Hasta La Gadget!

A lot of people out there really enjoy brewing their own beer. There are plenty of kits out there that make it easy to make your own brew and get drunk without having to trek down to the convenience store. If your preferred drink is wine, the process of making your own drink is a bit more challenging.

A company has turned up with a device they call The Miracle Machine that promises to turn your water into wine at home. This device isn’t performing a real miracle; rather it is using technology and some raw ingredients to speed up the creation of wine. In addition to water, you’ll need grape concentrate, yeast, and a sachet of other ingredients – all of which its maker is happy to sell you for about $10 a month.

The hardware has an array of sensors along with heaters, pumps, and transducers inside a large carafe device. You put in the water and other raw ingredients to make your preferred type of wine. Inside the device is an Arduino controller which syncs with a mobile app to tell you all you need to know about making the wine and keeping an eye on your wine as it ferments.

Its makers say that you can buy kits to make a full bottle of wine with about $2 worth of ingredients, though it’ll take a while for the $499 Miracle Machine to pay for itself. The Miracle Machine will go on sale via a Kickstarter project. If you’re interested in learning when it’s available for pre-order, you can sign up here.

Panasonic unveiled its slick new LUMIX GH4 DSLM, or Digital Single Lens Mirrorless camera a month or so back. The camera promises professional image quality along with the ability to record 4K resolution video at a lower price than comparable DSLR cameras.

Panasonic has now announced that the GH4 camera body will sell for $1699.99(USD). In addition, there will be a professional audio/video interface accessory which provides 2 XLR audio inputs and a broadcast quality 3G-SDI video output terminal with time code capability. That bit of kit will go for another $1999.99. Both devices are available for pre-order now, and will ship in late April.

The GH4 camera has a new 16.05MP Digital Live MOS Sensor and uses the Venus Engine for high speed and high sensitivity recording. The camera has professional grade, 49-area auto focus in both still and video modes. The camera also has Wi-Fi and NFC technology for easy pairing with compatible wireless devices.

If you want to get in shape, you have to know where to start. Skulpt Aim
is a new device that gives you a good starting point. All you have to do is press this portable
device to your skin, and it measures your body composition, letting you know your
weak spots, and gives you suggestions to improve those weak spots. 

Back in 2011 we featured a couple of humanoid robots designed to play table tennis. Industrial mechanic Ulf Hoffman recently unveiled a similar robot that he and his friends have been working on for the past couple of years. He calls it the Ulf Hoffman Tischtennis Roboter (Ulf Hoffman Table Tennis Robot) or UHTTR-1 for short.

As you can see the robot’s arm is on a rail mounted at one of the ends of a ping pong table. It’s made of aluminum, making it light enough for its servos to rapidly ferry it across the length of the table. It may only have one arm, but the robot has two things we don’t have: a second pair of eyes. Four cameras mounted at the top corners of the room track the ball’s position and send that data to the UHTTR-1′s software.

Ulf hasn’t said much about the robot’s program, but as you can see it has a variety of settings that help define its play style, including speed and spin. It even seems to have difficulty levels. I’m a bit worried about that “Evolve” setting.

We didn’t see it put to the test in the video, but I think you can beat the robot with a well-placed drop shot. Then again when you’re dealing with a robot that can evolve, all bets are off. Grip your browser and head to Ulf’s blog for more on his robot.

[via Laughing Squid]

If you’re into recording or playing music, you’ll definitely want to enter this giveaway that we’re doing in partnership with our pals at Gear Diary and IK Multimedia.

One lucky winner will receive the iLoud portable speaker (valued at $299.99), a high-fidelity speaker designed specifically for musicians and audiophiles. This compact studio monitor has 40-watts of power, yet it’s small enough to tote around with you wherever you go. Not only does it crank out amazing sound for its size, but you can connect audio sources via Bluetooth, a 3.5mm jack for mobile devices, or a 1/4″ jack to connect your electric guitar or a microphone. It’s even got an iRig circuit built in, so you can use your mobile device to add effects to your jams.

In addition to the iLoud, the winner will receive a download key for GrooveMaker 2 (valued at $9.99). This cool iOS app lets you easily create non-stop dance beats in real time, without the need for in-depth musical knowledge. It’s easy to use, and lets you make tracks using either pre-packaged sets of samples, or your own recorded sounds.

We’re also giving away four additional keys to GrooveMaker 2 at various points throughout the contest. Enter early to increase your chances of winning one of these.

To enter the contest, simply fill out the form below. There are lots of ways to earn entries, so try them all to increase your chances of winning:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Contest Ends 11:59PM CDT on March 19, 2014. See Terms and Conditions with entry form above.