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Kyle Sherer
The washable, bacteria-retardant keyboard
By Kyle Sherer
15:58 December 21, 2008 PST
We’ve encountered washable computer accessories before, but the Silver Seal keyboard adds a new level of protection against germs. In addition to being machine-washable and functioning even when wet, the Silver Seal contains built-in silver ion protection, which inhibits the growth of bacteria like E. Coli and Staph. Read More
United Keys launches OLED keypad
By Kyle Sherer
23:00 December 15, 2008 PST
Substantially more restrained than the Optimus Maximus, United Keys' entry into the OLED keyboard field tacks nine dynamic OLED keys onto the end of a regular desktop keyboard to add a dose of versatility and increase input efficiency. Read More
Snake-like robots to assist construction work
By Kyle Sherer
16:21 December 13, 2008 PST
Researchers at the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory at Virginia Tech have designed a series of autonomous serpentine robots that are able to climb poles and inspect structures too dangerous or inaccessible for humans. The robots coil themselves around a beam and roll upward using an oscillating joint motion, gathering important structural data with cameras and sensors. Read More
myPower charges iPhone on the go
By Kyle Sherer
22:18 December 10, 2008 PST
Another solution for those looking for a little more up-time out of their iPhone, myPower is both a protective case and back-up power source which doubles iPhone battery life. myPower can fully charge in three hours, and is compatible with the iPhone, iPod classic, iPod touch, and iPod video. Read More
Teddy Bears in space
By Kyle Sherer
03:05 December 8, 2008 PST
For half a century, the friendliest face of space travel was Laika the space-dog, launched into Earth orbit aboard Sputnik II. Now Britain has challenged Laika’s supremacy by launching two teddy bears into the stratosphere. The toys, named MAT and KMS, wore space suits designed by children at the Parkside and Coleridge community colleges. Read More
Finnair's future fleet: flying into the 21st century
By Kyle Sherer
20:54 December 4, 2008 PST
To celebrate its 85th anniversary, Finnair has served up a blue-sky vision of what the next 85 years of aviation could hold. Concentrating mainly on potential developments in environmentally friendly technology and lightweight material, the Departure 2093 website lists five aircraft that could grace our sky later this century. Read More
Wearable sniper detection to be deployed in Iraq
By Kyle Sherer
17:45 December 2, 2008 PST
A wearable sniper detection system is to be used by troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan in the US Army’s first large-scale deployment of its type. The Soldier-Wearable Acoustic Targeting System (SWATS) can pinpoint the location of snipers after a single gunshot, audibly informing soldiers of the point of origin. Read More
Remote observatory aims to solve Earth's magnetic mystery
By Kyle Sherer
14:58 December 1, 2008 PST
Until November, Tristan da Cunha was home only to 271 people, a small flightless bird, and a piece of land named Inaccessible Island. Now the world's most remote inhabited archipelago is host to a Danish Observatory designed to help improve our understanding the Earth’s weakening magnetic field and the way this affects satellites. Read More
Good Vibrations: the musical and military instruments of Leon Theremin
By Kyle Sherer
21:17 November 30, 2008 PST
After the close of WWII, Russian schoolchildren presented the U.S. ambassador with a “gesture of friendship” in the form of a two-foot wooden replica of the Seal of the United States. Behind the beak of the eagle was a miniscule listening device so ingeniously designed that it took eight years before a routine check unearthed it. The era of electronic bugs had begun, and it was largely thanks to the brilliant mind of Leon Theremin: musician, inventor, and prisoner in Stalin’s gulag. Read More
The real-life Minority Report computer interface
By Kyle Sherer
14:23 November 30, 2008 PST
The second best thing about the film Minority Report has to be the glove-controlled, wall-sized computer display (first place goes to the jetpacks). Oblong Industries is working on a computer interface that operates in a similar way – and rather than a case of tech imitating art, the Minority Report computer was actually based off early Oblong designs. Read More
EU project demonstrates emotional robots
By Kyle Sherer
23:25 November 20, 2008 PST
Researchers estimate that body language makes up between 50-80% of communication, which means robots aren’t ready to become caregivers and companions until they get a good handle on nonverbal expression. To meet these challenges, a €2.5 million EU-funded project is developing robots that are capable of identifying different emotions based on facial expressions Read More
SJ30 breaks light jet speed record from London to Dubai
By Kyle Sherer
16:39 November 20, 2008 PST
The London to Dubai route is probably going to see a lot of private business air traffic in the coming years and Emivest Aerospace has used it to showcase the high speed capabilities of its SJ30 Business Jet. The aircraft has set a speed record for its class, flying from London to Dubai in seven hours and seven minutes, including a 41-minute refueling stop in Istanbul. Read More
iGo multi-device charger
By Kyle Sherer
16:21 November 20, 2008 PST
Laptops, cameras and other portable devices are often essential traveling companions, but the downside is the accompanying mess of incompatible charging units which can add considerable weight and take up precious luggage space. iGo aims to lighten this load with its recently launched line of multi-device chargers that allow you to charge a laptop and mobile device simultaneously. Read More
Micro generator produces power from movement
By Kyle Sherer
