It’s been confirmed that Polaroid will unveil an Android-powered, mirrorless, interchangeable-lens camera, at CES 2013. While I would have liked for Polaroid to announce that they will continue making old-school instant cameras, this isn’t bad news.
The rumor mill says that the Polaroid IM1836 will have an 18.1-megapixel sensor, and a 3.5-inch LCD touchscreen. It was also said that the camera will include a pop-up flash, Wi-Fi, an HDMI output, a 10-30mm lens and will use MicroSD. There aren’t many more details available, but hopefully we’ll get more information after the new year, or perhaps even some sneaky bits during the holidays. Most of Asia is working during Christmas, after all.
There’s no word yet on what the price point will be for the camera.
Depending on what type of jeans you wear, I think most of us will agree that it can be uncomfortable having to carry your smartphone in the front pocket. Years ago, I had a pair of dress slacks that had a little pocket midway down the thigh that unzipped that you could poke a smartphone into. I thought that was a great invention.
A company called I/O Denim is running a Kickstarter campaign to create premium denim jeans that have very similar pocket on the leg designed to hold your smart phone for quick and easy access. Other than having that fancy little pocket above the knee for your smartphone, these are your basic denim jeans. The jeans are made in the USA, and unfortunately are far from cheap – costing roughly twice as much as a pair of your standard Levi’s – though they’re no more expensive than fancy designer brands.
The maker says that the First Edition jeans fall somewhere between skinny jeans and straight leg in the way they fit. I guess that means they won’t be too tight and they won’t be too loose. Initially, they’ll be available only in men’s sizes 32, 33, 34, and 36.
A pledge of $100(USD) will get you one of the first 50 pairs of I/O Jeans, saving $15 off of the regular price. The campaign is about 70% of the way to its goal and wraps up on 12/30/12, so if you want a pair, you should order them now.
There’s just something so retro-futuristic about the idea of giant wrist-worn communicators. In the real world, we pretty much skipped right over these contraptions and went straight to smartphones. So if you don’t have a Pip-Boy 3000 lying around, here’s the next best thing.
What you’re looking at is a fully-functional wrist-worn Bluetooth keyboard. Its been done up in a sort of Steampunk leather and brass arm guard, which should offer both protection and computing on the go. From the pics, it actually looks like there are two variants of the keyboard floating around – one with square keys (which I prefer), and the other with little round ones.
They were built by Thomas Willeford of Brute Force Studios, and appear to have gotten their start as those cheap little Bluetooth keyboards with the touchpad built in. But that’s where the similarities end. The leather and brass work is quite intricate, and that’s probably why these things are selling for $1200(USD) each.
In this day and age where virtually anything and everything is being turned into phone cases, it was only a matter of time before we saw a couple inspired by a lot of people’s favorite seafood: lobsters.
While I’ve seen cases with images of lobsters plastered all over them, this one-ups all of them by being a case that’s in the form of a real lobster.
Flip it over and you just might cause the people in the office to panic because there’s a lobster on the loose!
The case was designed by Noddy Boffin as a modern day tribute to Salvador Dali’s absurd Lobster Telephone – and while it’s not available for purchase, it’s still one awesome case for show (but it’s not very awesome when it comes to compactness or portability.)
While I don’t game that much on my iPhone, I have discovered that while touch-based controls might seem intuitive, but they are just awful for space shooters and other kinds of fast-paced action games. That’s one of the reasons why the WynCASE will probably work well.
The WynCASE for iPhone 4/4S, iPhone 5 and iPod Touch is designed offer a better gaming experience, akin to something like the PS Vita or Nintendo 3DS. At least that’s what the designers hope for. This case has slim brushed metal buttons that don’t need any battery power.
WynLABS developed something they’re calling BridgeTOUCH technology, which makes use tiny input spots on the touchscreen itself, minimizing latency, and making it better for fast-paced games – though it does cut off a tiny bit of screen real estate.
When not in use, you can flip the WynCASE around, and use it as a protective back case for your iPhone, without blocking the rear-facing camera and flash.
The WynCASE is launching over on Kickstarter on December 11th. The project needs to amass $80,000 to get made. With left in funding and you’ll have to pledge $30 to get yours.
While I’m personally holding out for the Archos GamePad, if you absolutely must have an Android 4 gaming device before the holidays, you might want to check 0ut this oddity. The Chinese made JXD 5110 bears more than a passing resemblance to the Sony PSP, but it’s all Android, all the time.
