Meet ApriPoko, a talking universal remote robot

There's got to be a subliminal message of some sort coming out of Japan with the influx of robotic gizmos the Japanese seem to be conceptualizing endlessly, not to mention giving them affectionate nicks. Just name us any other country that's so obsessed with birthing mechanical substitutes.

The latest labor of love is one ApriPoko, an 11-inch-tall talking robot developed by the researchers at Toshiba as a voice-activated universal remote control. ApriPoko is still in embryo stage, so it's unlikely to debut in stores anytime soon. But its purpose in life has been coded into its genes. It will, unlike your regular universal remote, go beyond manual programming into the realm of voice control.
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Just twist and snap away

Here's a digital camera that doesn't require any batteries to power up. All it takes, is your fingers to give it a few good twists to juice it up and snap away.

Conceptualized by product design students Bryn Seymour and Jon Rothapfel, this camera relies on kinetic energy via the winding of a cap and stores this energy for just several images. We're curious whether if we stay up all night winding the cap, would that let us take more shots? Or would we end up busting the gadget?

This concept camera doesn't have an LCD screen to frame your shots, but relies on a simple circular hole in the camera body itself. So…are we going to get rounded images?

There is also a built-in USB plug which is hidden underneath the cap and an LED near the hole (which the designers claim is for the user interface, but we're not sure how that'll help).

The students stated that with the current technology, their camera can support up to 5-megapixel resolution.

So forgive us while we strengthen our fingers and wrist. Eco-friendly cameras may be the next wave of gadgets to come.

More than just a USBee flash drive

Some people may find this all a little tacky, but the aptly named USBee flash drive is more than just a bee-themed thumbdrive solution. Beneath its eye-catching yellow-and-black exterior is a thoughtful design concept that addresses one of the most common problems with USB flash drives today--accidental breakage while still in the PC's USB port. After all, even the smallest USB drives stick out slightly from the port to facilitate easy removal.

The USBee drive, however, uses a clever combination of silicon and aluminum shell to create a bendable neck. This can not only prevent the flash drive from being ripped off, it also protects the PC's USB port from damage. What's also interesting is that the USBee drive incorporates a unique cooling system through the black stripes to prevent the flash drive from overheating. (So far, we've not encountered any flash drives overheating, but they do get hot after prolonged usage.)
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"Voiceless phone" reads your thoughts

The next generation in voice technology may bypass the mouth altogether. A couple of weeks ago we saw a consumer product called the Roadrunner headset with microphones strategically placed next to the voicebox--which readers say was based on military versions--but a new technology takes the concept to a level worthy of a sci-fi novel.

Ambient's Audeo, which colleague Rafe Needleman saw demonstrated at a conference in September, is described as a voiceless phone" that uses sensors worn around the neck. A trained individual "can send nerve signals to their vocal cords without making a sound", according to New Scientist Tech, adding that "these signals are picked up by the neckband and relayed wirelessly to a computer that converts them into a computerized voice". The technology behind the Audeo has also been used in controlling wheelchairs.

One reassuring aspect: Ambient co-founder Michael Callahan says the system requires "a level above thinking", meaning that it will work only with thoughts about specific words--so it won't blurt out whatever pops into your head.

Via Crave CNET

Foosball "live"!

Talk about an electrifying way to up the Foosball stakes. You gotta hand it to designer Elia Marinucci for livening the table game by adding magnets, audio commentary and, yes sirree, electric shocks! On either end of the Foosball table is a button which activates magnets along the field changing the ball's path.

Further challenges include corner pinball bumpers to knock the ball around like a regular pinball machine, and KICK IT! shock towers which generate an electric pulse if you manage to kick your ball hard across the "field". How this is administered isn't clear, as it's still a work-in-progress, while the site's content is somewhat lost in translation. Needless to say, avoid this if you are preggies or wearing a pacemaker. If the shock treatment doesn't knock you over, the excitement might.
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