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Over at the estimable BoingBoing Gadgets, fellow expatriate Brit Rob Beschizza has found a solution to the ever growing waistline that is the inevitable result of the typical English diet of Fish’n'Chips, Full English Breakfasts and deep-fried Mars Bars.

The Waistband Stretcher, unsurprisingly found at the SkyMall, clamps onto your slacks and slowly strains the waistband to fit your blossoming belly. SkyMall says that you can expect an increase of up to five inches, depending on the fabric being stretched.

Alas, this is to late for Beschizza, who long ago switched to an elastic-waisted, thrift-store trouser for his day to day clothing needs. It really is rather sad to see the sartorial slide of a fellow countryman. I have heard rumors that he is planning to buy a fanny pack, but hopefully that’s just cruel internet speculation. $30.

Product page [SkyMall via BBG]

We caught sight of Psyclone’s WildCharger-based TouchCharge kit for the Xbox 360 a few weeks ago but, in case you missed it, the company is also offering similar kits for the PlayStation 3 and Wii. At $49.99 the PS3 version is actually the cheapest of the lot, due to the fact that it’s able to use the controller’s own rechargeable battery, while the $59.99 Wii version and $69.99 Xbox 360 version each include some rechargeable batteries of their own courtesy of Psyclone. The charging pads themselves are, of course, interchangeable, and you can even charge more than one device on a single pad, although finding the necessary controller adapters separately seems to be another matter.

[Via The Gadgets Weblog]

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

PS3, Wii users get Psyclone TouchCharge pads, too originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thank heavens — the $154 million water recycling system, which is designed to convert sweat, moisture and urine into an ingestible fluid, um, works. According to NASA, the Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) managed to get through three rigorous testing sessions, and apparently that was good enough for officials to leave it in orbit. So yeah, theoretically we now have a way to keep long-term space cadets hydrated for months, but is anyone really going to volunteer to pinch their nostrils and toss back the first shot? Our sources point to “no.”

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Urine recycling equipment passes tests, no one willing to take the first sip originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You’re thinking about it. Your spouse is thinking about it. Your kids are thinking about it. And yes, your NXE Avatar is thinking about it, too. Black Friday is but hours away, and you still haven’t conjured up the courage to get up at 3:00AM and venture out to save a grand total of $14.97 (pre-tax). Never fear, as the world’s most spectacular e-tailer is here with a slew of deals to keep you firmly planted. Amazon’s going all out on the day after Thanksgiving, but it’s also giving early birds the opportunity to snag a few specials on the run-up to the big day. We won’t spoil anything here, but be sure and give the read link a look if you’re all about saving some dough and staying home.

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Displays, Misc. Gadgets, Home Entertainment

Amazon gets Black Friday started early, shows off a few deals originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While the Wiimote opened the door to motion-sensitive gaming, it’s obvious limitations even have Nintendo pushing the tech forward with add-ons like the MotionPlus — but a company called Sixense might have leapfrogged the field with a system called TrueMotion 3D. Rather than relying solely on an accelerometer, this controller uses a magnetic field to track both your hands’ positions in 3D space. With a refresh rate of ten milliseconds and accuracy up to a millimeter, and interest from developers including Activision and EA, this guy could someday relegate your Sixaxis to the back of your junk drawer — right next to your old Atari’s paddle controller. Not convinced? Scope the tell-all demo after the break.

READ - video at Engineering TV
READ - Sixense website

Continue reading TrueMotion 3D enables true motion control

Filed under: Gaming

TrueMotion 3D enables true motion control originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s still not quite point-and-shoot, but it looks like some researchers at Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (or NICT) have gone some ways towards making holography a tiny bit more practical. As Tech-On reports, their method is based around a fly-eye lens that consists of a number of micro lenses, which allows for moving images to be captured in normal lighting conditions, and is also used to display the image after a computer works its magic on the raw images. There are still a few fairly significant drawbacks to the setup, however, as the image displayed is currently limited to one centimeter in size with a two degree viewing angle, although the researchers say they should be able to increase that to a four centimeters within the next three years. Check out an equally tiny image of an actual hologram captured with the system after the break.

Continue reading NICT researchers develop new method to make holography more practical

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Misc. Gadgets

NICT researchers develop new method to make holography more practical originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While watch phones have gotten a tad more “wearable” in recent years, they still haven’t exactly caught on like some folks may have thought they would in their younger, jetpack-filled visions of the future, and we’re going to go out on a limb and speculate that this new so-called sWaP watch won’t change that situation. As far as watch phones go, however, this one looks to be fairly capable, with it packing a SIM card slot to let you easily hop onto your cell network of choice, a 1.3 megapixel camera, 128MB of built-in memory, a T-Flash card slot to add up to 2GB more, and even an included Bluetooth headset to avoid the embarrassment of actually talking into your watch. You’ll have to pay a bit of a premium for this particular slice of a future that might have been though, with the device sporting a price tag of £249, or roughly $370.

[Via Coolest Gadgets]

Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables

sWaP watch phone likely won’t change your opinion of watch phones originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Orleans resident Ronald Richard was mowing the lawn when he felt a hard object hit him in the chest — precisely where he’d been keeping his pink Swarovski-encrusted (just kidding) RAZR. It was only after Richard took off his sweater that he discovered the .45-caliber slug and realized that the phone had literally taken a bullet for him. According to paramedics, the angle of the bullet and the modest stopping power of the cellphone were all that stood between the man and serious injury or even death. Instead, this lucky gent got away with little more than a fairly significant bruise and an excuse to pick up that Aura he’s been coveting.

[Via Switched]

Filed under: Cellphones

RAZR stops a bullet, its owner reports “feeling lucky, punk.” originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers have long been trying to model actual brains in order to build a better computer “brain,” and it looks like IBM is now getting a helping hand from none other than DARPA in its attempt to create one that it hopes will one day have the intelligence level of a cat. To that that somewhat unnerving end, DARPA is pouring $4.9 million into a project that’ll include five universities and scientists of all stripes, who will work together to create an artificial brain that behaves like a real one right down to the neuron level. As the BBC reports, the researchers are describing this latest initiative as a “180 degree shift in perspective” from previous efforts, as they’re now seeking an algorithm first and problems second, as opposed to starting with an objective and devising an algorithm to achieve it. As for DARPA’s ultimate goal, well, that’s still a bit of a mystery, though let’s just say we won’t be surprised if future robots start to become very easily distracted.

[Via Daily Tech, image courtesy Mack J, Truth and Beauty Bombs]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

DARPA enlists IBM to build computer brain as smart as a cat originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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