Month: November 2009
Farming app iFarm becomes most downloaded freebie in app store
Top of the app store this week is iFarm, bringing humble pastoral pursuit to the err "field" of the iPhone. With this free iPhone app you can cultivate potatoes, rice and strawberries in profitable little patches. The only work required is tapping your finger at the right time and some strategic thinking about profits and…
Rock band Chester French make iPhone app – what has happened to Rock and Roll?
A rock band has just made their own iPhone app. Pop-rock band Chester French programmed and built it themselves using simple development platform Force.com. It's probably telling that instead of leading peace marches or having drug-fuelled orgies, rock bands in 2009 are making iPhone apps. Though maybe they're doing the other stuff on the side.…
How much water do you use in the shower? showertime gadget can tell you
If you're an eco-conscious person you may measure your carbon footprint, or regulate how much produce from New Zealand you buy. Eco-conscious or not you probably have some idea how much gas you use. Well, a new gadget lets you go a bit further and work out how much water you use, but only in…
If Borders closes – what will geeks do in cities?
A story on the BBC suggests that book store Borders is teetering on the edge of the closure due to financial woes. This is bad. This is practically a Severe Geek Alert - if Borders closes its 45 UK stores where will geeks go when they're wandering around the cold streets of British cities? Hardly…
Brain chips from Intel: will let you operate the computer by just thinking about it
Ah, good, somebody is working on making brain chips so we can control computers by thinking about them. And that somebody is not a mad robo-obsessed scientist, but Intel, the commercial chip giant, making it seem more likely that chips will be arriving in a brain near you in the not-too-distant future. According to ComputerWorld,…
Crafty Christmas gifts: 10 kooky gadget accessories
Inspired by the Muff-phones - knitted covers for headphones, we delved into the treasure-chest of cute that is etsy and came with ten crafty gadget-accessorising gifts that would be great for Christmas. Or just for having, lying around, adding some DIY sweetness to the gleaming metal and plastic of your gadget collection. Click on the…
IDAPT's charger with tips lets you charge multiple gadgets
A new device promises an end to the multiple gadget chargers and snarls of wires that the gadget fan has to put up with. Instead of dumping six differently shaped chargers in one corner of your bedroom and trying each one in any given gadget - as you might do, iDapt's multi-tipped plate can sit…
Shiny Competition: Win the Electronic Pictionary Man game
We have one of these wacky 21st century games of Pictionary to give away. Electronic Pictionary Man costs £30 from Mattel, but they've given us one to donate to a Shiny reader. To enter, send an email to [email protected] with "Pictionary Man Competition" in the subject line and tell me the hardest (imaginary or real)…
The future of texting? Swype's Genius Texting technology
A feature on Samsung's new Omnia II phone that lets you use your finger like a "magic wand" could change how we text for ever. Called Genius Texting and designed for touchscreens, the technology means you don't have to lift your finger off the screen to text. Described as "like waving a magic wand" you…
The Loudest Telephone ever, at 149dB, it's louder than jet take-off
A new phone from Geemarc claims to be the loudest in the world. A piercing highly audible ring isn't always a quality you look for in a telephone but this landline fills a gap in the market. Intended for the hard of hearing, the AmpliPOWER50 phone rings at to 81dB, 3 times the volume of…
