Gadgets and just Gadgets

Mustek announces digital photo frame and alarm clock and….

Do you hate your alarm clock? I sure know I do. I’m still not sold on digital photo frames and I think it’s safe to say most you aren’t either. I only know one person who owns one.

But what would you say to a digital photo frame that’s also an alarm clock? What if it had a calendar, indoor temperature gauge and MP3 player? I sure as heck would want one of those. Well, Mustek has a 7-inch model, PF-E700, that does all that and supports SD/SDHC/MMC/MS-Pro Duo/CF memory cards. It also plays AVI files and supports M-JPEG formats. Oh, and the alarm clock does have a snooze button. Just be sure you don’t include a photo of someone or something you hate because you might get a fit of rage when you wake up and throw the $149 doohickey against the wall. You’ve been warned. Pick one up in April if you’re so inclined.

Features
* 7″ widescreen 16:9 TFT LCD
* Supports images files up to 12 Megapixels
(JPEG format)
* Photo slide show
* Supports USB thumb drives
* MMC/SD/MS/MS Pro/CF Type 1 card slot
* Compatible file formats :
MPEG-1(*.mpg),MPEG-4(*.avi), JPEG and MP3

Tags: photo fraem, digital photo frame, frame, photo

iWave Cube- your portable microwave

Here comes the time in every young person’s life where they decide to graduate from the microwave to the stove. And fail miserably. Now instead of retreating dejectedly back to the kitchen microwave, where the rest of the appliances can point and make fun, you can hide your shame with the iWave Cube.

It is pretty convenient — a personal, portable microwave! Forget all those trips to the kitchen or treks to the cafeteria — now you can reheat coffee right at your desk; or nuke some soup for your brown-bag lunch; or pop some `corn in the entertainment room.

The innovative iwavecube personal microwave has all the electronic controls and safety features you expect, but it takes up less than a cubic foot of space. Plug it in anyplace that’s handy — work or home office; home gym; family room; nursery; wet bar; dorm room; work bench; pool house.everywhere! The quiet, super-energy-efficient iwavecube measures just 10″ x 10.5″ x 12″ and weighs only 12 lbs. Features a built-in carry handle and view-through door. T

he little microwave measures one cubic foot (about the size of a Kleenex box), and weighs just 12 pounds. Unfortunately, you’ll still need to plug it in, so there’s a limit to how far you can run. The iWave Cube comes in black, red or silver, and retails for $130.

Tags: iWave, microwave, portable, iWave cube

InFocus Launches IN83 1080p ProjectorSource

The InFocus Play Big IN82 was one of InFocus’ best home theater projectors. Recently word has gotten out that they are going to release a better projector in March, the Play Big IN83.

Starting with the most important specs, we see a native 5,000:1 contrast ratio, augmented to 15,000:1 using a dynamic iris, an impressive 1,600 lumens brightness, and DarkChip4 DLP tech from Texus Instruments for those of you to whom that means something. The projector also comes with an anamorphic lens adaptor for 2.35:1 aspect-ratio films, which some may consider a great addition.

Connectivity wise there are two HDMI 1.3 inputs, both supporting Deep Colour and as with the IN82, one of these is actually provided as an MA-D1 port, so it’ll take a large range of connections. Elsewhere the usual array of Component, S-Video and similar ports is also found.

As is pretty obvious from the spec the IN83 isn’t that huge a jump from the IN82, but luckily it isn’t much more expensive either with a suggested retail price of £3500. Hopefully that’ll be a bit lower at retailers when it’s available in March and the extra tweaks aren’t going to detract from the glowing review we gave to the older model. If you were currently considering the IN82, you might want to wait for this one.

Tags: projector, IN82, IN83, INfocus, Infocus , home theater

Razer Mako, best 2.1 audio systemSource

Razer is known for their gaming peripherals,their keyboards and mice . But, on the audio front, they still have a lot to fight and conquer. However,  the Mako 2.1 Advanced Desktop Audio’s’ promises a lot : rounded satellites with 360-degree, omni-directional sound. Yet Gadget Lab says “there’s nary another 2.1 system that can match the Mako’s performance.” Usually the 2.1 systems score a lot in looks but disappoint in the sound performance area.

