Hasta La Gadget!

Everyone in the States at this point in time is very familiar with the
term "sequester" as it applies to limiting the size of the U.S. federal
budget. British Airways, on the other hand is using the concept as
originally defined — "to cause to withdraw, into seclusion." British
Airways’ latest innovation is titled, ‘Innovation Lab In The Sky,’
and their sequestration will not be limiting at all, because their plan
is to expand upon talent and opportunities, with a little help from
their friends.

I am quite sure that majority of our readers are technologically savvy in the first place, otherwise you would not be checking out this site, would you? Having said that, most folks in the US would have upgraded their TV to a flat screen display that is slim, in order to comply with digital signals some years back, meaning chunky CRTs are not longer in vogue. As for folks living in Europe, it really depends on your budget as well as the necessity of getting a large, flat screen TV in your living room. Philips thinks that it would not make much sense to jump over to Ultra HD resolution TVs like most of the other major TV manufacturers have done, but will instead continue to concentrate on a Full HD display that emphasizes lots on the external aesthetics without compromising on internal quality, which is where the Philips DesignLine range of TVs were born.

At first glance, it would be safe to say that Philips has taken design to a totally new level, as their DesignLine range comprises of one seamless sheet of gradient black glass, where it will lean against the wall without the need for a stand or visible frame. Now that is certainly a work of art, although I am quite sure any home with boisterous children who love running around and kicking a ball about in the living room would leave the parents in a difficult position – either the TV or the kids must go. No prizes for guessing which of the two will remain at home, of course.

The new DesignLine TV is not only light but transparent, where its frameless glass front displays a smooth flow from black opaque to transparent in standby mode, ending up as virtually invisible when watching TV. The inclusion of ‘Ambilight 3-sided XL’ will deliver a floating appearance of the Philips DesignLine TV, as the projecting light matches the color of the on-screen content precisely onto the wall behind. You will find the DesignLine TV series arrive in 46″ and 55″ screen sizes, as they hit Europe and Russia in Q2 2013 for a yet undisclosed price.

Product Page
[ Philips DesignLine TVs livens up your living room copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Before there was Minecraft, there is Lego, and one cannot deny the fact that Lego has done plenty to kick start the imagination of many a young kid. The thing is, while Minecraft has more or less garnered a loyal following on the computer as well as on the Xbox 360 in addition to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, the physical and spiritual predecessor from Denmark, Lego, is still around – and growing from strength to strength, I might add. Lego bricks have long been used in creative ways to exercise the brains of your little ones (and adults alike), so much so that entire theme parks have been built around Lego bricks. Well, the more creative minds do come up with something interesting once in a while, and here we are with this motorized Lego machine. What makes this motorized Lego machine different from the rest is that it can fold paper airplanes, followed by launching them into the air afterwards.

If that is not brilliant, I am not quite sure how else to describe it. The motorized Lego machine is the brainchild of YouTube user “Hknssn,” where this fully-automated machine has its building blocks in a couple of Lego Mindstorms NXT sets and five NXT Servo motors. Measuring 150 centimeters in length and 40 centimeters wide, this machine relies on motorized rollers to pull paper from a tray, followed by rolling it along the system where it has been folded. At the end, you will find a compressor that will help launch the folded paper planes, much to the amusement and wonder for some starry eyed kids.

According to Hknssn, the current design of his Lego device is capable of launching planes up to three meters, although he believes that with some tweaking done, it would be very possible to come up with a model that launches paper planes as far as 10 meters, which would certainly have teachers in school up in arms if every one of their students had one of these in the classroom.

Source
[ Lego creation launches paper planes copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

What will the 5S do to distance itself from the 5?

(Credit: Apple)

Everybody’s talking about killer features these days, but what exactly is a killer feature? It’s a tech innovation or hardware spec or special piece of software that gives you good chills, that makes a nice smartphone into a must-have smartphone.

Your idea of a killer feature may be different from your neighbor’s. Siri may have been a killer feature for you back when the iPhone 4S came out. The freshly announced Samsung Galaxy S4 has been criticized for not offering a killer feature. It seems that if the heart doesn’t quicken at the mention of a technological upgrade these days, many consider it a disappointment.

Far in advance of the actual next iPhone announcement, we’re hit with rumors that the new phone will have a killer feature, that Apple’s famous “one more thing” will return in all its glory. We’re just not sure exactly what it might be.

Let’s look at the iPhone 5S rumors to see what possible innovations are in store for the expected announcement sometime this summer.

Hot on the heels of the latest Galaxy’s enlarged screen size, plenty of people are wondering if Apple will follow suit and offer a jumbo-screen iPhon… [Read more]

Related Links:
iPhone 5S will bring back ‘one more thing,’ analyst says
Galaxy S4 vs. iPhone: Morning-after analyst take
Rumor Has It: Will the iPhone 5S be a killer?
Beyond the Galaxy S4 hype: What now, Samsung?
How Samsung broke away from the Android pack

Australian hardware startup and Kickstarter success story LIFX has good news for people who missed out on backing the initial project: it’s opening up a second round of pre-orders, with a new production run of 100,000 units, sold directly through its website. LIFX sold out its pre-order allotment on Kickstarter in just six days, blowing past $1M, which is 10 times its original funding target.

LIFX’s original ship date was slated for March of 2013, but as of today co-founder Andrew Birt says the first 500 units should be rolling off the line in about four weeks time with a May/June Kickstarter shipping timeframe in mind, which isn’t that much of a delay in Kickstarter time. That’s why the company has now released the video above, which shows the production prototype in action, connecting to Wi-Fi, being controlled by the remote app with light color changing features and a demo of gesture-based dimming in action.

The new second batch of LIFX bulbs is set for a September 2013 delivery date, so they’ll come after the startup fulfills its Kickstarter pledge pre-orders. All bulb types, including Edison screw, Bayonet and Downlight mounts, start at $79 (just $10 more than the original Kickstarter single-bulb price), and all have price breaks for bulk orders.

Unlike Philips Hue, LIFX bulbs don’t require a base to connect to your network, and the Edison screw and Bayonet types are rated at 900 lumens on the LIFX (around 80w), while max brightness on the Hue is just 600 lumens (roughly 50w). Philips Hue bulbs cost $20 less per unit, but you also have to buy the starter kit which includes the base to get up and running, a $199 initial investment. Of course, the ultimate test will be in performance, so we’ll have to see how LIFX compares to the generally very positive reviews the Philips Hue is garnering.