Hasta La Gadget!

This curious plug-ejecting power-socket has just won first prize in the The Future Perfect Company design competition. The brief: Come up with “attractive and aspirational” designs that help people carry on as normal when they get older.

For most of the world, pulling out a plug is as simple as yanking a cord. Arthritis? Wrap the cord around your wrist before you pull. In England – where the fear of electrocution is only matched by the fear of the gangs of teenagers that roam the streets like marauding post-apocalyptic biker-gangs (only without the bikes) – things are more complex. Switches, interlocks and a three-pronged design with a side-exiting cable mean you need some strong fingers to unplug a plug.

Glenn Crombie’s winning design has an eject button. Press it and three prongs push the plug out and let it drop gently to the thick carpets that cover the floors of Britain. Never mind that frail fingers will have to press hard on a thin rod to make it work, or that when the plug is not in place there are three prongs sticking out to catch on skirts, slacks or any furniture you may wish to place in front of the sockets.

I guess the best thing to do would be to change UK plugs, but that’s about as likely as the country ditching the pound for the Euro, driving on the right or finally admitting that it is no longer in charge of a world-spanning empire.

Innovative push-out plug socket wins student design competition [The Future Perfect Company via Core77]

See Also:

• Revolutionary British Power-Plug Can be Yanked by its Cable …
• Mysterious Spinning Power Outlet Accepts Any International Plug …
• Fold-Flat Concept Fixes Bulky British Power Plug
• Power-Plug Concept Fails to Out-Coddle UK Version
• Gallery Of The World's Power Sockets

Monster cable has taken enough time off from suing people to come up with yet another new cable. The Monster iMotion CarPlay 3000 might sound like a made-up product from Mad magazine, but it is in fact a car charger for your iPhone or iPad – with a twist: it lets you control the music with a Ben Kenobi-like wave of the hand.

The cable consists of a torpedo that jacks into the cigarette lighter, a dock connector for the iDevice and a 3.5mm audio-out jack plug which slots into the car stereo. On the back of the charger unit is a sensor which detects your hand movements: Hold it up in a “stop” gesture for play/pause, and wave to the right or left to skip tracks forward or back.

I’m one of those idiots who thinks that cars are for driving, not for entertainment or eating lunch, and that distracting stereos should’t be in there in the first place. And the CarPlay 3000 will probably just make things worse as it picks up the usual movements of driving, skips tracks seemingly at random and generally drives you crazy.

The price? It’s from Monster. so of course it costs far too much. $120 in this case.

Control your iPod like a Jedi with Monster iMotion [CNET]
iMotion CarPlay press release [Monster]

Photo: CNET

See Also:

• Monster Cable Defends Overpriced Cables: The Short Form
• Audiophile Claims Monster Cables and Coat Hangers Sound the Same …
• Coat Hanger Beats Pricey Audio Cables
• Should You Pay $120 For A 2 Meter HDMI Cable?

What do you do after spending nearly three decades tinkering with software — from the humble Atari, through Microsoft Office, and into the modernity of Xbox gaming? Well, in Ed Fries’ case, we’re guessing you go to CES, find the wildest, most awesome gaming concept around, and sign up with its maker to help guide its development. Again, we’re guessing that’s what Ed’s done, we can’t know for sure what he’ll be doing as a member of Razer’s Board of Advisors, but there’s no denying the proximity of the Switchblade‘s announcement and his joining the gaming peripheral company. Even if the kindly gent’s focus isn’t on Razer’s portable gaming device, we imagine he’ll be a good influence on other products going forward. After all, when has it ever been a bad idea to have more veterans on your team?

[Thanks, JL]

Continue reading Xbox veteran Ed Fries joins Razer in an advisory role, probably to work on something awesome

Xbox veteran Ed Fries joins Razer in an advisory role, probably to work on something awesome originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 06:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

There’s no denying that Meinolf Althaus brings some personality to an otherwise stoic slate. Good thing too, because the idea of Fujitsu and Microsoft spawning a stylus-driven tablet from a session of ugly-bumping doesn’t elicit much excitement in the burgeoning tablet space. Enter Mr. Althaus who begins his lesson with an explanation that software user elements must be based on recognition and not on something that’s remembered. You know, like a hammer (or Fujitsu’s new slate) which is obvious in its usability and function. He then likens the current crop of consumer-based tablets to chocolate bars: they’re great for consumption but do little to help with content creation unlike Fujitsu’s Windows-based slate that’s optimized for corporations — spreadsheets naturally, not music or illustrations. The highlight, however, has to be the point in the video where he equates the Windows 7 user experience to a “scratchy” kitchen sponge that’s useful for utilitarian tasks like cleaning the dishes. Fujitsu’s tablet, he contends, is “cozy” like a silk scarf thanks to a custom-built layer that sits on top of the standard Win7 desktop. Brilliant. We’ll take two… Meinolfs that is. You will too after watching the video embedded after the break.

[Thanks, Hanson]

Continue reading Fujitsu’s tablet is easy like a hammer, cozy as a scarf, and never scratchy like Windows 7 (video)

Fujitsu’s tablet is easy like a hammer, cozy as a scarf, and never scratchy like Windows 7 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 05:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Face2Fujitsu  | Email this | Comments

Although 3D as a feature didn’t become commonplace on HDTVs until 2010, Mitsubishi and Samsung have both been shipping a number of 3D-ready models for several years. However, they rely on a different input format than the one used by 3D Blu-ray movies, 3DTV broadcasts and most 3D videogames so an adapter is required to make it work, which Mitsubishi released for its own DLP TVs last year. While enthusiasts on AVSForum quickly developed workarounds to get them working with some of Samsung’s DLPs as well, those won’t be necessary now that Mitsubishi is releasing the 3DC-100S, which will work with Samsung’s TVs (only projection sets, not plasmas) right out of the box. right now it’s available as a part of a $449 MSRP starter pack bundle but word is it should be available on its own shortly, in case you want to check out some ESPN 3D action without shelling out for a brand new TV set, press release is after the break.

[Thanks, Paul]

Continue reading New adapter from Mitsubishi brings Samsung’s old 3D-capable TVs up to spec

New adapter from Mitsubishi brings Samsung’s old 3D-capable TVs up to spec originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 03:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AVSForum  |  Mitsubishi  | Email this | Comments