Hot Wheels get some camera action

We have seen some neat developments in Hot Wheels cars recently. For example, there were those miniature R/C cars the size of regular Hot Wheels cars.

I suppose someone decided to give those tiny cars even more of an upgrade with Mattel’s Video Racer. The Video Racer has a small video camera that is able to record 30 to 60 frames per second, as it is speeding down the racing track or the kitchen counter.

When the racing is done, the user has the option of watching them. This can be done on a tiny LCD on the underbelly of the car, or the footage can be downloaded to a PC or laptop via USB. It doesn’t look like an SD card is an option, but it really should be.

After all the video footage is downloaded, it can be pasted together to make the Speed Racer sequel that will probably never be made. Now youngsters will know what it feels like to be behind the wheel of a Hot Wheels car! Something tells me it is not as thrilling as the real thing.

You should be able to get this particular toy this Fall for about $60 each, which includes the USB cable.

Hands on with the Wowee One Portable Speaker

While I was at CES 2011, I stopped by the WOWee ONE booth and was shown the particular unit firsthand.

The WOWee ONE is not related to Wowwee, a company made famous for all sorts of nifty robot toys, but the company with the single w “WOWee” are makers of a speaker for iPod, iPad, MP3, MP4, and anything else with a headphone jack.

The speaker has a unique ability that I have seen before. You place it on a flat surface, such as a table, and it becomes a speaker. It has hybrid technology of a standard speaker that delivers the mid to high frequencies, not to mention a Gel Audio driver for low end frequencies.

As far as the battery is concerned, it has an internal rechargeable battery which can be recharged via USB or a 5V USB power adapter. It delivers up to 20 hours of playtime per charge.

You should be able to get the WOWee ONE Classic in both matte and black finish for about $79.99. They are also available in other styles such as Black and Chrome, White, and Pink for the same price. Other accessories for the WOWee ONE include the WOWee ONE Hard Case and HUG, each for about $15.99. All are available at the official WOWee ONE site.

iriver Story HD e-book reader

Are e-book readers going the way of high definition? That certainly looks like it, if the naming convention of the iriver Story HD ebook reader is anything to go by. Well, this is meant to help you pass time through long flights as well as other moments of commute, where it also holds the distinction of bringing yet another first to the world – we’re talking about it being the first 6” XGA resolution (that’s 768 x 1024 pixels) e-book reader worldwide, sporting 63.8% more pixels and faster page turns compared to other models in its class. To know more about this little puppy, you will have to read on in the extended post.

The iriver Story HD is touted to deliver outstanding legibility with crisp fonts, fast response and high performance courtesy of an advanced i.MX508 eReader applications processor from Freescale Semiconductor that is based on ARM CortexTM technology. Of course, we are also interested to see how it will fare against the Mirasol display from Qualcomm, which frankly at their CES booth this year, looked pretty stunning even under direct sunlight. What’s the whole point of having great hardware without the relevant software? This is where its integrated Wi-Fi connectivity comes in, where the e-book will be able to access content through the major content partner. As for which content partner will be available, that remains to be seen since it depends on where the iriver Story HD is going to debut.

Boasting iriver’s slim and lightweight signatures when it comes to form factor, you will also benefit from a QWERTY keypad, accompanied by a curve with two-tone colors at the front and back for easy grip and slim design. The Story HD will also not come up short where buttons are concerned, where they are located from the side to the center of the keypad, boasting an up/down layout instead of the right/left design that allows the unit to be more user friendly compared to other e-book readers in the market. iriver touts a 3-week battery life with the Story HD, although that remains to be seen whether it is left on all the time, or put in standby mode – guess we will need to have access to it before we are able to come up with a conclusion, eh? Supported formats include Adobe EPUB and PDF with DRM. No idea on pricing, but it will be competitive amongst its peers as it makes an appearance in the second quarter of this year.

