| Wired News: Gadgets and Gizmos |
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Technology, and the way we do business, is changing the world we know. Wired News is a technology - and business-oriented news service feeding an intelligent, discerning audience. What role does technology play in the day-to-day living of your life? Wired News tells you. How has evolving technology changed the face of the international business world? Wired News puts you in the picture. |
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Wired News: Gadgets and Gizmos
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Flash and Awe: A Better Stun Grenade Protects the Good Guys
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT
Say you're a SWAT cop about to rescue hostages, or a soldier trying to extract your buddies from a terrorist hideout. You can't just charge in with guns blazing, so you throw the bad guys off with a nice stun grenade: It creates a deafening bang and a mighty flash without lethal shrapnel. Sounds great, but the force of the explosion can still injure the very people you're trying to save. A couple of years ago, Sandia National Laboratories, which has been developing stun grenades for decades, found a solution to this problem — the fuel/air distraction device. Traditional "flash-bangs" work by igniting a mixture of aluminum and potassium perchlorate. Pull the pin and a few seconds later the cocktail explodes from inside its housing. But yank the pin on the new stunner and a gas starts combusting, which pushes out and ignites a cloud of powdered aluminum. The result is what you see on the test stand above: a blinding burst of light accompanied by a boom of up to 170 decibels — about as loud as a shotgun — but very little blast pressure. Sandia has licensed the device to Defense Technology (a subsidiary of arms maker BAE Systems), which hopes to bring it to market by year's end. There's never been a safer time to be held against your will.
For more, visit video.wired.com.
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10 Hottest New Bike Gadgets for Gearheads
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comCyclists are often overlooked in the gadget-lust category because their gear usually doesn't involve a screen, but no one craves the newest gizmo more than a biker with money to burn. The litany of bike models, the sophisticated engineering and the personal stat analysis also attract avid data addicts who appreciate product legacy and innovation.
Here at Wired.com, we have more than a few resident pedal pundits who love to accessorize. Click through the gallery to see the latest bike gadgets and apparel that got even our empty wallets salivating.
Left: Quarq Bicycle's new Power Meters allow you to measure pretty much any stat imaginable from your bike rides. The Quarq CinQo is compatible with your Garmin Edge 705, their own Quarq Qranium or the new iAreo, giving access to power, heart rate, speed, distance, torque and altitude.
The Qranium computer runs on Linux and comes with 512 MB of memory. Quarq says they are lightweight, waterproof and come with a user-changeable battery. The system runs about $1,200, plus the price of your crank of choice.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comThe Pinhead prototype Bubble Lock is seen here with one wheel lock, a seat-post lock and a headset lock. Pinhead's disc-locking system allows you to carry around one key for all your bike parts and avoid elaborate lock jobs. Just turn the key on your wheels, seat and the bubble-shaped U-lock, and you're set. This convenience will set you back $75, with the as-of-yet unreleased Bubble running some additional coinage.
And if you need a frosty beverage, the locking key doubles as a bottle opener. You gotta love those Canadians.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comWith slogans like "protect your junk," "only the finest ingredients for your goods" and "lube 'em or lose 'em," you know dznuts is having fun with their product.
According to the company, the formula is designed to prevent chafing and infection on a man's most sensitive parts, which can become rather friction-heavy during endurance rides. Key ingredients include tea tree oil, evodia and masterwort, and dznuts claims to use organic products whenever possible.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comDaniella Reichstetter, Gyrobike CEO, is hoping training wheels are a thing of the past. If she has her way, in the future all the youngsters will be using a Gyrobike front wheel on their first bicycle. The Gyrobike wheels give greater balance to the rider, presumably stripping away the current learning staples of road rash and humiliation that are integral to a child's development. What's our world coming to?
The Gyrobike wheels will come in both 12- and 16-inch versions, sell for less than a hundred bucks and will be available in early 2009. The company claims its technology makes riding a bicycle with the wheel installed at 2 mph the same as riding a normal wheel at 10 mph.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comIndustry Nine is marrying its handmade road hubs to a set of handmade Edge Composites carbon-fiber rims for a lightweight, super-strong road-wheel experience. The spokes and hubs come in a vast array of colors and are purported to have one of the quickest freewheel engagements in the industry.
