Lists

Condensed Knowledge – April 5, 2009

This is a summary of articles I read and found interesting during this past week. The list is shared from among my feed subscriptions:

Standard
Lists

Gadget Monday – March 30, 2009

Here is this week’s list of cool gadgets. Did you see last week’s edition?

Samsung HZ15W Digital Camera

Available starting this month, the HZ15W digital camera has a 12 megapixel sensor and a 10x Schneider zoom lens that starts at an ultra-wide 24mm. The camera also has built-in optical and digital image stabilization, and it records HD video at 720p and H.264 compression. Users can utilize the zoom freely while shooting HD video, which is still a rare feature on digital cameras. The HDMI output allows it to be connected directly to an HDTV.

The HZ15W replaces the HZ10W, which was launched in January at CES and is pictured below.

Samsung HZ10W Digital Camera

2TB Hard Drive from Western Digital

WDC is the first company to have come out with a 2TB internal hard drive. It’s a 3.0GB/s SATA drive that will make a lot of Drobo owners very, very happy.

Western Digital 2TB SATA Hard Drive - 1

Sony Ericsson Idou mobile phone

A new touch screen mobile phone from Sony Ericsson with a 12 megapixel camera and a big 3.5 inch (16:9, 640×320 pixels) display. It has all the goodies you’d expect from a smartphone, and it’ll go on sale later this year.

Sony Ericsson Idou Phone

[via LikeCool]

Canon PowerShot D10 digital camera

This little camera is waterproof (up to 10m depth), shockproof (up to 1.2m fall) and freezeproof (to -10°C). It’ll go on sale in May for $330 MSRP, street price will be lower. It has a 12 megapixel sensor, 3x zoom and it shoots SD 480p video.

Canon PowerShot D10 - 1

Canon PowerShot D10 - 2

[via Canon and LikeCool]

Studio FRST’s 16943 HDTV

The 16943 is a conceptual design for an HDTV that definitely grabbed my attention. It breaks out of the mold of the squarish TV design and allows one to view 4:3 or 16:9 movies at their intended aspect ratios, without letterboxing or pillarboxing them. The designers also want to include a built-in DVD player on the side, which is a nice touch but not really needed, since most people will play their content from other sources, not DVDs, in the future.

Studio FRST 16943 HDTV - 1

Studio FRST 16943 HDTV - 2

Studio FRST 16943 HDTV - 3

[via FRST and The Design Blog]

Interdepartment Mail laptop sleeve by Kena Kai

Made of white Italian leather, this is one beautiful laptop sleeve. Available for $70 directly from Kena Kai.

interoffice-mail1

interoffice-mail2

[via TrustyPony]

Modular office desk and bed by Florian Jouy

This neat desk can be unfolded and used as a bed at the day’s end. Great for small spaces.

modular-desk-and-bed-1

modular-desk-and-bed-2

[via The Design Blog]

Standard
Lists

Condensed Knowledge – March 29, 2009

This is a summary of articles I read and found interesting during this past week. The list is shared from among my feed subscriptions:

Standard
Places

Fake explosion at Key Bridge over Potomac on Wednesday

This Wednesday, March 23, a fake explosion will take place at or near the Key Bridge over the Potomac River, in Washington, DC, between 9:30 am and noon. A new TV show called “Washington Field” is being filmed there. One of the scenes in the pilot involves a sculling boat that blows up.

Key Bridge over Potomac

The explosion will yield a 20-30 foot fireball which should injure no one if everything goes according to plan. The Potomac Boat Club, founded in 1869, is right at the foot of the bridge, so I think it’s in the plot as well.

A short video of mine, filmed in the spring of 2007, and titled Washington DC Panoramic, features the Key Bridge.

Washington DC Panoramic from Raoul Pop on Vimeo.

[via Reuters]

Standard
Lists

Gadget Monday – March 23, 2009

Here are this week’s seven cool gadgets. Did you see last week’s edition?

Terrafugia Transition

I wrote about the Terrafugia vehicle back in March of 2006, three years ago. On March 5th of this year, a couple of weeks ago, their first working prototype, the Terrafugia Transition, made a successful runway-only flight. I’m really glad to see they managed to get their design built and working!

The Transition has foldable wings that extend and lock into place when it’s time to fly. It changes from a car into an airplane in less than 30 seconds. It has a top speed of 65 mph on the ground and 115 mph in the air. Its approximate fuel economy is 30 mpg, and it can fly about 450 miles on a full tank. Retail price is $194,000.

terrafugia_morning_hangar

klwmtaxi

first_flight_chase_plane

first_flight_chase_truck

terrafugia_formation

transitiongasstation

Videos (1st, 2nd, 3rd)

[via Terrafugia and Jalopnik]

KOZO Lamps by Design2009

These lamps from Design2009 are hand-made from old-style galvanized steel pipes and feature a faucet-like switch. They can be used with incandescent or halogen light bulbs.

KOZO1

KOZO2

KOZO3

[via LikeCool]

The Jenga Pistol

It’s a coil-action pistol that can be used to knock out Jenga blocks. Watch the video and see, my description is lamer than what this gadget does.

[via Look At This]

SwitchEasy ThumbTacks

They look like thumbtacks, but they’re microphones for your iPod. So cool! At only $13, I’d grab a couple in a heartbeat, except they won’t work with my 1st generation iPod Touch; they only work with the iPod Nano 4G and iPod Touch 2G.

switcheasy-thumbtack-1

switcheasy-thumbtack-2

switcheasy-thumbtack-3

[via SwitchEasy and LikeCool]

Collapsible Crutch

This may be one gadget I’d rather not use unless it was absolutely necessary, but let me tell you, if it were necessary, I’d rather be stuck with these. I was on crutches almost 10 years ago because of a knee operation, and I found it annoyingly difficult to get them in and out of the car. These collapsible crutches expand and contract very easily, which makes that task a snap.

Collapsible Crutch - 1

Collapsible Crutch - 2

Collapsible Crutch - 3

[via The Design Blog]

D3O

This wonder gel is soft at first touch, but it turns into a solid upon hard impact. It’s already being used in sportswear, and now the British Army has signed a contract with Blue Divine Ltd, the maker of the gel, so it can be used in the helmets of British soldiers. Very cool!

d3o-1

d3o-2

d3o-3

[via Mail Online and Look At This]

Iglooplay Mod Rocker

Someone tell me why this cool rocker is only made for kids? It’s so nice I’d get one myself. It’s made by ModernNursery of molded plywood, and can take up to 450 lbs of weight.

iglooplay-mod-rocker-1

[via The Design Blog]

Standard