Gadgets

This has got to be one of the ultimate car simulators out there. Naturally, all this awesomeness doesn’t come cheap, but hey, it’s the best!

You’ll spend 1,000 (USD) on this device, which is more than quite a few supercars. It’s called the Cruden Hexatech simulator and it kind of reminds me of those Battletech simulators that were all of the rage years ago. I always wanted to play in them, but never did.

This thing is completely suspended on a hydraulic tripod and allows you to simulate F1, NASCAR, WRC, as well as various 24-hour races like Le Mans. The rig allows you to receive feedback from the chassis, track, tire and suspension settings, drive trains, aero load, aero draft, steering, brakes, and various driver aids.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It comes with three 42-inch screens, but you can go bonkers and project images onto the walls of a specially built room. Sounds completely insane to me. If I had 1,000 to spare, I’d rather buy a real race car!

[via DVice, photo credit: Benimoto]

This is actually serious. This is a teeny, tiny, flying robot that looks like a hummingbird. It naturally comes from Japan and wants to save your life, and a whole other bunch of stuff as well.

Did I mention that this tiny thing cost .1 million dollars? This ‘bot can flap its wings 30 times per second, just like a real hummingbird. It’s supposed to save lives by searching for survivors in accident sites and other dangerous spots that are usually not accessible by humans.

The .1M cost is actually associated with all of the the robot’s development, so I guess that’s not as bad as it sounds. Japanese researchers at Chiba University near Tokyo want to create a sort of robot that will hover, just like this bird. It’s controlled by infrared sensors. The researchers mentioned that if they are able to fit a tiny camera on the robot, it could be used to “help rescue people trapped in destroyed buildings, search for criminals or even operate as a probe vehicle on Mars.”

That sounds pretty amazing to me. The robot weighs less than an ounce. For now, its flight movements are limited, but hovering is supposed to be possible in 2011, and they hope to put a miniature camera in by then too.

[via Engadget]

Super Mario fans – looking for a sugar fix? These delicious sweet and sour candies are the perfect treat for anyone who spends at least a few hours a week bouncing around the Mushroom Kingdom.

There are 5 different candy designs, including green apple sour 1-up mushrooms, blue raspberry mini mushrooms, cherry red cherry power-up mushrooms, sugary yellow star candies, and strawberry-flavored coin candies.

The guys at BigBadToyStore are taking pre-orders for the Question Mark Block candies now. You can get the Mushroom Sours and the Super Star candies over at Birthday Express. All of the candies sell for .99 (USD) a tin.

I always figured the gold coins were filled with chocolate, not strawberry.

[via The Design Town]

If you liked Marc Ecko’s line of Star Wars hoodies then you should prepare your wallet for another deluge of Star Wars-themed gear, although this time it’s from Adidas, so most of them are shoes, and unlike the detailed Ecko hoodies, some of them are just classic designs slapped with a Star Wars name and a palette swap. Most of the items in the series won’t be available until next month, while some, like this Superskate Mid Stormtrooper shoe, is already available at Adidas’ online shop for 0 (USD).

The Darth Vader track top is also available now at Adidas’ online shop, also for 0. It’s one of the few “literal” Star Wars themed item in the line. I guess Adidas just couldn’t resist the dark side of merchandising.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about: what seems to be a Stan Smith greased up and slapped with a picture of the Millenium Falcon on the tongue. Although I must admit this one’s kinda awesome.

That one’s not yet in stock; check out Adidas’ online shop for those that are already available. There’s also a microsite for the whole line, with a cool intro involving Vader, the Death Star and a city in your country.

[via electrobeans]

The folks at Gigazine spotted this 2010 Google calendar. As in a calendar calendar, made of paper and all. The analog calendar lists events in the same style as the app, and it even has links, buttons and tabs on top. It can also be accessed offline. In fact it can only be accessed offline.

It’s from Google Japan though, so the events and the Google logos for each month refer to Japanese events/themes/culture. I’m trying to look for a Weird Gadget Day in the calendar, but I guess the Japanese celebrate that everyday.

Remind yourself to check out Gigazine for pics of the Google logos for each month. I’d rather have a real Google Earth. No wait, that would just be a globe. Google Docs? A pad of paper. Gmail! Meh, mailbox. Dammit they’re all boring.

