Jawbone ICON HD + The Nerd

Not since "Smokey & the Bandit" has marketers come up with a silly sounding moniker like ICON HD & the Nerd. What we are describing is the latest product put out by Aliph in their Jawbone headset line.

Basically it is an updated ICON headset with expanded audio range for increased listening response now paired with "the Nerd" which is a USB dongle/adapter that makes adding it to your PC or Mac a snap. Now you can listen to computer audio and make PC-based VoIP calls all through the ICON HD earpiece headset. Just recently released in late August, it has several favorable reviews already.

More Tech @ rockettrendy.com, www.esgo2010.com, and our favorite story at www.willawynrottweilers.com

Introducing Apple Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt is a revolutionary I/O technology that supports high-resolution displays and high-performance data devices through a single, compact port. And it’s available on MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini computers. It sets new standards for speed, flexibility, and simplicity.

All that power and blazing-fast data transfer flows through the Apple Thunderbolt Cable, one of the most advanced cables ever made. There are actual computer chips at the terminal ends of each cable. No single cable has been able to do so many things and do them with such astonishing speed. It doesn’t just connect high-performance devices. It is one.


Thunderbolt I/O technology gives you two channels on the same connector with 10 Gbps of throughput in both directions. You can move data to and from peripherals up to 20 times faster than with USB 2.0 and up to 12 times faster than with FireWire 800. You also have more than enough bandwidth to daisy-chain multiple high-speed devices without using a hub or switch.

Thunderbolt-ready devices.

Soon you’ll be able to connect to a host of Thunderbolt-enabled devices.¹ Here are just a few of the first:

Display

• Apple Thunderbolt Display

Storage

• Promise Pegasus R4 and Pegasus R6
• LaCie Little Big Disk
• Sonnet Fusion RAID

Video Capture

• Blackmagic UltraStudio 3D
• Matrox MX02

Adapters

• Promise SAN Link Fibre Channel adapter
• Sonnet Allegro FireWire 800 adapter
• Sonnet Presto Gigabit Ethernet adapter
•  

More Tech@ rockettrendy.com, www.ESGO2010.com

Powered up on eLegs

eLegs in action

In San Francisco today, paraplegics are standing and walking on bionic exoskeletons called eLegs designed by Berkeley Bionics.

The eLegs exoskeleton unit is made up of controller crutches, a backpack mounted control unit, and leg units that have both hip and knee rotation systems. The wearer controls leg movement gesture based commands transmitted through the sensors and controls the crutch units.

It is hoped that the eLegs system completes clinical trial by mid next year. The eLegs system could be available to the public by late next year. Updated August 2011.


More Tech @ Berkley Bionics, CNET

Single Atom Image

One Atom of rubidium-85

Scientists in New Zealand managed to take this photo of a single atom of rubidium-85.

They slowed down a group of atoms and managed to capture the atom with optical "tweezers" - basically 2 lasers acting like a tractor beam.

Once captured they used a camera designed to take photographs in space, and take this image. This technology is important in the future development of quantum-logic computing.

More Tech @ Popular Science

Many Cards in One

MultiAccount Credit Card

Dynamics Inc has created a new computerized credit card that can re-program its own magnetic stripes and hide its account numbers. Users would press buttons on its face to switch between stored account numbers which are unlocked by entering the correct PIN. 

The card also has a lithium-polymer battery and is fully waterproof. Now you can reduce that fat-wallet effect.

More Tech @ PopSci

Real-Life Iron Man Suit

Raytheon Sarcos XOS 2 exoskeleton

Actor Clark Gregg, who plays Agent Phil Coulsen, in the "Iron Man" movies, demos a real-life exoskeleton called XOS 2, which is very much like the one in the movies.

Engineers at the Salt Lake City, Utah defense contractors offices showed off these images to celebrate the release of "Iron Man 2."

Watch out bad guys, the real Iron Man may not be far off...

More Tech @ Raytheon suit