3D Printer Harnesses the Sun to Transform Egyptian Sand Into Glass

After starting off with what looks like a jaunt through the dunes of Tatooine, this3D printer uses the immense power of the sun to turn sand into glass.

The 3D printer, called the Solar Sinter, was conceived of by Kayser to create shapes from the vast nothingness of the Sahara Desert, specifically the portion that runs through Egypt.

 

 

Monster’s New Earbuds Are Strictly for Concert Junkies

Monster seemingly has headphones for every niche, music genre, and usage scenario you could ever imagine. So it makes sense they worked with legendary funk/soul group Earth, Wind and Fire to churn out a headphone specially-tuned for live music.

According to CrunchGear, the Gratitude earbuds are designed to replicate sound and instruments as accurately as possible (as opposed to, say, the Beats headphones, which emphasize bass). Price for the Gratitude earbuds is unknown, but they're expected to launch in September.

 

 

This Massage Chair Has Everything

This massage chair by Panasonic has everything you'd want. 3D mapping! It creates a map of the body-height, weight, dimensions—and then massages accordingly. There's even hot stones! It can heat itself up to 108 degrees.  

Yeah, you dont get massages there but the chair, called the Panasonic EP-MA70 Real Pro Ultra Luxury massage chair, has every other trick in the book: shoulder massage, hand and arm massage, waist and back, thigh and hip, and even calf and foot. And the 'hot stone' therapy can increase your blood flow, lessen your anxiety and bring you to your happy place. Gotta count for somethin'. $8,000.

Dress Your iPad as a Stylish Notepad

Some of you enjoy flaunting the beauty of a naked iPad, but Pad and Quill's gorgeous birch wood Contega for iPad 2 gives your device both rugged protection and good looks, without losing any of your device's functionality.

BlackBerry Bold 9900

RIM's BlackBerry 9900 is the device that the BlackBerry diehards have been hoping, wishing, and waiting for since the original Bold launched way back in 2008. However, this time around the company has added in a capacitive touchscreen, swapped the trackball of yesteryear for an optical trackpad, and slimmed the whole thing down into a 10.5mm thick package.  

The Bold 9900 bears a striking resemblance to the original "big Bold" 9000, and fans of that device's large but sturdy form factor will absolutely love the 9900. Gone is the faux-leather back cover, which has been replaced with a slick carbon fiber-esque flat battery door. Interestingly, whereas the entire back of the device could be removed and swapped on the 9000, only the part of the housing that covers the battery itself comes off on the 9900. The carbon fiber midsection is surrounded by soft touch black rubber finishes that taper the outer edge of the device slightly, resulting in a really nice overall form factor.

 

 

Voltaic Spark Tablet Case Powers Your Pad With The

Voltaic makes tons of solar-charging gear, from laptop bags to backpacks, the company just unveiled its Spark Tablet Case -- a thin, padded case designed for your iPad or other slate that can generate 8-watts of power in sunlight. In addition to directly charging your iPad in about 10 hours, it can also bank the Sun's rays in a universal battery pack, for use when those fluffy things in the sky don't cooperate with your outdoor computing schedule. Optionally, the included V39 USB Battery can be charged (as you may have guessed) via USB, for extra insurance. The Spark is available now for $299 and extra battery packs can be had for $99.

 

 

Amenbo Five-Finger Mouse Has One up On Mickey

If you're using a standard mouse or a trackpad, there's a good chance you've got a finger or two going to waste, and really, what's the point of having all of those digits if you're not going to put them to work? Japan's Double Research & Development Co. is showing off the Amenbo, a new input device that doesn't waste a single finger. Each gets its own pad with a mouse sensor, all connected to a single base with a flexible material that allows for movement. 

The device can detect pressure and motion of the fingers, and is ideal for interfacing with things like 3D CAD data, which usually requires two hands. It's also apparently great for use with robot hands and getting androids to flash the metal sign.

 

 

This Mermaid Swims Through Your Digestive Tract

Say hello to the Mermaid, a self-propelled endoscopy device used to photograph your digestive tract. The Mermaid was created by a team of researchers from Ryukoku University and Osaka Medical College in Japan. Not only is it kinda cute in a medical device sort of way, the Mermaid is a testament to Japanese engineering.

