Gadgets -- Engadget

Fluidic Energy promises better, cheaper metal-air batteries, wins DoE grant

by Donald Melanson posted Nov 5th 2009 at 6:05PM

It's not the only company working on metal-air batteries, but Scottsdale, Arizona-based Fluidic Energy may be in a better position to deliver on its promises than most, as it's just managed to snag a $5.13 million research grant from the US Department of Energy to further develop the "breakthrough" technology. While that word's thrown around quite a bit these, in the case, it may actually live up to the hype, considering that breakthrough in question would be a battery that's able to deliver eleven times the energy density of the best lithium-ion batteries for less than one-third of the cost. The key to that, it seems, is the battery's use of an ionic liquid as its electrolyte, which is described as a "wonder fluid" since it's able to last significantly longer than other fluids because drying out isn't a problem, and because it brings with it a significant boost in energy density. Of course, the company still apparently doesn't have an actual battery to back up its claims just yet, and it's not making any promises about when it might deliver one either.

Send your 'Hiro P' BUGbase back, get a BUGbase WiFi for $99

by Darren Murph posted Nov 5th 2009 at 4:32PM

If you classify yourself as a hardcore DIYer, you probably sprung for Bug Labs' 'Hiro P' BUGbase way back in the day. You've also likely been weeping since the entirely more awesome BUGbase WiFi was announced last month. Thankfully, you can now empty your current bucket of tears and stash it away for good, as a wicked good deal has just arrived to turn that frown upside-down. Bug Labs is offering the $449 BUGbase WiFi for just $99 if you send your original BUGbase back to the company before November ends. If you'd like to take advantage, feel free to hit up Bug and mention the offer being emailed out to existing users after the break.

Continue reading Send your 'Hiro P' BUGbase back, get a BUGbase WiFi for $99

Bandai unleashes beauty tool to detect the condition, mood of your skin

by Laura June posted Nov 4th 2009 at 9:02PM

This is the kind of gadget we'd assume was a joke -- if we didn't know that it wasn't. Bandai -- makers of such useful time wasters as the Tamagotchi and the little doohickey that helps women "understand" men -- has just unveiled a new device which should make you feel even less comfortable inside your own skin. Partnering up with Japanese cosmetics company FANCL, Bandai's Skin Expert is a tiny device which you apparently hold up to your face to receive detailed information on its 'quality' and health. Now, all of the information we can find about this little guy is in Japanese, so excuse us for our mystification on how the doodad works, but we'll tell you this: we're definitely buying it if it shows up on Sephora. The Bandai Skin Expert will be unleashed in Japan on November 30th for ¥3,750 (about $40). There's one more super informative shot after the break.

[Via Hobby Blog]

Continue reading Bandai unleashes beauty tool to detect the condition, mood of your skin

'Secret Knock' Door Lock defends home from rhythmically-impaired perps (video)

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Nov 4th 2009 at 8:14PM

The Arduino board has been the engine of many wild and wacky projects over the years, from bakery tweeting to various musical instruments. For its next trick, our man Steve Hoefer has taken his microcontroller and, along with a piezoelectric speaker, a gear reduction motor, and some PVC pipe, programmed it to listen for a preset sequence of knocks -- a secret knock, if you will -- and unlock the deadbolt upon hearing the right combination. Although this might not be the security system you want to put in place for your home, this definitely looks like a fun weekend project. Check out the read link for instructions and schematics, but not before you see the video of the thing in action. It's after the break.

[Via Hacked Gadgets]

Continue reading 'Secret Knock' Door Lock defends home from rhythmically-impaired perps (video)

New York attorney general files antitrust lawsuit against Intel

by Nilay Patel posted Nov 4th 2009 at 12:09PM

No matter how it tries, Intel just can't shake those pesky antitrust monkeys off its back: the attorney general of New York today filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the chipmaker, saying it unfairly prevented AMD from competing under state and federal law. That's pretty much what the EU just fined Intel $1.45b for in May and exactly what AMD itself is suing Intel for in Delaware, so we're guessing things are a little busy for Chipzilla's lawyers right now -- and it's just going to get worse, as the smart money says this is all just a precursor to the Federal Trade Commission dropping the hammer sometime soon. Hey, maybe this would be a good time to for Intel to distract everyone with some USB 3.0 chipsets?

