BLUETOOTH STICKERS TRACK YOUR STUFF

Can't find the keys -- or the family dog? A new project can help track them and other easy-to-lose objects using Bluetooth-enabled buttons.
A group of Bluetooth gadget designers is looking to make Bluetooth "stickers" -- stiff devices about the size of a U.S. quarter -- that users can stick to their wallets, kids' shoes, pets' collars and other objects. The stickers are designed to communicate with a smartphone app, called Stick-N-Find, that has several settings to help people find their stuff.

ANALYSIS: Stickers Automate Everyday Phone Functions

The designers have a campaign at Indiegogo, a crowd-funding platform. With 42 days left before the end of their funding campaign, they've already raised more than the $70,000 they asked for. They have prototypes of both the Stick-N-Find stickers and the app and expect to send funders stickers in March 2013, according to the campaign page. Those interested in getting some Stick-N-Finds for themselves can visit Indiegogo to support the project and advance-order stickers.

The Stick-N-Find app's settings include a "radar" feature that shows how far away sticker-tagged objects are from the phone. The app isn't able to determine direction, however, so users will have to wander a bit, watching the screen to see if they're getting "warmer" or "colder" to the remote control, purse or pet they want to find.

Other settings automatically alert users when they're close to an object or when an object wanders away. The designers suggest users put Stick-N-Find stickers on their luggage during airplane trips, so that their phones will alert them when their bags come around on the carousel at baggage claim.

ANALYSIS: Sticker Turns iPhone Into Pricey Camera

The stickers work from about 100 feet (30 meters) away, according to the Stick-N-Find Indiegogo page. They use watch batteries that should last about a year with 30 minutes of use a day. They should work withn ewer Apple and Android smartphones and tablets that have Bluetooth 4.0 or Bluetooth Low Energy, the designers say.

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PAPER USB DRIVE IS DISPOSABLE

Despite a lot of talk about society going paperless, paper is still around. Humans still hand out paper versions of business cards, birthday cards, invitations and resumes. Corporations still send direct mail and catalogs to consumers. Intellipaper is a project on Indiegogo that's looking to add a whole lot of info to that paper, without taking up more space.

NEWS: Submarine for the Luxury Crowd

The developers have created a way to embed a silicon chip into regular paper to make a disposable paper USB drive. It can be inserted into any computer's USB port to share websites, personal information, images  or portfolios. The USB drive can be customized to fit any paper-based item you want, be it greeting cards, business cards or even wedding invites with registry info embedded for easy access. If fully funded on Indiegogo, the project could be a much cooler version of the QR code.

The project is currently seeking funding, but they hope to release a reader/writer device that will be able to create USB drives with whatever content a user wants and read pre-embedded paper. Depending on what tier a pledger chooses they could receive pre-embedded paper and a reader/writer.

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CONTACT LENSES COULD SEND TEXTS TO YOUR EYES

Belgian technologists just created curved liquid crystal display for contact lenses, a novel step toward having augmented reality literally right before our eyes. They've got an eye on displaying text messages this way.

Unlike previous developments in contact lens displays, University of Ghent researcher Jelle De Smet focused on creating a curved LCD that would be incorporated into a contact lens rather than embedding LED technology into one. This approach means De Smet and his colleagues at the Center of Microsystems Technology have a larger display area, according to the university.

Hack Yourself A Super Secret LCD Monitor

The group achieved their curved display by using extremely thin conductive polymer films that were integrated into a smooth spherical cell. Resembling an old-school calculator display, their first prototype can show basic patterns like a dollar sign that recalls cartoon characters thinking about money.

While onlookers could potentially see the symbols being displayed in someone else's contacts, the wearer would still have problems viewing them. As University of Washington's Babak Amir Parviz explained to me last year while describing his computerized contact lens development, humans have a mimimum focal distance for even seeing a single pixel.

The Belgian team seems to understand that limitation, indicating in a university press release that the initial applications for their liquid crystal-based contact lens display might be to help control light transmission in people with damaged irises or replace colored contacts, allowing wearers to change the color or pattern on the go. They also imagine these contacts working as adaptable sunglasses.

