Gadgets

Over at the Atlantic, ex-Wired.com science nerd Alexis Madrigal brings us a look at the gadgets which inspired the iPad, the touch-screen and that disappearing computer, the iPad. The selection is curated by Microsoft Research scientist Bill Buxton, and contains such gems as the Dieter Rams-designed T3 radio seen above, next to the eerily similar iPod.

While the iPod is clearly aesthetically inspired by Rams’ transistor radio, but other devices have been more subtly mined for their ideas.

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SAN FRANCISCO — The next Android operating system for smartphones will include some features that were previously exclusive to Android tablets, Google announced Tuesday.

Dubbed “Ice Cream Sandwich,” the platform will debut some time in the fourth quarter of 2011, Google officials said during the company’s I/O developer conference.

“We want one OS that runs everywhere,” Android engineer Mike Claren said at the conference.

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If you have ever been a kid (and as you are alive and reading this, I’m assuming you have) then you probably risked your life more than once when you were small. You probably stood or sat on something with wheels and pushed yourself down a hill, only to wobble or panic or scream when a gentle roll turned into a careening charge.

And you probably walked right back up the hill and did it again.

The Gravity Bike will give you the same experience as an adult, with one big addition: because you are no longer indestructible, the Gravity Bike has brakes.

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MENLO PARK, California — Scientists at SRI International have figured out how to make a plastic film that can stick to walls when you apply a small electric current — then peel off effortlessly when you turn the current off.

Why? They’re not entirely sure yet, but it’s pretty cool technology.

A recent SRI project aims to use the film to stick extension ladders to walls, so they don’t fall over when you’re climbing up them.

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A clock radio with separate speakers and display is so lame. It’s like taking bread, peanut butter and jelly and deciding to make two different-flavored sandwiches instead of one delicious PB&J. Thankfully, one French company has realized that the great tastes of grille and LED taste great together.

Lexon’s Titan clock radio, designed by Jeremy and Adrian Wright of Design Wright, puts the LED lamps behind the speaker grille, blinking out the time with the aesthetics of a dot-matrix display.

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First came Motorola’s Droid. HTC’s Droid Eris followed shortly thereafter. Finally, Samsung will add one of its devices to Verizon’s popular “Droid” brand with the Droid Charge, Samsung’s latest Android OS-powered smartphone.

In a release issued on Wednesday, Verizon and Samsung announced that the Droid Charge will be available in the U.S. on April 28 in Verizon retail stores.

The price? A hefty 300 bucks, and that’s after being subsidized with a two-year contract.

From what we can see on the details released thus far, the Charge’s hardware makes the phone no slouch. It’s got a huge 4.3-inch super AMOLED screen, 1-GHz processor and both back and front facing cameras (8 megapixels and 1.3 megapixels, respectively). It’s not running the most recent version of Android, though — the phone comes with 2.2 (Froyo) instead of 2.3 (Gingerbread).

It’s the second 4G LTE-enabled smartphone release for Verizon in 2011, with the HTC Thunderbolt being Verizon’s flagship 4G device. Until the Charge’s release, Verizon lags behind in the number of 4G device choices that its competitors AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile are offering.

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In a lawsuit filed Friday, Apple accused Samsung of copying the iPad and the iPhone, and the Korean giant is threatening to retaliate.

Apple’s lawsuit named some Samsung phones and the Samsung Galaxy Tab, claiming that their similarities with Apple products were beyond the realm of coincidence. The Cupertino, California corporation has accused Samsung of committing patent and trademark infringements.

“Samsung will respond actively to this legal action taken against us through appropriate legal measures to protect our intellectual property,” the South Korean company said in a statement.

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Often, we see CGI rendering of concepts that look just like real products. Urbanears’ Bagis headphones are the opposite: a real product that looks like a computer mockup.

The optical illusion is no doubt helped by the Bagis’ single-color construction. Made from rubber, every part is the same shade of whatever garish color you choose. Some may say they look cheap, but I like the look, and if you live in Eastern Europe you could set off your sense of Ostalgie by buying a pair in drab gray or olive green.

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For serious runners who want to track their progress, a GPS sports watch can be indispensible.

Garmin has outed a number of wrist-mounted trainers over the years, but the new Forerunner 610 is its first touchscreen model. It’s also a bit more attractive than previous members of the Forerunner line.

The 610 can keep track of pace, distance and, with an optional heart monitor, heart rate. It will deliver vibration alerts for when audible ones can’t be heard. Its slim black form also houses “Training Effect” and “Virtual Racer” features, for tracking workout intensity and beating your own personal bests.

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My iPad screen is a filthy, greasy mess. No matter how often I clean it with a microfiber cloth, within a few touches I have soiled it again.

It’s not that I have particularly oily fingers. It’s just that the iPad’s screen seems to be oleophilic, slurping the grease from my digital pores and slathering them over the screen like a redhead slaps on the sun lotion.

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