Spray Makes Gadgets Waterproof

A new $1,000 spray claims to protect notebook computers, iPods, cell phones and other electronic gadgets from liquid, making them completely waterproof. The spray, called Golden Shellback Splash Proof Coating, is one thousandth of an inch thick.

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Sid Martin of the Northeast Maritime Institute, which created the product, said the spray forces the water to roll off electronic gadgets like water off a duck's back or "just like after you waxed your car," KPIX-TV reported.

A reporter tossed a Blackberry in a tub of water and it continued to play.

"Not only is it still working, but we are still getting audio from the iPod Touch in the connected speakers," the woman said. "You really don't see much of a coating or feel much of a coating."

Martin said the technology could be used for emergency first-responders, bio-medical devices and historic preservation.

The product should be available to the public later this year.

Nokia "The Dark Knight" Edition

That was the million-dollar question on our minds when we heard that Verizon was commemorating the launch of its Nokia 6205 and the latest Batman flick with a tied-in version of the low end flip. Turns out it's all good, though -- a look through the custom packaging revealed a grand total of two battery covers.

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Sure, you might be the biggest Christian Bale fan in the world right now, but what about this time next year when The Dark Knight DVDs are already collecting dust on bookshelves around the globe? That was the million-dollar question on our minds when we heard that Verizon was commemorating the launch of its Nokia 6205 and the latest Batman flick with a tied-in version of the low end flip. Turns out it's all good, though -- a look through the custom packaging revealed a grand total of two battery covers, one with the Batman logo and one without, so it should be pretty easy to avoid those embarrassing "what's with the batphone?" queries in a few months' time. Otherwise, there's very little to say about the phone -- it truly is a minimalist flip -- though we're definitely excited to see Nokia's apparently renewed commitment to working not just with CDMA, but with CDMA carriers in North America.

Nokia's got a new no-frills handset coming to Verizon on June 15th, the Nokia 6205. Specs like a 1.3 megapixel camera, 58MB of memory and the Verizon UI -- no thank you -- won't have us in a hurry to turn in our N95, but the real news here is that the phone was designed by Nokia itself, and they're promising even more phones for Verizon in the future -- though S60 might not be in the cards. The 6205 has a 2-inch 176 x 220 screen on the inside, and a 1.28-inch 128 x 128 LCD on the back, there's a microSD slot, plenty of audio codec support, Bluetooth and a paltry 4 hours of talk time due to the EV-DO connection this thing wastes on a WAP 2.0 browser. It comes in the standard blue version, available in July, or you can pick up "The Dark Knight" edition we heard about (pictured), complete with movie-based ringtones and a pre-loaded trailer, on June 15th. Both will retail for $119 with contract.

Napkin PC

The Napkin PC is a multi-user, multi-interface, modular computer designed for creative professionals to collaborate and bring their greatest ideas to life.

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Palm-held 3D display [gCubik]

A prototype of the gCubik, a 10-centimetre (3.9-inch) cube which can show 3D images with no special glasses seen in Tokyo last week. Researchers in Japan are developing a gadget that could enable people to hold a three-dimensional image of someone in the palm of their hand.

Researchers in Japan are developing a gadget that could enable people to hold a three-dimensional image of someone in the palm of their hand. They hope the gCubik, which is still at the prototype stage, will later be developed to move in real time and appear to speak.

gCubik is a ten-centimeter cube that can show three-dimensional images. The prototype design does not require special glasses to view the image. "The ultimate image we have in mind is having a small person in your palm," said Shunsuke Yoshida, one of the researchers involved in the study at Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology.

The panels have many tiny lenses on liquid crystal displays. Unlike conventional 3D displays, which are viewed only from the front, the gCubik can be seen from three sides, giving different images from various angles. And unlike conventional 3D users will not need glasses to see the benefit.

This looks to me like a hand-held version of Heinlein's stereo tank from his 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land. 

I also thought of a more fancy version of this kind of device; the hand-held projector/data repository for the plans of the Death Star in the second Star Wars movie.

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The iClones: A Look At The iPhone 3G's Closest Competotors

So you're taking in all of this coverage of the iPhone 3G and suddenly start saying to yourself: "Man, does this mean that I have to follow the pack completely to the Apple store in order to get a good multimedia cell phone experience? Or can I find something else that is just different but can come close to the so-called Jesus Phone?

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In Taiwan, you could buy an "iPhone" six months before the official debut of the much-anticipated multimedia mobile in the United States. The iClones, as they have become known, sell for about $250 dollars in Taiwan, and only $125 in mainland China and Hong Kong.

A iClone from Taiwan has tighter "reveals" — how closely the components fit together — but they still couldn't get the stem position correct in the Apple logo.

Fake iPods, which are much easier to copy, are even more rampant. Bogus second-generation iPod nano's were seen in the Hong Kong and Shanghai markets, just days after Apple's September 5th media event. In the early Spring of 2006, a massive supply of fake first-generation iPod nano's and shuffles hit the US shores and wound up on eBay and other online venues. A savvy customer could easily spot the fake, but reports of hapless buyers who took the forged products to Apple stores because "they didn't work right" abounded.

17 Cool Speakers Designs that Look Better than They Sound

Home audio speakers are designed to sound great, but many designers take it to the next level and create something so sexy that people can’t help but stare. They know what they do, because in these days a product that looks good has better chances to be sold. These creative speaker designs that you’re gonna see in this post combine both style.

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Build Your Own F-35 Lightning II Fighter Jet

If you want to have your own F-35 Lightning II fighter jet, look no further because Stephen Trimble—from the always-good The Dew Line—has sent us high resolution instructions showing Lockheed Martin's construction process. Piece by piece, the instructions look straight from the Pentagon's Lego set.

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'Piles of Complaints' Over iPhone Data Pricing

The Imminent arrival of the iPhone in Canada has unleashed a storm of controversy over the country's high wireless data rates and left consumers bewildered by an array of offerings that -- if misunderstood -- could leave them with a monthly phone bill higher than the cost of a house in Saskatchewan.

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