I/O Brush

Topic: Other Stuff

Kimiko Ryokai from the MIT Media Laboratory developed an interesting interactive brush for kids to explore the environment.

From the I/O Brush Project page:
"The I/O Brush is a drawing tool to explore colors, textures, and movements found in everyday materials by 'picking up' and drawing with them. I/O Brush looks like a regular physical paintbrush but has a small video camera with lights and touch sensors embedded inside. Outside of the drawing canvas, the brush can pick up color, texture, and movement of a brushed surface." Read more

Playmate PC Wireless Controlled Tennis Ball Machine

Topic: Other Stuff

Your standard Tennis Ball machine comes now with a wireless remote control, giving the player much more flexibility to train.

The remote lets you save and recall all your drills and positions. It handles 8 shot combinations. The remote controller is waterproof, has 8 programmable shots, 8 shot delays, saved drills, random shot sequence. The ball machine itself holds 300 balls - Bum Bum Becker. Read more

Tokyo Game Show 2009 Booth Babes

Topic: Other Stuff

The Tokyo Game Show 2009 (site) is underway this weekend. Comparable to the E3 Game Trade Show the Tokyo Game Show features also tons of models drawing visitors to the booths.

The first TGS 2009 Booth Babes photo galleries have been published. The Mainichi Daily News has tons of photos in this gallery and in this one.
The photo shown from Mainichi Daily News shows a Metal Gear Acid Booth Model with a white Sony PSP where some kind of viewer is attached. I guess she is holding this thing against the faces of passing TGS attendees.
1Up also has a booth babes gallery from the TGS. IGN of course also has a nice gallery up. Read more

Make Your Own Swiss Watch

Topic: Other Stuff

Wrist Dreams reports about Swiss Watchmaker 121Time.

121Time offers a online service where customers can configure and customize their own unique Swiss watch, be it an automatic or a quartz watch.
More details on Wrist Dreams. Read more

Philips PerfectDraft - Draft Beer at Home

Topic: Other Stuff

Philips announced their home beer tap PerfectDraft last year. I received an ad from a German electronics retailer that offers the Philips PerfectDraft for 179 Euros. I thought I look into this thing a bit more. Who does not want to have fresh draft beer at home.

The features of the Philips PerfectDraft (HD 3600/20) sound very promising. The beer is cooled down to 3 degree Celsius by the system. The greatest thing is that the beer that is supplied via 6l kegs is staying fresh for four weeks. The in-home draught-beer dispensing appliance takes special 6l kegs. And here lies the problem. If the system would take the standard 5l party beer kegs than it would be economic to own one of those. I checked the prices for the 6l kegs, which are also not sold everywhere. The price for a 0,5l glass of PerfectDraft is between 1,20 and 1,70 Euros. I buy currently premium German beer for 0,80 Euros in 0,5l bottles. Why pay more? The selection of available beer brands is also limited. Becks, Diebels and Hasseroeder are available in Germany. In Belgium you get Stella and Jupiler. It is Oktoberfest, I want to have a Munich beer on tap. I for my part hold off on the PerfectDraft.
Please email me, if you have the Philips PerfectDraft. I love to hear how you like it. Read more

Gillette Fusion Power with 5 Blades - Yes, I need 5 Blades!

Topic: Other Stuff

When product development is just driven by marketing it just gets funny at some point. Gillette is saying now 5 blades are the holy grail for wet shaving.

Gillette launches the Gillette Fusion and the battery powered Gillette Fusion Power at the same time.
From the press-release:
"The Gillette Fusion features a breakthrough 5 blade Shaving SurfaceT technology on the front of the cartridge, with blades spaced 30 percent closer together than MACH3 blades. The combination of adding more blades and narrowing the inter-blade span creates a "Shaving Surface" that distributes the shaving force across the blades, resulting in significantly less irritation and more comfort. The Precision TrimmerT blade, a single blade on the back of the cartridge, allows men to easily trim sideburns, shave under the nose and shape facial hair with control and precision." Read more

Fujitsu enon Robot Goes on Sale

Topic: Other Stuff

Another Japanese robot enters the market. This time it is Fujitsu's turn. The company introduces the enon humanoid robot for about $50,000.

Fujitsu Frontech Limited and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. developed the service robot. enon is an acronym of the phrase "exciting nova on network."
The Fujitsu enon robot is suited for reception duties or explaining of exhibits. He can also transport objects or patrol and secure buildings.
The enon robot measures 560 mm (Shoulder width) x 540 mm (Depth) x 1300 mm (Height) and weighs 50kg. Read more

JVC to Release New High Quality Music File Compression

Topic: Other Stuff

Japanese Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports that JVC is about to introduce a new high quality music file compression technology.

JVC's new music compression is supposed to allow downloaded music files to have CD quality. JVC Victor will offer CD tracks for download with the new compression starting October. JVC developed a player software for portable music players to use the new format.
In the article there is no word about how well the technology compresses. Strangely enough the JVC technology is supposed to be compatible with Apple's AAC and Sony's ATRAC format.
More details on Nikkei.net (Subscription). Read more

IAA 2009: Hybrid Porsche Cayenne Coming

Topic: Other Stuff

Porsche said on the IAA 2009 that they plan a Hybrid Porsche Cayenne.

