Get your true colors with Real Life Color Picker

In Photoshop, there’s a little pen which will copy the color settings of anything on your monitor screen so you can use it as your color in the program. Well, think of the Real LifeColor Picker as … well, a real life version of just that – only for the real world.

The Color Picker can scan any color in the real world by placing the head of the pen against the object of color and pressing the scan button. Color sensors inside the pen talk to the attached RGB cartridge, which then mixes the proper proportions of red, green and blue to come up with an accurate ink color. It can then be used for artistic purposes like drawing or simply writing with it. Very cool.

can see literally hundreds of possibilities for hobbyists – particularly scrapbookers and costumers looking to match the color of a particular garment or wallpaper sample in order to then get the right swatch to create the perfect scrap book page or costume. Or simply someone like my wife, who’s been writing in a journal non stop since she was 13 (now 42) and getting ink to suit her mood at the time.

It’s just a concept right now, but if this sucker gets funding, I can see Parker or Paper Mate picking this up just in time for school.

LGs New Watch Phone

You're not how much money you have in the bank, you're not the car you drive, you're not the contents of your wallet, you are not your freaking khakis – oh, who are we kidding, if you're reading a site such as this, you're all about your khakis. To sate that "look good, feel good" need in all of us, LG has brought out the ultimate in techie chic: a watchphone. This is not just any watchphone though, this is a £500 ($808) droplet of Orange-tinted exclusivity that straddles your wrist and demands onlookers' attention. Do the consumer in you a favor and come along past the break where we have the full scoop on the GD910.

What we're looking at here, in the crudest possible terms, is a style item with ringtones. That need not necessarily spell disaster, as good execution and a keen sense for that ephemeral style thing could still make it a success, but we must also set aside our preconceptions of what a modern phone is and does in order to assess the watchphone on its own merits. Our mission here will be to determine whether it succeeds at what it sets out to do or trips over its faux leather-strapped self.

At first blush, it would be easy to dismiss the GD910 as being too big for a watch and too small to be a phone, but our time with it has revealed both conclusions to be inaccurate. While undeniably bulkier than your average watch, the watchphone's styling is akin to some of those chunky leather bracelet that hipsters seem keen on wearing and popularizing, so we'll just give it a pass there and move on. Its stay on our tender wrist was certainly no great bother, although we'll admit it was no great pleasure either. A more flexible metal strap might've been preferable.

On the phone front, if you focus in on the word phone and exclude the cornucopia of additional functions and gimmicks that manufacturers have added to modern mobiles, you'll find that this bad boy does that job pretty well too. After all, it was only this century that the Ericsson T39 and its 101 x 54 monochromatic display were considered fresh and new, so we shouldn't think of the LG's 128 x 160 resolution as being particularly limiting. Where the device shines is with the clarity and vibrancy of its display, which gave us no cause for gripes, and the responsiveness of its capacitive touchscreen, which was flawless throughout.

Magic Wand Remote Control

Magic Wand Remote Control – Harry Potter’s Wizard Fans Rejoice!

A magic wand remote control? Well have you ever thought it would be really cool to be able to wave a magic wand and make David Dickinson disappear? Or wished you could mute a long-winded politician with a simple flick of your wrist? Well, now you can with The Wand Remote Control from Firebox!

The Wand is a nifty gizmo which uses gestures instead of the buttons you find on a traditional, clunky remote control. So, instead of the usual peer and press routine one goes through when wanting to change channel or adjust the volume, one of 13 simple hand gestures suffice. And even better, it’s capable of learning, so the combination of gestures you use are unique to your Wand – handy if an envious neighbour attempts to steal your moves.

The Wand also works with a range of other infra-red devices, for example: your digibox, stereo, iPod or even your Macbook , making it pretty much the only control you’ll need. Even better, it syncs with your existing remotes so you can easily programme it to recognise commands. Plus, if you’re still new to the whole magic thing, it comes with a practice mode – well, you wouldn’t want to accidentally turn poor Mr Dickinson into a frog, would you?