Here's a video from De Smet that shows the thin, curved display working in the lab:

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How To find your i-phone

If you've ever had your iPhone stolen, you have have erased it completely using Apple's "Find my iPhone." This feature, which can be accessed online or through another iOS device, allows you to remotely lock your missing device with a four-digit passcode. You can even go so far as to delete your personal data and restore your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac to its factory settings.

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Yesterday, Apple quietly released an update to the app that will show user's a road map to the exact location of a missing iPhone, iPad or iPod. When searching for the device's location on another iOS device, a tiny car icon will show up on the screen and when prompted, will provide directions to the lost device's whereabouts. The feature is only available on Apple device running iOS 6, so if you haven't already, bite the bullet and upgrade, if this kind of thing is important to you.

One would like to think this feature was added to serve as a memory jogger for those who may have left their phone somewhere and not as a tracker for a potential thief. Just be sure to have a cool head if you decide to hunt down your iPhone. It may be best to let the authorities handle it, or bring a big friend

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A four-legged U.S. military robot carrying 400 pounds of equipment

A four-legged U.S. military robot carrying 400 pounds of equipment has shown how it can play "follow the leader" in a manner similar to a trained mule or horse. Like an animal, it can also regain its feet after an accidental tumble in the woods.

The Legged Squad Support System (LS3) robot has evolved into a quieter beast compared to earlier four-legged "BigDog" or "AlphaDog" robots that sounded like runaway lawnmowers or chainsaw-armed Terminators. The latest LS3 version represents the U.S. military's best hope for a robotic helper that can carry combat loads across rough terrain for soldiers or Marines.

A new video by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency demonstrates how the robot obeys a verbal command by a human researcher: "LS3 follow tight."

TOP 5: New Military Robots

Several camera shots show the LS3 robot ambling after its human leader like an overlarge, clumsy puppy trying to keep up with an owner. At one point the robot takes a tumble and rolls almost comically down a slope before regaining its feet.

DARPA envisions the robot acting like a mobile recharging station for U.S. troops to recharge pounds of batteries used in radios and handheld mobile devices. The Marines have already experimented with  using renewable energy sources such as portable solar panels to replace some of the batteries they carry.

But the LS3 robot's greatest potential use comes from carrying some of the combat equipment that soldiers might normally have to carry themselves. The heavy burden of combat loads averaging close to 100 pounds per soldier has already taken a serious health toll on both active troops and returning veterans.

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SCIENCE FICTION DREAMS THAT CAME TRUE

As a longtime reader of science fiction, it's always interesting to see how the visions of writers eventually become real. Take Arthur C. Clarke's letter to Wireless World in 1945, which details the geostationary communications satellite network everyone uses today. The satellites are in what is called the "Clarke Orbit." And Isaac Asimov wrote frequently about humanoid robots, which are becoming more common in research labs -- although we have yet to see R. Daneel Olivaw from Asimov's Robot series.

So inspired by these writers and others, I decided to take a look at 2012 and the futuristic technologies that are materializing before our eyes.

ANALYSIS: Robot Prostitutes, the Future of Sex Tourism

Bionic Limbs

The term "cyborg" was coined in 1960 by Manfred E. Clynes and Nathan S. Kline, in an article they wrote for the journal Astronautics. Since then bionic limbs have been a trope in many pieces of fiction -– The Six Million Dollar Man of the 1970s, the Borg of the Star Trek franchise, and even Darth Vader. In 2012 for the first time, a paralyzed woman was able to control a robotic limb and feed herself directly with her brain. Continuing work with primates demonstrated that it's possible to make the brain-computer interface efficient enough to design more realistic movement into the limbs. The bionic limbs so far don't look anything like their fictional counterparts, as they are still connected via external electrodes to the skull. But that dream seems to be a lot closer than it was even a decade ago.

Quantum Teleportation and Communication

While it's not possible -- yet -- to "beam" an object around as in Star Trek, new records for zapping photons instantly from one place to another were set this year. Quantum teleportation has been done in the lab for some time, but the distances were on the order of a few yards. In 2012 the new record was 89 miles. In addition to teleporting, scientists built the first quantum Internet. It's only a beginning, but teleporting photons for miles would enable communications that can't be hacked or eavesdropped.

