Would you believe this cute little robot toy costs less than $10 bucks? Zibits are a new series of low-priced miniature robots that are perfect on your desktop or for your kids (or cats) to play with.

The guys over at Senario sent me a sample Zibits/a> robot to play with – he kinda reminds me of the Android logo/a>, but in orange instead of green. In all, there will be 12 different robot designs for you to collect – so you could build out an entire robotic army for about $120.

Zibits measure about 2.5″ tall, and feature little light-up LED eyeballs, and offer just one basic set of maneuvers – drive forward, or do a 360-degree spin move using the remote joystick. Sure, your plans for world robotic domination might be difficult to achieve with that one move, but whaddya want for $10 bucks?

Here’s a video of the little robot dude in action:

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Those funny robot sounds on the video? They come out of the remote control, and not the robot himself to keep things compact. The little guys comes with three button batteries to power their motors, and an IR remote that you can use to control ‘em on any flat surface. You will need to grab a couple of AAA batteries for the remote, and a small screwdriver to install the batteries for your kids.

Senario says that Zibits will be available in Toys “R” Us stores starting in mid-March 2010, and they’ll be available in the UK sometime late in the Summer.

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zibits mini r/c robots spin into town/a>

Sony recently showed off a prototype of a high-speed wireless technology which ships signals around between internal electronic components. Sony says they developed the wireless technology to overcome current costs and manufacturing complexities due to the sheer number of wires and circuit layers required to handle today’s complex circuits.

The prototype circuit sends signals using radio waves in the 60GHz millimeter waveband (I think I saw them play at a local nightclub last night), and can transmit data at up to 11Gpbs over a distance of up to 14mm. As the components get further apart, transmission speeds drop to about 4.3Gbps from up to 60mm away.

In addition to cutting down on the complexity and cost of wiring, the breakthrough could someday be used to create gadgets that could be disassembled and maintained much more easily than today’s electronics with all of those wire harnesses that need to be disconnected for service. Never mind the fact that the wireless circuit board concept could allow for much more flexibility in where the various circuit boards are placed within a piece of equipment.

No word on if or when Sony will introduce this technology in any production devices, but it’s a pretty cool idea for sure.

via Tech-On!/a>

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sony shows off internal wireless circuits/a>

Talk about overkill. This new technology can track down individual mosquitoes and take them out using a laser beam. That’s definitely one way to kill bugs dead.

Created by Intellectual Ventures Lab/a>, the Photonic Fence Anti-Mosquito Laser System can hunt down and identify the little buggers with amazing precision. The system’s custom software first uses a non-lethal laser to identify an invading mosquito and ensure it’s a mosquito by measuring the insect’s size and wing speed. Once it’s sure the correct target is in its sights, a seconds, killer laser trains its beam on the stinging pest and smokes it out of the sky, presumably by disrupting its DNA. What a way to die.

Now sit back, relax, and enjoy some slo-mo mosquito-killin’ goodness:

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The scientists managed to create their initial prototype almost entirely from bits and pieces of used electronics they found on the web. Amazingly, the system can differentiate between mosquitoes, butterflies, and bumblebees and even can figure out if a mosquito is a boy or a girl. Now the guys over at Intellectual Ventures Lab say they developed the system in their quest to put an end to malaria, but I think they just wanted to fry some mosquitoes with laser beams. Who wouldn’t?

via BotJunkie/a> via Geekologie/a>

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killing mosquitoes with laser beams/a>

It’s no secret that the iPhone’s touchscreen is hard to use when one is wearing gloves. But what will iPhone owners do when it’s winter? Stop using their iPhones? Preposterous! Just use a sausage as stylus!

Here’s a video of two – two! – sausages working perfectly on the iPhone:

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According to Korean news site inews24/a> (Google translated), the sausage has proven so effective as a stylus that CJ Corporation, makers of the preferred snack sausage, saw a 39% increase in their December to January sales.

via TUAW/a> and Kottke/a>

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south koreans using sausage as iphone stylus/a>

Hand-powered chargers are nothing new, but Fame LLC claims that their product, YoGen/a>, delivers as much power per second as the chargers for your mobile device. In other words, if it takes a couple of hours for your device to be fully charged via its power adapter, it will also take you two hours to fully charge your device using the YoGen.

Watch Fame LLC Vice-President of Sales/Husband of CEO/Dentist Robert F. Morrison repeat what I just said on video:

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The YoGen weighs a mere 98 grams and is under an inch thick. It charges via mini-USB, but it also has cables or connection tips for various other devices such as iPods, digital cameras and even Bluetooth headsets. An iPhone 3GS-compatible connection tip will soon be available. Just for kicks, let’s watch good ol’ Vice-President of Sales/Husband of CEO/Dentist/Commercial model Robert F. Morrison one more time:

strong>Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can order the YoGen on its online store/a> for only $40 (USD). And as we always say here on the Web, check out the product’s website/a> for more info. Are there any proud (or enraged) YoGen owners out there? Maybe you could share your impressions with us.

via AVING/a>

Read more here:
yogen hand-powered mobile device charger turns your hand into a socket/a>

It took quite a while for the Master of the Mantis-style to realize that even the most powerful strikes won’t work on his seemingly defenseless enemy…

…because his enemy wasn’t real. Whoa. That was Zen-like.