It's less than a half-inch in diameter, two inches long and has a magnetic propulsion system. Once it enters your stomach or colon, the Mermaid snaps two photos each second and is controlled remotely with a joystick. The entry point for the Mermaid is either your mouth or your—well, you know. The whole trip from stem to stern takes only a few hours and is minimally invasive when compared to the traditional colonoscopy.

Eizo Industrial Monitor Does 4K Resolution at 36-inches

Looking for a display that can do justice to all that 4K footage? Okay, perhaps not. But if you were, then the DuraVision FDH3601 from Eizo Nanao could handle it easily with 4096 x 2160 pixels spread over 36.4-inches of LED-backlit real estate. It comes with another big number too: a price tag of ¥2.88 million ($36,000), which gently hints at the fact that this beast is primarily aimed at specialist industrial applications. Eizo claims it's perfect for air traffic control, where staff can make full use of specs like "Digital Uniformity Correction" circuitry to compensate for uneven color or brightness, motion sensors to power the monitor on or off as needed, and a stand that can be minutely adjusted to get the perfect angle. Suddenly, despite the heavy burden of responsibility and the fact that you have to keep your phone switched off all the time, that career choice seems almost worth it.

 

 

Samsung Reveals 'Premium Accessory Suite' for Galaxy Tab 10.1

Loving your Galaxy Tab 10.1 but just itching for some accessories? Samsung knows you are, and today helpfully unveiled a "premium accessory suite" to soothe your jones for both add-ons and premium prices. The collection (parts of which appeared earlier on Sammy's German site) includes a full-size keyboard dock ($70) and a multimedia dock ($35) enabling HDMI pass-through – you can have Tab video on your TV, as long as you buy the separate HDTV adapter ($30).

 You have your choice of cases, as well: a book cover model ($60) you can leave on while using the tablet, or a leather pouch edition ($30) that is, you guessed it, a leather pouch. A few miscellaneous items round out the collection, including various chargers, a conductive stylus and the already-released USB adapter. The company also promises a Bluetooth keyboard and SD card adapter to come "mid-summer"

Nobody Needs a $100,000 Razor

Ukranian sapphire blade that stays sharp for a year. Iridium handle. Magnetic connectors. There are many unnecessary aspects about this razor, but none moreso than the price. $100,000.

Japan Speeding Ahead With 500km/h Maglev Train

Traveling the 515 km (320 miles) from Tokyo to Osaka by Shinkansen bullet train currently requires 2 hours and 25 minutes (and costs a small fortune, too). Come 2045, travel between Japan's two largest metro areas will take just over one hour, following the launch of the country's longest maglev track, which just received construction approval from Tokyo. The nine trillion yen project (approximately $112 billion) was first proposed in the 1970s, but was tabled indefinitely due to its astronomical costs, most of which stem from an extensive network of tunnels that will represent 60 percent of the route. 

You'll be able to get your Japanese Maglev fix beginning in 2027, when the Central Japan Railway launches its high-speed route between Tokyo and Nagoya. One notable neighbor to the west is already operating its own maglev train. China's Shanghai Transrapid has been blasting riders to Pudong airport since 2004, and once achieved a top speed of 501km/h (311 mph). The country is also constructing a 1000km/h vacuum-based train that it plans to launch within the next few years.

 

 

Toshiba's Regza AT300 Tablet for The Japanese Market Delayed

To any of our Japanese readers who've been impatiently awaiting Toshiba's Regza AT300 tablet, you're going to have to hold your breath a touch longer. The 10.1-inch, Japan-only slate is going to miss its expected June arrival, and ship in late July instead. That extra tedious trip to market could be worth it, though: when the AT300 finally does land in Akihabara, it'll come with Android 3.1 and all of its resizable widgets on board. 

But don't expect any surprises, hardware-wise: it'll still pack Tegra 2, a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, and those full-sized HDMI and USB ports that can make a nerd's heart sing.

 

 

A Village Renamed Itself Snapdeal.com?

