RedTacton. Human Area Networks get a name and a face. And a pretty orange colour too! RedTacton is a new Human Area Networking technology that uses the surface of the human body as a safe, high speed network transmission path. – RedTacton uses the minute electric field emitted on the surface of the human body. Technically, it is completely distinct from wireless and infrared…Touching, gripping, sitting, walking, stepping and other human movements can be the triggers for unlocking or locking,…
Read MoreMonthly Archives: March 2005
Snowbound.
Brrr…it’s snowing here in…er…snowy London, so a good time to introduce the SSX Snowboarder. It’s a controller with the game built in. Just plug in to your TV and swwoooosh! Or something. £44.99 ($72.75). This superb piece of kit rips the usual game console from you hands and puts you on the board itself, controlling the action on screen with realistic snowboard control. Your moves on the board control the action with four adrenalin-pumping games: Show Off, Time Challenge, Pipedream…
Read MoreSurprise!
The Surpriser. Shocking idea really. £9.95. The supriser great fun any place in the house. Example place in bathroom, someone walks in flip`s on the light. The surpriser get`s ready, the unsuspecting victim goes about his business, ten seconds later the supriser strikes with howling laughter,Gotcha
Read MoreYotels.
Yotels. Japanese micro hotels re-jigged and brought to London. Bedtastic! However, the truly revolutionary element of YOTEL is its windows, which are internal rather than external – they look into the corridors, which are in turn naturally lit through reflective mechanisms and channelling of light. This allows YOTEL to boldly go where other hotels simply can’t – tricky central city locations, airports, even underground. The reduced land costs and savings can then be passed on to customers to offer a first…
Read MoreSong recognition.
The Tyberis Music Database. Freeware program which can monitor and recognise songs on the radio. So say you’re a small band (or label) and you want to see how many times your track is being played on the local radio, hey maybe to prove you’re owed some of those elusive royalties, eh? Well you fire up this puppy, grab a fragment of your track as a signature and set the program to scan an FM radio source for your tune….
Read MoreDeath of radio.
Excellent SFGate.com piece on the death of American music radio. Corporate radio sucketh, whole and large and true. We know this. Everyone knows this. There is not a single person out there right now who is listening to any of the one zillion lifeless Clear Channel or Infinity-owned rock stations anywhere in the nation who is saying to themselves, gosh this KLOG station is just exceptionally good and clever and smart and plays amazingly fresh music and makes me want…
Read MoreTweetie tat.
The Tweetie Bird clock, radio, telephone. Aaarrrgh! $89.00. NEW animated talking TWEETY BIRD Clock, Radio, and Telephone all in one. You’ll get a good chuckle when the phone rings and Tweety blinks his eyes as he sings and talks.
Read MoreThe Switchboard.
Cringely mentions The Switchboard this week, and it’s interesting indeed. A free web based Java voice chat service. Register once and it’s accessible from anywhere in the world as long as you’ve got yer headphones and mic. No software download, no hassle. P2P technology apparently and includes nifty stuff like voice mail and email notifications. Our plan is to create the easiest to use, free, browser to browser internet phone. How is the switchboard different from other internet phones? * it…
Read MoreGoogle triangle.
Apparently Google has a golden triangle. That’s an area on the results page which gets the most eyeball views. Interesting but not really rocket science, although fascinating to learn that only 20% of people looked at the results right at the bottom of the page. Of course this also means that screen display resolution could be a major factor in ‘above and below’ the fold visibility/effectiveness. What it doesn’t explain, however, is whether the triangle exists at the top of every page of results, in which case it could…
Read MorePowerboard 2.
The Powerboard 2. With wireless remote control. £139.00 buys you some broken bones and an indescribable feeling of unbalanced terror? No? Oh sorry. So now with the fantastic powerboard 2, that is once of course you’ve mastered how to balance on it, you can litterally jump on board and by using the hand held remote control scoot to intense speeds of firstly 0-9mph in intense seconds, then speeds of upto 15mph, with integrated braking system so you can stop safely!
Read MoreMotor cone.
The Motorized Ice Cream Cone. Because slurping is for the birds. Good grief, have we truly come to this? $8.99. Takes a licking, keeps cone from dripping! This ingenius patented gadget (US Patent # 5,971,829) automatically turns your ice cream while you lick. No more manually rotating the cone! No drips, no mess! Great for pudding and other desserts. Detachable and dishwasher safe cup.
Read MoreWirefree, voice caster.
The Wirefree Intercom. Designed to save your voice by providing instant portable intercom service throughout your massive mansion. $149.95. The Wireless Intercom requires no connection to wall power and acts as a two-way, digital, wireless voice communication system. With ultra-clear sound quality, this system is simple to set up, and features multi channels with unlimited unit expansion. Its “paging” function allows you to broadcast to all the stations in the location, and then speak to the responding station privately, with…
Read MoreUnderwater walkie talkies.
Underwater Walkie Talkies. No string, no wires, just bubbles. Help I’m drowning. $12.95. Hold private underwater chats! Speak clearly underwater up to 15 feet away! Tell secrets on the ocean bottom…or maybe just in your bathtub!
Read MoreSnatchit.
Snatchit. Bizarrely designed reverse auction site which counts down time and bids until the last product is sold at the lowest price. £100 million in turnover and they call it a game? Yowsers! On clicking the Buy Now button you will proceed to a screen which will prompt you to “CLICK HERE TO CONFIRM PURCHASE QUICKLY” Here, speed is of the essence – remember, the clock is ticking, If the time runs out, you’ve lost the game and you’ve missed the product…
Read MoreDNKA.
DNKA. Allows you to set up Google Desktop Search as a multi-user, multi-computer service. Very Kleva! Free for personal use, $39.00 otherwise. Install it on your PC’s at work and home and your laptop and search/view/download on any from the others. Install it on a workgroup file server and use it to index/search/view the contents. Use it for a distributing files, like a P2P search service.
Read More