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Don’t fear for the insect folks, it was released into the wild after the enlightening encounter, hungry but wiser than ever before.

via Neatorama/a>

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praying mantis vs. mouse cursor/a>

I still remember my first Apple computer. It was an Apple ] with a whopping 16k of RAM and it didn’t even have a floppy drive. So the sounds that come to mind when I think of my old are the squeals of program data loading from cassette tape. But the later models in the Apple II line actually could make their own music too. Now, thanks to the work of a couple of enterprising chiptune musicians, there’s a brand new synthesizer app that you can run on the Apple II series.

Created by M.J. Mahon and 8-bit Weapon, the Digital Music Synthesizer (D.M.S.) is the only wavetable synth for the Apple 8-bit machines that I’ve heard of. While it won’t run on the original or +, it works great on Apple //e, IIc, and IIc+ models.

D.M.S. can crank out up to 8 voices, which you can play from the keyboard. The app includes a variety of retro-modern sounds including acoustic piano, vibraphone, acoustic guitar, electric bass, trumpet, clarinet, square wave, sawtooth wave, sine wave, and of course, banjo!

Crank up your volume and click here/a> to enjoy a short sample of sound from D.M.S.

You don’t even need a monitor hooked up to use this synth. Just put in the floppy, wait for it to finish loading, and start mashing on keys for some 8-bit audio delights.

Got an old Apple II lying around? You can get your hands on DMS over at 8-bit Weapon/a> for $19.95 (USD). Naturally, it ships on a 5-1/4″ floppy. Woot!

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apple [ gets a brand new synthesizer/a>

I finally got a chance to see Coraline a few weeks back, and was completely blown away by the incredible things that could be done with miniature models and stop-motion animation. While you probably won’t be able to live up to Henry Selick’s/a> amazing work with this little desktop toy, you can at least dip your feet in the shallow end of the stop-motion pool.

Made by Japan’s Agatsuma Corporation, the AnimeStudio/a> is a standalone animation studio that lets you shoot frame-by-frame video, and store your creations on a 1GB SD card. Once captured, you can play back your animations on your television, with no need for a computer. The studio features a special swivel-mount camera that can be positioned all around a stage on which you can place either 2D or 3D subjects.

As you capture each frame, it’s recorded into a 4-frame-per second video clip you can play back on your TV. Still, it looks fun for really basic animations. While 4fps kind of sucks, you could always just shoot extra frames and then change the frame rate using some video editing software. And in case you want get your videos onto your computer, they do include companion software/a> for your Windows PC as well. While all of the instructions for the AnimeStudio (and this silly video) are in Japanese, it looks like it’s pretty self-explanatory, and should be easy to use.

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Up until now the AnimeStudio was available exclusively in Japan, but the guys over at Japan Trend Shop/a> have started shipping the system worldwide for $194 (USD). While you could probably achieve the same with this webcam/a> and one of the myriad stop-motion applications/a> out there, the AnimeStudio looks like a fun toy for budding animators without a computer.

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animestudio lets you shoot your own animations: no computer required/a>

This awesome looking robot isn’t made in Japan, nope! It’s made in the good old US of A by GM for NASA/a> (fun with acronyms!) Of course it makes perfect sense to send robots into space. And would you believe it? It’s called the Robonaut.

These robots are made to assist astronauts with tasks during dangerous space missions. The Robonaut 2 is the latest version and it looks pretty awesome.

The Robonaut 2 will be able to perform quite a few more tricks than the previous version. For now, this marvel only works from the chest up, but it’s still impressive. Check out the video below to see the Robonaut 2 in action:

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Next thing we’ll know is one of these shouting: “Danger, Will Robinson!”

via Designboom/a>

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nasa’s new robonaut 2 looks like daft punk made it/a>

I’m finding it hard to take Pong Research seriously because, well, “Pong Research”. I didn’t think I’d ever see those two words combine to stand for something serious. Yet here it is, so let’s get on with it. While it has not (yet) been proven that cellphone radiation has harmful effects to our body, Pong Research has, um – sorry I had to suppress a few rebellious giggles.  Okay – breathes deeply –  let’s go: Pong Research has developed anti-radiation cases for the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and Blackberry Curve.

The Pong anti-radiation cases are mostly made of silicone, but the thing that really separates them from other cellphone cases is the “Pong gold PCB module” embedded in the case. As stated in a Wired article/a>, the module has been proven to reduce the radiation from an iPhone into a users’ head to “a third of what it would be without the case.” Here’s a diagram of an ear farting the radiation being diverted/reflected/whisked away by the case:

The Pong case reduces the radiation going to into a users’ head with practically no signal loss; in fact Pong Research even says, “you may find that your communication efficiency actually improves with the use of the Pong case.” You can order the iPhone 3G/3GS-compatible Pong case for $60 (USD) at the Pong Research online store/a>; the Blackberry Curve case (only compatible with models 8300, 8310, 8320 and 8330), also available at the store/a>, sells for $50.

What do you guys think? Willing to drop $70 for something that might very well be unnecessary? And how about that “Pong Research” name eh? What’s up with that?

via uncrate/a>

Originally posted here:
pong anti-radiation cellphone case: proven to protect users from something that may or may not be harmful/a>