Gadgets

Folding Fan Cellphone Renders Remind Me of an Older LG Concept That won an Award

Have you ever heard of the LG Flutter phone? Well, you should have since it won the LG Design the Future Competition back in 2010 and it was awesome. It felt a bit like Mortal Kombat’s Kitana fans, but nevertheless it was a nice piece of work, although not very practical. Now the same idea of a fan cellphone is approached by designer Takeshi F.

The creator of the concept proposes a folding fan type cellphone, one without buttons and that relies on the opening angle as the manipulation method. If the device is opened at 30 degrees, it enters the cellphone mode, while at 90 degrees it triggers the Skype mode. This project was created in Rhino 4 and involved a scanner, paper and pencil, as stated on the designer’s Behance page.

It feels like a very artisanal and genuine piece of Japanese decoration, truly a nice looking fan and the technology takes a secondary approach here. The camera mode is one of the best uses for this device and seems practical, while the rest will have you looking at a semi circle, instead of your usual rectangle. Would this work?

Microsoft Watch Concept Focuses on Windows 10 Smartwatch Experience (Video)

I am still amazed by the fact that we have seen so many Apple watch concepts and also some Android models, but very few watches with Windows have been rendered. Today we get a fresh device of this kind, a Microsoft Watch concept, that’s more of a Windows 10 for smartwatch concept. Rendered by Gregory UL, the watch can be seen below.

The design draws heavy inspiration from the Apple Watch, but seems to change the format a bit. The crown button is basically the same with the one of the Apple Watch. As far as software goes, I still claim that Windows Phone and Windows in general is a good fit for the small screen of a smartwatch. The tiles are big and easy to press and they can reveal all the info the user needs.

There’s a beautiful Start screen on this flavour of Windows 10 for watches. We’ve got apps with minimalist design, rethought for smartwatches. Cortana is also in the mix, with activation by saying “OK Cortana”. There’s also an analog keyboard, that allows users to write on the smartwatch and it comes with handwriting recognition, for each of the letters you draw.

This also reminds me of what Apple did with its Watch. Anyway, this watch also offers the possibility of answering or declining calls with a single swipe up or down. There are 3 choices for the strap of the watch: orange, light blue and grey matte. What do you think of these ideas? Would Windows 10 work on a smartwatch? I like the music player and main UI to be honest.

iWatch Render in the Vision of the Ciccarese Design Team: Simply Stunning (Video)

The famous Ciccarese Design team, that includes young Italian professionals imagined the way the Apple iWatch could look like. This is one of the most elegant visions of the Apple watch and there’s even a video of it below.

This creative concept is all about beautiful styling and a compact device made of metal and glass. iOS 7 is on board of the iWatch and apparently the Ciccarese Design team has already made prototypes and two copies of the device, to see how ergonomics work in its case. After showing these pics to people, the designers got a good response and positive feedback, saying the product is cool and fashionable.

The iWatch concept shown here feels like a clip on bracelet, with a bigger opening than expected. It’s like those big metallic bracelet that were so fashionable for the ladies over the past years. The idea is for the device not to feel rigid, so that’s the biggest obstacle to overcome. Once you do that, it’s gold baby! Also, some decent specs wouldn’t hurt…

Touchy Feeling Cionic Hand Closer to Reality

      

A new and better bionic hand under development connects directly to the nervous system and could one day return dexterity and sensation to amputees, researchers say.

In recent years, a plethora of bionic hands have emerged for amputees. However, surveys of those using such artificial hands have revealed that up to 50 percent of amputees do not use theprosthesis regularly, due to poor functionality, appearance and controllability.

NEWS: First Bionic Eye See Light of Day

So, to improve the amount of dexterity and sensation of these bionic hands, scientists reasoned they could use interfaces that link the hands with the nervous system, potentially enabling intuitive control and realistic sensory feedback.

"Our dream is to have Luke Skywalker getting back his hand with normal function," researcher Silvestro Micera told TechNewsDaily, referencing the hero in "Star Wars" who gets an artificial hand after his real one is cut off. [Brainpower: Human Minds May Soon Control Prosthetic Limbs]

Micera is the head of the translational neural engineering lab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, which is one of the collaborators helping to develop the new bionic hand.

