Technology

An electronics hacker known as befinitiv recently posted a YouTube video demonstrating how he converted an old Cosina Hi-Lite 35-mm film camera into a digital snapper, using 3D printing, a Raspberry Pi Zero W and a Pi camera module.

Since smartphones have pretty much replaced point-and-shoot cameras, we're now seeing an increasing number of devices that make phones more camera-like to operate. A new one, the Fjorden, stands out by being slim enough to fit in a pocket.

A beautiful shot of a Roadrunner taking a dust bath has taken the top prize in this year’s Audubon Photography Awards. In its 12th year, the contest continues to offer up an incredible annual selection of bird photographs.

As hypersonic missiles rapidly move toward becoming practical weapons, the problem of how to counter them is also on the agenda. The US Department of Defense developing a CubeSats-based system to track these missiles in all phases of their flight.

The US Air Force has released a new digital rendering of its B-21 Raider heavy strategic nuclear bomber, along with more information about the warplane that is being built by Northrop Grumman as part of the Air Force's Long-Range Strike Bomber program.

DARPA's new Fast Event-based Neuromorphic Camera and Electronics (FENCE) program will seek to make computer vision cameras more efficient by mimicking how the human brain processes information.

Beijing-based Mobvoi has launched a digital dictation machine called the AI Recorder that taps into artificial intelligence to automatically transcribe audio, making it a useful addition to the travel bag of journalists, students and business folk.

The processing brains in most of the big players in the Android smartphone space come courtesy of chip maker Qualcomm. Now the company has partnered with Asus to make a model of its own for the Snapdragon Insider community.

China's Reinkstone has launched a 10.1-inch color e-paper tablet that runs on Android 11, which offers the kind of reading and doodling experience of the excellent Remarkable 2, but with the added draw of color.

Through a novel algorithm that can plot a flight path with great efficiency, scientists at the University of Zurich are now claiming to have demonstrated an autonomous drone that can beat human pilots in a race.

Amazon is understandably keen to make the job of deliveries easier. The latest idea is a new patent for a system where delivery vans would carry items almost to their destination, then send out and direct ground drones to do the final drop-off.

Acecore, the Dutch company behind last year's heavy lifting Noa, has launched a new industrial drone called the Zoe Zetona that positions it camera payload up front, instead of hanging it below like other drone designs.

Samsung started scaling The Wall back in 2018 with a modular 146-inch display. A few larger models followed, and now the company is getting down to business for the 2021 model, a monstrous 1,000-inch version aimed at commercial applications.

Hi-fi brand Pro-Ject turns 30 this year, and to celebrate the company has added a new member to its affordable Debut family of turntables, which retains the company's minimalist DNA but comes with some key enhancements for improved performance.

Last month, JMGO launched a Full HD UST projector on Indiegogo, which included optics co-developed with imaging titan Leica and audio from loudspeaker veteran Dynaudio. Now the company is readying a 4K tri-color Laser TV for launch, the JMGO U2.

Building and hosting websites takes a person (what feels like) a trillion hours in a textbook and a massive brain for info. Good thing you've got iBrave Cloud Web Hosting: Lifetime Subscription to bypass all inconvenience on your way to a solid site.

Power outages are almost always unpredictable. The Generark Solar Generator: HomePower ONE + SolarPower ONE brings forth a reliable solution for an emergency power supply for your home, allowing for versatile power when you need it most.

If you're searching for a new pair of open-ear headphones, you've come to the right place. These innovative Allegro Directional Audio Open-Ear Headphones are 30% lighter than their open ear competitors and nearly 40% less expensive.

MX3D has finally realized its ambitious plan to install the world's first 3D-printed steel bridge over a canal in Amsterdam. The public bridge features integrated sensors to collect data on its structural integrity, crowd behavior, and more.

Orange peels certainly are compostable, but Milan-based startup Krill Design has come up with an interesting alternative use for them. The company is incorporating orange waste into its 3D-printed Ohmie lamp, which is currently on Kickstarter.

For some time now, we've been hearing about scaffolding-like implants that encourage bone tissue or cartilage to grow back into areas where it's missing. Now, scientists have developed a method for more quickly and easily 3D-printing such implants.

Though E Ink technology is perhaps best known for its use in ereaders, it can also be found in phones, magazine covers, signage, and more. And now Ricoh is adding what's billed as the world's thinnest and lightest digital whiteboard to the list.

Even before the pandemic struck in 2020, technology was blurring the boundary between home and work. Pressure to be contactable 24/7 led to calls for "right to disconnect" laws protecting employees – calls that have been increasingly heeded in the COVID era.

After raising over $2.5 million on Kickstarter last year for a personal holographic display called Portrait, the Looking Glass Factory has now announced the launch of the second generation of its 4K UHD and 8K models.

