Hasta La Gadget!

I was going to talk about a pixel art LED display that’s currently raising funds on Kickstarter when I remembered that I already saw something much better: Al Linke’s PIXEL. It turns out he’s also raising funds on Kickstarter for PIXEL V2, an improved version of his display.

Like the original display, PIXEL V2 has 1024 LEDs arranged in a 32×32 matrix. After all, it’s designed to display low-res images and animations so increasing the displays resolution wasn’t necessary. What makes PIXEL V2 much better than its predecessor is that it’s more versatile and customizable, both in terms of software and hardware. For starters, you can now control it with an OS X computer and a Raspberry Pi via USB, in addition to the Android and Windows USB and Bluetooth connectivity that was also present in the original. Unfortunately, it still has no support for iOS though.

Aside from directly sending images to the display via a PC or an Android device, you can also store images on PIXEL V2′s onboard SD card in stand alone mode, after which it will keep displaying images and even animated gifs even if it’s not connected to any computer or mobile device. Another neat feature of PIXEL V2  are its mixed media overlays. As shown in the image below, the overlays allow you to display a drawing on top of the LED display.

PIXEL V2 comes with over 150 samples of pixel art, but as always you can send other images to the display. As shown in the video below, you can even make apps for PIXEL V2. Turn it into a message board, make it display the weather and more. It also has five sensor inputs and optional alcohol and proximity sensors for even more creative applications, although these sensors require an Android device to work.

Pledge at least $260 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a fully assembled PIXEL V2 display. Unassembled kits and partial parts are also available at lower pledges.

We know that 3D printers can print objects out of plastic, food, animal tissue and metal. Now a company called Mark Forged claims that its upcoming Mark One 3D printer can print using carbon fiber, the wonder material known for its high strength-to-weight ratio and cool looks. Something tells me this printer will hit a high money-to-ink ratio as well.

The Mark One can print objects with carbon fiber at up to 200 microns thick. It can also print using PLA, fiberglass and nylon at up to 100 microns, so you can make objects mainly out of those cheaper materials then reinforce or decorate them a bit with carbon fiber. You can check out the printer’s other specifications on Mark Forged’s website.

The Mark One will be available this March for $5,000 (USD). Some of Gizmag’s commenters have two major criticisms about the Mark One though. First is that you can already buy carbon fiber-reinforced PLA filament. Which means you can start printing carbon fiber objects now and with your existing 3D printer.

The second criticism is that although carbon fiber is strong in itself, in high-end applications the material is molded – i.e. the fibers are aligned and woven – in ways that maximize certain properties, one of which is strength. In other words, a 3D printed carbon fiber object may not turn out to be as strong or durable as other carbon fiber products.

For my part, I’m worried that future customers will be able to buy the Mark One’s carbon fiber filament only from Mark Forged. And also that folks are more excited about this than the one that prints pizza. Folks. THIS ONE PRINTS PIZZA. Why is that not receiving funding from all living organisms in the universe?

[via Gizmag]

…or do wear it. I don’t know anymore. Ubisoft’s take on assassins morphed from a dude who was at least trying to be discreet to death-dealing mob lords and empire-building pirate captains. So a large ring marked with the Assassins’ symbol – why do they even have a symbol anyway? – made from genuine sterling silver or gold is just a grain of sand in Obvious Beach.

Order the ring from Paul Michael Design for $275 (USD). Then fly a red and white plane and drop a nuclear bomb on your next target, making sure to skywrite “WE WORK IN THE DARK TO SAVE THE LIGHT WE ARE ASSASSINS” as you make your escape. I’m sure no one will notice.

Portable gaming computers are nothing new. Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX motherboards let you create relatively light and compact rigs, though often at the expense of hardware specs. In an attempt to come up with a perfect compromise between power and portability, CyberPowerPC decided to emulate a briefcase for its upcoming LAN-ready rig, the Fang Battle Box.

The Fang Battle Box uses a Mini-ITX Z87 motherboard but is roomy enough to accommodate components that you’d normally reserve on your main computer, including powerful but bulky graphics cards. Like a briefcase, you can gawk at the Battle Box’s internals by unlocking its latch, although I’m not sure if you can easily swap its components as well.

CyberPowerPC will let you customize the specs of the Battle Box when you place your order, that much is certain.

Other neat touches on the Battle Box include two USB 3.0 ports placed near its handle  –beside its power and reset switches – and large rubber feet on its underside.

I bet Ben Heck would love to put a screen on this and make the world’s fattest laptop. There’s no word on the base price for the Fang Battle Box, but it will be available for order from CyberPowerPC within the year’s first quarter.

[via eTeknix & MaximumPC via Mikeshouts]

SteelSeries opted to make their upcoming wireless iOS controller as small as possible, perhaps to keep it as portable as the devices it will pair with. A new company called Signal is taking a different route. Its RP1 is about the same size and form as gaming console controllers.

As you can see the RP1 looks a lot like an Xbox 360 controller, except its analog sticks and d-pad have a PlayStation-style setup. Aside from that, it has all the buttons and triggers you’d expect from a console controller, down to the triggers under the analog sticks. Like the Stratus, RP1 will connect to iOS 7 devices via Bluetooth, although Signal has not specified which of Apple’s devices it will work with.

With more and more console and desktop games being ported to iOS, I’m sure a decent number of iOS gamers will want to have a full-size controller like the RP1. But at this point I don’t think you should get one of these just yet, because like all announced iOS controllers the RP1 has a retail price of $100. This is Apple tax at its worst. Hopefully that number will descend from la-la land once more controllers are released.

[via Tom’s Guide & Laptop Mag]