SmartFaucet from iHouse – New Gadget in Your Bathroom

GadgTechWorld.blogspot.comInternet and high-tech gadgets have already penetrated in our life to an unbelievable level: cameras in belts, Bluetooth watches, electronic car keys finders and high technology is coming to our kitchens and bathrooms

Smartbuyglasses giveaway winner

The winner of the SmartBuyGlasses giftvoucher of 150 euro is Denise. Congratulations Denise, SmartBuyGlasses will contact you about your price.

More Flatbabies

Well we're getting down to the wire now...I think the mail is moving pretty well this year though so hopefully everyone will be getting these in time for the holidays, at least folks in the US at any rate.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Inkless photo printer that can be used in digital cameras


There is one more way to print your favorite pictures now. You can do it using no ink. That means that photo printers will become hand-held and you will be able to carry them around and print pictures whenever you want. No need to get home or to a shop to print out the pictures anymore.

Palaroid Company has invented a new way to print pictures. Now their printers do not use ink to print. These printing gadgets can be built into phones or digital cameras. The product will appear on market in the end of year 2007.

The principle of work is very simple; the paper is changing its color when heat is applied. So applying certain amount of heat will make the piece of paper change color to a specific one. You will not have to have liquid ink cartridges in your printer.

The paper that is used is not usual. It is originally white plastic that has several very thin layers. The layers are micro-thin layers of different colors: yellow on top, then goes magenta and on the very bottom cyan. When heat is applied the paper changes it color thanks to the different color layers.

When the heat is applied to the surface of the paper, the size and shape of the dye molecules changes from crystal to amorphous glasses and allows you to see the layer beneath it, releasing the color. The temperature and exposure on every pixel is controlled and you will be able to make some good pictures right after you have taken the shot. The yellow layer needs the highest temperature and has the shortest melting time. The magenta layer needs lower temperature and some more time to melt, and finally the cyan layer needs lowest temperature and longest exposure time to melt. This is how you can have color pictures at your hands any time you want.

A picture 5 cm x 7.5 cm will take about 30 seconds to print. Good speed for a new technology. However, the picture size is not that big. I think that it would take this new technology very long to replace our standard ways of printing photos. Old-fashion way of making photos is much faster and less expensive.

The printer will cost you about 0 and 100 sheets will cost you $ 20 so you should thing what you would like to buy. It is a pretty big price for something like that. We will se how good the pictures will be.

MP3 Player Running on Sugar with new Sony's Bio Battery

GadgTechWorld.blogspot.com

Have problems with electricity and recharging your batteries? You would not have those problems if you were using Sony's Bio battery that converts sugar into electricity. This would be a perfect solution for replacing ordinary batteries. It is not a very powerful gadget yet but as technology develops we will be getting more and more powerful units.

Sony has unveiled a prototype battery that converts sugar into electricity. But how does it work? All you need to make it work is sugar solution in each cell of the battery. There enzymes break it down that generates electricity. Then the electricity is being collected and directed to your device. The four cell (1.5 " each cell) battery gives 50 milliwatts of power which is enough to power an average digital MP3 player.

This is a wonderful replacement for usual batteries because it can produce electricity in places where there is no civilization. You will not take a bag of batteries with you when camping, however you can take a small bag sugar with you to power up your media gadget.

The only problem that I see with this gadget is that the battery is pretty big which will be problematic to carry around cause now it measures about 6 MP3 players.

Ultrasound Tactile Display - touch and feel virtual objects!


It is a sort of unspoken rule that many things earlier existing only in the sci-fi books are now real. It started with "Nautilus" of Jules Verne, and it continues even now. Twenty years ago many modern things was thought impossible and futuristic. Even now there are some things that are impossible if we think about them on a current stage of technology progress. However, technology developes and some of that variety of futuristic sci-fi things already exists in reality. Remember those holographic projectors? Their prototypes already exist, and they can show an image in full 3D, so you can go around them and see it from all sides. This invention is even more interesting - it creates virtual object in air, so you can feel it and even touch it!

