CNET News Poll
(Credit:
ABC/Wikimedia)
This week we told you about a couple of breakthroughs in bionics, including a Luke Skywalker-like artificial hand controlled by the brain, and a bionic larynx that uses a speech synthesizer to let people who've had their voice boxes removed speak more realistically. Those are both awesome.
They also hint that we may be on the threshold of a new wave of bionic devices that will boost the quality of life for people around the world. But what's next? What bionic science will most wow us in coming years?
Vote in our poll, and be sure to leave a comment in our TalkBack section telling us what sort of bionic feats you'd like to see accomplished.
An undated photo from the Campus Bio-Medico di Roma shows Pierpaolo Petruzziello's amputated hand linked with electrodes to a robotic hand.
(Credit: Campus Bio-Medico di Roma)European scientists have successfully built a brain-controlled bionic hand that could be used to kill or maim hundreds of humans in the coming robot versus humans' civil war. Or, far more admirably, allow amputees to feel hand sensations and manipulate their limb--via the brain--as if it were still there.
Pierpaolo Petruzziello--who lost his arm under the elbow in a car crash several years ago--has done just that, Italy's University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome announced Wednesday.
(Credit:
Campus Bio-Medico di Roma)
The biometric hand was developed at Pisa's Valdera Polo Sant'Anna School and surgically attached to Petruzziello's nervous system via electrodes implanted into the remaining part of his left arm, meaning the robotic body part was actually like an extension of his body. After the surgery at the University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome in November 2008, it took Petruzziello just days to start using the device.
During the LifeHand trial, which lasted a month, Petruzziello, 26, was able to experience sensations when grasping, making a fist, and apparently flipping the bird. No really. (There's nothing science can't do.)
The responses from the hand to commands sent from the brain were 95 percent correct, Paolo Maria Rossini, head of neurology for the project, said Wednesday. That's more than I can say for some of the people I know.
The next step, which is still at least a couple of years away, is to work out a more long-term experiment that would hopefully lead to cybernetic arms like the LifeHand as a viable option for amputees. The EU has spent $3 million and five years on the project so far, but in the end, if the experiments prove successful, we may be living with people with Luke Skywalker-style arms in just a few short years. I will outfit mine with a place to hide my flask.
(Credit:
Jacques Gene)
Chances are good that someone on your shopping list is pining for an iPhone for the holiday season. If you know of such a person, then we've got a surprise Black Friday deal for you. AT&T is offering refurbished 16GB iPhone 3Gs for $49 for new customers. That's the shipped price, and they're even waiving the activation fee, normally $35.
The refurbished units have the same warranty as new units so you don't have to worry about getting someone junk. As an owner of a refurbished 3G I can attest to the quality of the devices.
Of course a two-year contract with AT&T's iPhone plan is required, but anyone who's asking for an iPhone probably already knows this. Currently, the 16GB black is out of stock, but the 16GB in white is still available.
(Credit:
Perfect Third)
Please forgive me if I take the easy humor route and inject a few "Twilight: New Moon" jokes into my posts over the next few days. I haven't been sleeping well and when that happens I get groggy and tend to go for the easy laugh. The problem is that some nights I just don't get enough sleep (no, not a vampire). I go to bed at different times and always try to wake up at 8.
That being said, I'd like to try the WakeMate sometime to see how it can help me be more rested so I can make better jokes for all of you. It's a cell phone accessory that monitors and analyzes your sleep and then uses the data to wake you up at the optimal point in your sleep cycle.
Sleep analytics like this have been around for a while, but WakeMate appears to be the first system that uses off-the-shelf components (Bluetooth, iPhones, etc.) to bring the method to the masses.
Sleepers wear a wristband that tracks movements during sleep. The motion data is then analyzed to determine sleep patterns and circadian rhythms and sent to a device, like an iPhone, via Bluetooth. At just the right moment in the sleep cycle, the alarm goes off, hopefully waking snoozers to a great morning. Also included are personalized instructions on how to improve your slumber.
The WakeMate is the first product from Perfect Third, a company funded by venture firm Y Combinator, which focuses on early-stage start-ups. Other noted Y Combinator-funded companies include Loopt, Justin.tv, and Reddit. WakeMate is available for preorder for $49.99 from Perfect Third's site and we're guessing we'll hear a lot more about it in the coming months--if we can stay awake, that is.
The WakeMate delivers data on your sleep patterns, as well as suggestions for getting more rested.
(Credit: Perfect Third)CNET News Poll
Modern technology, we're grateful to you!
(Credit: Matt Hickey)So someone told me today is about being thankful. I, for one, am grateful for that baguette from the future that stopped the LHC from destroying the universe. Also, turning my digital camera on Mom's cat to make the best Lolcats EVAR and using Netflix Instant on my Xbox to share "Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus" with my siblings.
I can think of quite a few other things I'm thankful for, but my evil editors have made me pare my gratitude down. They're more interested in what you, the readers, think. Sure, you may be thankful for all of the things mentioned in our scientifically accurate poll--I know I am--but try to pick the one that fits best. This vote will be recorded for all time and entered into your permanent record.