Do not expect a Porsche Cayenne Hybrid SUV anytime soon at your personal Porsche dealer. Around 2010 it might be available.
The German Car makers are very late to the hybrid technology. Japanese car makers are miles ahead. VW announced together with their Audi and Porsche units hybrid technology push. Apparently Audi will already show a hybrid of the new Audi Q7 at the IAA, which should hit the roads in 2008.
I am all for alternative engine technologies. The car industry is way to focused on horse power. The current fuel prices help to drive the need for alternative energy. Read more

IAA 2009: Rinspeed Indy Based on Porsche 997 Carrera S

Topic: Other Stuff

Rinspeed already brought us swimming cars and cars that can feel. For this years IAA 2009 in Frankfurt they just go for a very classy Porsche Carrera tuning called simply the Indy.

Swiss Tuning Company Rinspeed pays tribute to the Indianapolis race circuit with the Rinspeed Indy. The Indy is a repainted Porsche 997 in the extraordinary color white metallic.
The four way adjustable coil-over suspension with individual height and stiffness settings lower the Rinspeed Indy by 35mm (1.4"). The front, side and rear skirts are also especially designed for the Indy. Rinspeed also added an enhanced brake system.
The Indy is just very very pretty. I am sure it is damn fast too. Read more

Sony Announces 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo for less than $200

Topic: Other Stuff

Sony announces 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo for less than $200 going on sale end of September. Until now Sony only had the 2G... Read more

eBay enters VOIP Business with Skype Purchase

Topic: Other Stuff

eBay Inc. buys Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies SA for approximately $2.6 billion in up-front cash and eBay stock. eB... Read more

Presenting Melany - New IT Gadget Photo Model of the Month

Topic: Other Stuff

IT is excited to present newcomer photo model Melany as our September Gadget Photo Model of the Month. Last month w... Read more

AIST HRP-3P Humanoid Robot Likes Rain

Topic: Other Stuff

Japanese robot maker AIST shows a waterproof humanoid robot dubbed HRP-3P. The AIST HRP-3P measures 160cm in height and w... Read more

PULL-i for Apple iPod nano in Oktoberfest Design

Topic: Other Stuff

Munich based portable gadget soft case maker Pull-i is quick to the market with a soft case for the new Apple iPod nano. Pull-... Read more

Breaking News: PalmSource Sold to ACCESS

Topic: Other Stuff

Is this the end of the Palm OS or a new beginning? Japanese mobile software maker ACCESS buys PalmSource for in an all-cash... Read more

Geeks Try to Bring Wi-Fi and Radio to Hurricane Katrina Victims

Topic: Other Stuff

Former Gizmodo Editor in Chief, Joel Johnson is one of many from the Technology community trying ot help Hurricane Katrina vic... Read more

IFA 2009 Booth Babes

Topic: Other Stuff

I4U reader Larry R. sent us 2 booth babes photos from his IFA 2009 visit. Larry's verdict on the IFA 2009 Booth Babe sit... Read more

IFA 2009 Reality Check

Topic: Other Stuff

So today is the last day of the IFA 2009. The presenting manufacturers are apparently happy with the amount of orders they got... Read more

Cringely's NerdTV Launched

Topic: Other Stuff

NerdTV is a new weekly online TV show from PBS.org technology columnist Robert X. Cringely. The first episode is an inte... Read more

Gacha Gacha

Topic: Other Stuff

Gacha Gacha? Gacha Gacha are tiny toys sold through vending machines in Japan. Nikkei (Subscription) reports that the Gacha Ga... Read more

Are You Sick of Using Video Tapes in Camcorders?

JVC offers a line of Video Cameras that use Hard-drives instead of Video Tapes. JVC is still the only company that has Video Cameras on the market that use hard-drives to store DVD quality video. It is in my mind a very obvious solution in a complete digital environment that we are in now.
Nobody is questioning that we stopped use film in digital cameras. So why do still most video cameras on the market use tape? Sure the data volume is much higher for video, memory sticks or SD cards offer to little space to record hours of high quality videos. Now that portable hard-drives are used to store your complete music library it is of course also possible to record hours of high quality video on them.
Right now JVC offers three models with a 4GB hard-drive: The GZ-MC100 ($899.99), The GZ-MC200 ($998.94) and the new high-end GZ-MC-500 ($1,599.95). If you need more storage, JVC will start ship end of August the JVC Everio G-Series camcorders that boast 20 and 30GB hard-drives. That means up to 37 hours of video recording on the 30GB models and up to 25 hours on the 20GB model - Tape just died, as film did. Amazon.com opened pre-order on the new JVC Everio G-Series camcorders. You can get the GZ-MG20 for $799.95, the GZ-MG40 for $899.99 and the GZ-MG50 for $999.99.

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