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THE latest twist on invisibility cloaks won't hide Harry Potter in the middle of a room, but it might just let spies conceal microphones under the rug or the wallpaper. So called "carpet cloaks" are the first technology to succeed in hiding objects by deflecting light across a range of wavelengths. Two groups described different cloaks last week at the International Quantum Electronics Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Invisibility cloaks work by deflecting light waves so the light that reaches the eye shows no trace of the hidden object. Conventional optical materials can't do this, but a dozen years ago John Pendry of Imperial College London showed it was possible to bend light around objects by building materials made of components smaller than the wavelength of the light. In theory, the principle will work across the electromagnetic spectrum, but early experiments with invisibility cloaks have been done at microwave frequencies, which have wavelengths in the ce...

To protect the meek scrollwheel, the honorable Sony VGP-BMS10 Bluetooth mouse took an oath of loyalty and drew its metal shield. Then a laser was placed in its underbelly to track foe and friend alike. We can only hope that the VGP-BMS10 is as trustworthy as it looks. Otherwise, the mouse is just another premium mouse. Featuring an 800dpi sensor, 30-foot range and PC-only compatibility (which seems odd), Sony's optical knight is available now in Japan for $70. And in other news, I must be Jonesing for my first trip to Medieval Times.

New iPhone is here, iPhone 3G S. iPhone 3G S offers as many as 100 new features and more than double the speed of the earliest version. Plus, it comes with a price cut. Seems like users have got all they wanted and wished for in the new gadget. Not really! iPhone 3G S though offers a lot, still leaves a lot wanting. The revamped iPhone disappoints users on many counts, some which were on top of their wishlist for the new iPhone. Here are the 9 things that disappoint many users in iPhone 3G S. Apple products are known for their design. Apple iPhone too scores high on looks. But a change is always refreshing. So, a change in looks was high on users' wishlist. However, the new iPhone 3G S disappoints with almost nothing new in terms of appearance. The phone looks exactly same like its predecessors with same dimensions and screen display. iPhone 3G S, in both 16GB or 32GB variants, will be available in black and white colour options. Apple finally upgraded iPhone's camera megapixel...

Bike, stroller or wheeled trebuchet? Whatever it is, the Taga takes kid-carrying in a new direction. I just can't help thinking those two smiling kids are one wheelie away from joining the ISS. Luckily for the kids, the Taga trike stroller comes with a range of custom safety options and accessories, like the pictured double child seat, car seat, basket, and wooden double-seat trailer. Oh, and it transforms from trike to stroller in a few seconds, which is actually incredibly innovative and convenient. I'm going to go ahead and assume you take little Timmy out first. The 44 to 64-lb. Taga kit tops off with a Shimano gear system (found on most mid-range bicycles), as well as front, rear, and parking brakes. The whole kit folds down to car trunk size. Again, take Timmy out first. Europe only for now with a sky-high $2,500 base price.

Keyboard Fit into your hand position. Looks very futuristic, looks great. Keyboard can do tri-dimensional swivel and yaw allow literally infinite positioning options for each of the three sections: tilt, rotate, bend, flex, twist, flatten.

This next product is for those who want one of those “sexy” bedrooms. You know, the type with the silk sheets, the bearskin rugs and the tiger and leopard print blankets. Yeah, the Luminex Fiber Optic Bed Covers would make a lovely edition to a “love bedroom”. Who wouldn’t be dazzled by bed covers that glow in the dark? Now all that is missing is the Barry White music. “Ooh baby baby, your love’s so good it makes the sheets glow”. The glow effect is produced by fiber optics sewn directly into the covers themselves, and it has to be plugged into the wall for power. In case you are wondering, this doesn’t work as an electric blanket in the sense that it raises the temperature. As for how to wash these covers, I believe they are hand washable with natural soap. It doesn’t look like you have to worry about getting these bed covers wet. So if you or your partner spill the champagne, no problem! You realize that this lightshow will cost you. A 63 x 78.8 inch (160 x 200 cm) cover costs about ...

have seen this GameGrip on another blogs, and one of them called it “the world’s most absurd iPhone accessory”. Personally, I think that is a little too harsh. After all, there are a lot of game apps available for the iPhone right now, so why not create something that makes the iPhone like a SIXAXIS in its shape? Maybe it’s because we all know that the iPhone may be good, but it hasn’t replaced handhelds like the DS or the PSP. Perhaps I should say that it hasn’t replaced them yet. After all, Apple has recently announced the downloading of its one billionth app. I’m sure that a high percentage of those downloads were Super Monkey Ball or other gaming programs. If more apps come out that are as good (if not better than) the action games on most handhelds, then the GameGrip should come with some buttons. As you can see, the GameGrip is hardly portable, unless you got a deep pocket. You can also see how to connect it to the iPhone itself, and it will allow for use of the headphones. If y...