The 300W RMS of THX-certified power probably help, pushing the audio everywhere it needs to go. Highs and mids are “especially clear and resonant,” though low fidelity is the where system hits a patch of weak sauce—at 400 bucks, that’s a bit troubling. The only other bit of blah is the slightly unresponsive touch controls, but they system looks hot, so we can forgive it being a little cold to the touch. Bass response is a tad disappointing, especially when considering the sub’s specs: 100 watts with a 120Hz crossover frequency.

PROs: Easy to install. Easy to set up. Easy to calibrate. Easy listening. Excellent audio performance with diverse separation at mid and high ranges. Gaming performance is exemplary — gunshots and explosions had us ducking for cover. Omni directional sound fills a room up with equally balanced sound.

CONs:Touch sensitive controller is beautiful but often unresponsive and ambiguous. Ho-hum bass performance is a head-scratcher. We want to feel our Barry White, not just hear him.

Tags: razer, mako, 2.1, sound, audio system, advanced desktop audio, audio, speaker

Alienware’s media server for intelligent homesSource

This piece of gadget is not for everyone. Alienware is expanding into your home even more with this media monster, sort of a cross between an irradiated TiVo and an Apple TV on crack. With wireless high definition media streaming, full digital home automation readiness, up to 4 terabytes of hot swappable hard disk drive content storage, and Blu-ray high definition movies, your house just got a whole lot smarter.

The High Definition Media Server becomes the central electronic focus point of your home; storing and wirelessly streaming all your digital content including music, pictures, and movies throughout your home. Access internet videos and download music, movies, and TV shows from services such as, Amazon Unbox, Netflixs, and iTunes instantly and without the need of a separate PC or Mac.

Exciting Key Features Include:

-4 Hot-swappable easy access front panel hard disk drive bays.
Rack mountable
-Home automation ready with Lifeware software.
-High-Definition Digital Video Recorder for recording and playing back your HD content (up to 1080p) via an HDMI output.
-Blu-ray Disc, experience the next generation in 1080p high definition movie visuals and digital audio with this read and write optical drive. Store up to 50GB of content on writeable Blu-ray media
-Up to 4 TV Tuners
-Internal Cable Card port (OCUR).
-7.1 Optical Audio output (Toslink).
-Up to 4 terrabytes of hard disk drive storage
-Dolby Digital 7.1 pre-amp output, with digital audio out (Coaxial and Optical)

Tags: alienware, high definition media server, home automation, media, motherboard, media server

Lenovo’s slim combo adapterSource

Lenovo today announced its new ThinkPad and IdeaPad 90W slim AC/DC combo adapter, the company’s first all-in-one adapter designed to charge other electronic devices such as most cell phones and PDAs; and many mobile music devices (using optional connector tips.) At about a half-inch thick and 33 percent smaller than Lenovo’s previous combo adapter, it’s roughly the size of a deck of playing cards – small enough to easily fit into a shirt pocket. This will come to be really useful, as it will spare a lot of your space.

Traditionally, the power adapter for a notebook PC has been referred to as a “brick;” a weighty, bulky necessity that is inconvenient to travel with. A further inconvenience for business travelers, particularly those who fly a lot and spend time in airport security lines, is the need for multiple adapters for multiple devices. Lenovo’s new ThinkPad and IdeaPad 90W slim AC/DC combo adapter helps business travelers cut down on the number of devices they must carry.

The ThinkPad and IdeaPad 90W slim AC/DC power adapter is priced at $119. It is available at Lenovo.com and through Lenovo business partners.Enjoy.

Tags: adapter, Lenovo, power adapter, Think Pad, Ideapad, combo adapter

Hitachi’s Smart CCTV Camera

Whatever your opinion of the ever-increasing number of surveillance cameras pointed at us, their proliferation creates a tricky logistical problem for those doing the watching – how do we make sense of the information overload of so much video?

