by Donald Melanson, posted Aug 15th 2008 at 1:19PM Built-in breathalyzers haven’t become quite the mainstay that many other features have in GPS units, but it looks like they’re starting to become a bit more common, with AVMap only the latest to debut a navigator that promises to tell you if you’re fit to drive or not. Apparently, its new Geosat 6 Drive Safe navigator is a standalone version of the built-in option that was available on Peugot’s 107 “Sweet Years” edition car, with it boasting the same 4.8-inch touchscreen, built-in Bluetooth, and text-to-speech features as before. No word on a price just yet, unfortunately, and it seems safe to assume that this one will only be available in Europe.
by Darren Murph, posted Aug 15th 2008 at 7:17AM For those out there who’ve already doused their grille in platinum, Fabio Dabori’s sponge-loaded toothbrush could double as the ultimate wax machine. For everyone else still rockin’ the pearly off-whites, surely this thing is more comfortable than those stiff bristles found on the vast majority of brushes today. The Giro Sponge concept is an electric teeth cleaner that features a soft, round head that’s particularly kind to babies and grown-ups with sensitive gums. Word has it that Mr. Dabori has patents on the idea and is hoping to get it on store shelves soon, and we can already see that those cutesy replaceable heads will be a huge hit with the kiddos.
What are the best gadgets to buy for the upcoming school year? It’s really all about what you actually need versus what you think will look cool or is the most expensive.
Earlier this morning, I hosted a Back-To-School online discussion for the Washington Post where I went over similar burning questions from parents and students. The biggest trend spotted through the questions? People want their gadgets cheap, powerful, and efficient. With the mini-notebooks (and others) offering plenty of affordable, Net-plugged rigs, people are now realizing that their options are no longer limited to a few companies and their expensive products.
But there are plenty of other quality educational tools for students beyond laptops. I also blogged about the educational possibilities of the Kindle, a few of the top websites for kids, and why bringing a voice recorder to class is a must.
Check out the full transcript of the discussion at The Washington Post site. And if you have any questions about back-to-school gadgets, or want to send us a tip, please send me an email at jose_fermoso@wired.com.
Gadget Lab 2.0: Jose Fermoso’s Twitter feed; Gadget Lab on Facebook.
Remember books? You know, before the internet was big and people read stuff on paper? Well, if you want to be a true gadget geek you have to go beyond reading blogs, says Inside Tech’s Eric Dahl. And he’s compiled a list of 50 "must read" books every geek should read.
Rather than barrage you with all 50 titles, I thought I’d pluck out a few that I think Gadget Lab readers would especially enjoy:
The Evolution of Useful Things, Henry Petroski A fascinating read that explains the origins of everyday objects and why they’re designed the way they are: Think zippers, forks and paper clips. Zippers are pretty freaking amazing when you think about it.
The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness, Steven Levy The story behind how perhaps the trendiest gadget of all time came to be.
The Future of Ideas, Lawrence Lessig I love this book. Lessig illustrates the dangers of losing "free space" in the internet world. Just imagine your blog getting sued because there’s a picture of you holding an ipod. This is a definite a must read for any internet/tech enthusiast.
Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire, Jim Erickson Just how did the Microsoft mastermind do it? This is the entire story.
Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made, Andy Hertzfeld Similar to the book above — but this isn’t the biography of Steve Jobs. It’s about the engineers who actually built the first Mac. You can’t call yourself a Mac fan boy unless you’ve read this one.
50 Books Every Geek Should Read [Inside Tech] (Thanks, Eric!)
We have two gadget competitions running this week, we have the identify the mystery gadget (£80 worth of prizes) and now onto regular coolest gadget of the week ($50 Amazon voucher again up for grabs), to enter for the draw simply vote for this week’s coolest gadget and leave a comment with your reasoning. Good luck, now onto the entries.
M400 Skycar: Fly me to the moon… or to work will do just fine
The M400 Skycar is the first feasible, personally affordable personal vertical take off and landing vehicle. In other words, it’s a flying car! It’s similar to another concept featured on Gaj-it, but much cooler in terms of looks, speed, and usability. It features storage for your groceries and is up to three times faster than any light helicopter today.
The full post can be found on Gaj-It.
Digital pasta timer spoon
If you need help in the kitchen department, this might be the answer. Just key in the type of pasta you’re cooking, its weight and how you like your pasta done and it’ll give you a perfect plate of pasta every time.
The full post can be found on Decide What to Buy.
ColorRight - Custom White Balance Gets Easy
I cannot express the simplicity and accuracy of this device enough. For those of you who never use custom white balance, the “wow” factor you get out of your first image will blow you away. For those of you that use a white card or try to snap your white balance off some guy’s white t-shirt, I’m sure that you can see the potential that ColorRight could have in your shooting.
The full post can be found on Photographybay.
