IBLOG SPACE

Turkish scientists have invented a revolutionary new device for paraplegics that gives them more freedom and mobility than ever before to live independent healthy lives. The Tek Robotic Mobility Device, as it’s called, uses robotic technology in a new platform that’s completely different from traditional wheelchairs. The Tek RMD is more reminiscent of a Segway than a wheelchair. It allows the user to mount from behind instead of from the front, which is a significant difference. Users typically have to use a lot of arm strength to lift and throw themselves from a bed onto a wheelchair, a move that’s very difficult. With the Tek RMD, users can pull the device up to them via a remote control and then strap themselves into a harness while still seated. Once buckeled in, the user is lifted effortlessly up by the suspension system of the Tek RMD. Easing the process of standing up and sitting back down is important for paraplegic people, who are often required to perform these exercises to m

HTC appears to be delivering more than just their hero range of HTC One devices this spring and summer, with the HTC DROID Incredible 4G showing up this week in the Verizon archives. This device has not yet been formally announced, but is looking to be set for somewhere around the end of April. This device will build on the already massively successful “Incredible” line from HTC and its casing will reflect that success as well. This device will likely have a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor (their newest) and a lovely 4.3-inch qHD AMOLED display. Inside you’ll find 1 GB of RAM more than likely and the back will have an 8 megapixel camera (backed up by the Snapdragon’s specially tuned camera-ready architecture.) On the front there’ll be a VGA camera, inside 4G LTE, and all around Beats Audio. This device is likely going to have a cool Adreno 225 GPU inside as well, and will be released before or during the massive set of waves that include the HTC One series. See the timeline bel

It’s not just the FCC that’s being involved this week as users playing the latest installment in the Mass Effect series of games. Users from across the earth have come together to bring on a case against Electronic Arts saying that not only is the ending to the game a disappointment, it goes against several promises written out plainly by the developers well before the game was released. Could EA be on the receiving end of this stick of justice after all? We’re not ones to judge a game by its endings, but when it comes down to actual quotes from developers promising one thing and delivering another, there’s no holding us back. If one heads into a burger joint and orders a burger with mustard, one would expect it to come with mustard. Thanks to BioWare forum member cato_84there are quite a few quotes listed up for all to see regarding the supposed “open” ending of Mass Effect 3: “Experience the beginning, middle, and end of an emotional story unlike any other, where the decisions you ma

This is the second time the folks at Humble Bundle have released a pack of games that work on Android, Mac, Linux, and Windows for a payment you choose. This program has you paying whatever you want – as long as it’s an actual monetary amount – for a set of awesome new apps that work on your many multiple devices. Proceeds from the project go to whoever you wish, be it the Developers behind the apps, Charity, or all straight to Humble! Users have multiple ways to pay electronically, anyone can grab a pack or give one as a gift, and again, the split-up of the money you contribute goes to whichever of the three options you have according to your will! You’re able to give any amount of cash, be it one of the pre-set amounts including $100, $50, $25, and $15, or as massive an amount of cash as you wish. Currently the amount of payments by platform is massively pushing on Windows, while Mac and Linux take up the next spots – Android is in there somewhere too, but it’s tiny! Paying for each

This week NetZero is re-spinning the deal that made them famous: free internet, with a few catches – and not nearly enough catches to turn me away from dropping my mobile data bill altogether. When I head out of the house and pick up my smartphone, I check my email, reply to text messages, maybe make a call, and thats it. I find the cost of wireless data appalling, monthly bills reaching nearly $100 across an average family of four’s multiple smart devices – so why not drop it all entirely for NetZero’s new free wireless plan? The plan goes like this: buy either a $50 antenna stick that’ll plug into your laptop or a $100 mobile hotspot that’ll travel with you wirelessly for any and all wifi-capable devices you might have on you. These devices bring you free internet – free and clear, no cost at all – but there’s a catch. You can only use 200 megabytes of data a month. That’s less than AOL was giving out on their “TRY THE WEB FOR FREE” disks over 10 years ago. I remember going over that

As it is with every new high-class device release, drop tests have been done to show how, believe it or not, glass does break when you drop it on cement. It’s almost as if the users in these videos do not understand basic physics or the obviousness of the truth: glass plus cement equals broken glass. That said, it’s always entertaining to see some $500 pieces of technology being smashed in the name of science. Both the new iPad and the iPad 2 are dropped from a couple of heights both facing upward and downward, from a normal human height and from much to high to be realistic. Facing upward it appears that both models survive the strike, while face-down noone is safe from the evils of the cement devil. Just goes to show you – get a case or be sorry! For those of you wondering what would be best to protect your iPad, we’ve got just the answer for you. A case so hardcore that the makers of this case sent an iPad into outer space with it, dropping it thusly. It of course survived the impac