Hitachi has come up with an answer that uses artificial intelligence to analyze what the CCTV cameras are seeing and prioritize just a handful for close human inspection.

The system takes feeds from up to 100 online cameras and passes them to a personal computer for image processing and a central server for the meatier task of searching through video archives for comparable footage.

Together, they pull out the four most important video streams and display those on a monitor at high resolution, while the remainders appear as thumbnails.

Face-recognition software is employed to see if known troublemakers appear in live video, while behavior-analysis software looks out for likely problems, such as loitering, erratic movements and unusual noise levels.

Best of all is the data load, which is kept down to around 70Mbps by selecting just four main streams. Other 100-camera systems typically consume 10 times the bandwidth and cost much more than the ¥10 million ($95,000) Hitachi is asking for.
[tags]
Hitachi, Smart CCTV Camera, CCTV, camera, CCTV camera, surveillance, [/tags]

Smartparts SP8PRT digital photo frame that prints

We all know that digital photo frames these days do not just display photos, they are more than capable of playing both video and audio as well. So what should there be left to take out on the market ,in this domain, in order to surprise the buyers?

Smartparts aims to go one up on the rest of the competition with its SP8PRT digital photo frame that is the first of its kind in the world, being equipped with an integrated photo printer. The entire printer has been incorporated into the frame’s body, concealed behind the SP8PRT’s LCD display so that the bulk can’t be seen from the front.( you can see this in the picture) You get a one dye sublimation color cartridge with ink and paper per purchase, saving you the hassle of hooking up your digital camera to a separate photo printer.

So there are stll many things to add to a plain and simple photoframe. I wonder whether this will sell like hot cakes once it hits the market…

Tags: photo, frame, photoframe, digital photoframe, SP8PRT, smartpart

Wheelchairs to be tongue-controlled?

Scientists are developing new technology to allow severely disabled people to control their wheelchairs - just by moving their tongues. Experts are working on a system which will let people operate all the functions of an electric wheelchair with eight different flicks of the tongue. A tiny microphone placed in the ear detects each tongue movement and a computer converts them into commands to start, stop or turn a wheelchair. Researchers found the most effective four tongue movements were touching the lower left, centre or right of the mouth - followed by a flick upwards, and licking the top palate. To keep the controls simple, each motion can be made twice in quick succession to create an extra four commands. The earpiece senses each different command by picking up vibrations caused by air pressure changes created as the tongue moves.

The technology is set to help thousands of seriously disabled people, such as victims of spinal injuries and strokes, whose movement is often limited only to tongue motion. Dr Ravi Vaidyanathan, who is leading the University of Bristol project, said users could customize the system to choose which tongue motions activate each control.

Tags: wheelchair, disabled people, microphone

Advanced Thermal Device LED Streetlight

Don’t you just hate it… driving through neighborhoods that are poorly lit at night? - it gives me the creeps. Sometimes, there are even streetlights that don’t even function, making it an even more terrifying ride especially when you know you’re in a rather rough area.

Advanced Thermal Devices (ATD), along with the KongLin Tech Group, the New Energy Center of National Taiwan University and the Russian Academy of Sciences, has developed a globally patented low-cost loop heat pipe (LHP) product and system.

Advanced Thermal Device’s LED streetlight has an expected life of over 50,000 hours. The product generates 4,000-6,000 lumens at 100W power input and its energy savings can be up to 75% compared with mercury lamps.

With its heat dissipation using advanced aerospace technology and employing an unique lightweight design, the LED streetlight satisfies the United Nation’s Environmental Protection Regulations.

The efficient and reliable heat transfer and heat dissipation capacities of the device can be used in various high-performance electronic products such as computers, high-power LED lighting systems, and many energy products in commercial, industrial and aerospace industries.

The loop heat pipe is a heat-transfer device with a flexible, bendable connecting pipe utilizing a fine porous or wick structure in micro scale to achieve remote heat transport with high power, accoring to Advanced Thermal Devices When will we see these streetlights dot the Stateside landscape?

Tags: LHP, advanced thermal device, LED, streetlight, light