Hasta La Gadget!

If you build a specialized type of hardware which, by design, rarely arouses emotions of physical desire in the general populace, you can see how you might have a bit of a challenge promoting your wares. How you get around that tiny issue is by pulling off a stunning steampunk mod while retaining the full functionality of the hardware, as British company Hi Tech have done with their Comptometer. The server controller, customized for use in live video broadcasting and editing, has already won a design award for what we understand to be “general awesomeness” and an unmissable video of its obscure workings lays just past the break.

[Via TechnaBob]

Continue reading Video: Comptometer does broadcast controls the steampunk way

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Video: Comptometer does broadcast controls the steampunk way originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like the simple, direct feel of a fixed gear hub, but miss the ability to shift down for a hill? Old-school hub-gear maker Sturmey Archer has just the thing: the new S3X Fixed Gear Hub.

The S3X is an aluminum fixed-gear hub (in 120mm and 130mm sizes) with three speeds. The difference between this and any other three-speed hub is that there is no freewheel, meaning that, like any fixed-gear, the pedals are always moving, and you can skid the rear wheel without a brake.

Top speed runs direct, and when you shift down you’ll get -25% and -37.5% of the third gear. Sturmey Archer plans on making the requisite anodized color-range, and you should be able to buy down-tube or bar-end shifters. And this is where the fixed-gear purists will balk: You’ll need to run a cable and mount a lever.

It looks like the perfect compromise: gears when you need them, and all the fun of riding with a fixed drivetrain. The hubs will be available (hopefully) by the end of the year and will go for around $150.

Product page [Sunrace Sturmey Archer via Urban Velo]

See Also:

• Exclusive First Look: Shimano Electronic Dura-Ace
• Hands-On With the Sram Torpedo Hub

WowWee may have some new competition, but it should come as no surprise that it’s not about to rest on its laurels this holiday season, and it’s now rolled out a pair of new “robot buddies” that it hopes will wind up at the top of plenty of kids’ (and some adults’) wish lists. First announced way back at CES in January, both the WowWee Roborover and WowWee Joebot are now available to order for $79.99 or $99.99, respectively, or in one of WowWee’s usual “mini” versions for a mere $15 apiece. While those latter options are basically action figures, the two full-fledged versions should keep you occupied for a little longer than your average toy robot, with each able to be controlled remotely or operate autonomously, play various games and, in the case of the Roborover, traverse “rough terrain” and “inclines.”

Read – WowWee Roborover
Read – WowWee Joebot

[Via SlashGear]

Filed under: Robots

WowWee rolls out Roborover, Joebot robot buddies originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boffins at Panasonic subsidiary Activelink have built a working Power Loader suit, just like the one Ripley used to go hand-to-hand with the alien queen in the movie Aliens. And better than that, they went on to make an eye-wateringly dull video of it in action.

The aluminum exoskeleton stands just over 5 feet tall, weighs 230KG (507lbs), and will let the user lift loads of up to 220lbs, as well as actually walking around while wearing it. That’s not enough to toss an alien into an airlock, but it may be enough to help rescue disaster victims (one of the suit’s main purposes), and to do it without crushing their puny human frames: The Power Lifter uses force-feedback to let the wearer feel the robot’s movements.

You will not be slipping one of these on anytime soon, though. Research has been going on since 2005 and marketable models aren’t expected for another 15 years.

Power Loader exoskeleton suit [Pink Tentacle]

The iPod Touch is a great device, especially for those who don’t want to drop $70-plus per month on a cellphone contract. Sure, it still doesn’t have a camera, but most of us have a camera anyway, whether a proper point and shoot or a terrible cellphone-cam. The same can’t be said about GPS. If only there were a way to add GPS to the iPod Touch…

Wait. There is! The “GPS Navigation & Battery Cradle for iPod Touch” is a slim case which slides onto the Touch and gives it a GPS unit. The best part is that it not only works with the mapping application from the unit’s maker, Dual Electronics (free with the cradle), but will provide GPS information to any application, meaning that all those cycle-computer apps you were itching to try out will now work.

The unit itself also contains a battery to save on iPod power-drain, and a bigger speaker so you can actually hear turn-by-turn directions. It even comes with a car mount and cigarette-lighter power cable in the box. In fact, the only thing missing right now is the price: while the shipping date – November – has been decided, the cost has not.

So far, we’re totally digging the deep hardware hooks put into the iPhone OS v.3, and the fact that it allows this kind of add-on. When Apple finally adds a camera to the Touch, and this GPS unit perhaps also gets a compass, it’ll truly be a phone-less iPhone.

Company page [Dual. Thanks, Joanna!]