Hasta La Gadget!

Wicked Lasers is a company that makes a lot of crazy bright laser pointers. In fact, some of these things you shouldn’t even call laser “pointers” because they can actually set things on fire and pop balloons – they’re more like laser weapons. The company also makes an insanely powerful flashlight that can burn paper.

In keeping with the Internet tradition of destroying every new Apple gadget to hit the market in creative new ways, Wicked Lasers trained five of its 1.25W Spyder III Arctic laser pointers at the same point on iPhone 5 and then turned them all on. The lasers damaged the screen and caused a bit of smoke to waft from the smartphone. However, after the lasers were turned off the iPhone 5 still functioned even though the screen was damaged pretty badly.

Wicked Lasers then turned to its crazy bright Flash Torch to finish off the iPhone 5. The flashlight ultimately killed the innocent iPhone 5 as smoke quickly began to boil out from under the flashlight when it was placed on the surface of the phone.

We’ve seen amateur and professional developers alike do some really cool things with Microsoft’s Kinect since the motion control peripheral launched in 2010. Interestingly enough, many of these cool things have nothing to do with video games, but that’s another story for another time. The latest in a long line of cool gadgets that put Kinect in the spotlight is a new wearable device that has the ability to make maps in real time.

Specifically, this gadget is geared toward mapping the inside of buildings. Developed by MIT, the device combines a laser range finder with the depth-perceiving abilities of Kinect to generate maps of an area in real time. The unit also houses a CPU to process and construct the map (in the prototype, the user has a laptop in his backpack constructing the map as he walks around), and the map can be sent back to a remote station so those outside of the building can get an idea of its layout.

Also included in this package is an inertial sensor to compensate for the fact that it’s hard to keep the laser perfectly level while walking, and a barometer to measure changes in air pressure, allowing the gadget’s user to map out multiple floors. This technology was developed for use in emergency situations, with applying it to search and rescue operations specifically mentioned. The prototype seems to be a bit bulky at this early stage, but the developers imagine a finished product that is handheld. Check it out in action in the video posted below.

The US Air Force and the Office of Naval Research helped MIT with the project, which suggests that this device could have some military applications in the future. For now, its simply in its prototype stage, but that doesn’t change the fact that its still a really interesting device. What do you think of this latest MIT creation?

[via MITnews]

Kinect takes center stage in new map making gadget is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
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The NES was pretty awesome back when it came out, but by today’s gaming standards it’s pretty lame. I mean, it’s not like it could actually shoot people with a laser and burn their flesh. Oh wait. Yeah, now it does.

To make things interesting, there’s a 2W+ blue laser hacked into this original 80s Nintendo Zapper gun. You could go duck hunting and cook your dinner at the same time with this modded NES Zapper. A dog may even rise out of the brush and laugh at you.

The gun was taken apart and filled with a 445nm diode, some batteries and some wiring by the people of North Street Labs. This zapper gives new meaning to the name.

[Engadget via Obvious Winner]

Personally, I’m not a big fan of keyboards which don’t have physical keys, but if given the choice between a virtual full-size keyboard and the tiny virtual keys on the touchscreen of my smartphone, I’ll go with the bigger keys.

Laser virtual keyboards have been around for a few years now, but they’ve always been a bit of a pain to carry around in addition to your gadgets. Now, there’s an updated version of the virtual keyboard that’s small enough to tote on your keychain, and at a lower price than previous models.

The new keychain virtual keyboard turns any flat surface into a keyboard for your smartphone or tablet. The device pairs using Bluetooth, so it should work with any gadget that supports the wireless standard. The laser keyboard runs on a rechargeable Li-ion battery, which can be juiced up through the included USB cable.

While I’m not sure it really adds much value beyond the keyboard built into larger tablets like the iPad, I could see it coming in handy for any smartphone, 5″ or 7″ tablet. The keychain virtual keyboard is available for $99.99(USD) exclusively from Brookstone, and ships this October 1.

Most security systems are only good at dealing with break-ins after they happen, but this security system stops burglars dead in their tracks and does its best to prevent break-ins. It does this with some impressive and completely fake defense systems.

You won’t find a better security system than this one from Global Link. It has laser beams that sweep across the walls of the room. Flashing lights. And an alarm beeps, psychologically intimidating burglars.

Between the visible and audible presence of the system, burglars will give your place a pass and search for easier targets. The Global Link LaserScan is available over on Amazon for $195(USD), where you can find the following hilarious (and likely fake) review:

“I recently bought one of these as I don’t exactly live in a select neighbourhood. It arrived promptly and the instructions were very easy to follow and I had it setup in no time at all, the problems started when I turned it on. I had somewhat of a shock when the laser beam was directed straight into my eyes which immediately blinded me, after stumbling backwards and tripping over the cat I hit my head on the wooden table behind which promptly rendered me unconscious. I awoke some time later to find most of the contents of my flat had been removed.”