Hasta La Gadget!

Covering one of the world’s largest tech shows using only a BlackBerry may sound like an absurd idea. But after six days of using a Z30, Tim Moynihan gained a newfound admiration for the phone.

At last week’s CES 2014, Audi showed off its new Smart City Traffic Light Assistance, a system that gives you a countdown until the next stoplight on your route will turn green. So you can speed up to catch it on time, or slow down and relax because you have an extra few seconds. It’s magic!

The Smart City Traffic Light Assistance system uses local data sources about traffic light patterns and timing. This info is beamed to your vehicle over Wi-Fi. The system uses this data and the speed and heading of your vehicle, to determine how long you have and gives you a countdown timer for when the next traffic light will turn green.

Okay, it is more math than magic, but it is a thing to celebrate. Now we will know the future. At least as far as traffic lights are concerned.

[via Geekologie]

It goes without saying that every single home would need its fair share of electrical devices, and some of these are indispensable – such as a refrigerator, a computer, and perhaps even a TV set. As for a blood pressure monitor, I hardly see manual versions any more, but technology has moved at such a pace that the blood pressure monitor has now taken a twist where it is not only electronic, but runs sans wires as well. We are referring to Withings’ Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor, of course, which was unveiled at the recently concluded CES 2014.

The Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor happens to be a revamped version of its award-winning Smart Blood Pressure Monitor. What has the folks at Withings done to improve this particular blood pressure monitor? They have decided to throw in wireless ability, in addition to making it play nice with Android-powered devices. Not only that, Withings intends to take its vision of user-friendly connected health another step further.

Sporting a medically-approved blood pressure cuff, it makes it a whole lot easier to use, which would also drastically expand its reach. Withings makes life easier when it comes to taking measurements, where all that you need would be to wrap the cuff around their arm and turn it on. Once done, it will automatically hook up to your smartphone via Bluetooth, opening up the Withings Health Mate application. Tapping the start button, the cuff will inflate and starts to take down the wearer’s systolic, diastolic blood pressure in addition to heart rate. All results would be shown on the screen automatically, saved and compared to standards for better comprehension later on.

The Withings Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor will offer a 360° well-being experience, where it will retail for $129.95 a pop. Would you be interested in picking this puppy up when available?

Press Release
[ Withings Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor unveiled copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

You might recall last summer when a case for the iPhone 4/4S tuned up that turned the iPhone into a stun gun. A new case surfaced at the recent 2014 International CES from the same company, Yellow Jacket. The new case will turn the iPhone 5/5S into a stun gun.

Image: CNET

The case is available in multiple colors, including pink. It has a removable stun gun and the case itself is made out of TPE material. The stun gun can deliver 650,000 volts to an attacker.

That will certainly make you lay down on the floor and take notice if you get zapped with it. It has ambidextrous triggers and you have to flip back a safety strap to use the stun gun before you deliver a jolt to an attacker. It’s also 50% more powerful than the previous model. Ouch.

One thing about the case that is clear from this BBC video is that it is very bulky.  The Yellow Jacket stun gun case for the iPhone 5/5S will sell for $149.99(USD) and is available for pre-order now.

As a kid who grew up on Lazer Tag and the Killer, the idea of a compact, always-on live action RPG is very compelling. Dustcloud fits that bill.

Created by a designer named Howard Hunt, the game uses small, gun-shaped “Dusters” that have LEDs that register hits and damage taken. You can use your Duster in street to secretly hit other players and because it uses RF signals there you simply need to be in line of sight rather than aim directly at a small target. The guns use Bluetooth LE to communicate with your phone and notify you of hit statistics and the whereabouts of other players. You can play offline with friends or join in on a massive, world-wide networked game.

We tried the game at CES and found it to be quite fun. While it takes some set-up – Hunt himself initialized the guns up for us – he expects things to get easier with time.

The team, which includes Ota Fejfar and Hunt, is looking for $100,000. They’ve raised $17,000 on Kickstarter so far and offer a number of packages including a single gun kit for $55 or a dual gun kit for $90. The “aftermarket” proposition is actually kind of interesting: if you want to play online with players around the world (a prospect that would assume massive market saturation), you can buy bullets (called speks) for 5 cents each. You store your speks on your smartphone and when someone shoots you they gather up your speks. This would presumably encourage you not to die so much.

When we played the game in a dark parking lot at CES we had an absolute blast. Once you understand how the guns operate and how to hit other players it becomes easier to have a bit of fun. It also makes you a bit winded, which is always a good thing. Dustcloud sits firmly in the tradition of laser games of yore and that, I think, is a good thing.