Remote Control

Tiny reconnaissance aircraft has industry in a flap

By Jeff Salton

17:04 July 2, 2009 PDT

A tiny nano air vehicle (NAV) that hovers by flapping its wings has impressed its developers – and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) - with AeroVironment receiving a Phase II contract extension worth $2.1 million for its NAV program. Since its initial 20-second flight in December 2008, the tiny 10 gram craft, which carries its own power supply, has progressed towards achieving AV's goals of a creating a machine that can hover for extended periods and fly at forward speeds up to 10 meters per second. Read More

‘Go anywhere’ amphibious vehicle might go under

By Jeff Salton

00:38 June 30, 2009 PDT

Fed up with your Ferrari? Lamborghini a bit lame? Rarely get a reason to take your dinghy out of the shed? Haven’t scared the neighbors for a while? If you've answered yes to at least three of these questions, then the Scamander RRV could be just what you’re looking for. Before his death in June this year, former-TVR owner Peter Wheeler built the Scamander RRV (rapid response vehicle), a car that could drive on track, off-road or even on the water, all while carrying four people. Read More

Maingear Axess-HD Gamer: Get your game on in the living room

By Darren Quick

21:34 June 21, 2009 PDT

Maingear has added some gaming grunt to its line of high end Home Theater PCs (HTPCs) in the form the Axess-HD Gamer. Just like its stable mates, the Axess-HD and HD PRO, the HD Gamer sports a low profile design with aluminum case and optional OLED Front Panel Display that is designed to blend in with other home theater components. However, behind that stylish exterior lies a system built for gaming, an intention made more obvious by the inclusion of the Phantom Lapboard as standard. Read More

Hillcrest motion sensing mouse keeps you in the Loop

By Jude Garvey

20:27 June 21, 2009 PDT

Almost three years after we first encountered the Loop pointer, Hillcrest Labs has announced that its uniquely designed motion sensing mouse is available direct to consumers. Read More

Gesture controlled entertainment system lets the TV watch you

By Gizmag Team

01:52 June 4, 2009 PDT

In the past few years there has been an increasing effort toward creating 3D computer interfaces and televisions. Now, it’s the television’s turn to see us.....in 3D! Since its foundation in 1999, Canesta has been working on a family of low-cost, chip-based 3-D sensors that can be built into virtually anything – from TVs and PCs to cars and industrial equipment - and now the technology is filtering through to real-world applications like Kicker Studio's gesture control entertainment system. Dr. Peter Puya Abolfathi - Biomedical Engineer, co-inventor of the Rehabilitation Glove and now a member of the Gizmag Team - takes a closer look at how this technology works and what it's bringing to our living rooms. Read More

Golden-i Bluetooth headset with virtual PC display

By Darren Quick

23:04 May 11, 2009 PDT

Mobile phones and laptop computers have made traditional 9-to-5 workdays a thing of the past for many workers. That ability to work from any location, however, can be a double-edged sword. The flexibility to be freed from the office also means that work is increasingly encroaching on people’s recreation time, as they find they are never really off the clock. That situation looks set to worsen, or improve, depending on your perspective, with the introduction of the Golden-i from Kopin Corporation. The Golden-i is a Bluetooth headset that provides a 15-inch virtual display with a hands-free, natural-speech-recognition interface for wireless remote control over a range of devices including mobile phones, PCs, company networks and wireless systems. Read More

Toy Amphibious Tank packs water cannon and 4WD

By Darren Quick

05:53 May 6, 2009 PDT

May 6, 2009 If there’s one thing besides the retreat of my hairline and expansion of my waist that makes me wish I was a kid again, it’s the seemingly endless supply of cool toys that today’s youngsters have to entertain them. While I was forced to make do with a stick and a piece of string growing up, the children of today get to enjoy toys like the transforming Amphibious Tank – a remote controlled tank that is as happy on land is it is in the bathtub and comes complete with a water cannon to smite your enemies. Read More

