All posts from Coolest Gadgets

This is your life and its ending one leaf at a time

Last Call movie uses an audience member’s cell phone for even more horror

Corner’s Communication prevents collisions with strangers

Wireless Remote Controlled Outlet

Western Digital My Passport AV portable media drive

GPS Travelogue

Boombox Freeview DVD Projector

Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.[ Gadget Thumbnails for 11-Mar-2010 copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Normally I don’t report on anything that STIHL does, as I’m not big on leaf blowers. However, the ad department came up with a very interesting ad campaign: a calendar that peels itself off.
You can watch a video of it after the jump, and it works by simply ripping out the book binding thread that mounts the pages together. As you can see, the pages fall like leaves. I’m guessing that you probably want to keep a garbage can, recycling bin, or compost pit underneath this wall calendar.
So far as my sources reveal, this looks like it is purely a concept. I’m guessing that it probably wouldn’t be economically feasible to market a calendar that is only good for the fall with some sort of battery-powered motor to do the whole leaf-falling thing.
There would have to be some kind of timer thing to control the falling of leaves, right? What happens if this malfunctions? I would hate to get up and find that my three-month calendar is scattered all over the floor and needs to be raked up.
That, or perhaps the timer starts dropping the leaves in fast motion, like it shows at the end of the video. That just reminds me of montage scenes in movies to show the passage of time, or the last few seconds of the Bangles “Manic Monday” video.
Source

Check out the Coolest Gadgets 2008 Gift Guides, Christmas shopping made easy.[ This is your life and its ending one leaf at a time copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

I realize that most of you cannot stand it when someone’s cell phone rings during the theater, but imagine watching a film that was dependent on having a cell phone call from an audience member during the film.
This is the technology from Last Call from 13th Street, an interactive horror film. Sometime, during the movie, an audience member’s cellular phone will ring, and it is up to this audience member to give the character on screen directions.
You can watch a video after the jump to see how the startled damsel in distress from Last Call tries to escape from the mad slasher. Yes, she actually calls an audience member during the film, and his or her voice commands tell her to go left or right, up or down, and so on.
The technology of vocal recognition is limited, but it is enough to apparently change the plot of the movie (think Choose Your Own Adventure book). Of course, in order to get this to work, each member of the audience must send 13th Street their mobile number. However, this is all taken care of with flyers given to the audience members with instructions that are carried out before the previews show.
Of course, what if the movie calls, and no one picks up. Does that mean the movie takes an even darker direction as no one will help the poor main character? By the way, this photo is from When a Stranger Calls, something that will probably need to be remade again with this new technology.
Source

Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.[ Last Call movie uses an audience member’s cell phone for even more horror copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

For some reason strange mishaps tend to happen around me.  I stumble over invisible objects and usually if someone is casually tossing anything, it will definitely come in contact with my head when I’m not looking.  Which means I’m also one of those people that collides with others as I round the corners of buildings.  Thankfully, it actually appears that I’m not the only one.  Especially since someone designed a gadget that is made to alert people of someone else’s presence before they collide.
It does this by lighting up and beeping on the other side of the corner as you’re going around it.  Then if you hear the beep you can slow down or somehow attempt to avert running into a complete stranger.  Unfortunately, it’s a concept design.  Plus, it’s unlikely that cities will spend the amount of cash it would take to get these installed on every single corner.
Source: OhGizmo
Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.[ Corner’s Communication prevents collisions with strangers copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

If you like to keep track of your travels, this small device is the way to do it.  It’s small enough to keep in your pocket and it will keep track of your journey, wherever you end up.  Then you can upload the information to your computer and have the information to cherish for all time.  It’d be great for parents sending their children off to travel in foreign countries.
It has 64MB of internal memory and can hold up to 260,000 waypoints.  You can set it to record points between one second and 59 minutes.  It has a durable water-resistant frame that’ll allow it to survive in different environments.  When you charge the small gadget for 2 hours it’ll give you 30 hours of use at one-second intervals.  After you’ve tracked all of those points you can upload the information to Google Earth.  You can purchase the GPS Travelogue for $149.95 through Hammacher.
Source: Ubergizmo

Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool [ GPS Travelogue for world travelers copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

If you don’t have enough remotes to lose as it is, now you can have a kit that’ll give you one more.  Sure, it’ll be helpful so long as you can manage to keep track of the remote.  Otherwise you’ll just have more spots to walk to and push buttons to turn everything off.  Since there are a lot of apartments that lack overhead lighting, this is a quick solution so that you don’t have to go around the room turning off various lamps.
The kit comes with a total of 3 outlets that will accommodate one gadget a piece.  The down side is that they look like they could eat up your outlet space.  On the up side though, it’ll simplify turning off and on electronics.  On the remote you can choose which of the specific outlets to flip off or on.  You can purchase the 3-Pack Wireless Remote Control Outlet Switch for $19.96 through Amazon.
Source: GadgetGrid