Hit iOS and Android game Draw Something has apparently caught the attention of more than just gamers, with developers OMGPOP apparently in acquisition talks with heavyweight Zynga. The gaming giant is only one of a number of interested parties, however, according to TechCrunch‘s “source with direct knowledge of the discussions”; exactly how much cash is on the table is unclear, though with Draw Something grabbing the social gaming top-spot recently and OMGPOP raising around $17m on its own, any purchase isn’t going to be cheap. In fact, it’s suggested, Zynga could have to pay $150-200m if it wants to seal the deal and keep OMGPOP out of its rivals’ hands. Neither developer will comment on the rumors, though if such an acquisition went through it would be the biggest purchase by Zynga to-date. Draw Something borrows from the Pictionary concept, offering a choice of words which players must communicate with their friends by sketching illustrative pictures on the screen of their phone

Wires are a pain. You have to run them everywhere, try and hide them effectively, and if not, they clutter up rooms and look out of place. That’s particularly true of sound systems involving multiple speakers. What’s the solution? Wireless, of course. Atlantic Technology may have what you’re looking for in the war on cables. They’ve announced the WA-5030 wireless transmitter and receiver, designed to drive remote speakers up to 300 feet away. It accepts inputs from any RCA sourced analogue audio, although you can also plug it into a Mac or PC via USB. It doesn’t re-compress audio, either: a lossless 48Hz signal is sent out via the 2.4Ghz band. The audio receiver also doubles as an amplifier, which includes a digital-to-analogue converter, and supports up to 30 watts for both stereo channels. An infrared remote is also included with the package. If you want to buy the complete WA-5030 system, which includes the receiver, transmitter, remote control, and assorted cables, you’ll need to t

It wasn’t too long ago that we learned Google were working on special glasses that would bring smartphone like functionality to your eyes. Most notably, Google were aiming to heavily feature augmented reality, overlaying information onto the real world as you wear the glasses. Now a patent reveals that Microsoft may be working on similar concepts: one designed to be a gaming helmet, with another posing as a pair of sunglasses to be used with a smartphone. Patent Bolt have discovered Microsoft’s patent that lays out a display system worked into goggles, glasses, and a helmet, designed to display two different images simultaneously. However, the human eye can’t focus on such a close image, requiring a system that would display the images as if they were further away from the eye. Microsoft’s proposal is to utilize a pair of laser beams, acting as projectors, which would correctly display the images. Since the projectors beam the image directly in front of the user’s eyes, the glasses (or

There’s a limited edition Portal Gun coming to your doorstep via ThinkGeek, all you fans of the fantastic cult classic game, and its the 1:1 replica you may never have known you’ve always needed. This gun is the same you’ve seen in the Portal Series in both the first and second editions, you being able here to toss some C batteries in, start it up, and blast some GLaDOS friendly sound effects and lights into the atmosphere at will. This Portal Gun replica is limited to 5000 pieces worldwide and has been announced for sale on the 18th of May by ThinkGeek today! The Portal series has long been a favorite amongst gamers looking for not only a fantastic fun-filled puzzle-room experience, but a bit of deranged humor along the way as well. Truly it is appropriate then that the makers of this gun, NECA, have chosen ThinkGeek to be one of the few to sell it. This is Aperture Science’s Handheld Portal Device, a fabulous masterpiece of science, and you’ll be owning it very, very soon. Inside you

This week is the beginning of Microsoft‘s biggest push ever for the expansion of their “App Hub” for Windows Phone, developers being tipped to “Prepare now and beat the crowd” for 23 new marketplaces around the world. With the Windows Phone Tango expansion of the mobile operating system made to access devices with lower-tiered specifications for less expensive smartphones as well, Microsoft is now coming at a vast new set of markets in lower-income areas of the planet everywhere from Bulgaria to the Ukraine. This move is set to not only allow Microsoft to sell one whole heck of a lot more phones, but provide a much more lucrative arena for app developers working with their Windows Phone platform. This new move has the Windows App Hub, that being the App Store for Microsoft’s mobile OS, Windows Phone Marketplaces in other words, put into 23 new locations the world over. These locations include Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Estonia, Iceland, Iraq, Israel, Romania, Saudi