Need a Key?

You have seen many car thieves on movies and TV shows trying to haggle their way into a car with a slimjim or some lock picking tools, but what happens when all of the figuring of the key is done for you? What happens when you have a machine that can create an exact replica of the key needed to unlock and start that car?

The Electronic Key Impressioner (EKI) was designed to give locksmiths an easier way into a car. The machine will allow the locksmiths to open the car without actually damaging the locks by using picks or setting off the car alarm. The EKI is an electronic device that allows you to stick a small sensor into the lock, and digitally create an impression of the key through a computer. You will then be able to take the impression and get an actual replica of that car’s key made.

The device  includes:

- EKI

-Common vehicle Key inserts

- Lock mapping software

The only downfall of the product is that it could be accessible to the public, meaning that car theifs could get thier hands on the device and the software. A way to reduce the risk of this is to make it only accessible to locksmiths and other government professions. It could also be established that persons carrying this device need a permit.

Overall i think that this product is a good idea for locksmiths, it will further their career and allow them to do a better job without damaging the car in any way. And because this will require a little more time to complete than regular lock-breaking would, locksmiths may be able to charge a little more for their serivices.

iPod+iPhone-phone= iPad

Ok, so it’s a tablet PC, thats no big deal. But wait, it also has a 9.7 inch touchscreen so that it is easy to use and small enough to carry around. The phone also has a 3G network and WiFi so that you are able to use the internet from just about anywhere.  And the cherry on top of this product is the fact that it is an apple. It will be an awesome operating system, wrapped in an awesome casing, and be awesomely easy to use.

Here are a few features of the Ipad:

Safari

Mail

Photos

Video

ipod

itunes

App Store

ibooks

Maps

notes

calendar

contacts

home screen

spotlight search

accessibility

At its thickest part, the iPad is half of an inch thick and it weighs one and a half pounds. The ipad’s small, 9.5 inch frame makes it easy to carry around with you just about anywhere. Also, the phone has a custom designed(just for the ipad) 1 GHz processor. So if you think that the ipad might not be strong enough to handle some of the stuff that it will be running, you are most definitly wrong.

Would you buy this product? would you spend 500 to 700 dollars to have the ipad with wifi? Or 630-830 dollars to have the ipad with wifi and 3G? Is that too much money for an internet surfing ipod? Although it is a really cool product, is it needed? The answer is no. I don’t  think that you will see a lot of people walking around with ipads, simply because people aren’t going to spend the money to buy something that is not really a necessity, unlike the iphone. The iphone sold because it was a really cool cell phone, and these days everyone needs a cell phone. Will apple regret this decision? Who knows, only time will tell.

Phones, Phones, Phones

Phones are a huge issue these days, where so many ideas are coming to the surface. Many companies are wanting to design phones that are so small they can fit in your ear, some companies are going for a more traditional QWERTY keyboard barphone approach, while some companies are trying to build the biggest and best touchscreen phones. Just recently a new type of phone has been released onto the market. It is kind of odd, and maybe a little unecessary, but really cool. It is not a headset that is actually a phone or a phone that attaches to your ainkle. The new technologic item that is on the market today, and that all the companies are making their own version of, is a wrist phone.

This is the LG GD910, it is a 3 oz phone that fits perfectly on most peoples wrists, it is simply a wrist phone. the phone is equipped with a 1.43-inch color touchscreen, and a battery that supplies up to two hours of talk time. The phone is capable of text messaging, but the really cool feature that the phone offers is a video-chatting program. There is a small camera on the top right hand corner of the phone which allows video to point at you. This phone costs 700 dollars and is available in Europe, but not yet the states. Newer models are in the works, including in them, GPS and web access in an even smaller package.

In my opinion, this is a really cool technology, however i’m not sure that it is a promissing idea. Although most people will think that it is cool, i beleive that most people will say that it is not the phone for them. most people dont want to have a bulky phone on their wrist, they want to have their nice watch, or their bracelets. And it is not inconvenient for most people to carry their phone in their pocket. If i were to guess, i would say that the majority of the people that would buy this phone would be younger teenagers, right around the 13-16 age. so although this is a cool idea, i can say that it is probably not for everyone.

ATV Firefighter is Invincible

You thought those off-road vehicles that you drove in video games, or those vehicles that someone like G.I. Joe drove were cool. Well here comes one of those really cool, off the charts vehicles that you might actually see in the near future.

The ATV, designed by Liam Ferguson, has an enclosed cabin and a large off-road physique that allows the vehicle to transport and spread water onto the scene of the fire. Not only does the vehicle allow you to spray water onto the flames, but it allows you to drive through the flames, if you need to get into a different position.

