Tech Pr0n Features
News: Take Your Angry Birds Game to the Next Level with This Haptic USB Slingshot Controller
Playing Angry Birds on a computer just got a lot more interesting. Design students Andrew Spitz and Hideaki Matsui made this awesome slingshot controller for one of their classes at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design.
News: The Coolest Tech to Come Out of CES 2016
There's been a whole lot going on at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, from the latest in virtual reality gear to televisions that continue to slim down while producing higher quality images.
CES 2016: LG Shows Off Its Newspaper-Like Flexible Screen
LG literally rolled out a prototype of its cutting-edge flexible display at CES 2016 in Las Vegas. The company showed off an 18-inch screen with 1,200 x 800 pixel resolution that you can roll up like a magazine or newspaper and take with you. And while an 18-inch HD screen that rolls up is already pretty impressive, LG plans to build them up to 55 inches and beyond, with 4K resolution.
News: Forget Amazon & the Military, These Drones Are for Your Home
Parrot, a company that specializes in personal drones, has recently come out with new products that'll make those '90s robots look as dated as lava lamps and tie-dye.
News: Domino's Creates a Robot to Completely Derail Your Diet
There may be worse feelings than sitting around waiting for food delivery, but I don't want to know what those are. Especially when your local delivery guy misses your address for the eighth time. But soon, Domino's Pizza will take that stupid human error right out of the equation in the form of a robot that's only 3 feet high.
News: Squishy Skin-Like Material Created for Transforming Robots
Say goodbye to the age of metal robots—C-3PO and K9 are a thing of the (future) past! Anette Hosoi, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mathematics at MIT, and her former graduate student Nadia Cheng, have created a robotic material closely resembling human skin.
News: 12 Tips for Perfecting Your New Facebook Timeline
Facebook's new Timeline feature has been rolling out gradually since its unveiling in September, but yesterday it finally became available to Facebookers everywhere. It's even available on your mobile device, too. Those who want to upgrade to the radical new profile design can do so by simple logging into their Facebook account and visiting the About Timeline page on Facebook.
News: Amazing Solar-Powered Printer Uses Sunlight to Sculpt 3D Objects Out of Sand
No matter if you've used one or not, you've got to admit that 3D printers are pretty darn awesome, especially the self-replicating ones that extrude molten plastic and the shoebox-sized versions that use mesmerizing stereolithography to build tiny objects layer by layer. But what's even cooler? A solar-powered printer that uses the sun's energy to melt sand and make 3D objects out of glass.
News: Geomagic and Cubify Make 3D-Printing Yourself Easy with Kinect-to-3D
Even though the Kinect has been on the market for over a year, Microsoft's motion sensing device is far from old news. In fact, Microsoft announced at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that the Kinect for Windows hardware and accompanying software is finally arriving at the start of February. There's even an Amazon page for it already.
News: Panasonic's New Millimeter-Wave Radar Technology Could Save Lives at Intersections
Panasonic announced an interesting concept today that could advance millimeter-wave radar technology for automotive safety uses in detecting pedestrians, bicyclists, and other motorists.
News: This Chinese "Noah's Ark" Can Survive Earthquakes, Fire, 350-Ton Impacts—Even the Zombie Apocalypse!
No one likes to think about the possibility of natural disasters, but we all know they could happen at any time. Some of us are a little more paranoid than others, but wouldn't it be nice to know that you'd be protected if anything really crazy ever happened? Like the zombie apocalypse?
News: These Tiny Wireless Earbuds Pack Some Serious Noise-Canceling Abilities
What's better than wireless in-ear headphones with noise-canceling technology? Giving them a microphone to hear you talk from inside your head. And that's exactly what you get with RippleBuds; its inside-facing mic helps keep your voice crystal clear over phone calls, and makes sure Siri, Cortana, and Google Now will always get the right command.
Razer Nabu: The Pager of Smartbands (And That's a Good Thing)
The Razer Nabu is a smartband that alerts you when you've received a notification on your Android or iOS device. This fitness smartband not only notifies you, but keeps track of your steps, sleep time, messages, calories lost, and of course, the time. The screen is very simplified and resembles that of a pager.
