Hasta La Gadget!

Do you have a lot of iOS devices in your house? Then get Griffin’s new PowerDock 5 so you can round up your permanently distracted loved ones in one place, even for just a few minutes. The family that charges together, looks at their gadgets together.

All five of the PowerDock 5′s USB ports deliver 5V at 2.1A, meaning you can charge five iPads on it if you have to, and using just one power outlet. The backrest lets it accommodate even devices with cases while occupying just a small space. You can order the PowerDock 5 from Griffin’s online store for $100 (USD). You know your business is doing well when no one’s surprised that a single family can have five of your products. For the life of me I can’t think of any other electronics company that has this kind of presence.

[via Electronista]

You can get a lot of information from one sampling of urine. That’s what the folks from Pixie Scientific think, because that’s the concept they’re working on with Smart Diapers.

Smart Diapers are exactly what they sound like. The “smart” part is because of the fact that the diaper tests the urine the baby passes on the diaper itself. Parents can then scan the QR code on the diaper to bring up a report about their child’s health. Of course, it shouldn’t substitute urine tests that hospitals run, though.

The Smart Diaper tracks changes in the baby’s urine, which can potentially provide information about signs of urinary tract infections, prolonged dehydration, or risks for kidney problems.

Pixie Scientific explains: “Smart Diapers alert you to certain conditions that require immediate attention and also track your child’s health for months or years, automatically looking for emerging trends.” They add: “By taking useful data from a wet Smart Diaper, we make use of something that would normally be thrown directly into the trash.”

The Smart Diaper is currently up for funding on Indiegogo.

[via C|NET]

We’ve seen a number of ways to transform objects made in Minecraft into physical items. But what if you want to the opposite? That’s the idea behind DekkoScan, an upcoming iOS app that uses your mobile device’s camera to scan physical objects and “cubify” them. Take this creepy inflatable owl for example:

Now here it is terrorizing Minecraft:

According to Dekko developer and Redditor portemantho, when the app is done scanning you just press its “Generate” button and it will “send a zip to your saves folder or to MCEdit.” But don’t embark on an epic quest to scan the Earth just yet. Portemantho admitted that because DekkoScan is resource-intensive, it’s scans are limited to a resolution of 128 x 128 and is more suited to scanning objects up close. Portemantho also said that the app currently uses wool blocks, but that can easily be changed with a future update. Here’s a very brief demo of the app:

As of this writing DekkoScan is still awaiting approval at the App Store. But again, the app is quite the resource hog and will only work on newer devices: iPad 2 & up, and iPhone 4S & 5. Portemantho said they will eventually release an Android port. Soon you’ll be able to build an object in Minecraft, 3D print that object, then use DekkoScan to take that 3D print back to Minecraft. Ad infinitum. Time well spent, life well lived.

[via Reddit via GameSkinny via N4G]

Earlier this year we heard about Lernstift, a concept for a pen that helps kids spell and write correctly by vibrating to point out mistakes. The folks behind this promising invention have now launched a fundraiser on Kickstarter. The questions I had when I first saw it remain unanswered though.

Inventor Falk Wolsky’s idea for the pen remains the same. Its basic functions are still to oversee the user’s spelling and the legibility of his handwriting. When it detects a mistake, it vibrates to alert the user. But with the launch of their fundraiser, Wolsky and his colleagues have revealed more about the hardware inside the pen. Lernstift has a motion sensor, a gyroscope, an accelerometer and a magnetometer. The pen’s processor will use these devices to create a 2D image of the user’s handwriting, which it will then analyze using a handwriting recognition software.

While the team is confident in the pen’s hardware, they’re still working on the best way to process the data that its sensors gather to ensure a quick and accurate response. They’ve also revealed that they’re not working on their own handwriting recognition engine and will instead license one from an established company. That should make it easier for Lernstift to be released and updated to support more languages; the pen will only be able to recognize English and German when it launches, but they supposedly have access to a database of over 40 languages.

Pledge at least £89 (~$135 USD) on Kickstarter to get a Lernstift as a reward. I have to say though, it’s not clear at the moment just how polished or far along they are with the pen. Notice how they didn’t demonstrate even the pen’s basic functions in their pitch video.

As I said in my previous post about the pen, I’m still not sold on its usefulness. It’s still not clear how it will help you find out the right spelling, form or grammar. Yes, it could buzz the moment you make a mistake, but what then? How do you find out what you’re supposed to do? I’m hopeful that Wolsky and his team will answer these questions soon. Also, do kids still use pens?

A wild spherical camera appears! Actually it’s not the first of its kind that we’ve seen, but unlike the previous device, Serveball’s Squito is being designed for both professional and recreational use. Forget about Instagram or Vine, the cool kids will want to get ball shots! Yeah! No.

According to Serveball’s press release, the current prototype of Squito has three cameras, an inertial measurement unit, a microcontroller and an image processor. As you’ll see in the video below, the prototype can take 360º panoramic pictures and videos. When taking pictures, the Squito can reorient and stitch the images that its cameras take. When shooting a video, the Squito can stabilize the video, but don’t expect a free falling camera to be as steady as one on a tripod. The Squito will also be able to wirelessly send its pictures and videos to PCs and mobile devices.

The tail end of the video featured a version of the Squito with night vision and thermal imaging capabilities. From what I can tell those features will be on a separate variant of the Squito, which Serveball is calling the Darkball. Fold your browser into a ball and throw it to Serveball’s website for more on its cameras.

[via Engadget]