Novelty value aside, this is a practical device that should prove easier to use than a standard remote, and it comes complete with useful basic features. To save battery power, the Wand goes to ’sleep’ after 60 seconds of inactivity, pick it up again and it ‘wakes up’. It also has a built-in warning to let you know when it’s batteries are running low. The Wand Remote Control is attractively designed so it wouldn’t look out of place in a Harry Potter film and comes packaged in a stylish presentation box with a decorative inner lining making it an ideal gift for any would-be witches and wizards of your acquaintance.

Premium Samsung memory cards

Samsung has finally moved into the premium memory card market by offering a “Plus” line which will comply with the Secure Digital class 6 ratings for performance, where users are able to choose from SD, microSD and Compact Flash (CF) formats. From those choices, you can opt for 4GB and 8GB capacities, although those who have devices that are compatible with an SD Plus card can always pick up the 16GB model. These new premium memory cards from Samsung are no softies either, being shock-resistant, water-resistant and are protected from damage caused by magnetic interference.

DISPLAX: The touchscreen wallpaper of the future

I think that we all know that the future is full of Microsoft Surfacetechnology, and I look forward to the day when every table or desk is a touchscreen.

DISPLAX, made by a Portuguese company, is prepared for an age where every tabletop, wall, or any large flat (or even curved) surface could be a touchscreen. DISPLAX is a thinner-than-paper polymer film that can be applied to glass, plastic, or wood and can detect up to 16 touches at once.

I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to think of some good uses already. In fact, my dream house will have DISPLAX as wall-paper in every room.

That way, any wall I want can be a television, and recipes can appear on the wall in my kitchen. I would imagine that I could check my email or social media sites from any room, including the bathroom.

Okay, I am going out of my head (in a good way) thinking about all the applications for DISPLAX. So much so, I can’t even think of a bad use for it. However, there is one thing I am a bit unclear on: how does one program this screen? I mean, is there a USB port to connect to a computer, or something?

This technology feels like it is made for an era that I will never see in my lifetime.

Augmented Reality Tattoos

If there was one company that makes augmented reality, I would buy stock in it. After all, I’ve seen augmented reality in just about everything from mirrors to video goggles.

I suppose it was just a matter of time before people starting putting augmented reality tattoos on their flesh, and this Beunos Aries-based software producer has done it through a company known as ThinkAnApp.

These tattoos seem rather basic, as they are just a typical QR code. However, once placed in front of a specially-equipped camera, a design comes forth that the most gifted ink artist could not do. As you can see, this man has a dragon that can literally flap its wings and fly around. I believe that I have a video of this after the jump.

As I recall, don’t people get tattoos like birds on their arm, and make them fly by flexing, or something? Sorry, I’m not really into the whole “tat” scene. I only bring this up because these augmented reality tattoos have the whole tattoo flexing thing beat.

I mean, when Hollywood runs out of ideas fifty years from now, they can remakeMemento with tattoos that can show why Leonard Shelby can’t make new memories.

The Ultimate Gaming Chair

Here I thought that the Pyramat Sound Chair was the ultimate gaming chair, but I was wrong. Very wrong.

That title definitely goes to the Ultimate Game Chair. The name really gets the point across, eh?

This chair is packed with features. To start off, there are 12 vibration motors throughout the chair that are synchronized with the games action. Nerdy and cool.

As far as sound goes, you can use your stock headphones from a MP3 player etc, or plug the chair into your home stereo system to get full surround sound. There are adjustable 3D stereo speakers built into the chair as well.

Any type of gaming accessory will probably work with the chair, including steering wheels and custom controllers.

Comfort was definitely not overlooked when this chair was designed. It’s all leather material, has an adjustable headrest, leg rest, and even a beverage and remote controller holder. Oh, and I forgot to mention that this chair will give you a nice massage, too. Seriously.

Quite a few game consoles are compatible with the Ultimate Gaming Chair, including the PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC, Mac, PS1, and Xbox Live. For audio only, you can use all those and your iPod, DS, PSP, or generic MP3 player.

Just to recap, you get a massage chair, beverage holder, stereo sound, vibrators synced to the game, and a remote holder. If you’re a serious gamer, price means nothing, but if you’re not, the $400 price tag might give you some second thoughts.

