I must admit, I was a bit skeptical of a man living in the clouds watching mankind like a lousy Nick at Night sitcom. However, news of a remote controlled floating tray that delivers refreshing beverages is proof that there is a god and that he isn’t a dick.

Like the floating speaker, relaxing by the pool just got a bit more - well, relaxing. This remote controlled float can hold up to five drinks and has a center bowl perfect for nachos. Just don’t shit in the pool. Like a shitty raft, it’s just begging to be sent down the Nile. You know, like Moses.
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We’ve got a bad case of Arduino fever over here at Gearfuse and some homebrew projects are our only cure! That aside, you can now use a code library to use a universal television remote to control your Arduino-based project. The official word:

The library implements the NEC IR protocol, so set up the universal remote for any NEC device (TV, DVD, VCR, …) and the 32-bit codes should be received.

The example sketch provided just prints out IR codes as they’re received, so it’s good to run that sketch to see what codes the remote is sending, so they can later be used to trigger specific actions

If you’re currently working on an Arduino-based project, this is a must see.

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Nothing beats seeing the New York Giants take a huge shit on every team in the NFL and then watching Dan Marino freak out on ESPN. It’s just a wonderful thing. ESPN keeps a lot of us glued to the TV and now we have yet another reason not to buy our wives anniversary gifts: The Wi-Fi-enabled ESPN Ultimate Remote.

It has a screen with an Apple-esque menu system, built-in Wi-Fi, home theater management, control of IP-based equipment and one-touch access to Internet content. Oh, did I mention you can send text messages with this thing? Yeah, and you can browse the Internet and check your e-mail with it. Christ.

Now that every guy on the planet has a boner the size of Texas, you can rest soundly knowing that the Ultimate Remote will be available in time for Father’s Day. The only problem with this amazing device? The price: $300.

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An awesome way to scare your grandmother for Resident Evil fans! This remote controlled zombie by The Chainsaw Mafia is a one-button controlled moaner straight out of a Romero flick. It’s operated by a controller shaped as a brain - how cool is that?

Almost as effective at scaring away neighborhood cats with the radio controlled lawn mower, one click of the button and your zombie will be shuffling about and moaning towards the nearest person with a brain (Sean Hannity need not fear.) The zombie is operated by 3 AAA batteries and will be available in July.

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Here’s a pretty cool remote control concept I came across. Touting itself as a no-touch Remote Control, the device designed by a Dutch Student for Bang & Olufsen features an unorthodox mechanism which entails sweeping your hand through a vacant space in the device in order to control your TV.

To change the channel, just slide your finger through the open space on the remote. To change the volume, place your finger inside of the remote cavity, and watch as the remote changes angles to simulate the falling or rising volume. I’m not seeing much of a future for a device like this, but the concept is intriguing. (more…)

While not much is actually known about this concept remote from Hitachi other than it features an “intuitive user interface,” the style plainly smacks of iPod minimalism. More pictures are available after the break, including a larger version of the remote that features the same simple trackball design. Both devices recently made their debut at CEATEC 2007, but no word yet on when we may see them on store shelves.

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If you happened to be a fan of the Pirates of Caribbean movie and sick of all those stupid costumes & party balloon packs, you might be interested in this new line of home electronics offered by Runa Japan based on the movie. The retro 14″ CRT TV (with DVD below) is going to look hot in your room, your friends should be really impressed with the compass-like remote controller which looks very user unfriendly, you can also spend money on the steering-wheel looking stand-up DVD player. If you that’s not enough to wow your kids, you can also pick up the CD boombox which looks like a treasure chest.

Expect to see some of these electronics by mid May at downtown Japan. The TV, DVD player and CD boombox are priced at $260, $110 and $70 respectively. –Sam Chan

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Okay this is nothing new really, we all have remote controllers at home, some of us are lucky enough to have a home network hooked up to all appliances so that you can control the microwave in your kitchen all the way from your neighbor’s house.

Fuji Housing is showcasing this new household robot at their showrooms in Osaka. The teddybear-ish Chapit is actually smarter than it looks. The voice-recognition capability allows the Chapit to understand when you shout at it (up to 10,000 different commands), hook it up to your home network then you will have an electronic slave to turn your lights on and off (video), switch channels and get on to the in-ter-neto (video). The built-in camera allows you to do video conferencing with your friends on webcam or on 3G video-calls, you can also check your hair on the screen just before leaving the house (video).

The Chapit is due to launch in 2008, with a lot more added features comparing to the recent model, price is projected to be around $1700. –Sam Chan

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Sharp updated their line of AQUOS-TV-plus-desktop-PC series, but we are not interested in that. What really caught our attention was the remote the came with it, because it is the world’s first remote controller with a touch pad. Now you can have a real TV-internet experience, just forget about your keyboard and mouse, you can type with the alphanumeric keys just as it is on phones, you can also browse the internet easily with the intuitive touch-pad. Thanks to the touch-pad and the redesigning of the menu, the number of buttons on the new remote has decreased 40% from the older one, which is already really good considering that the OS is from Microsoft. (You can’t exactly compare this with the iMac remote, as this is so much more powerful) We can expect the touch-pad remote be followed by other manufacturers later, or at least be applied to a wider range of Sharp products. The new remote will ship with the new Aquos PC systems in late March. –Sam Chan

Touch-pad remote controller [Sharp Japan]

Having a Rolling Stone on your team of developers is a sure sign to success right? Not necessarily in the iPod accessory market. Chestnut Hill Sound’s new George joins the slew of iPod dock/speakers with one feature that will blow you away. It’s way to interface with your iPod is a simple display with buttons…that detaches from the unit! Check out this full review of the Chestnut Hill Sound George.

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