Check out the Coolest Gadgets 2008 Gift Guides, Christmas shopping made easy.[ Wireless Remote Controlled Outlet copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Western Digital is back with a new My Passport AV portable media drive, where this model was built specially for video storage and playback, capable of delivering a plug-and-play experience for digital media enthusiasts. It will come in just one size so that you won’t need to worry about choosing between various capacities? After all, it isn’t exactly terribly expensive with 320GB of storage space compared to a few years ago, as the Western Digital My Passport AV portable media drive will retail for a mere $104.99 which makes it highly affordable. More details on this highly versatile portable media drive right after the jump.
After all, there is a fast growing number of game consoles, camcorders, TVs, DVRs, Blu-ray players and media players (which includes the WD TV Media Player family, of course) that enables consumers to hook up a USB drive and play the multimedia content straight from the drive on an HD TV without the need to go through the traditional computer middleman. Meant to meet the requirements of this demanding video streaming environment, the My Passport AV portable media drive is capable of delivering the formatting and low-power consumption which assures out-of-the-box compatibility with many leading CE (consumer electronics) devices.
Western Digital has brainstormed with other companies, making their My Passport AV portable media drive to operate seamlessly with the Direct Copy feature offered in Sony’s new Handycam video recorders. The Direct Copy function allows Handycam users to offload and archive HD video straight onto a My Passport AV portable media drive without the need for a computer, where it will free up more space to shoot more HD videos when their Handycam hard drive becomes filled to the brim. All your stored videos can be viewed simply by connecting the My Passport AV portable media drive, and its small footprint makes it a snap to be integrated into any home entertainment ecosystem easily.
Press Release
Check out the Coolest Gadgets 2008 Gift Guides, Christmas shopping made easy.[ Western Digital My Passport AV portable media drive copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

GPS is fast catching on, and there are many devices these days that sport GPS navigation support. The GPS Travelogue is yet another one of those, where it will rely on GPS technology to track and record everywhere you travel, letting you upload your journey to online mapping applications such as Google Earth later on. All locations are stored in real time thanks to its integrated 64MB of flash memory at intervals which are pre-determined by you – they range between one second and 59 minutes, and has enough memory to hold up to 260,000 waypoints including altitude, speed, time, and distance. Tiny enough to fit into your palm, the GPS Travelogue is compatible with Windows 7, XP or Vista operating systems. A two-hour charge can offer enough juice for the entire day, and then some. The GPS Travelogue will retail for $149.95 from Hammacher.

Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool [ GPS Travelogue copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

While Blu-ray players are picking up in terms of popularity and gaining acceptance worldwide, DVDs are still extremely popular. The Boombox Freeview DVD Projector caters for your massive collection of DVDs even if there is no TV around – after all, the built-in projector works just great, projecting a screen size of up to 75″ in size. This swivelling LED-powered projector also comes with an integrated DVB-T tuner just in case you want to catch up on your regular TV shows wherever you go. Other features include CD playback, an integrated FM radio, audio input and integrated speakers. The Boombox Freeview DVD Projector is currently going for £329.99.

Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool [ Boombox Freeview DVD Projector copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Seven45 Studios unveil SixString guitar controller

Canon REALiS SX7 Mark II Multimedia LCOS Projector

Samsung unveils R1 and R0 portable media players

The Water-Scraper: I would live on it without a huge eco-disaster

ExiTool: For those who fear being snagged by the seatbelt

Waterpebble tracks water used

BreathKey Breathalyzer

Marvel Coloud Headphones

Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.[ Gadget Thumbnails for 10-Mar-2010 copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Canon has come up with a brand new REALiS SX7 Mark II Multimedia LCOS projector for the masses, where it will merge the award-winning features of REALiS projectors alongside a rather impressive 4,000 lumens of brightness as well as a Photo Image Mode that will assist users with advanced color management and adjustments for ambient lighting conditions. Under the Photo Image Mode, users will be able to make changes as well as improve the look and feel of the content being projected. This would mean changing the Color Level and Color Temperature functions, alongside the capability of fine-tuning both the intensity of colors and the color temperature by selecting from easy-to-use presets. Not only that, the Photo Image Mode will also include an Ambient Light function which can then be used to compensate for lighting conditions for both the type of lighting (Tungsten, Fluorescent and Fluorescent H) and intensity (Low, Medium or High). You can also pick the ambient light function if you happen to display content and cannot control the lighting conditions.
The REALiS SX7 Mark II Multimedia LCOS Projector sports an advanced LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) technology that when coupled with Canon’s patented, proprietary AISYS (Aspectual Illumination System) Optical Engine, packs quite a visual punch for your audience. Working in tandem with other high quality specifications including SXGA+ (1,400 x 1,050) native resolution and the aforementioned 4,000 lumens of brightness, you will be able to deliver extraordinary detailed, lattice-free motion and still images to the masses, making it ideal for situations such as classrooms, meeting/board rooms, photo studios and seminars/conferences.
Apart from all that was mentioned, the Canon REALiS SX7 Mark II Multimedia LCOS Projector also supports Adobe RGB and sRGB color spaces. Both of these color spaces are extremely important to professionals demanding precise color-matching in the following fields of work, and will also feature a genuine Canon 1.7x Powered Zoom/Focus Lens for ease of projector placement, DVI-I Terminal availability for a true digital connection for high quality images and video, Off & Go system that allows the projector to be unplugged as soon as it is tuned off. Expect to fork out $6,999 for the REALiS SX7 Mark II Multimedia Projector when it arrives in early April.
Press Release
Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.[ Canon REALiS SX7 Mark II Multimedia LCOS Projector copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

For those of you who are recuperating in a wheelchair to get about, how about adding some zest to your ordinary adventures with the wUnderglow Wheelchair Light? After all, it not only enhances night-time visibility but provides a fun “underglow” effect similar to those colored light tubes as found on the underside of some rice rockets. A white micro-light is there to light your way, while multi-colored strobing micro-lights make room for added visibility and an “underglow”. A 360-degree rotatable clip allows you to point light in any direction, and batteries are easily replaced. A single wUnderglow Wheelchair Light kit will cost $25.
Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.[ wUnderglow Wheelchair Light copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]