Gadgets Future

In the future, we might be ruffling our clothes to power our PDAs, cell phones, or PMPs. As crazy as that might sound, scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology found a way to power smaller gadgets with the use of our everyday clothing. This is made possible by the piezoelectric effect principle, which entails producing energy by applying pressure on certain materials. The piezoelectric effect has been utilized for centuries, and to tap into its potential is a given as we continue our foray into discovering more alternative forms of energy.

The researchers cover each fiber of the fabric in zinc oxide nanowires measuring 50nm in diameter, which is so thin, it’s 1,800 thinner in measure than a single human hair. Alternating fibers are covered in gold that rub against the zinc oxide nanowires, producing piezoelectric charge captured by the gold material. This charge is fed into a circuit, and could then be used to power electronic products. Although not proven yet, the head of the research conjectures that a square meter fabric woven with the required materials could produce enough energy (80 milliwatts electricity) to recharge PMPs.

In my opinion, the best thing about this potential energy source is that it takes no large effort on the user’s part. There aren’t handles to crank, no panels to expose to direct sunlight — merely the rustling of the material in the wind, for example, could provide the energy you need. However, as great as it sounds, it seems the realization of this new technology is still far off into the future. After all, zinc oxide is not waterproof, and the research team is yet to figure out how to solve this dilemma.

via

GOX Pure Oxygen In A Can

Go-X is 99,5% pure oxygen that will re-energise you when you are feeling low.Perfect For The Morning After The Night Before….It is quite easy to use. Simply swing in the trip lever and put the inhaler cup over mouth and nose. Then press the trip lever down for 1-2 sec. and inhale deeply at the same time. Inhale at least 5 times for each application. The contents are enough for aproxx. 40 inhalations.UsesBrain power can be increased by 40% Will lesson the effects of a hangover Alternative medicine

Technorati Tags: Tech Toys

Touchpad Pro is an amazing hack which lets you remote control your Mac or PC from an iPhone. As ever, you’ll need to have jailbroked your iphone (or ipod Touch). If you have a PC, there’s a little VNC tinkering to be done first, but with a Mac, you only need to have screen-sharing turned on (in OS X 10.4 and earlier it’s called Apple Remote Desktop).

Afterwards, your iPhone is now an external, remote touchpad for your computer. I tested it with an iPod Touch and it works perfectly. It’s as responsive as the built-in pad on a Macbook, and also brings some sweet extras: you can pinch to zoom, just like the iPhone, and flicking the screen results in the same gentle scroll we’ve come to love.

Product page [TouchPadPro]

Jung-Hyun Lee’s bookmark might not make opening a book any easier, but it does at least utilize a muscle group more developed in today’s gamepad-bashing youngsters. The Abracadabra slides between the pages. Closing the book squishes air into the outer tab, and when squeezed between the finger and thumb, air is forced back in, open the pages a crack for easy grabbing.

This rather pointless device is a concept design, and will doubtless remain so forever, along with its pot-plant storage “tree”.

Product page [Yanko]

You’re walking along New York’s 59th Street, proudly carrying your shiny new macbook air. You trip on a pothole and take a face-dive toward the pavement.

Do you a) Save yourself, letting the Mac take the impact. Hell, it might not break, and that scratch will be a badge of honor. Or b) Protect your shiny toy at the expense of your own head. Hell, it might not break, and that scar will be a badge of honor.

If you are journalist and gadget-freak Charlie Rose, the correct answer is b), with the result clearly visible in the picture above. According to Rose’s office, “The Macbook Air is fine, he showed us the blood stains on it this morning.”

Mr. Rose, we salute your dedication to disposable electronic goods.

Charlie Rose Face Plants To Save His MacBook Air [Tech Crunch]

While the Nokia 3555 may look like (and it is) your basic clamshell style phone, it does have one good thing going for it, the 3g support. The Nokia 3555 also includes a standard array of features to include a VGA camera with 4x digital zoom, video capture and playback, stereo Bluetooth, instant messaging, FM radio, built-in music player and a microSD card slot for additional storage.

The MyFaves compatible Nokia 3555 is currently available for just $49.99 after an instant discount and a two-year agreement.

Product [T-Mobile]

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Pentax has recently introduced the 8-megapixel V20, a seemingly worthy addition to Pentax’s point-and-shoot camera line. The V20 boasts of a 5x zoom lens aside from the high megapixels, plus a generous LCD screen that measures 3-inches.

The V20 is a stylish and ultra-slim camera that also comes with three more innovative features: Face Recognition, Smile Capture, and the Blink Detection. Face Recognition detects faces and automatically sets the camera’s exposure to a maximum. The Smile Capture, on the other hand, enables the camera to only shoot if the subject is already smiling, just like an other new cameras now. Blink Detection impresses by alarming the camera user when subjects’ eyes are closed for a possible retake. Additional features also include Auto-Macro mode for taking photos as near as 4-inches for a better take at close-up photography and the Auto-tracking AF mode for moving subjects.

The new camera from Pentax doesn’t impress much but it’s definitely an upgrade to their older models. The Pentax Optio V20 starts shipping in May for only $279.95.

Via [Engadget]

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When I started out in business (dinosaurs still roamed the earth), women had no choice in laptop bags; you had to use a “man” bag, a boring black utilitarian-looking thing. Thank goodness that’s all changed.

Today we have choices of laptop bags that look like stylish, expensive handbags: fun, flirty ones that weigh nothing yet cradle your laptop, rock n’ roll choices, retro bags, functional yet pretty roller bags. Your bag says as much about you as your FaceBook page these days.

In our ongoing effort to narrow down choices for our discerning readers, we present a round-up of road-tested laptop bags. (For those of you taking notes, our scientific study utilized a 15-inch MacBook, with all the peripherals, and unless otherwise noted, all tested fit a 15.4 inch laptop.) And we will be giving away one of almost all these bags, so make sure you’re signed up to our newsletter!

MADDIE POWERS by Mobile Edge for Her

No one is going to mistake you for a staid executive with this sassy laptop bag called the “Maddie Powers,” which holds up to holds up to a 15.4″ laptop. You probably already know Mobile Edge for their superior bags, but recently they decided to start designing for women. As the company spokesman says, “We knew we were missing something. We then decided to break down our collections into two categories, one ‘For Her’ and one ‘For Him.’ It is that simple. Our women’s Collection was designed by women for women.” As you can see, the Maddie Powers collection (priced at $90) showcases the covers of authentic pulp magazines & digest novels from the 1940s and 1950s.

What’s to love about this bag:

Posted Mar 17th 2008 11:49PM by Paul Miller
Filed under: Transportation
Remember a few dozen years ago when we heard the first batch of 100 Tesla Roadsters had sold out? Us neither, but we’re assuming those were heady days. Since then we’ve seen delays, setbacks and untimely retirements, but Tesla Motors claims it finally has the car under production, and is naturally taking orders for the 2009 run — 900 cars have been reserved so far. Despite the concrete language in this press release, we’ll believe it when these silent beasts start hitting the road. And run our cycling-asses down.

Dell has announced that they will be selling a $289, 20-inch lcd monitor called the UltraSharp 2009W LCD. It features 1680 x 1050 native resolution, 2000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time, and four USB 2.0 ports. Sounds like a good deal to me.
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