Hasta La Gadget!

Are you unimpressed by the current crop of portable battery chargers on the market? Boy, you’re hard to impress. But even with your high standards, there’s a good chance you’ll be interested with the Epiphany OnE Puck. It doesn’t need electricity, light or salt water. All it needs is a hot or cold object, and it’ll pump out electricity in return.

Epiphany Labs claims that its device is a Stirling engine, which works by cooling down fluid trapped inside it. In the process of cooling, some of the thermal energy from the heat source is eventually transformed into electric energy. The company didn’t go into details about the specific components of the OnE Puck, only that if you apply sufficient heat – say, from a cup of steaming hot coffee – on its red side or if you significantly cool down its blue side – as shown above – then it will be able to generate up to 5W of power, enough to charge most smartphones.

A pledge of at least $115 (USD) on Kickstarter lets you reserve your own OnE Puck. As of this writing, the fundraiser has already raised more than half of its $100,000 target with 55 days to go. But if I were you, you might want to wait until Epiphany Labs provides more details about the device before pledging. After all, they haven’t answered the most important questions: What are its minimum and maximum temperature tolerances? Can you hang it over a bonfire or place it in your freezer? And exactly how hot (or cold) does an object have to be to cause the device to generate enough charge? Can Lambert of Technabob get one for free? So many questions.

[via CNET]

If you’ve been following Technabob for a while, you might remember the Blockcar – a LEGO-style remote-controlled car from Japan. Well here we are a couple of years older and wiser, another brick-building car has surfaced – this time with iOS R/C capabilities.

These UTICO vehicle kits come with all of the bricks you need to assemble a pre-designed car or minibus. While they’re not official LEGO blocks, these snap-together R/C toys still look like they could be fun to play with.

Just because they come in specific kits for each vehicle doesn’t mean you couldn’t build something else with them – like a hot dog or a chicken on wheels or something.

Each kit comes with a USB-rechargeable motorized base platform, along with an infrared dongle you can plug into iPhones or iPads with the 30-pin docking connector. It looks like later-model iDevices won’t be able to control these at this point.

The R/C Brick Car is available from Japan’s JTT for ¥3,980 (~$43 USD).

Aside from generating heat, most electronic devices also emit electromagnetic fields. A rapid prototyping enthusiast named Dennis Siegel has found a way to tap into those fields and store them as usable energy by way of AA batteries. Think of his harvesters as the real life equivalent of the mutant Bishop.

Siegel wrote about his project on his website but he didn’t go into detail about his build process, only that he used “coils and high frequency diodes” to capture the electromagnetic fields. He also said that he made two different types of harvesters that convert electromagnetic fields of different frequencies. Using the harvesters couldn’t be simpler. They’ll automatically gather and store energy as long as there’s an electromagnetic field nearby. The harvesters also have an LED that glow in proportion to the strength of nearby electromagnetic fields. If you still can’t follow that, watch this creepy dude:

Siegel didn’t mention if he’s interested in making a commercial version of his project. But even if he is he still has a long way to go – his current prototypes need literally an entire day to charge one AA battery. Still, it’s nice to imagine that someday our gadgets will be powering each other and even themselves.

[via Dennis Siegel & Fast Co. Design via Visual News]

Inventor Falk Wolsky and his better half Mandy, a child care worker, were inspired to make the Lernstift (“Learning pen” in German) after seeing their son struggle with writing. They came up with a prototype that detects “writing movements” and alerts the user if he makes a mistake.

Currently, the prototype has two modes. Calligraphy Mode detects errors in form and legibility, while Orthography Mode checks the spelling and grammar. The Lernstift’s motion sensor also has one other advantage: the user can practice even without paper or any writing surface. It will supposedly be able to detect “words, gestures and symbols, even if you only draw them in the air.”

The Wolskys also hope to include a pressure sensor to teach kids not to grip the pen too tightly. The idea is that if the pen detects that the user is pressing too hard on it, it will vibrate in an intensity proportional to the user’s grip. They also want to equip the pen with a wireless module, so your teacher can send your embarrassing mistakes to your parents, other teachers and classmates in a snap. As if having your pen vibrate all the time wasn’t shameful enough.

The Wolskys – via their new company Lernstift UG – will seek crowdfunding for the Lernstift later this month, so keep your eyes out for that if you want to pre-order the pen. But if you’re willing to invest in the company, you can reach out to them right now via their website.

The pen sounds like a good idea, but I wonder how effective it will really be as a learning tool, especially in the use case that inspired it. I say that because the pen can only say when and where you are wrong, but not what you’re doing wrong and ultimately how to do it correctly. Should it also have a voice assistant, like an English teacher version of Siri? Or perhaps a small laser that traces out the correct answer? Or maybe it could provide advice by vibrating in Morse code?

[via Lernstift & Wired UK via Likecool]

iPhone cases are necessary in order to ensure that your precious iPhone doesn’t all scratched up. I’ve had a couple of friends who weren’t using any cases end up with a completely scratched up iPhone. While Twelve South’s earlier BookBook case had an interesting look to it – it was a bit thick for practical use. This new iPhone case from Twelve South is called the Surface Pad, and it’s much thinner than the BookBook case.

It’s made from Napa leather, and it’s lightweight and just 1.7mm thick, meaning that it will easily fit into most pockets without bulking up your phone.

The Surface Pad is supposed to stick to your iPhone thanks to a removable  reusable adhesive substance, and it’s supposed to wrap around your iPhone, protecting both the front and the back.

The case can also be used as a stand in landscape mode, which is also a handy feature. The SurfacePad sells for $34.99(USD) from Twelve South, and is available now.