Genetic Disease Prevented

Genetic engineering for "better" humans is a theme that's appeared repeatedly ever since Aldous Huxley's Brave New World in 1931 -- although at that point nobody knew what DNA really was. Later, films such as Gattaca and novels such as Beggars in Spain explore the implications of widely available genetic alterations. In 2012, we saw a proof-of-concept for mitochondrial diseases. About one in 200 people are born with a disorder of the mitochondria, the energy factories of cells. For the first time scientists were able to transfer the nuclear DNA of one human egg cell to another. Two groups independently found a way to transplant nuclei between human egg cells, leaving behind the mitochondrial DNA, which is passed from mother to child. The finding means that mitochondrial disorders could be cured before a child is born. Such techniques won't cure something like Down's syndrome, which involves nuclear DNA. But it shows that some manipulation of the human genome is not only possible, but happening. 

ANALYSIS: Ray Bradbury's Visions

The Universal Translator

Most of the time when intrepid explorers in fiction meet aliens, they always seem to speak perfect English. Doctor Who's TARDIS generates a field that allows travelers to be understood, while the crew of the Enterprise never seem to need a dictionary. Kim Stanley Robonson's Mars Trilogy features one, but he didn't think it would appear until late in the 21st century (the novels were written in the 1990s). While they won't let you talk to aliens, in the last year several speech-to-speech translators have managed to reach real consumer devices -- and even one type that uses your own voice. Most of the apps require an internet connection, though some, such as Jibbigo, can store their dictionaries locally. (If they ever add Klingon I'm taking it to the next ComicCon).

Head-mounted Computer Glasses

Readers of Charles Stross' novel Accelerando would have eagerly anticipated Google Glasses -- the Internet giant's foray into augmented reality. In the novel, "venture altruist" Manfred Macx carries his data and his memories in a pair of glasses connected to the Internet. Google Glasses allow the wearer to access data, the Internet and capture life via a head-mounted digital camera. Memories will have to wait.

Private Space Flight

In many science fiction stories, space travel is private. In Ridley's Scott latest movie, Prometheus, the Weyland Corporation funds an expedition to follow a star map to the distant moon LV-223. In real life, Elon Musk's SpaceX launched the first of a dozen planned missions to the International Space Station. The Dragon capsule is designed to resupply the ISS, but Musk, who made his fortune as founder of PayPal, has bigger plans: a colony on Mars. Is 2013 going to be the year human spaceflight becomes an enterprise like railroads? We won't know that for a while, but SpaceX is a heck of a start.

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VIRTUAL TECH LETS YOU SWAP BODIES

Google Street View already offers virtual tours of Rome, Paris and London. But imagine if virtual travelers could feel the sun beating down on their faces as they toured the Colosseum? Or could feel the burn in their quads as they walked up the Eiffel Tower? Or could smell the old tapestries hanging in Westminster Abbey?

BLOG: Sinful Robot: XXX Virtual Reality

If Ikei Laboratory has anything to say about it, that soon may be no stretch of the imagination. A part of theTokyo Metropolitan University Graduate School of System Design, the lab is developing so-called "virtual body technology."

Revealed at the Digital Contents Expo 2012 in Tokyo, the system will engage all five senses and make users feel as if they're inhabiting another person's body, the designers say.

Ikei Laboratory's system includes a vibrating chair that leans back and forth, a 3-D monitor, headphones, a fan for odors and breezes and foot pedals that replicate the sensation of walking and running. How taste enters the picture remains unclear. Perhaps it's on the tip of their tongue?

PHOTOS: Sexiest Tech and Techiest Sex of 2012

"The chair will move to provide directional and vestibular sensations," Professor Yasushi Ikei said in a promo video. "The legs will move to create a sense of actually walking or running and a sense of moving in parallel or up and down, or to create a sensation as if the feet are touching the ground. Extremely large vibrations are felt when you are running, so it is possible to create vibrations from the shins to the knees. When you walk in the city there are various scents and breezes, and these are also recreated."

It will be the next best thing to going there.

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Small Carrier Undercuts Verizon and AT&T, Selling iPhone 4S for $150

Ntelos Holdings, a small Virginia-based cellphone company, will begin selling the iPhone 4S at $149.99, undercutting AT&T, Verizon and Sprint by $49. The older iPhone 4 will be available for $49.99

A two-year contract with Ntelos is required, and monthly service fees run $80 to $100. Ntelos is the fifth U.S. wireless carrier to sell the iPhone and has about 421,000 subscribers.

