e-Tech Gadget

I’m fairly sure that it was absolutely impossible to grow up and not have a small amount of love for Mr. Potato Head.  After all, you get to rip out all of his features and change his expressions.  Then if you’re feeling extra mischievous you could give him a quick sex change and turn him into Mrs. Potato Head.  If you still get a little mushy over Mr. Potato Head and love steampunk items, then this is one tutorial you shouldn’t pass up.

This little man was made using all sorts of materials.  A few of them were an X-Acto knife, a hot glue gun, some random discarded materials around the house (wire, metal piping, etc) and even some baking clay.  Sadly you can’t switch out his eyes for glasses or anything silly like that.  It’s a full 5 step process that might take a little time to pull off.  At least you have access to a handy little tutorial thanks to Instructables.

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Mr. Potato Head gets a steampunk makeover

AppleTV is getting serious, and smaller. In today’s fall event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs showed the new AppleTV and stunned many with how small it’s really become. A little larger than his palm, the new AppleTV comes with HDMI out, WiFi, Ethernet and is about 75% smaller than it’s predecessor.

Sporting a new remote, the AppleTV is all about streaming movies and TV shows in HD. And users will be able to forgo purchasing content and renting it instead. Cost of first run movies will be $4.99, with the price dropping as the films get older. TV shows are now a third the cost they once were at .99 each and commercial free. Currently, only ABC and Fox have joined the party, but users can also stream Netflix, watch YouTube, and enjoy photos from Flickr.

There’s no syncing, no storage, but users can also stream slideshows movies they already have on their computers and music thanks to it’s Ethernet connection. And in another cool feature, users of the iPad can transfer a movie they’re enjoying directly to the AppleTV to watch in HD on a larger screen thanks to AirPlay (formerly Air Tunes).
And in a HUGE price cut, the AppleTV has gone from $229 to just $99. Available next month.

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Is Apple getting serious with AppleTV?

Buttons are back on the new iPod Shuffle

Steve Jobs announced smaller and thinner iPods today at Apple’s Fall Music Event. With smaller, new designs for the iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano and a thinner, more powerful iPod Touch, Apple is poised to hit the entertainment market in music, movies and gaming like never before. And just in time for the Holidays.

Let’s start with the iPod shuffle. As if it couldn’t get smaller, it does. And the best part is, Apple has brought back buttons along with voiceover to make navigation of songs easier. The Shuffle is a tad larger than your thumb, has a clip, and has over 15 hours of battery life. In 5 colors (Blue, Pink, Green, Yellow, and Silver), the Shuffle will sell for $49 for 8GB.

46% Smaller and lighter, the new iPod Nano has multi-touch

The biggest change has come in the iPod Nano, which is now 46% smaller and is multi-touch. That means that Apple has dumped the control wheel and gone to complete touch navigation. It’s slightly larger than the Shuffle, which shows how small it really has become. Apple has dropped the video camera feature but has brought in a clip to make it easier to wear (which is great for athletes and runners) , has an FM Radio, Nike Pedometer, and 24 hours of battery life. Comes in seven colors (the same colors as the shuffle plus black and red) and starts at $149.

The new iPod Touch is as powerful as the iPad and even thinner.

Lastly, is the new iPod Touch, which has Apple’s blazing A4 processor and Apple’s pioneering HD Retina display with four times more pixels and an ultra sharp 326 ppi and 24-bit color. The iPod also sports the 3-axis gyro control and Apple also announced GAME CENTER, a social networking vehicle which will allow players to take on each other via WiFi in cyberspace playing a wide variety of games including a new game from Epic Games called Project Sword, and action packed RPG adventure with action happening in real time.
Additionally, the Touch will be able to take advantage of dual cameras and FaceTime with which it can communicate to iPhone 4 users and iPod Touch users over WiFi Video conferencing. And the latest iTunes has a great new social network called PING which enables fans to listen to new music from friends playlists, comment socially about it and download them on the spot. The iPod will also enjoy high dynamic range photography and HD video and be able to edit courtesy of the iMovie App.

The new iPod Touch goes on sale next week, just in time for Christmas for $229 / 8GB, $299/32GB and $399/64GB. With gaming, music, and HD movies, the new iPod Touch is going to be a hot item come Christmas.

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Apple Releases new line of small and powerful iPods

I don’t know about you, but I suppose that this is what our computers would look like today if certain technologies did not evolve the way that they did.

It is also a very complex project that you can do at home. Granted, it requires a lot of technical know-how in order to solder the essential parts together, plus others that you will probably have to buy.

You can check on my Source if you would like to try your hand at this one. It is sort of out of my tech league.

Still, like like the idea of having a computer with a keyboard that types like an old-fashioned typewriter. I suppose that we have since abandoned the typewriter for a reason, but we took away a certain aesthetic that has now been replaced with cold and practical soft clicking keys.

This device here reminds me of the computer/typewriters seen on the futuristic businessman’s desks in the movie Brazil. Yeah, a lot of that film was a pretty bleak, but I liked how some of the technology had a sort of vintage look to it.

In other words, I wouldn’t mind having one of these on my desk, and wouldn’t mind surfing the web with it.

Source

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Excerpt from:
A way to put a USB Typewriter on your desk

There have been many advancements in speech-to-text in the last few years. I’m sure that I’ll probably speaking these posts instead of typing them in the next few years, provided I’m not disturbing others in the room.

