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Apple's Gesture Dictionary, a Fingering Chart for Multi-Touch
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 11:47 PM on August 2, 2007
Apple spent another day at the patent office, locking down this idea: a Multi-Touch Gesture Dictionary that identifies all kinds of finger play you can do on upcoming multi-touch interfaces. It started out with just the expand and contract motions on the iPhone, along with the ability to swipe your finger to get from one picture or graphic to the next. This takes those few gestures into the next dimension. Come on over to the next page, and see a larger version of this multi-touch map, which looks as complicated as the West Coast Offense in the NFL.
Nothing to do with Ikea, this boombox iPod dock is made out of paper and comes in a flatpack. Once assembled, its speakers pump out, with the aid of two AA batteries, all the Kurtis Blow and Sugarhill Gang' you ever wanted to hear.
Hey PC fanboys, now you can use this shot of a Windows XP display at an AT&T store when those smug Mac worshipers tell you about how such-and-such Zune commercial was made on a Mac, and how "all media types and artists" use Macs. Windows runs the world, baby. (Thanks, Paul!)
Behind the Wall is a two-sided couch with a stretchy membrane dividing those on each side. I'm not sure how practical it is, but it sure looks like fun. People sitting on the opposite side form a bulge in the membrane, meaning that people can interact through the furniture. There's bound to be a lot of fun games you could play with this, like guess the body part.
The couch was designed by industrial designer, Jordi Canudas, who seems to specialize in designing attractive, digg-bait furniture. [
These three objects are all video projectors that go by the name of Trisha, Dane and Trey. They are the fruits of a collaboration between Texas Instruments, Ignition, DLP and a trio of students on a Masters program in video game development at Southern Methodist University. See them after the jump.
If, like me, you lose your keys and wallet on an almost daily basis, then you just might be desperate enough for gadgets like this. The Find One, Find All is a little radio receiver that you attach to your commonly lost items. You can then use another one - yes, you have to buy two - to track it down. There are six keys, and additional units can be programmed to different numbers. Lost your keys? Press 1. Lost your wallet? Press 2.
If you've been avoiding kayaking all your life because the strenuous paddling seemed like too much work, Surfango is your dream come true. Tired of paddling away for a few measly miles per hour, Surfango strapped a four-stroke engine on the back of a kayak and the PowerKayak was born. It may only fit one person, but that person is guaranteed to have a grand old time skipping over the waves at a blistering 25 miles per hour.
Timex teamed up with Apple for this Ironman iControl watch, which is pretty much a standard workout watch with one major difference: It has iPod controls on it. Communicating with your iPod via a little dongle that plugs into an iPod's universal docking port, you're able to control play/pause, volume up and down, and the go to the next/previous track on any iPod with a dock connector. We got our hands on one of these babies and took it out on the road for a week's worth of workouts.
If it looks a bit like an iPhone nano but doesn't work like one, it could be a Slickr. Sporting the same sleek looks that made the iPhone a hit (in a smaller frame), the Slickr loses a lot of cool points when you realize it doesn't have touch screen capabilities. Even though it's reliant on button navigation, this German beauty still has a few handy features that could make it worth the $129 price tag.
Ultimate Ears makes some of the best earphones I've ever heard, with the high end UE line made of custom molded pieces with multiple drivers inside. The UE-11 Pro raises the bar to having 4 in each ear, broken down into dual subs, a mid and tweeter. Audio sensitivity is 110dB at 1mW, which is very efficient. Available in a variety of colors and designs (including monograms) for $1150. I believe that's in a custom metal case. [
Privacy screens make sense for laptops and PCs, devices with large screens that are used for extensive periods of time in open areas. The Sanrio "Hello Kitty Mail Peeping Block and Display Protect Sticker," or HKMPBDPS as I like to call it, makes less sense. Sure, it prevents people from reading your precious texts by peering over your shoulder, but is that really something you worry about? Maybe the website says it best: "4. Kitty is shiny with lame." $8 [
While Casio's Exilim line has become synonymous for quality cameras, they took a different route this time and hit us with the W53CA Cameraphone. The device features a 5.1 Megapixel camera with 9 point auto focus, image stabilization and a clamshell swivel screen. To top it off, Casio added MicroSD, MP3 support, and one hell of a sleek design. Unfortunately, it's a Korea exclusive. Sigh.
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Introducing the W206, W213, W156, W160, W175 and W18. The bigger question: Why release 6 low end candybar phone at once? Might as well do one phone that we care about. [
I still remember the first RC car I played with. That little dune buggy wasn't fast, and it really wasn't fun, considering it was connected by a cable to the remote itself (so you had to jog with it to go more than a few feet). RC cars have come a long way since then, and enthusiast/designer Nic Case hopes his latest car, the X2, can break the 200mph mark. A 29.6 volt motor powers the rather bland body while special foam tires are used to prevent melting at crazy high RPMs. Hit the jump for a video of some X2 test runs, along with a video of Nic's current world record holder, the 134.4mph TC3.
It's time to stop hogging all those fancy USB devices you've collected and let your pals in on the wonders of high-speed portable data storage, printing, scanning and more. Keyspan's USB 2.0 server will help you share whatever you plug in to its two ports via Ethernet or WiFi. Ringing up at $129, this could be your holdover device until 
Their stereos are some of the best in the business, so the news that Denon is launching a range of headphones should be music to... no, I can't stomach that cliche. But yeah, this line up looks excellent.
