Tentatively known as The Cube, this concept from Mintpass puts a retro spin on a conventional MP3 player.
(Credit: Mintpass)If you love the look of old reel-to-reel tape decks, hi-fi receivers, and analog mixing boards, the latest MP3 player concept from Korea's Mintpass design team will probably leave you drooling.
The Cube MP3 player offers not one but three analog VU meters, capable of displaying volume, battery live, and FM radio frequency.
If the menage a trois of vintage analog gauges wasn't enough, the Mint Cube includes two rows of apologetically chunky buttons that hearken back to an era of cassette decks and bad hair. Other proposed features include Bluetooth audio, FM radio, A-B looping, shuffle, and a standard headphone output.
Of course, the whole thing is purely fiction at this point, with not even a hint of price or release date. Also, my gut is telling me that this thing would be wholly impractical to build. My retro nerd heart, however, is keeping hope alive.
(ViaTechfresh)
(Credit:
Cambridge Consultants)
People who like getting physical with their gadgets may warm to a new Internet radio that must be moved around to operate.
The Q2 Cube radio from Cambridge Consultants and Armour Group will change to one of four preselected stations when it's turned over on its side. Tilting the speaker back or forward lowers or raises the volume.
The Cube seems to be a bit bigger than palm-sized, so it would fit neatly on a cluttered desk. It wouldn't do as an alarm clock, since tossing it from the bedside table would presumably only change the station.
The companies are calling the device "revolutionary," though in what sense is unclear. In the old days, radios also had to be tuned by turning something--a large dial.
There's no word on price yet, but the Cube could be in some U.K. stores for the holidays.
(Via Wired)
(Credit:
Quirky)
LugeCubes are water molds for creating stackable cubes of ice 8 inches wide by 8 inch high by 8 inches deep. When stacked together, a channel in the ice created by the molds allows you to pour whiskey vodka Jager fruit punch through the ice and out a removable and reusable spout. The mere thought of this product makes my stomach hurt.
It's being sold through Quirky. Well, sort of being sold. You see, Quirky, a site that launched in June, takes products that spring from the minds of its community and drives them from idea to sales, all the while letting the community vote, rate, and influence the product ideas through the entire process. Before a product gets produced, though, it has to hit a presale threshold, which in the case of the LugeCubes is 300.
A majority of the products up for sale or presale on Quirky are tech-related, like the Split Stick, the DigiDude, and the Watt Time.
But then there's the LugeCubes. If you're interested in it getting produced, the whole set (pictured below) is up for presale for $22.47.
(Credit:
Quirky)
(Credit:
Hans Andersson)
Lego Mindstorms are futuristic toys for creative kids. But who knew these DIY robots can get creative themselves and solve puzzles?
Swedish programmer Hans Andersson bought a programmable Mindstorms NXT kit for his two daughters and then began tinkering with it himself. The result: a toy that can autonomously solve Sudoku puzzles in what looks like a matter of minutes.
The Sudoku Solver scans the entire puzzle with a light sensor before determining the missing digits in each square. Its computer performs image processing with a thresholding algorithm to make sense of the sensor data. Recognizing the existing numbers in the puzzle seems to be the most difficult part of the process.
Solving for missing numbers is easy with a backtracking algorithm, according to Andersson. "But since the Mindstorms processor is rather slow, and since it doesn't allow for recursive functions, it took some care to optimize it," he writes. The toy can still do Sudoku better than me.
Andersson has also created a Mindstorms robot called Tilted Twister that can autonomously solve a Rubik's Cube in about six minutes.
Gotta love robots. Now they're playing with our toys; next they'll be playing with us!
(Credit:
Photojojo)
The first thing landscape photographers check when they frame the shot is to make sure the horizon is level to prevent crooked shots. While you can try to adjust the shooter by estimating with your eye, the Camera Cube can help you be more precise.
Measuring 1 inch all around, this leveler attaches to any camera with a hotshoe. The three-way axis lets shutterbugs take straight snaps whether the camera is mounted vertically or horizontally on the tripod.
Some dSLRs such as the Nikon D700 have an onboard electronic leveler, too, though critics may say it won't be as accurate as a bubble-based one. For me, I'm not sure if the Camera Cube is worth the $15 indicated on Photojojo's Web site, so I'll stick to the free Advanced Bubble Level iPhone app.
(Source: Crave Asia via Coolest Gadgets)
Digital music aficionados who are constantly behind the wheel are often faced with the dilemma of how to connect their MP3 players to their car stereos. The lucky ones have head units with direct line-in ports, and a few may even be driving around in vehicles old enough to sport the good-old cassette deck.
