The Gadgets Page

SK Telecom has been making Smart Beam projectors for a while. They are tiny little projectors that work with your smart phone and project on a wall or screen. They use LEDs for their light source, are inexpensive and you can buy them right now on Amazon:

• Play Ic200c – Mini Projector DLP LED at Amazon.com

Here is a commercial for them that shows how they work with a little bit of sentiment thrown in:

This year at CES, they have upped the ante a bit. Instead of an LED light source, they are using a laser and it also has auto focus, so no matter where that wall is, it will be clear and bright. They were showing it off in the bright lights of the showroom floor with barely a cover over the screen and it was easy to see.

We tried to show how quickly and easily it refocused on the James’ shirt, but it didn’t show up well in the picture. Let me assure you, it refocused perfectly on his chest just as well as the screen behind him.

Long ago, we researched digital projectors and they were HORRENDOUSLY expensive. To see these tiny boxes that cost less than the replacement halogen bulb in the old projectors is AMAZING!

I really like this window cleaning robot from Winbot.

What the boating industry needs is a robot like this to clean the bottoms of boats now that it’s not longer legal to paint them with copper paint. But for now, I think every person who has difficult to wash windows will be happy to have one of these robots.

Skechers shoes won Best Game of CES this year with these shoes.

After we realized that they are a Simon game on their shoes, the first question I had was, “Are they for grownups?” You see, I’m still bitter that Skechers didn’t make the LED shoes that flash for grownups as well as kids. I thought they would be great for running outside in the dark. Cars would be able to see you forever. They never made those shoes in adult sizes and the same goes for Game Kicks.

Sure, I have a million different options of games on my phone, but I feel left out when they make shoes like this for kids only. I envision a future where moms across the nation are saying, “If you play with your shoes in church one more time, I’m taking them away from you!”

“Hi, Mom, I just wanted you to know we’re in Vegas.”

“Why are you in Vegas?”

“We’re going to CES.”

“Oh! I saw that on the news! They have a that is thinner than an iPhone there! You should go see it!”

I’m not really into really thin televisions, actually. Ever since TVs got thin enough to mount on the wall, I’ve been happy. No need to go thinner, as far as I’m concerned.

But my mom wanted to see it, so I tracked it down and found it for her…

They’ve name it the Sony Bravia X900C and it IS really thin on the top (4.9 mm), but there is a wide bit at the bottom, so it’s not like you can have this television mounted to your wall and it will only stick out that 4.9 millimeters. It will still stick out two or three inches from your wall.

“I sent you a video of that TV, Mom, did you get it?”

“How did you send me that video?! That’s amazing!”

“I’ll teach you when I see you again.”

I love robots, so any time I get a chance to see a famous one in person, I’m right there. I heard that Aiko Chihira was at the Toshiba booth and I really wanted to see her. She is supposed to speak Japanese sign language. Here is the video I took of her:

I was hugely disappointed because the way they had her set up, she was NOT an android. If you listen to my video, you can hear me try to talk to her like she is my buddy. It wasn’t until I saw on the screen that it said, “She is not interactive. She does not respond to the audience’s motion or voice.” She was just like the animatronic pirates on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, repeating a presentation over and over.

Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to have a robot friend, but the longer I live, the more I realize that my hopes will probably never be realized. Here is a longer video of her from the CEATEC show in Japan:

When she tries to smile at the beginning of the video, it just looks wrong, somehow. When she starts doing the sign language, she looks awkward. Disneyland’s Abraham Lincoln looked just as creepy almost fifty years ago. I am beginning to doubt that I will ever get my robot friend before I die.

We went to CES again this year and there are always some things that are unfathomable to me. The Intel Spider Dress was one of them until I learned more about it and its designer. Here is a video I took of it here:

It was designed by Anouk Wipprecht and printed on a 3D printer, which makes it high-tech, but it is a bit more involved than that. Anouk made it to react to people who invade your personal space. It has sensors, which monitor other people who are within the vicinity and the spider legs react to their movement and proximity. Here is video from Make Magazine that interviews the Anouk about her dress.

Intel helped sponsor this research and it is Edison powered, so that is why it’s at the Intel booth.

Winter means lack of sunshine, and for many, unhappiness due to seasonal depression. Fortunately there are a wide variety of light therapy devices–basically high-powered lamps. My usual recommendations are the desk lamps and floor lamps from Full Spectrum Solutions. They’re not too expensive, look great as decorative lighting, and put out a very strong 70W fluorescent light.

More recently we discovered a new lower-cost option. Most experts recommend 50-100 watts of fluorescent light, and with the decreasing cost of Compact Fluorescent (CF) bulbs, they’ve become the least expensive way to get a bright light. If you have a light fixture or lamp that will fit one or more of these, it’s a great way to get light therapy at low cost:

• 23 and 26-watt CFL bulbs (“100W replacement”) are available at department stores at a low price. Three or four of them are a pretty good light therapy option.
• If you’re willing to order bulbs online, there are higher-wattage options available. For about $10 the Feit Electric 42-watt CFL is about as bright as a 200W incandescent, and we’ve found the 42W fits into many typical lamps.
• And for a single-bulb solution, costing about $12, Amazon has a huge 85-watt CFL bulb that actually outshines the 70W light therapy lamps.

We were very impressed by the 85W bulb, which fits into a standard light socket, but there are two issues:

• Size. It’s huge–almost comically large–and won’t fit into very many light fixtures. However, many cheap desk lamps and hanging lamps will work with it just fine. We recommend getting a bulb first and then finding a lamp that will hold the giant bulb. (Picture above shows this bulb, the 42W bulb, and a typical 13W CF bulb)
• Brightness. This is a BRIGHT bulb, and unlike the Full Spectrum Solutions lamps linked above, it’s not dimmable. Unless you have a huge shaded lamp, you won’t want to hang it in the corner of your living room and keep it turned on. (Notice how it protrudes above the shade in our lamp.)

Despite those caveats, if you shop around for a lamp that fits, you can turn one of these into a light therapy lamp that would have cost you thousands of dollars 10 years ago for under $30. And if you do use it in your living room, it will certainly be a conversation starter!