Takoyaki aka Octopus Ball Maker
Anyone who visits the Osaka area knows takoyaki, the fluffy octopus balls made on the streets and sold at festivals. Good Takoyaki is a source of pride, and it’s difficult to make on your own, but the Takoyaki Factory Ton Ton just makes it look so easy!
The full post can be found on RGS.
Geeky Furniture - The Periodic Coffee Table
The Periodic Coffee table measures 4 ft x 2.5 ft x 16 inches, and if features all the 92 natural elements as well as all of the man made elements actually built in to the table.
Don’t worry though, all the dangerous ones are marked by a radioactive symbol, and according to the manufacturer they are totally safe.
The full post can be found on Geeky gadgets.
cell phone Jammer
I hate being stuck on a train when some idiot is yelling down a phone (for some reason callers need to shout when in confined public spaces), this nifty gadget fixes that, the Portable Cell Phone Jammer. Now if only they’d make one to work with MP3 players.
The full post can be found on CG.
Thanks to all the sites for their submissions now over to you guys for voting (don’t forget to leave a comment with your reason for a chance to win a $50 Amazon voucher) :
I think this weeks coolest gadget is
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If you write for a gadget themed blog and wish to be included in next weeks contest check out the CGOTW instructions page.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes there are jealous people who walk by a spanking new sports car only to vent their feelings in a negative manner by leaving a nice, long scratch on the shiny paintwork. With the Car Camera, it won’t stop this from happening but at least it is able to record the wrongdoing and used “for legal or insurance purpose” at a later point in time. The Car Camera is able to take in SD memory cards up to 2GB in size, where the recorded file will be saved into the memory card automatically. You can view the recorded video on a PC or TV through the AV cable. The camera can also be mounted inside the vehicle thanks to a couple of sticky pads, but it won’t be of much use should somebody decide to permanently borrow your car!
Some of you may remember back in 2006 when Microsoft Research and the University of Washington first unveiled Photosynth, a system for creating 3D models formulated from combining hundreds or thousands of images.
The technology behind Photosynth has continued to progress and an updated version has been presented at SIGGRAPH this week. The original system just put together collections of photos to form a detailed 3D view, but this latest version takes the process one step further.
Rather than just putting the images together it looks at them with some intelligence. Now if you rotate round an object it moves smoothly between the images as the software has taken into account the angle of view and the angles the different pictures were taken out. Other features include the ability to display:
Orbital views
Panoramas
Viewpoints of interest based on what object you are looking at
The system also allows for optimized transitions between the different views giving a smooth, flowing camera experience.
The video above demonstrates just what the system is capable of and it can also be compared to the original Photosynth video from 2006, found on the Microsoft Research Photo Tourism web page.
Read more at istartedsomething.com
Matthew’s Opinion It’s amazing how much detail can be pooled from all these pictures taken of the same objects from ever so slightly different angles. The close up and rotation of the statue is probably the best example and the demo at the end of the video where they hold and turn a character in the hand really shows off what it can do.
If you combined Google Earth, all the pictures uploaded to sites such as Flickr and this software I bet you could generate detailed views of just about any area of developed countries around the world. The applications for such a tool have both positives and negatives and it will be interesting to see how they continue to develop this system and what another couple of years will produce from it.
OCZ has just released its Core Series V2 SATA II 2.5″ SSD drive that offers some pretty mind-numbing figures when it comes to speeds, reaching 170MB/s read as well as 98Mb/s write times. There isn’t any further information from OCZ concerning the prices of this new range, but it is a step in the right direction by OCZ to help lower the prices of SSDs to help us consumers out. Maximum capacity of the Core Series V2 has also been bumped up to 250GB, while the inclusion of a mini USB port makes it’s firmware upgradeable in the future, enabling it to keep up with the rest of the competition even in the future.
Hmm, they say that talking to your plants can be therapeutic - both for you and the plants themselves. Well, why not hook up a MP3 recording of your voice to the Sonic Impact Planter Speaker? That way, you can continue “pampering” your plants with your soothing voice even when you’re not around thanks to modern technology. Those who have not fallen that far down the rabbit hole can instead use these Planter Speakers to enjoy a spot of Mozart or Bach while gardening. Each planter comes with 35 watts of sound and are waterproof (duh!), more than capable of handling the harsh outdoor temperatures. Green fingers are not included with each purchase.
This $37 Memory Foam Neck Pillow doesn’t just provide you with a welcome place to rest your neck during the hectic work week, it even boasts integrated speakers that could help lull you to snoozeland with the right tunes. It must be plugged to an external audio source (ipod, PC, mp3 player) for optimal effect, and can conform itself to your individual needs. The speakers are located right beside your ears, helping keep sound around your area and not elsewhere. How come she is fooling around with her iPod nano instead of getting some work done?