UKP20,000 robotic fish to act as water pollution police

By Mike Hanlon

15:52 March 19, 2009 PDT

March 20, 2009 A number of robotic fish are to be trialled into the port of Gijon in Spain to evaluate how effectively and cost-efficiently they can detect water pollution. The 1.5 meter carp-shaped robots are part of a three-year research project funded by the European Commission and if successful, the fish could be used in rivers, lakes and seas across the world. The life-like creatures, which will mimic the undulating movement of real fish, will be equipped with tiny chemical sensors to find the source of potentially hazardous pollutants in the water, such as leaks from vessels in the port or underwater pipelines. Read More

Black & Decker previews high-tech locking system

By Darren Quick

21:24 March 11, 2009 PDT

Black and Decker is giving homeowners a way to lock up their daughters when they aren’t even home. The company's new motorized locks are designed to complement the emerging electronic ‘smart homes’. They can be activated remotely and can even directly control home security and automation systems, and vice versa. Read More

The Schlage LiNK remotely-controllable door lock (and the demise of the key)

By Mike Hanlon

12:25 January 19, 2009 PST

January 20, 2009 Locksmithing, one of man’s oldest and most venerable professions, appears set to join the digital convergence mix with the first wirelessly-controlled door lock now on the market. It's also further proof that the device formerly known as the mobile phone will one day become the remote control for much of our lives. Schlage LiNK deadbolts and locks offer consumers the ability to remotely control and monitor access to their home 24/7 with any web-enabled mobile phone or computer. The locks provide keyless entry through 4-digit access codes that can be entered, activated, deleted or disabled on the lock's 11-digit push button keypad or via the Schlage LiNK web portal. This means never having to circulate multiple sets of keys, never needing to stay home to meet the handyman, and the peace of mind of having a listing of which codes (i.e. who?) opened each lock and when for the last 90 days. The $300 starter kits (and subsequently $200 locks) might also be suitable for real estate agents wishing to streamline their ability to show properties. Read More

WowWee 's Wi-Fi Spyball

By Emily Clark

20:29 January 13, 2009 PST

A scaled back version of the Rovio Wi-Fi robot webcam, the Spyball from WowWee is a remote controlled, Wi-Fi enabled, transforming robotic ball that allows kids to see what their brother or sister is up to, as well as checking out what’s for dinner in the kitchen – all undetected. 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

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

Universal remote control with built-in WiFi, color screen

By Emily Clark

01:17 October 16, 2008 PDT

There’s no point hauling yourself off the couch to go outside only to find that the weather’s terrible, right? The Universal Smart Remote Control from Acoustic Research eliminates the guess work displaying up to date weather information, plus news, sports and TV listings using a built-in WiFi connection. Read More

Wireless HDMI solution from Gefen

By Darren Quick

21:09 October 7, 2008 PDT

Cords and wires are the bane of any technophile’s existence. They are a pain to set up and inevitably form an unruly tangle that's just plain messy. The introduction of HDMI went a long way to reducing the unsightly clutter running from behind the lounge room AV set up by combining high definition sound and video in one convenient cable. But now connectivity solutions company Gefen has gone one step further with their Wireless for HDMI Extender, which comprises a local sender unit which is paired to a receiver unit at a remote location. Read More

The MX-6000 RF and WiFi capable universal remote

By Kyle Sherer

00:42 September 12, 2008 PDT

The MX-6000 touch-screen remote control provides users with access to their media library - including data on their PC and iPod - using both a narrow band 418 MHz transmitter and an 802.11 B/G WiFi transceiver. This makes it the first control to offer two independent communications and control methods simultaneously. Read More

Wrex the robot dog

By Emily Clark

05:39 September 11, 2008 PDT

Based on a similar concept to the now defunct Aibo, Wrex The Dawg is the latest robo-pet from WowWee and his moods are distinctive. Ill-mannered Wrex was styled using discarded mechanical and electrical parts and is designed to be any kid’s mischievous robotic pal. Read More

