6 GADGETS FROM DORAEMON'S POCKET THAT MIGHT EXIST SOON

origin: Lowyat.net

Nostalgia kicks in ? Our good old time with doraemon... now coming to ur doorstep, in the bathroom ~

I got my first taste of "advanced gadgetary" back when I was a still young brat. Every week I would force my dad to buy me the latest copy of Doraemon (in Malay), and I would spend the next hour or two digesting the comic from cover-to-cover over and over again.

It goes without saying that I absolutely fell in love with Doraemon's magic pocket, as well as all the awesome goodies he could pull out of it, and apparently so has Lisa Katayama of Boing Boing Gadgets. 

In a post called "6 Gadgets of the future from Doraemon", Lisa lists out six of the best Doraemon gadgets from 1970-1980 that either exist now or probably will exist soon. I personally always favored the magic door that could open up to anywhere (even though it opened up to Sizuka's bathroom nine times out of ten), and since there is documented work on teleportation, I'm hoping that it'll make the next list.

Since we're on the topic, hit us back with a comment and tell us what your favorite Doraemon gadget is!

(Source: Boing Boing Gadgets) 

The Japanese are much more diverse than we usually get credit for, but if there's one thing that 99.9% of us do have in common, it is our love for Doraemon. The robotic cat from the future made its debut manga appearance in a magazine for fourth graders in January 1970. In the first installment, he appears out of the desk drawer belonging to a boy named Nobita and tells him that he will be strangled in 30 minutes and roasted in a fire in 40 minutes. Of course, it all comes true. Nobita then finds out that Doraemon has come to the present (i.e. the 70s), along with Nobita's future grandson, to help make his life — destined to be full of misery, mishaps, and disaster — just a little bit easier to handle. Doraemon's kind, endearing, and forward-thinking qualities led him to become Japan's first official Anime Ambassador to the world last March.

Manga artist duo Fujiko Fujio — creator of Doraemon and many other manga classics from Japan — also invented many of the greatest gadget prototypes known to man, some of which actually exist today. Here are a few from the first decade of the series (1970-1980):

1. TAKECOPTER (JANUARY 1970)

The most frequently used gadget in the Doraemon series is a suctioned bamboo propeller that attaches to any part of the body and instantly scoops you up into the air. Navigable by shifting body weight or maybe just by thinking about where to go.

2. VOODOO CAMERA (OCTOBER 1970)

Take a photo of someone, and this point-and-shoot will make a miniature voodoo doll of that person. This was a great episode — not knowing its powers, Nobita takes photos of Doraemon taking a nap and of his parents, and then gives them to Shizuka-chan, who gives them to the little girl next door who is best friends with a girl who likes to torture dolls...

3. EFFECT-AMPLIFYING MIC (JUNE 1975)

Nobita gets praised by the teacher at school, but when he tries to tell his parents and friends about it, nobody seems to care. That's why Doraemon hands him the mic that makes everything spoken into it sound like the most moving speech ever made by humankind. This scene shows Nobita blushing from embarrassment when he accidentally farts into the mic after he forgot he left it in his back pocket.

4. GUIDED MISSILE (MAY 1976)

To stop the cat that ate Shizuka-chan's pet canary from terrorizing the 'hood once and for all, Doraemon brings out the Guided Missile, a more annoying-than-deadly weapon that will follow the designated target around until its batteries run out.

5. DREAM READER (AUGUST 1977)

When Nobita has trouble falling asleep one night, Doraemon loans him the Dream TV, which lets him watch what other people are dreaming about. Neuroscientists are actually working towards making dream reading a reality — some think it could happen within 5-10 years.

6. 3D PRINTER (APRIL 1980)

Called the Mecha Maker, this contraption makes life-sized models of whatever you draw in an instant. It has four basic parts — a slit to put a paper diagram in, a tube for the materials (in Nobita's case, old plastic figurine kits), a compressor, and an exit hole that the completed item spits out of.

CHINESE DIY MASSAGE CHAIR LOOKS LIKE A CONTRAPTION FROM SAW

From: http://lowyat.net/v2

OMg... this retired old China old boy made this massage chair start from scrap to relieve his wifes pain, with 8 years time... let's see how relax can he be ? with the cute expression on face ?

-haoshou

Imagine waking up and finding yourself strapped in this contraption. You can't see anything, and blindly feel around. Your hand hits a switch and a gnarly ventriloquist's doll rolls in to the room on a tricycle.

