Gadgets Blog

Once in a while comes along a concept that is extremely appealing to us that we can’t help but wonder about the possibilities of its impact should it ever make its way to the real world. As you all know, music is a great motivator throughout the history of mankind. How else would you explain the drums of war (literally) whenever armies step onto the battlefield last time? How about the rousing sounds of horns and trumpet blasts to raise morale of the troops (in addition to the customary leader’s speech on horseback, of course)? Well, fast forward to the modern day era and we have MP3s of our favorite artists to rouse us into action instead, albeit on the same concept. With music being the great motivator, it makes perfect sense for the ‘kokoro’ concept to be materialized - as long as the right tunes accompany the different emotional stages we go throughout the day, of course.

One way to make sure that our music helps influence our moods and actions would be to synchronize the tunes to our activity, and that will involve a whole lot of planning ahead as well as conjuring your own sophisticated playlists. The ‘kokoro’ concept makes life much more easier by doing the thinking for you, so to speak. In fact, it will rely on your heartbeat as an emotion indicator (although that is not always the most accurate but it should be good enough for the layman). For example, our heartbeat is slow when we’re relaxed, while whenever we’re stressed or involved in a high intensity workout, our heartbeat rate increases by more than double. The ‘kokoro’ werable playlist generator comes with a Polar heartrate sensor which transmits that data to an iPod, where it will then select tunes from your existing music library to match the current heartrate.

Of course, you can always choose to have the ‘kokoro’ do the opposite - play a faster paced song whenever you’re burning your thighs on the cycling machine, and vice versa.

Source: talk2myshirt

How many of you dread the puncture of a needle when it is inserted under your skin? Well, the thought of it used to give me the creepy crawlies until I realized that things weren’t so bad after all as a kid since the good doctor always has a handy supply of lollipops at hand to help soothe my fears just before he inflicts unimaginable pain on me. For those who have grown up and are still averse to needles, this could be due to the fact that inexperienced nurses/hospital staff who have failed to grasp the finer points of finding a vein in the right spot before injection could end up doing more harm than good to the patient. Ever tried donating blood only to have your arm poked a few times before the right vein is picked out? Well, with the AccuVein AV300, all those horrors and nightmares can be a thing of the past.

AccuVein’s AV300 aims to go up against its competitor, the hugely popular VeinViewer from Luminetx. Both models will rely on a similar system, using infrared imaging to see hemoglobin below the skin. The AV300 was specially developed to be highly mobile and battery operated, allowing it to be used even in rural areas (works perfectly with a solar-powered charger and rechargeable batteries we guess, especially if you’re a doctor somewhere in the mountains with no 7-11 nearby to purchase batteries), the AccuVein AV300 is extremely adept at spotting difficult to find IV sites for needle placement.

Some of the features of the AccuVein AV300 include :-

• Easy to learn and use â€" No pre-use calibration or adjustments are necessary- it can be used immediately.
• Small size â€"The AV300 fits in your hand and weighs only 10 ounces.
• Hands-free option â€"Either hand-hold the AV300 or set it in a hands-free accessory.
• No patient contact â€"Because the AV300 has been designed to be non-contact, it may not have to be sterilized after every use.
• Works in light or dark â€"Use the AV300 in light or darkly lit environments.
• Rechargeable battery â€"The AV300 doesn’t need to be plugged into an electrical outlet.
• Real world ruggedness â€" Designed to take the wear and tear of hospital and field applications.
• Movement tolerant â€"Because the AV300 shows the veins in real time, when operated properly, the device can accommodate patient movement.

Source: Medgadget

The name Western Digital is synonymous with quality hard drives, and over the years they have come up with different sorts of storage solutions that cater for every level, ranging from the home consumer to the enterprise. Most recently, however, Western Digital has further expanded its WD AV-GP family of hard drives that will come in varying capacities all the way to 2TB, featuring WD’s very own GreenPower Technology that offers cooler and quieter operation in addition to lower power consumption. This new line of hard drives were specially built to withstand stringent environments, especially those in the surveillance and security markets where durability is of utmost importance in order to preserve the data within for further reference should anything untoward happen.