Of course, there's always a chance we missed something (the importance of family, goodwill toward mankind, or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2). If so, let us know in the comments section below.
(Credit:
SmartFish Technologies)
I switched from mice to trackpads and trackballs years ago after my wrist started getting all janky on me after a few hours a day of work. That's because seesaw mouses like SmartFish Technologies' ErgoMotion laser mouse didn't exist back then.
Looks like fun, no?
(Credit: SmartFish Technologies)The mouse, which just launched officially, isn't static like most, but rather has a Y axis and X axis pivoting motion so it fits more naturally in your hand as it moves. When you push a mouse forward the geometry of your hand is different than when you pull it back. The mouse is designed to shift with your hand's geometry. Neat trick.
Made by the same company that brought us the Pro:Motion family of moving keyboards, the ErgoMotion laser mouse goes for about $50 and works with Windows or Mac OS X and connects via a wireless USB dongle (included) so the wires don't get in the way and force the mouse one way or another. It's also designed for left hand or right hand use, something many ergonomic mice don't feature.
I haven't had a chance to try an ErgoMotion mouse yet, but it certainly looks comfortable. Which reminds me, I should look getting into some ergonomic pants for my Thanksgiving feast.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Matt Hickey)
T-Mobile on Friday rolled out a new unlimited prepaid program called T-Mobile Complete. It's actually a pretty sweet deal: unlimited minutes and unlimited texting for as little as $50 a month. It also gets you a Samsung T239 flip phone at $59.99 or the T229 slider at $79.99, which isn't bad.
But then it gets a little more complex. At $149 you can have the Samsung Gravity, a full-QWERTY slider. But your plan would be $60, presumably because you'd be texting a lot more with the full keyboard than you would with a T9 phone. OK, we can see that.
Or you can go all-in and pay $299 (!?) for a Blackberry Curve 8520. Your monthly plan would be $80 a month, but would include unlimited 3G Web access and e-mail, so it's actually a fairly decent deal in the end.
The only weird part about these new plans is that they're only available with the purchase of one of these handsets--there's no BYO phone option. And you can't buy the phones online or even at a T-Mobile store. To get these deals you have to buy from Best Buy or Wal-Mart. We aren't sure why.
These Complete prepaid plans nicely complement the Even More and Even More Plus plans that T-Mobile launched last month about this time. Now T-Mobile is offering aggressive unlimited pricing on both the traditional and prepaid fronts. And as we go into the holiday shopping frenzy the timing couldn't be better.
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Will this be you the day after Thanksgiving?
(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET)CNET News Poll
Black Friday is my favorite day of the year--not just because retailers and manufacturers are falling over each other to try to nab my holiday dollars, but because the rush at the big-box stores is hilariously insane.
Working at a Best Buy-like store for several years, I made sure to take full advantage of my tryptophan-induced coma so I'd be ready to go for the 16-hour workday ahead. In the end I was always exhausted, but also happy, as I'd helped many people get the good deals they were looking for.
We've featured quite a few Black Friday deals in the last few days as they trickle out, and we're sure many of our Crave readers are gearing up for the Super Bowl of gadget buying. So we'd like to know: what, exactly, is your strategy for tackling Black Friday this year?
Vote in our poll, and if you're planning to mark the day in a way we didn't cover, be sure to let us know in the Talkback section below.
Mmmvelopes sell online and at stores including Albertsons, Pick 'n Save, Raley's, and Fry's.
(Credit: J&D's)I honestly can't remember the last time I sent something using conventional mail, but it may have been more than three years ago. I hate licking stamps and envelopes and risking a paper cut in one of the worst places I can imagine. But after spotting these Mmmvelope bacon-flavored envelopes from "bacontrepreneurs" J&D's, I might start looking for reasons to send random stuff out. And for as little as three packs of 25 for $14.99, I can send a lot.
The No. 10 envelopes themselves are regular paper but the glue has a bacony essence ("it's not real bacon, mind you, so you won't have to start storing your envelopes in the refrigerator," the creators stress).
We already have bacon vodka, bacon salt, bacon alarm clocks, and a Web app that superimposes a digital piece of tasty, tasty bacon over everything you navigate. So why wouldn't we get bacon envelopes too? When they make bacon-flavored stamps I might start paying those bills I keep getting. Then maybe I can make food (bacon!) in my oven because they'll have turned the electricity back on. Bacon.
(Via Uncrate)
My dream evening circa 1999.
(Credit: Matt Hickey)CNET News Poll
So we've all heard that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, released Tuesday, broke all kinds of sales records this week and is being touted as the biggest video game release of all time. But that's coming at the same time that we get word of some less-than-good data from The NPD Group: the video game industry was down a staggering 19 percent in sales in October.
Some say the much-anticipated Modern Warfare 2 could give the industry a boost, but it might not be enough.
As a self-proclaimed influential tech journalist and longstanding pundit of the absolute highest caliber, I've come up with a list of ideas that gamemakers might want to use to prop up their sagging market. These are good ideas and I'm offering them to the industry for free. And that's because I'm a very nice guy.
What do you think, readers? How can the game industry make sure it doesn't see a repeat of October's performance? Vote in our poll.
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