Scientists from University of Tokyo made a very interesting research. They tried to incorporate all that is known about ultrasound, and make it work for creating an ultimate effect of touching objects, that exist only on computer screen. This is possible by using a small pad, made from ultrasound emitters. Controlled by computer, they make static distortions in the air, so we can feel like we are touching something. Camera controls position of fingers and other objects so the pad knows when to start working. This device was named Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display, designed by Professor Takayuki Iwamoto. It has some limitation on the current stage, capable only of producing vertical objects, but scientists are working to make it produce objects in full 3D.

Some industrial and gaming companies are already interested in this device, seeing its bright future. And they are right - if scientists will make it fully operational, it can bring the interaction with computer on a whole new level. Combined with holographic displays, it can fully imitate a real object, made entirely by your computer. It can be used in many ways - by engineers who design new machines or vehicles, 3D designers, and also in many other domains. Maybe this is the next level of interaction between user and computer - just like the mice and keyboards are nowadays?

Virtual Keyboard from i-Tech


Everybody uses keyboard every day. However the keyboard has not changed for several years now. You still get a piece of plastic with buttons on it. Besides, they are all big and take too much space. My office is not that big so I have to manage my space in there.

There are some flexible keyboards that can be rolled up however they still come as a piece of something with buttons that is not really small. Besides, you will not take your keyboard with you to a vacation. The i-Tech Company has created a gadget that is totally different but it is a keyboard. The trick is that it does not look like a keyboard until you turn it on. Besides, it has the Bluetooth technology built in to communicate with your computer.

It looks like a box covered with leather which makes it look presentable. What this gadget does is that it projects the keyboard on to the table. However, you have to be attentive here: the desk has to be as flat as possible in order for it to work properly. You just put it on the table turn it on and install some drivers to your computer and it is ready to work. You have to have the Bluetooth on you computer though. When you turn it on it projects a keyboard onto the table and you can type just like you would do using a regular keyboard. There is no speed loss in typing when you start using this gadget. It uses the Bluetooth technology so it has no wires to be connected to the computer. That makes it perfect transportable keyboard.

You can be writing something sitting on the sofa by the computer instead of sitting on an uncomfortable chair. A cool thing about this gadget is that it is compatible with almost any device that has Bluetooth built in. I have a palm PC from Dell and I have tried to connect this device to it. It really worked and now I can type and control my palm PC with help of this keyboard. It is very convenient because now I do not have to take my Laptop with me when I go somewhere far. It is a very handy device.

Its bottom is weighted so it is somewhat stable besides I was even able to use it in my car while my wife was driving. It has a lithium rechargeable battery and is charged form an AC outlet. I think that this is an ultimate gadget keyboard made by i-Tech. After I bought this gadget I have thrown my old keyboard away because it is more convenient to use this one instead. However, when I take it with me my wife cannot access to the computer and therefore I had to buy another one so she has one too. It is really fun having such a nice gadget and I advise all of my friends to get one too.

USB Mouse with VoIP technology



We have reviewed a few VoIP enabled devices recently. There where telephones that had this technology, mice and other accessories. Here is another accessory that can be used as a telephone when you talk using Skype.

You don't see these gadgets very often in the stores because they are not very popular. However, this one might be one of the best ones. This is the VM-01L from Skype-on. You can use it as a usual mouse and transform it into a phone by just flipping it open.

When you flip it open it turns into a regular phone that has all the features of the phone. There are even the number keys and you can dial the number playing your favorite game.

This mouse is different and is much more sophisticated than the ones that I have seen before. Besides, having the VoIP technology built in it has some more features that I would love to use.



1. It has a TFT display that has the resolution of 128 x 64 pixels where you can see all the info that you need. It is very comfortable because you can see who is calling when watching a video or working on some graphics when you do not see the notification on the computer monitor.

