Hasta La Gadget!

The Star Wars version of Angry Birds is now upon us, and it looks like people are loving it so far. And by people, I mean me and my colleagues at work.

The Birds take their beef to outer space by battling the evil pigs that are all stormtroopered out.

The game’s graphics do not disappoint, as we’ll get to see the avian versions of the beloved cast of Star Wars, including Luke Skywalker and a very haughty-looking Princess Leia. Aside from their usual abilities, these Angry Birds are equipped with lightsabers, blasters, and Jedi powers to aid them in their war against the piggies.

The game hit the iTunes App Store last week and you can get it for your iPhone and iPod Touch for $0.99 or for your iPad for $2.99, as well as for Android and Windows Phone 8 devices or for your Mac for $4.99.

[via ZDNet]

A couple of months ago, the LIFX LED lightbulb debuted on Kickstarter, and it was only a couple of weeks ago when electronics giant Philips unveiled its Hue color changing LED light bulb. These light bulbs not only allow you to choose whatever color you want using a smartphone application, they also allow you to turn the light on or off at pre-set times, making for built-in home automation. These bulbs require an in-home Wi-Fi connection and come with a special bridge you have to connect to your network. Now, a competing product has turned up on Indiegogo called the Lumen Bluetooth LED bulb.

Like the LIFX and the Hue, the Lumen bulb will use an app that controls the light brightness, color, and can turn the lights on or off. Inside the bulb, its RGBW LED array lets you create any color you desire, including pure white. However, the Lumen operates on Bluetooth instead of Wi-Fi. This lets you use the bulbs without an existing wireless network, but limits its range to 30 feet. This might be okay for apartment-dwellers, but it’s not so great if you live in a larger dwelling.

The bulb also has four special operating modes. The modes include Party Mode that flashes the light bulb and changes color to the music. Sleep Mode is designed to simulate moonlight. Lake mode helps you get out of bed in the mornings by waking you to gradually brightening light rather than the alarm. The Ambient Mode creates romantic soft and dim lighting.

An early-bird special will get you one Lumen bulb for $49(USD). Two bulbs will cost $99, 10 sell for $450, 25 cost $1000, and 100 of the bulbs will cost $3500. The project still has 30 days to raise the funding needed, and is seeking $110,000 in funding, and has so far scored only about $1300. If you prefer Bluetooth to Wi-Fi, head on over to Indiegogo and reserve yours now.

Moritz Simon Geist has an unusual name. He’s also a electronic musician who has been getting bored with the production of electronic music, probably because the technology has reached a stage when you can call up practically any instrument with virtually no effort. So he decided to make a drum machine that plays samples in real-time, using actual drums. And robots.

Geist decided to emulate the legendary Roland TR-808, the drum machine that kickstarted the careers of many artists, despite – or is it because of? – the fact that it doesn’t sound like any real drum kit. The TR-808 uses analog circuits to create its sounds, but Geist’s installation replicates these sounds physically via percussion instruments, hence the name Mechanical Replica-808, or MR-808. The real kicker here is that Geist doesn’t play the instruments himself; he built robots that he triggers with the help of an Arduino microcontroller and Ableton, a music software. Then he housed the robots in an oversized case that resembles the TR-808.

Now that’s a high tech emulation of a low tech gadget. Check out Geist’s blog for more details on his creation.

[via Hack A Day]

I think it’s safe to say everyone knows William Shatner, whether it’s from Star Trek, T.J. Hooker,  various TV commercials, or Psych. Shat is particularly well known for his “larger than life” acting style and being a generally over-the-top guy. Shatner is also apparently really into spoken-word poetry and has a new app called Shatoetry.

The app has a bunch of different words recorded in Shatner’s distinctive voice that you can piece together to make your own poetry or Shatisms. Think Magnetic Poetry, but with Captain Kirk. The app supports multiple users allowing two users to work together to create their own ridiculous spoken word poems too. Once you create your own Shatoetry, you can share with friends.

The app promises updates with special word packs for holidays and other special occasions. The app is available right now for iOS  for $2.99(USD) on the App Store. If you’re willing to throw away your three bucks to try this app out, be sure and let us know if it’s a piece of Shat.

I love getting mail and packages the old-fashioned way. There’s just something comforting about opening a letter to read it rather than just having to click an e-mail to display the contents.

Like most people, I have a job, so I can’t always be home to answer the door when my packages get here. I’m sure you’ve had similar experiences where you got home to find a note that USPS or FedEx tried to deliver your package earlier but couldn’t because no one was home. So how would you like to have your packages delivered to your car instead?

Sounds like a strange concept, but that’s what Cardrops is trying to do in Europe. It’s a start-up from Belgium, and while they aren’t taking any deliveries yet, they’re planning to open up their service very, very soon.

Here’s how Cardrops works: when you shop online, select ‘Cardrops’ as the shipment method. When you’re at work (or out partying,) Cardrops’ delivery partners will locate your car and drop off your package in the trunk. You’ll then get an SMS that your package has already been delivered.

A service man will install the Cardrops starter kit in your car. This unit will ping the GPS coordinates of the car when it hasn’t moved for 15 minutes. Based on this data, our system can create a heat map of the exact locations where your car is mostly parked.

You’ll need to buy a starter kit priced at €99 (~$130 USD) and pay €4.95 (~$7) for every delivery with the basic Rockstar plan. If you do a lot of online shopping and expect packages every week, then you can opt to subscribe to the Royal plan that waives the starter kit fee but charges €24.95 (~$33) monthly.

Sounds pretty neat, but I’m still 50-50 on whether this will take off or not. What do you think?

[via Pop Up City]