Crazy Tech Countdown: Week of 08/07/2010
Hello and welcome to the first ever installment of Crazy Tech Countdown, the ongoing series where we (and by “we” I mean me and my best friend, Internet) scatter through the web every week to find the real gems, from the world’s craziest robots to the most pointless iPhone apps. So without further ado, let’s count ‘em down.
Buses driving over cars? – Still not the hover car we’ve all been dreaming of, but this might be the second best thing. What’s more frustrating that having to get on a crammed bus after a full work day and if that wasn’t enough, being stuck on it for hours just because of the traffic? China is working to get rid of all that with buses that will simply drive over the traffic, avoiding that way all traffic jams and most accidents. Construction will begin in Beijing’s Mentougou district and I only hope Western countries follow suit, which might be hard with the current budget problems. Still, I can’t wait to see those in action. In fact, you can watch a concept video right now.
GPS glasses, WHAA? – Shifting over to Japan, Japanese engineers might have figured out a way to actually let you check your directions and look at where you’re going at the same time. It’s not rocket science really: just use your glasses. After entering your desired destination on the computer (and yes, that is a must), lights on the frame will just tell you which direction to go. It’s pretty basic but it can do wonders! I only hope they come up with a sunglass version, as the current glasses are a little ugly in my opinion.
Sick of cleaning your room? Try this baby! – If your brand-new Roomba isn’t cutting it anymore and you’ve just grown too fat or too lazy to tidy up your room yourself, fear not: the Roboscooper is here to help. This battery-powered robot, brought to you by the same folks who gave us the much-loved Robosapien, can grab stuff as heavy as 1 ounce (alright, that’s not really that heavy but it does the job for paper, cans and whatnot) and drop it in a cargo bay on his back. If something gets stuck, it’ll just ask for help, which might not be the best idea if you’re not home and your room will remain a mess. But it’s an awesome concept nonetheless.
Best. Wristband. Ever. – As we enter this topic I better be as honest as I can: I don’t wear a watch. I just don’t like having a piece of metal and plastic strapped around my wrist almost 24/7. That said, a watch that looks more like a wristband for most of the time unless you actually want to use it is genius. You just tap it to check the time, then you can swipe to scroll through the alarm and a simple timer. Just tap it again and it becomes a regular wristband. It’s available for preorder in white, gray or red for €19. Who can just let this slip by?
$200 lock = PWNED – What happens to a $200 lock at Defcon: it gets broken into. The following video is worth a thousand words:
That’s it for this week guys (and gals). Please reply to this post to let me know what you think of the stories and the format in general as I’m still messing around with it. Also please let me know if there’s any story you’d like me to cover next week.
Until next Saturday, Bye!
