Archives for May 2006
Taiwan International Design Competition
Juniper Foo | May 25, 2006
With Computex Taipei coming up in June, gadget geeks are assured of the weird and the wondrous being dished out in giant halls. But before that, check out some winning results from the latest Taiwan International Design Competition based on the theme "Experience". The winners range from a personalized tombstone to shoes that double as mops, to a wristband diary. Perculiar choices from the panel, considering the finalists appear more "with it", from a purse phone to a mosquito box. Either way, we can expect 2006's theme of "Nomad" to spawn yet more oddities.
Via Coolhunter
Price: N.A.
Availability: N.A.
Device: Assorted
Basic specs: N.A.
H-Racer
Juniper Foo | May 24, 2006
For a toy, the H-Racer is amazingly sophisticated. At a palm-sized 16 x 7cm, it's not only the world's smallest hydrogen car, the H-Racer is a working miniature of fuel cell vehicles to come. An external hydrogen refueling station feeds tiny (and safe) quantities of H to the car's storage tank to power it, producing fuel from water and the sun's energies tapped via a solar panel. How's that for cool? Not surprisingly, this picked up an Intel Environment award nomination in Silicon Valley's Tech Museum. What surprised us was that this came out of the labs of a Shanghainese company.
View top view | hydrogen refueling station | bigger image
Via Gizmag
Price: US$80
Availability: You can contact Horizon Fuell Cell Technologies here or check it out at Hammacher Schlemmer
Device: Fuel cell toy
Basic specs: N.A.
Not for the tech-savvy
Damian Koh | May 23, 2006
If you have a relative who isn't IT-illiterate enough to set up Web and email connection on a computer, and you don't wish to spend hours explaining how when all you want is just to show her some pictures of her grand children, Presto Services has the answer for you.
Tom Krazit from News.com has reported that Presto Services, which is made up of former veterans of Ofoto, Yahoo and TiVo, plans to preview its new service at an annual conference organized by the Wall Street Journal next week.
The idea sprang from the founder and CEO of the new company, Joe Beninato, when he tried to set his mother up with a PC equipped with Internet access. In the end, the computer was left to collect dust as his mother gave up on the marvels of technology.
It's a software-based solution. "The printer contains software that accesses an online mailbox set up by a more tech-savvy relative or friend. New snapshots can be emailed to the mailbox, and the service will take those photos and send them to the printer every so often," wrote Krazit.
Okay, so it's cool that you need only plug the printer to the telephone socket and the device doesn't require any configuration, but who's going to buy the ink and paper supplies when they run out? And who pays the monthly/annual service fee? The sender or recipient? Until we figure that out, it's back to patiently walking mum through the setup process.
Wave goodbye to weird names
Damian Koh | May 23, 2006
We're quite sure that if Pentax religiously follows the naming convention of its two new digital SLRs--the K100D and K110D--its future lineup would be so much more pronounceable. The K100D is also the company's first dSLR to feature a Shake Reduction system.
Both cameras offer 6.1-megapixel CCD, 11-point wide-frame autofocus, 2.5-inch 210k-pixel LCD, ISO sensitivity up to 3,200 and a top shutter speed of up to 1/4,000 second. However, the entry-level K110D won't sport the Shake Reduction system.
Similar to the defunct Konica Minolta's Anti-shake system, Pentax has adopted the CCD-shift mechanism where the image sensor oscillates vertically and horizontally using magnetic force to compensate for hand shake. Sony's upcoming dSLR, the Alpha, will also utilize such image stabilization properties.
Pentax has also announced a new limited-edition
smc Pentax DA 21mm F3.2 AL interchangeable wide-angle lens. At the time of writing, we had no indication whether these dSLRs and lens would be available in the region.
Gun-shaped teddy bear cracker
Juniper Foo | May 23, 2006
Bridal couples in Japan apparently have a different spin to shotgun weddings. It's become chic to toss teddy bears in place of bouquets and, sniffing out a good business opportunity, paint firm Sunamiya has created a party cracker gun that blasts out teddy bear ammunition. That's not all. The bears come equipped with their own little parachutes for a soft landing. Awww. Only in Japan, folks.
Via Mainichi Interactive
Price: N.A.
Availability: Now out in Japan
Device: Party cracker
Basic specs: N.A.
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