Gizmodo Australia » Elaine Chow

Lightning Review: Tinge Razor Massager, Shaver Combo Gadget

Elaine Chow — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 07:30:00 +0000

A couple months ago, a company asked if I was interested in reviewing their razor/personal massager combo. I said sure, never expecting them to send one all the way over to China. Well, they did.

And so now, since it’s my last day, I’m lightning reviewing the Tinge Razor.

The Pitch: It looks like and actually works as a razor (it even comes with cartridges), but when you put the cap on and press some set of buttons, it turns into a personal massager with 32 different speed and mode combinations.

The Price: $US99 gets you the Tinge Razor, its charging base, universal power adaptor, two shaving razor cartridges and a bottle of gel.

The Verdict: For some odd reason (hint, visa regulations of a certain country I reside in), I find myself travelling a lot, and lemmee tell ya – does it get stressful! So having a personal massager around that, incidentally, also functions as a shaver was actually more useful than I first thought.

The actual massage was pleasant, if not as strong as it could have been – though that could have been due to me not charging it long enough. I especially liked “mode four” of the five different modes you could choose from: it starts from a low roll and escalates in power.

Not having to worry about what the voltage of whatever country I’m in is was a big plus. The fact that I could pull it out anytime and get a massage discreetly was an even bigger plus. Though I’m not sure exactly what I need to be discreet about. Can’t a girl loosen up some muscles without being judged? Geez.

What? It’s for use on my… what?

Okay… if you say so. But I don’t know, she didn’t seem to enjoy it that much. [My Tinge]

GoPro Attached to Surfboard For Recording Awesome Wipeouts

Elaine Chow — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:45:00 +0000

The GoPro Hero Sports Camera seriously is cool, and watching Brian toppling over himself on a snowboard made me want to search for even more GoPro videos. Enter sexy Spanish surfer wiping out. Swooon.

This time, the GoPro (Surf Hero) was attached to Kike Aradas’ board as he surfed the waves off Madrid. The short film, about five minutes of what looks like watery heaven, will be playing at the Surffilm Festibal7 2009. [Daily Motion]

Honda Asimo Creators Turning Your Brain into the Ultimate Robot Controller

Elaine Chow — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:45:00 +0000

You know what I think the worst thing about having a robot army is? You have to press buttons. It’s much more satisfying to get every automaton to do your bidding by just thinking it.

Apparently, the people at Japan’s Honda Research Institute had the same idea, because they’ve now partnered with ATR and Shimadzu Corp. to come up with a way to use your brain as a robot remote control.

Called BMI (Brain Machine Interface – not the acronym that tells you you’re fat), the tech uses electroencephalography, which measures slight electrical currents, and near-infrared spectroscopy, which looks at brain blood flow. Putting the two together gives you up to 90% accurate robot control without the use of physical implants.

Unfortunately, you still have to strap yourself to this giant chair and ridiculous-looking cap that kind of makes you resemble Dark Helmet from Spaceballs. But one day, when your mobile minions appear suddenly in the horizon, wordlessly laying waste to your enemies with nary a peep from you… oh, how glorious a time it shall be. [Akihabara News]

Mugen Pop Pop Infinite Bubble Wrap Now on iPhones

Elaine Chow — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:45:00 +0000

Bandai first brought the pleasure of regular bubble wrap to your keychain with its Mugen Pop Pop Toy. And now, in case you don’t bring your keys everywhere, they’ve put it on the iPhone too!

The iPhone app, which is free, gives you three different Mugen Pop Pop play modes: normal, repeat and scramble.

Normal – Touch Mugen Pop Pop bubble to hear “Pop” sounds – Be on the lookout for surprise sound effects!

Repeat – Select difficulty level – Mugen Pop Pop will play a “Popping” sequence and then flash all buttons. It is then your turn to “Repeat” the popping sequence. A sound will be heard when you’ve completed it correctly and new sequence will start.

Scramble – Select difficulty level – Mugen Pop Pop will illuminate one or multiple “Pops”, you must “Scramble” quickly to touch the Pop before Mugen Pop Pop scrambles you.