[via Inventor Spot]

So let’s say you have twenty or so awesome moments in your Halo 3 career preserved in screenshots. Yeah, the time you stuck that guy right in the face? Remember when you snatched up that flag right in the middle of heavy fire from the red team? Moments to remember forever… and if you’re this guy, you can sleep under ‘em, too.

This lucky gamer’s wife took twenty of his Halo 3 screenshots and immortalized them in a handmade quilt. The only possible way to improve on this idea is to make a Halo Snuggie. Get on that, crafty types.

SlickWillyQ’s special gift includes a lot of other little touches, like medals and his gamertag, just in case someone else tries to claim these are their quilted exploits. Good looking out, Wife-of-Willy. And good gifting, too.

[via Hawty McBloggy]

Some guy decided that he had enough of this world and proceeded to live in a garbage truck. But this isn’t just any old garbage truck, this thing is actually somebody’s house!

The conversion process was quite impressive and the inside doesn’t look anything like a garbage truck anymore. OK, so it’s not really a garbage truck, it’s a UNICAT TerraCross all-terrain vehicle. It looks like a pretty swanky pad! A lot of storage and organization systems went into this creation, especially so his stuff doesn’t fly around while he’s driving around.

This is quite astounding. I’d never expect anyone to live in a truck like this. It’s kind of a sleeper RV, perfect for super-heroes and super-villains, able to go wherever you want. UNICAT does a bunch of custom trucks. I’m sure that you can find one that fits your fancy.

The idea is that to try and to live simpler by taking your home with you wherever you go. I also like the fact that they use all-terrain trucks, instead of a really expensive RV. I bet this thing would be zombie-proof too.  You can buy your own UNICAT truck if you want to try this for yourself.

[via Make:]

We’ve featured a variety of iPhone musical instruments around here, including pianos, guitars, drums, and even ocarinas, but this is the first time I’ve come across an app that lets you play your iPhone like it was a violin, viola or cello.

Just load up greySox String Trio, choose a bit of classical music, and press “play”. The music loads in and plays based on the strokes of the virtual “bow” that is your iPhone or iPod Touch. String Trio uses the motion sensor in your iPhone to detect the angle and length of your strokes, and adjusts the playback of the music accordingly. You can either choose automatic accompaniment (hence the “trio” part of the name), or perform a solo without any backing instruments. The video below should give you a pretty good idea of how it works.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I don’t know about you, but that Beethoven demo track sort of sounded like the theme from Fawlty Towers to me. They really should add that one to the app and they’d sell a lot more copies. For now, you’ll have to settle for one of the over 20 included classical and folks songs bundled with the App. greySox is also offering in-app downloads of two additional 10-track collections, priced at 99 cents each.

String Trio is available now over at the iTunes App Store for .99 (USD).

With all the brouhaha slowly dying down about the CrunchPad and the JooJoo, Notion Ink quietly slipped in some news about its upcoming tablet PC called the Adam.

Notion Ink was spouting some complete nonsense last week about the Adam’s battery life. Check this out: they said that it would have 48 hours of battery standby juice, which is also good for 8 hours of HD video playback or 16 hours of WiFi-enabled browsing. I’m seriously doubting those ambitious numbers. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Adam couldn’t even do half of that.

It’s got a 10.1-inch touchscreen, Android OS, WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G, HSDPA, and A-GPS. Ports include USB, HDMI, and a headphone jack. Storage comes by the way of a flash drive and memory card combo. It smells a bit like vaporware to me, but only time will tell. Then again, by June the market will be flooded with similar devices.

The Indian company is currently discussing plans to test the 3G capabilities of the Adam in the US and in India, since the 3G networks are compatible. They expect to deliver it in June 2010, with an expected price of 15,000 rupees (approx 1 USD).

[via Engadget]

The tamagotchi generation is about to have kids. To prepare them, there’s the Gravida Nurse Prenatal Education Device!

The generation that grew up with tamagotchis, video games, and the internet isn’t about to research kids and babies in books or – God forbid – the internet! They’re going to be turning to the Gravida, of course!

The Gravida Nurse Prenatal Education Device features a touchscreen display that shows educational articles that are perfect for tweeting moms. They include the dos and don’ts of pregnancy, as well as care for the newborn baby. The device also has images as well as voice recordings to help you absorb all of the great knowledge it contains!

It’s got a memory card slot, so I’m betting that you’ll be able to find out how to take care of your kid throughout his or her whole life, thanks to more lessons! It’s available for .69 (USD) over at UXSight.

[via Ubergizmo]