Customers can pre-register to buy at online, and Ntelos stores will begin selling Apple’s smartphone beginning April 20.

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Study: Half of Lost Smartphones are Returned

Ever leave your smartphone in a busy restaurant? You might think it’s a goner, but about half of lost mobile devices are returned, according to a recent Symantec study.

The security company left 50 smartphones across New York City, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Ottawa, Canada in elevators, malls, food courts, public transit stops and other heavy-trafficked locations. The phones lacked security features, such as passwords, and were loaded with fake sensitive data, from social networking and online banking apps to corporate files.

The findings:

96 percent of lost smartphones were accessed by the finders of the devices
89 percent of devices were accessed for personal related apps and information
83 percent of devices were accessed for corporate related apps and information
70 percent of devices were accessed for both business and personal related apps and information
50 percent of smartphone finders contacted the owner and provided contact information
With work phones, Symantec said there is more than an 80 percent chance there will be attempts to breach corporate networks or data.

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Original Google Phone Mocks Show Blackberry-like Device

Google’s Android operating system is one to be reckon with. The latest numbers from comScore show it now has the majority market share of U.S. mobile devices. But two years before the introduction of Android, there was the Google phone, which according to old documents emerging from the Google/Oracle lawsuit looks very much like a Blackberry, the Verge reports.

Exact specs for those first concepts aren’t detailed, but Google does spell out what it had in mind for the least common denominator across Android devices. An ARMv9 processor of at least 200MHz, GSM (3G preferred), 64MB of RAM and ROM, miniSD (yes, mini, not micro) external storage, a 2-megapixel camera with a dedicated shutter button, USB support, Bluetooth 1.2, and a QVGA display with at least 16-bit color support — a far cry from today’s 720p screens.

The Verge notes two soft menu keys were part of the baseline specs, which shows Google wasn’t planning on using touchscreens. Furthermore, the phone had the option of including a QWERTY keyboard, secondary display, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS and hardware graphics acceleration.

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Use Your Tunes to Keep Your Workout on Track

Having your favorite tunes blasting into your brain while on a run is awesome, and may even help you to run faster, but what if you could use your tunes as a workout feedback mechanism to keep your workout on target? That’s the intent behind a new iPhone app, called Faster.

“Faster uses the latest GPS technology to help you run harder, longer, and well… faster! Faster slows down your music if you don’t keep up with your desired distance and target time, so that you stay on pace. It really works, and Faster is the only app that does this! No matter how you exercise with Faster, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to keep your desired pace if you simply have an audible reminder when you start to slow down.”

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iPhone Case Disguises Your Phone as a Camera

Perhaps you just want to protect your iPhone, maybe you want to pretend it’s just a camera, or maybe you want to disguise it to keep it safe, but whatever the reason, this creative iPhone case from bitplay is a pretty cool way to carry your phone around.

The SNAP! case transforms your iPhone into what looks like a point-and-shoot camera, and it lets you appear to be taking pictures with a little more panache than those other iPhone-ographers.

“Designed to look like a real camera, this creative case even sports a real shutter button. Blur the line between digital camera and phone and shoot with ease, fooling friends and keeping your phone protected at the same time.”

According to bitplay, the SNAP! case is compatible with the iPhone 4 and 4S and all photography apps. The case is on sale at Fab right now for $37 (down from $50).

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The iPhone Case Worthy of a Wiseguy: Knucklecase

Whether you just need help keeping your iPhone in your hand, or you need an advantage when getting your point across to fellas who won’t pay up, this set of knucks will give your iPhone the security it deserves.

The Knucklecase is a set of ‘brass’ knuckles made from solid block of machined aluminum that securely holds your iPhone and allows you to get a grip while tweeting, to clip it to your backpack (or climbing rack), or to slide your hand into before gesticulating wildly at an annoying door-to-door salesman.

While we can’t justify using the impressive look of these knucks to scare little old ladies who let their dogs poop on your lawn, we can imagine they’d come in handy when negotiating a payoff schedule from your least favorite deadbeat friend.

But remember, once you go all hardcase on your buddy, the company is no longer responsible: “By purchasing this product, you agree to hold the Company harmless for any misuse of the product, which results in damage to yourself or third parties.”

Available for $99.00, only from Knucklecase.