And who doesn't love the hot retro-styling? These will run a cool $2,400 and should be available for Christmas.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comAssos is showing its new ss.lady jerseys for all the bike chicks looking for something high-tech for 2009. They will come in seven colors including, from left, Piton, Struzzobaby and Fidji. You read that right Struzzobaby. They come with kangaroo pockets, an MP3 pocket and they're cut specifically for the ladies. They'll set you back $179.: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comThis is the Campagnolo Super Record 11 rear derailleur, shifting your rear wheel through 11 glorious "shark's fin" tooth profile gears. It goes to 11. That's one more. If you think 10 gears is already ridiculous, this will stupefy you. If you think moderation is only for cowards and fools, you must buy this immediately. Pick it up for around $500.: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comHarlot's Hawkeye Shorts are light, airy and extremely comfortable. They're also handmade in the United States and have a 4-way stretch panel in the crotch. Unfortunately, the flawless camouflage pattern makes your thighs invisible, giving the appearance of your torso floating mysteriously above your bike.: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comLezyne's 10-function multitool weighs in at a mere 84 grams, includes a T30 chain-ring bolt tool and runs about 100 bucks. It is about as high-end as you can get in a multitool.: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comNineties eurotrash styling is back as Briko reissues its original gogglelike shades previously known as the Sprinter, under the new name X-peed. So hot. The X-peed comes with a strap system and is scratch- and impact-resistant. Seen here in shiny Pacific blue and yellow, these will go for about $100.
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New Chips Poised to Revolutionize Photography, Film
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:35:00 GMT
New professional-grade digital SLRs equipped with high-definition video features stand on the forefront of a revolution for film and photography.
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How to Convert Vinyl LPs to MP3s
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:15:00 GMT
Got stacks of Stax soul? A trove of treasures from Treasure Isle? It's remarkably easy to convert those old vinyl sides to play on your iPod. All you need is a turntable, a good audio cable and some free software and you'll be reliving vinyl's glory days in crystal-clear (and wear-free) digital sound. Got extra tips? Log in and contribute.
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Apple Likely to Launch New Notebooks Next Week
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:43:37 GMT
Apple sends out press invitations to a special event next week, where it is expected to launch sub-$1,000 Mac notebooks.
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Terminator: Gadgetry Salvation for Sarah Connor Chronicles
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:18:00 GMT
Apparently Sarah Connor's devilish charm and ripped biceps aren't enough to prevent the Terminator show's own judgment day. They need ... some new things to blow things up real good -- yeah! We have some suggestions of decidedly non-analog weaponry we think the Connor clan should have, and we want to hear about (and see) some of yours.
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Photos: Is This the MacBook 'Brick'?
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:52:00 GMT
A handful of "leaked spy shots" come by way of Chinese forum site Elesson and purportedly show the new MacBook Brick, carved ? as the rumors go ? from a single block of aluminum. Whether this has anything to do with the 'Brick' rumors we don't know, but these shots are certainly good. I can't spot any obvious photoshopping, so I'll put my head on the block here and call them as real.
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Show Us Your Company Gear
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:00:00 GMT
Are you working on a laptop that's as big as most current desktops? Do you get to use a particularly sweet piece of equipment for your job? We want to see the gear you use every day that's issued by your employer. Show us what wired workers are using out there.
Use the Reddit widget below to submit your best Motion photo and vote for your favorite among the other submissions. If we like your photo, we'll include it in a gallery on Wired.com.
The photo must be your own, and by submitting it you are giving us permission to use it on Wired.com and in Wired magazine. Please submit images that are relatively large, the ideal size being 800 to 1200 pixels or larger on the longest side. Please include a description of your photo so that other readers know what they're looking at.
We don't host the photos, so you'll have to upload it somewhere else and submit a link to it. If you're using Flickr, Picasa or another photo-sharing site to host your image, please provide a link to the image directly and not just to the photo page where it's displayed. Using an online photo service that requires that you login will not work. If your photo doesn't show up, it's because the URL you have entered is incorrect. Check it and make sure it ends with the image file name (XXXXXX.jpg).
