Briefcase doubles as bullet-proof shield

Posted on 16/03/2015 by Federico Lo Giudice

You never know what might end up saving your life, but this laptop bag slash briefcase might be it, as it is can become a personal bulletproof shield.

Bags and briefcases have more uses than carrying around your papers, gadgets and gear: they also can stop bullets. At least that’s the case with the MTS Multi-Threat Shield briefcase, a bag designed to be able to protect the user from a variety of weapons including bullets or knives by doubling into a three-foot long shield.

Be aware: this is a heavy gadget, at 8 pounds when empty, but if you really place security and safety higher than anything else, this is a no brainer. MTS can stop several impacts from handguns, shotguns, and pistol caliber sub-machine guns, and even some high-powered rifles thanks to an extra armor add-on (that adds more weight on top, so you can find your own balance).

Acquiring the MTS Multi-Threat Shield bag is going to set you back some $900 USD, but if you’re so concerned about getting shot that you’d consider getting a bag like this, there just aren’t many options. It’s also cheaper than a bodyguard, on top, and you won’t have to console the bag’s family after if passes away protecting you, so find some peace of mind with that.

Via Gizmodo

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Siri and Cortana Record Your Voice, Says Industry Insider

Posted on 04/03/2015 by Jasmine Henry

As consumer privacy fears grow and people become more concerned about their digital data, one industry insider confirms our worst fears about Siri and Cortana.

At the moment, when it comes to our digital data, we are all on high alert. Wanted NSA hacker Edward Snowden was forced to flee the United States and become a fugitive when he revealed to the world that not only do the world’s governments access our data but they keep tabs on us too. That’s why everyone is now wary and concerned about what happens to the information we share with our digital devices. Who is looking at it and is our data safe?

Most of the concern surrounds messages that we’ve sent via the Internet or our mobile phone networks, such as emails, texts or instant messages. The last place that people would assume we’re being snooped on is via Siri and Cortana, the voice activated virtual assistants that can be found on iOS and Windows devices (respectively). Unfortunately though, one industry insider suggests that Siri and Cortana are actually recording us.

That suggestion comes from a user that goes by the name of FallenMyst who recently revealed all on reddit. The information, they say, comes from their new job at Walk N’Talk Technologies. In a comment, the anonymous poster described their job duties:

“I’m given an audio file (sound bite) and the corresponding text based translation (how the phone translated the speech). My job is to listen to the file, compare it to the text and provide feedback on how correctly the sound bite was interpreted by the phone. If the text and speech are a perfect match, I just move on. However, if the phone either translated something incorrectly due to a heavy accent or loud background noise, I note that in my evaluation.”

FallenMyst went on to explain that “I heard everything from kiddos asking innocent things like “Siri, do you like me?” to some guy asking Galaxy to [do something inappropriate and physically impossible]. I wish I was kidding”.

While it makes sense that companies have to run some analytics to figure out the performance of their voice controlled software, it is certainly disconcerting to know that masses upon masses of our audio data is being sent all over the world for employees to listen to. Not only this but this surely means that our data is being saved somewhere, so is it possible that a hacker could access this information? FallenMyst may have made this up of course, but it seems unlikely in the fact of recent reveals that Samsung’s voice controlled smart TVs send our audio through a similar process. Either way, it’s incredibly disconcerting.

Source: BGR

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Bionic Bird is a Drone That Looks Like a Bird, Flies Like a Dream

Posted on 21/11/2014 by Jasmine Henry

As drone usage becomes more widespread, one company has created the Bionic Bird which resembles a real bird in every single way.

Quite quickly, we are seeing drones go from just an enthusiast’s passion to a serious form of surveillance and product transport. However, a huge problem with these unmanned drones is that not only can they be big, clunky and rather unsightly, but their size (and the spinning rotors that many come equipped with) can be a serious source of danger.

So if we want to use drones to undertake some serious, stealthy spying or if we want to move things from one place to another safely, this is a problem that’s going to have to be eliminated. With the Bionic Bird, one team may have just found a solution.

As the name suggests, the big selling point about the Bionic Bird is that it’s biomimetic. What that means is that it mimics a real bird; from its aerial control to the way that it flaps its wings. So convincing is its bird-like movement that the Bionic Bird can even successfully trick other birds into thinking that it’s one of them.

