It’s taken them 10 years but Nokia boffins have finally perfected a ‘touch feedback’ touchscreen. Don’t be fooled by simple vibrational imitations folks, this is the real McCoy – you press a key on the screen, and it clicks under your finger with exactly the same sort of fingertip feedback as if you’d pressed a conventional keyboard key. Roope Takala, Senior Program Manager at Nokia’s research labs gave me a demo of the technology in Finland the other day on a…
Read MoreMonthly Archives: November 2007
FaveBot – stop searching, start discovering
FaveBot is a persistent search engine. Enter in your search terms, select which media you wish to search (e.g. blogs, images, news etc) and it will return a constantly updating list of references to your phrase or word. It’s cool for a couple of reasons. First, it works. I’ve used it and it really does pick up some interesting results. For example I entered in the words ‘William Blake’, and blow me down if it didn’t find my mate’s upcoming production of William Blake’s…
Read MoreLingoz – building the world’s largest online dictionary
Lingoz. The world’s most ambitious community created online dictionary. 4,486,795 definitions and counting. And all being added one word at a time. Think Wikipedia meets Batman meets Web 2.0. Or something. LingoZ is an online community dedicated to the building of the world’s largest dictionary, and providing a community resource for language questions. LingoZ is a service by Babylon.com, the world’s leading provider of translation software. We bring to you Babylon’s dictionaries with millions of definitions and translations as starting…
Read MoreInvisible tank draws closer – ooh’er where’s it gone…?
Invisible Tank. Apparently the UK defense industry is close to launching the invisible tank they’ve been talking about for a year or more. The technology has been developed by Professor Sir John Pendry at Imperial College, London and works by beaming images of the tank’s background onto its surface using cameras and projectors. The Daily Mail image above is clearly a goodly Photoshop effort, but nevertheless it’s a pretty unbelievable tech to be reaching this stage, isn’t it? And they’re…
Read MoreMod My Life – scary new online entertainment arrives
Mod My Life. Remember Subservient Chicken? Yeah, well this ‘strange new brand of entertainment’ takes it one step further. You get to control a person out on the street. In fact you get to control their whole life for a period of time while the ‘session’ is active. Sound a bit too Aldous Huxley for ya? Yeah here too. Imagine being able to control people by telling them what to do, what to say, and where to go. Imagine being able to see and hear the world around…
Read MoreTV Weather Station – weather forecast system outputs to your 56 inch screen
The TV Weather Station beams the details of your back yard weather direct to your television screen. No more peering myopically at a tiny grey LCD screen while grabbing a quick brekkie in the morning. It’ll even give you a forecast based on the past 72 hours, which as we all know is incredibly accurate most of the time. Ooh look, a pink pig. Flying past our window. $129.95. This full featured weather station allows you to turn your TV’s screen into your very…
Read MoreSpy Laser Chase – high tech infrared tag
Spy Laser Chase updates the good ole game of tag to the 21st century. Strap on these infrared lasers, aim at your opponent and zap them tagged with the twitch of a finger. You even get zappy electro-sound effects, which is way better than rushing around screaming ‘YOU’RE IT!!’ like a complete muppet. $19.95. Play tag with a high-tech twist. These infrared “lasers” strap to your wrist and fire quickly and accurately – even when you’re running. Aim at your…
Read MoreAE Light AE Xenide AEX25 – the most powerful flashlight in the world?
The AE Xenide AEX25 Flashlight converts electricity to light. When we say light what we mean is about 1500 lumens worth of illumination, which as far as we can tell is just slightly less than the output of the sun on a hot summer’s day in Morocco. Yeah, now you’re impressed aren’t you? The trade-off is a battery life of just 120 minutes, although you’ll be able to blind somebody half a mile away while it’s running, which has gotta be useful. Oh…
Read MoreCustom Segways – rock and ride, Easy Glider
Custom Segways. You may look like a nerd on one, but who says you have to stick with the boring old basic version, eh? Pimp your wheels, Trick out the paint, Make it comfy, Carry a friend Or baby Make it pay Or just plain rip it apart. Your call, your money. Tags: custom+segway
Read MorePac Gentleman – steampunk, retro, video game remake…
Pac Gentleman is a cute and beautifully rendered remake of the classic coin-op for the Victorian age. Or something like that. [Thanks Tahir] When this game was first released in 1880 it was so hugely popular in taverns and inns that the bank of England was forced to mint more threepenny bits to keep up with demand. The game was created by messrs Nam & Nam and Co. as a novelty pastime for the masses. Outdoing the previous top public…
Read MoreRun Your Car on Water – save $$$’s
Run Your Car on Water. $97.00 buys you two books choc full of amazing, valuable, incredible, exciting, revolutionary, unbelievable, fantastic, astounding, incredible (did we say incredible already?) information on how to build your own kit. “Wow, offers don’t come any better than this, really they don’t.” Signed Mrs Brooklyn Bridge, NY, Please dear reader, make special note of the Dual-Edge Map Sensor Enhancer, because we believe it to be at the heart of this incredible…[Enough…Ed] Did you know that you…
Read MoreMusic Alerts – never miss another album release again…
Music Alerts. Enter your favourite artist names, hit the ‘Create Feed’ button and up pops an RSS link which updates every time a new album from the artists hit Amazon. It’s perfect this time of year for keeping track of all the tired old re-released, re-hashed Xmas fodder Greatest Hits and Best of… compilations from artists of the 80s and 90s. Oh yeah…. Why did you start Music-Alerts? I was frustrated trying to keep up with release dates for my favorite artists. One night I looked around…
Read MoreSplashup – online photo editing is like an onion, donkey
Splashup. Is this the first online image editing service with layers? Quite possibly. Which makes it a rather ambitious alternative to mainstream software programs like Photoshop. It’s a little slow in use, fast broadband is essential, and the feature set is nowhere as complete as the majors, but hey, levels? Splashup, formerly Fauxto, is a powerful editing tool and photo manager. With all the features professionals use and novices want, it’s easy to use, works in real-time and allows you to…
Read MoreFerret posts this week
Here’s a quick round-up of Ferrety posts from the past week for anyone who missed them. Enjoy. Designer Binary Clock – add some geek clock confusion to your walls – Designer Binary Clock. Telling the… Teleglass T4-N Wearable Monitor – look good while looking good – The Teleglass T4–N Wearable… Everyscape – eye level photo realistic search engine – Everyscape is an ‘eye level… Computer Repair Utility Kit – 35 applications designed to get you out of any kind of…
Read MoreAir Guitar Pro – play air guitar like a…uh…pro…
Air Guitar Pro looks like fun. No strings, pre-loaded songs and infra-red triggered strumming. It’s never going to replicate a good session of Stairway to Heaven on a tennis racquet, but hey, it might be close. $26.90. Built-in Speaker, IN & OUT Media Ports, Volume Controls, Pre-Loaded 10 Songs, etc. The Air Guitar PRO is using Infrared Ray to replace tranditional strings. SEVEN Buttons on the Guitar Front NecK from “C, D, E, F, G, A, & B”. FOUR Buttons…
Read More
