Posts in Gadgets

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Paint by powerslide with this BMW Z4 app

Antuan Goodwin | May 18, 2009

(Credit: Artificial Life)

Recently, BMW put a new spin on the art car concept by making the new Z4 Roadster the brush instead of the canvas. Essentially, the artist took a Z4, dunked its tires into red, blue, and yellow paint, and proceeded to whip donuts on a 200 by 100 foot canvas. Now, that's my kind of fine art!

Well, now there's an app for that. (Sorry, I couldn't help it!)

BMW Z4: An Expression of Joy Lite is a free iPhone/iPod touch app by Artificial Life that lets people get behind the virtual wheel of a customizable 2009 BMW Z4 Roadster to create works of art. Users can choose paint color on the fly on a per wheel basis (a luxury the original artist was not afforded).
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DIY hacker sews keyboard into shants, redefines touch-typing

Justin Yu | May 18, 2009

So.. much... neon. (Credit: Thingiverse)

We've seen keyboards integrated into pants before, but we're willing to give it another chance because Brooklynite Zach Hoeken actually made these himself.

Zach spawned the keyboard pants idea at Sunday's Fashion Hacking Day sponsored by NYC Resistor, a collective that brings hackers together to share knowledge and collaborate on creative projects. Instead of throwing away a flexible silicone keyboard he had lying around the house, he decided to cut it in half and sew it onto a pair of shants.
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Will air-powered robot hand grip the future?

Matt Hickey | May 16, 2009

In the future, we'll likely be bowing down to our robot overlords. They'll have amazing artificial intelligence and powerful metal bodies. I've long thought the bodies would be electronic servos powered by high-charge batteries, but a new development by the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech might change that.

(Credit: Virginia Tech)

Meet Raphael, the Robotic Air-Powered Hand with Elastic Ligaments. It's a gripper that's powerful enough to hold something heavy, say an Uzi, but delicate enough to grasp human brains without destroying them. Certainly, this is what the robotic soldiers of the future will be outfitted with.

The hand uses compressed air that passes through tiny actuators to control each finger separately. A microcomputer dictates how much air is given to each finger through an accordion-like tube. Less air means a softer grip, while more air means a firm grip that could rip out a human's windpipe.
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New Cool-er kid on the e-reader block

David Carnoy | May 15, 2009

The Cool-er e-book reader comes in eight colors.
(Credit: Interead)

When I talked to Interead's CEO and founder Neil Jones a few months ago, he told me his upstart UK company was getting ready to launch a new lightweight e-book reader that he was hoping would get some attention in the marketplace for sharply undercutting the price of the Kindle 2. He was going to call the thing the Cool-er, and it would cost US$250 and tie into Interead's fledgling e-book store.

Jones was planning a very controlled launch for the product, with a target date set for just before Memorial Day here in the the US and additional promotion in the UK.

Well, things didn't go off exactly as planned, with some bloggers in the UK apparently breaking an embargo. But it didn't exactly help that the company already had its Web site up promoting the new product (a PR rep said certain journalists were questioning whether the company was real or not, so they had to put up the site).

In any case, the new Cool-er digital reader, which comes in eight colors, is now rapidly making its way through the blogosphere, so Jones is getting what he wants, albeit in a rather uncontrolled way (which sometimes is the way to go for launches). It will "officially" be available May 29, but Interead is taking preorders.
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Attention, ladies: Manhunter bra is ridiculous

Matt Hickey | May 15, 2009

(Credit: Triumph International)

I just got back from a trip to California, where I got to be with almost my entire extended family. I'm 33 years old and single, so the whole time I had relatives telling me to hurry up and get married. The pressure was horrible. But now that I've seen, courtesy of talk2myShirt, this "husband hunting" bra concept from Japan, I'm a little relieved.

The bra, by Triumph International, has a built-in digital timer indicating how much time's left before the woman wearing it must get married. If she's not married by the time it reaches zero, she's a "leftover," which is perhaps Japan's version of an old maid. Either way, the social stigma must be daunting.

But there's a solution: An engagement ring fits neatly into a compartment above the timer. Only then can the countdown be stopped, thus giving the useless ring a function beyond labeling someone as "taken."
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