Either instance requires a simple wired attachment, but for those who aren't blessed with such accouterments, playing MP3 audio in the car is a little more challenging. Two options remain: custom install a hardwire connection or play music over often-spotty FM transmitters. Thankfully, there are a handful of transmitters on the market with solid performance, including the Eznex EzCube, a tiny device that connects to any MP3 player and will set you back about $50.
The Super Mini Cube, for those who think small!
(Credit: Brent Butterworth)I know, I know, you don't have room for a decent set of speakers.
I've tried to tell you guys that when it comes to speakers, size still matters. Bigger speakers have tremendous size and performance advantages over pipsqueak models.
But since my pal Brent Butterworth wrote up the new Super Mini Cube speaker for the Sound & Vision Web site I figured something was up. The Super Mini Cube is supertiny; it's less than an inch cube, with a 0.75-inch driver, and better yet, it's powered by a built-in lithium battery. There's also a cable with a 3.5mm connector, so the Super Mini Cube can plug into your iPod or MP3 player. Battery charging is as simple as plugging in the USB cable. A little carry strap completes the package. Neat!
OK, the Super Mini Cube isn't perfect; first of all, you only get one for your $10, so forget about stereo. Funny, Brent didn't rave about sound quality, and I can't imagine it's up to any sort of audiophile standards.
The Super Mini Cube probably sounds a lot worse than anything I've blogged about or reviewed. So please don't e-mail me and ask what I think of it, or how it compares with your 1975 Bose 901 speakers. OK, that might be a too-close-to-call match with the Super Mini Cube.
Brent dubbed the Super Mini Cube the "World's Cheapest, Tiniest Audio System," and that's good enough for me.
(Credit:
Antuan Goodwin/CNET)
Nissan invited us out to take a spin in its EV-02 electric car prototype. While we were there, Mark Perry, director of product planning for Nissan North America, chatted us up about Nissan's plans to bring a zero tailpipe emissions electric vehicle to American roads as early as 2010.
Like all automakers, Nissan is under pressure from government regulators to reduce CO2 emissions by 90 percent by 2050. While Perry stated that Nissan does have plans of bringing a hybrid vehicle to the market soon (potentially a plug-in), he also made it clear that Nissan views electric vehicles as the only way to meet emissions requirements. This is where the EV-02 comes in. The key, according to Perry, to making the promise of EV-02 a reality lies in the battery tech and the recharging infrastructure.
EV-02 uses a laminated lithium ion battery tech that crams twice the power and twice the range of more conventional lithium ion batteries into a package that's half the size and half the weight. The battery was developed by Nissan in partnership with semiconductor manufacturer NEC. Nissan will most likely use this same battery tech in its upcoming hybrid.
... Read more
The greatest game in a decade?
(Credit: Nintendo)I have little doubt that at least some Nintendo fans have read that headline and are preparing to unleash comments in support of the Zelda franchise. But before that happens, hear me out.
I'll be the first to admit that I am, quite simply, one of the biggest Zelda fans around. I own the Ocarina of Time soundtrack (the songs are on my iPod), have played every Zelda game since the beginning, and firmly believe that it's the greatest work from Shigeru Miyamoto (yes, I believe it's a better franchise than Mario).
And perhaps that's why I have such strong feelings about the Zelda franchise and where it's headed as of late. See, I've been wanting to write this column for quite some time, but I decided that before I would, I should go back and play every Zelda game to its completion to ensure that my contention--that the franchise has lost its way--is strong.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, I believe it is.
I don't expect every Nintendo fan to agree, and I'm sure some Zelda fans are already upset with what I'm saying. But I'm hoping that you will see this for what it really is: a Zelda lover's hope for the future.
... Read moreDon Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
(Credit:
Gizmodo)
Looking for an '80s pop culture phenomenon with a modern twist? Of course you are, otherwise Transformers could not have made more than $300 million in the U.S. alone. Think smaller though, as in cube-shaped and able to fit in your hand. Of course it's a Rubik's Cube silly!
Gizmodo is reporting on a Rubik's Cube, the TouchCube, that features a touch screen, and has an accelerometer and a button that makes it solve itself. It also can purportedly even teach you how to solve it step by step. The new cube is scheduled for a fall release.
What I remember most about the original Rubik's Cube was that when I switched the colored stickers around (so that it looked like I'd solved it), they never quite looked as flat as they did on a brand new cube. Yes, I'm admitting I was never very good at this thing and had to resort to "special tactics" to impress my friends, some of whom were dumb enough to actually believe that I'd solved it.
I guess that's my problem with a touch-screen Rubik's Cube. Sure it looks pretty and the technology is kind of cool, but with a "solve" button people are actually going to have to watch you solve it in person before they'll believe you did. No more attempting to cheat but not really pulling it off and having only some of your friends believe you.
Hmmm, until, of course, someone comes out with a hack that makes you look like you're solving it as you use it. Haxx0rs, you have your assignment.
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