In a four-week clinical trial, Micera and his colleagues found they could improve the sensory feedback an amputee received from bionics by using electrodes implanted into the median and ulnar nerves in the arm near the stump. This helped deliver feelings of touch.

In addition, the researchers analyzed motor neural activity from the nerves, signals used to help control muscles. They found they could tease out signals related to grasping to help control a prosthetic hand placed near the amputee but not physically attached to the person's arm. In other words, it may be possible to develop an artificial hand that can transmit signals to and respond to data from the brain.

NEWS: Bionic Suit Helps Paralyzed Woman Complete Marathon

"We could be on the cusp of providing new and more effective clinical solutions to amputees in the next years," Micera said.

Micera and his colleagues also announced a new clinical trial that will soon connect the prosthetic hand directly to a patient as part of the Italian Ministry of Health's NEMESIS project. They hope to further improve sensory feedback and overall control of bionics this way.

A key problem is how electricity from the electrodes can inflame cells, forcing the body to grow tissue around the electrodes that dampen signals to and from the bionic hand. Micera suggested drugs or coatings on the electrodes might help prevent such inflammation.

Natural hands normally possess 22 degrees of freedom, meaning they can flex 22 different ways — for instance, they can spread fingers apart. While 22 degrees of freedom are currently unrealistic for prosthetic hands, the four or five different grasping tasks the research team's device can provide can be very helpful, Micera said.

In the future, artificial hands may connect not only with nerves in the periphery of the nervous system, such as those in the limbs, but may also link with the spinal cord. "A hybrid solution that combines both approaches may be the way to go," Micera said.

NEWS: Bionic Legs Allows Paraplegic to Stand and Walk

Future research might also have amputees prepare for what bionic hands might feel like using virtual-reality experiments that could help them reconstruct their body images. "In the medium term, we'd like to have virtual-reality environments for training patients," Micera said.

Still, much work remains before artificial hands are as capable as natural ones.

"I think the Luke Skywalker hand is probably 20 or 30 years away, maybe even more," Micera said.

The scientists recently detailed their findings at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston.

44 Caliber Revolver Chamber Ring is Hot as a Pistol

About some people, it’s said they “wear their heart on their sleeve”,
 but what if your heart doesn’t belong on your sleeve, but on your finger instead?

About some people, it’s said they “wear their heart on their sleeve”, but
what if your heart doesn’t belong on your sleeve, but on your finger instead?

For handgun enthusiasts, here’s a great way to show your love for your favorite
firearms (other than by buckling on your holster). Add a bit of pistol hardware into
your style with a ring that’s a scale replica of a classic revolver chamber.

The Pistol Ring, by Blue Bayer Design NYC,

 is an exact scale replica of a 44 Cal revolver 

chamber, cast in solid sterling silver and blackened with

 a permanentoxidizer. The rings are available in sizes 

from 4 to 11, and some engraving is possible

on each piece.

The Pistol Ring, by Blue Bayer Design NYC, 

is an exact scale replica of a 44 Cal revolver 

chamber, cast in solid sterling silver and blackened with a permanent oxidizer. 

The rings are available in sizes from 4 to 11, and some engraving is possible on each piece.
And if you want a little more bling in your pistol chamber ring, there’s also a 7 diamond version
 of this piece, which has six 1.5 mm diamonds set in a row on one of the chamber ridges,
plus one tiny diamond as the period at the end of “44 CAL”.

The Pistol Ring sells for $160, and the diamond version for $240, on Etsy.

Smartphones With Lytro-like Camera Sensor - Refocus Later

                                              

                                       

Lytro is an amazing new camera technology that allows you to refocus and change your image, after you have taken the photograph. Everything about this new camera is cool and the design (I heard that a former Apple designer created it) is revolutionary, too. Toshiba just announced a similar technology.

