by Nilay Patel, posted Aug 29th 2008 at 8:34PM
You’ve got to feel bad for the vendors at the Sign and Display Show 2008 that’s going on in Tokyo right now for being totally overshadowed by IFA, but this nifty dual-sided transparent touch display from Teraokaseiko is definitely noteworthy, even if it just because it’ll make future versions of Battleship and Connect 4 super fun. It’s just a monochrome 256 x 120 EL-panel prototype for now, but it recognizes simple multitouch gestures like pinching, and there’s definitely promise in the idea — now if it could make it out of the Sign and Display Show and into the big leagues, we’d be all set.

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by Nilay Patel, posted Aug 29th 2008 at 1:52PM
Although Lenovo’s slick IdeaPad U8 has been floating around in prototype form for a while, it only made its formal debut at the Olympics recently, and now it’s starting to appear on Chinese websites — Zol.com.cn has a huge unboxing and review, while Yesky says it’ll be priced at 4,999 yuan, or about $731. That’s a little more than the “smartphone pricing” we were promised, but we’re guessing those of you looking to import this Asia-only piece were likely always expecting to throw down some coin for it. Tons more pics in the read links — we’re not going to try and depend on machine translation to understand the review, anyone care to give us the gist?

[Via Pocketables]

Read - IdeaPad U8 unboxing and review
Read - Yesky pricing info

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No, it didn’t give us the same decompression sickness found among deep sea divers who rapidly ascend to the surface. Nor does it resemble what is possibly one of Radiohead’s best albums (you heard me Kid A fans).

In the 8th episode of the Gadget Lab Video Podcast, Steven Leckart and Danny Dumas discuss the merits of Motorola’s newest video-centric (it shoots at 30 fps!) handset, the Z10. Yes, the kick flip design is one of the most innovative forms we’ve seen in a cell phone to date, but that still doesn’t cover up a clunky OS that seems like it was conceived almost as an afterthought.

Make sure to read Steven’s full review right here.

Can’t see the video above? Check it out here at dedicated online video site.

Of course you can also watch all of our previous videos at Wired’s own channel on YouTube.

The Gadget Lab Video Blog is created by Annaliza Savage (producer), Niall McKay (camera), and Michael Lennon (editor).

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If your phone is on this list, then the answer to that question would be “no.” And your question would probably be, “What the heck does SIMable mean anyway?”

SIMable is a thin chip that can be attached to your SIM card to fool your mobile phone into thinking that it has been unlocked. The price you pay? Apparently around $37, plus a hole that you have to cut out in your SIM card for aligning the SIMable chip. The company even puts to rest your doubts on how to accomplish that by “including a free cutting tool with every purchase.”

In the market since April of this year, the company now boasts success with the cracking of even the latest iphone 3G. Watch the video demonstration here.

Via Jason Langridge’s WebLog.

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The new Sony EX1 series has to be one of the most elegant and stylish HDTVs ever made. The Sony Bravia EX1 has been specifically designed with a very slim and sleek finish which looks like a picture frame which you can hang on the wall. Intentionally designed around a classic picture frame style, offering the choice of either a silver and black bezel finish.

The EX1s’ will be available in three sizes, as the largest 52-inch Sony KDL-52EX, the 46-inch KDL-46EX1 and the 40-inch KDL-40EX1.  All models can be used in “Picture Frame” mode, which will display some pre-loaded high quality photos, or of course you can display your own.

A very special feature new to the Bravia Ex1’s, which adds to the whole “picture frame” wall mounted aspect is a HD super-fast wireless link.  The “Bravia 1080 Wireless” technology links the HDTV and the media receiver in real time, with no loss of quality.  The media receiver has three additional HDMI sockets, so your HD devices needn’t be connected directly to the HDTV, eliminating the need to run cables up the wall to the set.

Motionflow 100Hz high frame rate technology is featured in all of the Sony EX1’s, providing smother on screen motion with much less motion blur.  IB (Image Blur) reduction is also featured to provide an even sharper image.  Bravia Engine 2 provides image enhancement in a number of ways, from deeper colors and contrast to noise reduction.  Other features of the 1080p LCD Sony Bravia EX1’s include 24p True Cinema, Live Colour Creation, and x.v.Colour.

Sony Bravia EX1

• Sony KDL-40EX1 | 40-Inch
• Sony KDL-46EX1 | 46-Inch
• Sony KDL-52EX1 | 52-Inch

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Here’s an awesome video featuring a robotic cucumber hand, a styrofoam sheep and some other interesting creations in Pittsburgh. The easy to follow video list the ingredients as 5 seedless cucumbers, a round of cheese, basic kitchen utensils and a sensor sensitive to sound.

The result is a computerized cucumber hand that responds to sound. It’s fun to watch though we are not sure how edible the final creation made by Mickey McManus, CEO of Maya Design actually is. Here’s a step-by-step how to from YouTube.

There’s also Moe, a six-legged Styrofoam sheep. Moe has ultrasonic range finders to keep him from crashing into objects while an invisible fence ensures he stays within the fence.

The robots were created as part of Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institutes’s citywide outreach program in Pittsburgh this week.

Pittsburgh Puts Robots to Work [Wall Street Journal]

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I’m a big fan of Bluetooth hands-free solutions which attach to the sun visor in your car. My experience has shown that typically these devices offer better sound quality for your calls because they are so close to your face while speaking. One such solution is the Supertooth 3 by BlueAnt.

It’s nice to have someone to talk to
One feature which sets the Supertooth 3 apart from other similar solutions is that it actually talks to you. When you first setup the device to pair with your phone a female voice walks you through the whole process. No doubt, that was a nice touch.

