Gadgets Power

Posted Mar 31st 2008 11:34AM by Donald MelansonFiled under: GPS, Transportation Installs gone wrong certainly aren’t all that uncommon, but the tale told by one VTECnical of the 8thcivic.com forum is undoubtedly a cut above the rest, and could well have you reconsidering that suction cup option. As VTECnical tells it, he bought a Pioneer AVIC Z2 GPS unit and some other components from Circuit City last July for more $3,000 and decided to let their installers do the installation work for him — apparently after he was told that it’d slide into his Honda Civic without any modifications.The problems then allegedly began when the installer whipped out a heat gun, which was purportedly intended to be used to mold a mounting guide for the GPS unit but instead wound up melting one of the Civic’s heating ducts. (Read the full post about ‘Man left with $12k in damages after Circuit City GPS install gone wrong’…)

Verizon Wireless subscribers are now the latest to officially be able to access MySpace Mobile. To connect, users simply need to tap the connect category on the Mobile Web 2.0 screen and then tap the MySpace category, and they will be brought to the MySpace Mobile web site. With MySpace Mobile on their phones, Verizon Wireless users who also have a MySpace account can now perform various MySpace activities right on their mobile phones. MySpace users will be able to edit their profiles, view and add friends, view photo albums, post comments and blogs, as well as send and receive MySpace messages. To access MySpace Mobile, users don’t have to call Verizon Wireless support anymore, all they have to do is to register for Mobile Web 2.0 on their mobile phones. (Read the full post about ‘MySpace Mobile goes to Verizon Wireless’…)

Posted Mar 31st 2008 6:00AM by Thomas Ricker There’s hope for those of us suffering from chronic imbalance as a result of staring too long at periodic tables and 20-sided dice. It’s an implant developed by neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. The implant looks to off-set balance irregularities in the human vestibular system caused by trauma or disease affecting the gyroscopic function of the inner ear. A microprocessor converts signals received from a motion sensor worn on the head into electrical impulses. These are then sent to an electrode implanted into the inner ear. The first test will begin next week on a rhesus monkey. (Read the full post about ‘Researchers develop human prosthesis for balance, unfortunately it’s not a tail’…)

In a move that’s stunned the market, Nokia has made an agressive bid for Apple for a whopping $159 billion. Alarmed by the rise of the iphone, which is set to net Apple $3 billion this year and up to $45 billion next year according to market analyst Piper Jaffray, the giant Finnish phone maker has decided its best option is to buy Apple outright in a deal that makes Microsoft’s bid of $44 billion for Yahoo! seem like chicken feed. According to reports, Nokia intends to spin off Apple’s existing computer business, but keep its successful music and phone divisions. (Read the full post about ‘Nokia to buy Apple for $159 billion’…)

Legendary British nature documentary maker David Attenborough (you may be familiar with his work if you saw the groundbreaking and epic Planet Earth has developed an oddly effective new way to film his favourite subjects - reclusive wild animals - in their natural habitat. For his new program, Tiger - Spy in the Jungle, currently showing on BBC1 in the UK (and no doubt in America and the rest of the world soon), he got exclusive footage of tiger cubs, and was able to follow them from newborns to adulthood thanks to an inventive new filming technique. Trunk cams. Yes, somehow Attenborough and his team got elephants to film the action in India’s Pench National Park, using cameras made to camouflage with their trunks. (Read the full post about ‘“Trunk cam” captures nature closer than ever before’…)

If you’re like me, you have no idea if you’re maintaining proper tire pressure in your car tires in between trips to the shop. This self-inflating tire, developed in the Czech Republic, takes this out of your hands by inflating automatically through a device called a peristaltic pump which inflates the tire as it turns, keeping it at a constant, safe pressure level. This technology, if adopted widely, will not only make the roads safer, but will have a positive environmental impact by way of savings on fuel (cars with under-inflated tires use more fuel), resulting in a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, and an increase in the lifespan of tires. Read more here. (Read the full post about ‘Self-inflating tire will save money and reduce damage to the environment’…)

This laser harp is not your traditional musical instrument. Rather then you playing the Beamz laser harp you are simply telling it what to do. The notes are timed to the beat of the rhythm accompaniment and that as you trigger each one, an appropriate musical sequence of notes is played depending upon the rhythm accompaniment’s current key. In short, you’re performing much like a music conductor: you’re calling upon each instrument and controlling the shape of the music, but the beamz software is taking care of making sure everything fits together seamlessly. The Beamz laser harp connects to your PC via USB and contains 30 songs from a mixture of 19 different genres which are used to provide backing music to your laser creations. (Read the full post about ‘Beamz Laser Harp’…)

There is a new Suunto Core watch in town, and this one, like its predecessors, cater to folk who love the great outdoors, especially climbers, mountain bikers and other adventure sports enthusiasts. It allows you to track both your altitude and bearings while being smart enough to alert you of oncoming storms so you won’t be caught unawares. All this is made possible by Suunto’s own ‘ABC functionality’ mantra that includes an altimeter, barometer and compass. The compass itself is electronic, so there will be less chances of it malfunctioning compared to a standard model. The new Suunto Core watch comes in a choice of half a dozen colors and has different straps to choose from. (Read the full post about ‘Suunto Core Watch’…)

Daihatsu’s latest concept car will feature a 3D holographic dashboard courtesy of Provision Interactive Technologies. This is made possible by merging a 2D flat screen and a 3D holographic screen in order to function as the vehicle’s in-dash display. This is a precursor to the next generation of digital dashboards, and no doubt it will definitely drive the cost of the vehicle higher initially but as volume increases, it will be made more affordable to the masses. I wonder when will it be mass produced and ready for Joe public. Tags: games, digital, gadgets, DAB (Read the full post about ‘3D Holographic Dashboard’…)

Fujifilm is currently offering the option in include a LoJack-designed tracker in its storage devices, allowing you to keep track of your precious backup data wherever you go. This new service will set you back by $150 per device monthly, so make sure you have only mission critical data inside unless you’re swimming in a pool of unlimited cash. Corporations will definitely find this offer tempting, since the fallout from a class-action lawsuit due to mass identity theft will probably hurt the company’s pockets (and image) more in the long run. (Read the full post about ‘Fujifilm Tracks Backup Data With GPS’…)