Weight Watchers Electronic Tracker & Points Calculator

A new year means a new you, right? Well, if you want to work out the holiday excesses, then theWeight Watchers Electronic Tracker & Points Calculator will certainly come in handy. This is a unique calculator that boasts of a daily tracker that is a snap to use, letting you calculate the points values of your favorite foods in a jiffy. Perfect if your carefully planned diet plan is thrown off track because your boss invites you and the missus out for dinner at a fancy restaurant, then you can start counting all those points acquired during dinner to work them off later on. Since it sports a pretty compact form factor, you can just about carry it with you anywhere you go. The daily points tracker as mentioned earlier will let you save your daily points target while making sure you stay within the expected range. Using it is a no-brainer – just press the points key, enter the total fat grams as well as the dietary fiber grams and you’re good to go!

Sony Ericsson does Xperia arc

Sony Ericsson decided that they will no longer release smartphones that are far behind in terms of OS updates compared to the rest of the mobile manufacturers, hence their latest addition to the Xperia family – the Xperia arc. This is one handset that will definitely stun you whenever you take a look at it, running on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. First unveiled at the recently concluded CES 2011, it is the first of a new generation of Xperia smartphones, so you can be sure that there will be more to come!

As we mentioned above, the design is what makes the new Xperia arc a looker, where it is super slim and hence, extremely light. Measuring a mere 8.7mm at its thinnest point, it will not sacrifice anything when it comes to performance, boasting an extra wide 4.2” multi-touch screen display. Sony Ericsson has certainly not gimped on material since they used premium materials to form its stunning arc body, so while you might think that this is going to break far more easily than a Hershey chocolate bar, it is still strong enough to fit nicely into your hand. One word of advice though – if you’re going to wear a really tight pair of jeans, we would suggest that you not put this in your rear pocket – you never know when it is in there and just jump onto a hard seat somewhere!

As for its innards, expect the best of Sony technology to be found, from its Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine for exceptional visual brilliance and a crystal clear image, to Sony’s award-winning Exmor R for mobile sensor (at 8.1-megapixels) with the f/2.4 lens that is capable of shooting high quality, bright pictures and HD videos even in low light conditions. Of course, all images shot can be viewed over a HDTV (preferably a Sony one) using the built in HDMI-connector. Needless to say, other specifications are pretty standard such as a 3.5mm audio jack, aGPS navigation, Bluetooth and DLNa connectivity, and Wi-Fi support among others. There is no word on pricing or availability though.

95 Decibel Telephone Ringer

OK let us have a show of hands here – how many of you out there still own a landline? We do know that plenty of folks already eliminated their landlines simply because they rely much more on their cell phones to be connected to family and friends, and for the few of you who are still banking on that house phone to ring whenever someone says “I’ll call you on your house phone,” then the 95 Decibel Telephone Ringer might be just the thing for you. After all, you might have forgotten what a house phone sounds like since you haven’t had a call on that in like, a zillion years? Nothing quite like having 95 decibels of ringing goodness coming right at you to help you jump out of your seat. A slider control will adjust the volume of the device’s strong electronic ring from 80db to a rousing 95db, and you can select from a trio of pitches as well. The ring will sound continuously for four seconds with a four-second pause between each ring, while a bright LED flashes along with the ringer to attract attention visually. At $49.95, it might be just the thing for Uncle Harry who seems to be losing his hearing as well…

Saw & Trowel Cake Serving Kit

If you happen to have a taste for the gruesome, then the Saw & Trowel Cake Serving Kit might just take the cake – pun intended. After all, there is nothing quite like getting the right tools for the right job, so the next time you want to celebrate someone’s birthday, the Saw & Trowel Cake Serving Kit will certainly come in handy, although if the birthday boy/girl is rather young, it might result in some disturbance of their psyche down the road – you can never tell, can you? This rather unique cake and serving set will come complete with both a stainless steel hand-saw knife and trowel cake server. It would be interesting to see people bake cakes around this theme, designing them to be sawed instead of cut with a knife. This is going to be one satisfying renovation process, that’s for sure! Sporting gold painted wooden handles and metal, it will cost you $28.99 to bring this into your kitchen.

