Gadgets Blog » 2009 » June

And I thought voice command was cool.

The BSI-TOYOTA Collaboration Center (RIKEN, Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Central R&D Labs, and Genesis Research Institute) announced yesterday that it has developed a system that successfully uses brainwaves to control a wheelchair. 

Applications are aimed at rehabilitation, assisting the elderly and those using wheelchairs.  The company is improving on its electrodes and anticipates the possibility of expanding the system to analyze brainwaves from various mental states and emotions.

This goes way beyond changing the song on the car radio or dialing your cell phone with a few words.  It’s telekinesis in action.  Ooh , the power and the possibilities!

The brain machine interface technology is one of the fastest in the world, reacting in as little as 125 milliseconds, and analyzes brainwaves using “signal process technology” commanding smooth forward motion and left and right turns.

The data is displayed in real time so drivers feel no delay and operate the vehicle efficiently and have done so thus far with 95% accuracy.

Check out the video from BBC News below:

No info on when the technology would hit the market, but it’s obvious how that would benefit so many people, not to mention how the system could advance other daily activities.

I’m fascinated and cautious at the thought of the BMI system reading and reacting to emotions though.  There’s gotta be a safety filter or censor system in place when that arrives, for obvious reasons.

Sources: Toyota, Computerworld. BBC News

From $69

A great discount scanner deal for the money, the Epson Perfection V300 Flatbed Photo Scanner has 4800 x 9600 DPI optical resolution, one-touch scanning, 48-bit color, and one-touch photo restoration.

A scanner will help get that portfolio organized, and the added benefit of a flatbed scanner is the ability to keep your cherished originals intact.  Without having to rip them from their seams, you can scan the pertinent pages for display in your portfolio package and still maintain your almost-mint-condition source library.

Capable of handling photos, slides, documents and delicate negatives, this flatbed desktop–sized scanner will help you archive all your favorite memories and important paperwork.  The high-rise lid opens 180 degrees making it well-suited for use with thick magazines and large books as well.

The Epson Perfection V300 has a quick scan time and conveniently recognizes when multiple photos or negative strips are being scanned at once and smartly separates them for your approval.  The versatile photo editing software helps restore the old and enhance the color.  Creates enlargements up to 13 x 19 from film – small or large?  Gotta have the large.

Easy to set up and easy to use, the V300 is earth friendly with no mercury, low power use and no warm-up time.

Get it at Office World and receive free shipping on orders over $49.  No code required.

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for more discount scanners.

When it comes to GPS accessories, there are plenty.  Most systems for automobile use will come with a dash or windshield mount and power cable, and handheld systems usually include the necessary cables and wrist strap or belt clip.  But you might find, just like the GPS systems themselves, that your GPS accessory needs differ from person to person and activity to activity.

For use inside vehicles, getting a system with weatherproof covering or a waterproof design probably isn’t as important as if you wanted to use the system while hiking.   Likewise, having a spare battery is probably more applicable with a handheld rather than an auto unit that can run off the car’s battery through an AC adapter.

Since most systems will include an instruction manual, video or software in-box, data cards are most likely what you’re going to want first.  These cards hold maps and information for a specific region that you choose, or they can be purchased blank for info uploading from map software.  Which one you’ll need depends on which GPS unit you have.

Helpful items to have on hand for backup power are the spare battery mentioned previously and a battery charger or maybe a car power adapter.   A cradle or docking station with charging capability would also fit the bill.  And to combat lost connections, antenna kits will help your GPS system better receive signal inside your vehicle.

While transporting your system, belt clips, holsters, neck lanyards, wrist straps and carrying cases can aid in keeping your handhelds easily accessible.  Dashboard and windshield mounting systems and mounting locks will keep your system secure inside your vehicle.

You also might find that you want a screen protector or front cover to keep the display from becoming scratched from wear and tear.  Other helpful items are remote controls (for vehicle use), stylus, external speakers and microphones.

Keep an eye out for GPS accessory combo packages.  A complete essentials kit could knock out a few of these extras all in one box.  Here’s one for Garmin Nuvi and TomTom One units for an affordable price:

GPS Combo - Car & Wall Charger + Travel Case: $34.99

Like anything else, look at what’s included with your GPS system; there should be an itemized list on the package.  Then based on what your intended uses are, decide on your GPS accessories.

Also, as an important side note, practice with your new system in a familiar place like around your hometown or another well-known area before taking it out on the cross-country road trip or adventuring through the trails and hills.   Be prepared.   Get used to it and know its functions before the critical moment arrives.

Shop for these GPS accessories and more at Smarter.com.

