There’s nothing stopping you from using a stylus with your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. But since the UI on all of those devices was designed to be used with your fingers, they don’t include one. Thankfully there’s a mountain of third party stylus options available, but again, since the iDevices aren’t necessarily stylus driven, there’s no handy place to stash or store one on them. An accessories company called JAVOedge has found one though. Their Mini Stylus simply connects to an iDevice’s dock connector, ensuring it’s always accessible and available just hanging off the bottom.
Since it’s designed to be used with both the iPad and the iPhone/iPod Touch, it has a stubbier form factor so that when connected to the latter devices it doesn’t hang off the side. But according to The Gadgeteer, that also happens to be its biggest folly. It makes it hard to hold and use the stylus for anything other than simple tasks. And since your fingers end up being so close to the display when holding it, it also tends to obscure what you’re doing. So I have to agree with their conclusion that for just $9.95(in black or white) it’s at least a handy alternative to operating your iOS device’s touchscreen display when wearing gloves. But not necessarily a finger alternative you can comfortably use all the time.
If netbook designers applied their miniaturization skills to bathroom scales, you’d end up with exactly this. An ultra portable digital scale for people who are worried about their weight, even when traveling or away on vacation. It’s got the smallest footprint of any step-on scale I’ve ever seen, though it makes me wonder if users have to stand on their toes for it to provide an accurate measurement. It has a maximum capacity of up to 330lbs, and your actual weight is displayed on a pop-out LCD screen. It’s just $29.99 from Infmetry too, who, like Sony with their original Vaio P Lifestyle PC, are trying to convince us that it’s easy to carry around in your back pocket.
I can understand paying thousands of dollars for a watch when it’s got loads of useful features, a classic design and even a well-respected name. But when the timepiece comes across as being a novelty more than anything? Originally I thought that Romain Jerome had this market more than cornered, but then I discovered this sliding puzzle watch from Ritmo Mundo. It’s basically the same type of sliding puzzle game you played with as a kid, except that it obfuscates the watch’s face, requiring you to slide the tiles around to reveal what time it is.
The puzzle does completely slide out of the way when you get too frustrated, but besides this clever gimmick, I’m not entirely sure what justifies its $3,500 price tag. And that’s the cheapest version of this model. There’s also a $20,000 version that looks like it incorporates a ring of diamonds around the frame.
I can’t say I’ve ever found myself in a situation where I had to drop everything and run to the bathroom for an emergency shave. But then again my face also regrows stubble just 10 minutes after I’m done with a razor. So I’ve pretty much given up on the whole ‘clean shaven’ look. If having a face that’s always as smooth as a baby’s butt is of the utmost importance to you though, this compact travel razor comes with its own mirror, and when packed away is small enough to stash in your wallet.
The blades come off and are stowed on the backside of the mirror when not in use, so you don’t accidentally cut yourself. And it comes with a set of ‘scent strips’ you can adhere just below the blades, like sandal, ocean or lemon, to freshen you up while you shave. It doesn’t seem to address the whole issue of shaving cream, but I guess in a real emergency that would be more of a luxury than a necessity. $17 from Infmetry.
After a visually impaired student signed up for one of professor David Hurd’s introductory astronomy courses at the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, he started creating tactile astronomy tools so they could partly experience what celestial objects were like. And his latest effort, a new book called Getting A Feel For Lunar Craters, allows the blind and visually impaired to experience the surface of the Earth’s moon with tactile diagrams and braille descriptions that lets readers feel the various craters, crags and other landmarks that dot its surface.
The 17 page book was created by David with assistance from the NASA Lunar Science Institute, and as far as I can tell is available for free from NASA’s website, though you’ll have to wait for the second reprinting of the book which will be ready in a couple of months. In the meantime though, text-only and audio file versions of the book can be downloaded from their site, if you’re curious.