Please bookmark this page, send it to your friends and check back periodically over the next two weeks to vote on new submissions!
Vote on company gear photos submitted by other readers.
Show entries that are: hot | new | top-rated. Submit your company gear photo.
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Steven Levy: Why the iPhone Is Almost Perfect
Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT
My first full day with the iPhone 3G turned out to be too full. At least as far as the iPhone was concerned. It was just two in the afternoon when the screen displayed the most unwelcome dialog box in mobile computing: low battery: 20% of battery remaining. In my experience, that message's real meaning is make your last call NOW, because the lights are going out soon. Though it didn't happen instantly, within a few minutes that gorgeous screen looked like the closing shot of the The Sopranos finale.
I had been enjoying the iPhone 3G. The out-of-the-box price was right — as low as $200, with a two-year contract — if you qualify for the subsidy from AT&T. It was slimmer and sleeker than its predecessor. It had real GPS. And, addressing my biggest problem with the original iPhone, data loaded much faster when a 3G network was available. Most of all, I was itching to try out loads of the intriguing applications from the iTunes App Store, about a dozen of which I'd already downloaded. But there's no joy in a juiceless phone.
How bad is the problem? No way around it — 3G cellular chips eat energy. But Apple's Bob Borchers contends that the iPhone team succeeded in extending battery life to an acceptable level. There's evidence to back this up: The iPhone does best its 3G rivals when it comes to run time.
Nonetheless, battery life is more of a challenge for the iPhone than for its competitors, because Apple's multitouch darling entices you to actually do the things that burn through your charge like a Roman candle. It's so easy to surf the Web, play graphics-intensive games, and geolocate your buddies that the iPhone is less likely to hang out in your pocket in standby mode, waiting for a silly phone call.
iPhone 3G
Price $200 (8 GB), apple.com
The Bottom Line? Battery issues hinder an otherwise stellar mobile computer.
"iPhone apps are a game changer," says Tim Westergren, founder of Internet radio company Pandora, whose music app — an early favorite of iPhone downloaders — perfectly illustrates the power problem. When you listen to audio stored on the iPhone, you can indulge in 24 hours of tunes without a recharge. But streaming Pandora will run the battery down in maybe five or six. According to Westergren, Pandora's growth rate doubled after the launch of the new iPhone — a phenomenon undoubtedly mirrored on thousands of battery meters.
Part of what's happening is that we have unrealistic expectations from tech in general. We're so used to technomagic that we routinely expect some chemist or physicist — or clever geek at Apple — to come up with solutions to our problems. But while computing power and storage make advances in logarithmic scale, batteries seem to follow Not Much More's law. It's a problem for not just phones but everything from electric cars to hearing aids.
That said, power consumption is not a dealbreaker for the iPhone 3G. Think of it as a chronic condition that requires monitoring and treatment. All over the blogosphere you'll find the Apple fanboy version of Hints From Heloise: iPhone 3G battery-extension tips. Apple's own Web page on the subject instructs users to dive into the Settings menu to turn off power-draining features. (The last suggestion is "Turn off 3G," an odd request for a product whose name includes "3G.")
But the best advice is to put expectations into perspective. "This is as much a computer as a phone," says Matt Murphy, who heads Kleiner-Perkins' iFund, a $100 million initiative that seeds iPhone apps. "You don't expect a computer to last for 24 hours on one charge."
Since that first meltdown, by taking battery- extending measures like switching off push mail, data fetch, and sometimes (sniff) 3G, I have only occasionally had a day where I needed to break out the charger before bedtime. One day we'll get that quantum leap in battery tech that will obviate the annoying trade-off between functionality and juice. Until then, it's so many apps to play with, so little time between charges.
Email steven_levy@wired.com.
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Showdown: BlackBerry Storm vs. iPhone 3G
Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT
After teasing us with videos and a vague web site, Research in Motion has finally decided to come out of the closet with full details on its touchscreen handset, the BlackBerry Storm.
Those following the smartphone market are aware that the word touchscreen has become a synonym for "iPhone competitor." So we've compiled a chart comparing the two handsets' specifications.
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