And that’s a huge deal. Not just for the aforementioned health and safety reasons (arguably, actual birds are less likely to get hurt by a drone with wings instead of rotors and if it’s something they don’t feel threatened by) but because it’s less likely to get knocked out of the sky, it helps the drone better serve its purpose.

It’s also handy that the Bionic Bird is controlled via Bluetooth 4.0. You can control it from your smartphone or tablet (iOS for now, Android support will go live early next year) so you’ll be able to walk around and fly it instead of being cemented behind a control booth. One downside to this is that it only has a range of 100 meters, so that’s something to be considered.

This all said, the Bionic Bird Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign is up and running, having already surpassed its $25,000 goal (it sits at $100,000 at the time of writing). The device will retail for $149 but securing one through Indiegogo will bag you one for $100 with guaranteed delivery before Christmas.

Source: Bionic Bird Indiegogo Page

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Biodegradable drone decomposes after crashing

Posted on 14/11/2014 by Federico Lo Giudice

Meet the sneakiest drone on Earth, a drone capable of decomposing after being used and disappear without leaving a trace: the perfect spy gadget.

The UAV illustrating this story is quite something: a regular looking drone that is actually made from biodegradable materials that melt away into its surroundings once its life cycle is done. The idea is for it to disappear without leaving any trace, and for that reason the Ecovative Design team chose to build it out of a fungal material called mycelium, made sturdy by applying plant-based cellulose on it. Even the circuitry is organic, as it is made of silver nanoparticle ink, capable of biodegrading too.

The concept is simple: these drones can fly and go anywhere, but can dissapear almost instantly if they crash, without leaving any trace. As the creators explain, “no one would know if you’d spilled some sugar water or if there’d been an airplane there”.

The model still uses some non-biodegradable materials which haven’t been replaced yet: mainly the rotors, controls and battery, which they’ll either address in the future or forget entirely about them, because it’s not like anyone could recognize a drone just seeing those parts by themselves, right? Right?

Via Technabob

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Spy gadgets make a comeback with the camera that sees around corners

Posted on 02/07/2014 by Kristin Silva

James Bond’s gadgets don’t look so outlandish anymore. This is a photo camera with an incredible feature: taking pictures and seeing around corners.

A group of researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh came up with a weird idea that, surprisingly, works. It’s a camera that by using a form of super fast imaging, it can take pictures around corners. The basic premise is that a camera this fast captures individual photons moving with their detectors. When light finally arrives at the detector, these record where and at what time it arrives.

Jonathan Leach, a member group that developed the camera, explains that they don’t have any specific product applications just yet, so your privacy will be safe for a while longer. Still, the fact that this technology exists is pretty incredible on its own. You can learn more about it by checking the video below these lines.

Via Versus

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Retractable Grass Covered Swimming Pool

Posted on 09/06/2014 by Craziest Gadgets Jeff

retractable swimming pool Retractable Grass Covered Swimming Pool
If you have a smaller backyard you probably only have enough room for either a pool or a patch of grass. But if you had this futuristic inground swimming pool, you can have both! The pool has a retractable cover that has a lawn built right on top of it. The top slides right off the pool and under the deck when you’re ready for a swim. When you’re not swimming, just put your lawn back (make sure everyone’s out of the pool first, that would suck to get stuck in there).

We can’t find any further information on this pool beyond just the video above demonstrating it’s awesomeness but I’m sure if you have a lot of money but not a lot of space, you can find someone willing to build this contraption for you. (via gizmodo)

Retractable Grass Covered Swimming Pool
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Tobii Glasses 2 Shows Others What You’re Looking At in Real Time

Posted on 30/05/2014 by Jasmine Henry

As the wearable revolution continues, the new Tobii Glasses 2 gadget is a Google Glass rival that shows other people what you’re looking at.

Inarguably, the biggest concern around wearable gadgets, such as Google Glass or the Samsung Galaxy Gear, is that the ‘features’ that they are offer are actually some well marketed gimmicks. Particularly in the case of Google Glass, which, while it has many practical uses such as allowing you to view a map as you walk along (thus reducing the chances of you falling over as you try to keep an eye on the Google Maps app on your phone) and the ability to take photos via voice command, there are also some less useful uses such as a QR scanner – QR codes after all are the oft-seen but rarely used augmented reality feature. So with that in mind, technology company Tobii have created the Tobii Glasses 2, an eye tracking headset that’s a successor to their original device.