Cy-Fi Bluetooth wireless sports speaker

By Noel McKeegan

00:25 September 11, 2008 PDT

There's nothing like strapping on the earphones and cranking up your favorite tunes to help you through a serious bout of exercise, but in many outdoor scenarios, especially cycling, this can become a major safety risk by preventing you from hearing traffic noise and other potential hazards that might not be visible. This is the thinking that inspired Los Angeles entrepreneur Jeff Lotman to invent the Cy-Fi Bluetooth wireless sports speaker, a palm-sized unit that attaches to a bike or backpack and wirelessly transmits music and phone calls from Bluetooth enabled devices. Read More

Fat Shark's first person RC racer

By Noel McKeegan

02:24 June 16, 2008 PDT

June 16, 2008 This all-in-one RC vision system bundles a set wearable VR display glasses and a 4WD remote controlled car equipped with an on-board camera to deliver a drivers-eye view of the action. We've encountered realtime RC systems before, but what grabs us about this incarnation is the gyro-controlled pan-tilt tracking mechanism that's integrated into the camera mount so you can alter the camera direction with your head movement. Read More

Realtime video goggles put R/C plane pilots in the cockpit

By Loz Blain

23:22 May 15, 2008 PDT

May 16, 2008 Radio-controlled planes are all about vicariously experiencing the freedom of flight - and with this little device, you move one step closer to feeling like it's you up there soaring between the trees. Pilot View's FPV 2400 is a US$550 add-on that sends video back from the plane in real-time to a set of video goggles so you can fly your plane (or drive your R/C car, or watch your buddy's hang gliding experience) from a first-person view. Read More

Datamatic demonstrate Remote Shutoff Valve system for water utilities

By Noel McKeegan

21:25 January 23, 2008 PST

January 24, 2008 Water utility companies waste significant labor resources each year as staff try to overcome irate customers, vicious canines and difficult to access properties in an effort to disconnect or reconnect water services. Datamatic Ltd. has developed a solution to this problem in the form of its radio-frequency operated RSV™ Remote Shutoff Valve - a system that by-passes the need for physical access to properties, thereby reducing field service costs and preventing theft from inactive services. Read More

Lullabub automatic cot rocker

By Jude Garvey

15:53 December 27, 2007 PST

December 28, 2007 Nursery rhymes, a gentle lullaby, some desperate parents even drive around the streets in an effort to send baby off to sleep. The “Lullabub” presents an automated solution to this age old problem in the form of a remote controlled rocking system for a baby’s cot (or “crib”) designed to soothe your little one to sleep with a quiet, rhythmic motion. Read More

QinetiQ trials remote-controlled fire fighting vehicles

By Noel McKeegan

15:57 December 4, 2007 PST

December 5, 2007 QinetiQ has developed specialized remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) with fire fighting capabilities that can operate in environments that would be unsafe for firefighters. Currently undergoing a six month trial commissioned by Network Rail and the London Fire Brigade, the vehicles are designed to combat the specific issue of fires close to railway tracks that involve Acetylene cylinders - a problem that has been on the rise in the past year causing major delays to commuters. Read More

CERULEAN F1+TX Bluetooth headphone and transmitter for iPod

By Darren Quick

00:12 November 3, 2007 PDT

November 3, 2007 iSkin has bundled its TX transmitter and F1 headphones as the CERULEAN F1+TX, a Bluetooth audio package for iPod that enables wireless control and simultaneous connection to a mobile phone. Read More

Gesture recognition yields the virtual remote control

By Gizmag Team

July 23, 2007 As we move towards the home entertainment systems of the future, we’ll no doubt be looking for more elaborate ways of interacting with these systems than the simple remote control. ‘Wave of the hand ‘ technology is a box that lets television viewers change channels, switch on the DVD player or simply switch off an irritating presenter or program with the wave of a hand. The controller’s built-in camera can recognise seven simple hand gestures and work with up to eight different gadgets around the home. The developers, Dr Premaratne and Quang Nguyen, believe the device could be on sale within three years. Read More