Once Supertooth 3 is paired with your phone then it will attempt to download your phone’s address book. While it does this the phone announces how many contacts it has loaded until it is finally finished. Once your contacts are downloaded then the device will announce the name of the caller when your phone rings. If the number does not match a contact then the Caller ID information is announced even if it is just a number.

That’s a pretty slick feature and it also adds safety since it helps to keep your eyes on the road as there is no Caller ID display you need to read. The device is even multilingual and supports six languages including American English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and British English.

This device is truly hands free

One thing you have to admit about most hands free devices is that they are not truly hands free. Typically you have to press a button to answer a call. That’s not the case with the Supertooth 3. After you get a call, and the device announces the name or phone number of the caller, you simply need to say “OK” to answer the call. That way there is no need for you to take your hands off the wheel.

Simple installation
I really like how the Supertooth 3 installs on your visor. Basically, there is a metal clip that attaches to your visor, the device then attaches to the metal clip by using built-in magnets on the back of the casing. This makes it really easy to take the device in and out of the car as needed without the need to pull the clip off of the visor.

It has its own battery
You don’t have to worry about a dangling cord coming from your visor to power the device. That’s because the Supertooth 3 has a built-in battery which offers 15 hours of talk time and 800 hours of standby time. If you need to plug the device into the car then you can use the included car adapter or bring it in the house and plug it into the AC travel charger.

Summary
So far the Supertooth 3 by BlueAnt is the favorite Bluetooth speakerphones I have reviewed. That’s probably due to its slim design, long battery life and voice prompts for setup and call announcements. I also really like the fact that I can answer calls just using my voice. You can pick up the BlueAnt Supertooth 3 for under US$100 from most online retailers.

Read more from the BlueAnt website.

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"Thinner is better," says Hollywood — and now the tech industry. And Sony claims to have made the thinnest LCD television yet.

Sony’s 40-inch Bravia ZX1 measures a mere 9.9 millimeters at its thinnest point. And even more interestingly, the TV utilizes a wireless base station to broadcast its signal, sparing you the jungle of AV cables plugged into it. The base station is compatible with older digital TV boxes, and it even includes a built-in tuner.

Pricing has not yet been announced, but you can expect it to be astronomical. Sony announced the Bravia ZX1 in Europe, and there’s no word on an international release yet.

Press Release [Sony Europe via TechDigest ]

(Photo courtesy of Sony)

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Have you all got your Buzzword Bingo cards ready? Good. Eyes down…

The iPosture is a gadget that begins with the letter ‘i’. The little disk constantly monitors your posture and delivers a sharp, corrective vibration if you deviate by more than three degrees from your starting position. How does it manage such a feat? Nanotechnology:

 

The secret of the iPosture is WINS TM, or Wearable Intelligent Nano-Sensor, a microchip that monitors stance several times every second.

To use it, you need to clip it to your shirt, or surreptitiously slide it into your bra, whereupon you will be transformed from a lazy, slouching, small breasted troglodyte into a beautifully elegant creature with pert, skyward pointing breasts and a flat belly. While the site claims that the iPosture is "made of space age electronics", it sounds to us like an accelerometer and a vibrator in a puck. How much for this snake-oil? Just $99.

The claims for good posture might be well founded — after all, sitting up straight is certainly good for your back. But we’re skeptical that this buzzer will produce much more than bolt-upright discomfort. My dad, ever ready with a colorful turn of phrase, has a term for the resulting ramrod stance: If he sees somebody standing up too straight, he says "they look like they have a broom handle up their arse." Bingo!

UPDATE: Moacir Schnapp M.D of iPosture just sent this mail in reply:

 

Ouch! My favorite magazine’s blog put us on the snake oil section…

 

I’m a Neurologist who specializes in Pain Management for the past thirty years. We started with the concept four years ago (hence the dated iPosture name), but our biggest obstacle has been in the development of appropriate software that could analyze the posture behavior of 99% of the users, with a minimal of false positive or negative alarms (otherwise one could just attach an iphone to the neck and acquire perfect posture).

 

The hardware idea is straightforward but we spent thousands of hours of testing and no less than five engineers to design the software that would allow even the most technologically naive person ready access to the device (one single operating button for all different functions).

As such, I have removed the ever-controversial "Snakeoil" categorisation and replaced it with "Medicine". Thanks Dr. Schnapp. Maybe you should release an iPhone version.

Product page [iPosture. Thanks, Eric!]

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Back in October last year Google responded to the copyright issues being thrown at the company over YouTube content by releasing a content identification tool. This Content ID system can identify copyright material users upload and quickly remove it from the video sharing site.

Google also offered copyright holders another choice though, that being to allow the content to stay up on the site and instead earn money from it via advertisements. Nearly a year on and Google are now saying the system has been a great success and that copyright holders are choosing to leave content up and make money from it 90% of the time.

The reason for the high uptake in advertising revenue is down to the fact YouTube videos attract so many viewers. In fact, Google believe that leaving content on the site can actually double the number of viewers seeing it and therefore brings in a significant amount of ad revenue. This translates to copyright holders actually making money from the piracy of their material.

Read more at The Official Google Blog, found via ITWire.com

Matthew’s Opinion
Not only does this mean piracy is profitable for copyright holders, but we as viewers get to see more video clips on YouTube. Users don’t get frustrated by their videos being removed, the number of lawsuits for ridiculous infringements should significantly decrease and copyright holders get fatter wallets.

In reality everyone seems to be winning from this content ID system. The one exception being Viacom who have yet to make their mind up about the system and still have a big lawsuit active against Google. I’m sure the courts would take the ID system into consideration in the case and the fact other copyright holders have accepted it. Good news for Google I think.

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