Tech & Gadget Stream

Check out the Sèvres Vase Clock by Georgios Maridakis at the Royal College of Art, where it will tap the vase (gently, we presume) at each hour. Depending on your preference, you can always adjust the tone to a level of your choice simply by varying the level of water within. Definitely not something you would want to have when there are kids running around.

Takram Design Engineering built the six-legged Phasma remote-controlled robot that is able to scurry about rapidly and dynamically just like an insect. This engineering marvel aims to mimic a living organism in terms of movement instead of shape, where it will reproduce some physics involved whenever an insect runs. Components used in its make up include sliding cables, stainless steel springs and rubber joints, allowing the designers to replicate the smooth and efficient locomotion seen in insects. It would be interesting to see what kind of practical, real world applications such a robot can offer, although chances are the military will find a destructive means to utilize it in the first place.

Are you an avid bird watcher? Want to take the easy way out instead of using your aural capability to figure out just which feathered friend is out there, chirping away merrily? The Bird Identiflyer ought to be of great help, as it is able to identify bird songs quickly with but a press of a button. The use of advanced digital technology in this device allows nature lovers to quickly and accurately identify up to 120 birds and 10 frogs simply by their songs and colors. In addition, you can add to your general knowledge by searching by region, color, habitat or alphabetically whenever you're waiting in the shed for your favorite warbler to come along.

We've seen phones that catered to the blind in the past (mostly concepts) while the majority of handsets out there are meant for the sighted, so how does this Universal Phone differ?  Well, it is more than capable of handling both blind and sighted folks, thanks to thousands of micro pins that are dynamically raised and lowered to form a tactile surface so that the blind can always read incoming text messages in Braille.  As for sighted folks, this surface can be used to experience tactile feedback that normally do not come with touchscreen handsets.  Would be interesting to see who will be the first manufacturer to release such a handset in the future.

Suzuki might be more commonly associated with motorcycles, but their latest release doesn't have anything to do with a 2-stroke engine - the Neutron 701 MNI netbook instead comes with a 7.1" touchscreen display which can be folded down to function as a tablet in that position. Expect the usual suspects underneath the hood with this, including an Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz processors, up to 4GB RAM, a trio of USB 2.0 ports a 5-in-1 memory card reader, an ExpressCard slot, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, a 1.3-megapixel webcam and get this - a 56K modem. We wonder what the heck is that part doing in a modern machine, guess it could always be used in developing areas where broadband is still not popular.

Those Guitar Hero and Rock Band games have certainly caught the attention of many people over the years and for good reason, as it allows one to escape into the world of fantasy being adored by millions sans the money. There's a new DIY method of playing Guitar Hero now, where it involves plugging in an actual guitar into the Wiimote itself. It definitely will add a whole new level of challenges with this since you have actual frets to worry about instead of just color-coded buttons, but it definitely ranks up there in terms of coolness, eh?

Lamborghini is jumping on the hybrid wagon by announcing that the Gallardo would be available in Hybrid form in 2015. It will work in the same way that a Prius does: at slow speed, the electric engine will take over (traffic, city...) and the gas engine will be used in more demanding situations. Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann confirmed that his company would not produce an all-electric car at the moment without saying why. Interestingly, Ferrari has already announced a Hybrid model, schedule to appear in 2015 as well.

Sick and tired of the numerous iPod nano cases out there that do not seem to offer anything different? How about merging the past and the present with these cassette nano cases? Made from actual cassette tapes, they are able to hold your iPod nano 4G securely within, and with two dozen (!) color options to choose from, you're literally spoilt for choice. We wonder which were the unfortunate cassettes to meet their end in this manner - then again, it is a good way to recycle your older (and unwanted) cassettes.

Canadians can benefit from a couple of new phones from Telus and Fido who have just rolled out the Motorola Rival A455 and Nokia 1661, respectively. The former has already been in existence in the US for some time now via Verizon, featuring a full QWERTY keyboard, a 2.2" LCD display at 176 x 220 resolution, Bluetooth connectivity, a 2-megapixel camera, 130MB of internal memory and a microSD memory card slot. It will retail for $99.99 with a 3-year contract, alongside a “chance to win a day with Universal Recording artist Shiloh” with a trio of free Shiloh songs for a limited time only. As for the Nokia 1661 from Fido, this entry-level candybar handset comes with a 1.8" TFT display with 128 x 160 pixels, an integrated FM radio and a flashlight. You can get it for free on a 2-year contract or $55 on prepay.

Egad! From vinyls to MP3s, could the future of raves at clubs go beyond the iPod? The iPhone DJ Mixer could potentially usher in a new era of how DJs spin their music, where it will combine music from a couple of iPhones, iPods or MP3 players, or one of each if you prefer. It comes with a spin option, a couple of effects programs with reverb, flange and filter and cross-fade slider and recording option, alongside a speaker system connection and microphone jack. While you're busy mixing up your tracks, the iPhone DJ Mixer will also double up as a charger when in action. Sounds like $120 well spent if you decide to bring this bad boy home.

Word on the street has it that iRiver is currently developing a new portable media player that will be powered by Google's Android operating system, and this device is touted to tackle the high and mighty iPod touch. Apparently, this unconfirmed unit is known as the K2 where it will feature Wi-Fi connectivity, a 3.5" touchscreen display, Bluetooth support, an integrated accelerometer and a built-in digital TV tuner. There is no confirmation from iRiver's side just yet, but hopefully it will see the light of day in the near future. As iron sharpens iron, surely a new and improved portable media player might help make the next iPod touch out of this world for consumers as Apple attempts to create a whole new envelope instead of pushing the old one beyond its seams.

Acer recently announced their latest M-Series desktop PC known as the Aspire G. In other circles, it is also known as the Predator, and judging by its innards, it will surely live up to its billing as you take a look at the specifications below. Intel Core i7-950 3.06GHz processor 6GB DDR3 RAM (up to 12GB) Intel X58 Express chipset 1TB SATA hard drive @ 7200rpm Two Nvidia GeForce GTS 250 (1GB VRAM) Blu-ray disc drive 11 USB 2.0 ports Two eSATA ports Multi-memory card reader Four DVI-D ports Two Gigabit Ethernet ports Powered by a copy of 64-bit Windows Vista Home Premium operating system, this €1950 won't leave you with any excuses the next time you lose a deathmatch by virtue of being bundled with the Logitech G15 keyboard and the G9 Laser mouse as well.

Strange to see this portable media player being named as the Window W26 Sorcerer’s Stone. There isn't any listing of its specifications available online, but it sure as heck looks more conceptual than being a real device. Hopefully the real thing will come with a decent set of features, although we're pretty sure there's one thing this won't do - that is, to give you eternal life.

Should the apocalypse ever come where you won't have any more power routed to your home, perhaps the Time Your Light concept would be very much welcome. After all, it relies on pent-up wind-up energy just like how a windup doll does. All you need to do to get some light is give it a twist, and hopefully the irritating ticking noise problem would have been solved by then. It begs the question of whether this is a timer with a light attached, or is it a mechanical light that functions just like a timer? Love the color scheme it comes in though.

If you happen to be in Singapore some time next week, then you might be interested in checking out the iiView A2 that will be powered by Windows 7 Release Candidate alongside a price tag of $468. No idea on whether we'll ever see this machine Stateside, but it bears a striking resemblance to the MacBook Air, where features include: Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor 2GB RAM Intel 945 chipset 12.1" 1,280 x 800 resolution display 320GB hard drive Two USB ports, mini-HDMI port, 2-in-1 headphone/mic jack 802.11b/g, 10/100 Ethernet