The Geek Church

What you are seeing here in this image isn’t just a picture of a metal ball tossed in the air. This is a ball that is hovering, and it moves.

You can catch a video of it in motion after the jump, and it works with a precision electromagnet fitted to a moving actuator. The guys that made this weren’t just trying to make a cool magic trick, but there are some cool applications of this technology.

For example, you will notice that you can use this to solve problems with planetary orbits. Yes, I don’t often have any planetary orbit problems that I am working on, but I know what I want to use this as: a mouse.

I believe that computers are going to get more and more 3D, so it will become necessary to create an interface the works in a 3D workspace. Why not have a mouse that can float in the air, especially if you can use it as a camera, as seen in the video.

This is an excellent future, isn’t it? If only every house had a floating ball?

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I think we all know the old saying about people living in glass houses, and this home, known as House NA, is one that you do not want to be throwing stones in.

Designed by an award-winning architect named Sou Fujimoto, this uses glass walls and opaque floor plates. He was apparently inspired by a tree, and says: “The intriguing point of a tree is that these places are not hermetically isolated but are connected to one another…”

This House NA brings up something that I once thought about while in college: If you lived in a glass house, how much of your activities would you have to hide? Hopefully, only what you do in the bathroom is the only area of your life that you don’t want people watching. I have no idea if the bathroom has non-transparent walls, but I would demand that if I was ever living in this house.

In case you are wondering, there are curtains that provide some level of privacy for those living in this fishbowl. You may notice that the porches do not have any safety rails, so I am guessing OSHA hasn’t visited this place lately.

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I have reviewed a lot of portable battery packs for mobile devices before, and they are generally very small and made for giving your smartphone or whatever device you have just a bit more juice before the battery goes dead.

I see no point in linking to other articles that I have written about these mobile power batteries, and as I have said before, they are really all alike. The Resync from Brunton is a definite step forward from traditional power packs.

First of all, the Resync is made to charge a mobile device more than once. According to its official stats, it can charge a tablet computer 1-2 times, an MP3 player 7-9 times, a smartphone 7-8 times, a portable game console 7-9 times, and a point-and-shoot camera about 5-7 times. By the way, it is programmed to not overcharge your device, which means it is pretty eco-friendly as well.

Of course, this makes the device slightly larger than most battery packs, and I can totally live with that. I also found that this thing is more durable than ordinary battery packs with its rubberized shell.

You should be able to purchase the Brunton Resync for a cost of about $139.00 from places like the LL Bean catalog.

In full interest of the pursuit of truth, I want to say that I can’t really verify whether or not this story is true. I mean, the sources are pretty reliable.

Essentially, Mickey Drexler, a board member of Apple, not to mention the CEO of J. Crew, revealed that Steve Jobs once wanted to build an automobile with the Apple brand. He goes further to say that “Steve’s dream before he died was to design an iCar”.

As you can see, I even have a graphic of what the iCar would look like, and it looks like it had flat tires and no doors. What is up with that?

Of course, it really is just a matter of supposition whether or not Steve wanted to change the auto industry before he died. He certainly did a lot more than most people in the tech world have done, and it will constantly live on for years.

As it is, the auto industry is moving away from gasoline with hybrid vehicles, and perhaps Jobs meant to surf that wave of change with the iCar. I suppose that we will never know.

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It has been almost six months since CES, and I have just been recently receiving products that I first saw there. One of them is the AfterShokz Mobile, which has bone conduction.

If you are not familiar with bone conduction, it is essentially headphones that don’t fit in the ear, but still require some contact with the skin. In the case of the Aftershokz Mobile, these essentially rest through the listener’s cheekbones to the inner ear. I found that I was immersed in the world of sound, but I could still hear important sounds that I would need to hear in case of emergency.

As mentioned in the headline, this has an in-line mic, which means that you can make phone calls with it. It is compatible with the 3.5 mm standard connectors of smartphones like the iPhone. Should a call come in while listening to music on said device, it will interrupt the music and activate this in-line microphone.

Granted, these Mobile headphones require a charge in order to work, but they come with a charger to help that out. The downside of this is that you cannot listen and charge the headphones at the same time.

If you want to get in on this Mobile with In-Line Mic action, head over to the AfterShokz site and lay down $69.95 for it.

Personally, I think that waterfall projection is a fairly underused medium. Perhaps I don’t live in a city like Osaka, where there is this display in the South Gate Building in the Osaka Station City shopping mall in Japan.

This display is created by Koei Industry, and it can put the current time on a waterfall. It can also do some other interesting scrolling effects as well. Just think of it as a lightboard, but with water.

I can’t help but wonder if other shopping malls and other places of business will put in one of these water clocks. I can totally see many people pitching pennies into these, which is enough to justify a business installing one of these things.