High-end speaker producer Bowers & Wilkins (known on the street as B&W) is going all Hindenburg on your iPod dock. Named after its obvious inspiration, B&W's Zeppelin is a two-foot-long black ellipsoid with a bundle of goodies hidden inside, including a 5-inch subwoofer, four speakers and an amp that can pump out 100 watts of power. It'll also handle the classic iPod dock jobs like streaming pictures and videos to a TV. For $599, the least B&W can do is guarantee that it won't burst into flames and crash land in your living room. [
Artur Bergman of Six Apart and O'Reilly got a tour of the new Virgin America planes and found some some amazing geek amenities. Every seat includes 110 volt AC current, ethernet, USB ports for charging iPods and phones, but will also accept a QWERTY for the linux-based, thin client, in flight entertainment system. And, it has Doom. But I'm not sure if it has Internet.
Hints of a new flagship GPS from TomTom, dubbed the 920, are showing up in TomTom's 720 software. That's good, because right now, its hard for consumers to tell the major differences between the 720 and the 910 (pictured above), which are similarly priced, with ~4 inch screens. The 920, would, in theory and speculation, have the best features from both, including, possibly, a SIRFstar III chipset.
Remember Arkanoid in the arcades and its weird paddle/knob controller you twisted to make the stick move around? Famitsu's revealing a Nintendo DS attachment for the game with a GBA Slot attachment that actually replicates the knobbiness of the original! The attachment will come in various Japanese DS colors, and will be available for an unspecified amount of yen. [
Great news for people really into that dead format, the SACD. Sony is releasing a hot SACD car stereo that can also play videos on its built-in 7-inch screen (which can be customized with a wallpaper). The player can handle SACDs, CDs and DVDs for your entertainment pleasure, delivering 5.1-channel surround sound in your ride. It's also HD/XM Radio ready, and has an iPod dock. Which is good, because as we've said we don't give a shit about SACD.
When I 
Ride a bike? Cars not giving you the respect you deserve? Add the Thunder Horn, the electronic bike horn that boops at 115 decibels. In comparison, a Jet Plane is 120db, a chainsaw is 115db, and a car horn is around 110db. Yes, this thing is slightly louder than a car horn. Take that, Nissan Sentra. [
Monster, that company that makes "high end" cables that 
Music Ally went through Apple's testimonial at the UK Copyright Tribunal's decision on online royalty rates, and discovered a quote from iTunes VP Eddie Cue:
Getting toast out of your toaster without lighting your fingers (or eyes, if you turn it upside down and shake it like we do) on fire is difficult. With these magnetic toaster tongs, you can reach in and grab your toast, then stick the tongs back on the side of your toaster when you're done. Sure, wooden tongs means they may actually light on fire too, but...uh...whatever! [
Some time in 2008, you may be lucky enough to get on a 767-200 transcontinental American Airlines flight that's testing the AirCell in-flight broadband service. The wireless net access will be available to all classes—yes, even us poor people—for a price. There will be three antennas outside the plane to transmit your 802.11a/b/g "Lolz im on a plane" messages to your buddies. No word on when this will move to widespread deployment. [
Send in your photos of Google Streetview camera cars to tips@gizmodo.com, and this Friday we'll have another gallery of your sightings across the USA. This time, in addition to the gallery, we'll place a marker on a United States map for each sighting, tracking the 
Blue and white flames are so yesterday—red, green and orange are where it's at now. And by replacing standard candle wax with various minerals and crystals, Rainbow Moments Candles can produce these flames in the comfort of your own home. You can get them as both birthday candles or the decorative kind, or buy colored lamp fluid and make your camping trip that much more exciting. [
Morgan Valentine, better known as best wife ever, ordered a custom-made Optimus Prime cake for her husband's 30th birthday. The cake was made by Nashville's The French Connection, and has dirt, rocks, grass, plants and an Optimus Prime the size of a toddler. I bet the guy even got sex afterwards. [
Instead of using detergent, this Haier WasH2O uses ions to get rid of brown and yellow stains in your clothes. The WasH2O breaks up water into OH- and H+ ions, where the OH- "attracts" stains and the H+ ions "sterilize" the clothes. We don't know anything about chemistry, but that sounds like black magic to us. Will this be a world-changing innovative product, or will this be like the Segway? [
In our current quest to stop giving the kings of Saudi Arabia billions of dollars to build yachts and bombs via our love affair with gasoline, some scientists at a company called LS9 claim to have figured out a way to grow petroleum from bacteria. The exciting prospect could shoot us to energy independence in a matter of years, as LS9 says their tech will be ready for the prime time in just a few years.
Leave it to the commenters to make the nut cracking jokes, but this design concept could be a serious ballbuster. Consisting of two aluminum tubes, it's sized to fit a walnut inside, and all you need to do is twist, and the nut is cracked right in two by the nutcracker's ridged edges. Seems pretty simple.
Created by German industrial designer Christopher Kuh, his idea was to craft a minimalist design that was not only simply functional but would be a decorative item when you're not using it to crack a few nuts here and there. To us, leaving this thing lying around would look like someone absentmindedly left the hub of the toilet paper holder in the kitchen. [
The Gigantor photo frame isn't only big on size, like its name, but it's big on value as well. For $249, you'd normally only be able to get an 11-inch photo frame, but the Gigantor gives you 15 inches of mother-in-law viewing glory. It even has built-in speakers, an IR remote, 8 types of memory card support, MPEG1/2/4 video, and 1024 x 768 resolution. Gojira would be proud. [
Call me crazy, but this sounds much worse to me than past viruses in the news: a new worm goes straigh