I’ll be the first to admit that I hate Twitter. Much like the constant MySpace and Facebook updates that people made before, most tweets are of mundane activities such as grocery shopping and bathroom activities. Well now we can look forward to automated tea-time tweets thanks to this gadget.
This stylish looking teakettle has a sinister secret. Instead of whistling to let you know that it’s ready, it will send out a tweet via WiFi. Really? Have we become so reliant upon technology that we have to have our phone or computer inform us that our tea is ready? Thankfully these guys still need a bit of funding before this technological atrocity is released to the general public. They’re currently aiming for a retail price of around $115.
If you haven’t already forgotten about your iPhone the second your iPad arrived, you might still be interested in the Projeto case from ZeroChroma that seems to be all about enhancing your video watching experience. A pop-out stand on the back can be adjusted to one of 18 different positions, pretty much guaranteeing you’re going to find a viewing angle that works for you, and a slide out ‘Sound Scoop’ on the bottom will redirect the sound from the iPhone’s speaker towards the viewer. According to iLounge, it doesn’t offer as much protection around the iPhone’s bezel as its competitor’s products, even with a higher price tag of $34.99, but overall it has a better implementation. Right now it’s available in black, white, pink and metallic gray for the iPhone 3G and 3GS, though versions for the iPod Touch and iPod Nano are also ‘Coming Soon.’
I’m pretty tired of all the supposed ‘spy’ gear on the market because to be perfectly honest, if it wasn’t developed by the CIA or MI6, it ends up being pretty crappy. But I’m cautiously optimistic that this video-capable covert watch might actually not suck that much. The design is surprisingly something that most people would wear, so it doesn’t look like there’s a video camera stashed inside, and instead of capturing sub-webcam quality 640×480 clips, it’s actually able to record pseudo-HD quality 1280×960 VGA videos at 30 fps.
The watch is only water and dust resistant so you won’t be capturing any spectacular underwater footage, but a little rain shouldn’t put it out of commission either. A subtle light indicator lets you know when the recording function has been activated, but it only remains on briefly so others don’t realize why you’re awkwardly pointing your watch face at them, and all videos are stamped with the date and time for later analysis. Somewhere on the watch you’ll find a miniUSB connection for charging the watch and transferring videos to your PC, and the ~$450 price tag from Spycatcher makes me think this might actually be more than just an expensive novelty.
NAB is just around the corner which means it’s time for a mountain of press releases about professional video cameras that don’t sacrifice image quality just so you can stash them in your pocket. Take JVC’s GY-HM790 which is the new flagship of the company’s ProHD camcorder line. While it tops out at capturing video at 1080i, it does have a 720P mode for shooting progressive, as well as a standard-definition 480i mode if for some reason your pipeline has’t embraced HD just yet.
And since it is the year 2010, the GY-HM790 captures directly to 2 x SDHC class 6 or 10 memory cards, no videotape here, as either FCP-friendly .MOV files or Sony XDCAM EX .MP4 files, which can both be brought directly into your editing environment. Other features that might interest you broadcast types include an HD/SD-SDI port for live monitoring an uncompressed 4:2:2 HD or SD signal, dual XLR mic inputs with phantom power and an optional ASI output module which provides a BNC connection for patching a live feed into a satellite uplink or microwave transmitter. Understandably all those pro features do amount to an MSRP of $11,995, but when the GY-HM790 becomes available this Summer you won’t have to worry about whether or not it exhibits jelly artifacts because of a cheap rolling shutter.
Even though I’m sure there are hundreds of iPhone, Android and WebOS apps that will let you keep track of your budget, if you’re completely lacking in a smartphone of any kind, you can always opt for this little masterpiece of industrial design. At the beginning of the month you can set your budget for six different categories including food, apparel, transportation, entertainment, personal care and miscellaneous, which is perfect for those of you still living at home who don’t have to worry about housing costs I guess.
As the month progresses you enter your purchases under each category, which allows you to track how much you’ve spent, and how much of your budget is left. The calculator is just $19.98 from Things You Never Knew Existed, which you’ll probably want to enter under the ‘misc.’ category since it really doesn’t seem that entertaining.
Seats 3D is a website that provides virtual views of all kinds of athletic arenas, concert halls, and other event venues. Who cares? You care! Next time you buy a ticket to something, you can use Seats 3D to look up the view beforehand to make sure that you’re getting the view that you’re paying for. The only thing missing from the 3D view is all of the tall and annoying people who will inevitably be sitting in front of you.
So obviously, we need ticketing systems to take height into account. When buying your ticket, it should cross reference your name with some kind of national database (gonna need lots of funding for it) with your height and hat preferences. Then, someone should come to your house and verify that you are as tall as you say you are (just to be sure). That information goes back into the Seats 3D system, and it puts a silhouette into the virtual stadium, so that other people can tell if they might be sitting behind someone unacceptably tall.
I suppose there’s a chance that this might add a small premium to the cost of a ticket, but won’t it be worth it to know that your viewing experience will be uncompromised? I’d say definitely, maybe.
I love technology, but I hate all of the wires that seem to be necessary. Sure, I’ve got wireless keyboards and wireless networking, but there are still plenty of others that get in the way. While we wait for the age of true wireless living, the creative types out there are working on ways to hide the cables. When you’re working on a plain table, it’s tough to discretely run wires. However, one designer thinks that the table itself should hide them for you.
The idea behind this table is quite obvious. Instead of running the cables over the edge of the table, they would go down the hollowed legs. This of course means you’d have four holes in the top of your table, which might put off some people. I think if they included some sort of hole covers, this would be perfect. For now it remains only a concept, unfortunately.
You’d think a commercial that featured a 1/10th scale RC model of the car they were trying to sell would be about 1/10th as exciting as seeing the real thing, but Nissan Canada’s new spot for the Sentra SE-R proves that theory very wrong. In fact I’d rather watch this highly-detailed RC model tear around a neighborhood, drifting through corners and blasting through piles of leaves, than the full-sized version racing down an empty highway. The use of a 1/10th scale camera car and an RC helicopter for aerial shots is also a nice touch.
The ad was created for Nissan Canada by TBWA\Toronto who were kind enough to film a behind-the-scenes look at how the commercial was made, which you’ll find for your viewing pleasure after the jump.
If I learned one thing at CES this year, it’s that someone, somewhere, desperately wants us all to be watching videos and movies in 3D. And I’m not particularly against the idea, it’s just that, like everyone else, I find those damn glasses to be annoying. Thankfully technologies that promise glasses-free 3D are in the works, but until that time I guess this is the best option we have.
Blue Roses’ recent music video for their song Doubtful Comforts was shot using the wiggle stereoscopy technique which has recently given a new life to the animated gif. Directed by Vivien Weyrauch and Fabian Röttger, a Berlin based duo known as a nice idea every day, the video alternates back and forth between two cameras which shot each scene from a slightly different perspective. The results aren’t quite as convincing as what James Cameron managed to pull off with Avatar, but every once in a while, when the video isn’t pitch black, there is a slight 3D effect. Though at somewhere just past the 2-minute mark you’ll probably be reaching for a bottle of aspirin as it can be a little hard on the eyes. Let’s just hope this isn’t what Nintendo has in store for us with the 3DS.
Related Tags: Kitchen Gadget, twitter
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