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Get Plugged In to Events Happening Near You: Eventster

The developers of the Eventster app have a monumental promise to fulfill: Never be bored again.

But they also have a promising new way to discover what’s happening near you, as their free app makes it easy to plan on the go.

The app, for iPhone and iPad, is said to list 600,000 different events in almost every city in North America, and uses your preferences to suggest new events that would be of interest to you.

“Eventster plugs you into stuff happening in your city… no matter where you live. Our goal is to get you out of the house and having fun with other humans.” – Eventster CMO Luke Stangel

This app might be one answer to filling more seats at events. According to the developer’s site, many live events have large inventories of unsold tickets, and the biggest reason stated was that many people said “I didn’t know about the show, or I would have gone.” With Eventster, people can find upcoming live events to explore with just a few clicks.

Get the app: Eventster

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New App Offers Military-Level Encryption for Phone Calls, Texts, Email

For the ultimate in privacy, a soon-to-be-released app will allow you to make secure encrypted calls all over the world, using existing 3G, 4G, and WiFi networks. This new app, which is said to bring military-level encryption to your iPhone, comes from two Navy SEALs and a legendary cryptographer, and provides you with a virtual ‘safe room’ for communication.

The Silent Circle app uses the ZRTP protocol for encryption, from Phil Zimmermann, the man behind the PGP protocol, with the iPhone being used to encrypt everything locally, so no insecure data leaves the device. According to their site, the app also enables secure video chats, emails, text messages, as well as something straight out of Mission Impossible: self-destructing texts and pictures.

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Instantly Capture 360° iPhone Images and Videos with BubbleScope

There are plenty of apps and methods for creating panoramic photos with your iPhone, but they all require taking multiple images and stitching them together – there’s nothing out there that lets you capture the full 360° around you all at once. Until the Bubblescope, that is.

Bubblescope is a lens attachment which uses the camera in your iPhone, along with a free app (BubblePix), to instantly capture both images and videos covering 360º around you. The Bubblescope itself has a pop-up lens that easily retracts, and it comes off the case in a jiffy for compact storage when you’re not using it.

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Is the Windows Phone 8 an iPhone and Android Killer?

With the impending and much-hyped release of Windows 8, and the new 8-based smartphones hitting shelves next week, we wanted to see if Microsoft’s new tech could end up an iPhone and Android killer.

It’s no easy task. Right now, Android controls over 68 percent of the smartphone market and Apple’s iOS has just under 17 percent, according to research firm IDC—giving the two giants a dominating 85 percent share of the market. Currently Microsoft has only 3.5 percent (up from 2.3 last year), and a tough hill to climb.

So let’s take a look at one of Windows’ current best-selling phones, the Nokia Lumia 900, the plans for Windows 8, and the new Nokia 920:

I tested Nokia’s Lumia 900 and I should preface this by saying I am a diehard Mac head. I’ve been using Apple computers since I got the Lisa back in the 80s, and own the full line of iEverything: iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air… so giving me a Windows phone to test is a little like asking a vegetarian to try bacon. But I will say, after a lot of fumbling and some messing around, I got comfortable with the interface, and actually ended up liking the phone.

The Nokia Lumia 900 runs Windows Phone 7, but is upgradeable to 7.8 which will give it the new, talked about, Start Screen

The screen is larger than the iPhone’s (which is pretty much commonplace now), and once you get used to navigating with the customizable Live Tiles, and the haptic feedback, the 900 becomes a snap to use.

Customizing the Live Tiles can make whatever you happen to be doing easier, making your phone bend to your will. For example, if you’re traveling, you can you design your Start Screen to reflect your travel plans. Set a Tile to check local weather at a glance, pin your boarding pass to the Start Screen for easy access, or create a travel group to email or text everyone at once. A welcome convenience.

The new Windows Phone 8 Start Screen with different configurations of the customizable Live Tiles

And they’ve promised that with Windows Phone 8, the Start Screen will have even more capabilities. What they are, they aren’t telling yet, but they have hinted at what 8 will include. Here’s what they’ve told us is coming:

Multi-core processor support: The current Windows Phone OS runs very smoothly on phones with a single processor, but with the new multi-core processor support, they can piggyback and get support for multiple cores. So if the hardware, and apps running on it, get more demanding, Windows Phone 8 should be able to handle whatever is thrown at it.