Ignoring his annyoing voice and long winded grandmother stories, you sit back and relax as the contraption whirls into motion. Massage beads slowly roll up and down your back sending shivers down your spine. Another roller starts spinning in front of you and proceeds to rub down your tummy.

Before you know it, you feel so relaxed that you're back in dreamland and within seconds the contraption rips you into a billion pieces. 

OK. So maybe this homebrew contraption isn't as awesome as one of Jigsaw's many torturous toys, but you've got to admit that this DIY massage chair sure does look the part eh? Well apparently, it took Beijing retiree Lin Shuseng a whopping eight years to complete, and judging by his steam face in this picture, it was probably worth every minute.

(Source: Make)

SAY HELLO TO DELL'S THINNEST LAPTOP, THE DELL ADAMO

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Origin: http://lowyat.net The much hyped and long anticipated Dell Adamo finally dropped here in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Unveiled in a low-key casual media gathering, we managed to get our grubby hands all over the new machine that Dell proudly call the "thinnest laptop in the world". The name Adamo is derived from the Latin word meaning "to fall in love," and will serve as Dell's flagship line of products that focus on design aesthetics, personalization choices and sought-after technologies. The first thing we noticed about the Dell Adamo was the slick screwless chassis that was milled out of a singlepiece of aluminum, much like the unibody Macbooks. Not only did the unibody chassis look and feel good, but it added the much needed rigidness to an otherwise incredibly delicate machine. Speaking of other Mac inspired design cues, the Dell Adamo also comes with a sexy backlit keyboard and a slick edge-to-edge glass display over it's 13.4-inch (16:9) HD display. Available in two configurations - the fully fledged Desire and the lighter specced Admire - the top-of-the line Dell Adamo Desire runs on an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.4GHz processor with Intel Centrino technology, 4GB of 800MHz DDR3 memory and a 128GB Solid State Drive. For a couple of thousand Ringgit less, the Dell Adamo Admirecomes a little toned down with an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.2GHz processor, and 2GB of 800GHz DDR3 memory instead. Both models feature a variety of connectivity options such as WiFi, Bluetooth, an eSATA port for an external hard drive, 2 USB ports, and a display port for an additional screen. There is also talk of matching accessories to come, which include the likes of external storage options as well as external optical drives. According to the press release, an option to include mobile broadband connectivity is also in the pipeline, but details on that are rather sketchy now. Available in both Pearl (white) and Onyx (black), the Dell Adamo Desire retails at RM9989, while the Dell Adamo Admire retails at RM7399. For more information on the Dell Adamo, as well as detailed specifications of the two models, visit Dell's website at: http://tinyurl.com/adamo-onyx (Dell Malaysia) http://tinyurl.com/adamo-pearl (Dell Malaysia) http://adamobydell.com (Dell Adamo International Campaign)

HP UPDATES MINI NOTEBOOK LINE WITH 2140

origin: lowyat.net

by Wern Shen
Monday, 20 April 2009 03:27 PM

by Wern Shen

Monday, 20 April 2009 03:27 PM

Building on its award-winning portfolio of Mini products, HP recently unveiled another new HP Mini designed for mobile professionals and internet-centric consumers that require a rich computing experience in a small, portable package.

The HP Mini 2140 Notebook PC features a simple, refined all-aluminum case for a sleek yet lightweight design. Starting at 1.19 kg, the fully functional and durable HP Mini 2140 is an ideal companion PC for the on-the-go road warrior. It features a large 10.1-inch diagonal scratch-resistant HP Illumi-Lite LED display, a user-friendly 92 percent of full-size QWERTY keyboard, and a range of hard-drive options including an optional high-capacity 80-gigabyte solid-state drive.

The HP Mini 2140 with Windows XP Home is available April onwards at a recommended price of RM1,699. The HP Mini 2140 with Windows XP Professional is available April onwards at a recommended price of RM2,299.

For more information on the HP Mini 2140, visit the official HP website at http://www.hp.com.my.

