Apr 09
Like music? Buy albums? Go to concerts? Wear band T-shirts? Sure. But do you have a thousand different band T-shirts that you can wear for a thousand days in a row? Didn’t think so! Isac Walter does though. And he did it. He crushed it.
Mar 20
This is what 80′s rockers would have looked like if they were robots. This robotic band goes by the name Z-MACHINES. It sounds like a human band if you close your eyes, but if they are open you know that they are robots, ready to kill us after the show.
The bot called March bangs multi-colored cables in time to the music. Behind him, the drummer Ashura has 22 arms and is playing four times faster than a human. Cosmo is the keyboardist with green lasers hitting each key. The guitarist has 78 fingers, and can shred way faster than you can:
This robo-band was created by engineers at the University of Tokyo and uses around 300 kilowatts of electricity. They are a big hit in Japan since they made their stage debut at a “Future Party” in Tokyo last year.
It’s all fun and games until no one returns from their concerts.
[via CNN and The Awesomer]
Feb 06
What’s cooler than being cool? Ice cold. Exactly. The Swedish town of Luleå took that saying literally because they formed an incredible ice orchestra called Ice Music that uses musical instruments sculpted from ice—yes, ice—to performs songs inside a concert hall that’s basically an igloo.
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Jan 06
Because you are not allowed to be a company anymore if you don’t make an activity tracker, Epson is getting in on the action with its first two entries into the product category. While most of these are a dime a dozen, Epson’s Pulsense products might actually have a leg up on their competition: Built-in heart-rate monitoring.
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Jun 12
If you’ve been sitting around not clocking up the miles with your Basis Band, we imagine it’s because you were waiting for that long-delayed mobile app. Well, it might not be Q1 as promised, but it’s finally time to lace up those sneakers. It’s team Android that gets out of the blocks first, with the app debuting on the Google-flavored OS. Features include automatic sync, the ability to see your current progress towards your activity (aka habits,) plus, of course, lots of historical data. Think you set your goals too high? Too low? No problem — you can edit said habits direct from the app, drill down to show more detail, and get notifications or reminders about how well you’re (not?) doing. The app is free, and while Android might have the head start, we’re told the iOS version isn’t far behind, so iPhone owners might want to start limbering up now. In the meantime, those with green stripes can head to the source for the goods.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile
Via: PopSci
Source: Google Play
May 10
Bored of Words with Friends? How about a word game created by band (and internet neutrality advocates) OK Go instead of a floundering corporation? Believe it or not, the Grammy-winners have just released a free game for iOS and Android called Say the Same Thing, which actually has nothing to do with the group or its music. It lets you play with a friend or random partner as you try arrive at the same word, by each choosing a new word in common with your previous choices. We gave it a shot, and it’s actually rather fun — yours truly and random internet guy Jason H. each arrived at “Caddyshack” from “Bill Murray” and “movies” after four rounds. You can even play with one of the band members, though there was quite a queue when we tried — see how they roll in the video after the break, or grab the app at the sources.
Mar 19
The sun can get pretty intense depending on where you live. If that is a concern for you, then you should check out this band, which will hopefully help keep you from getting singed from the sun.
The UVeBand will allow you to sunbathe without worrying to much about getting sunburned. This slap-on bracelet will monitor solar exposure, and vibrates whenever you need to apply more sunscreen. It will start working after you’ve applied your first layer of sunscreen, and it will automatically turn itself on. Vibration alerts will be sent to your smartphone every 15 minutes. The band keeps track of UVA and UVBs, and uses the solar power to operate its circuits.
The UVeBand was launched as a Kickstarter project, seeking to raise £80,000 (~$120,000 USD) by April 7, 2013. You’ll have to pledge £8 (~$12 USD) to get yours.
[via Ubergizmo]
Mar 12
Lego Bionicles drafted into Arduino-driven band with synthesizers and more (video)
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Italian sound designer and producer Guiseppe Acito wanted to kick off his newly established blog with some fanfare. Naturally, that meant constructing a band from Lego Bionicle toys driven by an Arduino Uno and controlled by an iPad MIDI sequencer app called Nord Beat. Dubbed the Toa Mata Band, the musical group makes its tunes by beating on assorted drum pads, percussion instruments, synthesizers and even a Nintendo DS. Acito has published the ensemble’s very first music video, and it seems like there are more to come as it carries an “episode one” label. Hit the jump for the footage — which really starts cookin’ around the 1:15 mark — or hit the third source link for glamour shots of Toa Mata members and the whole setup.
Via: Make
Source: Opificio Sonico (1, translated), (2, YouTube), (3, Flickr)
Jan 07
Fitbit’s been in the fitness-tracking game for a while now, but today marks its first official entry into the wearable band space. Shown off here at CES 2013, the Flex is a wireless band much in the vein of Nike’s Fuelband and Jawbone’s rebooted Up. But while it shares many similarities with those existing products, there are a few very notable areas where it breaks apart from the pack– namely, the inclusion of Bluetooth 4.0. Now, health nuts can wirelessly update their stats to an iPhone or limited selection of Android (!) devices via that standard without having to manually sync.
While it doesn’t boast the Yves Behar design that Jawbone fancies, the Flex should prove to be a welcome accessory for fashion conscious consumers. To that end, it comes in five different colors — navy, black, tangerine, slate and teal — and features a thin strip of LEDs that can be activated by a simple tap. Those lights, five in total, each represent 20-percent towards a user’s assigned goal, so current progress can be easily monitored. And, as you might expect, there’s a vibration motor within the band to alert users based on settings made from the companion app.
The Flex is indeed a waterproof product and can be worn in the shower or even the swimming pool, though we wouldn’t advise you take it diving. Despite this H20 resistance, the Flex won’t track your butterfly strokes (or doggie paddles), but it will keep count of your steps, calories burned, sleep and distance walked.
Perhaps one of the most welcome innovations of this particular wearable is its ability to play friendly with Android — specifically, the Samsung Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III. Users who purchase this band will be able to download that app from Google Play at the end of January. Further, there’s one additional perk for Android users: the ability to tap-to-pair with NFC. In theory, this functionality should provide users with easy access to their stats, but we (in addition to the company’s many reps) had significant trouble triggering the action on repeated occasions.
If you’ve been monitoring the fitness-tracking space, but have been holding out for a band that offers just a little extra, then it’s worth considering the Flex. You can look for it to hit this spring for $100. Stay tuned for a video demo of the Flex in action.
Gallery: Fitbit Flex wristband hands-on
Sarah Silbert contributed to this report.
Continue reading Fitbit Flex hands-on at CES 2013 (video)
Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables, Wireless
Jan 05
Gonna be hard for CES to top this.
Continue reading All-robot band plays Motorhead’s ‘Ace of Spades’
Filed under: Robots
Source: Compressorhead
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