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I like Augmented Reality as much as the next guy, but sadly, I feel that it is really a special effect that gives only a temporary thrill. It would appear that Zappar, an augmented reality platform, has put this interesting feature on some place where it may not belong, on modern literary classics.

As you can see from the video, you can see this applied on Augmented Reality classics like Moby Dick and Lady Audley’s Secret. You will note that it brings some interesting animations from the cover to life, but shouldn’t we just read the books?

In other words, do we really need the first few lines of Moby Dick put in a whale shape? Does this really make the novel “come to life”?

Yeah, I’m not certain how necessary this is, and it is sadly backed by the big publisher of classic books: Penguin.

This is one of those times where I believe that technology really damages works of literature worse than a “modern telling” of a classic story in movie format.

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I’m sure that most of you know that I am a pretty big iHome fan. I recently reviewed their iC50 FM Stereo Alarm Clock for Android devices, and I have reviewed other of their famous iPhone/iPod docks as well.

It would appear that iHome is up to their old tricks with the iP76. This one is pretty cool as it is a Color Changing Speaker Tower. I would imagine that it uses the same basic technology in the iP18, but on a larger scale. The color-changing feature certainly gives a cool mood feeling, but there is another bonus.

The iP76 is also about to sync with a Bluetooth compatible device, so if you can sync it, you can listen to it with Reson8 speakers that have made iHome famous.

Not only can it do these two features, but it is also a way to power up your iPhone and iPod when docked. Just to let you know, this stands at three feet high, so it will be a beautiful feature to your home like the rest of your furniture.

You should be able to purchase the iHome iP76 sometime in July for about $199.99.

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Pelican makes some pretty fine products with a lot of cases for laptops and other devices. I had a chance to try out one of their LED lights with the 1910, and I must say, it is bright.

The moment I took it out of the box and pressed the “on” button, I could see the light very clearly, and it was very bright out today.

I’m not certain how the 1910 does it with only one AAA battery, but it has a hi-lumen output for some serious shine. All that, from something that is less than a half a foot in length, and it is quite durable.

You should be able to get more information about this on the Pelican site and get a quote as well.

Every year at CES, Samsung has a whole slough of stuff, and it tends to come out “whenever” during the rest of the year. In the case of their camcorders, the QF20 and W300, have finally come to the United States.

The QF20 is for those who want to quickly download their videos to Facebook, Picasa, or YouTube wirelessly. Your videos will be in 1080p resolution, and, if you need it, it has a 20x zoom.

For those who want a more tough model of camcorder should look into the W300. It can handle a lot of drops and knocks, and it is waterproof up to 15 feet underwater and can handle a 6 foot drop.

The QF20 is available for a price of about $350, while the W300 is about $160.

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I’m sure that a lot of Harry Potter fans would love to know that there is a Kickstarter project that involves a Bluetooth connected “magic wand”.

The Incantor is created by a Rhode Island company known as Movable Code, and it is made for playing a game where waving one’s wand will affect the game. It works with some haptic feedback, and I am guessing that different waves translate to different spells. And you thought that The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker for the GameCube was cool. (Actually, a lot of people say that this game was the worst in the series.)

In all honesty, this isn’t a game I would play in public. As much as I like Harry Potter, you won’t see me carrying around a wand. I don’t know if there are other styles of this wand, but it looks like a heavy metal accessory. I think this would creep out Voldermort.

Well, this is one of those Kickstarter projects, which means you have to pledge some money to get it, and they are looking for your funding.

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I think we are all familiar with the Segway, even if we have never ridden on one. Honda has recently unveiled plans for the UNI-CUB, a personal mobility device that only has one wheel, and you sit on it instead of standing.

Having never rode a Segway before, I am told that it works by sort of leaning and thinking about going in the right direction. The UNI-CUB apparently works the same, but there is greater mobility as the user can even go sideways thanks to the omni-directional wheel.

You will notice that the UNI-CUB doesn’t take up as much space as a Segway, your hands are free, and you can put your feet on the floor. The top speed is about 4 km/hr, and the range is about 6 km.

You should see the UNI-CUB sometime in June, but I don’t have any word on the price.

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There are some devices that haven’t really been improved over the years, and the snorkel is one of them. That has changed now that someone has come up with an improvement that I never would have imagined with the Powerbreather.

The Powerbreather straps on the swimmer’s face with some elastic material, and the air is inhaled through the back, with water being prevented from entering through the check valve. Air is then exhaled through the mouthpiece, and no stale air is ever inhaled, which can apparently “eliminate the fatigue effects associated with snorkel use”.

