Handheld lasers to help detect counterfeit drugs
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Handhelds
While it usually only takes a quick glance to detect a KIRF candidate in the gadget space, detecting fake drugs (the prescription type) can be understandably harder -- not to mention quite a bit more "high risk." Fake drugs are flooding the market, accounting for half of all drug sales within some parts of south-east Asia and Africa, and contaminated fakes have killed hundreds of people, with many others buying "medicine" with no actual active ingredients. Now there's a new laser-based handheld sensor on the scene that can see through the look-alike packaging and weed out fakers via molecular analysis. The new detector, developed by Pavel Matousek and Charlotte Eliasson of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK and due for action by the end of the year, uses "Raman spectroscopy" to detect materials by measuring the range of radiation emitted by molecules when shone upon. Up until now, packaging gets in the way of such tests, but Matousek Eliasson have figured out a tricky way to overcome that, and tests of their method have proved effective. Current handheld detectors -- which cost between $20k and $40k -- can easily be modified to work with the method.
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SimpleTech announces “world’s thinnest” 2.5-inch 64GB SSD
World's thinnest titles aren't just for cellphones and DAPs, don't you know, Solid State Drives need to shave those millimeters just as much as the next guy, and SimpleTech seems up to the task with its new 64 gigger. The 2.5-inch drive, a member of SimpleTech's Zeus SSD lineup, measures a mere 9.5mm thick (0.37-inches), compared to some competing solutions more than twice as thick, making it a solid option for squeezing into those ever-slimmer laptops. SimpleTech is currently targeting the device at high performance applications such as military, intelligence and aviation, and has apparently buffeted the drive against shock, humidity, vibration and altitude -- most of the stability naturally thanks to the flash technology, of course. No word price, but with those kind of customers, we're guessing this one won't be cheap.
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Atomic “transistor” proposed using quantum cloud material
Filed under: Desktops, Misc. Gadgets
Intel might be oh-so-smug about its fancy new insulators and 45nm process, but doesn't have nothing on these upcoming atomic transistor dealios -- other than that whole "shipping" thing, of course. Scientists working at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts and compadres at the University of Colorado Boulder have proposed implementing a "Bose-Einstein condensate" to pull this off -- a super-cold gas cloud of atoms all in the same quantum state -- which is manipulated with three adjacent chambers that are created by trapping atoms with magnets or laz0rs. By swapping atoms between the two side chambers, and controlling that action with the center chamber, a behavior is created similar to that of an electronic field-effect transistor. Which is apparently a good thing. So yeah, the tech definitely flies over our heads, but if this works it sounds like it's a pretty big breakthrough in building atomic "circuits" some day by connecting basic atom elements and should hopefully keep Moore's law alive and well a few decades down the road.
[Thanks, Jeremy]
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
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Artimi’s WUSB camera tech might be in your hands in 2008
Filed under: Digital Cameras, Wireless
Artimi, a fabless semiconductor company, has been working on wireless USB for cameras for the past while, and finally got to show off some of its prototypes at this year's CES. The deets were slim, however, and they've finally come clean with some more specs for our prying eyes. Of course, WUSB is no mystery. 480MB/s up to 10-feet, 110MB/s up to 30-ish-feet, along with the prestige of being the new "it" wireless standard for peripherals. Artimi is taking all that good bandwidth loving to the camera, and is teaming up with "several brand name camera vendors" to do it, the names of which it will announce in Q2. It'll cost manufacturers about $25 to add WUSB at the outset, but within 3 years that figure should be down to $10, and Artimi figures all but the cheapest cameras will have it by then. We might see a WUSB cam get launched in '07, but most likely we'll have to wait for '08 to roll around before this becomes a reality. Artimi also expects WUSB dongles to be fairly common by then, but the first-to-market products will most likely include a dongle just in case. As to battery life, these kids aren't too concerned, 'cause WUSB can toss 1GB of pics in about 30 seconds, so the chip doesn't need to be on for too long.