Josh is on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight!

by Nilay Patel posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 3:59PM

He's back, folks. Our main dude Josh Topolsky will be infiltrating America's minds directly from the set of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon this evening -- and it's been an absolutely huge few weeks in gadgets, so trust us when we say JT's well-stocked with hot new gear to show off. Tune in on your local NBC station at the times listed below, let us know how he's doing in comments, and make sure to include #joshtops in your tweets!

P.S.- In case you missed Josh and Jimmy goofing around with the iPhone 3GS in June or the Pre back in March, we've got videos after the break.

Showtimes:
12:37AM Eastern
11:37PM Central
11:37PM Mountain
12:37AM Pacific

Continue reading Josh is on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight!

Ex-AMD CEO Hector Ruiz steps down as Globalfoundries chairman amid insider trading scandal

by Donald Melanson posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 11:59AM

We won't dive back into all the backstory that led to former AMD CEO Hector Ruiz's current troubles as the chairman of AMD spin-off Globalfoundaries, but let's just say that when your name is in the same sentence as "insider trading scandal" and "hedge fund probe," you're probably in a pretty bad way. While this story is obviously still far from over, it looks like Ruiz has at least realized the gravity of his predicament, and announced today that he's taking a "voluntary leave of absence" before formally resigning from the company on January 4th, 2010. He'll be replaced immediately by former Broadcom CEO Alan "Lanny" Ross, who will serve as interim chairman until the company's board appoints a permanent chairman.

[Via GigaOM]

Print your own circuit boards with an Inkjet (and a modicum of skill)

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Oct 30th 2009 at 5:39PM

Remember yesterday, when one illustrious modder whipped up a head-mounted computer that featured a printed circuit board of his own design? The fabrication method he used was called direct-to-PCB Inkjet printing. An economical (if laborious) alternative to professional production, the process includes: designing your circuit, printing it out on a transparency, flickin' on some lightbulbs, washing things out in abrasive chemicals, and waving a magic wand. While it's not for the timid (nor simple enough to go through in great detail here) the kids over at Instructables have been kind enough to put together and post one of their award-winning step-by-step guides on this very subject. So, what are you waiting for? Hit the read link and get to work.

Apple's main ad man thinks different, steps down as Macs battle PCs like it's 1984

by Donald Melanson posted Oct 30th 2009 at 1:56PM

Apple's certainly seen plenty of shakeups in its ranks over the years and, while this one may not exactly come as a shock, it's still tough to overstate the influence of Lee Clow, who has announced that he's stepping down as chief creative officer of Apple's main ad agency, TBWA/Media Arts Lab. While he also made his mark with a range of other clients (including the Energizer Bunny and the Taco Bell Chihuahua), Clow was most closely identified with Apple, and founded the Media Arts Lab as part of TBWA in 2006 specifically to serve the company. Clow has been the man behind virtually every major Apple advertising campaign even before that, however, including the famous 1984 Superbowl ad, the "Think Different" series, the dancing iPod silhouettes and, of course, the Mac vs. PC ads. Not surprisingly, another Apple ad man, Duncan Milner, has been tapped to take his place, and Clow will be staying on as Chairman if he ever needs a little advice. Let's head on past the break for a brief trip down memory lane, shall we?

[Via Macworld]

Continue reading Apple's main ad man thinks different, steps down as Macs battle PCs like it's 1984

Sears Black Friday ad revealed, we'll be sleeping off our tryptophan hangovers

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 30th 2009 at 8:36AM

Woe betide the Black Friday bargain hunter; where once there were stellar deals on giant televisions and hard disk drives now there are slight discounts on underwear and handbags. Sears' ad for this year has been unearthed and, while it naturally has an eclectic selection of goodies on sale ranging from power tools to KitchenAid mixers (and that's just on the front page), from a gadgety perspective we're not finding anything quite worth lining up at 3:00am in November for. There's a 40-inch Samsung 1080p LCD for $599, about $50 cheaper than we can find it for online, and a similar Sony model for $664 -- a whole $10 less than Amazon is asking for a comparable model with free shipping and no uncomfortable small talk with other half-frozen shopaholics. A raft of cheap but mediocre games and movies will be available, some soon to be obsolete GPS devices, and lots of other random things stuffed into the PDF scan linked below. Not into the whole hunting for deals thing? The other link has everything listed out, making for easy text searching -- and for guilt-free snoozing the day after Turkey Day.

