Hasta La Gadget!

During the heyday of optical storage we saw a 400GB Blu-Ray flavor (shown above) and even 1TB discs in the lab, but lately such development has waned. Sony and Panasonic have teamed up to move things along, however, saying there’s a need for reliable long-term storage that only optical disks can provide. The pair will develop a “next-generation standard for professional-use optical discs,” saying that a 300GB flavor could be ready in two years or so. Though geared towards industries like cloud storage and digital cinema at first, the tech could eventually trickle down to consumers, too. Given rapid developments in on-demand streaming and cloud gaming, however, there might be nothing left for us plebes to archive by then.

Filed under: Storage, Sony

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Via: The Verge

Source: Sony

Halloween’s still some time in coming, but that does not mean your Boy Scouts instinct cannot kick in by being prepared all the time. After all, it is those who tend to make the earliest preparations be in the best position possible to handle whatever curve balls that life throws their way. Well, you have had enough of ghosts and ghouls being littered all over your front lawn and want something that is slightly different, then you might want to check out the $199.99 12′ Inflatable Animated Spider.

We are talking about a 12′-tall inflatable spider which ought to send those who suffer from arachnophobia scurrying away even from half a block down, as something this large, looming over your lawn, would definitely send chills down one’s spine. Not only that, it does not remain stationary at all, as it is capable of moving its gruesome looking 30″-wide head back and forth. The spider’s head will swivel 60º side-to-side, as though it is deciding on its next victim, and its eyes will be illuminated by a couple of integrated LEDs each, where these will change colors from a devilish red to a supernatural green from time to time. We’re glad to say that you need not use your lung power to inflate this bad boy, as it comes with a 4-watt air blower that offers constant inflation in under five minutes, ensuring that its eight legs remain spread all the time to either side.
[ 12′ Inflatable Animated Spider copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Talking toys are nothing new, but most toys simply spout off pre-recorded sound bites. Not Supertoy Teddy. He’s a teddy bear that can actually hold a conversation, i.e. it will listen to what you say and respond accordingly. It’s like Siri, but in a stuffed toy.

Supertoy Robotics, the company behind Teddy, also made Jeannie, a voice-activated virtual assistant app for Android. In other words, these guys know a thing or two about natural language user interfaces.

I’m not sure if the toy in the video was actually working or if that exchange was staged. What I do know is that the Supertoy Teddy will work like Siri and Jeannie. And it sounds a whole lot like Ted. When you speak to it, it will connect to several servers that will decipher what you said and send back an appropriate reply. It will supposedly understand 30 languages out of the box. How will it do all of that? According to Supertoy Robotics’ response to backers, you’ll need to place a mobile device inside Teddy to make him work. The device will run Teddy’s app and will be the one to connect to the servers.

The video below, which shows Teddy’s innards, should give us a better idea of how the toy will perform in real life:

Hopefully Supertoy Robotics will give a no-frills demo of the final toy to clear up any confusion and show people what it can really do. But if you’re already sold, pledge about $64 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a Supertoy Teddy as a reward. I wonder if Teddy knows the Thunder Buddy Song.

Excessive use can lead to a laptop display being scratched. High-end touchscreen laptops these days often feature Corning’s Gorilla Glass, which gained popularity back in 2007 when it was specifically designed for the first iPhone. Gorilla Glass is tough and protects a smartphone or tablet’s display when it is dropped. If you drop a high-end laptop, chances are you might end up damaging much more than the display itself. So in that particular case, the focus is towards safeguarding the display against scratches, not potentially damaging falls. That is why Corning has created Gorilla Glass NBT, a new solution that protects touchscreen laptop displays against scratches.

Gorilla Glass NBT ensures that the display is able to withstand any weakness that may result from a scratch. Corning says that complaint rate for scratches on touchscreen laptops is higher than other devices, so there’s an obvious need for this product. This new solution is expensive, but Corning says that Gorilla Glass NBT provides 8 to 10 times more damage resistance for just 1 or 2 percent of the device’s retail price. Dell is one of the first vendors to integrate the new Gorilla Glass NBT solution in their upcoming touchscreen laptops due this fall.

Like It , +1 , Tweet It , Pin It | Gorilla Glass NBT Protects Touchscreen Laptops original content from Ubergizmo.

BMW’s i3 concept has been kicking around for quite awhile, and so far we’ve seen the carbon fiber chassis, a you-wish prototype, many of the specs and even the price. All that remained was to see an actual car, and BMW has finally pulled the covers off of it today. The $41,350 (US pricing) vehicle will run for 80-100 miles on a charge while going from 0 to 60 MPH in seven seconds, thanks to the 22kWh battery, 170-horsepower electric motor and relatively slight 2,600 pound heft. If you opt to pay $45,200, you’ll be able to nearly double the range, thanks to an optional 34-horsepower two-cylinder backup motor. That’s pricier than the $39,145 Chevy Volt (which also has a backup gas motor), but BMW has equally high hopes for its premiere EV. It launched a dedicated sales channel for the i3 and future i-branded EVs, and even created a division dedicated to creating mobile apps for such cars. It’ll arrive in Europe in November and we’ll see it stateside during the second quarter of next year. Check the source or video after the break for more.

Filed under: Transportation

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Source: BMW (International), (USA)