Gadgets Base

Vizio, who is currently the “fastest growing brand of flat panel HDTVs in North America” has found a great partnership with big-box retailer Wal-Mart. Even with the Vizio lineup in the stores for less than a full year, that was still enough to have Wal-Mart give them some well deserved recognition as the Electronics Supplier of the Year for 2007. The award comes in part because according to Wal-Mart most of the Vizio models were among the top selling flat panel HDTV’s.

I guess with a combination of “Every Day Low Prices” from Wal-Mart and “Where Vision Meets Value” from Vizio it almost seems like a match-up that was waiting to happen.

Read [Yahoo! Finance]

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Posted Mar 11th 2008 7:26PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Considering how much impact our gadgets already have on our day-to-day lives, we not sure we don’t already live in a mixed reality environment, but researchers at the University of Illinois have created what they say is the first true mixed reality system based on a pendulum and its virtual counterpart. Both the real pendulum and the simulation mimic each others’ movements exactly — adjusting the motor affects the simulation and adjusting the parameters of the simulation affects the motor — blurring the line between the real and the virtual. That sounds simple, sure, but it’s the first successful system of its kind — as researcher Alfred Hubler put it, “[The pendulums] suddenly noticed each other, synchronized their motions, and danced together indefinitely.” Seeing as simply creating a mixed-reality pendulum took super-fast processors, we doubt we’re any closer to the Matrix — unless it’s a Matrix inside another Matrix. We need to go lie down.

Posted Mar 11th 2008 4:12PM by Nilay PatelOur inevitable incorporation into the gray goo inches ever closer today, as researchers in Japan have developed a chemical brain that can control up to eight nanomachines — and one day could control thousands. The “brain” is actually a ring of 17 duroquinone molecules, which together measure just two nanometers across. Each molecule can be rotated to four different positions, controlled by the state of the center molecule. In tests, researchers were able to simultaneously control eight nanomachines using the brain, compelling them to dock and undock from the brain. The structure of the brain also means up to 4 billion possible configurations can be switched simply by manipulating one molecule, which may eventually give rise to computing applications — but those are limited for now, since issuing instructions involves the use of scanning tunnel microscopy. That’s a relief — gray was never really our color anyway.

Posted Mar 12th 2008 3:12AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Portable Audio
var Uh oh. Japan’s trade and economy ministry is now officially investigating the explosive nature of the iPod nano. The culprit is model MA099J/A — AKA, the old black and white plastic model already reported to spew “chest high flames,” cause bedroom fires, and explode across the floor. The Japan incident occurred in January when an ipod nano reportedly “shot out sparks while recharging.” At this point, all odds are with the nano’s lithium ion battery. Apple Japan has been ordered to investigate the issue and report back to the ministry with the cause. Kind of like asking the fox what it was doing in the hen house, eh?

Posted Mar 11th 2008 9:06PM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable AudioWe’ve seen extravagant iPod docks before, but this Krell and MartinLogan “ElectroKID” bundle put together by the folks at Absolute Sounds makes just about all those other pretenders pale in comparison. At the heart of things here is the Krell KID ipod dock, which boasts ” top-quality preamp circuitry” and is also available separately for a mere £1,350 (or about $2,700). That gets teamed up with a pair of MartinLogan Purity floorstanding speakers (£2,390, or $4,800 on their own), which each pack their own 200W power amp and, as you can see, make quite the statement in any room you place ‘me in. If that’s sounds like the missing piece to your iPod puzzle, you can get the complete system now for £3,740, or just over $7,500 (that’s right, not even a discount to entice you).

Posted Mar 11th 2008 11:35PM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: cellphones
This is just getting silly, don’t you think? The iphone Dev Team has once again proven their totally gnarly talents by freeing up the latest firmware before it’s even the latest firmware. Apple, here’s our suggestion — just let people do what they want with your devices, since they’re clearly going to do it anyway. That way, instead of making enemies, you’re making lifelong buddies. Reasonable, right? Steve, give us a call, we’re more than happy to riff on some ideas for playing nice with the end-user.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Posted Mar 11th 2008 2:12PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Misc. gadgets
Just when we thought we had enough problems with cops thinking innocent MP3 players were weapons, along comes this Magpul prototype FMG-9 submachine gun. Ordinarily disguised as a flashlight, a touch of a button lets you pull a Megatron and flip out a fully-functional submachine gun. If you don’t want either, the whole thing folds into a back-pocket sized brick — but as the demo dude says, if it “gets nasty, get down to business.” Video after the break.

Posted Mar 11th 2008 12:14PM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Digital Cameras
Finally, all of your boy- and girlhood dreams of X-ray specs are coming to fruition… sort of. A company called ThruVision has pioneered a camera system which is able to peer beneath clothing using teraherz waves (T-waves). Unfortunately for perved-out snoopers, the 80-foot-ranged camera can’t make out “anatomical details,” rather, it can only see materials like plastic, metal, and gels or liquids. The company sees use for the surveillance systems in places like airports or government buildings, where the ever-staring eye of Big Brother is most needed. Still, this is certainly preferable to Total Recall-like X-rays, or those strip searches we keep getting when we travel lately. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Thanks, Justin]

Posted Mar 11th 2008 3:14PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Misc. gadgetsSure, we’ve seen brain power used to give mobility back to the immobile, but a new development in Europe is one-upping current efforts by adding in a hint of artificial intelligence to the tried and true brain-computer interface. The MAIA BCI not only converts signals emitted by the brain into actions — such moving a wheelchair forward — it also thinks for itself when needed in order to assist the user in getting where he / she wants to go. Essentially, the individual need only think about going left or forward (for example), and the machine itself will automatically detect obstacles and potential barriers in order to move more efficiently. As it stands, there’s still quite a bit of testing to be done before MAIA-based wheelchairs would be available to the public, but researchers are already hoping to integrate said technology into artificial limbs and the like.

[Via Physorg]