Hasta La Gadget!

No stranger to E Ink wristwatches, Seiko finally brings its “active matrix” watch out of concept and onto retail shelves. Unlike previous E Ink watches that can be viewed when looking down on the dial, this watch offers a full 180-degree viewing angle.

Despite its retro look, the “Future Now” EPD watch packs plenty of future tech inside. It utilizes E Ink on an electrophoretic display. Boasting 80,000 pixels, each pixel can display four shades of grey. Solar cells frame the display.

The watch is controlled by radio movement and gets local time from the nearest atomic clock.

While exact pricing is still unknown, it’s expected to be affordable, and not sky-high luxury prices like Seiko’s previous E Ink watches. Seiko says these watches will be on retail shelves by the end of the year.

iPhone and iPod docks are plentiful these days, but XTremeMac‘s new Luna SST dock and the new 3-in-1 Microdock stand out from the pack, mostly because they look sharp and offer features not found in other devices. For example, the Luna SST alarm clock and dock features a detachable speaker for full surround sound, and has two separate alarms that you can program independently so multiple users can wake at different times, or you can have one alarm for weekday mornings and another for the weekend.  The Luna SST is available now for $129.99 list.

The 3-in-1 Microdock is a slim, portable iPhone and iPod dock that’s travel-friendly, weighs just under five ounces, and is small enough to fit on virtually any nightstand or desk. The Microdock also charges your iPhone or iPod, and has a self-contained speaker for listening and charging on the go. It’s available now for $59.99 retail. Both new docks can be paired with XtremeMac’s free Alarm Clock app for iOS devices, which turns your iPhone or iPod Touch’s screen into a digital clock that matches the color scheme for the two new docks. 

Here’s some interesting tech reading, ‘The Man Who Lied to his Laptop.’ This book, by Sociologist Clifford Nass, looks into how people treat their technology and maps out these interactions to help build effective human relationships.

With a degree in Computer Science and Sociology, Nass has discovered an interesting relationship between man and machine and why certain technologies succeed and fail. Nass talks about one technology people tend to interact with most, your GPS.

In an interview with NPR Nass explained, “BMW put a female voice in their GPS, and they actually had to have a product recall, because German drivers would not take directions from a woman. And what was particularly striking was, even after the helpdesk, when people were calling in angry, tried to explain that in fact it wasn’t a real female in the car and in fact that all the people who had designed the GPS and the directions were male, nonetheless people were unfazed and insisted on changing the voice.”

In a test, drivers using a GPS were presented with two voices a happy, upbeat voice to start their journey and a down, morose voice.

“Most people, when they hear that second voice, think, my goodness, I’d fire anyone who would ever use a voice like that. But, in fact, in our research it turned out that happy drivers drove much better with that first voice. But upset and angry drivers actually drove much better, felt much better, thought the voice was better when it was that second depressed, almost morose voice.”

Clifford Nass’ book is currently available in hardcover for $25.95 (list).

Still in concept, the Gesture Remote
looks quite capable of solving the age-old remote problem.

The universal remote is handy for
turning on the TV easily. There is no need for a TV remote just to
turn it on, the cable remote to change channels, or a stereo remote
to adjust volume. Throw the DVR, DVD player, and other devices in the
mix, though, and there are too many buttons and functions. The
universal remote can’t handle the load.

Enter the Gesture Remote from IDENT
Technology. This would allow you to surf TV channels and digital media using
gesture. Using touch-technology, there are no buttons or keypads to
deal with. Imagine the Gesture Remote as the Apple Magic Trackpad for the palm.

Just like a mouse, you can easily drag
and drop or select content on the screen. Select the highlighted item
by tapping the thumb. Scroll, flick, rotate, or zoom in and out for
volume control and channel selection. It’s that easy.

The Gesture Remote would have to be
able to talk to any kind of box, such as satellite, cable, and FiOS,
as well as other devices. Here is to hoping this becomes reality.

If you’re looking for some colorful, portable headphones, you definitely have your pick of make and model but Panasonic wants to draw your attention to their new foldable, fashionable Panasonic HX40 lightweight line of headphones, available in December. Pricing on the HX40 has not yet been announced.  

The new headphones feature a completely foldable design so they can be collapsed into a flat package for portability, but fold out into a comfortable pair of stereo headphones when you want to listen to music on the go or plug in to your laptop at the coffee shop. The HX40 will also be available in six different color combinations so you can pick a pair that matches your style.

[via Akihabara News]