Gadgets Control

Posted Feb 2nd 2008 4:47PM by Darren MurphFiled under: Gaming, Handhelds, Peripherals Legitimate (read: legal) Famicon support for your DS Lite may seem like a dream come true for the retro gamer, but Cyber Gadget’s Cyber Famulator Lite might be a little much to ask for all but the geekiest. You have to strap on a (barely) pared down “famiclone” system onto your cute little portable, but pulling out and blowing into a dirty old Metroid cart on the go will no doubt be a privilege for some.[Via ExtremeTech]Tags: laptops, video game, tests, gizmos (Read the full post about ‘Cyber Famulator Lite for DS bulks up to get old school’…)

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Posted Feb 2nd 2008 6:31PM by Ryan BlockFiled under: Misc. Gadgets Solar’s had a pretty rough time breaking the ~40% efficiency level over the years, but Idaho National Laboratory researchers have apparently developed a nano-antenna array capable of collecting power not from photonic energy as is done today, but from infrared energy that could be harvested in any weather (or even at night). The cell production process is even supposed to be ridiculously cheap compared to making standard silicon photovoltaic cells, but, as always, there’s a rub. The grid collects its oscillating IR energy at ten thousand billion times per second, which is proving to be a challenge to the nerds behind the tech, who are working on a way to convert that to the 50-60Hz power that the world uses. (Read the full post about ‘Infrared solar panels even work at night, but can’t output energy’…)

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Lenmar BCLC1X3 Universal Battery Charger Get a charge out of your digital camera or camcorder with Lenmars universal battery charger. The OmniSource Universal charger has the power to revive Lithium-Ion batteries ranging from 3.6 volts to 7.4 volts. Technorati Tags: Lenmar Tags: dvr, sat-nav, robots, computers (Read the full post about ‘Lenmar BCLC1X3 Universal Battery Charger’…)

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With the AppleTV “take 2” still not available, Vudu seems to be willing to put up a strong fight to remain in the market. It was just last week that Vudu lowered their price by 25% and have now added more HD content. A new update, that will bring the software to version 1.2 will add about 80 more movies and also adds an on-screen broadband instant-HD indicator. The movies are priced starting at $4 each, which is comparable to the AppleTV pricing. The indicator will help the instant start movies by giving users an alert as to whether or not their current broadband speed will be able to handle the movie without any delays in watching. (Read the full post about ‘Vudu software update offers users more HD content’…)

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I’ve been through my share of camera bags. I think I own about 8 of them in various sizes. I started out with Lowepro, but I had some issues with their quality and on one of my bags in particular the buckle kept coming loose from the shoulder strap… DANGER!

I now use Tamrac bags exclusively and have 4 of them, from a fairly tiny one that only fits a camera and a flash to a gigantic one that fits all my medium format equipment. The one I now use almost exclusively is the Super Pro 17 (617). The 617 allows me to carry to bodies with lenses attached including my 70-200 f/2.8 L IS.

(Read the full post about ‘PMA08 : Boda Lens Bags’…)

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Posted Feb 2nd 2008 1:14PM by Ryan BlockFiled under: Home Entertainment Remember that Skype plugin being written to run natively on the Apple TV? It’s out today, and get it while the gettin’s good because we aren’t expecting any of these hacks to continue working after the take 2 update gets pushed out in the near future. Let us know how it is, would you?Tags: digital, equipment, dvr, mobiles (Read the full post about ‘Skype plugin for Apple TV released’…)

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Dementia due to Alzheimer’s Disease is a terrible thing to witness on a loved one. Scientists from the University of Sunderland in the U.K. claim they have the answer to the problem. The answer comes in form of a hat which is to be worn for ten minutes everyday. Creators claim that the hat bathes the brain in infrared light which, in turn, stimulates growth of brain cells. This new technology, if successful, could not only slow down rate of dementia but even, to a certain extent, reverse it. Critics express their doubts at the hat’s efficacy and underlying mechanism. According to the Health Blog in WSJ, however, there is a possibility that that this might just be true, although studies on infrared have only focused on strokes before. (Read the full post about ‘An Infrared Hat: Hope for Alzheimer Patients?’…)

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Jobo from Germany have been around for a fair bit of time (the 1920s, to be exact), and has since made a name for itself when it comes to photo processing machines and darkroom accessories. Nearly a century later, the company still soldiers on, and they certainly did not come to PMA ‘08 to have a look at all the booth babes parading new photography equipment. No sir, they were there with a mission as well - displaying a digital camera add-on known as Photo GPS which can be fitted to the flash hot shoe of virtually any digital camera while recording GPS data as you shoot. For those who think that the Photo GPS looks rather familiar, chances are you’ve already seen it last year as it was announced at the previous PMA event. (Read the full post about ‘Jobo offers Photo GPS add-on’…)

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It has been a while since we first heard about states requiring eBay sellers to get an auctioneers license. In this case Pennsylvania was one of them and it seems they were very serious, they are in fact now suing a woman who decided to sell on eBay. Mary Jo Pletz originally decided to use eBay as a way to earn an income and also be able to stay home with her daughter who had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Mary Jo cooperated and immediately closed shop when she was notified in December 2006 that was she was doing was illegal. She went back to an out-of-the house job that required her daughter to go to day care. The state however is not backing down on the prosecution. (Read the full post about ‘State of Pennsylvania sues woman for selling on eBay without a license’…)

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Posted Feb 2nd 2008 8:38AM by Darren MurphFiled under: Gaming, Peripherals For Rock Band players that have also had some experience with a bona fide six-string, getting used to that plastic strum bar can take some work. For one gamer in particular, he decided to spend that time doing something a bit more productive than getting acclimated, like adding in an actual guitar string. There’s also a switch mechanism that gets triggered by said string, which then sends an input to the game. (Read the full post about ‘Rock Band mod adds actual guitar string, touch of class to axe’…)

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