Author: Jordan Cumberland

Chinese farmer turned inventor, Wu Yulu, is finally getting some recognition after designing and building homemade robots. Yulu has faced some hardships in his life: a fire that burnt his house to the ground, being splashed by battery acid, and the stress of being heavily in debt. Yulu is finally getting a break and people are highly intrigued by his new inventions. He has built almost 50 robots which can pour drinks, use lighters to light cigarettes and even paint. He’s even designed one that can help with chopping up food for meals. After working on his creations for nearly 20 years, Yulu’s robots…

Pioneer announced their new line of Blu-ray players yesterday. These new models are exactly the same as older versions, except for one new detail. The new line is now able to be controlled with an app on your iPhone or  iPod Touch. Along with Pioneer’s free iControlAV app, users can connect to their network and control the device’s many functions. This new feature is basically the same as using a remote control, but with a modern twist. Remotes get lost in the couch or deprogrammed. Having this app as a back-up might be a good idea when you’re too lazy to get up and manually change the channels. If being…

The Thrifty Phone Watch – because we don’t already have enough gadgets that keep us distracted from important work and other tasks throughout the day. Apparently as technology advances, people are getting lazier and need a device that’s with them at all times. You don’t even have to hold this one, so bonus! The futuristic gadget is multi-purpose and especially helpful when you have no free hands to hold a phone, or are at an event which doesn’t allow iPod’s or other devices. The Thrifty Watch Phone is a video camera, MP3 player and PDA. Who needs all of those things when you can have just one and leave…

The sun-powered Solar Impulse HB-SIA is the  brainchild of Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg and the futuristic vessel has finally taken it’s first flight. On April 9, 2010, the solar-powered plane took off in Paverne, Switzerland and soared high in the sky for over 87 minutes. The Solar Impulse was flown by pilot Markus Scherdel and climbed its way to over 1,200 meters high. The team who designed and built the aircraft hope to be able to fly the Solar Impulse non-stop around the world. The Solar Impulse has a gigantic wingspan of over 200 feet, which is the same size as a Boeing 747, but weighs…

A USB stick that shows you what’s on it, without having to actually plug it into your computer? Yes please! They were really thinking of convenience when they came up with the idea for this. It’s really simple: the pink area shows images, the blue represents documents and green is for movies and other multimedia files. The colors fill up the space in proportion to how much is actually stored so you’ll be able to tell what’s taking up the most room and where there’s extra space to add files. The design for this new USB stick is just a prototype at the moment but it will hopefully be on the market soon. You’d…

Silk is being used to make electronics that stick to the brain. A far cry from fabric but doctors are hoping that using silk will help them explore parts of the brain that they weren’t previously able to. “This development heralds a new class of implantable devices, not just for the brain, but for many other tissues,” said neurologist Brian Litt of the University of Pennsylvania, in an interview with Wired.com. Engineers chose to use silk because it’s easily stretched and the material is super thin, making it easy to mould and work with, making for better brain-computer interfaces. BCI’s…

Black sunglasses, stiff white collars and pinstriped neckties scream Karl Lagerfeld so much, that designer Dzmitry Samal decided to pay homage to the fashion icon who is popular worldwide with some fabulous lamps. Lagerfeld’s signature style was used to inspire the design for the one-of-a-kind lamp, which is sleek and classic and instantly recognizable. The minimalistic piece only features a small power button at the base of the lamp, which is made of both plastic and metal. Samal, a contemporary designer, has chosen a great way to create a tribute to Lagerfeld’s style and his long career in…

Toshiba is working quickly to launch their new line of tablet computers that will hopefully be available in North America later this year. If the model isn’t ready by the end of the year, the tablet is expected in early 2011. According to a report by Reuters, the tablets will offer Windows 7 and Android. The Windows 7 model is rumored to include higher-end features but the Android model is closer in similarity to the Apple iPad, which has been hugely popular since it’s release. The tablet is expected to feature a 10 inch screen and each model will range in cost – prices are unknown as of yet. “We definitely…

Meet Chloe. She’s the furry little Corgi who is scratching furiously and barking at the iPad. Simple conclusion: dogs aren’t giving the iPad any thumbs up. Now don’t start getting all technical and say that dogs don’t have thumbs so that would be impossible anyways – IF Chloe had the ability, her thumbs would be down. Her owner decided to try and see what Chloe would think about the futuristic device and clearly, she isn’t a fan. She backs away cautiously and moves the iPad away with her nose, many times. During the first stage, titled ‘Curiosity,’ Chloe is clearly intrigued by the swirls and flashes…

Wouldn’t it be really convenient to be able to check up on sports scores, news or even your favorite t.v. show on-the-go? MobiTv Inc. has a  new app, MobiTV for the iPhone, that will let you do just this. This is the first shift toward mobile media for the company but the MobiTV app, like many of the thousands available to chose from, should gain popularity quickly because of it’s complete mobility and convenience for users. “MobiTV for iPhone truly showcases the capabilities and scalability of our technology platform and delivers a highly entertaining customer experience,” said Charlie Nooney,…