Larger, higher rez screens: Windows Phone 8 supports two new screen resolutions—1280×768 and 1280×720, opening the door to new handsets with high-def 720p displays.

Expandable storage: Something the iPhone doesn’t offer—Windows Phone 8 supports removable MicroSD cards, so you can slide in higher capacity cards to cram your phone with tons of photos, music, and whatever else, then pop and swap the card to your PC to transfer everything.

NFC wireless sharing: Haven’t heard the term “NFC” (for Near Field Communication) yet? Watch the commercial mocking iPhone users, where the “other smartphone” owners share pics and music by bumping phones, and you get the idea. In Windows Phone 8, you’ll be able to share photos, Office docs, music and contact info just by tapping your phone to another NFC-equipped device.

Internet Explorer 10: The new Windows Phone 8 users will get the same new, faster version of IE10 that’s headed for Windows 8 PCs and tablets.

Wallet: Windows Phone 8’s new digital Wallet keeps debit and credit cards, coupons, boarding passes, and other important info right where you need it. You can also pair it with a secure SIM (get one from your carrier), allowing you to pay for things with a tap of your phone at compatible checkout counters.

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How to Build a DIY Solar Laptop Charger

It seems as though we’ve reached a point in time where our technological advances in portable computing have outstripped our advances in battery technology, with the weakest link in mobile tech being the short life of most batteries and the inability to recharge them on the fly.

If there’s one thing which annoys just about every laptop and tablet user, it’s the fact that the battery life of most devices isn’t capable of powering them through a full work day, and in order to get our portable devices powered again, we’ve got to plug them into a wall outlet for hours for a charge. However, there is another way to stay charged — with a DIY solar laptop charger.

The seemingly limitless power of the sun remains just a potential if we don’t have a way to capture and store that energy as electricity. And while there are a number of great portable solar laptop chargers on the market, the price tags on them are enough to turn most of us away, as it’s far easier to just plug in than to come up with $500 for a unit of our own. But if you’re willing to get your hands a little dirty (and learn about electrical circuits and solar panels), then building your own DIY solar charger is a viable option.

There are two basic types of solar laptop chargers, a portable version and a stationary version, and the type you build will largely be a function of where and how you’ll use it. For those who merely want to charge and use their laptop at home via solar power, then the portability of the unit isn’t a concern, and your version could very well sprawl across your deck with no regard for weight or size. But if you want a solar laptop charger that you can take with you for charging while on the go, then you’ll have a different set of constraints to work with, which may limit the storage capacity and lengthen the charge time.

For a stationary DIY solar laptop charger, any of a variety of different sized PV panels can be used, as you’re not going to be toting them around. For storage, a 12V deep cycle (or other rechargeable) battery can be used to capture the energy generated by the solar panels. You’ll also need a charge controller to protect and optimize your charging, and once you’ve got a full charge in the battery, your portable devices can be connected via a power inverter (DC to AC).

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Google to Launch $250 Chromebook Laptop

In a move sure to put netbooks into the hands of a lot more people this year, Google is launching their new Samsung Chromebook laptop with an incredibly low price of $249.

For anyone considering purchasing a tablet this year, or has a need for another computer in the house, the new Chromebook is already available for preorder at Amazon, and will be available at some BestBuy stores, as well as through Google Play.

“For Everyone. The Samsung Chromebook is a new computer that helps you get everyday things done faster and easier. It starts in seconds, has virus protection built-in, and runs your favorite Google apps plus thousands more. The Chromebook comes with leading Google products, like Search, Gmail, YouTube and Hangouts, so you can work, play, and do whatever you want, right out of the box.

You can easily share it with multiple people- switching accounts takes seconds, and everyone gets their own files, apps and settings. And it’s simple to use. There’s no setup, and your files are automatically backed up in the cloud. At just 2.4 pounds, 0.7 inches thin, and with over 6.5 hours of battery life, the Samsung Chromebook can go anywhere you go. It’s built to stay cool, so it doesn’t need a fan and runs silently. It also includes 100GB of free Google Drive storage (for 2 years), a built-in webcam, and dual band Wi-Fi to make it easy to connect to wireless networks.”