Features:

• Enclosed Cabin for safety and protection
• Remote operated water cannons
• 1,800-liter water supply with a 400-liter auxiliary water tank
• Aerogel laminated insulation for its windows and body
• A temperature-controlled spray down system which draws on an auxiliary water tank specifically dedicated to that purpose
• Military-grade thermo-ceramic paint would swell upon heat exposure and add some sacrificial protection
• Amatoya’s design would position the water tanks central and low within the vehicle to prevent rollovers
• Four wheel drive
• Large run-flat tires and a central tire inflation system
• Plenty of suspension and a lot of ground clearance to drive over fire broken terrain

The vehicle is ultimately invincible. It seems as though it is built by NASA to withstand the extreme temperatures that can be associated with a large forest fire, or some kind of accelerated fire. I think this would be an awesome vehicle just to have, i don’t much care about having all of the “fire fighting” tools, but it would be a fun vehicle to take on a couple of extreme trails. The vehicle is probably nearly indestructible.

This vehicle seems like it could live up to its expectations. I think this vehicle would be a perfect addition to any fire department in the country. Although it is a futuristic looking vehicle, it doesnt require a whole bunch of futuristic technology to fight a fire with water cannons, so I could probably assume that the vehicle would have a relatively low production cost. Although fire-proof foams and panels can add up in cost quite quickly.

Overall i would give this vehicle a perfect ten. And i would buy one.

iRex Announces e-Reader with Barnes & Noble

Books, books, books. Who on Earth wants to carry around those big, bulky, heavy blocks of paper that we call books? The new thing in todays society is these cool new electronic books that allow you to store many different books in a memory card, rather than taking up space on your bookshelf.

In July, Barnes and Noble announced their new e-book store, that would support over 700,000 titles. Later, in August, the company announced their partnership with iRex, an e-book maker. And on september 23, 2009 the companies announced the release of the new iRex DR800SG. It is the only e-reader that has ever had access to the Barnes and Noble catalog. The iRex has an 8.1 inch touch screen with enough memory to store 1,500 different books. The iRex is also blessed with a much wider selection of books than that of the other e-readers on the market today. The iRex connects via a 3G verizon cell connection. Users are able to change the text size, and the company claims that because of its black and white screen, it is able to refresh much faster than other e-books on the market. Consumers can now purchase the iRex DR800SG at Best Buy for $400.

Lunar Lander

It is the game that we all played when we were kids. A game that was created in 1979 by Atari. It is a game where you try to land a module on the moons surface, trying not to crash it while dealing with the gravitational pull of the moon and the amount of fuel your module has left. The game doesn’t require a lot of skill but can sometimes be more difficult than meets the eye.

Lain Sharp, as a tribute to the 40th anniversary of the Landing on the moon, built a real life version of the Atari classic. The machine is simply a mix of scrapped computers, fishing line, inkjet printer motors and miniature space vehicles.

The space machine will cost $800 and will be in production for one year. It appears that the machine works a lot like one of those claw machines that grabs toys. it has a box at the top that can move everywhere on the surface and will suspend and let lose the module whenever it is told to do so. There is a science-fiction-sounding voice that delivers mission directions to the player. Sharpe designed the software that is used to power the game and although it is not very complex, it is very responsive. The computer sends instructions to the motors fifty times per second. The machine measures success by the module’s descent rate and the position of the module relative to the target. Although the machine has “science project” looks, it seems pretty cool and a lot of fun.

Robot Phone??

The Polaris Phone and docking station. The television shows the data the phone collects about your life.

 Are you kidding? What are they possibly thinking? The Polaris Phone links up with your television to display the detailed data about your life and behavior that the phone records. And what does it record? According to Popular Science Magazine, “Apparently everything. The phone follows where you go, who you email, what you buy, who you call, etc. Aside from telling you what happened after the fifth shot of tequila the other night, the phone also analyzes your habits for patterns, and gives out advice based on the data it collects.” The phone has a sphere that it uses to move around, the sphere has speakers so that it can play music from the phone.

http://www.popsci.com/gear-amp-gadgets/article/2009-09/polaris-phone-tracks-user-behavior-charges-self

My question is, if this phone can do so much on its own, who is to say that it will listen to what you want to do? I can picture it now, you are laying in bed and the phone somehow manages to climb its way onto the night stand. The phone sits there slowly teatering back and forth. Then, all of a sudden it takes off, jumps from the nightstand and lands directly on your face. What a wake up call. Sure, the technology is cool, but do we really need something so complex and unnecessary?

Although we may not need it, let’s be honest, people are LAZY. That’s why technology is here, for us to be lazy. Think about it. We designed cars so we wouldnt have to walk or ride a horse. We designed the televison remote so we wouldn’t have to get off our comfortable chairs to go change the channel. New things are designed every day so that we can make life that much easier.

So, although I think this phone is pretty cool. I must say we really dont need it, at least not until it is advanced enough that it would not have any problems or glitches.