Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re an audiophile, then you’re probably not too thrilled with the audio output from most smartphones. This gadget kicks things it up a notch by transforming your phone into a mobile hi-fi system.

The V-MODA Vamp Verza case takes its cues from the original Vamp for iPhone 4/4S and includes a 150mW × 2 headphone amplifier, paired with high quality Burr Brown and AKM digital-to-analog-converters and a 2200 mAh battery pack. The Vamp Verza can be used as a hi-fi USB audio amp, and its additional battery will power your phone for another 7 hours. You can even attach your phone to the face of the Vamp, using the optional Metallo case.

The Vamp Verza comes in matte black, red/black, and white/orange colorways for $598 (USD). The Metallo case is currently available for the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S III and sells for about $100.

[via V-Moda]

Many people rely on headphones and earphones for music and audio playback these days. It’s just a convenient way to listen to your tunes, without bothering the people around you. Now, scientists have come up with some cool new earphone tech. Researchers at the University of California in Berkeley have created the first graphene-based earphones ever.

Without any optimization, a single sheet of graphene can provide a frequency response comparable to or better than a pair of commercial Sennheiser earphones.

The researchers used a graphene diaphragm that’s 7mm across and 30 nm thick, which was sandwiched between two silicon dioxide electrodes which cause the diaphragm to vibrate when power is applied. The material is extremely light and very strong – roughly 100 times stronger than steel – thanks to the unique properties of Graphene’s pure carbon structure.

While this prototype pair is unoptimized for playback, with some tweaks they could be. I’m just curious to see how expensive a production version would be.

[via Technology Review via Extreme Tech]

Arduino microcontrollers are beloved by students and hobbyists because they’re affordable, small and versatile. Those are the same exact traits that the RFduino microcontroller possesses. In addition, it has one thing that other Arduino boards don’t have: built-in Bluetooth connectivity.

The RFduino was developed by Open Source RF, an electronics shop that makes Arduino-compatible peripherals and modules. The shop’s tiny invention makes it possible for people to make small gadgets and sensors that can be controlled or monitored wirelessly using a smartphone. You’ll have to buy and then fit a separate wireless shield to an Arduino board to achieve the same functionality.

Speaking of shields, the RFduino also has compatible shields that extend its functionality, including one with a USB-port and another with a coin cell battery slot. It also runs code written in the Arduino programming language, which should really make it an enticing platform for Arduino users. Check out the video below to see how the RFduino can be used:

They should have called it the Fleaduino – a small board with mad reach. Build a Pledge-Bot and pay at least $19 (USD) on the RFduino Kickstarter by April 4, 2013 to reserve your own unit.

At first, you might think what you’re looking at is just a cool illuminated wall sculpture. Well it is that, but it’s actually more. It’s actually a weather forecaster with a tangible user interface.

This interactive LED art was assembled by Instructables contributor and Parsons design student Adiel Fernandez. He built the wall unit using a set of three sconces found at CB2, rigged with a digitally-addressable LED scrip, cut into pieces that he placed into the sconces. His original concept was to simply rig the sconce with flickering LEDs to make them look like candles without the inconvenience of actual candles and flame, but ultimately ended up with a much more interactive pieces.

The wall sculpture is controlled by a small acrylic cube with icons on each side. Inside the cube is a gyroscope, accelerometer, XBee radio and lithium-polymer battery. Rotating the cube to face an icon upwards will switch the LEDs between 6 modes, described in the words of its creator as follows:

• Power:  “The cube is normally off to save power and will not recognize any commands or orientation. By having the power icon facing up and shaking the cube, the cube is now awake, will pulse the inner light that shines through the icons, and will recognize which side is facing up to allow other modes to be accessed. By spinning the cube while its on and the power side is up, a fun rainbow display is turned on and off.”
• Flame: “When the cube is on and the flame side is facing up, the lights in the sconces will glow and flicker like real candle flames (a little difficult to see in the video). By rotating the cube clockwise, the number of candles lit are incremented and likewise, rotating it counter clockwise decreases the number of lights lit.”
• High Temperature: “Having this side face up while the cube is on will display the high temperature of the day in red light. The lights will display the first digit of the temperature on the left side by lighting up the number of lights equivalent to that digit. The lights then pause then display the second digit of the temperature on the right side. For example, if the temp. is 47 degrees (like in the video), the lights will show 4 lights on the left, pause, then display 7 lights on the right.”
• Low Temperature: “Similar to the low temp side, this side will show the low temperature of the day in a cool cyan hue.”
• Precipitation (snow/rain): “This will display the percent chance of precipitation similar to how the other temperatures are displayed in blue. Its a little difficult to tell the difference between the cyan and blue in the video but easier in person.”
• Travel (plane around the world): “For a bit of whimsy, I decided to make the bottom of the cube display the temperature of some fantasy destination set by the user in green light. In this case it’s set to Honolulu, Hawaii, hopefully making it easier to bare the cold winter with hopes of a future vacation.”

Here’s a look at the controller cube in action:

And here’s a brief demo of the wall as it lights up:

At this point, the temperature data is hard-coded into the system, but Adiel plans to get it wired up to an internet data source soon. There aren’t too many more details on the build available, but you can see what there is over on Instructables.

Several years back, I spotted these watches that could be programmed to display scrolling messages. The problem was that they were pretty tricky to program, and had significant limitations in terms of the length of messages you could display. Fast forward to 2013, and we have LinkMe, a dot-matrix LED moving message board which can display messages sent over Bluetooth.

Instead of just outputting silly messages, the elliptical LinkMe bracelet can display messages sent to you via SMS, Twitter or Facebook. Simply configure the companion smartphone app to display messages from specific senders and you can read messages without having to take the phone out of your pocket. In addition to working as a display for messages, the LinkMe works as a watch, and you can also program custom messages so you can use it like a wrist-worn billboard too.

Matt Sandy, Colin Glaum and Tim Goldburt – the team behind the LinkMe – are currently raising funds for production of the LinkMe over on Kickstarter. For early backers, a pledge of at least $99(USD) will get you a LinkMe bracelet in red. For $120, you can get the limited-edition blue model, which looks even cooler, IMHO. You’ll need to get in on the project before May 5, 2013 if you want one of the first batch.