broke!”, a reader told me yesterday. Even though there´s many of us who have at least one old digital camera that we can afford to break, not every cheapo webcam has a built-in timer, which limits very much the scope of results you can obtain. In this way, I certainly can’t but Continue reading Throw your SatuGO!

A secret vault for the informed superhero

http://www.hiddenpassageway.com/

Twist a candlestick and your fireplace rotates, granting access to a hidden room(…)

Being a superhero is exciting but also has its drawbacks. It is a demanding occupation that tends to interfere with your personal life, hence the need to keep your public identity safe. Even if you live alone you will surely receive visits every now and then; I bet you can remember at least one or two times when you had to Continue reading A secret vault for the informed superhero

The world´s smallest microphone!… for sure?

the smallest wireless microphone in the world, the XSDT or “eXtra-Super-Damn-Tiny.”(…) with a 1x1mm capsule area, provides an astounding frequency response of 5Hz to 120kHz(…) the XSDT-ALK which uses an alkaline AA battery, providing 38 minutes of operational time; and the XSDT-LITH using a lithium battery providing 1 hour and 15 minute operational time. Due to the permanently installed battery on each unit, the XSDT must be discarded once the battery dies. MSRP for the XSDT-ALK: $499.99, for the XSDT-LITH: $699.99.

Just let me add something: this information was first published last saturday, April 1st- and yes, it´s an April fools joke, albeit a very interesting one.

I was browsing Digg just a few hours ago when I found a piece of news about this microphone. I clicked the headline to see what it was about, which got me to mobilemag.com. I then read the description and decided to write an article on the microphone, since I found it quite odd that it was attached to a big battery and was so expensive for such a short life span. By that time I didn’t doubt it was a real product; I just hadn’t taken the time to decypher the acronym (we’re faced with weird acronyms everyday: I know it, you know it, every NaN out there knows it), and though 120 KHz sounded quite excessive (we humans hear on average up to 22KHZ), it backed the statement that the mic was “astounding”. All in all, I thought it was a weird microphone, though surely appealing to Continue reading The world´s smallest microphone!… for sure?

The Ufo detectors

http://www.imagesco.com/ufo/index.html

Over the years many UFO sightings have reported magnetic and electromagnetic disturbances. The UFO Detector is designed to sense these disturbances and will signal their presence by flashing an LED and beeping.

I don’t dare to say that there’s people out there who would actually buy these UFO detectors for the sake of… well, detecting UFOs, but you never know. Anyway, from a nerdologist point of view I think they could be classified as gadgets, as they are small, expensive and, unless you live near Roswell, you don’t really need them (but still want to try them, eh…).

By the way, don’t miss the explanation of how they work. Since asking a local ET to fly nearby to try the device seems a little bit unpractical (lots of bureaucracy, mainly), at least they give several alternative ways to see that it works (whatever that means).

All in all, these UFO detectors, though expensive, are probably the best gift for those who want to believe (sing the soundtrack with me: nanananán-nanán-nan-nin-nin-nin-nin).

The FlipFold

http://www.flipfold.com/

Use FlipFOLD for folding your pants, shorts, skirts…even towels and sheets!

Some days ago I wrote about an easy technique to fold Tshirts by hand. I have been using it since then with good results, though the technique renders irregular results: some shirts look better folded than others, some of them are better centered…

Here’s when a little bit of industrial revolution comes in handy: The FlipFold (yet another inspired name) is a very simple machine designed to Continue reading The FlipFold

Forecoming gadgets: round, interactive and shaky

When I first wrote an article on Hitachi’s waterscape, I defined the device as a “study for new, more intuitive ways of accessing data in electronic devices”, also pointing out that the technology could also be useful for playing interactive videogames. Now, it seems that other major companies Continue reading Forecoming gadgets: round, interactive and shaky

Meet the Pliws!

http://www.pliws.com
Original site, in Korean and English.
http://www.superrollers.com
Very informative Australian-N.Zealand distributor site.

an abreviation for PLay In WheelS(…) two wheeled flashing roller skate that attaches to the heel of your skate or sport type shoe(…) you can fit them to your favourite shoes and as your feet grow or you change shoe preference, you can simply adjust them to suit the new shoe instead of being limited to the pair of the shoes with the wheels in them!

On my way back from Canada (which I like more every time I go, though Ottawa’s streets are really slippery in winter) to Santiago I went through Amsterdam, so I had to stay at the Schiphol airport for a few hours. I decided to spend the time visiting the airport rather than sleeping, mainly because sleeping wouldn’t make me feel any better but also because the three times I have been there this was the first one where I could actually Continue reading Meet the Pliws!

Modular behaviours: cube world&cubees

http://www.radicauk.com/product/05%20-%2075039.htm

Play with one or stick two or more cubes together to build an interactive world(…) As you stack, they’ll interact and visit one another’s cubes.

http://www.takara-usa.com/toys/cubee/index.php

(…) if you interconnect additional Cubees, the one on top of the singing pyramid will belt out the lead while the others “sing” back-up.

Even though the possibilities of interaction between electronic toys has been already explored for a while (like in the most recent versions of the Tamagotchi or the Digimon), it looks as though there’s a new generation of toys on the horizon which are characterized by their ability to interact with each other regardless of the active presence of the user.

These toys generally come shaped as cubes which provide special connectors on several of their sides. Each cube is entertaining by itself, but in order for the interactions to happen, the user should Continue reading Modular behaviours: cube world&cubees

Shake that waterscape,

or the maraca PDA

http://hhil.hitachi.co.jp/products/waterscape-e.html

To allow browsing of information in a passive and relaxed way, we have developed a prototype personal digital assistant (PDA) terminal with no buttons at all. By operating the terminal with simple tilting and shaking gestures, contents such as movies and music can be enjoyed.

In a former article (see below), I wrote about the increasing importance of what I called “gestural control”, which I had already been following in relation to musical intruments and seems to be slowly finding its way into everyday life (it even went mainstream when it was used in the videogame “Black&White”, for instance). In this case, Hitachi shows us a little neat device, merely a screen, where several icons (bubbles) literally “float” around. Tilting the device will displace those bubbles in such a way that when one of them gets to a “hotspot”, located in the center of the screen, it will reveal its contents, which the user can select in the same way. A second different gesture, that of shaking the device, provides a means to “go back” or deselect the current feature.

As a prototype, the waterscape is a study for new, more intuitive ways of accessing data in electronic devices. However, there are Continue reading Shake that waterscape,

Look up the lights, you know my number

Design is very often, perhaps even mostly, a struggle in between aesthetics and function. The masterpieces of design would then be those which excel in both aspects without compromising any, but usually though, tradeoffs are made in favour of either one or the other; the success of the result depends on there being a good reason for the imbalance, one which makes the bias worthwhile, and the ultimate proof of its success, the ability of the users to feel, even better verbalize, said reason.

I hope that the paragraph above will give a new perspective on the deep meaning of the at times blamed as shallow term “cOol”, as in: why do I like so much a clock so hard to read? because it´s sooo cOol!!! ;P

Ps: Actually, I found a different breed of “visual clock” that is easier to read : the TIX Led Clock.