I’m sure that the hearing impaired would most benefit from speech to text technology, and this is what the Babel Fisk is supposed to do.

Designed by Mads Hindhede, the Babel Fisk has microphones built into the frame in order to pick up the voice of a person in the line of sight, and then an embedded speech-to-text program will create the text that is projected inside of the lenses.

You can even program it to record the text to a flash memory card for later use. So you can literally record everything that you hear as a text file.

The name of Babel Fisk is clearly a tip of the hat to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In that classic science-fiction satire, the characters had this tiny fish that they stuck in their ear known as a babel fish that could somehow miraculously translate any language spoken. Fisk apparently means “fish” in Danish.

Of course, this just has to be concept technology, and I’m not certain how well this would work, honestly. I mean, if you are with someone who is talking to much, would you literally be blinded by words?

Source

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Babel Fisk: Read what you are hearing

Every so often you come across something online that just sets off a few red flags.  You’re constantly having small facts thrown at you in articles and through random research that you do online to settle silly debates.  Yet every so often, you get that inkling of a hint that something seems fishy.  Although I’m all about this concept design, I really doubt parts of their facts.  Either way though, having something to keep your kitchen sanitary could be handy.

“The research” showed 10 areas that were bad as far as bacteria goes, such as a sponge, dishcloth, chopping board and refrigerator.  They then go on to say that the dishcloth and cutting board are difficult to sanitize and I’d have to disagree there.  A cutting board you just have to know the right chemical to use and a dishcloth just gets thrown in the laundry.  It’s entirely possible though that they know something I don’t, but none of my quick google runs have revealed any red flags over dishcloths.    However, if you just want a different way to clean flat objects, then this is a perfectly reasonable choice.  When it’s working it feeds the object through the machine and cleans as well as dries it.  Being still a concept from Chang Shin Gwak, this isn’t up for purchase just yet though.

Source: Yanko

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Pure System sanitizes kitchen items

This photo is being taken at a hot springs resort known as Atami, and this man is having his picture taken next to his virtual girlfriend.

Yes, this man is playing an extended version of the Nintendo DS game Love Plus Plus. The players of this game must keep their virtual girlfriends happy by throwing them birthday parties, going out on dates, etc.

Atami seems to be targeting their Love Plus Plus package as some very odd way of letting people spend time with their virtual girlfriends. There are about 12 spots at Atami with these augmented reality markers, and this one is a large pine tree known as Omiyanomatsu, a famous tree in a novel The Golden Demon by Koyo Ozaki.

This celebration of virtual girlfriends began on July 10, and already ended. More than 200 people came to the town for this, and it has drawn in about 2,000 visitors to the resort town overall.

Okay, this is probably the time to comment on virtual girlfriends. I’m not going to say what many would probably say about this. I’ll let you be the judge of this, just like I let you judge that exercise program with a mobile phone.

Still, a resort that sets up a romantic theme for those with virtual girlfriends? I don’t know what that says about us as a human race.

Source

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Show your virtual girlfriend a good time at Atami

Most women at least appreciate the look of a nice rose, which I suppose could be the reason that cheap gadget makers keep throwing them into their designs.  If you enjoy the plastic roses that have been tossed into past gadgets, then you might like this little rose.  It doesn’t just light up and look pretty though, this rose will play your music out loud while adding a little mood lighting to your room.

This is a small speaker that can hook up to iPods, MP3 players and any other device that you want audio from like your cellphone or PC.    In addition to that it also functions as an MP3 player itself by having a USB port and a SD/MMC card slot.  It has a built-in Lithium Ion battery to keep it powered.  Then the color lighting offers 7 different colors.  You can purchase it for $22 through USB Brando.

Source: GeekAlerts

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USB Rose Speaker with MP3 Player

If you would prefer that your outdoor speaker looked like it actually belonged in the outdoors then here is one more speaker that resembles a big rock.  Sure, it’s a rock with holes in it, but it does resemble a rock.  This rock will play your music whether it’s sunny out or pouring down rain.  Plus, since it is so rock-like, hopefully any thieves that made it into your backyard would overlook it.

The wireless speaker can be set up on your patio, in the garden or just sitting out on the grass.  It can play music for up to 7 hours on a signal charge from up to 150 feet away.  It has a rechargeable battery, but can also be plugged into the wall through the included AC adapter.  You can hook the transmitter up to your regular stereo or your iPhone/iPod.  If you want to hear the game a little better you can even hook it up to the TV.  You can pick one up for $149.99 through Grace Digital Audio.

Source: SlipperyBrick

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Continued here:
Weatherproof Wireless Rock Speakers

We know that kids these days who have had a taste of modern video games will probably pooh pooh the 8-bit and 16-bit titles of yore, mainly because there are no snazzy 3D graphics to look at. Well, that’s because they have a choice, but bundle them into a car on a 3-day long road trip and see whether they will change their mind or not. Instead of looking out the window and going through their favorite movies time and again, why not “torture” them with this product from Chinavasion? It is an in-car AV entertainment system which will swap out headrests on the front seats for two DVD players that have an LCD display, an FM transmitter and an NES/SNES emulator for the kids to enjoy, although the generic looking gamepads will make you lose some of that authentic feel. Heck, your $175 purchase even comes with a CD full of 550+ classic ROMS – of course, the legality of the situation is rather questionable. Perhaps this would help them appreciate Zelda in his 2D glory.

Product Page from OhGizmo

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Keep the kids occupied with headrest emulators