By Andrew Liszewski

Today Sony announced their new finger vein authentication technology dubbed ‘mofiria’ that’s not only designed to be fast and extremely accurate, but is also compact enough to integrate into mobile devices like laptops or even mobile phones. The system uses near infrared LEDs on one side of the finger, and a CMOS sensor on the other which diagonally captures the scattered light inside the finger veins. And the diagonal aspect is important since it allows the system to be as flat as current fingerprint scanners are, making it easy to integrate into almost any device.

Obviously you won’t be seeing the ‘mofiria’ system in any of Sony’s gear in the near future, but the company aims to commercialize the technology within the 2009 fiscal year. So that news should make the shareholders happy right?

[ PR - Sony Develops Compact Sized, High Speed, High Accuracy Finger Vein Authentication Technology Dubbed "mofiria" ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]

By Andrew Liszewski

On one hand, having a webcam embedded just above your MacBook or iMac’s screen can be quite handy, since it never goes missing and it’s one less thing cluttering up your desk. But on the other hand, it really limits where that webcam can be pointed. Now there are probably hundreds of different webcams on the market that could easily solve this problem, but what sets the BT-1 apart is that it’s completely wireless, relying on Blueooth to transmit the video signals to your Mac.

So not only is the BT-1 completely flexible when it comes to where the webcam can be pointed, but the 10-30 foot wireless range is way more convenient that carrying 10-30 feet of USB cable. Now the 640×480 resolution of the BT-1 isn’t amazing, but it does encode the video using H.264 with 48kHz AAC stereo audio, so the compression shouldn’t be that bad. And given it’s completely wireless, you’ll have to keep in mind it does have a limited battery life of about 4 hours.

The BT-1 Wireless Webcam is expected to be available in late March (OS X only) for $149.99, but you can pre-order one now if you think it’s a must-have.

[ Ecamm BT-1 Wireless Webcam ] VIA [ Gear Live ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Anyone who lives in a climate that gets cold enough to require gloves knows that the iPod’s ‘revolutionary’ click wheel is rendered obsolete while your fingers are being protected from frostbite. Adding a tethered remote is an easy solution, but I think this voice controller from Accenda is even easier. It attaches to the iPod’s dock connector and is worn by the user either around the neck or clipped to their lapel. Saying the word “iPod” will prompt the device to heed your next words as voice commands, allowing you to do everything from skip tracks to adjusting the volume without ever having to push a button.

Out-of-the-box the Accenda Voice Controller works with nearly all English-speaking users, but it can also be trained to recognize voice commands with strong accents or even in other languages. At $79.95 it’s definitely a pricey hands-free solution, but when has convenience ever come cheap? And does anyone else think this is a feature the iPhone should have had from day one?

[ Accenda Voice Control For iPod ] VIA [ GadgetGrid ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m proud to say that I’ve found a way to play even the most physically demanding of Wii games while slumped on my couch. Even Wii fit is convinced I’m an Olympic-caliber athlete. (Sucker!) But the ME2 handheld game takes a different approach to physical fitness and video games. Before you can play any titles on the device or the accompanying website, you have to accumulate points by carrying the device with you when you’re out walking, jogging or running. The built-in pedometer keeps track of your steps, and points are awarded depending on how long or how far you traveled.

The ME2 connects to your PC via USB, and your points are uploaded to the website allowing you to play around in their 3D interactive world, or download new titles to the handheld device. At first I wondered if this is something kids would really be into, since they’re essentially being rewarded for going outside and playing, but the price slash on eToys from $34.99 to just $17.50 tells me otherwise. And if any kids happen to have one of these but have lost interest in the whole ‘exercise’ ploy, I have two words for you; paint mixer. Head down to your local Home Depot, have one of the employees tape the ME2 to the outside of the paint mixer, and in just a few minutes you’ll have accumulated enough points to last you a couple of months.

[ ME2 ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Evan Ackerman

Designed by Ettore Cimini of Lumina Italia, the Ra desk lamp takes the prize for piece of furniture my pet snake would most like to have sex with. It’s sexy enough to get me pretty turned on as well, with those two sinuous and rather dangerous looking arms. The light coming from the ends of the arms actually originates from a single 100 watt bulb at the base of the lamp… Fiber optic cables run from the base up through each arm, channeling light from the bulb up and out the ends of the lamp. The light can be dimmed, and red, blue, or green filters can be used, all controlled by touching the lamp’s base.

The Ra desk lamp is a designer piece, so if you have to ask about the price (and you do have to ask), don’t ask.

[ Lumina ] VIA [ epotpourri ]

By Evan Ackerman

As you may or may not have heard, that frankly spectacular 1,500 megapixel image of President Obama’s inauguration was taken with little more than a Canon PowerShot G10, a 15 megapixel compact digicam with a 5x zoom that costs all of $260 brand new. The little more that it was taken with was the GigaPan Epic Imager mount.

The GigaPan is a robotic hand of sorts that completely automates the creation of one gigantic panoramic image out of a bunch of smaller images, a process which requires a precise hand and a lot of patience (which the GigaPan has in spades). Just stick your compact digital camera in the mount, tell it what you want the picture of, and press go. The mount will pan up and down and back and forth, pushing the shutter button at just the right spots to cover the entire scene. When you’re done, GigaPan includes software to stitch it all together for you and upload it to the GigaPan website (which is unsurprisingly set up specifically to display bazillion megapixel images).

The GigaPan Epic Imager is designed to accommodate most compact digital cameras. You can kludge other cameras on there, but versions designed for larger cameras and DSLRs are currently in the works. It’s currently available for $379 direct from GigaPan Systems.

[ GigaPan ] VIA [ Photography Blog ]