Some of the features found in the revamped WD AV-GP line of hard drives include long term reliability, where they can last even in high temperature always-on streaming digital audio/video environments such as PVR/DVR recorders and surveillance video recorders. Despite that, it won’t make a din since noise levels have been minimized to be below the threshold of human hearing. Don’t worry about your monthly power bills, either, as the combination of WD’s IntelliSeek, IntelliPark, and IntelliPower technologies will further reduce power consumption by up to 40 percent compared to competitors’ drives. The introduction of IntelliPark will make sure heads are unloaded automatically during idle to reduce aerodynamic drag, in addition to improving non-operating shock characteristics for enhanced robustness in environments where excessive transportation and handling occurs. SilkStream has also been included for smooth, continuous digital video playback of up to 12 simultaneous HD streams. It is also compatible with the ATA streaming command set so CE customers can use standard streaming management and error recovery options.

If your company is interested in introducing the WD AV-GP 2TB hard drive (model WD20EVDS), you can do so from selected e-tailers and distributors. It will retail for $299. Small price to pay considering the bang you get from your buck, eh?

Product Page via Press Release

Microsoft is back with a couple of pieces of new hardware for the computing masses - the Wireless Mobile Mouse 6000 and the Wireless Mouse 5000. For starters, Microsoft is no slouch when it comes to computing hardware as one of their more memorable releases in the past would be the ergonomic keyboard that split halfway down the middle. I found it to be extremely comfortable to type all those years ago, but there is one reason that I did not find it conducive for gaming - it could not cater to my bounded keys in Quake. Well, all that is but a distant memory by now, so let’s take a closer look at both the Wireless Mobile Mouse 6000 and Wireless Mouse 5000 right after the jump.

With notebook and netbook sales combined far outpacing that of the ordinary desktop, it makes perfect sense to release a product that caters to those who do plenty of traveling with their computer. Enter the new Microsoft BlueTrack Technology mice, where the Wireless Mobile Mouse 6000 will be the first product from Microsoft that boasts a nano transceiver, allowing you to leave it plugged in even when traveling without having it to jut out like a sore thumb as found in other wireless mice. With BlueTrack Technology, it allows you to surf on more difficult surfaces such as carpet, granite and marble - something the best optical and laser mice cannot do.

As for the Wireless Mouse 5000, this model will rely on 2.4GHz wireless technology alongside a plug-and-play mini transceiver, making it the perfect notebook PC companion on yor travels. We don’t suppose this is a slouch in performance, and think that it is good for casual gaming although anything more serious than that doesn’t seem too likely. You can pick up the Wireless Mobile Mouse 6000 and Wireless Mouse 5000 for $49.95 and $39.95, respectively, when they arrive sometime next month. Each purchase will be backed by an international 3-year limited warranty.

Press Release

Now unlike those other Transformer USB drives, this is a real transforming robot and it’s even eco-friendly.  It can change into a total of 6 different robots, giving you plenty of ways to keep yourself entertained.  It’s a great and pretty much pointless way to enjoy solar power.  Not all solar power really needs to have a point though and this would also be a fun thing to enjoy with your children.

It can change from a robotic dog, to a boat, moving plane, car, windmill and lastly a desktop plane.  If you run out of sunlight for some reason, you can also charge this up by utilizing a 50 watt bulb or brighter.  There are a grand total of 25 parts and no screws.  Since there are so many parts, this is probably something you should help your kids with if you give it to them.  You can pick it up for £13.00 or about $21 from Red5.

Source: GeekAlerts

For those that are just dying to own a robot that transforms into something else, well, this is almost there.  It’s based off of a robot, but it doesn’t actually have any robot functions.  It does change into a USB drive though, which is pretty cool.  It’s still not as awesome as it being a robot that could kick some serious butt, but it is something.  Plus it gives you something to toy with when you’re incredibly bored at work or school.