If you’ve ever been driven completely mad by the sound of one of your PC’s cooling fans (anyone? no? it’s just me then?) you’ll certainly appreciate the improvements a Swedish company called RotoSub has made to them. While it can’t eliminate the sound of the air rushing through the blades, their R-ANC (Active Noise Control) technology effectively deals with sounds generated by the fan’s mechanical moving parts, which typically are the annoying culprit.
Normally, noise cancelling technologies use a microphone and a separate speaker to generate sound waves that are out-of-phase with the sound being eliminated. And as the two signals combine, they effectively cancel each other out. From what I can tell the R-ANC technology works in a similar fashion, except that instead of a speaker, the noise-cancelling out-of-phase signals are generated by the blades themselves as their ‘angle of attack’ is modulated ever so slightly. The company’s website doesn’t do a great job at explaining how the technology works, but the demonstration in this video below certainly shows it’s effective.
And in case you were wondering, that whole plastic tube setup in the product shot above is just part of their demo system that makes it easier to hear the noises being cancelled. The R-ANC equipped fans will be no different than the fans currently used in desktop computers and other electronics, save for using a touch more electricity in the process.
Building your own replica prop is a true sign of devotion to whatever you’re a fan of, but it’s also nice when a big company does that hard work for you. At Comic-Con a few weeks ago Mattel unveiled their new Ghostbusters ghost trap prop replica that will go on sale in October for $135, and it looks like they’ve really gone the extra mile.
The trap has two modes, ‘prop’ and ‘movie’ mode. In the prop mode the doors open and the trap lights up when you step on the tethered pedal, including all of the blinking status and indicator lights to indicate a ghost has been caught and detained once it’s closed. In the movie mode it’s pretty much the same thing, except that the light show is far more animated, there’s additional sound effects that play as you open and close the trap’s doors, and it will even bounce around and shake afterwards simulating a ‘real’ ghost trapped inside. The cartridge that holds the ghost can even be removed for disposal, though the laser-grid protected Ecto-Containment Unit where you’d do so isn’t included.
Since the thought of even spending one precious second of our lives away from our music, possibly having an intellectual and enlightening conversation with another human being, is so scary to us, it seems everything we own will eventually feature a built-in iPod dock. Or at least a way to connect and enjoy our MP3 players. The latest company to provide such a ‘convenience’ is Sea-Doo with this massive inflatable man-made island that allows 4 people to lounge about on a lake, generating sufficient noise pollution to annoy fellow weekenders.
The specifics on what exactly the built-in ‘MP3 system’ is composed of is glossed over in their product description. But in addition to a set of waterproof speakers, it’s probably safe to assume it at least has a line-in cable allowing you to connect any audio source with a headphone jack. And hopefully some means to keep the connected device high and dry. I’m not sure if that’s enough to justify its $299.99 price tag, even with the float’s quadruple air chamber design which keeps it stable no matter what the weight distribution of the occupants is. But it’s a small price to pay if it saves us from having to talk to each other right?
Sure they might be convenient, but did you know that white plastic disposable fork you got with your takeout that claims to be ‘biodegradable’ can still take 6+ months to decompose in a landfill? Granted it doesn’t make them any less convenient, but it does make these EcoTensils seem like a better alternative. At least for softer fast foods that are eaten with a spoon. The EcoSpoon, a larger version of the EcoTaster Mini demo’d in the photos above, is made from renewable paperboard with a waterproof finish like you’d find on a milk carton.
They start off life as a pre-cut, flat piece of paper (which are easier to ship and store than plastic spoons) but with a little folding and a couple of sticky spots, they easily become a usable spoon. And when they’re done being used they can be recycled or disposed of, since they’ll decompose in as little as 3 weeks. Interestingly enough, because they’re so flexible, they’re also a useful alternative for prisons since they make for poor shivs.
The EcoSpoons are available in cartons of 5,000 units for $199.95, while the smaller EcoTaster Minis, which are ideal for free samples, run $94.95 for the same quantity.
Related Tags: iOS
Permalink | 
No Comments