Finally, summer’s here and the weather is great for playing and staying outdoors.  Camping can be made even cooler if you’ve got the right gadgets to keep you cozy, clean and well-directed — unless you like roughing it, then all you’ll need is a backpack, a can of beans and a Swiss Army knife.  But if you’re like me, you want a few conveniences without feeling weighed down by all kinds of junk.

I like to keep it as uncomplicated and compact as possible.  But hey, maybe it’s your style to drag along the foldout cook top stove complete with waist-high counter and cutting board setup and bring extraneous items like tent decor and a welcome mat for outside the entrance.  Seems like a lot of baggage, but whatever works for you.

Besides your tent, sleeping bag and backpack, here are some interesting gadgets to get you going:

Brunton Camping Combo Kit
From $94.19

Features a stove, lantern, spork eating utensil and canister stabilizer with three extended legs with rubber grips keep stove/lantern steady all in an ultra-compact, lightweight design.  The 11,000-BTU burner boils 1 liter of water about 4 minutes and the lantern burns for 8.5 hours.

Swiss Army Victorinox 53203 Huntsman
From: $23.40

Because these classic gadgets come in handy more often than not, this model comes with large and small stainless steel blades, corkscrew, can opener, small and large screwdrivers, bottle opener, wire stripper, wood saw, reamer with sewing eye, multi-purpose hook, tweezers, toothpick, key ring and scissors.  It’s 3.5 inches long when closed.  It’s surprising how easily key items like corkscrews and can openers get forgotten.  Keep this with your camping gear and you don’t have to worry.

Guide Gear Pop-up Room and Solar Shower

Okay, okay, so it’s not hardcore, but how cool is this?  Easy to set up, made with 70 denier/190T polyester material, fiberglass pole frame and 5-gallon PVC Solar Shower.  Bring your own water and the sun will do the rest.  Feels great after a long hike, not to mention makes sharing a tent a bit easier on everyone’s noses.

Notebook Portable Flat-Folding BBQ: $24.99

We’ve seen the typical campsite grill *shudder* but lugging the full-size BBQ from home is just too bulky.  This non-networking “notebook”ť looks like a ready solution.  The compact, sturdy metal design comes with a built-in grill rack and uses charcoal or wood.

Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx GPS Receiver
From: $283.99

Hiking’s fun but getting lost isn’t.  Something like this all-purpose upgradeable handheld locator can help with that.  It has auto routing, turn-by-turn guidance and gives your bearings while you stand still.  It lets you upload up your own digital maps for better reference, has a waterproof and a large, color TFT display for easy viewing, day or night.  Up to 20 hours of battery life.

Image Source: Campist.com

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for more handheld GPS systems and portable BBQs.
Discounts on Swiss Army knives.

NEC’s CRV43 desktop monitor with 32:10 aspect ratio at a 2880 x 800 pixel resolution offers incomparable viewing experience and unprecedented screen immersion.  The curved screen increases productivity, while decreasing frustration that creeps up due to frantic eye movements when trying to follow rapidly fluid screen displays.  Its sizzling looks (gotta love the curves!) come with a price tag of $7999 but in this case you pay for both beauty and brains.  CRV43 has been designed as a perfect display for those applications requiring lightning-fast 0.02 millisecond response time, much wider field of view(42.8” monitor), greater dynamic range and wide color gamut.  Other enhanced features include:

• Eliminates bezel and screen gap issues
• No data or window interference
• Taskbar extended natively
• Easy setup with one input
• Single link DVI-D input
• HDMI 1.3 input
• USB 2.0 connectivity
• Front panel controls
• On screen display (OSD) and software-based GUI enabling advanced display control options

The NEC CRV43 curved display is backed by a 3-year parts and labor warranty including the backlight and will be available for July 2009 shipment.

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for more desktop monitors.

ViewSonic X Series VX2262WM 22-in. LCD Monitor
from $177.99

The slim design of this Energy Star qualified monitor will instantly upgrade your computer setup with modern design and energy efficiency.  Super-HD 1680 x 1050 resolution, video response as fast as 2ms and 20,000: 1 dynamic contrast ratio make for seemingly real-life image display with little to no blur on this 22-inch LCD screen.  SRS WOW HD sound emits powerfully from the integrated speakers to give booming voice to your games, movies and other multimedia applications.  Whether it’s gaming or home office, the Viewsonic 22-in. VX2262WM is as versatile as it is stylish, and suits the demands of designers, professionals and gamers alike.