Researchers from Japan have developed a rubber that is able to conduct electricity well, paving the way for robots with stretchable "e-skin" that can feel heat and pressure like humans. The material overcomes the problems faced by metals -- which are conductive but do not stretch – which is the first in the world to overcome the problem and rubber, which hardly transmits electricity, according to the team at the University of Tokyo . The new technology is flexible like ordinary rubber but boasts conductivity some 570 times as high as commercially available rubbers filled with carbon particles. If used as wiring, the material can make elastic integrated circuits (ICs), which can be stretched to up to 1.7 times their original size. One application of the material would be artificial skin on robots as robots enter our everyday life; they need to have sensors everywhere on their bodies like humans. Imagine they bump into babies. Robots need to feel temperatures, heat a...

Product summary The good: Swanky design with quiet operation; all games in high-definition; PSP-like, easy-to-use interface; plays Profile 2.0 high-definition Blu-ray movies in addition to upscaling standard DVDs; built-in Wi-Fi; 80GB hard drive; HDMI output with 1080p support; no external power supply; free online gaming service. The bad: Lacks full backward support for PS2 games; only comes with two USB ports; no infrared port means non-Bluetooth universal remotes aren't compatible; no flash card or memory reader; glossy black finish is a fingerprint magnet; online gaming, media, and commerce options not nearly as developed as Xbox Live. The bottom line: Even though PS2 backward compatibility has been dropped from this version, the 80GB PS3 is still a superb Blu-ray player and high-definition game console. Specifications: Product Description: Sony PlayStation 3 - Game console ; Media Type: BD-ROM , CD-ROM , DVD-ROM ; Processor: Cell Broadband Engine ; See full specs Price range: ...

The way how Intel and AMD are working on their processors is sometimes similar to marching as they both regularly come up with a new idea or a solution that nihilities difference between them. Of course, the difference is sizable nevertheless. So far Intel owns the processing domain while AMD has pulled off in chip architecture design. And only just a short while ago, on the 13th of November 2008 AMD has planed a great switch in production models. For very long time, from the mid 2007 to be more concrete, AMD production facilities were all given to their chip for Barcelona quad-core processor , now there is a new one called Opteron or Shanghai in its code name.Thinking over a Barcelona substitute, AMD developers decided to make the server chip smaller and faster, so they have added a number upgrades to shared L3 cash and SRAM, and have turned from 65 nm size to 45 nm. Such changes have required architecture revision, but everything is well made. Everything is also made to be compatibl...

December '08 was the month when VHS tapes have officially gone for ever from Wal-Mart shelves, but luckily, now we have even more toys to play with instead of old-fashioned VHS players. It is now all about Blu-Ray image and sound quality. The latest news show that end users have got a handle on buying Blu-Ray disks because December '08 sales of those are 400 percents (1.5 million pieces) higher than a year ago. So, what do we have here is a new gadget that will help us enjoy every last bit of Blu-Ray quality sound on our PCs. It is a new audio card from Asus called Xonar HDAV1.3 Series that is one of the first audio cards that bring ultimate sound performance to PCs. Well actually we know of course that the first one was Xonar HDAV1.3 and Xonar HDAV1.3 Series is an enhanced version.The result of installing an Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 Series audio card must be very pleasing because what it does is: first – eliminating downsampling. It means that high quality audio tracks will not b...

As is turns up, graphic cards have to do a lot more than just support latest DirectX 10 games and playback HD quality content. For instance, it would be great for a modern GPU to meet needs of a businessman who has to do presentations at work on big screens or plausibly uses more than one screen at the same time every day. All these via a laptop , or why not, a small form factor PC . Such a way GPU developers have a little bit different target group to satisfy, and here is what NVIDIA got for them. This is an upcoming NVIDIA Quadro NVS 420 graphic card. It will come out in February for 499 USD as manufacturer suggests.NVIDIA Quadro NVS 420 GPU may be aimed for multi-display functions and to fit some small dimensions, but of course it has enough guts to for almost any PC game out there. In fact, it has 512 MB in it and 11.2 GBps bandwidth speed, so, should be enough for a couple of years. However the main thing still is how it handles a number of widescreen displays. Thanks to NVIDIA ...

We all know from childhood that red traffic light means stop. If you usually drive safe, you obey the traffic light signals every time. Unfortunately, not everyone obeys them, which constantly leads to accidents. Why does this happen? Maybe they just do not notice the red light. In any case, this behavior is very dangerous on the road. The police tries to frighten drivers with huge penalties, installs cameras that detect violators... However, this problem may need another way to be resolved. What about... virtual wall that is synchronized with traffic lights?This interesting concept shows us how the problem of dishonorable drivers can be dealt with. The main parts of this system are two laser-equipped stands that stand just in front of each other at the different sides of the road. When the traffic lights turn red, lasers will display the wall that virtually stays in the way of drivers. This wall will show moving image of pedestrians walking across the road and will be clearly seen eve...

Although we've heard a lot about the development of compact projectors that enable transmitting images or videos to any surface, there is still nothing of that kind. Yet, even now many companies say that they are about to produce these devices. One of such reports has been recently made by 3M Corporation. According to the given information this company designed a tiny projector, which can be integrated into the cell phones and transmit an image of VGA-quality. This gadget represents a very small projector that has about 1,3cm in width. But developers are sure that the diminutiveness of this device will not have an impact on its quality. Thus, given concept will be able to ensure VGA-quality of the image that can be considered as quite a high achievement in this domain. Moreover it is said that the diagonal of the image transmitted by this projector will reach 40 inches or even more. As Mike Kali, executive vice-president of 3M Corporation, declared their "project has finally ...