The Nintendo Switch is a nifty concept, but arguably underpowered and lacking in game variety. Valve is now having a crack at it with the Steam Deck, a handheld gaming console that can play your existing Steam library on the go or on a big screen.

Nintendo has the monopoly on hybrid home/portable gaming consoles, but soon you could take your Xbox Series S on the road too. The xScreen is a plug-in accessory currently on Kickstarter that turns Microsoft’s console into a kind of chunky laptop.

After much online chatter, Nintendo has finally announced a new member of its portable handheld gaming family. The Switch (OLED model) boasts a vibrant 7-inch screen, more built-in storage, and comes with a dock sporting a wired LAN port.

Though Chromebooks can carry low price tags, they can also lack the kind of performance grunt needed by mobile professionals. Asus has launched the CX9 to give "the cloud-first workforce the ability to maximize productivity from anywhere."

HP has announced its lightest consumer laptop, which comes in at under a kilo. The Pavilion Aero 13 features a 2.5K screen with a 16:10 aspect and thin bezels, rocks AMD Ryzen 5000 processing brains and promises over 10 hours of use per charge.

At the Mobile World Congress 2021, Lenovo has launched a laptop powerhouse for creators and prosumers called the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4, and a bunch of accessories under its new Go brand, including a wireless charging pad for laptops.

Frustrated by not being able to practice the saxophone when and where he wanted, Ramon Mañas developed the small and light Travel Sax, which could be played in silence. Now the Travel Sax 2 electronic saxophone has been launched.

France's Wild Customs has created a $10k special-edition guitar based on a 1934 Ford Coupe hot rod owned by legendary ZZ Top frontman Billy F Gibbons, and featuring the company's carousel pickup system rocking the bearded one's signature pickup set.

Best known for its boxy effects pedals for guitar and bass, Boss also makes amplifiers, wireless systems, rhythm machines, and a bunch of accessories. And now the company has made its own guitar, which comes with a built-in synth and Bluetooth.

For more than five years, a team has been developing and testing control software under Alphabet's X moonshot factory, aimed at making industrial robots smarter and easier to use. Now the project has branched out into a new company called Intrinsic.

Robotic hands do show a lot of promise for various applications, but their mechanical complexity still limits their possible uses. A new air-powered hand is much simpler, but still dextrous enough to be utilized to play a video game.

UC Berkeley engineers have created an insect robot that can scamper along quickly and turn on a dime – perhaps literally. The bot owes its fancy footwork to… well, its fancy feet, using varying voltages to alternate stickiness and make sharp turns.

If you want a wearable to track workouts, runs, sleep and plenty more, then there's no shortage of devices to pick from – and after a couple of weeks of testing we can tell you that the Coros PACE 2 has a few features that might make you choose it.

Google has promised big improvements for its Wear OS wearable platform later this year, but in the meantime Mobvoi has launched a new device that could be the best value smartwatch on the market right now: the TicWatch E3.

Google's Wear OS platform could certainly use some more actual smartwatches to run on, and Casio has obliged with the GSW-H1000 – the first G-Shock smartwatch from the brand to come with Wear OS on board.

The record for fastest internet speed has been shattered with a data transmission rate of 319 Terabits per second through optical fibers. The record was set over more than 3,000 km of fibers, and is compatible with existing infrastructure.

It may feel like 5G networks are only just becoming mainstream, but the next iteration, 6G, is already in the works. Samsung has now demonstrated its first prototype 6G system in an over-the-air test, using terahertz (THz) frequencies.

We've already had plenty of announcements from the Google I/O 2021 developer event happening this week, but Google has also been showing off a 3D video conferencing app that it's working on called Project Starline.

LG has updated its PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier mask by incorporating a microphone and speaker to make it easier to talk. The new device will appear first in Thailand in August with other parts of the world to follow.

A new type of wearable leverages the surprisingly large sweat output of the fingertips to generate electricity when the user is sedentary or even sleeping, providing a potentially round-the-clock source of power.

Wearing headphones for extended Zoom sessions can be an uncomfortable experience, but using a laptop's built-in speakers can be less than ideal. Sony has launched a wireless neckband speaker designed for all-day comfort while working from home.

Saab and Varjo Technologies are developing new low-cost, high-resolution mixed-reality tech for flight simulators to train fighter pilots. Called Bionic Display, it cuts the computing power required by taking advantage of the way the human eye works.

It's been a while since we saw a hardware update to the Vive line, but HTC has made up for it by launching two 5K-resolution virtual reality headsets at the same time: the PC-connected Vive Pro 2, and the standalone Vive Focus 3.

Although there are rigs that allow gamers to walk on the spot while their avatar walks in a VR environment, such setups tend to be large and complex. A new system, however, simulates walking simply by buzzing the seated user's feet.