Get a poppin’! [iTunes]

Portable Cross Fadin’ Cassette Will Make All Your Spontaneous DJ Dreams Come True

Elaine Chow — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 05:30:00 +0000

Once, while walking down the street, a man suddenly approached me screaming “QUICK! We need someone to DJ!” If only I had had this portable cross fader—who knows how differently my life would’ve turned out.

The Urban DJ portable cross fader has been ultimate retro hipster designed into a cassette shape. It has three inputs up top, two for connecting to anything from an iPhone to a mobile phone (with the appropriate jack) and one for connecting into… well, I’m not sure what that middle one is for. The bottom has a separate input for connecting into a speaker set or headphones.

Move the slider to mix and crossfade between your two chosen music players. Alas, because all I had on me at the time was one measly iPod, the man sneered and approached the person standing next to me and that guy went on to become one of the most famous DJs in the world. True story.

Available for roughly $US48. From Japan. [Gizmodo JP]

12 Eye-Popping Flight Helmets

Elaine Chow — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:15:00 +0000

Oobject’s list of flying helmets proves that pilots never need to look far for absolutely terrifying Halloween costumes. Like that f-35 joint strike fighter helmet – those terrible green eyes will haunt me forever. [Oobject]

Robots Will Be Taking Care of Your Grandma in Five Years

Elaine Chow — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 05:30:00 +0000

The Japanese government is planning to put robots to practical use in Japanese households in as soon as five years, and has already begun formulating the political agencies needed to oversee robot safety standards.

According to a government panel on Wednesday, the robots are needed to provide day-care and nursing services to Japan’s rapidly aging population. Since over 41 billion of the projected 62 billion dollar robot market is supposed to be dedicated to care, it’s important to start thinking of the regulations that need to be put in place.

For instance, Three Laws of (Nursing) Robotics:

1. Always coo appreciatively at pictures of your human’s grandchildren
2. DON’T TALK SO DAMN LOUD
3. Be spongebath safe

[Japan Today]

Clairvoyant Watch Warns You When It’s a Bad Time

Elaine Chow — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 08:00:13 +0000

Swiss watchmaker Borgeaud has teamed up with Indian fortune tellers to create a watch that allegedly predicts the future. When things are about to go sour, a bedpan-shaped section on the watch will turn brown.

According to the Borgeaud site, the watch automatically displays a daily 90-minute period called the Raju Kaal, which is believed to be a terrible time to make important decisions or start new projects.

Called “The Pachang,” after one of the world’s oldest almanacs, the watch will only revert back to its normal colour after the Raju Kaal is over and “dark astral forces” have left the area.

Borgeaud is only producing 650 of the watches, with prices set above $US2000 each. I predict they’ll become a great way to weed out rich idiots. [Ananova]

Chinese Villager Takes Wooden Bike Out For a Spin

Elaine Chow — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 07:00:00 +0000

A carpenter in a Chinese village, perhaps unwilling to spend what would amount to a month’s pay on a bicycle, has created a 100% wooden one to ride around town instead.

55-year-old Peijia Wu, from Shandong province, allegedly took three months to build his DIY wooden bike. It features no metal parts whatsoever – joints are fixed with small wooden bungs and a rod-crank system has replaced where the chain would normally be.

Ingenious! It’s like a stair master and a bike rolled into one and it’s probably less likely to fall apart than other wooden bike models. [Chine Informations via Shanghaiist]

Ruin Diamonds By Nano-etching Your Ugly Mug Into Them

Elaine Chow — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Have the urge to really ruin the resale value of a diamond? Here’s one way—permanently embed a hi-res grayscale photograph of yourself in it.

A company called DiamondPure takes any photograph you want and then, using a “revolutionary” nano-photograph process, etches the visage into any size diamond you want. Though they’re normally invisible, you can view them using GemmaView, a proprietary portable viewing device.

Cute, right? Yeah, not so cute when the recession forces you to take that gem to the pawn shop and the guy gives your rock a one over only to chortle and maybe make some joke about you being better looking in real life before throwing it back in your face. [Born Rich]