Read - PDF scan of Sears 2009 Black Friday ad
Read - Listing of Sears 2009 Black Friday deals

Rechargeable zinc-air batteries promise a lot, we'll see if they deliver in 2010

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 30th 2009 at 6:58AM

Is there any other field of technology that promises as many revolutionary innovations as battery makers do yet delivers so few? We've heard of battery life being made four times, eight times, even twelve times better... and seen pretty much none of it pan out in any sort of meaningful way. Zinc-air batteries are also nothing new, but now some whizkids up in Norway have figured out how to make them rechargeable and set up an entire company, ReVolt, for their commercialization. With more than double the energy density of regular Lithium-Ion batteries, safer operation, lower cost of production, and environmentally friendlier ingredients, ReVolt's tech sounds as sweet as anything, but we'd advise waiting for the pudding-based proof before getting excited. Plans are for small hearing aid and cellphone batteries to show up in 2010, and if all goes well there, larger cells for electric vehicles could also follow. Sure.

[Via PhysOrg]

Esquire hopes augmented reality will trick people into reading

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Oct 29th 2009 at 6:33PM

Remember that time last year when Esquire embedded an E Ink display in its front cover and everyone you know rushed out to buy one, and how the scheme saved the once-doomed print magazine market? Well, it appears that the periodical (and the industry as a whole) are again in need of a dramatic technological sales boost -- this time in the form of augmented reality. When the mag hits the newsstand on November 7, readers (and their webcams) will be have a chance to scan some QR codes and partake in the technology that's been known to teach children about architecture and help jaded club kids party underwater -- except this time the unsuspecting public can look forward to seeing Robert Downey Jr. emerge from the front cover to spew what the AP calls "half-improvised shtick on Esquire's latest high-tech experiment for keeping print magazines relevant amid the digital onslaught." With that kind of content -- alongside a computer-animated snowstorm and a dirty joke or two from Gillian Jacobs -- can anybody doubt that traditional media will soon be back on its feet?

Elmo and Nokia join forces, meld kids' books with teleconferencing for Storyplay (video)

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 29th 2009 at 8:26AM

Elmo and Nokia join forces, meld books with teleconferencing for Storyplay (video)

Whether you love Elmo for his ability to make your kids sit quietly or hate him for his voice that's about two steps away from fingernails on chalkboards, there's no denying his popularity. His latest appearance is in this maple-stained electronic reader from Nokia called Storyplay. In these days of electronic ink and Kindle competitors, Espoo has taken something of a different tact here, designed to help kids and adults read together even when far apart. It has room in the middle for a removable paper book with magnets on each page to identify which is being shown, then on the top are two screens. One is continual footage of that most ticklish of Sesame Street characters, the other a live video stream from a remote parent, grandparent, or other floating head who can read along. The video below shows it all in action and, while the tech is compelling, it's hard to see much of a market outside of parents with a wallet full of platinum frequent flier cards. Then again, we didn't think the Booklet 3G would find success, so this will probably be the best selling thing ever.

Continue reading Elmo and Nokia join forces, meld kids' books with teleconferencing for Storyplay (video)

AlterG's M300 treadmill: same 'anti-gravity' vibe, now 'only' $24,500

by Darren Murph posted Oct 29th 2009 at 5:08AM

We've always heard that holiday calories "don't count," but disregarding urban legend for a minute, we'd say AlterG's timing here is nothing short of impeccable. Nearly 1.5 years after the outfit's P200 series was a-okay'd by the FCC, an all new walking machine has entered the fray. The M300 treadmill brings along the same "anti-gravity" feel (useful for rehabilitation and athletic training), but in a machine that's a third of the price and way, way sleeker. The idea here is to reduce the strain on joints and muscles as one exercises, and while that's certainly commendable, we're still thinking it'll take one or two more iterations to get one priced for the everyman. You know, unless you consider $24,500+ (or $499+ per month for the rest of your Earthly life) "affordable."

[Via MedGadget]

Korg Nanokey controller repurposed into MIDI foot pedal

by Darren Murph posted Oct 28th 2009 at 4:20PM

Korg's Nanokey MIDI controller is pretty awesome in its own right, but using it with your feet gets a little difficult under "normal" conditions. We can't say for certain why Marc Fischer decided to convert his perfectly good control board into a MIDI foot pedal, but frankly, that's beside the point. The point is he did it, and he did it with just a bit of ingenuity, some wooden blocks for risers and a bit of Plexiglas to cover up the missing keys. Hit the read link if you're interested in doing something similar, and feel free to ask the man himself where that gorgeous shag carpet came from. Kinky!

[Via MAKE]