Compact Charging Stations

If you’re trying to manage all of those chargers, this IDAPT charging station can handle a few of your gadgets at once. It’d at least make your desktop a whole lot less cluttered. You’ll still have just as many gadgets on your desk, but they’ll look a little more organized sitting on this charger than they would scattered all about. Plus this’ll help free up space as far as your outlets go.

The i2 and i3 models are two different sizes. The i2 will accommodate two of your gadgets, whereas the i3 has three different ports. When you purchase one you’ll also receive six popular charging tips. If out of those tips you don’t find what you need, there are twenty-two available, so you can always order a different one. Through those tips available, they’ll apparently take care of 3,500 different gadgets. The charging station can also handle your rechargeable batteries. You can purchase one for £20 or about $30. Then the i3 will cost you £30 or about $45.

Solar-powered shower

In all honesty, if you were going to show me this shower, I would probably still report on it based on its looks alone.

I don’t even care if it worked, just look at it! It’s just some sort of curvy tower that is just plain sexy. But better than that, it is solar powered!

Now you can enjoy a long, hot shower in the sunshine with this eco-friendly powered device. It even has a thermostat that can be set at 30/38 degrees Celsius for safety.

Remember that shape I was raving on about? Actually, the reason behind it was to create a head that is easily adjustable. The shower is also made to have some cold water that is perfect for rinsing the feet.

Now, let’s talk practicality. Apparently, this shower is meant to be used indoors, which means that the solar panel will definitely have to be mounted outside the house.

According to my source, the shower can be used outdoors. I’m not certain how much hot water you would want to take a shower outdoors, though. After all, if it is too cold outside, then it is sheer foolishness to shower outdoors. However, maybe this could be used on pool showers. The kinds you are required to use before jumping in the pool. You probably don’t want to use that much hot water if it is a hot day, so solar power seems the perfect power source for this occasion.

Of course, a lot of pools will have to be completely renovated just to match the look of this particular shower.

World's Fastest Supercomputer - IBM

What may become the world's fastest supercomputer? IBM Envisioning a new chip next year that will go into a University of Illinois in a seek to build supercomputer.

The notorious HAL 9000 sentient supercomputer in "2001: A Space Odyssey" was built in Urbana, Illinois, presumably on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus.It is being housed in a special building on the Urbana-Champaign campus specifically for the computer that will theoretically be capable of achieving 10 petaflops, about 10 times as fast as the fastest supercomputer today.

Though not aspiring to artificial intelligence, the IBM Blue Waters project supercomputer, like the HAL 9000 series, will be able to do massively complex calculations in an instant and, like HAL, be built in Urbana-Champaign. (A petaflop is 1 quadrillion floating point operations per second, a key indicator of supercomputer performance.)

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois, it will be the largest publicly accessible supercomputer in the world when it's turned on sometime in 2011.

A-DATA USB 3.0 / SATA II flash drive

But obvious 2010 will be a year of gadgets and we start with fast USB 3.0 storage. Set to hit shelves sometime in January, A-DATA's N002 Combo Flash Drive sports both SATA II and a USB 3.0 connection. Using the latter, the drive boasts up to 200MB/sec read and 170 MB/sec write speeds. Or if you're feeling retro, you can take advantage of that backwards-compatibility and connect via USB 2.0.

TOYOTA PRIUS

Even though the 2010 Toyota Prius is the third generation of its kind, it received a 90% makeover in terms of its functional components. The car now boasts many new technologies that usually only appears on the more luxurious models. Before we get to the new technologies, it’s equally important to mention that the engine is now increased to 1.8-liters and the batter pack has been upgraded for more capacity. The air conditioning, water pump, and power steering systems are all electrically-powered now. The new Prius gets 51/48 fuel efficiency with a 10-year, 150,000-mile warranty.

In addition, three new modes of driving now exists in the new Prius: “Eco” - fuel saving mode which translates to 12% less throttle when the gas engine is running. “Power” - more power-assist when you need the extra HP. “EV” - pure eletric power only that allows you to drive up to 25 MPH for one mile.