Yeah, I pretty much took that last part from my Source. I think this shows how little that I know about snorkeling. I personally like that you can swim without having to swivel your neck, which is a very cool way to live in the water.

Sadly, there is no word on price or availability, but as we head into summer, I could use something like this.

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Okay, so what are we looking at here? Yes, it is a phone that looks like Iron Man’s glove, as my Sources say.

However, let’s get more original. I can’t help but think of old episodes of the Inspector Gadget cartoon as I see this man use the “call me” sign to actually make a phone call.

There are two things about this Glove One that I like. First of all, the numbers are on the fingers themselves. Second, it is possible to print the plastic joints with a 3D printer so you can build your own Glove One. Third, it is just plain cool.

Now, here is what I don’t like: I can’t seem to find any place to actually buy a Glove One. Apparently, this is an “art project” designed by Bryan Cera. My Source says that “it is both the literalization of Sherry Turkle’s notion of technology as a phantom limb, in how we augment ourselves through an ambivalent reliance on it, as well as a celebration of the freedom we seek in our devices”.

Some people might respond “whatever” to that. I think this is really interesting.

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I have tried out some cases before from Case-Mate, like the Tuxedo for the Kindle Fire and the Snap Case for the iPhone.

Case-Mate must be celebrating Earth Day too early or too late, as it is one of the most ecological things that I have ever seen. They are made of 100 percent recycled post-consumer PET bottles, and one recycled bottle equals one iPhone case.

As you can see, the cases come in a variety of colors like pink, orange, green, blue, black, and white. They will be sold for about $30 each, which has to be an upgrade from the soda and water bottle that it was before.

As much as I applaud this recycling program, I can’t help but notice that we will run out of iPhones before we recycle all the soda and water bottles.

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I think we all know the touchscreen has really changed just about everything since the iPhone, and I have felt that projectors could have the same potential.

The tech is getting better, like the Pop Video pico projector for the iPhone. However, the Franhofer microprojectors are very different as the projection screen is touch sensitive on any surface.

How can it do this? This lens on the projector is apparently based on an insect’s compound eye, which has “a wafer of tiny LEDs that can twist and turn depending on position”.

With infrared beams, you can tap, swipe, and select items. Yes, just imagine sharing apps on your smartphone on the wall! Yeah, I’m loving this age we are living in, and this company will display this system this month. I would love to see it sometimes.

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I’m sure that many of you are getting into summer, and if you are looking for a fun game to play outside, I will recommend a game that does not require setting up a net, or a motorboat.

Here is how this Ringstix works: the user has these two sticks that look like Samurai swords. You put a ring on the two swords, and by spreading the swords out, you fling the ring at another player. Hopefully, the other person will use their Ringstix sword to catch the ring.

I would have to say that this is more difficult than it looks. Then again, I’m the guy that never got used to using a lacrosse staff. Of course, I never practiced it until I could make a perfect throw and a perfect catch every time. Of course, you will miss probably 10 percent of the time, and as it is, I can only catch 10 percent of the rings thrown at me.

Yeah, I’m not athletic, I admit it. However, I found the Ringstix to be a whole lot of fun. I do recommend it for anyone who is looking for something fun and new this summer.

If you want to get a basic Ringstix Set, there is a standard edition with 4 Stix, 1 Red Ring, and a Glow-in-the-Dark Ring for $19.99 which you can purchase here. The Pro Edition is 4 Stix with professional grips, 1 Red Ring, 1 Glow-in-the-Dark Ring, and a carrying bag available for purchase here for $34.99.

It seems like everyone is trying to do something different with telepresence these days. Some of you might remember when we covered the Telepod, a way of talking to a person by having their image protected in a tube, so you can walk around them as you speak.

Microsoft Research had a very cool invention to show off at a recent Computer-Human Interaction conference in Austin, Texas. As you might of guessed, it uses Kinect sensors to work, but it gives the feeling of talking to another human being across from a table.

To make this technology even more nifty, the user can interact with virtual objects on a table just like they were there. You can see a video of it after the jump, and it is a good way of playing cards or dominoes, or building blocks.

You will note that the image on the other side looks kind of fuzzy, sort of like some image from an INXS music video. It uses a ceiling-mounted 3D projector to display the images and tracks the user’s gaze to ensure images are displayed in the proper perspective.

This technology has a certain science fiction aspect that I like. It reminds me of the holograms that Tom Cruise was looking at in the film Minority Report. I suppose that we are looking forward to a cool future where we can talk face to face even if we are far away, should this tech be perfected.

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Every day, I have to ask myself what kind of an age we are living in. I just got finished reporting on hangers that tell how many people “like” what is hanging on the hook.