If you are a smoker, you must know that not only nicotine harms your health. Cigarettes contain many harmful tars that can cause lung cancer and many other diseases. Cigarette companies try to decrease tar level in cigarettes, but it is impossible to just throw it away. Tobacco can’t be grown to contain only nicotine, and there is no methods of tobacco refinement that is capable of removing those carcinogenic elements. However while there is no way to grow tobacco without harmful tars, there is a way to produce cigarettes without them. How? Make electronic cigarettes!Golden Dragon, Chinese company, designed a very interesting gadget.A battery powers the electronic cigarette. Energy produced by battery is enough to heat the nicotine inside and to produce smoke like usual cigarettes do. No harmful tars; only pure nicotine, in small concentrations of course.It is like nicotine gums, only much more effective. It can be helpful for somebody who wants to give up smoking, or at least make sm...

Casio EX-F1 is the fastest digital camera in the world. EX-F1 can capture in salvo up to 60 pictures per second, at the maximum resolution of 6 mega pixels and record the video in Full HD format with 60 fps, or at a smaller resolution up to 1200 fps catching movements that can not be seen with naked eye. EX-F1 can also zoom up to 12 times, to reproduce slowing down images captured extremely fast on the 7 cm display due to Slow Motion View technology and to photograph with flash up to 7 times per second using Rapid Flash function. For capturing in poorly illuminated spaces EX-F1 allows frame capturing with up to ISO1600 sensibility. All these technologies are based on new CMOS sensor and ultra rapid LSI processor; witch where used by Casio for EX-F1. It can capture 60 pictures per second with just a push of a button, or 5 pictures per second in up to 12 seconds. Video recording can be set on Full High Definition resolution, 1980 and 1080 on 60 fps, or at the smaller resolutions for ca...

We had seen many interesting watch gadgets . They have a great potential, because a) they are used every day by many people, b) they are a part of our life, and c) their features haven't been changed for ages. There was many tries to bring some advanced functionality into this usual thing: watches with microphones and recording features, watches with MP3 players and built-in flash memory, even cell phone watches. However, it is a very rare case when some popular cell phone company makes an accessory for its mobiles in form of a watch! This time, Sony Ericsson presented a line of Bluetooth watches that are created to be connected with its latest mobiles. The upcoming Bluetooth watch accessory lineup will be named MBW-150 for male models and MBW-200 for a female version. These watches are made in several versions. Male lineup includes classic, music and executive editions, and models for women include Sparkling Allure, Contemporary Elegance and Evening Classic. All these models ...

An alarm clock is the only thing that helps us to wake up in the morning. Hardly someone can get to work or university on time without using it. Nowadays the fact that everyone needs this device encourages producers to design a great number of different alarm clocks in order to meet consumers' needs. As a result we have a lot of various alarm clocks to fit any taste. For example, it's even possible to use your favorite song as an alarm. Yet, it doesn't mean that no innovations should be made in this domain.Thus, given gadget represents an absolutely different approach to the question. The main difference consists in the fact that it doesn't wake you up by means of annoying loud alarm, helping not to disturb people who don't need to get up. Device has quite a strange form that is of a ring. So, you just have to set the alarm for a certain time and put it on your finger. When the time comes, it starts vibrating. The only way to turn it off is to get out of your bed a...

When we are going to the theatre or cinema, we want to watch and listen carefully, to enjoy the movie or play. And there are also warning signs "Please turn off your phones" there. Unfortunately, not everybody reads or obeys them. And it is awful when in the middle of a movie a quiet and intense moment is interrupted with somebody's phone call. Then the moment is spoiled completely. Now, with help of modern technologies, you can help people stop using their cell phones around you! GSM jammers usually are big, bulky and very expensive. But they are jamming huge area, why would we need to jam the whole block? One portable GSM jammer, which can fit into your palm, jams all GSM signals (850 - 1900 MHz) in 10m or 30ft around you. This makes it perfect to use in a theaters or cinemas. And because of small size, you can easily carry this jammer in your pocket.Nobody's phone will ring when this gadget is working! No broken moments ever again. But be aware - it is illegal in ...

When you are driving at night, the eyes rapidly get fatigued from the huge contrast between light from the headlights, and surrounding world. If we will not see what is surrounding us something bad might happen. Maybe some night vision device could help... But they are too bulky and expensive to be used in normal life. Tag Heuer, high-end sports watch maker, decided to correct this night driving problem, in a very elegant way.This glasses, originally designed for Le Mans 24 hour races, is invented to help driver see better at night and to reduce the eyes fatigue level. It is known that only 10% of light reaches photosensitive part of the retina. Therefore, these glasses are designed to boost the contrast on the darker areas and to reduce it on the very bright areas, so you will be able to see more at night. The pale yellow lenses offer constant clear, sharp vision with a very high light transmission rate in order to contrast dark blue and green surroundings without changing color perce...