See this Arduino-based ArduSpider robot toy!

I believe that what you are seeing here is a product of something that Jose Julio’s daughter said to him: “Dad, can you build a robot for me?”

Man, if my daughter asked me that, I would try to deliver as much as I could. Still, I could never make a product of this quality. Granted, the ArduSpider has a certain DIY quality, but mine would probably be made of Lego and would require an instruction booklet.

It would also have been poorly assembled, but this Arduino-based ArduSpider robot looks better than the Anti-Gravity WebRunner toy that we reported about a while ago. Check out the video after the jump.

The ArduSpider robot can be controlled remotely and can also be autonomously operated. Best of all, it can do a lot of tricks like gymnastics and such. It could probably do a flip if it could ever get off its back. All the aforementioned Webrunner could do was climb walls through vacuum suction power.

I have got some words of advice to Jose Julio. Find a way to make a kit and market it so fathers everywhere can build an ArduSpider for their children. Better yet, have the children build it themselves. This is definitely is the Zoids of this generation.

BAE Systems creates e-ink camo for tank armor

I have heard of stealth technology under development for years that uses some sort of cloak of invisibility reminiscent of Harry Potter.

I suppose someone wants the car that James Bond drove in Die Another Day. You know, that one that could turn completely invisible? I believe that Q summarized it as having cameras on one side that project an image on another.

This design from BAE Systems is essentially that concept, taken to a realistic level. In this case, the armor of the tank uses e-ink technology. Yes, that is the same stuff used in e-book readers like the Kindle.

Considering that many areas in Afghanistan and Iraq have areas where someone would only need to be beige or green to blend in, very minimal coloring is probably needed. I don’t think it would be up for those blue skies and mountains that you see in the picture.

Now, BAE Systems hopes to have this camouflage system available in four years. I wonder if these particular conflicts will be resolved by then. Perhaps will we find other conflicts where invisible tanks will be necessary. I wonder how these tanks would do in snowy terrain. All you would need is just pure white, and an all black skin would be perfect for a night mission.

Sony CLM-V55 clip-on LCD monitor

Fancy a clip-on LCD monitor for your DSLR camera? Well, that is what Sony intends to deliver with their spanking new Sony CLM-V55 clip-on LCD monitor. This will offer DSLR camera owners a brand new option to view their footage while shooting HD video, sporting a bigger area for your eyes to feast upon. To put it basically, the CLM-V55 is a portable video monitor that boasts a high-resolution WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) 5” LCD panel. It is easily attached to the majority of Interchangeable Lens Digital cameras and compatible HD camcorders courtesy of its supplied adapter. According to Sony, it is capable of displaying video footage during shooting/playback with excellent clarity and a wide viewing angle.

The clip-on screen can tilt and swivel to virtually any angle for comfortable framing in any position, even if you decide to indulge in a little bit of self-shooting. While it might be a whole lot more suitable for amateurs as well as budding photographers, the CLM-V55 will also not come up short since it is loaded with pro-style features that will help photo professionals and videographers shoot high-quality HD video footage with their Interchangeable Lens Digital camera.

Pixel magnification mode assists coupled with accurate focus confirmation will deliver an enlarged pixel-perfect view of a selected portion of the Full HD image. This is further complemented by a colour peaking function which will highlights the edges of accurately-focused areas of the video image. There is also an intuitive control wheel that enables quick, positive adjustment of a wide range of monitor settings without having to interrupt your shooting session. Adjustable parameters will comprise of aspect ratio (16:9/4:3), volume, brightness, contrast, color tone (phase), color temp and auto dimmer. On-screen markers are available to aid precise framing by giving precise indication of a TV’s 16:9 or 4:3 actual display area. The LCD monitor’s on-board mono speaker will also be complemented by a headphone jack for accurate audio monitoring during shooting. Want to pick this puppy up? While we don’t know how much it will cost, the CLM-V55 LCD video monitor will be out this March.