Tech Gadgets Reviews

There was a time when we thought that Earth was the only planet like it. Then we created satellites and space ships to prove ourselves wrong. Today marks one of those occasions, as NASA announced that their Cassini spacecraft was able to confirm there is a lake on Saturn’s moon Titan.

The lake isn’t made of water, though, so we can’t start moving just quite yet. Instead, it’s probably comprised of ethane. Still, this is big news as it confirms a long-held theory that the many dark spots on Titan’s surface are, indeed, made of hydrocarbons and therefore liquid. The scientists that operate Cassini are understandably pretty excited about this and are hoping that it isn’t the last big find for the satellite.

Larry Soderblom, a Cassini interdisciplinary scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Ariz said:

Detection of liquid ethane confirms a long-held idea that lakes and seas filled with methane and ethane exist on Titan … The fact we could detect the ethane spectral signatures of the lake even when it was so dimly illuminated, and at a slanted viewing path through Titan’s atmosphere, raises expectations for exciting future lake discoveries by our instrument.

As Cassini continues its travels, it’s likely to scour a few more lakes to find out if they’re all the same or if different lakes contain different elements. The journey will take years, so look forward to many more exciting discoveries.

Read more at NASA

The tape dispenser’s one of the most common office tools to have which often goes unappreciated. In order to increase the usefulness of this device, why not throw in an integrated 4-port USB hub as well? This results in the aptly-named Tape Dispenser USB 4-Port Hub that features a trio of ports behind that can be rotated up to 90 degrees for you to connect just about any USB devices without clashing. The front portion has a solitary USB port to complete the entire look. It will retail for $23 a pop.

Sylvania, best know for their TV’s that are sold mainly at Wal-Mart has decided to enter into the already overcrowded netbook market. Sadly the MESO seems to be just another netbook, and overall nothing really special.

The MESO will feature an 8.9-inch display, 1.6GHZ Intel Atom processor, 80GB hard drive and a built-in card reader and webcam. The Sylvania will be running either Windows XP Home or Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Again similar to other netbooks, the MESO will be available in a variety of colors which include onyx, snow, solar and blossom, which are better known as black, white, yellow and pink.

Although it has not officially been announced, the MESO is expected to be available through Wal-Mart and retail for $299 and up.

[Out of the Box]

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I recently had the opportunity to use skin samples from RedBeard and GelaSkins for the Nintendo DS in addition to GelaSkins for the PSP.

Prior to receiving the skins I must say that I pretty much thought all skins were the same. Nothing could honestly be further from the truth. Though RedBeard and GelaSkins are only two brands in a much larger gaming skin market; the differences I found between the two were unique enough to say that the brand you choose is truly a matter of taste, no matter how you want to protect your Nintendo DS or PSP.

RedBeard Nintendo DS Skins

One thing that Nintendo DS owners will appreciate with the RedBeard skins is that they are re-enforced with a thick layer of epoxy. The advantage of this is that the skin makes the Nintendo DS much easier to hold, and if you enjoy playing it a long time you’ll appreciate the little bit of extra cushion the skin offers. In addition to comfort the other thing I would note with the RedBeard skin is that the designs are bold and bright. Some of them literally reflect light and when you add that feature to the bold designs offered by the company it will be really hard for anyone to miss your Nintendo DS. The other feature offered by the thick layer is that it allows your DS to take a little bit of extra abuse, though I wouldn’t recommend trying to see how much.

GelaSkins for the Nintendo DS

If you’re an art lover then the GelaSkins brand is the skin for you. Each skin is designed by an artist who is named on the package. There are so many unique designs in this range that there is very little chance you will see someone who has the same skin as you. Unlike the RedBeard Nintendo DS skin, the GelaSkins brand doesn’t offer any extra padding. You would think this would be a knock against them, but I really find the difference to be a matter of taste. I have had a thicker skin on my Nintendo DS and since I didn’t find myself playing on the handheld for a long period of time I actually preferred a skin with little or no padding.

I also have a PSP Slim and was lucky enough to sample the GelaSkins brand on that as well. I have to admit I absolutely loved it. I liked the unique design that the skin gave my PSP, but the one thing which really put GelaSkins over the top was the fact that you could download background wallpaper, which basically gave the PSP the look of a continuous skin cutting through the screen. The wallpaper download was even free and let me tell you it was worth the time to download considering the clean look it gave my machine. Now my PSP really looks like a piece of art. I have a feeling that has been GelaSkins’ plan all along.

Summary
I’ll be the first to say that I’ve learned the error of my ways and I see skins for the Nintendo DS and PSP for more then just a simple upgrade to the look of someone’s gaming device. First, a skin offers protection for your unit and considering that buying a Nintendo DS or PSP is not cheap you want to protect your investment. Second, skins give you the ability to put your own personal mark on your gaming device through look and feel.

Considering all the designs available from RedBeard and GelaSkins alone most people will have no problem finding a skin that matches their personality. Though I stated I prefer a skin with no additional padding I am sure there will be people out there who do. Again, it’s just a simple matter of taste. Choosing between the RedBeard or GelaSkins brand is not really a matter of choosing the better brand, it’s a matter of finding the one that’s right for you.

Whether you choose RedBeard or GelaSkins I have a hard time believing you will be disappointed.

Read more at the GelaSkins or RedBeard websites.

Now here’s a mouse that will help you keep your precious data safe and sound - the Biometric Fingerprint Encrypted Mouse. This $116 peripheral comes with the following specifications and features :-

PC-Lock
Windows login and Screen Saver prevent the unauthorized user access the computer (only the registered fingerprint is accessible after successful verification!)

