11 countries with 2000 people and the folk at Steelcase have come up with 9 new postures that humans have ever seen before as a result of our “new technologies and behaviors.” The idea being a chair that adapts, molds and changes in seconds to better support your posture while texting, reading on a tablet or moving from desk to coffee machine. The Gesture chair supports your arm while texting, reclines your back while reading and fosters movement and changes postures as quick as you change devices. It’s a chair that is designed for the interface between user and the tech they are using. Watch the video: Starting at the “Core interface” which gives the user better back support, there’s also “The Strunch,” for hours with your hands on a keyboard and “The Text,” legs crossed on a chair with an arm on an armrest. Available in the last part… Read More »
The new New Beetle driven ROAD TEST
Don’t bother denying it; you’ve been anticipating the launch of this car as much as you have the new Golf 7. Either you wanted to see if it is it still a girly, poser car for people with too much money, or it was because of that sad human need to drive past an accident and slow down to see what you could see. After driving it for a week and conducting a spot survey, the general consensus is “no, it’s not as girly as the first one but it’s still for people with too much money”. And at R240 000 to start, you can understand why. But seriously, well done on pulling the new VW Beetle back from the precipice of metrosexuality. They’ve beefed up the body a bit, got rid of that annoying flower on the dashboard and even given it some athleticism. After a week with the… Read More »
Mico: the mind-reading headphones NEW GADGET
Creating a science they’re calling “music serendipity”, scientists at Neurowear have created a set of headphones that play music according to the brainwaves you’re sending out (basically working off your current mood ). Short for Music Inspiration from your Subconscious, Mico which comes with a pair of heaphones, a brainwave sensor, and an iOS app, picks up telepathically on what’s going on in your brain to bring you music to suit. Problem 1: it only works if the user is focused, drowsy or stressed. So you’ll be listening to a lot of classical, children’s story books and Coldplay in that order. Problem 2: aren’t the best music moments those times that you hate the world and then your favorite EDM song comes on and then you love the world again?
Socialmatic: Real-life Instagram camera by Polaroid NEW GADGET
Polaroid have nothing to do with this camera aside from lending their name to it, but that’s not going to stop the world’s hipsters blowing their load over a fully functional, life-sized Polaroid camera made in the shape of the Instagram logo. The camera takes proper digital photos, applies a filter to them and can be printed wirelessly over an Android network. The specs are quite impressive too with 16GB of onboard storage, touchscreen operation and optical zoom and flash. This is going to be one of those gadgets that makes it’s money off the merchandising and accessories like carry bags, extra filters and T-shirts…trust me. It’s not yet available, but can be pre-ordered here.
Paint your dreams while sleeping in a hotel bed NEW TECH
The Ibis Sleep Art app has been developed by hotel brand Ibis in an effort to offer residents in their rooms something no other hotel in the world can: physical representations of their dreams. The app works simply by setting the alarm on the app, putting your phone down next to you and going to sleep. When you awake, a painted representation of what went on inside your noggin awaits. How the information magically jumps from your head to your phone is beyond me, but I’m equally baffled by NFC. I’m suspicious. Something tells me that no matter what you dream or the level of your drawing abilities, you’re waking up with something spectacular in the morning.
The world’s first transparent Smartphone NEW GADGET
Never have I passed judgement on a brilliant gadget for being simply cool, and I’m not about to start now. Aside from looking really awesome and being incredibly easy to lose and sit on, the world’s first transparent cellphone from Polytron Technologies has no other use than being a smart phone. The company that also makes that privacy glass that goes cloudy when a current is sent through it has been teasing the world with this transparent smartphone that they say they’ll have out an on shelves before the end of 2013. I’m not holding my breath. The only thing visible in the phone will be some wires and camera parts, memory card, battery and speaker system. I’d expect and Android OS and lots of talk about it once it’s launched.
Jeff Gordon pranks a Chevy salesman in a Camaro
The top video on Youtube today is this rather genius driving prank done by Nascar legend Jeff Gordon, promoting the new light Pepsi. And for good reason too. A must watch and as always, nice to see what a Camaro can do in the right hands.
The new features of the Samsung Galaxy S4
A quick vid taking you through all the new features of the Samsung Galaxy 4. It has to be said that it’s been a while since I saw a phone with such a skewed Hardware/Lifestyle features balance. Even though some of them will fall in to the “I’ll never use it” column, there’s some really intriguing stuff here.
Samsung Galaxy S4 arrives. It scrolls with your eyes…#mindblown NEW GADGET
It’ not that “long-awaited” and in fact it’s not even that new or different. It’s got a fractionally bigger screen at 5-inches, is available in a huge 64GB version, has a much bigger camera (13MP) and boasts much better resolution from the AMOLED screen. Aside from that it’s still running on Android Jelly Bean, looks pretty much the same and “works with your life’. In the last department, they have been busy. They’ve built-in a feature called ‘Smart pause/Smart scroll’ which automatically scrolls up or down a website or email by mapping where your eyes are looking. This tech also lets you pause a video when it detects you’ve taken your eyes off the screen. This joins the list of “built-for-life” features which we saw for the first time in the S3 like Smart Call and S-Voice, but the S4 brings more to the table. S Translator immediately reads back… Read More »
The world’s smallest Bluetooth headphones: Jaybirds Earbuds NEW GADGET
At some point “the smallest earbuds in the world” is going to get the company claiming it into a lot of trouble when they have to pay to have them removed from some teenager’s ear canal. But in the meantime, there’s the new Jaybird Earbuds, the world’s smallest Bluetooth of their kind. . The Jaybirds come with secure fit technology and a adjustable strap that will ensure they never come loose, no matter what your choice of sport. Just watch this video. Advanced battery tech means 8 hours of battery life and since they fit in your ear, and not over or on, I really think these might be the answer. And they’re sweat-proof. Get it: http://www.jaybirdstore.com For: About R2 000 JAYBIRD BLUEBUDS X // Product Overview from JayBird Sport on Vimeo.
