Exercise is an important part of being physically fit, and step counters are a useful way to ensure you’re getting enough physical activity in your life. But eating healthy is just as important, so two researchers from Clemson University have created a bite counter, which basically works like a pedometer for eating. Since there’s no impact when eating with utensils, the bite counter, which looks like a fairly mundane digital wristwatch, tracks the wrist-roll motion of someone eating with a fork or spoon to keep track of every bite they take.
The device, which can be easily started and stopped at the beginning and end of a meal, has been found to be more than 90% accurate when it comes to counting bites. But, the researchers still aren’t sure how it can be used to help with weight loss, given there’s currently no way to determine how many calories or what amount of food has been consumed in each bite. So the device will continue to be tested and used in additional research as to how this collected data can be used to benefit the eater. And if you’d like to help out, you can actually purchase one here for just $799.
The Alienware brand is synonymous with gaming. This is well known. So are the brand’s prices, which generally remain in the upper tier. And while the m11x is not the fastest, baddest gaming rig on the market, Engadget describes it as if “it purposefully looks like a cross between a muscle car and spaceship. Whether or not these particular choices appeal to you probably depends on how much GPU-dependent gaming you do on the go, and how much you’re willing to spend on a machine with a smaller screen. We’re pretty sure those of you who run out to buy one right this second won’t be disappointed.”
Nicely equipped with a Core i3-330UM ULV processor with a 1GB GeForce GT 335M discrete GPU and 8GB RAM, today you’re seeing the price drop from $1,019 top $699, a $320 rebate.
Water and electronics do not mix, and even when a device has been designed to be submerged and used underwater, I’m still hesitant about doing so. Somewhere deep down my gadget conscience screams “NOOOO! DON’T DO IT!” and I usually listen for fear of damaging a given device. But according to SlashGear, Vivitar’s new 690HD pocket camcorder will sell for just $59.99 when it’s available, which makes taking the plunge with it, both literally and figuratively, a little easier.
Its ‘HD’ capabilities are limited to just 1280×720, and as far as other features go it’s pretty run-of-the-mill for these types of cameras. On the back you’ll find a 2-inch LCD display, videos are captured to an SD card, it’s got a fixed lens so you’re limited to digital zooms up to 4X and it runs off 2xAA batteries which are easy to replace as needed. Nothing particularly exciting, but for $60 it’s hard to expect more than just a decent HD video camera that you won’t be afraid of losing if it ends up getting waterlogged.
A few years ago, at CES2010, we discovered a concept device that RCA was showing off that promised to harvest electricity from wi-fi signals, which could then be used to charge mobile devices. The ‘Airnergy’ charger, as they called it, sparked a lot of discussion about whether or not such a technology was even possible. And sure enough, at CES 2011, the Airnergy devices were no where to be seen at RCA’s booth. We assumed that would be the last we’d hear about the concept, but a Japanese company called Nihon Dengyo Kosaku has apparently picked up the torch.
Their unfortunately named ‘Rectenna’, which is actually a combination of the words ‘rectifying’ and ‘antenna’, is able to convert terrestrial TV broadcast signals, or wi-fi, back into usable electricity. At a recent trade show in Tokyo, where the company was showing off the technology, they were able to harvest about 1.2mV and 0.06µW of power from a TV broadcast antenna located about 3.4 miles away. Not a heck of a lot of juice of course, but there are electronics that can run on just micro-watts of power. So while it won’t be useful for charging your smartphone, it does seem to be a viable way to wirelessly power certain barebones devices.
If you’ve ever spent an afternoon trying to camouflage the holes left from pins and thumbtacks before moving out of a dorm room or apartment, you’ll appreciate the simple innovation these Ninjapins bring. Traditional tacks feature a round shaft with a pointed tip that makes them easy to stick in a wall, but when removed they leave behind a tiny, but very noticeable, hole. So to combat that problem the ninjapins feature a shaft that’s actually just a thin, folded metal strip. It stays just as rigid as a round shaft, and sticks into a wall just as easily thanks to an angled, sharpened tip.
But when removed, instead of a hole, you’re left with a very thin ‘L’ shaped slit in the wall that’s far less noticeable from a distance. I mean, if your landlord is going over your place with a fine-toothed-comb they’re probably going to see them, but for most uses they seem like a far better alternative to regular tacks if you’re trying to keep your wall damage to a minimum. The only catch? A 5-piece set from AssistOn runs about $5 (¥400), so in the long run it may just be cheaper to refinish a perforated wall.
You never have to be ashamed of your dirty kitchen tea towels again with these artistically inspired alternatives from World Wide Fred, available sometime this Fall. They come in a pack of 3 and each towel features a paint-by-number stenciled still life or landscape painting. But instead of paint, you’re supposed to stain the towel with various foodstuffs. On each towel there’s a legend letting you know which food each number refers to, from blueberry jam to lemon meringue to pestos and wines. And like any paint-by-number canvas, you’re of course free to experiment and paint as you wish. But if the results don’t turn out ‘van Gogh’ enough for you, you can try again next week after they come out of the wash.
Today’s deal will please a certain type of demographic. Say you work in a business that does tremendous amounts of computing work, continually crunching numbers, preparing presentations, gobbling up gallons of printer ink for some dossier or other and shuttling from one place to another… then you’ll need something like Lenovo’s W520. Variously described by reviewers as an “ultra-powerful mobile workstation with a full HD screen and more than 9 hours of battery life” that “promises performance that’s on a par with or exceeds the most powerful desktop PC money can buy”, the W520 sounds promising. But so does its regular pricetag, which can reach north of $2,900. Well rest easy as today’s deal will bring all models configured above $2,255 down by this much: 10% off, plus $956 in instant savings, plus another 20% coupon.
Capitalizing on the latest trend of anything and everything being in 3D, as well as incorporating a bit of retro charm, these custom-made View-Master wedding invites will make it hard for anyone to turn down attending your big day. Created by Brooklyn, New York-based Mélangerie, you simply have to send along 7 high-res images you want to use, including a brief description of each, and they’ll create a custom View-Master slide you can include in this one-of-a-kind invite. Well, one-of-a-kind as long as you’re the first of your friends to go with this idea.
The invites take about 6 to 8 weeks to make and ship to you, and once they arrive you’re responsible for assembling them and mailing them out to your guests. So the whole idea is going to be a bit on the expensive side. Mailing out a box with a View-Master inside is certainly going to cost a bit more than a paper envelope. And the invites themselves run $3,450 for 100 guests.
Hot Summer temperatures and sealed motor vehicles are a terrible combination. Stepping into a sweltering car and waiting for the air conditioning to do its thing can feel like hours. But once again Thanko has come to the rescue with a device no one realized they needed. Working kind of like the liquid cooling systems that keep high-performance PC humming along, this seat cushion connects to a pump which you fill with a frozen bottle of water. In just 5 seconds it can cool a seat from upwards of 60℃ down to 28℃, and it will keep it cool for up to 8 hours.
It plugs into your car’s cigarette lighter since the pumping mechanism needs power, but it also includes an AC adapter if you’d prefer to use it indoors instead. At almost $200(¥14,800) it’s certainly a pricey aftermarket upgrade for your vehicle, but totally worth the cost if you opted for black leather seats and happen to live somewhere just below the equator.
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