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Portable mCAMLITE Turns Your iPhone Into a Versatile Video Camera

Yes, you can use your iPhone as a more than decent video camera, but if you want to get better, more professional results, wrap it in an mCAMLITE.

Made from aircraft-grade billet aluminum, the mCAMLITE not only protects your iPhone when climbing on rocks to get the perfect angle, but it gives it the weight and heft you need to stabilize your hands while shooting.

And because the pros don’t just use one standard lens when pushing for the perfect shot, the kit comes with two 37mm interchangeable lenses: a wide angle for capturing everything you want in the scene, and a macro when you want to get up close and personal. Together, they give you the chance to get shots that are downright impossible with the iPhone’s lens.

Since the best videos have sound, the mCAMLITE comes with a 180-degree external microphone, allowing you to capture directional sound and reduce ambient noise, so your YouTube fans can hear every note of your keyboard-playing cat…

The mCAMLITE’s housing is designed with consideration of your growth as an auteur. It has mounts on top and bottom for accessories and tripods, and has a cold shoe on top for pro quality mics and lights. They even offer a pair of action carts so you can slide your cam along to get smooth action shots. So as you get better and demand more from your cam, the mCAMLITE can oblige.

At only $159.95 it’s the perfect starter kit for any visionary filmmaker (or photographer), to add to their portfolio without spending a fortune. Don’t quote me on this, but I think this is how Scorsese got started…

ActionLifeMedia.com

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Digital Watch with Touchscreen and Apps is Like Having a Tablet on Your Wrist

Remember how the geeks in school always wore those super nerdy digital watches that had functions that found the sine and cosine of whatever, and had all the design esthetic of a Radio Shack leftover bin?

Well imagine what would happen if the cool kids got a chance to design their own digital watch, and you’d get the new Touch Time from Phosphor.

It doesn’t get any cooler than Nike+ designer Stefan Andren, who is the aesthetic genius behind the Touch Time. It’s got a slick black and white touchscreen instead of those tiny buttons, allowing you to swipe to change from screen to screen and function to function. It also lets you customize the screen, choosing from 7 different watch dials, depending on your mood and style.

Because our phones, tablets and even cars now run apps, they decided our watch should too. The Touch Time apps include an Alarm clock, Stopwatch, Calendar, Reminders, World Time that tracks up to 6 different time zones, Lunar Phases, and yes, even a Calculator. Just tap the app to access, and touch the screen to operate.

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Micro Sized Keychain Charger Juices Your Phone in Emergencies

As we use our smartphones for more than just calls—GPS navigation, email, Instagraming an epic hipster mustache—having an external battery has become a necessity. But lugging those bigger batteries around is a pain, and can take up valuable gear space. Especially on a hike or climb when every ounce counts.That’s why the brain power behind the portable power at Mophie created the juice pack reserve micro. A slim, feather-light recharger suspended from a keyring, the reserve micro can provide about 30% power to your smartphone or micro USB device, giving you enough juice for an emergency call or two. Or to let your Twitter followers know what you’re having for lunch.

A standard and a micro USB cable are attached, tucking neatly into the reserve micro’s outer edges when not in use. And an integrated power indicator lets you know how much power the micro is packing. Whether you use it to hold your keys, or attach it to your pack, the $39.95 micro can always be at hand to get you the juice you need to get out of a jam.mophie.com

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iOmount Stands and Delivers

Docks and cases that double as tablet stands are great, but they’re limited. The viewing height and viewing angle always seem to be a compromise, and you’re lucky if you get more than two ways to position your tablet.

With the iOstand from iOmount you can viddy your screen from a nearly endless number of angles and orientations. An ingenious combination of sturdy stand with a hefty, I-dare-you-to-tip-me-over, foam-bottomed base topped with a set of magnets so strong they’d make Magneto rethink his career choice, the iOstand puts your screen exactly where you need it.

Just stick one of the included iOadapts (a super slim wafer of metal coated on one side with adhesive), to the back of your tablet or other device, and boom, it clings to the iOstand as tightly and securely as a Kardashian to an NBA point guard.