These days, we really have to question what is “natural” these days, in light of technology that is seeping into our daily routines more and more. Such is the case of this man, Dave Hurban, who has implanted magnets under his skin in order to mount an iPod nano.

There is a video after the jump if you want to see how this man did it. My advice is this: don’t be all judgmental over this guy. A few decades ago, I would have called what this man is doing “unnatural” and maybe even “gross”. The thing is, you could easily make this argument for contact lenses, pacemakers, surgical implants, or even eyeglasses.

In other words, are we looking at an age where more and more people will want similar magnetic implants? If so, is that so bad?

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I think we all know that social networking like Facebook has changed just about everything, and I am pretty certain that the latest fashion has been determined by the number of “Likes”.

A Brazilian retailer known as C&A has started an interesting program known as “Fashion Like”. This puts the number of Likes right on the hanger of the item like you can see in the image.

I really have no idea if these hangers are somehow connected online or if the customers themselves are hitting the “Like” on the hanger itself. I think the latter solution would be easier to implement.

My Source says that there is an inherent flaw in this reasoning. Wouldn’t the lower number of likes on a hanger lead to a decreasing amount of sales? Something to think about.

I wonder if this program will lead to “product likes” programs. If so, then perhaps social networking has really upped its game.

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I have seen Moshi products before, and I was glad to see that they unveiled the iGlaze with VersaCover at CTIA.

VersaCover is a lot like the Smart Cover that Apple makes, but there is a lot more folding involved. As you can see in the image above, there is some interesting origami going on, and the shapes allow for portrait and landscape views.

In addition to the obviously cool folding feature, the VersaCover also has the iGlaze. The iGlaze is a clear case backing to protect the iPad from scratches while the VersaCover protects the screens.

You should be able to see the iGlaze with VersaCover for $60 sometime in June.

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Now that Instagram has come to the Android platform, this photo application is really only going to get bigger with this camera concept by ADR Studio.

Yes, this is a concept camera, which means that it isn’t on the market now, but I can’t believe that it isn’t. Designed by ADR Studio’s Antonio De Rosa, this is the Socialmatic.

Here is what we know as far as the specs is concerned: it has a 4.3 inch touchscreen, 16 GB internal storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth connectivity, AR apps, QR code scanning, optical zoom, and LED flash. It will also have two lenses, one for taking photos and 3D pics.

Here is another feature: a built-in printer which can print photos with four different ink cartridges, and also includes some sticky adhesive on the back of the printouts for quick posting.

I suppose it will only be a matter of time before some company picks up the Soicalmatic. Can Instagram get any bigger with a device devoted to it?

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Here is an interesting product for holding a phone, tablet, or any other sort of mobile device.

Known simply as the iOstand, it really is a unique solution for putting your mobile phone in a convenient place. It is a thing that can be used on any flat surface, and you then screw in this lollipop thing here.

All that is required is to attach the iOcore on the back of your device in question, and it magnetically locks on the iOsphere on top. If you want to move it around and look at it from different angles, that is an option.

So, if you want to try to see if you can start a new fad with this, feel free. I can see this minimalist stand becoming a standard for an office desk, if you don’t find the iOcore magnet on your device.

The iOmount comes in three forms: White Powdercoat, Black Powdercoat, and Stainless Steel. Interested? Head over to the iOmounts site and purchase it. The Powdercoat models are $89, while the Stainless Steel designs are $109.

I think there is definitely going to be a definite future for credit cards on cellular phones, and a company known as Geode made quite a splash at CTIA this year as they unveiled an iPhone cover and digital wallet.

The user enters in a debit and credit card information through the mag stripe reader, which can attach to the bottom of the cover. Cards show up with the help of a free iPhone application. The application is even secured with a biometric reader that responds to the swipe of an appropriate finger.

Then there is also a smart card which can fit into a sleeve on the back of the cover, and it can be programmed to act like a pre-programmed credit or debit card. You can tap it to activate the right account, and be used for a limited time.

Keep in mind that the case is is going to add some bulk to the normally thin iPhone, and it costs a lot at $199.

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Right now, I am working on a book about Lego, and discovering that using 3-D graphics is pretty hard. Anything that can help out with that works, such as this particular thing here.

This digital animator is created by Japan’s SoftEther from the University of Tsukuba and the ViVienne from the University of Electro-Communications. As you can see in the video after the jump, it is essentially a mannequin that can be moved and then have its actions match in realtime.

This particular mannequin uses 32 sensors on 16 joints that can transmit the data to the 3D model. It really is going to be an easier way of doing 3D graphics, but I’m guessing that the face and the hands are still going to be difficult to render.

As it turns out, this digital mannequin isn’t something that is designed for one computer animation company, but this Qumarion, as it is called, will be available for purchase for $750.

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