Not too long ago, Dropbox was the victim of a security breach, and as a result, they said they’d cook up a 2-step verification system for the service. Now it’s here, and you should go turn if on if you keep anything of value in your Dropbox, or even if you don’t. More »
You know for sure that hardcore gamers take their gaming very, very seriously. Otherwise, they would not be hardcore, would they? Every single bit of performance counts, just like how the high speed and high precision sport of Formula 1 is like. After all, you can never quite tell whether you missed that last money shot simply because your mouse did not register that final flick of your wrist as accurately as you thought it would – only to realize that you were let down by your mouse pad simply because its grooves were all worn out.
Well, if reading the above paragraph actually caused you to have a second look at your mouse pad, only to see that it indeed has grown thinner than it originally was, perhaps it is time to reconsider a new mouse pad. I remember my first “professional” mouse mat from 3M, boy was it ideal to frag my opponents into oblivion, but the extremely low sensitivity setting in my Quake configuration made me run out of space – real fast, leading me to look out for a larger mouse pad. Enter the Chrome Blue version of the ROCCAT Sense High Precision Gaming Mousepad of today.
The Chrome Blue version will feature a revised surface, in addition to more intense colors while measuring all of 2mm high (or should we say, low?). The special microcrystalline coating that was incorporated into the fabric surface is extremely effective at minimizing frictional resistance between the mouse and the pad, hence noticeably improving the gliding capability of mice. Not only that, it works extremely quietly with hardly any noise, allowing your mouse to glide almost silently over the entire ROCCAT mousepad without missing a beat. The ROCCAT Sense Chrome Blue High Precision Gaming Mousepad can be purchased for €19.99 if you are living across the pond, while those living Stateside will end up with the slightly better deal at $19.99 a pop.
The ROCCAT Sense Chrome Blue High Precision Gaming Mousepad measures 400mm x 280mm, making it ideal to perform sweeping mouse movements. Folks like me who have extremely low sensitivity will love this mousepad which sports a rubberized coating for the entire underside, making sure the mouse pad sits perfectly and securely even on smooth surfaces.
[ ROCCAT Sense High Precision Gaming Mousepad now comes in Chrome Blue copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.
Sometimes you just can’t remember if you turned off the toaster oven before leaving the house. Sitting at work, you might wonder, “is my house burning down?” or “should I go home and check?” You could run home, of course, or you could just link that croissant cooker up to the internet and switch it off from your phone. SmartThings promises to let you do just that, offering a system that connects everyday physical objects to a cloud-based control center. The project aims to provide users with a bevy of end-devices — automatic door locks, thermostats, humidity sensors, presence sensors, power outlet switches and more — that connect to a router-like SmartThings hub. From here the user can easily see and control these devices on the SmartThings mobile app.
That alone would be pretty handy — but the SmartThings team decided to take it a step further by building SmartApps, that is, applications for further customizing how SmartThings devices (and the user) interact with the every day objects they’re attached to. The platform is going to remain open, too, allowing owners and developers to build custom applications to fit their needs. Better still, the project is on a tight time line, and aims to put its product in backer hands by December — of course, it’ll have to reach its $250,000 Kickstarter goal first. Check out the team’s pitch after the break, or hit up the source link below for more details.
Filed under: Misc
Insert Coin: SmartThings wants to connect your dog, mailbox and kitchen cabinets to the internet originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Aug 2012 12:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
And I thought that John’s Phone was as dumb as dumbphones get. But now, a UK-based company has created OwnFone, a phone that doesn’t even have a number pad, just speed dials people that you set when you order the phone. If this isn’t idiot proof then I don’t know what is.
Users can choose to have 2, 4, 8 or 12 contacts on their OwnFone. Aside from the numbers, users can further customize their OwnFone by adding colors and style. You can leave the phone as it is, add a pattern or upload an image to be used as its background. Right now customers can only use alphanumeric characters to label the contact buttons, but in the future it will be possible to use Braille or even images as labels to make the phone even more accessible.
The phone is only about 0.28″ thick and weighs just 40g (about 0.09 lbs). It’s also rechargeable and can last up to a year in “Shutdown” mode. I’m not sure if the last feature is merely a sleep mode or a literal shutdown state.
Want your own OwnFone phone? Better move to the UK as it’s currently exclusive to the state. If you’ve got that taken care off, head to the OwnFone website and be ready to fork over £55 (~$87 USD) for the device itself. You’ll also have to sign up for a monthly plan that costs between £7.50-£15 (~$12-$24 USD).
[via The Verge]
Making use of pedal-power to charge your phone or power headlights isn’t a brand new biking technology, but the EcoXPower brings something new to the table by letting you do both of those simultaneously. More »
The eagle-eyed GameSniped spotted an unusual bit of loot for sale at the real money auction house known as eBay. It’s a sword, but not just any sword: it was given to a Blizzard Entertainment employee in recognition of his or her 5 years with the company. Apparently the sword isn’t binding, so now you have to chance to wield the sword even if you weren’t the first one to find it.
Blizzard holds an annual “Swords and Shields” ceremony to honor longtime employees. Five years of service qualifies for a sword, 10 years a shield and 15 a ring. According to Blizzard the design of the sword changes every year, which makes this item even rarer (if it’s the real deal, that is). However the shield and ring designs stay the same. I haven’t seen the ring but the shield is pretty sweet. It’s a replica of the shield on Lordaeron’s coat of arms.
Bid at least $510 (USD) on eBay to have a shot at earning the sword. Its rack does match the ones shown on Blizzard’s gallery, but I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this product. The auctioneer did say that the sword was given just last year, March 18, 2011 to be exact. That should help you verify if the loot is worth your hard farmed dollars.
[via GameSniped]
As if Google’s cyber-glasses weren’t sci-fi enough, the search giant is also apparently looking into cyber-gloves. The patent “Seeing with your hand” has been granted to Google, and could be the beginning of a future Glass peripheral. More »
One of the more recent features to turn up in IM programs and services is to notify others when they have read your messages. This can be both good and bad. If this is something that annoys you on Facebook Chat, then you should try Chat Undetected.
Chat Undetected is a Chrome/Firefox/IE extension allows you to keep the status of your messages under wraps. This basically cloaks your message viewing and users won’t be notified when you read their messages. Since it’s a browser extension, it’s pretty convenient.
This extension allows you to somewhat nicely ignore annoying people, so they don’t know you’ve seen their messages. Of course, you could simply switch Facebook Chat off, but many people just leave that on by default.
[via The Next Web]
Inhabitat is always on the lookout for new and interesting innovations, but some of the things that flashed across our screens this week truly defy the rules of physics. Take, for example, the story of 51-year-old Chinese man Sun Jifa, who lost both of his arms in an explosion and built his own bionic hands out of scrap metal. Building functional prosthetic limbs is one thing, but doing it without the aid of fingers? That’s downright mind-blowing. We were also pretty excited to hear that a California-based tech company has developed a working hover bike that travels up to 30 mph. It isn’t quite ready for a high-speed chase in the forest a la Star Wars, but it still looks pretty cool. And in another amazing development, a team of Harvard researchers has figured out a way to store 70 billion books in a space the size of your thumbnail.
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: a locomotive that runs on hydrogen, honey detective and a 30 mph-capable hover bike originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Aug 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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You already know that Facebook and privacy don’t really get along, but many “improvements” to the service are making it easier and easier to share everything without even knowing. Avi Charkham rounded a bunch of these tricks up over at TechCrunch, and they’re as subtle as they are sketchy. More »
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