Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Latest Clock
It seem that people are crazy about clocks even if they got one if they found new and diffent they still grab another one. Sometime it's nice to collect them even if they have one purpose to tell the time they have something diffent and interest. Like this one it was really cool it tell the time by arranging it's stick to form or spell the current time awesome isn't it. You probably ask where the minute are displayed? Well unfortunately they don't have minutes. It only tell the hour. You’ve got your alarm clocks that make sure you have to get out of bed in the morning, clocks made from old computer parts, and crazy clocks that are almost useless for telling time, but are still awesome. This one would fall into the latter category.
If they could find a way to display the minutes, this would be an awesome clock to own. I’d probably have one of this, if they were actually for sale. Unfortunately there is currently no plan for the creator to make more of these.
Source: CrunchGear
Monday, April 14, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Cell Phones and Clocks
Cheap Eavesdropper Device
Almost a decade ago the 64-Bit A5/1 encryption used on GSM based networks was cracked. However, equipment to eavesdrop costs upwards of $100000 which is out of reach for a number of people or companies. A company in the US have claimed that they can make a similar device that can drop in on conversations for just $1000 which is a huge saving.The device is just theoretical at the moment, but theory seems to indicate that 30 minutes would be sufficient to crack GSM encryption. This is a huge increase in time over the more expensive device which is capable of cracking the codes in just 30 seconds.
This advance in technology should not make you quake in your boots though as the $1000 device is still pretty much concept at the moment and by the time it does make it out, no doubt changes to the algo’s could be made which means they have to start cracking it from the start.
It is unclear if this effects USIM cards also. Only mention of GSM SIM cards is mentioned.
Van Der Led WM2 GSM Watch
This mobile phone watch actually looks like it might be good to wear. Most of the other mobile phone watches just look a little chunky and awkward.
This particular model has a 1.3 inch display which is capable of showing 260k colours. The screen is also touch screen. On the communications side the radio is a quad-band GSM which allows it to work in most countries. Also Bluetooth is built in allowing you to use a headset for answering and making calls. Storage for music and video is on the 1Gb of built in memory. Files can be transferred via USB to and from your PC.
For making calls you can use the build in keypad on the wrist strap.
The mobile phone watch does come with a fairly hefty price tag of $471 when it is launched on Monday, but I assume that price is for a fully unlocked phone which can be used most places around the globe.
Remember how Dick Tracy used his watch as a communicator? Considering the last incarnation of Dick Tracy came out in 1990, I’m not surprised if you don’t. Let’s try this one: Remember when Michael Knight used his watch to talk to KITT? I’m sure anyone eighteen years of age or younger has no idea what I’m talking about.
Well, here’s a wrist communicator that anyone from any generation can understand: the Van Der Led WM2 Watchphone. I have only three words to say about this: “Yeah, baby, yeah!”
After all, science fiction writers have envisioned communication devices on our watches for years. Isn’t it about time that someone made it into reality by putting a cellular phone on a watch?
This Van Der Led WM2 watchphone is a quad band GSM, and it has some very interesting features including a 260K TFT touchscreen, an FM tuner, stereo Bluetooth, and USB data transmission. It has a stand-by time of 240 hours, and a talk time of up to 300 hours. I was surprised to hear that it even has a 1.3 Megapixel camera,
but will not be available until next week on the Van Der Led site.
Cool Gadgets
A company in China has created a seriously cool looking 3D cube. You might wonder what is cool about a 3D cube… well, this one has 4096 LED’s inside to generate 3D images in multi colour. The company is named Seekway and have used this cube which is a 16 x 16 x 16 LED’s as a test run to ramping up to a beefier version with 48 x 48 x 48 LED’s which totals a whopping 110,592 LED’s.What sets this 3D cube aside is the ability for the animations to run at 30 frames per second, and also each LED being able to be individually controlled for both colours and intensity.
I expect we will see more of these cubes over the next few years with people cramming more and more LED’s inside to create some really cool visual effects. For now, enjoy the 16 x 16 x 16 video below.
The Luce by Samsung is a one of a kind door lock which has an integrated touch screen. The touch screen pad stays black until you press the start button. One that button is hit the lights switch on and the numbers are then made visible on the screen. The touch screen is covered in tempered glass to protect it.As well as looking rather fancy, kind of like the iPhone of door locks, the digital door lock (SHS-5200) is just 2.1cm thick which makes it easy to integrate on to any door and yet, still look rather swish.
The other unique feature of this door lock is the heat sensor which detects when the temperature hits 55 degrees C and sounds a fire alarm.
No prices are available yet for the Luce, but with the design built around US standards it should be heading over that way shortly.
This little digital thermometer is handy for letting you work out the temperature of any surface with out making contact with it. The accuracy of the thermometer is +/- 4.5 degrees F which isn’t too bad for getting a quick measurement. The thermometer is both light weight and portable and is useful for PC maintenance, inspection, food prep to name a few.
Friday, April 11, 2008
New Gadgets...........
Sony are about to launch a 1Seg TV tuner for the Sony PSP. The new TV tuner will not work with your old PSP though as it is designed for the new PSP 2 slimmer version. Unfortunately this TV tuner will not make it to the US in this form although hopefully a regular TV tuner might make it over this way. With it being 1Seg it uses mobile data broadcasting available in Japan. It will be released on September 20th and will cost $57. This is also the release date of the PSP slim edition.
This cool little device is named “Tame” and is a concept device which attaches to your mobile phone. Tame is a cube which handles auto responses for your mobile phone while you are busy. As most concepts are, it is kind of crazy but at the same time it does look like a fun little gadget that if made, could be a nice friendly way of telling people to go away.
Nokia Camera phone Language Translator
Nokia recently showcased a cool app for Nokia mobile phones. The app is named shoot-to-translate and it is capable of translating from Chinese to English by taking a photo of the Chinese text that you want to read.This particular type of application is seriously handy for those frequent travellers who want to know what something says quickly with out having to open up a text book and hunt through and match up the complex Chinese symbols.
Although the application shows Chinese to English translation, I do not believe the creators have ruled out other language translation. Maybe international travel will someday become easier with this type of software.