Hasta La Gadget!

It’s becoming increasingly cheaper to make your own arcade machine, but if you’d rather leave it to the pros check out Dream Arcades’ latest offering, the Vision 32. The machine gets its name from its 32″ LCD display. It’s loaded with 140 classic games, but as an introductory offer Dream Machines is giving away more games and other freebies to early buyers.

The Vision 32 is based on a Windows XP computer with a 3.0GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 1GB RAM, 80GB hard drive, CD-ROM drive and Ethernet port. Its buttons and 2.25″ trackball are backlit. It also has side pinball buttons and a hidden keyboard shelf. Dream Arcades didn’t specify the resolution of the display, only that it’s high definition.

The list below ticks off some of the games pre-loaded into the Vision 32. Early buyers will also get a over two dozen casino and slots games, seven clone games – including a Donkey Kong clone, a Freeway clone and a Frogger clone – plus a DVD-ROM drive. You can also add your own games, play music and videos and go online on the machine.

Insert a coin in your browser and order the Vision 32 for $2,699 (USD) – $500 off from its regular price. The sale ends on 5/26. You can check out custom made Vision 32 units on Dream Arcades’ Facebook page.

[via Gotham News]

Of all the characters in the original Star Wars trilogy, the Ewoks were my favorites. At the time, I didn’t realize how much they looked like dogs that walked around on their hind legs. if you need any more proof that the Ewok race is descendant from the mighty and fluffy Shih-tzu dog breed, here it is.

Somewhere in a city far, far away a geek has poked the head of his or her cute little shih-tzu through the side of a cardboard box with the body of an Ewok drawn on it. Epic dog photo taking ensued.

It’s almost worth buying a shih-tzu just so I can recreate this photo. It just wouldn’t be the same with my daughter’s Chihuahua poking her boney little head through the box. I sincerely hope this dog’s name is Wicket.

[via Twitter via Nerd Approved]

We’ve seen a couple of prototypes that enable or at least emulate touch-sensitivity on everyday objects. But as wearable technology continues to flourish, we’re going to need a simple and portable solution. Augmented reality company Metaio thinks they may have an answer with Thermal Touch, a technology that emulates touch-sensitivity using “the heat signature left by a person’s finger when touching a surface.”

Right now the hardware needed to pull off the feat is quite bulky. In the demo video below, Metaio used a tablet, a standard camera and a rather large infrared camera. The company hopes that in the future, all of the necessary hardware can be included in a wearable device similar to Google Glass, like so:

Here’s the demo video:

Sorry zombies, I guess you’ll be stuck with voice commands. Good luck with that.

[Metaio via TechCrunch]

Wicked Lasers has updated its Flashtorch flashlight to be lighter and longer lasting than ever before. The company claims that the Flashtorch is the world’s brightest and most powerful flashlight. I can’t verify that, though I wouldn’t be surprised if the claims hold up. After all, the Flashtorch is so bright that it can easily start a fire.

The Flashtorch has a 100W halogen lamp that emits 4,100 lumens and lasts up to 2,000 hours, a battery lasts up to 40min. per charge, and a heat-resistant lens and reflector that adjust the beam from a wide floodlight to a focused firestarter.

Put on gloves and goggles  and head to Wicked Lasers to order the Flashtorch. It’s guaranteed to burn through $200 (USD) before you even turn it on.

Ever since I found out about Tactus a couple of years ago I’ve been looking forward to trying out its tactile touchscreen technology. It looks like that time is close at hand. Tactus’ first consumer product is a case for the iPad Mini that adds its retractable buttons to the tablet.

The image above does not show the upcoming iPad Mini case; it’s a screenshot from Tactus’ 2013 CES demo, which you can watch below.  According to Business Insider, the iPad Mini case will have a switch that lets it “push out transparent, physical buttons over the iPad’s standard keyboard. The keys can appear and disappear almost instantly.”

If you’re hoping for Tactus’ technology to appear on other touchscreen devices as well, don’t worry. The company is working to have its product appear on as many devices as possible. Check out their 2014 CES concept video to see what they hope to accomplish:

Tactus’ iPad Mini case will be released later this year and will cost around $80 to $100 (USD). VentureBeat reports that Tactus will release its own tablet as early as next year.

[via Business Insider & VentureBeat via BGR]