Living With Gadgets
Finally: A USB Mouse That Doubles As A Digital Scale
Saturday, August 13th, 2011I’m not sure what’s going on with optical mice nowadays, but its strange. Not long after Canon announced its mouse-calculator hybrid, this USB-digital scale has also made its appearance. Capable of measuring weights from 0.1g to 500g, the scale’s range of use seem fairly limited – assuming, that is, you don’t work in the drug [...]
The World’s Most Useless Machine Version 2.0
Friday, May 20th, 2011The world’s most useless machine, which is essentially a small electronic box that turns itself off whenever you try to turn it on, first made waves on the Internet a couple of years ago. It became so popular that companies began selling kits so the average person could enjoy all of the heart-pounding excitement at [...]
Tiny Robots Map Buildings — Without Help
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011Tiny robots working by themselves and communicating only with each other can explore and map buildings, a team of U.S. researchers that built the machines says. The robots, with advanced autonomous capability, developed by a team from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania and the California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory. [...]
Forget Bluetooth – This Wireless Mouse From HP Connects Via Wi-Fi
Friday, May 13th, 2011Wireless devices tend to have a pretty limited range of connection options, but a new mouse from HP adds a new one to the fray: Wi-Fi. Rather than operate via Bluetooth or a RF-equipped USB dongle, HP’s Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse uses the same receiver as a computer’s wireless connection. This not only frees up a [...]
Mystery Luna Robot Isn’t Made By Apple Or Google
Thursday, May 12th, 2011Per CNET: Rumor had it that Apple or Google was going to release this vaguely humanoid robot, and of course rumor was wrong. Turns out it’s a California telepresence company called RoboDynamics. The robot is named Luna and is intended to be a programmable, open-source household companion. SchultzeWorks, also in California, did the design.
Nook Color Steps Up Its Tablet Game
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011Per Paul Demery of Internet Retailer: Is it an e-reader or a tablet? At less than half the price of an iPad 2 and small enough to fit in a handbag, the latest version of Barnes & Noble Inc.42BarnesandNoble.com Inc. Books / Music / VideosOnline Sales:$493,000,000 (IR estimate)Growth:5.8%See More. ’s Nook Color is chockfull of [...]
Smartphone Photos Can Reveal Private Information
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011According to a report by WSOTV: Smartphone users and their children could be targets of a new kind of stalking without ever knowing it. Many parents don’t realize that pictures taken with smartphones and uploaded to the Internet could give a predator all the information needed for stalking or even an abduction. Police Detective Walt [...]
New ‘watch’ measures central aortic systolic pressure
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011In what is being hailed by experts as a “scientific breakthrough” that could “revolutionize” the way blood pressure is measured, researchers in Singapore and the UK report in the current issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on a novel device that can measure blood pressure near the heart. The CASPro blood [...]
Softbank’s Ultra Simple Single-Button Phone
Saturday, February 12th, 2011This new cell phone from Japan’s Softbank and ZTE is more of a security device than anything else. It’s kind of like a one-button panic alarm that’s wired into a cell phone. Apparently it’s designed for preschoolers and seniors. Yes, smartphones don’t work for everyone, but I’m a bit surprised that this phone only has [...]
Nielsen: U.S. smartphone ownership higher among minorities
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011Almost a third (31 percent) of all mobile phone users in the United States own smartphones, but their adoption is higher among specific minority groups, says a report out today from Nielsen. Based on a survey conducted in December, Nielsen found that 27 percent of white mobile phone users in the U.S. currently own smartphones. [...]