A  friend showed it to me, but I’ve been eagerly watching its results. It worked beautifully with her iPad2 and iPad mini. In fact, that was the only real way to see the image with any depth because the viewfinder on the camera itself is maybe one inch square.

My only comment to my friend was this tech had the power to transform how we think about photographs and that once Lytro gets it into a smartphone the game is on. Toshiba may have beat them to the punch, however, with today’s announcement that they have a similar technology coming out in 2013 smartphones. I thought it could seriously change how small biz owners take and create photographs for marketing purposes because you could do better than traditional point and shoot knowing you could fix it later.

Smartphone Camera Resources Below

A simple explanation is that the digital camera takes in all field of view data so that you can manipulate it later — as in refocus. It is more than just refocus, at least the Lytro is, with the ability to change your perspective by a few degrees. So, you can look at the same image from a few feet to the right, left, top, or bottom.

iSiri is an Apple Smart Watch That Will Guide You Everywhere (Video)

Designer Federico Ciccarese imagined one of the most original Apple concepts I’ve seen lately: the iSiri Smartwatch. This revolutionary device allows you to ask any question and get the answer right away, without having to remove the handset from your pocket. This Apple Smartwatch is a round piece of gadgetry that you can attach to your wrist like a watch.

This wearable gizmo connects to the iPhone via Bluetooth and offers all the functions that the normal Siri does. You can ask what the weather will be like, dictate a Facebook status, make restaurant reservations, find out sport events scores and activate a call to someone, via the iPhone. At the bottom of the iSiri there’s a Lightning port and the two speakers from the iPhone 5. At the top there’s an audio jack and Earpods seem to be bundled with it.

This Apple watch has a metallic design, so it’s basically a bigger “button” and I mean button in the sense of the ones you wear on your clothes, but with the mauve Siri logo on it. It looks pretty fancy and I can see people wearing such a trendy accessory. Would you invest in such a product?

Google DroidBook Nexus Laptop By Bob Freking, the MacBook Killer

While everyone is looking for an iPad killer, Google and its hardware partners could sneak up and deliver a blow to Apple in another segment: laptops. At least that’s what Bob Freking imagined, when he created the Google DroidBook Nexus, a beautiful laptop concept shown below. I’ve heard rumors that the next Android will actually be focused on netbooks and bigger devices, but that’s just a rumor.

Bob Freking mentions that after buying Motorola, Google discontinued Lapdocks for the Moto phones, so they may be preparing their own desktop with Android or their own laptop. The DroidBook Nexus features a 3 megapixel HD front camera, uses a Core i7 CPU with Intel Integrated Graphics (not my first choice for a Google setup) and also features a 17 inch 2560 x 1440 pixel display. The result is a laptop concept that’s thinner than a MacBook and has a full keyboard.

It will reach 12 hours of usage and it even has an optical drive, if there’s any need for that… Windows games and apps can be converted to Android through a special app and the device is able to run famous games like Minecraft, Resident Evil 6, Crysis, Final Fantasy Online and the famous app Photoshop. The designer wasn’t clear about the OS on the device, so I imagine it’s a cross between Chrome OS and Android 5.0, or something like it. Price this baby right and we’ve got a hit!

Nintendo Tablet PC Designed by Sanjay Lal

Sanjay Lal imagined a brand new Nintendo Tablet PC, although the new Wii U does seem to involve something pretty close to a tablet itself. The new Nintendo slate resembles a windshield, if you ask me and it seems to sit pretty comfortably in the user’s hand, in spite of the relatively tiny bezels.

I noticed that the device is arched in both its sides at the back, in order to be held better, using the fingers to support that side. If I were to guess a diagonal here I’d say around 8 inches or so, a widescreen display included and maybe some Android in the mix, or even Nintendo’s brand new open source OS. The CPU would be the already famous quad core Snapdragon S4 Pro, this time at 1.8 GHz through an upgrade and we’d also get 2 GB of RAM and Full HD resolution on this baby, or maybe 1200p.

It’s strange that the Nintendo tablet doesn’t seem to feature a camera, not at the front and not in the back. Anyway I can imagine that there’s a special stand for the device and compatibility with other Nintendo accessories, like the Wiimotes. 64 GB of storage would also be welcome, plus a generous battery, somewhere around 10000 mAh. I’m only speculating here, since Sanjay Lal didn’t reveal anything about his project. What do you think?

Ecopad Tablet Design Uses no External Power Source for Charging

How about a tablet that’s as eco-friendly as it gets? Jun-se Kim, Yonggu Do and Eunha Seo created the Ecopad slate, pictured below and no using any external power source, but instead relying on a nano piezoelectricity film that gathers power from each touch or press of the screen.

The device features a LCD display and I’m guessing it runs some light OS such as Honeycomb or Chrome OS. After hearing about phones charged by the user’s voice, now this… charging via touch. Also Japan intends to have all its buildings covered in solar panels over the next years. I quite like the direction we’re going with eco-friendly technology and let’s hope it won’t only remain a concept.

This tablet design looks great and if I were to guess its specifics, I’d say it comes with a 10 inch screen, lots of gigabytes of memory and a pretty good camera.

[via Yanko Design]

Futuristic Google Nexus Glasses and Nexus TV Concept, by Jonas Daehnert

 (5 votes, average: 3.40 out of 5)Jonas Daehnert is responsible for creating some beautiful Nokia concepts, both handsets and tablets and now he’s back with something futuristic: a Nexus TV and Nexus Glasses from Google. He imagined a series of Nexus devices, that includes a TV set, a pair of glasses and a controller for the TV. The glasses feature two prisms and two cameras for real 3D Full HD recording.

The glasses are controlled via cellphone, so you can save your recorded videos directly to your phone and use Bluetooth for that. Also included are shutter glasses for watching 3D videos. This Google Glasses render created by Jonas is inspired by the project that the search engine giant showcased a while ago. This concept uses prisms, cameras and a built in battery. The Nexus Glasses use 3D cameras for images and two prisms for augmented reality interface. Also shown by the designer is a full touch Nexus remote, that looks like a smartphone.

It’s optimized for TV interaction with menu control, web browsing and more. The remote is charged via induction, thanks to a special induction area located in the glass base of the TV. Finally, the Nexus TV is a 3D Full HD LED unit, that uses an aluminum housing and it features the normal specs of a modern TV. It also has two cameras, so 3D video chat is possible, also aided by the Nexus Glasses. The TV runs a custom version of Android, it has flash memory, multiple card slots, multiple HDMI connectors, cable ports, a VGA port, WiFi and a bunch more features. Would you buy this package?

Creative Zen X-Fi 2 16 GB Video MP3 Player

• SPECIFICATIONS
 
• REVIEW

Items in the box

Earphones, USB cable

General

Capacity ( Internal Memory )	16 GB
Dimension ( L X W X H)	102 mm x 57 mm x 11.6 mm
Weight	75 g
Connectivity	PAL / NTSC (via A/V cable sold separately), Headphone (3.5 mm), Yes, Wireless LAN capability for wireless streaming and downloading, Wireless capability Stream and download digital content wirelessly from your PC to your ZEN X-Fi within a home network. From the living room to the bedroom, enjoy music playback in X-Fi audio quality as the ZEN X-Fi can access all the music on your home PC. Blast the hits out loud through its built-in speaker or the TravelSound ZEN X-Fi docking speaker system. Experience the sound of perfection wherever you go. Click here for the list of routers supported.
Display Type	TFT LCD, Touch Screen
Display Size	3 inch
Display Resolution	400 x 240 pixels

Audio & Video Features

Supported Audio File Format	MP3, WMA (DRM9), WAV (IMA-ADPCM), Audible4, AAC4, FLAC4
Audio Playback Time	25 hrs
Supported Video File Format	WMV9, MPEG4-SP, DivX 4, DivX 5, XviD
Video Playback Time	5 hrs

Add on Features

FM Tuner	Yes, 32 Preset Stations
MP3 Audio Bit Rate	Yes
WMA Audio Bit Rate	NA
Additional Features	NA

Warranty

Warranty Period

1 Year