Web bank
The Web Bank can “remember” personal data (i.e. user names and passwords), once it’s been typed into a webpage form. It can also automatically access and enter this data for you in the future, with just a simply swipe of a registered finger. No worries about the hacker hook the password.

Virtual Disk
Virtual Disk can hide the confidential data partition (i.e.: you can install the important application programs onto virtual drive, so that nobody can use the programs, only the authorized user can see partition label and manipulate after virtual disk is activated and fingerprint verification is passed).

File encryption/decryption
File encryption/decryption by fingerprint for particularly important or confidential files (encrypted File/folder can not be copied).

You can store up to 10 fingerprint templates in this mouse, so choose carefully. Oh yeah, I’d look out for my hands even more vigilantly from now on lest somebody walks by and hacks it off to gain access to all my passwords stored in the PC.

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Here’s another entrant to the expanding “nettop” or mini desktop PC market, the Shuttle KPC 4800 which is very similar to the KPC 4500 which was announced by Shuttle last year. This affordable mini desktop PC runs on Foresight Linux but users can choose to upgrade to the 32-bit Windows Vista.

In addition, the KPC 4800 features Intel Celeron, Intel Pentium or even Core 2 Duo processor, 512MB up to 2GB RAM, 80 to 160GB hard drive with provision for dual hard drives, optical drive, several ports for PS/2 keyboard and mouse, Gigabit LAN port, VGA output, D-sub port, serial port, front out connector, real surround out connector, center/base connector, and wireless port perforation.

Pricing for the Shuttle KPC 4800 can go as low as $279 for the basic Linux model and $479 for the Vista-powered units. Of course, you still have to consider the costs of keyboard, mouse and other peripherals that you need to buy to use the mini desktop.

Product [Shuttle] Via [Crave]

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What you see above is the UnMouse Pad that is currently on display at the Microsoft Research Summit, where it will use Force-Sensing Resistors which results in a gargantuan mouse pad-sized circuit. It is just amazing to see how many input points the UnMouse Pad is able to track, and the inclusion of rising bars to indicate the amount of pressure applied at individual points will go a long way in increasing the useability of the device. I wonder when will the first commercial devices to feature the UnMouse Pad roll out. After all, the creator did mention that manufacturing the UnMouse Pad is pretty cheap, so it ought to arrive in consumer electronics pretty soon.

Sonic Impact’s SoundPads are small pads that are able to “transfer sound to any surface you stick them on”. Guess this means instant speakers are now a snap to create - just grab a couple of these for $17.99 and you’re good to go. One word of warning though - where you place them would be a permanent fixture, so choose wisely before you settle on the desired spot. The SoundPads measure roughly 4″ in diameter and can be wired to virtually any amplifier - you’ll have to get your own wires, of course.

IBM Research has created a new software solution to help make sure you never forget anyone’s details while on the move.

The system is called Pensieve and uses a combination of your mobile phone and desktop computer. A mobile phone is used as a data collection tool and then your desktop PC gathers all the information, groups it and adds the finished results to your address book.

As an example, say you meet a new business associate at a trade show. They give you their business card and you take a picture of them with your phone camera and snap the business card too. The person’s image can be tagged to tell you who it is and you can later tie that up with the business card. If it’s a trade show though, you could do this many times making the work after the convention a pain.

With Pensieve that work disappears. When you get back from the trade show you download the tagged images to your PC. Pensieve detects the information such as name, address and phone number from the business cards and links it up with the tagged images. The information is then added to your address book giving you a complete profile of that person with no work required on your part.

Dr. Yaakov Navon, lead researcher and image processing expert at IBM’s Hafia Research Lab commented:

This is like having a personal assistant for your memory … Our daily routines are overflowing with situations where we gain new information through meetings, advertisements, conferences, events, surfing the web, or even window shopping. Instead of going home and using a general web search to find that information, PENSIEVE helps the brain recall those everyday things you might normally forget.

Pensieve goes further than just the image and business card though. It can use recorded speech to log additional details and GPS information to store exactly when and where you met a person (or all your meetings with them). It can also use the date and time information to figure out which business cards are linked to which images if you snapped them at roughly the same time in succession.

Once it has finished logging the information on your PC you can synchronize with your phone to get the sorted details. Then, next time your are introduced to someone you believe you have met before, you can enter their name on your phone and find out exactly who they are, where you have met them before and access any notes you made about them.

Read more at IBM

Matthew’s Opinion
I’m sure a lot of people would find such a system very useful and time saving. The automatic logging of GPS information would be very informative when trying to recall previous meetings e.g. It comes up on your phone that you met X on the first morning of E3 in convention hall Y, another page would give you their company, job title, mobile number, etc. To receive all that information without doing any additional work after meetings sounds fantastic.

Obviously, it relies on you having the hardware to record the information such as a phone with GPS, good camera and sound recorder. But with the rate at which mobile phone technology moves most phones that don’t have those features will be replaced with ones that do within 12 months.

Pensieve could also be used by management to log all meetings their staff had out in the field. If you have a group of journalists who are attending a convention it would be great to know at the end of each day the meetings they had, when they had them and who the people they met were in detail. With Pensieve I can see that being information accessible at the touch of a button once the journalists have synchronized with their PCs.

The Adaptive solar Tree by Welsh designer Ross Lovegrove is smart enough to move its solar panels (more like solar-powered tree branches) according to the sun’s movements, and will be able to escape shadows in order to optimize the energy income. Sounds smart, but unfortunately this feature won’t be applied to all the branches. In addition, these branches have the grey matter to come close together during strong winds in order to prevent any breakage. Hopefully they come with some sort of oxygen generating machine in order to emulate a real tree. This won’t do too much for the local ecosystem though as birds won’t be able to feed off this tree and woodpeckers might end up with a broken beak.