It’s not a very big drive, which is common with the novelty USB drives.  It has 2GB of built-in memory, so it’s not too bad either.  Since it is a Transformer, they’re making you pay quite a bit more than you’d pay for your average thumb drive.  It’s going to cost you $51.41 from Geek Stuff 4 U.  It’s not out just yet, it appears that it’ll be officially out this September.  You can go ahead and pre-order it now though.

Source: GadgetVenue

Sure, consoles are terrific for playing games on the television, but there is a problem when you play them on an LCD monitor. Adapters of all types have come out, but many of them cause the console to go to a low-quality video mode.

Fortunately, Castrade’s Game Box, or CS-USC02HD, could be the bridge between console gaming and LCD monitors. The device is designed to accept video input from any video cable, such as the Wii, PS2, PS3, or Xbox 360. That, and other gaming systems that die-hards are still playing.

With the Game Box, the resolution should be at 1920 x 1200, or WUXGA. By the way, it can also accept audio inputs from other console connectors, and even send them out via 3.5 mm jack.

Some of you might admire the aesthetic of this Game Box. After all, standing a console on its end was pretty popular for the Wii and even the PS2. Why not with this guy? By the way, what do the buttons on this thing do? It almost looks like it is a controller or something.

Well, there is no word on when this device will actually be out, but it could be pretty revolutionary for LCD monitors and gamers.

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This small little speaker reminds me of an Acme magnet that if larger would be used to somehow attempt to catch and kill the infamous Road Runner.  There really is no point to the shape of the speaker, I’m not even sure they’re attempting to get it to look like anything in particular.  That does seem a bit on the odd side, but at least it still plays your music well enough and out loud.

The speaker has a built-in Lithium Ion battery that can be recharged by plugging it into your USB port.  It has a dual 36mm speaker with volume control and a 2W + 2W power output.  It can of course just plug into any device with a 3.5mm audio plug, which means iPods, PC, Mac, MP3 players and so on.  It comes in two different colors, one red with white tips and one blue with the same white tips.  You can purchase it for $19 from USB Geek.

Source: GeekAlerts

I used to have a rubber raft that required a foot pump to inflate. It took a lot of foot motion to get that raft inflated, and I never really thought about using that energy to power a mobile device.

It would appear that the UK cellular company Orange has figured out how to channel the power of a good idea. In fact, this device can “generate enough energy to power five minutes of call time in the time it takes to inflate a pillow”.

One can only assume that the pillow is a regular sized pillow, but I wish they would have used a measurement that would have used the number of actual pumps. As I recall, it took about a half-hour of foot pumps to fully inflate my two-man raft, so who knows how long it would take for that precious 5 minutes of talk time.

The press release says that it is “no bigger than a packet of Wet Wipes” for a size comparison. Clearly, this Orange Power Pump must be targeted for parents, who know what it is like to travel with Wet Wipes. Believe me, I know this. For those who don’t know, the actual measurements are 154mm x 129mm x 47mm. Now those are some precise stats.

Orange plans to display this Power Pump at the Glastonbury 2009 Festival, but there is no word on a price. Personally, I think that foot pumps are probably the way to go as far as pollution free mobile power is concerned.

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It must be the anticipation of the Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen movie that keeps me covering these transforming PC accessories. The first was the Ravage USB thumb drive, and someone else covered the Trypticon laser mouse before I had the chance.

Of course, I couldn’t resist reviewing this netbook that transforms. Not only does he become a robot, but he turns into Blaster, the Autobot version of the Decepticon Soundwave. I realize that there is a whole generation that doesn’t know what I have referenced, but Blaster could originally turn into a radio.

Blaster could never turn into a working radio, and the Qosmio netbook that this transformer turns into does not function either. It does function as a 4-port USB hub. Yeah, I’m sure you could easily see that it is not a working netbook with the screen split on the back of this robot here.

That was always one of the quips about Transforms. They often split in places that they shouldn’t be able to in real life. I remember this one Transformer named Warpath who could change into a tank, and it would split at the tank treads. Of course, the tank treads were just one carved plastic mold on the toy, but reality wouldn’t allot for that.

The original source for this is translated from a Japanese site, but it is available for 3,980-5,775 yen.

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