ACER TAKES THE MINIMALIST ROUTE WITH THE ASPIRE 3936

originally from lowyat.net by Wern Shen

Friday, 17 April 2009 01:30 PM

Since Apple kicked off the "minimalist" trend in computing oh so many years ago, the term has been used and reused by many other brands to varying degrees of success. I personally thought that the term died off some time last year, when computers started popping up on shelves with laser engravings and other wild adornments, but it looks like at least one other brand (apart from Apple) is going back to slick lines and no nonsense styling. That brand is Acer, and the emergence of their latest ultra-portable notebook (another term we haven't heard in a while), the Aspire 3935, is definitely a sight for sore eyes (especially after the Predator).   Measuring 13.3-inches, the Aspire 3935 offers unprecedented mobility options as it comes with built-in WiFi and WiMAX receivers. Even though our local WiMAX infrastructure doesn't support non-vendor receivers just yet, it doesn't hurt to futureproof yourself. Furthermore, selected models in the Aspire 3935 range can be specified with an optional 3G port. Now that's mobility.   In terms of computing prowess, the Aspire 3935 is driven by Intel Centrino 2 processor technology that features the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and Mobile Intel GM45 Express chipset with integrated 3D graphics. It also supports up to 4 GB of DDR3 1066 MHz and is available with or without an optical drive. It also comes with a LED backlit display panel that supports 1336 x 768 pixel resolutions, and can be configured to come with an 8-cell battery. The Acer Aspire 3935 retails from RM2,999. For more information on the new Acer Aspire 3935, visit http://tinyurl.com/cnx2qe

P1 W1MAX GOES MOBILE WITH THE WIGGY

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Originally from lowyat.net by Wern Shen

Friday, 10 April 2009 01:35 AM

Loud and exciting aren't exactly two words that you'd associate with product launches this year, but then again, neither is news on P1 here at Lowyat.NET. Thankfully though, hell didn't freeze over, nor did the market go crashing down when those buzzwords met at the launching of P1's latest foray into mobile broadband yesterday. Oh, and since we're on the topic of buzzwords, here's one that you'll definitely be seeing it a lot from now on - WiGGY. Held at the Loft Upstairs on the Asian Heritage Row, P1 threw a massive launch party for their new USB WIMAX modem, the Wiggy. As the crowd that consisted of media, bloggers, celebrities as well as various other business associates filled up the club, CEO Michael Lai got the ball rolling with his signature brand of exuberance.  "WiGGY is a device that's perfectly suited to enable Life 2.0. The internet today is a hive of activity driven by a growing number of consumers who are more open and willing to produce, contribute and share information and entertainment online to a global audience. They are eager to share and upload their lives on the net and WiGGY is perfectly suited to compliment this" -- Michael Lai, Chief Executive Officer, P1 The WiGGY is what P1 call "a revolutionary USB WiMAX modem", and offers users blazing fast wireless connectivity. Unlike other providers who place a heavy emphasis on a fast downstream, the WiGGY is designed to provide you with reliable high-speed uploads too.    The secret to this is the use of Multiple In Multiple Out (MIMO) technology, which enables better performance through the use of multiple antennas within a single device. The multiple antenna array allows data to be uploaded and downloaded simultaneously for an immensely superior broadband performance. Available in one standard package, the WiGGY promisses up to a whopping 10Mbps on best effort. The modem itself is said to be capable of 20Mbps speeds, but a reasonable expectation should be around 5Mbpson average. Monthly subscription fees for the WiGGY package stand at RM149 per month, with a minimum contractual commitment of a 12-months. There is a fair usage cap of 10GB, and upon reaching this cap, speeds will be throttled to 400kbps (down) and 150kbps (up) respectively. Available from today onwards at the PC Fair, the first 5,000 subscribers to P1's WiGGY package will receive anAcer Aspire One Netbook absolutely free! Keep in mind though, that you'll need to pay RM459 (RM299 + RM100 + RM60) up front for various charges. For more information on P1's WiGGY, visit the official website here: http://tinyurl.com/ckw2xn

HP STARTS SHIPPING ITS AMD NEO POWERED DV2 NOTEBOOK

Originally from lowyat.net

Announced during the recent CES, HP has finally started shipping the Pavilion dv2 series entertainment notebook PC world wide.   The dv2 is designed to compete with the ultra thin notebook segments, eg. the Apple's MacBook Air and Dell's Adamo. As such the dv2 is only 1-inch thick and weighs as little as 1.64kg. Two designs are available which HP calls Imprint design, Moonlight white and Espresso black. Nevertheless the dv2 is capable of HD entertainment that includes HP MediaSmart and even Blu-Ray capability (optional). Powered by AMD's latest energy efficient Neo processor together with ATI Radeon HD3410 with its own 512MB of dedicated video memory running on Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit). Other features supported by the dv2 is WWAN connectivity (optional), HP Webcam and microphon, up to 500GB of hard drive space, up to 4GB of RAM, Bluetooth and 802.11 a/b/g/n WLAN, all embeded in a sleek 12.1 inch magnesium alloy casing. The HP Pavilion dv2 retails from RM2,399 from any authorized HP reseller.