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Top 10 Pervasive Tech Myths That Are Only Wasting Your Time The best thing that I can remember making with K’NEX was a ferris wheel, and I followed a set of directions. However, a couple of engineering-crazed kids from Olin College have devised a gigantic K’NEX Binary calculator that can add or subtract numbers as high as 15 (That’s way more impressive than it sounds).
Toy company Takara Tomy — they make the Transformers toys here, and were ballsy enough to hire the only foreigner working as a toy designer in Japan — but they have dabbled in other things, most recently with the super-slick Plus Minus Zero brand of stylish accessories, all by design superstar Naoto Fukasawa. Now, they’re heading into space with the Fuwarito lamp. The floating helium-filled LED lamps take the shape of the sun and the moon (they also do, huh, flying dolphins and jelly fish), each retailing for about 4000 yen (around US$33). Time to break out that Dark Side of the Moon album again, preferably in the latest digital format du jour. [Akihabara News]
It would seem that 100-inch or larger LCD sets are best left to the big boys, and Sony is, at least for now, not included in that particular club. “I think it is unnecessary for many companies to make a 100-inch TV,” explains Sony Corp President Ryoji Chubachi.
Helio originally wanted to charge a few bucks a month for YouTube, but in response to the iPhone’s free access, they’re doing it free, too. And that’s over 3G, so it’ll be fast where ever you have EVDO coverage. See? One-up-manship can be beneficial for all. Oh, did I mention that you can upload your Helio vids to YouTube? It ain’t the slickest phone out there, but it sure has legs.
If you or someone you love has been affected by the Xbox 360′s red rings of death, consider the new 360 Hot Rock case from the modders at XCM. This clear case mod comes with a temperature gauge and multicolor LED that goes from cool blue to flaming red as your console approaches the melting point. No price point yet, but the Wii version runs about US$60, which is most likely what this creature will cost once it’s available. [360 Hot Rock case via Technabob]
The technology that makes phones like the LG Prada wiggle is now coming to Nokia phones. A new partnership with developer Immersion opens the doors for Nokia phones to get tactile feedback from touchscreen interfaces using VibeTonz software, so typing on the virtual keyboard feels more like using the real thing.
We’ve heard the iPhone news nonstop for days. We’ve known it uses slow EDGE for months, and have always suspected that the typing might not feel right. But at the end of the day, a LOT of people are going to pick up this phone, either way. So are they suckers, or the tech elite? Hit the jump to find out the reviewer consensus on Apple’s magical iPhone.
The INADA ROBO chair is the every-man’s dream. It has all of the features that your typical massage chair includes like a 3D rolling mechanism, leg massager and 170Ëš reclining ability. But it has one more trick up its armrest that sets it apart, voice activation.
So when you’re too lazy to reach around for the remote, you can just yell at the chair to start rubbing your back. Just like you said to your ex-wife before she left you and took the kids. Although you’ll probably have to take out a loan to afford the $6,000 price tag, especially with all the alimony you’re probably paying.
The only question left whether it is always listening or is there a button on the remote to make it listen? Because if it’s the later of the two then that’s a big wah, wah…wahhhh.
ROBO Chair Responds to Voice [UberGizmo]
Here’s another guy claiming he gets 35wpm by typing with a thumb and his index finger. Personally, we don’t see how using the index finger on one side and a thumb on the other helps the typing. Unless of course, he’s got a foam rubber thumb on his right hand.
YouTube (see related videos for this one) is filled with these videos now, with people claiming using their two pinkies, an ear and an elbow, an eyeball and some snot, or their genitalia gets them super fast iPhone typing.
Us? We use two thumbs and we’re pulling it off, just a day or two into our experience. After a week of practice and training the dictionary, we’ll probably be pros.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one… I stick the paper clip into the hole at the top of the iPhone and out pops a 3G SIM card. So does that mean that when the 2.0 iPhone comes out, with HSDPA and all that, at least I’ll be able to keep the SIM? Or is it just AT&T’s subtle way of saying, to Apple and the world, “It’s really not our fault!” Yessir, that SIM card is lightning fast. Just depends on the phone. Hey owners of new iPhones: do yours have 3G SIMs too, or was this an aberration?
