It's always good to see technology put to helpful uses, rather than merely being just a timesink. That said, I'm not sure about these ABS Avalanche backpacks, which are supposedly designed to prevent you from being buried in the snow when the mountain comes down on you.
The pack works kind of like an automobile's airbag. When the avalanche starts, you pull a ripcord, which inflates two large pouches, totaling 150 litres of additional volume. Hopefully, that's enough to keep you on top of the snow, which greatly increases your odds of both surviving and helping others survive.
It's a very cool idea, and assuming it works well, the almost $400 asking price isn't that much to pay. A lot of people die from avalanches because they're not prepared; hopefully, this could tip the odds back in the other direction, when used with proper safety precautions and equipment.
[via Shiny Shiny]
I wasn't sure how much the Korean manufacturer of these light-up umbrellas had intended for them to be referred to as lightsaber umbrealls. Until I went to the product page and scrolled down a bit. First I caught sight of a caption reading "Light Saber Umbrella." Okay. Maybe it's a joke.Then I scrolled down some more to find a picture of Obi-Wan Kenobi fighting Darth Maul. All right then.
Until that, I thought maybe they were echoing more Blade Runner than Star Wars. Oh well. Should you be interested in owning an umbrella that lights up like the sci-fi prop of your choice, you'll be happy to know they can be snagged for around $40, in your choice of white, red, and blue.
The lights are generated by an LED bulb, which is powered by AA batteries. Any more information is pretty much dependent on knowledge of Korean.
[via CrunchGear]
The gamers of Europe have been busy rejoicing for the arrival of the PlayStation 3, while the law enforcement of Europe has no doubt been busy preparing for an onslaught of shootings, robberies, and other generally violent activity that seems to follow the console wherever it goes.
But it looks like there's another factor that may incite an uproar in PS3 fans on the continent. Sony has announced that the PAL-compatible systems will use "a new hardware specification" that focuses on "developing new games and entertainment features exclusively for PS3, truly taking advantage of this exciting technology...Rather than concentrate on PS2 backwards compatibility."
The result? The PS3 will be "compatible with a broad range of original PlayStation® (PS) titles and a limited range of PlayStation®2 (PS2) titles." Ouchy. Besides Europe, this version of the console is headed out to Africa, Australasia, and the Middle East. As if they didn't have enough problems on their hands already.
My Canon PowerShot A510 takes surprisingly decent video for a still camera. And it makes sense, when you think about it, that video and still cameras would get closer and closer together. Now, Canon's new PowerShot TX1 combines them in a surprisingly low-priced, attractive package that's got me thinking it might be time to upgrade.
The TX1 can take still shots at 7.1 megapixels, as well as record video at 720p HD. There's also a 10x optical zoom lens, ISO settings from 80 to 1600, face recognition, an orientation sensor (think horizontal vs. vertical, not north and south), and more. All for a very slick $500. While this probably won't get you professional quality video, and the lack of a microphone in port is certainly a bummer, at that price, it's well-positioned as an entry-level camcorder for budding young filmmakers. Think of it as the 8mm for the digital age and without any of the unpleasant Nicolas Cage associations.
The TX1 is Windows and OS X compatible, but no release date has been set yet.
[via Engadget]
And still this whole "finding more difficult ways to tell time" train just keeps on rolling. This time we're appealing to that breed of people who just have a burning need to spend a ridiculous amount of money on something that looks trendy. You know who I mean.
So it's little surprise that the clock in question comes from the mind of the Art. Lebedev Studio, best known for their Optimus line of products. The Verbarius tells you the time—but not in numbers, oh no. That would be far too easy. Every time you "ask" it to tell you the time (via a button or something, one presumes), it will write out the time as something like "forty-five minutes past five," or "fifteen minutes to six," or "quarter 'til never." By default, it ships with five languages: English, Russian, German, Spanish and French, though you can supposedly upload different languages via your PC (the Verbarius includes a USB cable).
Nifty, sure, but I don't exactly have $158 dollars to spare for a clock, even a gregarious one. Now if they finish that OLED keyboard, maybe we can talk. Verbarius is available for pre-order now; it'll be shipping around November 1st.
[via Gizmodo]
As far as I know, there are still plans to release a Star Wars TV series sometime in the next couple years. But until then, you'll have to sate your fetish for a galaxy far far away by other means. May I humbly suggest an R2-D2 trash can?
It's a natural combination, when you think about it. I mean, R2-D2 is, after all, more trash can shaped than any other droid—okay, except maybe a GNK model Power Droid. Fine.
But nobody's making GNK Power Droid trashcans, are they, smart guy? Yeah. I mean, you'll still have to pay $150 for this 24" tall R2 trash can. And while his dome pops open with the press of a foot pedal, don't expect him to launch your lightsaber skyward or start projecting holograms. For that, you'll need to get the R2-D2 projector. Then, they can fight.
[via I4U News]
Here's the thing about technology: just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Like a Voice-Activated Answering Machine. Is it really so onerous to have a little light that tells you there are messages and then to press a button to hear said messages? I like to think I've gotten pretty good at pressing buttons in the last twenty-seven years (zing!).
This brilliant piece of engineering comes, of course, from Hammacher Schlemmer (motto: selling over-priced crap since 1825). To activate it, simply say "answering machine." For hours of hilarity, be sure to leave a message containing the phrase "answering machine," thus propelling your expensive toy into a deranged infinite loop. Also, in case you're wondering, it's really only funny the first time somebody mistakes it for an Art Deco ashtray.
A warning: it's tuned to "American" English, so you Brits and Aussies are out of luck (Canadians may be able to sneak by, but I make no promises). The price point is $250, or, roughly five times the cost of the previous most expensive answering machine you were likely to buy.
[via GadgetLab]
Honestly, I'm sure I've seen stranger places for a USB port than on a tape dispenser. It's just that none of them are really coming to mind right now. And I'm disappointed—to the point of despair!—that the USB ports don't somehow enhance my tape-dispensing experience.
It's essentially just a USB hub though, what is cool is that the three downstream ports swivel 180°, making it easier to accommodate devices with non-standard plugs. It's fully USB 2.0 compatible, works with Mac and Windows, and is available in both masking tape and Scotch tape sizes.
The one downside? The manufacturer, EarthTrek, deals in volume and custom branding. So it's great if I were, say, to get a hundred Gadgetbox USB tape dispensers made, but not so good if you're talking about just for yourself.
[via Ubergizmo]
The IEEE, official winner of the "acronym most fun to pretend its a word" contest, may not have yet approved the next generation of local wireless networking, but that doesn't mean they're not hard at work on other sorts of wireless technologies. Wi-Fi's big brother, WiMax, has just received a bump to the ol' standard in the form of increased throughput.
And they're not dumb: they're raising the speeds to 1 Gbps and mandating backwards compatibility with existing WiMax radios. In the time-honored tradition of the alphanumeric jumble, this flavor is being called 802.16m. That's right: it's delicious 'M' WiMax.
As if that wasn't enough, IEEE says that 'M' will meet the International Telecommunication Union's standards for the 4G wireless standards (that's what we get once we pass 3G, natch). The date for 'M' is hovering in 2009, but with that whole 802.11n thing still on the plate, that could probably change. And given that the deployment of even non-M WiMax gear is still pretty sparse, I wouldn't delay any purchases.
[via Engadget]