The following features comes with the Advance Technology Package:

Safety Connect - Toyota’s version of OnStar. Dynamic Cruise Control - The car will automatically adjust your speed based on surrounding traffic. Lane Keep Assist - Under low speed, the car will beep if you drift out of your lane. Under highway speed, the car will take control of the steering wheel and move you back to the center of the lane. Automatic Parallel Parking - The car uses radar to detect available parking space. If you approves the selection, it then grabs the steering wheel and parks itself in the spot. Solar Panel - The solar panel in the moonroof will power a second battery that runs a fan to move fresh air through the car. This feature is especially helpful when parked under the sun. But there’s more, hit a button on your remote key and the car will turn on the AC for three minutes to cool down the temperature inside your Prius before you get in!

The MSRP on the new Prius with the Advance Technology Package is around $33,000. That’s still a bargain compares to what you would be paying for models from other automakers. Not to mention you would be driving a cool and recognizable car.

Ten Technologies That Will Rock 2010

Now that the aughts are behind us, we can start the new decade with a bang. So many new technologies are ready to make a big impact this year. Some of them will be brand new, but many have been gestating and are now ready to hatch. If there is any theme here it is the mobile Web. As I think through the top ten technologies that will rock 2010, more than half of them are mobile. But those technologies are tied to advances in the overall Web as well.

Below is my list of the ten technologies that will leave the biggest marks on 2010:

1. The Tablet: It’s the most anticipated product of the year. The mythical tablet computer (which everyone seems to be working on). There are beautiful Android tablets, concept tablets, and, of course, the one tablet which could define the category, the Apple Tablet. Or iSlate or whatever it’s called. If Steve Jobs is not working on a tablet, he’d better come up with one because anything else will be a huge disappointment.Why do we need yet another computer in between a laptop and an iPhone? We won’t really know until we have it. But the answer lies in the fact that increasingly the Web is all you need. As all of our apps and data and social lives move to the Web, the Tablet is the incarnation of the Web in device form, stripped down to its essentials. It will also be a superior e-reader for digital books, newspapers, and magazines, and a portable Web TV.

2. Geo: The combination of GPS chips in mobile phones, social networks, and increasingly innovative mobile apps means that geolocation is increasingly becoming a necessary feature for any killer app. I’m not just talking about social broadcasting apps like Foursquare and Gowalla. The advent of Geo APIs from Twitter , SimpleGeo, and hopefully Facebook will change the game by adding rich layers of geo-related data to all sorts of apps. Twitter just recently launched its own Geo API for Twitter apps and acquired Mixer Labs, which created the GeoAPI.

3. Realtime Search: After licensing realtime data streams from Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and others, Google and Bing are quickly ramping up their realtime search. But realtime search is still treated as a silo, and is not regularly surfaced in the main search results page. In 2010, I expect that to change as the search engines learn for what types of searches it makes sense to show Tweets and other realtime updates. In the meantime, a gaggle of realtime search startups such as Collecta, OneRiot, and Topsy will continue to push the ball forward on the realtime search experience. Realtime search will also become a form of navigation, especially on Twitter and Facebook. The key will be to combine realtime search with realtime filters so that people are delivered not only the most recent information but the most relevant and authoritative as well.

4. Chrome OS: In November, Google gave the world a sneak peek at its Chrome operating system, which is expected to be released later this year. The Chrome OS is Google’s most direct attack on Windows with an OS built from the ground up to run Web apps fast and furious. Already a Google is rumored to be working on a Chrome Netbook which will show the world what is possible with it a “Web OS.” It sounds like it would be perfect for Tablet computers also (see above). Chrome is a risky bet for Google, but it is also potentially disruptive.

5. HTML5: The Web is built on HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and the next version which has been taking form for a while is HTML5. Already browsers such as Firefox and Google’s Chrome (the browser, not the OS) are HTML5-friendly. Once HTML5 becomes more widespread across the Web, it will reduce the need for Flash or Silverlight plug-ins to view videos, animations, or other rich applications. They will all just be Web-native. HTML5 also supports offline data storage, drag-and-drop, and other features which can make Web apps act more like desktop apps. A lot of Websites will be putting HTML5 under the hood in 2010.