13:32 November 18, 2008 PST
A micron-scale generator that uses zinc oxide wires to produce alternating current could be woven into clothing to power wireless devices or implanted in the body to monitor vital signs. A team led by Zhong Lin Wang at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for Nanostructure Characterization has developed the generator, which can produce an oscillating output voltage of up to 45 millivolts. Read More
F-35 Lightning II breaks sound barrier
By Kyle Sherer
13:30 November 18, 2008 PST
Lockheed Martin has promised that its fifth gen F-35 fighter will allow pilots to “do things that were previously considered impossible, and to think things that were previously unthinkable.” Almost two years after its maiden flight, the F-35 Lightning II has reached another development milestone – supersonic flight. Test pilot Jon Beesley accelerated the F-35 AA-1 to Mach 1.05, with a full internal load of dummy weapons. Read More
MAGNET Beyond project envisions the 4G wireless world
By Kyle Sherer
16:26 November 17, 2008 PST
Anticipating a future in which individual consumers have hundreds, or even thousands of wireless devices, the EU-funded MAGNET Beyond project has designed a wireless network structure that will easily and securely link them all. The 4G “Network of Everything” would be a secure multi-network, multi-device, multi-user personal network that gives users constant access to all their devices, no matter what the distance is between them. Read More
Wolverine F2D scanner boasts five second film conversion
By Kyle Sherer
01:20 November 14, 2008 PST
A solution for those who want to preserve old film and slides without the need for archive boxes and frequent dusting, the Wolverine F2D Scanner can convert 35mm film negatives and slides into 5-megapixel digital images without using a computer and each pic takes just five seconds to scan. Read More
TV-B-GONE goes open source
By Kyle Sherer
00:04 November 14, 2008 PST
When Mitch Altman created the TV-B-Gone he envisioned a simple, keychain-mounted device that could surreptitiously switch off the annoyingly loud TVs in public places. But he was pleasantly surprised to find out that electronics enthusiasts had turned his invention into a hat, incorporated it into a mobile phone, modified it into a long-range “sniper” model, and tweaked it to provide more power output. These innovations led him to make the device open source, allowing anyone to build or hack their own model. Read More
The MechRC Megatron-esque robot
By Kyle Sherer
14:52 November 11, 2008 PST
Is this Megatron's love-child? The MechRC is a programmable, remote controlled robot with 17 independently controllable servos (points of articulation), each capable of up to 180 degrees of movement. This provides the bot with an extremely wide range of actions – and the database of 100 pre-programmed motions and sound can be expanded by using the included software to create new manoeuvres. Read More
The checkered history of automation
By Kyle Sherer
14:39 November 9, 2008 PST
"If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker” – attributed to Albert Einstein after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. One law of science that has forever remained unchanged is the law of unintended consequences. When an idea is born its full range of repercussions is completely unpredictable, and the history of technology is a littered with fascinating examples of how one breakthrough can spawn something totally unexpected. In the hands of others, some do lead to tragedy, but more often than not we profit from technology's unexpected boons. Gizmag's Kyle Sherer follows some of these strange tangents to discover how an 18th century chess playing machine, French duck faeces, and a 60s movie called “Sex Kittens Go to College” are linked to the development of the computer, automobile, telephone and even space exploration. Read More
MSI Wind BIOS update brings on-the-fly overclocking
By Kyle Sherer
15:51 November 7, 2008 PST
MSI has released BIOS update 1.09 for the Wind, allowing users to overclock the notebook by up to 24%, which increases performance by roughly 30%. The update retains the features of the 1.08 version, but provides added functionality and fixes some sleep and hibernation glitches. Read More
SpaceX planning DragonLab craft
By Kyle Sherer
14:37 November 5, 2008 PST
SpaceX, the company behind the Falcon series of launch vehicles and the Dragon space capsule, is developing a new free-flying, reusable, commercial craft. To be known as DragonLab, it will transport pressurized and unpressurized payloads to and from space, and will launch aboard a Falcon 9 vehicle. Read More
Californian prisons employ robotic scouts
By Kyle Sherer
16:43 November 3, 2008 PST
California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has agreed to test remote-controlled, 1.2-pound surveillance robots in hostile prison situations. After pulling an activation pin, the hardy robots can be thrown into place, or fired from a tear-gas launcher. Read More
Air New Zealand moves closer to biofuel flight
By Kyle Sherer
16:15 November 2, 2008 PST
Air New Zealand, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and UOP aim to power one of four engines on a Boeing 747-400 on Jatropha-based fuel. The first test flight using the environmentally sustainable oil is scheduled to take place in Auckland in December after fuel testing is completed. Read More
Belkin's FlyWire provides wireless HD AV
By Kyle Sherer
16:53 October 31, 2008 PDT
Available from January 2009, Belkin’s FlyWire wirelessly delivers uncompressed 1080p True Cinema HD content from Blu-ray players, receivers, video-game consoles, and set-top boxes to HDTVs and projectors. FlyWire operates in the open 5GHz band, and intelligently manages its own connection, adjusting frequency and power to avoid interference. Read More
John M
- November 25, 2009 @ 17:19 UTC