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Zink Portable Printer
Mention portable printer and the idea of a device which fits into your pocket comfortably will probably never occur to you. Zink has done what looked like the impossible by offering a tiny printer that uses special paper for printing, doing away with the need for ink. This printer does small images that measures 2" x 3" in full color, and will most probably retail for $100 each. There is also talk about a printer/camera hybrid that retails for $200. You can read more about the special Zink paper in our piece yesterday. Availability of Zink products are still unknown.
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Cable Carpet concept
Despite the deluge of wireless devices available today, there are still quite a number of people around who live a leashed lifestyle, entangling themselves with cables from mice, keyboard, speakers, computers, and other gadgets you can think of. The Cable Carpet is a brilliant idea as it works with disorder to create a unique carpet design that cannot be found anywhere else. In addition, the Cable Carpet concept ensures that tripping over wayward cables are a thing of the past. No, you can't head into stores and pick one up as the Cable Carpet is just a concept. Still, if there are any D.I.Y. enthusiasts around who would like to give it a shot, kindly share your results with us in the comments.
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Apex USB Charger
Disposable batteries are definitely not the way to go as they are a waste of the planet's resources and definitely pose a problem for governments worldwide as it competes with other trash for premium landfill space. Why not pick up some rechargeable batteries instead, and use this extremely useful Apex USB Charger? Sure, it definitely does not beat the versatility of the USB Cell, but you would run out of USB ports pretty fast too. The Apex USB Charger can juice up a quartet of batteries (AA or AAA) within four hours, and measures an extremely travel-friendly 2" x 2". You can pick one up today for $12.
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HTC Vox gets previewed, lacks 3G / touchscreen
Filed under: Cellphones
If you had a hankering for HTC previews to finish off your January in style, today's your lucky day. While you're probably still gawking at the HTC Athena peek from earlier, the same lucky soul managed to get his palms around an HTC Vox, and being so kindhearted, we've got the results from another sweet photo shoot. It's about time we saw a few live snaps of this bugger too, as we've been waiting ever since it got official and was captured in the wild, and now you can get closer than ever without actually owning one yourself. Notably, a few more details were spilled out concerning the features (and lack thereof) of this smartphone, as we learned that it does indeed lack 3G as well as a touchscreen LCD. What you will reportedly get, however, includes Windows Mobile 6.0, 128MB of Flash ROM, a 2.4-inch QVGA screen, voice command recognition, QWERTY keypad and a numeric pad, 802.11b/g, two-megapixel camera, microSD slot, and a TI OMAP 850 processor clicking along at 200MHz. Of course, exact specs and inclusions could change on retail models, but if you're interested in seeing all sorts of angles, not to mention shots of OS, be sure to hit the read link after clicking through and scroll on down.
Continue reading HTC Vox gets previewed, lacks 3G / touchscreen
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Sony mulling more PS3 price cuts?
Filed under: Gaming
According to Senior VP Takao Yuhara at Sony, that pre-launch price cut in Japan might not be the only one the console will be seeing in its early life. "We may look at the price as part of our strategy to expand the market when the timing is right," said Yuhara. Sony wants to break even in its game division by March 2008, and "Such factors, including price cuts to some extent, are factored in," according to Yuhara. Sony is also still holding fast to its target shipment of 6 million PS3s by March 31st 2007, and with the Wii and 360 breathing down its neck, it might very well have to drop prices to compete. Of course, the semi-promise of some sort of price cuts, possibly Japan-only, before March 2008 is isn't really much to go by, but we'll take whatever threads of hope we can get.
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
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Geek chic is in
Love it or loathe it, technology has pervaded nearly every aspect of our lives, and just like carrot-cut jeans were all the rage back in the days of our fathers, future generations will laugh at you when they take a look at the IDE Belt. This fashion piece of is made from an actual IDE computer cable and is subsequently packed into an anti-static plastic bag. At least the IDE cable boasts a dazzling array of colors that makes it easier to match with any wardrobe. The unisex IDE Belt retails for $17 and comes with a stainless steel clasp and metal end finish.
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