Gadgets Blog

Hate flying because of the change in pressure that keeps your ears all blocked up? Well, with the Ear Pressure Equalizer, you are able to suck whatever air out of the outer ear canal so that the particular annoying feeling is removed. Unfortunately, we would much rather recommend sucking on a sweet instead of forking out £38.95 for this device. It definitely won’t win you any points with the hot chick sitting beside you, given the fact that you will have to tote around this dorky looking device during takeoff and landing.

by Paul Miller, posted Oct 28th 2008 at 6:01AM

We’ve been griping about the limitations of the existing wireless Sonos controller for just about as long as Sonos has been pumping them out — not that it’s a horrible chunk of hardware, just that we love to gripe, and the lack of good text input is extremely limiting in these modern times of limitless content to surf through. Well, the problem’s been solved, at least for iphone and ipod touch users, and in typical Sonos fashion the solution’s free. Starting today Sonos will be offering a free Sonos Controller app on Apple’s App Store, which can handle just about every function the existing controller can, with the additional convenience of a touch interface and an on-screen keyboard. Multi-room control, Napster and Rhapsody, your own music library — it’s all here, thanks to the magic of WiFi. Sonos even saw it fit to pack a general software update (Sonos Software 2.7) which includes fifteen thousand internet radio stations and Last.fm integration. The primary limitation to iPhone control is the fact that you’re relying on your home’s WiFi instead of that schmancy mesh network Sonos products employ, but that’s a small price to pay for usability. Check out our highly enthralling hands-on shots below, and then peep the read link for more info and video, which should be live by the time you read this. The app should go live sometime today.

Gallery: Sonos Controller for iPhone and Software 2.7

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Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals

I can’t help but think that Sanyo’s newest digital phone frame, the ALBO, sounds like a major brand of dog food. As far as I know, ALBO isn’t a fancy acronym for something, but it is one of the coolest digital picture frames that I have ever seen. Considering that there is currently a huge market for digital picture frames now, that is saying something.

The seven-inch LCD frame has one of the most interesting designs, straight out of a science-fiction TV show’s prediction of what television would look like in the future. Just look at the design, and that last sentence will make sense.

As you can see from the photo, it is possible to turn the screen on a swivel for various formats. You can see them in slideshow format with a quick turn, and the photo frame has some other features and effects.

For example, the ALBO has the ability to display RSS feeds via Wi-Fi, and it can receive photos from a cellular phone through an infrared port. The ALBO comes with 256 megabytes of memory, but I’m not certain how much photos or video that it will hold.

The Sanyo ALBO is scheduled to come out in November 14, for a price of about $422. It is probably only available in Japan.

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The United States has a problem with e-waste, say some environmental groups, and it’s only going to get worse when the country fully transitions to digital TV broadcasting.

The Electronics TakeBack Coalition believes tens of millions of Americans will throw away their old televisions when TV broadcasters eliminate analog programming and go fully digital. What’s more, the coalition says many of those TVs will end up in landfills, posing health risks if their toxics contaminate groundwater and surface streams.

To shed light on the issue, the coalition started a campaign called Take Back My TV, urging manufacturers to offer safe take-back programs to properly recycle old TVs. The campaign on Tuesday began circulating a video (above), which shows old toxic TVs "puking" on people, to encourage consumers to participate in manufacturers’ recycling programs rather than throw away their TVs.

Coming Feb. 17, 2009, the termination of analog cable, called the DTV Transition, is a government-mandated action intended to free up parts of the valuable broadcast spectrum for communication between police, fire departments and rescue squads. In order to receive digital programming, homes must purchase digital TVs and subscribe to a digital-cable service or satellite. An alternative is purchasing a converter box.

Other than potentially harming the United States’ environment, improperly disposed electronics, including televisions, often make their way into Asian countries, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), who in September issued a 67-page report documenting the problem. The report says some electronics companies are dumping their e-waste in China and India, whose disposal practices are deemed unsafe and unregulated, as the people dealing with the waste are often poor junk dealers.

The GAO points fingers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for allowing waste to be improperly disposed. However, the EPA told Wired.com that its regulation regarding potentially hazardous waste is only about a year and a half old, and the agency is continuing to investigate potential violations of this rule.

That doesn’t go to say, however, that some tech companies aren’t trying to be more "green." Apple recently received kudos from Greenpeace, an environmental organization, for reducing the use of harmful toxins in its manufacturing processes of new MacBooks. Steve Jobs said in his "Greener Apple" statement that Apple will continue working toward greener hardware.

Undead Toxic Televisions [Take Back My TV] (Thanks, Allison!)

