Jun 30
‘Gundog’ Now Open For Beta Testing
Posted in: Today's Chili
Want to get in on a new game, not yet released? "Gundog" is currently offering that chance with a unique take on the third-person shooter.
Jun 30
Evernote Celebrates 5 Years
Posted in: Today's Chili
Evernote, the company whose tagline, "Remember everything," was a call for a new way to organize your digital life, is celebrating five years.
Jun 30
iblazr LED Flash for Mobile Devices Plugs into 3.5mm Port: from Audio to Video
Posted in: Today's ChiliMost modern smartphones have a built-in LED camera flash. But if you think that your phone’s flash isn’t bright enough to properly document your party nights, dramatic Instagram pics or Bigfoot sightings, keep an eye out for the iblazr. It’s an external flash for mobile devices that plugs in via the 3.5mm headphone jack.
The folks behind the iblazr claim that its four LEDs provide four times more brightness than the iPhone 5′s built-in flash when taking pictures, and up to eight times brighter when shooting videos. The image below supposedly shows the difference between the iPhone 5′s flash (on the left) and the iblazr (on the right).
The iblazr will also have its own power supply so you won’t worry about it draining your mobile device’s already limited battery life. It will also come with a free camera app that will let users toggle the iblazr’s brightness and other options.
But of course the iblazr’s best feature is the fact that it plugs in via the 3.5mm headphone jack. This makes it compatible with virtually all mobile devices. Apparently you can also control multiple iblazr units at once using a headphone splitter, as shown in one of the images in the gallery. Their website is hinting at a fundraising campaign soon; keep an eye on it or on their Facebook page if you want to. I hope it comes with sensor that will prevent it from flashing when it senses that the user is shooting a video vertically.
[via DamnGeeky]
Jun 29
The UP from Jawbone helps to monitor your health via your smartphone, and a stylish writstband. Think of it as your personal fitness trainer, there 24 hours a day.
Jun 29
There have been many attempts to recreate the design of the Hoverboards from Back to the Future II, but none of them have been functional. Now, there’s a project which just kicked off with hopes of creating an actual, working Hoverboard by the Summer of 2015 – the same time period that Marty visits in the movie.
With the goal of creating the world’s first production Hoverboard, Robert Haleluk of Haltek Industries has embarked on an Open Source, crowdfunding project.
Assuming it can actually be produced, the real world Hoverboard won’t look quite like the ones in the movies, in order to accomodate a propulsion system. According to project leader Robert Haleluk, the Hoverboard will be powered by omni-directional tubeaxial blowers – similar to the ones we saw in the Aerofex Hover Bike.
The boards would be constructed from a honeycomb carbon fiber to keep weight to a minimum. In terms of power source, Haleluk is looking at two promising new lightweight battery technologies – a Lithium-Air battery in development by IBM with the goal of powering a car for up to 500 miles on a single charge or a unique energy device being researched by Stanford which can store power in a sheet of paper with special ink infused with carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires. Of course, neither of these technologies is in production yet, so that certainly creates a risk factor for the Hoverboard project. Current off-the-shelf battery technologies would likely be insufficient to lift a passenger for any meaningful period of time.
Should the Hoverboard project come to fruition, the boards would interface with a companion smartphone app, which would provide the ability to lock and unlock the board, turn it on, and run diagnostics among other things.
In order to fund the development of the Hoverboard, Haleluk has set up an Indiegogo campaign with a funding goal of $1 million (USD). These funds will be used for research, development and production of the first Hoverboards. While a bid of $10,000 or more is required if you want to end up with an actual Hoverboard, lower pledges will be used to further research and development efforts.
Naturally, a project like this is fraught with risks for investors, and there’s a good chance that the end result will be less than stellar. But for those of us who have dreamed of seeing the futuristic vision of floating skateboards come to fruition during our lifetimes, it could be pretty exciting if it actually works out – and we’ll never know if they don’t try.