The headline feature of the Tobii Glasses 2 is its aforementioned eye tracking capabilities. With a wider field of vision than the pair of glasses that came before it, the Tobii Glasses 2 does this by using several front and eye facing cameras. There are four cameras tracking your eyes, to allow for a precise set of data on where you’re looking, so it seems like almost every direction is covered there, meanwhile, there’s just one camera facing forward which captures your viewpoint transmitting it back to a viewer in glorious 1080p HD meaning that despite not being right there in the midst of the action, they are still able to view all of the same things as you, whilst able to provide some extra analysis.

It’s that analysis that could perhaps clue you in on the price of the Tobii Glasses 2. Their recommended use is by product developers and sports teams, the latter of which could use the technology to analyse how plays are going about or to see extra things – up close – on the court or the field. As a result, the Tobii Glasses 2 are selling for $14,900 which is pricey but it could be a valuable investment if you have solid plans for how to use it.

We’ll keep you posted once we know more.

Source: Tobii

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Rubik’s Cube Hidden Safe

Posted on 17/04/2014 by Craziest Gadgets Jeff

rubiks cube safe Rubiks Cube Hidden Safe
No one will ever touch your valuable if you stash them in this intimidating looking Rubik’s Safe. It’s not even a standard 3×3 cube, this is the 5×5 beast. But don’t worry even if someone picks up the cube, it’s not as simple as just popping off the top to reveal the hidden compartment. To open the safe you need to twist the three middle layers into just the right position to unlock it. Genius!

Rubik’s Cube Hidden Safe
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USAF Using Glass to Develop James Bond-Like Spy Gadgets

Posted on 14/04/2014 by Stephen Colbert

The United States Air Force is working with Batman to create new tech for combat and search and rescue. It isn’t the real Dark knight, but it’s still cool.

The US Military has been finding ways to incorporate more and more mobile tech in efforts to both update and move away from clunky laptops. The pentagon recently purchased 7,000 Galaxy Note II devices from Samsung for use in their Nett Warrior System, which serves as a sort of tactical map and communications device.

The Air Force is now working on a similar initiative called “Batman.” Unfortunately the name is entirely unrelated to Caped Crusader vigilante billionaire ninjas, but it does involve the next coolest thing–Google Glass.

Batman, or, the “Battlefield Air Targeting Man-Aided (K)knowledge” (yeah, it’s a stretch) is intended to utilize both the camera and screen on Google Glass to provide additional visual perspective from ground troops to pilots for targeting purposes. It can also be used in reverse to provide live areal views from pilots to the troops on the ground during recon or search and rescue missions.

This is exactly the type of innovation Glass is designed for. Not necessarily military specific innovation, but Google Glass is just a platform. A sort of blank slate, and Google is relying on developers to create applications to take advantage of the tools Glass provides. The devices being used by the Air Force are in fact Google Glass Explorer edition devices, which were purchased by Air Force developers, just the same as the way explorers in the general public purchase Glass.

Many people have the perspective–likely because of some of the high tech spy gadgets in movies and TV–that the Government has access to far superior technology than the private sector, but the fact that the Air Force is developing for Google Glass instead of a proprietary system suggests otherwise. Of course, the military and organizations like the FBI, CIA, and NSA definitely have more resources to obtain high tech gadgets, much of the technology used is likely closely in line with what most people have access to.

The military does have a history of driving many technical innovations, though, so hopefully developments such as Batman will also drive the civilian applications of tools such as Google Glass forward as well.

Source: Pocket-Lint

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Self-Destructing Phone Will Keep Your Darkest Secrets

Posted on 04/03/2014 by Federico Lo Giudice

Smartphones are pretty incredible, but over-reliance on them might turn into more than inconvenience if you happen to loose them. This phone provides quite a solution to such predicament.

This model in question is called Boeing Black, and it is a smartphone designed by Boeing themselves for government use: 100% designed to keep private stuff private. If someone who is not the owner tampers with it, the Boeing Black proceeds to delete all its data and brick itself. We were really expecting it to blow up, but no such luck.

Onto the technical side of things? The phone runs on the latest Android os, with a 5.2-by-2.7-inch screen (that’s larger than an iPhone, mind you), and uses dual SIM cards to operate several lines.

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