Now that many businesses have gone global, communication is more important than ever. For many international business travelers, a handheld translation device is an indispensable gadget. Franklin has been a leader in this area, and their 12-Language Speaking Global Translator is one of their newest offerings. Simply type a word into the pull-out QWERTY keyboard, choose from a list of suggested words and phrases, then hear a recorded human voice say the word in the selected language. This translation gadget comes with 450,000 words, of which 115,000 have pre-recorded spoken versions.
The Franklin 12-Language Speaking Global Translator also includes a voice-recording features that letw you record and then store additional words and phrases. The supported languages include Mandarin Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Find out more about the Franklin 12-Language Speaking Global Translator on the Franklin website.
MysteryGuitarMan is actually Joe Penna, an animator, guitarist and filmmaker from Brazil. Penna has gained fame by maintaining a viral channel on YouTube where he uploads original videos twice weekly. MysteryGuitarMan is the most subscribed YouTube video in Brazil as well as being ranked 7th in number of YouTube subscribers (over 1.6 million).
To see what everyone’s been watching, check out MysterGuitarMan’s Root Beer Mozart video on YouTube:
Cell phones, cameras, MP3 players – many of us can’t live without our gadgets and unfortunately we also can’t live without their chargers.
The Joy Factory Touch-n-Go charger is a new gadget that promises to simplify your life by eliminating the need for a plethora of gadget chargers. Now you can charge multiple devices, using only one wall-socket plug. The short wires eliminate the threat of tangles. The Touch-N-Go is not yet for sale, but The Joy Factory is taking advance orders on their website.
Time Magazine has just released its list of the Top 10 Gadgets of 2010. For those who follow tech news, it should come as no surprise that Apple dominated the list. A total of 4 Apple products made it to the list, including the iPad (number 1 on the list), the MacBook Air (number 3), the iPhone 4 (number 6) and the second-generation Apple TV (number 7).
The iPad was the big story in tech news in 2010. It sold 3 million units in its first month on sale and is one of the most-wanted gifts for the 2010 holiday season. Read how the iPad impacted 2010 on CNN Tech.
Locks with keys may soon be a thing of the past. The SmartScan Keyless Lock from Brick House Security is a next-generation lock that provides access to your home with a single scan of your fingerprint. The SmartScan lock uses a dermal scanner to determine who will be admitted. Smart technology allows you to set different levels of access – continuous or temporary. Continuous access allwow 24/7 entry. Temporary access is allowed for a limited period that you specify. Use it for guests, house cleaners and contractors. With SmartScan’s flexible security system, you’ll never need to worry about who has a key to your house.
A couple of years ago, the Flip Slide seemed to have cornered the market for small, inexpensive video cameras. Now Sony has jumped in with its Bloggie Touch HD camera. The Bloggie is loaded with features – image stabilization, auto focus, face detection, low-light shooting and 4x digital zoom. You can take either HD video or 12.8-megapixel photos.
Like the Flip, the Bloggie has a slim design and a pop-out USB arm for video transfer and power charging. Sony also provides Bloggie software to help upload and manage videos. The software makes it easy to post videos on YouTube, Facebook, Flickr and Picassa.
The Bloggie retails for about $200 for the 8GB model. Find out more about Bloggie Touch HD on the Sony website. You can see it in action in this YouTube video:
The holidays will be here before you know it, so it’s time to start thinking about holiday gifts. If you’ve got an engineer or architect on your shopping list, Lego has a new line of Architecture model sets that are sure to be a winner. Some of the landmark buildings available include the Empire State Building, the John Hancock Tower, the Seattle Space Needle and the White House. The latest additions are models of distinctive Frank Lloyd Wright designs, including Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum.
This is the perfect gift for the young and the young at heart who have an interest in building design and construction. Find out more on the Lego Architecture website.
Cars that use technology to drive themselves have been talked about for several decades, but until now have only seemed to be a far-off dream. Now Google has revealed that they have cars with automated driving capabilities in development. Google has combined a camera, numerous sensors with a preprogrammed GPS system on Toyota Prius vehicles and already is performing testing. The cars have obeyed the speed limit and follow the programmed route without a hitch. Thousands of miles have been logged by the self-driving cars in real traffic. Although human drivers are behind the wheel, ready to take over in case of emergency, so far they haven’t had to intervene.
Ceatec, Japan’s largest annual electronics show, has just wrapped up for another year. One of the most popular exhibitors at Ceatec in recent years is Murata, a sensor company that creates small robots to showcase its latest ultrasonic sensor technology. This year they brought Murata Girl, a unicycling robot that maneuvers the curves of an s-shaped course, and Murata Boy, who rides a bicycle up an inclined track.
See Murata’s robots in action in this YouTube video:
The Rock-It is a portable speaker system that uses vibration to turn any object into a speaker. Simply stick the Rock-It pod to any object and the Rock-It transmitter will take sound input from an MP3 player, iPod, cell phone or other gadget and create vibrations that are broadcast from the pod. The Rock-It is powered by 2 AAA batteries or a USB connection and workd with any device that has a headphone jack.
Rock-It is produced by OrigAudio, an innovative company that also sells the Fold n’ Play Recycled Speakers, which were voted on of the 50 Best Inventions of 2009 by Time Magazine.
See inventor Jason Lucash demonstrate the Rock-It Speaker System in this YouTube video:
