New software helps the visually impaired with their touchscreen

The past half-decade has seen a real touchscreen revolution, as far as mobile phones and tablet PCs are concerned. However, what good is this revolution to the visually impaired?

Fortunately, Adam Duran (a senior at New Mexico State University), Adrian Lew (a Standford mechanical engineering assistant professor), and Sohan Dharmaraja (a doctoral candidate) have created an astounding interface designed specifically for the visually impaired.

You can watch how it works after the jump, and you will see how the user’s fingers set up the keyboard, instead of a user having to find the right keys. You will note in the video how each letter is stated aloud, and how programs can be found audibly.

AshPoopie burns away an age-old problem

I’m sure all dog owners will agree that cleaning up after a dog is a very necessary, but disgusting, activity. I have a thirteen-year-old Labrador who defecates every time we go uphill. It is something that I have to watch out for and clean up afterwards.

This particular product, the AshPoopie, is designed to make scooping a thing of the past. It works with a heating element inside of it that incinerates dog feces into a pile of sterile, odorless ash. So much for cleaning up after one’s dog.

It works with the claw on at the end that encloses the (insert funny word for dog feces here) that operates at the touch of a button. The other button burns the (use same word in parenthesis above), and this fiery reaction is caused by an “AshPoopie cartridge”.

LG Doubleplay lives up to its name with two screens

This is the LG Doubleplay, and honestly, I couldn’t think of a better name. After all, what else do you call a smartphone that has two screens?

Originally, it was code-named the Flip II, but I guess they decided that name was too sequel-ish. I’ve never really seen a phone like this with a 320 x 480 HVGA main display, a secondary display, and a QWERTY keyboard that is split down the middle like that. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that both screens are touchscreens.

Not much else is known about this phone, and I suppose that it was just a matter of time before someone created a flip-phone with two screens. I would have thought that the designer of such a phone would have phased out a QWERTY keyboard entirely, and have gone with a touchscreen keyboard on the secondary screen.

Razer Naga Epic MMO Gaming Mouse

We have reported on Razer’s products before, and I got a chance to try out the Naga Epic MMO Gaming Mouse. I have seen mice that are wireless, mice that are ergonomic, and mice with many buttons, and the Razer Naga Epic seems to do them all.

I’ll go ahead and start with the buttons. There are 17 of them in all, which include the 12 on the side. These buttons allow you to “organize your key binds and character abilities for any game by enabling you to fully remap and assign macros”. You can also get downloadable in-game add-ons and in-game support for popular games like World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, and City of Heroes. By the way, you can also use the numbers on the side for simply typing in numbers.

As you can see here, the Naga Epic comes with a cradle, and this is so you can charge the battery inside for use as a wireless mouse. You can also just plug the Naga Epic in a USB port for wired use as well.

Arctic Force Snowball Blaster

For some of you living in the northern hemisphere, your favorite season is about to arrive soon – winter! And that would mean plenty of snow if you so happen to live in a place that has plenty of those, surely snowball fights are your specialty. You might have developed quite a mean throwing arm after years of practice, but there is nothing quite like having a tool to help you out in your attempt to outshoot your opponents, right? This is where the£24.99 Arctic Force Snowball Blaster comes in handy – it doesn’t hurt to get your preparations done early, right?

The Arctic Force Snowball Blaster works as advertised – thankfully. It is not only tough, but lightweight as well, being able to launch up to three snowballs simultaneously. Something tells me your ammunition line will have to work overtime to feed this puppy, but you can buy them that time if you’re an accurate shot – considering it can launch snowballs up to 80 feet away.

8-Bit LED Jack O’Lantern

Halloween’s coming your way, and if you so happen to celebrate this particular holiday, then surely you would want to dress up your home with all sorts of Halloween decorations, no? Forget about carving out the traditional pumpkin – times have changed, and you too, need to move on with the times. Fancy getting an updated Jack O’ Lantern that can be reused each year? Here’s the $17.99 8-Bit LED Jack O’Lantern.

Yes sir, you need no knife to get it up and running, and while it might require a swipe, it won’t be that of the carving knife but rather, a credit card. The 8-Bit LED Jack O’Lantern will let you save up those pumpkins for something else, and bear in mind you will never be able to make any pie out of this, but at least it makes the entire place feels a whole lot more festive than ever before!

Decorative lights often have that effect on people, and I would say that the same applies to the 8-Bit LED Jack O’Lantern.

Ectaco jetBook Color to be seen at CES

Like I mentioned yesterday, those who are aiming for an e-book reader sometime down the road tend to have limited choices simply because a tablet is far more popular, and tablets tend to be able to double up as e-book readers (although the display might not be too suitable for reading for hours on end), but an e-book reader is more or less good for only one thing – that is, to enable you to read digital books on the go with a display that is easy on your eyes.

There are some major players around like the Nook Color from Barnes & Noble and Amazon Kindle, but there are others in the market as well. Among them would be Ectaco, and the company will be presenting the long awaited jetBook Color at CES (in Hong Kong, according to the press release) as well as the International Book Fair in Frankfurt from October 12th onwards. To know more about the jetBook Color, read on after the jump.

AT&T partners with Amber Alert GPS

Gone are the days when you can trust your little one to have some fun outdoors without worrying yourself silly over whether there is some weirdo out there who is stalking your kid. This has led to a growth in the market of child security, where devices such as kid-friendly cell phones as well as emergency buzzers have been released, and this time around we have mobile carrier AT&T work with Amber Alert GPS to deliver the V3 child tracking device.

This particular device is said to be able to keep parents notified of the current location of their children so that they need not worry themselves to a head full of white hair, but rather, let nature take its course. Just how flexible is the V3? Well, for starters, parents are able to create “Zones” around their home, neighborhood, school, soccer field – basically a perimeter along a selected area, and be on the receiving end of an email or text alert whenever their child enters or exits a Zone.

New Wii Coming To Europe November 4th

Sick of being able to play Mario Kart Double Dash or Super Mario Sunshine on your current Wii? Eager to spend yet more money on a console that’s now two generations out of date? Nintendo’s redesigned part time console / full time paper weight is hitting European shores November 4th – and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Ferrari F1 Wheel Integral T500 from Thrustmaster

Not too long ago Thrustmaster unveiled an add-on wheel that was designed to look like the wheel in a Ferrari F1 car. Thrustmaster has now come back, taken that wheel, placed it on a force feedback base, and added a sweet pedal set to go with it and called the set the Ferrari F1 Wheel Integral T500.