Some say that our technological sense will overcome our common sense the day the digital Post-it is invented. I guess it is because the Post-it is designed to be thrown away, while technology should be built to last.

It appears that some designers at Sequoia Studios have come up with an idea that they would prefer not be called a Digital Post-it, but it is, for all intents and purposes, the most practical combination of Post-it and digital tech.

The E-notes use electric paper technology that has been under development for a long time now. These tiny pieces of e-paper are powered by a small solar captor that requires only one minute of light per day to work.

You can read more about the concept here, but here is a summary. The E-notes come in a pack of twenty-five, and a user can calibrate the date and time on all of them by writing on the first one with the stylus. As for each individual note, you can write or draw anything you want digitally, and then clear the message when you are done. So you can reuse the E-note when done, and even change its color!

So the E-note is a more practical way of leaving notes, and can be used and used again, until the stickum runs out. Well, these E-notes are still a concept just now, but I see a lot of potential.

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Trying to keep all of your gadgets charged when you’re constantly out and about can be difficult.  Especially if you have the tendency to get so wrapped up in things that you forget to charge them all up once you’re finally home for the day.  With this kit, you could charge up your gadgets when they die on you at inopportune moments.  It would also be great for those that travel a lot.  If you don’t have a spare charger and you’re hundreds of miles from home on a tight budget, the kit could save you the money of having to buy another charger.

It features a rechargeable lithium ion battery and a power level indicator.  It also includes adapters for the ipod, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, USB male, mini 5 pins, Motorola, Nokia and so on.  Out of all that it has a total of seven charging adapters. The kit also has an attachment to turn the power bar into a flashlight and a USB charging cable.  To finish things off it has a convenient little pouch to hold all of those item in.  So all you have to do is toss this in your car, purse or luggage and you’ll have it with you.  The whole kit will cost you $32 from USB Geek.

Source: Geeky-Gadgets

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Fancy taking India’s ubiquitous charkha and adding a dash of technology to it, aptly known as the e-charkha. This device produces yarn and does much more than that - it also generates electricity thanks to a maintenance free lead acid battery located at the bottom which doubles up as an inverter. The e-charkha is able to churn out 6 - 9 Watts of power, and two hours of continuous spinning will be able to keep its custom LED light source running for up to 7 hours, enough to extend working time late into the night without having to work in darkness. Also, these LEDs will reduce reliance on toxic and dangerous kerosene lamps, which indirectly lowers medical costs. It will cost around $200 to produce the e-charkha, so hopefully due time and advancements in technology will reduce that price to a more affordable for people living not only in India but other developing countries as well.

I have to admit, recently, if text is not staring at me from a screen I become uninterested very quickly.  Although, from reading about this upcoming book, I might have to actually read a book, or find a Kindle to read it on.  The book is called “iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind,” by Gary Small.  Small is a neuroscientist from UCLA.  The idea of actually reading the book somewhat defeats the point made in the book, however.

The book says that through technology, we are learning to use more parts of our brains.  Through doing simple things most of us probably take for granted such as sending text messages and Internet searching our brains become “more adept at filtering information and making snap decisions.” The book also claims that technology is increasing creativity and and accelerating learning.  Sounds pretty good to me.

Small claims that while all this is well and good, we also need to be adept at talking to people face-to-face.  He says that while technology increases our brain activity, it hampers our social interactions if we spend too much time with it.  I haven’t picked up the book yet, but I wonder what it says about talking to other people through video such as Skype.  Although, it’d be scary if that was okay.  I don’t want to live in a world where Wall•E is true to life.

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by Samuel Axon, posted Oct 27th 2008 at 6:01PM

NanoVibronix’s PainShield MD reminds us (a little bit) of DARPA’s wound-healing ultrasound wrap, but its purpose is to stop pain, not bleeding. The pocket-sized device emits ultrasonic waves through a disposable patch that can easily be slapped onto the patient’s skin. The fundamental tech isn’t new, but NanoVibronix is hoping doctors and patients will pick PainShield up because it’s portable and convenient; the patch means medical personnel don’t have to hold or operate anything during treatment. It’s just been cleared by the FDA, so it should reach the market soon-ish.

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets

Microsoft has made available (albeit in limited quantities) its SDK for the Surface computing environment at today’s Microsoft Professional Developers conference. This means over a thousand developers attending will be able to take advantage of exclusive rights to access the Surface SDK. What’s more, Microsoft will make available the developers unit for a low, low price of just $13,500 to anyone with access to the SDK. It would be interesting to see what other kinds of applications will turn up once the SDK gets more and more widespread use.