Hasta La Gadget!

If you’ve used a consumer-grade portable solar charger, then you know that it takes them a considerable time to do their job. That’s why Don Cayelli invented SunVolt, which he claims can recharge gadgets at “outlet-like” speeds. I think that’s equivalent to about socket-like speeds in metric.

The SunVolt is available in 10W and 15W variants. Both come in a practical carrying case and will be able to charge any device that draws 5.5V or less, which should cover most if not all of your portable devices. The 10W model has two charging ports, while the 15W model has three. As you’ll see in the video below, the charging ports can be used at once, although I’m not sure if the charging time will be significantly longer compared to using just one port.

A pledge of at least $85 (USD) on Kickstarter gets you a SunVolt.

Fans of the Legend of Zelda series have long wondered about the chronology and connection of the 16 main games. As part of its 25th anniversary celebration this year, its creators finally revealed the canonical answer to these questions and more in the book Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia. Originally available only in Japan and only in Japanese, an English translation of the book is now slated for release in North America as well.

Aside from explaining “the full history” of the franchise – including details on the bloodline of the Hylians and their decline – the 274-page Zelda bible also contains lots of never before seen concept art and sketches, as well as a Skyward Sword manga. Here’s a look at the Japanese version of the book, courtesy of YouTuber MyGamingBoulevard:

The Amazon listing for the book claims that co-creator Shigeru Miyamoto co-authored the book, but all I can say for sure is that he penned the book’s introduction. You can pre-order the book from TFAW for $28 (USD) or from Amazon for $21. It will be available on January 29, 2013.

[via Kotaku & Knights of Hyrule]

image via Retroinvaders

The Leap motion controller is one of the most hyped gadgets unveiled this year, and it really is promising. But if you can’t wait until next year to have a 3D tracking interface, MAKE knows a way to make one using readily available tools.

The project is based on the RC time constant, which in simple terms is the time it takes to charge a capacitor. It has three cardboard plates covered with aluminum foil and connected to an Arduino Uno. When your hand (or any part of your body) approaches the plates, the capacitance of the plates change. A complementary program then interprets the changes to determine your hands’ position.

Head to MAKE for the full instructions for making the sensor. Obviously it’s not as accurate as the Leap or the Kinect, but at the very least you’ll have built something that show how capacitive sensors work. I’m sure more advanced tinkerers will find ways to make it more functional.

[via The Viral Trend]

If you watch The Wire or Breaking Bad, you’ve probably seen the characters use pre-paid cellphones to make their conversations, more, like, secretive. Yo. Anyway these phones are also called burners, hence the name of this new app.

Burner lets iPhone users create temporary phone numbers that can be used to send and receive SMS or calls, just like “real” phone numbers. Users can create as many numbers as they want provided they have enough credits, which are bought in-app. Users can set expiry dates for the numbers or “burn” them whenever they want. It’s not as badass as cracking a phone in half and throwing it in the trash while sporting a mean and/or contemplative look though.

Burner is available on the iTunes App Store for $1.99 (USD). Yo. Kafkaesque. Bitch.

[via The High Definite]

Lorenzo Maggiore has come up with a sweet middle ground between fly swatters and pesticides. His invention is called Bug-A-Salt, a pump action gun that uses ordinary table salt as projectiles. It looks so fun to use you’ll wish your house had more pests. Or not.

The gun has a small effective range, about 3-5ft, but it’s not like you go much farther when you’re using a swatter or a pesticide spray. Speaking of pesticides, the salt means the gun is safe to use even in the kitchen. But it’s still not safe to shoot it at someone’s face. Plus it’ll be less weird to play with the Bug-A-Salt than with a can of Raid.

A pledge of at least $30 (USD) on its IndieGoGo fundraiser gets you a Bug-A-Salt. As of this writing it’s already garnered more than twice its $15,000 target, and that’s with 51 days left, so people are as excited as I am about this device. Check out its official website for more information.

[via Reddit]