Cal Spas Creates Ultimate Outdoor Theatre

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Misc. Tech, Movies, Music, Video Games,

Cal Spas has dreamed up an Ultimate Outdoor Theatre for the ultra-rich. Featuring an anti-glare, anti-fog 63-inch LCD HDTV with surround sound, a Sirius satellite radio receiver, hook-ups for your fave game system, an iPod docking station, and a DVD/CD Player. It also contains a 5-burner barbecue grill, a wet bar with bar stools, 2 weatherproof recliners and 2 fire pits. We’re thinking that although Cal Spas has not yet released a price, if you have to ask what it costs, you probably cannot afford it.

Read More | Cal Spas via technabob

Get Out of the Dark with iBeam

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Portable Audio / Video,

If you already carry your iPod mini, photo, 3g, or 4g with you everywhere you go, why not give it a snap-on iBeam? Griffin Technology has created a package with a flashlight for finding your way and a class IIIA laser for making some points at your next business meeting. If you are iPodless, you can attach them to your key chain with included snap-on caps. Best of all is the iBeam’s price of only $19.99. You can find them and other iPod gadgets on Griffin’s website.

Read More | Griffin Technology

Locca Access Opens the Door to the Future

Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Smart Home, Misc. Tech, Wireless / WiFi,

Don’t you love it when you approach the supermarket and the door opens automatically? Well you can re-create that scenario at home with Locca Access, a remote control that unlocks your front door from 150 feet away, and comes with an electronic device that actually pushes the door open! The system comes with two remotes, a receiver that can store nearly 20 secret codes, and even a backup battery in case of a power outage. Yes, we love the notion of callously letting in guests without leaving the couch, but Locca Access also offers the convenience of not fumbling for keys when your hands are full—or when you’re coming home alone at 3:00 in the morning.

Read More | Locca via Red Ferret

Turn Your Atari Joystick Into a Hang and Play

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Video Games,

Chile’s Felipe Morales has found a nifty way to recycle all our old Atari joysticks. Although the Hang and Play is only a showpiece and not designed for retail, we can see this as spurring us on to our own inventions of outdated products. We could convert our original Nintendos into jewelry boxes, our Commodore computer into a foot stool, our obsolete floppy disks into coasters, and perhaps take our useless, empty inkjet cartridges and turn them into coin holders.

Read More | Felipe Morales

SMS Unveils Cell Phone/Computer Watch

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Internet, Misc. Tech, Music, Portable Audio / Video, Wireless / WiFi,

Australia’s SMS Technology has created the M300 watch that works with any GSM network, connects to a computer via USB, has a built-in MP3 player and speaker phone, an emergency call button, and a 1-inch color screen. Additionally, you can import logos and images for your screensaver, and download ringtones. The M300, which supports Bluetooth, will be available in March for a tidy $649.99.

SMS will also be releasing their M501 series in June, made of solid gold and titanium, and the M700 series for the business minded in November. These will be 850 mhz/1900 mhz watch phones and tri-band 900 mhz/1800 mhz/1900 mhz sets.

Read More | SMS Technology

Sonare Technologies’ Babble Device Stops Eavesdropping Cold

Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Misc. Tech,

Work in a job that deals with confidential information? Is your desk near the office loudmouth? Do co-workers eavesdrop on your private calls? We introduce you to Sonare Technologies’ Babble, a small device for your office or cubicle that offers complete privacy by disguising your voice while on the phone. How? At the push of a button (any time during a conversation), Babble transmits scrambled recordings of your voice, which sounds like background noise to nosybodies within earshot. Babble is compatible with most office phone systems and plugs into the nearest outlet. Available now at $395 USD, Babble may be a little pricey, but if it keeps sensitive information private—and workers happy—employers may consider it well worth the cost.

Read More | Sonare Technologies via Sci Fi Tech

Shooting Boy Bot Reminiscent of Ancient Japan

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Toys,

We have found a lot of robots that are simply incredible in their applications, but we just couldn’t resist one that looks so classy yet does so little. The Shooting Boy is a replica of an ancient Japanese luxury toy for feudal lords during the Edo period (1603 to 1867.) The bot actually pulls an arrow out of his fan, loads his bow, aims, and fires. You can find the robotic boy already assembled for $299.95 online at Jameco’s RobotStore, or build your own for $199.95 with included tools and instructions in English.

Read More | Jameco's RobotStore

Car Kit is Pink All Over

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Misc. Tech, Transportation,

How thoughtful of us to have found the winner of the Pink Panther car auction and you more hideously pink accessories to go with it. The award winning gift of the year includes a cell phone recharger, an ice scraper, protective gloves, an air freshener, a mini-torch, a steel hammer, and jump leads (in a pink bag, of course.) The Car Kit comes in a case small enough to stow under your seat or in your glovebox, and is available online from The Pink Toolbox Company for £29.99 (~$58.50,) who have a penchant for all things pink.

Read More | The Pink Toolbox Company

Logitech and EPFL Hatch Incubator

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Misc. Tech, Science,

Attention amateur geeks! Logitech and EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) have teamed together to form The Incubator. It will offer financial, educational, and functional support for about a dozen researchers and students to turn their ideas into realities. A former student from EPFL created the echo-cancellation tech that is now used in Logitech’s speakerphones and PC headsets. Props to the meeting of the minds between the two and let’s hope that other techy companies with bucks will follow suit.

Read More | Logitech

Polymer Vision Rollable Display Wins Most Innovative Award

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Science,

 

Polymer Vision has created what they claim is the planet’s first rollable electronic display. The winner of the Most Innovative Technology award at the 3GSM World Congress this week, the LCD display can be unrolled into a larger size than the mobile device itself. When the user has finished, the screen simply rolls back in. In addition, the gadget’s energy efficient charge lasts up to 10 times longer than most. The 5-inch display features 240 x 320 pixels, a contrast of 10:1, and an optimum refresh rate of 50 Hz. Contact Polymer Vision to see their demo and find about their future plans.

Read More | Polymer Vision