As a show of gratitude for donating $5000 worth of water pumps, a remote Indian village changed its name to Snapdeal.com, mirroring that of their Groupon-esque benefactor. Wait, wait, wait. Huh?

From TechCrunch:

Snapdeal has adopted a remote village in India and enabled clean drinking water facilities for its people by installing manual pumps. To show their gratitude, the village's residents have decided to rename their village to Snapdeal.com Nagar, actually taking the company by surprise.

Snapdeal.com CEO Kunal Bahl tells me the goal has always been to build a socially responsible organization, and that the decision to provide clean drinking water for the village came from a conversation with one of its 500 employees in the hallways.

A righteous gesture indeed. And I know it's not my place to tell a village what they should and shouldn't do, but this decision doesn't seem terribly well thought out. Especially when considering the longview.

Nanogenerators Could Power a Bluetooth Headset With Your Pulse

Scientists have developed the first self-powered nanogenerators that scavenge energy from their surroundings. They could someday replace conventional batteries in small electronics.

Even the slightest movement or vibration, such as a light breeze or the thump of your pulse, can provide enough energy for these nanogenerators. The energy is stored in a capacitor and used to power sensors or even a small wireless radio like those found in Bluetooth headsets. Signals from these wireless radios can be detected up to 30 feet away.

These technology could be used in tiny spy cameras, small wearable electronics or even medical implants.

The Heart Healthy iPhone

iPhones are being used in all sorts of interesting ways to track our health, but this is one of the more interesting ones. It's a small piece of hardware that turns your phone into an electrocardiogram.

Just millimeters thick, the iCard ECG sticks on the back of an iOS device with velcro and sends ECG data to an app on the device. Place the phone against your chest, start the app and it records ECG data and uploads it as a PDF to the AliveCor server for physicians to review. And it comes in red!

 

 

Kobo eReader Touch Edition Goes on Sale in the US and Canada

At the moment, there are two very similar-looking e-readers with black-and-white Pearl E Ink touchscreens on the market, and now, the smaller and less expensive of the pair is up for grabs. TheKobo eReader Touch Edition went on sale today in the US and Canada for $129.99 (or $139.99 Canadian Dollars) at Best Buy, Borders, Walmart, and the Canadian bookseller Indigo. 

If you'll recall, the 6-inch Kobo is thinner, lighter, and more compact than the Nook Touch, even though its screen is the same size. It also undercuts it by $10 but, there's only 1GB of internal memory reserved for book storage. Could these trade-offs be worth the trimmer design?

 

 

Firefox 5 Slips Out Ahead of Schedule, Gets Official June 21st

Mozilla promised a faster refresh cycle for its wily web browser, following the release of Firefox 4, and it's made good on that promise. The latest incarnation brings with it support for CSS animation and a more easily accessible do-not-track setting -- now available at the top of the privacy pane -- but won't see much in the way of GUI enhancements. Of course, if you want to play it safe, and avoid any last-minute tweaks, you can always hold off until version 5 gets official, but what's the fun in that?

 

 

Jelly Belly Cases Make Your iPhone and BlackBerry Smell Edible

There are 53 "official" Jelly Belly flavors available at present, few of which are MP3 compatible -- strange, really, in an era where pretty much everything else is capable of music playback. The company's new gadget cases are perhaps the next best thing, though despite the fact that they'll add a candy-like scent to your iPhone, iPod touch, nano, or BlackBerry (sadly not this guy), biting into them will almost certainly void your warranty -- and raise your dental co-pay.

The cases are currently available and will run you $15 apiece, the same price as the new Jelly Belly-branded headphones, which are similarly recommended for external use only.

Razer Ships $80 Orochi Black Chrome Edition Mobile Gaming Mouse

It's an Orochi, but with 100 percent more gloss. The Orochi Black Chrome Edition is the exact same mouse that shipped last fall, but with a much more vivacious set of duds. Aside from being fully capable of sneaking into either of your front pockets, this Bluetooth-enabled unit also touts an ambidextrous design, a 4000DPI laser sensor (with tracking at up to 100 inches per second), on-the-fly sensitivity adjustments and a gold-plated USB connector for those who'd prefer to roll wired. If you've been looking to treat yourself, she's in stock now for $79.99.