Specs:

• 22″ Wide Color TFT Active matrix LCD with 1680×1050 resolution

• Display Area: 18.7″ horizontal x 11.6″ vertical, 22.0″ diagonal
• Fast ClearMotiv 2ms Video Response
• 20,000:1 Dynamic-Contrast Ratio
• OptiSync digital/analog inputs expand connectivity
• Multi-mode input technology supports both digital (DVI) and analog (VGA) signals
• Energy Star qualified
• Windows Vista certified
• High quality stereo speakers with SRS WOW HD sound
• 1000:1 static / 20,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio
• 170-degrees horizontal and 150-degrees vertical viewing angles

Get it at NewEgg.com and receive a free gift with select purchases and free shipping on select items. No code required.

Shop for more discount monitors at Smarter.com

It’s not a Prius.

Though that and the Honda Insight are still top of the list when it comes to hybrid sales.  It’s Toyota’s concept design for a hybrid sports car – for those of us who want to go green but maintain street cred with a sporty appearance.  The rumor is to reintroduce the much-loved Supra, which hasn’t been produced since 2002, at 400 hp with the 3.5-liter V6 in 2011.   Just long enough for gas prices to once again reach the insane levels of $4/gal.

Also, estimated to arrive in 2011 is the British-made Gordan Murray Design T25 City Car.  Said to be a third more compact than the Smart Car… we couldn’t snag any helpful photos for you but really, smaller than the already tiny Smart Car?  Where would I put my laptop?  On the roof rack?  Still, I really dig seeing what engineers can come up with and how the designs actually perform in real life.  As far as increasing gas mileage and saving money, I’m all for it.

If you want to see something sooner than 2011, check out the spy shots of BMW’s hybrid sedan.  You might notice the German writing on the side– that’s because the car’s not-so-secret test driving was done on the streets of Munich.  With a twin turbo 4.4-liter V8, this little puppy should throw down some serious horses at 407 hp plus another 20 hp from the electric motor.  We’ll see for sure later this year at the Frankfurt auto show in September when it debuts.

Image Source: CNET, BMWBlog

Want some great discount computer speakers that can expand your system into a digital music center as well?  The Logitech - X-240 2.1 speaker system with MP3 player dock can do just that.

From $32.35

The slim satellite design speaker set provides a rich full sound for all your multimedia playing.  Sync your iPod, Zune, or other MP3 to the stowaway cradle for more musical enjoyment.

Compatible with most computers, the Logitech - X-240 2.1 speaker system comes with 2 satellite speakers with 2″ high-excursion drivers for immersive sound and down-firing subwoofer with real-time bass equalization.  Total system power is 50 watts — 25 watts total RMS system power.  Frequency response: 40Hz-20kHz; signal-to-noise ratio: >96 dB; headphone jack enables private listening enjoyment.

Get it at Amazon and get FREE SHIPPING, or from Unbeatable Sale and get 5% off with no minimum purchase with code SALE4ME.

Shop for more affordable omputer speakers at Smarter.

Being online can give the illusion of making a real connection with other people, but looking at still pictures or the occasional video just isn’t the same as seeing a live, interactive person.  In-person associations can give you a better reading of the individual’s actual personality.  You can distinguish facial expressions, voice tone and other body language cues that just don’t exist in a static profile pic.

Webcams can bring you a step closer and have a variety of applications.  Business meetings are given another dimension when you can see the CEO as opposed to blankly listening to an anonymous voice from a speaker in the middle of the conference table.  You can also set one up in your home to keep watch on your pets and belongings while you’re away.  You check in remotely to make sure Fido isn’t tearing up the plants again.  Keeping in touch with family and friends living far away is made that much easier.  Most instant messaging services have a video chat option already, making it convenient and easy to get started.  Some laptops come with a webcam built in.

Decide what your needs are:  Being a small digital cameras, webcams can capture video and still shots and transmit the images either streaming or non-streaming.  Streaming being a real-time live feed and non-streaming being a series of stills updated at a set time, like every 60 seconds.  Streaming would be best for live chatting, but updated stills from non-streaming would be sufficient for security purposes.

Same with color or black-and-white (monochrome) – if your main purpose is security, a monochrome display will suffice, but if it’s friendly chatting, a color cam would be more fun.  Webcams mount differently as well.  Some clip on to edges or rest on flat surfaces like tables and such.  Consider the space you’ll be using and where the camera will be positioned.