6. Mobile Video: With video cameras integrated into the latest iPhone 3GS and other Web phones, live video streaming apps are becoming more commonplace—both streaming from phones and to them. As mobile data networks beef up their 3G bandwidth and even start to tiptoe into true broadband with 4G (which Verizon is heading towards with its next-gen LTE network), mobile video usage will take off.

7. Augmented Reality: One of the coolest ways to use the camera lens on a mobile phone is with the increasing array of augmented reality apps. They add a layer of data to reality by placing everything from photos to Tweets to business listings directly on top of the live live image captured by the camera. Tonchidot’s Sekai Camera,Layar, GraffitiGeo and even Yelp are examples of augmented reality apps.

8. Mobile Transactions: As mobile phones become full-fledged computers, they can be used for mobile commerce also. One area poised to take off in 2010 are mobile payments and transactions. Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s latest startup Square turns the iPhone into a credit card reader. Verifone has its competing product, as doesMophie. The idea is that any mobile phone can become a point of sale, and those mobile transactions can tie into back-end accounting, CRM, and other enterprise

9. Android: Last year saw the launch of nearly two dozen Android-powered phones, including the Verizon Droid. In a few days, Google’s Nexus One will launch as the first Android phone which can be unlocked from any given carrier (it is launching with T-Mobile). Android is Google’s answer to the iPhone, and as it reaches critical mass across multiple carriers and handsets it is becoming increasingly attractive to developers. There are already more than 10,000 apps on Android, next year there will be even more. And other devices running on the mobile OS are launching as well.

10. Social CRM: We’ve seen the rise of Twitter and Facebook as social communication tools. This year, those modes of realtime communication will find their way deeper into the enterprise. Salesforce.com is set to launch Chatter, it’s realtime stream of enterprise data which interfaces with Twitter and Facebook and turn them into business tools. Startups like Yammer and Bantam Live are also making business more social.

Nuclear battery for new technology gadgets

Are you tired of your short laptop battery life with only a few hours? Would you like the charge of your mobile phone to last a couple of months? Well, the answer to your “prayers” might be the nuclear batteries, which are been developed at the University of Missouri. They are designed especially for providing a lasting source of energy. And some people think these batteries could replace the current ones, including those used by the electrical cars. According to the creators, a nuclear battery has a very enormous capacity to generate electricity when compared to a regular one.

The batteries have always been the Achilles’ heel of the mobile devices. Usually, the designers of electronic devices for mass consumption (like laptops or media players) use small displays or screens that are not very bright in order to save the scarce energy resources that are provided from the regular batteries. But the new nuclear battery would bring a solution based on a liquid semiconductor (rather than a solid semiconductor) that will produce a much longer lifetime for the battery. The reason is the solid semiconductors are attacked constantly by some radioactive elements used by other types of batteries, while the liquid semiconductor is quite resistant to these attacks. Although the term “nuclear” can be a little perturbing, the fact is that these batteries are not very different from those batteries used in, for example, medical pacemakers.

The new radioisotope battery has the size of a penny and provides much more power than the traditional ones because, according to the researches, its capacity is very superior. Jae Kwon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Missouri, said that the radioisotope battery “can provide power density that is six orders of magnitude higher than chemical batteries”. That is to say, it provides no less than a million times more charge than any “normal” battery.

Kwon and his research team have spent enough time working to solve many problems that they have encountered when developing this type of battery. One important thing is the batteries need to be small and thin in order to be practical and useful; this way, they could be used to power watches and small electronic devices. As mentioned before, the prototype (which you can see in the picture below) has the size and thickness of a penny, but the researchers think they can achieve a thinner battery. In order to do this, Kwon has required the collaboration of another professor: J. David Robertson (chemistry professor and associate director of the MU Research Reactor). Together, they hope to maximize the power of the nuclear batteries as well as reduce the size and test other materials to make additional improvements. Kwon thinks that the final battery, which would be used in commercial gadgets, could be thinner than a human hair. For the moment, the research team have required a provisional patent in order to protect the exclusive right to use this invention.