Technology posts

Ever had your battery running low on a device and you could find every other charger except for the one that you need? No need for multiple chargers when the Pebble Portable Charger will charge them all. The Pebble Portable Charger is ideal for anyone who owns an iPod, iPhone, Flip, Muvi Atom or any other USB friendly device. It might be small and can easily fit into your pocket but the Pebble stores a 500mA battery inside of it. This is remarkable because the iPhone 3G battery is only 1200mA. This means that the Pebble has the power to charge it four times over and it will also charge a dead iPhone battery…

A couple of years ago, after much delay, I finally got my own HDTV. Even got a PS3 to go with it too. It was glorious. Stupendous, even. Blu-Rays and HD channels practically jumped off the screen and smacked me in the face. Games looked lifelike. I, like, was Nathan Drake, man. So, with the arrival of 3D-TV, we can expect similarly superlative results, right? A mind-blowing difference in the quality of our home-theatre experience? Nope. 3D-TV is a half-baked technology yet to reach maturity and it is now being foisted on unsuspecting consumers. They will be sold the line that 3D is the next must-have…

Cows just aren’t used for their milk anymore. The first passenger train fueled by beef-based biodiesel traveled from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth, Texas yesterday. This is a yearlong test in hopes to see if beef-based biodiesel is capable of running the Amtrak Heartland Flyer passenger train. The test is also to see if the new biodiesel can cut fuel costs, reduce emissions and make sure that the ride if just as comfortable for passengers. The fuel is a mixture of 80% diesel and 20% biofuel called B20. The yearlong trial has been funded by the Federal Railroad Administration and has a $274,000 grant…

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…

Some may affectionately know LinkedIn as “Facebook for suits” in some quarters, but somehow the service has managed to keep growing within its business and professionally-focused segment. Now the social service has introduced a bevy of new sharing features for users. LinkedIn is likely aiming to ensure its users can now use the service to share news and information pertinent to their business interests, just like Facebook, though perhaps a little easier to explain to the boss. After all, it is business-related… Eight in all, the new features include the addition of image and article…

Soon you too could be sending or receiving unsolicited messages via Bluetooth from up to 65-metres (200-feet) or more away, as the new Bluetooth 4.0 standard has been finalised. Now we know manufacturers haven’t exactly rushed to launch Bluetooth 3.0 devices, but the new standard may interest some, with its low-energy mode and boosted range, up from 30-feet to 200-feet. Realistically, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) maintain the new standard will be of use to manufacturers of small devices, such as watches or remote controls, and to those creating network equipment. “Bluetooth…

He may have predicted that Apple’s iPad would ‘rule the world’, but the man who invented the notebook concept isn’t happy with Steve Jobs at the moment. Alan Kay is one of the great heroes of the technological revolution we’re still experiencing today. So much so that when Apple introduced the iPad, Jobs took pains to send Kay one as a personal gift. But it isn’t the product that Kay has a problem with – it’s Apple’s determination to control what developers do with it. Apple last week changed the terms of its deal with developers, introducing new clauses which forbid iPhone apps from…

Adobe has ceased development of its tools to export Flash content into a format suitable for the iPhone. “We will still be shipping the ability to target the iPhone and iPad in Flash CS5,” said Adobe’s Mike Chambers. “However, we are not currently planning any additional investments in that feature.” Apple CEO Steve Jobs has previously slammed Adobe as “lazy” and Flash as unsuitable for use on mobile devices. Apple has not enabled Flash playback on the iPhone, pushing the open HTML 5 standard instead. Adobe’s announced cessation of development follows Apple’s decision…

No self-respecting Internet user can possibly have missed the many and varied Hitler parodies based on scenes from Constantin Films’ 2004 film, Der Untergang (“Downfall”). They’ve been everywhere, with one particularly hilarious example depicting the defeated German leader’s reaction on hearing the iPod touch lacks a camera. Now they’re gone. YouTube has begun removing videos that feature content from the movie because Constantin Films has suddenly decided to use Google’s Content I.D. system to take down the clips. Which is strange, as these things have been flying around the…