2. USB be cable 1.5 meters long. I uses USB 1.1, however it is still enough for the mouse and phone features.

3. The thing I like about the mouse part is the resolution of optical sensor. It is 1000 DPI which is pretty good for a mouse and especially a mouse like this.

4. The thing I like the most about this gadget is that you can connect 2.5 mm headphones with microphone and talk to anybody you want still having your mouse on the table. This is very comfortable because if not having this technology your would have to buy another mouse or just wait when you finish the talk if you want to do something on your computer while talking.

This mouse is not big and its shape is made in the classic style so no surprises here. Its dimensions are 55 mm x 105 mm x 33 mm. It is smaller then my regular mouse at home. And it weighs amazing 85 grams so it is lighter then a cell phone.

You can buy this mouse for about $ 40 to $ 50.

Rings that can help us communicate with each other...



Or not, who knows? The thing about these rings is very unusual it will prevent us from that small introduction so you can start talking to the person like you already know him.

Each ring would have the information stored about its owner. When you shake hands with somebody else the ring will transmit your information and till download the information from his or her ring.

You can read the info about the man later on when you have some free time to find out who you have been talking to. Besides, this gadget stores all the information like his or her name, phone number business etc. It would be very convenient to use them because you wouldn't need any business cards anymore.

It is very convenient on one hand. When you are at somebody's party and you do not know anybody it is very easy to make friends and just to talk to somebody.

The technology is progressing so fast that these rings are now possible to make. These rings are a concept and they are not being produced yet. However I think that they will appear in future because it saves a whole bunch of time to people.



There is problem with these gadget rings too. First is that you have to necessary shake hands with the person that you want to meet. I heard some people say that it will help the bacteria spread and stuff. I do not really agree with that but I think that the range of work of these rings should be increased to several inches so people do not have to touch each other's hands.

The other problem about this rings and I think very serious. You get the information about the man later on when you have some free time. Why don't they make it readable at the moment you get it? When you meet a person you do not even know his name. So I think that these gadgets should have some kind of reading assistant or something like that to help you find out more about the person that you have just met.

The opinion that only the freaks and people who are afraid of touches and stuff would wear those gadget rings is not correct. Communication will still be at the same level. Of course if a person wants to communicate. However, if you do not have time these rings will save you the time that you would need to talk to the guy.

I think that these gadget rings will certainly appear in our society and very many people will use it. However there are some changes that have to be made in order for this product to have success.

Just another thought: Why do people create gadgets that replace communication but do not create gadget just to enhance the communication? That is a good question and I do not really know the answer.

Nano Sized Bendable Batteries - Future is Near



The biggest problem of all gadgets is battery life. Cell phone or audio player, it becomes completely dead when its battery is depleted. Sometimes it is very annoying when in the middle of long trip you are left with no gadgets to entertain you. Moreover, dead GPS in a forest or tourist journey can mean a ruined trip. The only solution to this problem is better batteries. However, the laws of nature are cruel - the more battery holds, the bigger and heavier it is. However, an answer comes straight from nanotechnologies.



Scientists at UCLA have made an interesting, yet useful invention. They built and showed to the public the first nanotube batteries, which will be, as we think, a great replace for modern Li-Ion or Li-Pol batteries. They are less than millimeter thin, and have the structure almost like the old rechargeable batteries do, using zinc-carbon makeup - they are composed of thin layers of zinc and manganese oxide over a layer of nanotubes. They are very thin and small, and because of nanotubes they are bendable too.


Unfortunately, the energy produced by this type of batteries is very small at this level. However, with the current rate of technology development, it will be easy to solve that problem - that's what lead scientist George Gruner says.

In the future, these nano-batteries can be used even for producing a powered T-Shirts or jackets - imagine your clothes, that recharge your gadgets while you are on the go. It is amazing to think that huge and heavy box-like batteries as we know them now will become a thing of the past, making way for a true high-tech thin and bendable ones.