If you’ve got $12 and a whole ‘lotta patience, you can score one of these colorful LEGO USB hubs from Korea. Four ports of fury and you can build with them! Why do all the good gadgets come from Asia? Americans always get the shaft, save for the iPhone.
Those of you who will be in New York tomorrow simply cannot miss KOREANNOVATION, a gizmos and gadgets trade show that will be showcasing the best of what Korea has to offer. You’ll see over 500 innovative products, ensuring there will never be a dull moment. And trust me, if Eclectic Method is remixing videos to promote this show, it’s definitely going to be off the fucking hook. For more information, hit the link below.
The word just came in over the wire. World War III has begun and it doesn’t involve Iran or Russia. This time, the war is being fought in our own backyards against allergies and smog, with especially hard times for those in Los Angeles. Luckily, our buddies in Korea was able to ship over some NOSK Transparent Nasal Filters for us to use. Rather than look like something out of Ghostbusters with a full-size face mask, we’ll now have the latest in nose-filtering technology at our disposal.
How does it work? Boy, am I glad you asked:
Sported by asthma sufferer Korean Olympian Park Tae?hwan , NOSK, a new 3-layer nasal filter created by Sam Joung International Co. reduces the inhalation of pollutants and allergens by over 80%. You can still talk and eat wearing NOSK, which means it can become a seamless addition to your routine, and unlike masks, your glasses won’t fog each time you breath. Each filter is usable for up to 24 hours so you can just put it on in the morning on the way to work, and toss it in the trash upon arrival home.
Essentially, we can all become supermutants through the power of NOSK. We’ll breathe easier and can even smoke cigarettes while using it. Now that’s what I call multitasking.
Do your headphone cords curl up into a big mess that not even a rubber band or twist tie can maintain? Then you are in need of a ninja bunny. It’s a cable manager that adds a hint of geekiness and style to that jumbled mess of strings dangling from your ears. Well, unless you’re in Korea, you won’t find these bunnies around here. Think of it as Murphy’s Law. Hit the jump to take a peek at the various colors they’re made in.
Dong Han Kim and his team at the Seoul National University of Technology in South Korea have designed a robot that can jump up stairs using two empty plastic soda bottles. In spite of all the amazing crap robots can do, they often have trouble navigating steps. Kim’s ScoutRobot solves this problem with an aluminum cylinder that blasts compressed air from two 20 oz. plastic soda bottles. There have been lots of awesome things made out of empty bottles, but this air-powered robot is definitely the best of the bunch. ScoutRobot also has sensors that spot upcoming obstacles and estimate how much height is needed to jump them. Sadly for me and all of my fellow honkies, modern science still hasn’t come up with a solution to get us hops. Read on for a video of the bottle-bot getting airborne.
A civic group called School Beautiful Movement, together with the Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion and SK Telecom has launched a program to teach the young proper cellphone use, in preparedness of protecting them from the harsh recesses of mobile addiction. Twelve Korean elementary, middle and high schools were selected for the pilot program and for the next two months.
These students will gather in a group to talk about their cellphone use (not to mention the hardships texted to them from the loves of their lives), and the symptoms they feel when they are without their cellphone. The students will voluntarily not use their cellphones in school to test their reactions. Riot police are on call. — Andrew Dobrow
Sharp’s first dual-mode transmitter, the VA3B5EZ915, is capable of tuning in on both T-DMB and DVB-H terrestrial digital broadcasts. Sharp claims this device to be the first of its kind. With the launch of One-Seg in Japan, other similar services have started popping up in other areas in the Eastern Hemisphere, including DVB-H for some areas of Europe, and T-DMB for Korea.
The device is made to be implanted in mobile devices, and as can be seen from the image, its size (8 x 8 x 1.25 mm) is definitely compact enough to please many manufacturers, as the demand for smaller tuners continues to grow. — Andrew Dobrow
Despite its appearance, the Samsung YA-DS200 is not a cellphone. In fact, it’s a mobile speaker system. Compact and sleek, the 800mW speaker to go has the same design scheme a the Samsung YP-K3 MP3 player and would make an excellent addition to your portable media sound system.
Its LCD screen displays levels of the audio output as you listen. The YA-DS200 Speakers will be available soon in Korea, and than everywhere else soon after. Hopefully. — Andrew Dobrow
We don’t know who came out with the concept, but the idea of a miniature wooden speak does sound cool. And having it so small that it’s almost comparable to a dice (19×26x39mm). Korean company Funshop kr has started selling this I.dear Wood Speaker that is so small that it can be used as an accessory (charm) for your cellphone. It feeds music via standard 3.5mm jack, the internal recharagable (via USB) Li-Polymer battery is good for 5 hours of music at 1.5W, which is comparable to some cheaper portable speakers. While we have no idea how will this match up with our super loud SonyEricsson phones, the 25USD price-tag surely looks attractive. –Sam Chan
I.dear Wood Speaker [Funshop Korea]
Samsung presents its newest card phone, the SPH-B6700 to the Korean mobile market. The B6700 comes with many features of the previous card phone, such as mobile printing, mp3 playback, and a camcorder, but adds some multimedia functionality with some added features.
T-DMB access, a 2 MP camera, and Bluetooth connectivity are among the new media features of the B6700, along with a 330,000 word dictionary and “my pet” file viewer. It’s dimensions measure a tiny 8.7 (w) x 5.4 (h)cm at a weight of 79g.
The B6700 comes encased in a strong aluminum body so the little fellow won’t get crushed in the folds of your pocket. We’d still recommend to use a belt clip though. For now its only available in Korea. (more…)