CES 2016: New Gadgets from Samsung's Creative Lab
The Creative Lab at Samsung, also known as their C Lab, is trying to make wearable fitness devices more inconspicuous with its wearable smart belt, the WELT, but that might not be all.
News: Myo Lets You Control All Your Gadgets Like a Jedi
Well folks, the dream is coming to life. While we still may be a ways away from mind control, the team over at Thalmic Labs has created the Myo, and with it, the power of the Force comes to motion control, so long as you use it wisely.
News: Hitchhiking Robot to Travel Through Canada This Summer
Imagine this: You're driving on the freeway in Canada, enjoying the view and sipping Tim Horton's, when all of the sudden you see something out of the corner of your eye. You expect it to be a moose, obviously, but instead you see a robot with his thumb hitched up. So, after insuring that you didn't accidentally take some hallucinogens a few miles back, do you pick it up?
Google's Next Smart Device: Contact Lenses That Monitor Glucose, Detects Cancer, & More
Warning: Google wants to take control of your sight. While this statement isn't (or is) true, it doesn't change the fact that Google is partnering up with Novartis to create contact lenses.
News: Sensibo Is the Super Smart, Super Green Automatic A/C Controller
Personally, I know life would be a lot easier if the people in it could just read my mind. Since that technology is currently unavailable, it's comforting to know that your air conditioner can be your personal telepathist with Sensibo.
News: GoTenna Will Let You Text Even When Service Is Down
You're hiking up a beautiful mountain when all of a sudden you remember it's your mother's birthday. You begin to panic—you forgot her birthday last year, and you know if you don't say something soon, you're as good as dead.
News: Let Your Microwave Count Your Calories for You
They say that ignorance is bliss, and that is exactly how I feel about counting calories. They simply don't exist if I don't check them, right? For those of you who are much healthier than I am, General Electric wants to count them for you, via your microwave!
News: The Quieter Announcements of the “Let’s Talk iPhone” Event
By now you’ve heard about the iPhone 4S announcement, possibly through our article about Apple’s newest smartphone. However, the star of the show was not the only announcement, so here are a few other announcements that were served along side the main entrée this morning. Let’s talk iCloud, iPod, iOS, and more.
News: Metalworker Builds Tiny Marriage-Proposing Robot to Pop the Question for Him
What's the geekiest way to propose to your girlfriend? Make a robot do it for you. As a self-declared dork, RangerX52 wanted to take a simple task like proposing and make it as utterly complicated as possibly—by having a DIY robot do it for him. With knowledge of his lady's infatuation with the childlike personality of GIR, one of the main characters from the animated Invader ZIM series, he went ahead and built a tiny robotic replica of GIR to do his bidding.
Great Deal: Free Facebook Timeline Business Cards
When you're meeting new people, chances are they're no longer interested in collecting your phone number or email address. Instead, they're more interested to see if you have a Facebook account. So, what's a better way to get connected online in the offline world than a business card of your Facebook Timeline? The new cover image and info section on your profile makes for a great Facebook business (or personal) card.
News: Security Flaw in HTC Smartphones Leaks Your Personal Data to Certain Android Apps
Have an HTC smartphone? Chances are that some of your stored personal data has been hijacked by malicious apps on your device. Android apps that have permission to access the Internet, which is pretty much every ad-supported app out there, can snag valuable information such as email addresses, location history, phone logs, text messages, and more.
News: World's Smallest 3D Printer Makes Super Tiny Solid Objects
If you liked the idea of cutting duplicate keys from a personal 3D printer, then you might be interested to know that researchers at the Vienna University of Technology in Austria have successfully designed the smallest 3D printer to date. The prototype device is smaller than a shoebox and weighs only 3.3 pounds. It uses stereolithography compared to the RepRap's extruding molten plastic, and it's not a self-replicating machine and costs a bit more, at nearly $1,800 each. But compare that to ...
News: Instead of Images, This Digital Camera Spits Out Descriptions!
Today's digital cameras record not only the images themselves, but also the metadata behind the scenes, like camera settings, location, date, time, etc. But there's a lot more to say about a photograph. What's the subject? Is it night or day? Outside or inside? Person, place or thing?