The technology is relatively cheap now, anywhere from $10 and up, so finding something that fits in your budget should be fairly simple. Check the product requirements for compatibility and make sure your computer meets the hardware and memory specs.  For the lower to midrange webcams, this won’t be very complicated but if you have an older computer you might want to double-check.  Here’s a reasonably priced one found on Smarter.com:

Microsoft Lifecam Webcam: $19.99

Here’s one with personality for kids:

Computer Expressions Dinosaur Webcam: $19.99

For most purposes, you won’t need a hi-def model with night vision capabilities but they’re out there if you do.  Something with automatic focus, a decent lens (glass gives better quality images but plastic is fine) and a resolution of around 1.3 megapixels is a good bet.  Faster frame rates will have less image flicker but might take longer to transmit online.  Mics haven’t been a concern for me since talking on an actual phone has better quality and typing messages is almost as easy, but if it is a consideration for you some have mics built-in and others require a headset for audio.

Finding one to match your needs will be pretty easy with the variety available now.

Shop more webcams at Smarter.com.

Recently, I submitted a resume for an average position with a typical company, complete with awesome eye-catching cover letter that showed off what a diverse and capable writer I am (*cough* *cough*).  Normally this would be enough to land a favorable response and usually an interview would be scheduled where we meet in person and discuss the opportunity over coffee or in some cold conference room reserved for such negotiations.

I got a response.  They wanted to see a few writing clips — which is totally understandable, you have to make sure your writer can form a sentence — but then they wanted links to my social networking pages, if I had any, which of course everyone does nowadays, and they’d be in contact — after reviewing them, I assume.

I felt a slightly violated, like they asked me what kind of car I drove or who my friends are, as if that would help determine my capability.   Am I the only one who still believes in the separation of a person’s professional and personal life?  Apparently.

With Facebook surpassing MySpace in the battle of personal webpage popularity, and Twitter transforming into a lifeline for political protest under lockdown, these pages and sites are becoming more important than ever.  Social networking sites are huge, there’s no question and even the knowledge that prospective employers use them to search out applicants is nothing new.  I’ve just never had someone outright ask me for it before.  That got me thinking about how to balance the professional and the personal, and if such a balance can exist online.

The conclusion I came to was that it doesn’t matter.  If you’re putting pictures and information out there, it’s public domain and everyone, even employers, can see it.  We’ve all heard about the guy who got fired because he lied about his relative dying but got caught when he posted pics of himself at a party that same night.

Ouch.   Don’t want to be that guy.

Here are some obvious and not-so-obvious things to watch out for:

Profile pics:
Fortunately, I keep the madness and debauchery to a minimum and use a generic, friendly profile pic just in case, since even if a page is set to “private” the profile pic is still visible.   Photos of bikini backsides, beers swilling at parties, or the shirtless bathroom mirror shots probably aren’t giving off the best impression.

Privacy settings:
We all crave a little attention, but the smart online user will forgo this superfluous satisfaction and set their page to “private” to avoid snafus like the one mentioned above.  This also helps to deter cyber-stalkers since they can’t get very much free info about your current whereabouts or friends.

Photos/videos:
You can still post those party pics, but set them to private so only friends can see them, or some sites will allow you to select who sees them and who doesn’t on a person-by-person basis.  And if you’re posting pics or videos of children who aren’t yours, try to get the parent’s permission.  Some parents are very avid about keeping their kids of the web.

Friends:
It’s hard to turn down requests since such a move usually translates into real world relations and makes them more difficult, but carefully consider whether you really want your boss or new co-workers as your online buddies.  Remember they can possibly check up on you and verify your whereabouts if you called in sick and missed a day of work to join the Lakers parade.

Posting and comments:
You can be careful about your posts, but you can’t control what your friends are going to say in theirs.  Some sites are a free for all, whatever’s posted is there and you’d have to be online 24-7 to review and censor what you want and don’t want displayed.   Others will send notifications and let you review comments and picture posts before they’re displayed to the rest of your friends.

Blogs and Notes:
Crafting an amusing story about your douchey boss and how he meets a dark demise can be great reading for your friends and cathartic for a frustrated employee, but in the wrong hands, it can also lead to an HR visit or worse.

Basic Info:
Do we need to say be careful how much you put out there? Really, don’t list anything you wouldn’t want everyone and their mother seeing – address, phone number, current employer, relationship status…

Status:
This line can be seen along with your profile pic even if your page is set on private, so remember that when you want to write something with colorful language.

Like it or not, these sites can very well be the first impression a prospective employer will get of you.  I don’t necessarily agree with it since I think it opens doors to possible discrimination by gender, race and other such visible characteristics, but I can see how it would be useful for legitimate screening, especially in the current economy where companies are seeing hundreds of resumes for one position.  The moral of the story — be careful what you put out there, Big Brother is watching.

Image Source: teenstalktruth.com

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for internet safety books.