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Sony Xperia P

Price Rs:-Rs. 22990

Key Features

• Android v2.3 (Gingerbread) OS
• 8 MP Primary Camera
• 0.3 MP Secondary Camera
• 4-inch TFT Capacitive Touchscreen
• 1 GHz U8500 Dual Core Processor
• Full HD Recording
• FM Radio
• Wi-Fi Enabled

Sony has rolled out an effective mid-range mobile with the Sony Experia P. The phone is an impressive smartphone from the Sony Experia stables and similar to its predecessors, comes in the form of a bar. The device is run on the well tested Android v2.3 (Gingerbread) OS, and can also be upgraded to the much vaunted v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OS. The Sony Xperia P possesses a 1 GHz U8500, Dual Core processor. These specifications are supported by a 1 GB RAM to assure the smooth running of the multiple apps on this device.

GENERAL FEATURES
In Sales Package	Handset, Charger, Headset, Data Cable, 2 NFC Tags,  User Manual
Form	Bar
SIM	Single SIM, GSM
Touch Screen	Yes, Capacitive
Keypad	No
Business Features	Document Viewer, Pushmail (ActiveSync)
Call Features	Loudspeaker
Handset Color	Black

PLATFORM
Operating Freq	GSM - 850, 900, 1800, 1900; UMTS - 2100
OS	Android v2.3 (Gingerbread), Upgradable to v4.0  (Ice Cream Sandwich)
User Interface	Timescape
Java	Yes
Processor	1 GHz U8500, Dual Core
Graphics	Mali-400

DISPLAY
Type	TFT
Size	4 Inches
Resolution	960 x 540 Pixels
Color	16 M
Other Display Features	Scratch-resistant, Shatter Proof Sheet on  Mineral Glass, Screenshot Capturing, WhiteMagic Technology, Gesture Input, Mobile Bravia Engine

CAMERA
Primary Camera	Yes, 8 Megapixel
Secondary Camera	Yes, 0.3 Megapixel
Flash	LED
Video Recording	Yes, 1080 x 1920, 30 fps
HD Recording	HD, Full HD
Zoom	Digital Zoom - 8x
Other Camera Features	Geo-tagging, 3D Sweep Panorama, Face and Smile Detection, Touch Focus, Image Stabilization, Auto Focus, Red-eye Reduction, Self Timer

DIMENSIONS
Size	59.5x122x10.5 mm
Weight	120 g

BATTERY
Type	Li-Ion, 1305 mAh
Talk Time	6 hrs (2G), 5 hrs (3G)
Standby Time	470 hrs (2G), 475 hrs (3G)

MEMORY AND STORAGE
Internal	16 GB
Memory	1 GB RAM

INTERNET & CONNECTIVITY
Internet Features	Email, Adobe Flash 11
Preinstalled Browser	Android
GPRS	Yes, 100 kbps
EDGE	Yes, 296 kbps
3G	Yes, 14.4 Mbps HSDPA; 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
Wifi	Yes, 802.11 b/g/n
USB Connectivity	Yes, micro USB, v2
Tethering	USB, Wi-fi Hotspot
GPS Support	Yes, A-GPS with Google Maps
Bluetooth	Yes, v2.1, Supported Profiles (A2DP 1.2, EDR, AVRCP 1.0, HSP 1.5,  HFP 1.1, OPP 1.1, PAP 1.0)
HDMI Port	Yes
Audio Jack	3.5 mm
DLNA	Yes

MULTIMEDIA
Music Player	Yes, Supports MP3, WAV, eAAC, MIDI
Video Player	Yes, Supports 3GPP, MP4, H.263, H.264,  WMV, HD Video Playback
FM	Yes
Sound Enhancement	3D Surround Sound, xLOUD Technology
Ringtone	MP3

OTHER FEATURES
SAR Value	0.78 W/Kg
Call Memory	Yes
SMS Memory	Yes
Phone Book Memory	Yes
Sensors	Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Compass
Additional Features	Motion Gaming, Sony Entertainment Network, Noise Suppression, Phone Memory Storage - 16 GB (13 GB User Accessible Memory), Sound Recorder, MMS Enabled, Video Streaming, Flight Mode, Alarm Clock, Calculator, Calendar, eCompass, Stopwatch, Timer, NFC, Voice Input,  TV Out Port
Important Apps	YouTube, Facebook, Google Voice Search, Google Talk with Video Chat, Gmail, Google Calender, Google Gallery 3D, Instant Messaging, GoogleSync, Picasa, Twitter, Google Lattitude, Android Market

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