Watch Out iMovie: Avid Studio Is Now Available for iPad
Despite starting on Macintosh computers, Avid focused their non-linear video editing programs on Windows systems after stiff competition from Final Cut Pro. But now they're coming back around, with Avid introducing their first iPad version of the Avid Studio home editing software, a miniature version of their industry-geared Media Composer. It will be directly competing with Apple's own iMovie for iPad.
Great Deal: RIM Slashes Prices on BlackBerry PlayBook Tablets to $299
Missed the holiday tablet sales? If you were hoping to grab a cheap BlackBerry PlayBook, you're in luck. All of the PlayBook models have been reduced to $299 in a limited-time sale by Research in Motion. But you better hurry, because the sale only lasts until tomorrow (February 4th).
News: Volkswagen's Underwater 'Car' Cage Lets Divers Get Up Close and Personal During Shark Week
As if the world needed one more reason to be obsessed with Shark Week, Volkswagen has teamed up with Discovery Channel to create this awesome "underwater car" that's actually a mobile shark cage.
News: Our Favorite WTF Gadgets from CES 2016
There was lots of new tech to check out at CES 2016, but you could argue that the majority of the big-ticket items weren't the most unique things in the world. Thankfully, there were a few innovative, unconventional ideas on display, and here are some of our favorites.
News: This High-Tech Pot Lets You Charge Your Phone Using a Houseplant
If you're a tech geek who cares about the environment, you probably concerned with your personal carbon footprint. You may feel like your love for gadgets is slowly contributing to the degradation of our planet, but tech is your life. And in this scenario, small changes matter.
News: Attack of the iPhone 6 Clones, Xbox One Gets More Social, & More Tech News You Need to Know
Better sleep, smartphone news, and changes to your favorite forms of entertainment. There's been a lot going on over the last couple of weeks in the world of tech, and we thought we'd show you all of the need-to-know products, updates, and ideas that we think are most important.
How To: Kill Twitter's New "Weekly Digest" Email
You may have noticed an unusual email from Twitter over the last couple of days that showed recent stories and tweets from those you follow. This is a new initiative from Twitter that gives you "the best of Twitter in your inbox". It's basically just a weekly summary of the most recent and relevant stories and tweets from your connections.
How To: Cancel Your FileSonic Paid Membership with PayPal
Thanks to the shutdown of Megaupload's website, the popular sharing site FileSonic has now removed all file sharing capabilities. Their website currently has the following warning:
News: How to Turn Your Toast into the Most Delicious Selfie Ever
It can be argued that selfies are the worst thing to come out of our generation. It can also be argued that they're the greatest function to come from our modern digital world.
CES 2016: How You'll Get Drunk at Home in the Future
Three smart devices shown at CES 2016 are making it easier for you to make stupid decisions. PicoBrew, Somabar, and 10-Vins demonstrated their systems for beer, mixed cocktails, and wine, respectively, and each one is attempting to change the way we enjoy our favorite potent potables at home.
News: Amazon Will Let You Return That Hoverboard Deathtrap, No Questions Asked
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that Amazon will be offering full refunds for any hoverboard purchased through its site in the United States or Canada, no matter when you bought it. Just visit amazon.com/returns or amazon.com/contact-us to start the process. While they will not stop selling hoverboards anytime soon, they obviously want you to feel safe about your purchase.
News: This Man Made a Playable Tetris Shirt for the Game's 30th Anniversary
A man by the name of Marc Kerger is out to prove that he's the number one fan of the game TETRIS by building a playable TETRIS shirt for the game's 30th anniversary.
Misfit Shine: The Quarter-Sized Fitness Tracker That Doesn't Need to Be Charged
If you're like me, you are a non-stop, sweating, never-give-up workout fiend. Okay, not really, but like a significant amount of people, I would love to live a healthier lifestyle. The Misfit Shine makes fitness a lot easier.
News: Jibo Is the Cutest (Or Possibly Creepiest) Personal Assistant
In 1999, Robin Williams starred in Bicentennial Man, a movie in which Williams played a robot named Andrew Martin, taking care of a family as a their nanny and personal assistant. For almost 15 years, I have waited for my Andrew Martin, but until now, I have been disappointed. Luckily, Jibo is on the job!