This handheld gaming system runs Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), and supports 95% of all Android apps out of the box. It’s also got a (single) analog thumbstick, D-Pad, ABXY, Start/Select and shoulder buttons. Games are played on its 800×480 resolution, 5-inch touchscreen, and it’s also got a low-res (0.3 MP) rear camera built in. It’s powered by a an ARM Cortex A9 CPU, and has an ARM Mali400 GPU. It’s got 4GB of on-board storage, and can be expanded via a MicroSD card up with as much as 32GB of storage. Its built-in Wi-Fi supports 802.11g/b/n standards. It’s also got an HDMI output so you can connect it to your TV.
Of course, the main reason to buy a handheld like this is to play emulators of older gaming systems, and the S5110 can play classic games using any of the numerous Android-based emulators out there. It even comes pre-loaded with several emulators to get you started. While it’s definitely an odd-looking system, it’s available now, and costs under $100(USD) too. You can grab one over on Amazon in either Black or White.
When you’re on the go and you need a portable stand, it doesn’t hurt to have one that does more than just act as a stand. The Sonastand was just updated for the new iPhone 5, and it will hold your phone snugly, as well as acting as a passive sound amplifier.
The machined-aluminum Sonastand for iPhone 5 is said to have been improved over its original design. It’s supposed to provide a more stable base and better sound amplification, as a result of the iPhone’s smaller power connector. The Sonastand is available in different sizes to accomodate users who like to use their iPhones naked, with skins or cases.
The Sonastand sells directly from Kinetic Custom Machine for $25 (USD) and it’s a nice gift for anyone with an iPhone.
Even though there are apps for using smartphones as portable scanners, they don’t always get all of the details, and it’s tough to get a steady image. That’s one of the reasons why Doxie’s portable scanners are useful for people trying to rid themselves of paper in their offices.
The latest iteration of the Doxie Go is pretty small – about as large as two office staplers. It operates anywhere thanks to a built-in battery and can transmit them wirelessly (with an optional upgrade). You can scan in color or black and white, at 300 dpi or 600 dpi to the internal memory of the device, then transfer them over via USB or insert an EyeFi SD card to automatically transfer the scans over Wi-Fi. While you’ll need to recharge the battery every 100 pages or so, it only takes about 2 hours to juice up.
The flexible scanner mechanism can handle documents ranging in size from business card up to 8.5″x15″ too. Of course, the scanner also comes with software for image correction and OCR for converting scanned images to editable text or PDFs.
The Doxie Go sells for $199(USD). The Wi-Fi card will set you back another $30, which is actually cheaper than you can buy the Eye-Fi Connect X2 for elsewhere. You’ll definitely want to check it out if you’re trying to go paperless.
Just how many ways can one guy use the video capabilities of his mobile devices to entertain us with? Well if you’re tinkerer Mark Rober, I guess the answer is “plenty.” After amusing us with his iPad Halloween costume and Gorilla Cam, Mark is back with another fun hack – the animated ugly sweater.
By mounting an iPad inside of a sweater rigged with a fake fireplace surround, Rober created the illusion of a warm holiday fire burning in the middle of his gut. Here, check it out in action:
You can grab the fireplace animation as part of Mark’s DigitalDudz Christmas iOS app. Be sure to keep an eye out on Mark’s youtube channel in the coming days for a video showing how to make your own ugly fireplace sweater.
Everyday objects are slowly being infused with modern technology. There are fridges that can monitor their contents and automatically order online to restock themselves, socks that know how many times they’ve been washed and now, with the help of a tiny device, your car can be made so smart, it knows when it’s being towed and will tell you so.
This device is called the moj.io. I know, I wish they had come up with a better name. But the folks behind it probably spent all their brain power on the device itself, because it sounds very promising. The moj.io connects to the Internet via cellular networks and to your car via the On-Board Diagnostics OBD-II port (found in all major automotive lines since 1995). Once connected and paired to your mobile device, the moj.io can tell you where your car is located, if it’s being towed, the car’s overall condition and more. moj.io apps can also be more proactive. They can hold calls and text alerts while you’re driving to keep you safer or send text message alerts based on the speed and location of the car. Parents and obsessed lovers will find that one useful.
Pledge at least $89 (USD) on Indiegogo to reserve a moj.io unit. But because it needs to be online – as of now, it’s partnered with T-Mobile in the USA and Rogers in Canada – expect to pay extra for an Internet subscription. U.S. pricing is $7.99/month or $79/year, and canadian pricing is $12.99/month or $119/year. Though if you buy on Indiegogo, you get your first 3 months of service for free.
I’m sure some people have a few privacy concerns with having a device like this available to everyone, but I think that overall the benefits outweigh the risks. Besides, tracking technology has been available for a long time now, it’s just that now it’s in the hands of common folk.
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