Jun 28
We’ve already seen some innovative ways to make action figures via 3D printing. But ModiBot might be the best and most practical 3D printed action figure yet. Instead of letting you design and print an action figure from scratch or order a 3D printed action figure of an existing character, ModiBot meets you halfway. Its a skeletal action figure with swappable parts and accessories.
The base ModiBot action figure is a stick figure with lots of slots and holes. The idea is to get a bare ModiBot and then mix and match it with 3D printed parts and accessories. Because all of this is stored in digital files waiting to be printed, it’s practically impossible for them to be sold out. Dynamo Development Labs, the company behind ModiBot, won’t have to deal with unsold stock either; they just have to print on demand. This means that it should be easy to replace any missing or broken parts. If you know how to make a 3D model, you can design the parts and accessories yourself. So you’re going to go from this:
To this:
And that’s just the beginning. Again, it’s not just the accessories that are interchangeable; the skeleton’s parts itself can be swapped. For example, there’s a dinosaur ModiBot skeleton, so you can assemble a half-man, half-dino ModiBot.
Pledge at least $15 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a ModiBot kit. When 3D printers become widely available and 3D modeling software becomes dead simple to use, ModiBot will be immortal. People will be making parts on their own and lots of third-party vendors will sell their own ModiBot-compatible goods.
You know what ModiBot is like? LEGO. If you think about it, LEGO’s minifigs are strangely unlike the rest of its toys: minifigs are barely customizable or interchangeable. ModiBot is more LEGO-like than LEGO’s own action figures. So I wouldn’t be surprised if LEGO imitates or buys out ModiBot in the future. I am also surprised that ModiBot hasn’t teamed up with Rob Schrab yet.
[via 3ders]
Jun 28
Google Building More Hardware
Posted in: Today's Chili
Google will build a game console, smart watch and more devices based on its upcoming version of Android, bringing the mobile OS to a wider variety of platforms in an effort to make its place on the hardware scene.
Jun 28
A research team from the University of Bremen in Germany as created a robot that looks, and walks, like a monkey. The ape has big arms that drag on the ground. The research is being funded by the German
Aerospace Center, to the tune of about $3.9 million.
Jun 28
Tech Deals of the Day: 6/28/2013
Posted in: Today's Chili
Our friends at TechBargains.com compile a list of daily deals to help you save money. Keep in mind that as with any good deal, products are limited in quantity and can sell out quickly – so don’t hesitate to check them out now.
If you’re looking to buy a product from a specific store, save money with updated and verified coupon codes here.
Computers & Peripherals:
- Lenovo Thinkserver TS130 1105B2U Intel Core i3-3220 Dual-Core Server Desktop Computer $259.99 plus free shipping (normally $399 – use this form)
- Refurbished Samsung B350 S27B350H 27″ LED LCD Monitor 179.00 plus free shipping (normally $299)
- Samsung ST1000DM005 Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ SATAII Internal Hard Drive $44.99 plus $5 shipping (normally $69 – use this form)
- Asus VH238H 23″ LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/ Speakers + $10 Newegg Gift Card $129.99 plus free shipping (normally $119 – use this form)
Home Entertainment:
- LG 47LS4600 47″ LED-Edgelit LCD HDTV $529.99 plus free shipping (normally $999)
Personal Electronics:
- Sennheiser CX 200 Earbud Stereo Headphones $14.99 plus free shipping (normally $39 – use this form)
- International Version Samsung Galaxy S4 I9500 Unlocked GSM Smartphone (3G ONLY) $549.99 plus free shipping (normally $699)
- Motorola S306 Black Bluetooth Stereo Headset $19.99 plus free shipping (normally $40 – use code: JULY4THSL03)
- Virgin Mobile Apple iPhone 5 No-Contract Smartphone with $100 Account Credit $549.00 plus free shipping (normally $699)
Jun 27
Air travel has its perks, but there are potential downsides as well, such as handing your luggage off to others with the trust that it’ll arrive at your destination the same time you do. Although this is usually the case, there are times when luggage ends up straggling behind, or in some instances, completely lost.
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