Dec 27
A lot can happen in a single year, especially in this era of accelerating technological and social change. Here are the most futuristic developments of 2013.
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Dec 27
Rolls-Royce may not have a fleet of autonomous luxury cars on the road yet, but the ship-building engineering group that bears the same name is predicting self-piloting drone ships within … Continue reading
Dec 26
I-MEGO Throne Headphones: When You Play the Game of ‘Phones You Play Music or You Die
Posted in: Today's ChiliIf you’re in the market for a pair of cool looking headphones that’ll stand out from the crowd, you might want to check out I-MEGO’s Throne series.
These full-size over-the-ear headphones offer a unique design, with ventilated metal-trimmed enclosures with comfy memory foam earcups. The headband and earcups are covered with real leather, and I especially like the stitching detail on the headband. 40mm drivers provide solid frequency response from 20 to 20,000Hz, and a sensitivity of 102dB +/- 3dB. Bass response is very good if you like your music with a thump.
The headphones come in either a gunmetal chrome version with dark purple vent accents, or gold with black ones. Each pair includes a soft travel pouch, and an integrated microphone on its cable. You can get your hands on the Throne headphones over at the I-MEGO website for $129.99(USD).
Dec 24
The technology behind 3D printing is being used for a vast range of activities — printing eye cells to help develop a future without blindness, to create firearms, casts and … Continue reading
Dec 23
Many have dreamed of the day when clothes no longer require washing — or require it far less often than they currently do, at least. With nanotechnology came this reality, … Continue reading
Dec 23
We’ve seen a variety of HUD technologies on the automotive front, but the area is a bit lacking when it comes to motorcycles and other motor bikes. To remedy this, … Continue reading
Dec 23
Xbox One Laptop: The VCR Slims Down
Posted in: Today's ChiliOkay, okay, I kid. The Xbox One doesn’t look that much like a VCR, but it still is about a big as one. But leave it to an enterprising console modder like James “DarkUncle” Terry to solve that problem, by transforming an Xbox One into a laptop.
What you’re looking at here is what I’m reasonably certain is the very first Xbox One laptop mod. The Console measures only two-inches-thick when closed, and that includes the size of the LCD flat panel built into its lid. That’s even more impressive when you realize that the Xbox One normally measures almost three inches-thick. The top of the console has a matte black finish, with an integrated touch power control and a gloss black shell around the outside. He also added custom buttons for controller sync, eject, and audio volume. Between its additional cooling fans and the standard Xbox One heatsink, James says it stays nice and cool too.
The laptop has all of the regular ports from an Xbox One, but also added an audio line-out connector, which Microsoft neglected to include on the console. Check out the build in the video below:
Great job, James! Now all you need to do is figure out a way to build the Kinect into it, and shrink down Microsoft’s power brick, and all will be right with the world.
If you’re interested in having your own custom Xbox One laptop built, head on over to Dark Uncle Custom Gaming to get in touch with James.
Dec 23
If you regularly play FPSes on your big screen TV, then there’s a handy little gizmo out there that you might want to add to your arsenal. It’s called the HipShotDot, and it’s designed to improve your aim when playing FPSes that have a targeting reticle on screen.
Basically, the HipShotDot is a bright red LED attached to a small transparent suction cup. To use it, simply plug one end into an open USB port, then stick the LED directly over the center of the targeting reticle, then drape the remaining skinny cable down the screen and suction cup it in place. When plugged in, the LED provides a bright new point for you to focus on during FPS battles.
In my experience with the gadget, it definitely made it easier to focus on the dead-center point when aiming weapons. It works with any console or PC, and any FPS that has a consistent targeting point on screen. I suppose it would also work with air and space combat games as well. It also works with any display with a smooth surface. It definitely works with LCD, Plasma and CRT screens, though I’m not sure how well it would stick to a projection screen.
There are only a couple of minor drawbacks to the HipShotDot – first, it remains lit as long as you have it plugged into a USB port. This means that it stays on even during cutscenes and times when you’re not aiming. It’s small enough that it’s not too distracting, and its cable is quite slim too. Though I wish that it had a switch on the cord so you could at least turn it off when you shut down your console – since most consoles continue to provide power via USB when in standby mode. Still, the benefits far outweigh the cons if you’re really into FPS gaming like I am. Plus, the LED effect is kind of cool. It almost looks like a laser sight.
You can grab the HipShotDot online direct from Airdrop Gaming or from Amazon now for $29.99(USD).
Dec 23
We’ve seen robots that move about using wheels, two legs, four legs and even ones that slither like snakes. The Cubli can move despite being just a cube. Actually it does have wheels, but they’re inside its body.
The Cubli was developed by researchers at the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, led by Gajamohan Mohanarajah and Dr. Raffaello D’Andrea. It has three wheels powered by a small electric motor, a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, a servo for braking and a STM3210E microcontroller.
By taking advantage of angular momentum and torque reaction, the 5.9 cu.in. cube can jump from a stable position, then stop and balance itself on one of its edges or even one of its corners. It can keep balancing even if you push or disturb the surface that it’s on. It can also be commanded to fall in a particular direction. By performing all three actions successively – jumping up, balancing and falling – the Cubli can be made to move around. It cannot speak though. At least not yet.
Read the researchers’ paper (pdf) on Cubli or head to RoboHub to find out more about the robot.
Dec 22
When the rock group, The Eagles first penned their iconic top-forty hit, "New Kid in Town,"
with lyrics that spoke to: "talk on the street. . . everybody’s
watching you," the year was 1976, predating the Internet by almost two
decades. While spot-on prescient as to what was to come, surely Don
Henley, Glenn Frey or Joe Walsh couldn’t have known the level of
surveillance that’s blanketed the world we NOW live in…
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