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- QuitePC Mono PC Chassis combines desktop and all-in-one PCs
- Amazon insists on wearables, more gadgets incoming
- Chris Fenton’s 3D Printed Turbo Entabulator Is a Mechanical Marvel
- Xiaomi’s Latest Gadget Is a $32 Android-Compatible Blood Pressure Monitor
- Bittorrent’s Bleep is the Secure Chat App You’re Looking For
| QuitePC Mono PC Chassis combines desktop and all-in-one PCs Posted: 26 Sep 2014 07:00 AM PDT  While all-in-one PCs are beautiful and convenient, the power of a regular computer is just undeniable. Users don’t have to balance these issues anymore, though. Comfortable and beautiful looking all-in-one PCs now can run some real horsepower with custom computer parts chosen by users thanks to QuietPC, a computer chassis barely thicker than an iMac. QuietPC Mono was designed to let users choose the parts that best fit their needs just like in a regular computer, but preserving the sleek, slim look of all-in-one PCs, all without the risk of overheating. The chasis comes in different sizes, at 21, 23 and 27 inches depending on what users require. They cost $407.37, $339.24 and $298.37 USD respectively. Via Geeky Gadgets Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories,Touch+ Makes a Multitouch PC Controller Out of Any Surface and Tango PC, a portable desktop PC (wait, what?!).         |
| Amazon insists on wearables, more gadgets incoming Posted: 26 Sep 2014 05:00 AM PDT  We’ve seen Amazon release their first few gadgets as of late, and it seems that was just the beginning: they claim we ought to expect way more. Are they here to stay? Amazon plans to increase their number of employees by 27% at Lab126, Amazon’s hardware division out in Silicon Valley. For reference, these are the same guys behind the Kindle and Fire tablets & phones. The state of California would even collaborate via tax breaks saving the company $1.2 million in tax breaks, which would all go to creating more jobs. The gadgets planned include a Wi-Fi device that would allow households to order stuff needed around the house with just one button. The rest would be wearables. Amazon seems bent on taking Google and Apple head on despite the lackluster performance of the Fire phone in the market so far. Via Mashable Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories, Amazon slashes the price of the Fire Phone: now $0.99 USD, Amazon Gets Serious About Gaming, Buys Twitch for $1B    |
| Chris Fenton’s 3D Printed Turbo Entabulator Is a Mechanical Marvel Posted: 25 Sep 2014 01:13 PM PDT  As demonstrated by the Greeks in their Antikythera mechanism, computers are not all about 1s and 0s. Chris Fenton’s 3D printed mechanical computer, for example, requires a bit of cranking in order to perform tabulations. Chris Fenton is a designer and electrical engineer that spends most of his work day around very fast computers. As you can see on his website, he’s quite a fan of 3D printed contraptions, and given the mechanical nature of these gadgets, it’s no wonder that after a day’s work, Fenton prefers to spend his spare time on things that move slower. The Turbo Entabulator, as Fenton called his implementation of his mechanical FIBIAC machine, is inspired from an 1895 copy of The Mechanism of Weaving. It should be noted that while his FIBIAC machine was an electromechanical computer that uses punch card to calculate the Fibonacci sequence, the Turbo Entabulator is entirely mechanical and for the most part, 3D printed. The 3D printed computer includes nuts, bolts, springs, rubber bands and a few small bearings, along with punch cards, which are also 3D printed. It has a steampunk air to it, if only the color palette matched the theme. Nowadays, there are plenty of 3D printers that print in color, but considering how many of Fenton’s projects are brought to life using this method, he probably doesn’t want to invest more in an expensive 3D printer, since the functionality would be the same, and that’s what really matters for him. “Run the machine under water if you want, it won’t care. It’s all ratchets, gears, and pulleys. The machine is entirely driven by a central crank-shaft with a handle attached to it. Want to overclock this monster? Crank faster. There is something about entirely mechanical systems I find appealing. The inner workings aren’t hidden in a nanometer-sized sliver of silicon, operating on pico-second timelines,” explained Fenton.
Assuming that Fenton got this right the first time would be a mistake. He pointed out that building the Turbo Entabulator was very much a trial-and-error process, and that he went through around 20 iterations of the machine before being satisfied with how it looked and worked. I also liked the fact that Fenton named his 3D printed computer after the turbo-encabulator, a fictional machine that became an in-joke for engineers. The designer was also kind enough to offer the blueprints necessary for 3D printing the parts at home, should anyone want to reconstruct his project. Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the 3D4C 3D printer that combines four filaments for a wide range of colors, and Disney Research’s 3D printed hair.    |
| Xiaomi’s Latest Gadget Is a $32 Android-Compatible Blood Pressure Monitor Posted: 25 Sep 2014 12:12 PM PDT  Who said that Xiaomi won’t go beyond smartphones, tablets, headphones and external power banks? Now that it has overtaken Samsung as China’s top smartphone vendor, Xiaomi wants to have a go at making medical gadgets such as this smart blood pressure monitor. Xiaomi is turning quite quickly into one of my favorite companies, and this is completely justified. The Chinese company makes some of the best flagship-killers on the market, and is not afraid of tipping its toes in foreign waters. I mean, who would’ve expected a smartphone manufacturer to take a shot at making a blood pressure monitor? Since it’s often called the ‘Apple of China,’ Xiaomi might as well follow the same path as its American competitor and get involved in the development of medical gadgets. Sure, the Chinese company received some help when developing the Android-compatible blood pressure monitor, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its own merit. iHealth Labs, the American company that helped Xiaomi develop this medical gadget, is in fact a spin-off of a Chinese company, which explains why the smartphone manufacturer found a partner in it so easily. Xiaomi invested not less than US$25 million in this company, and proceeded to making an Android-compatible blood pressure monitor to fight against the iOS-compatible counterparts. At 199 yuan, the equivalent of roughly $32, iHealth’s b.p. monitor is an indisputable winner, compared to the iOS version which costs $100 more, and ironically enough, is made by the same company. The blood pressure monitor is said to work best with Xiaomi smartphones (ha! who would’ve thought?), but it will be otherwise compatible with any Android phone (and tablet, I assume) with USB on-the-go support. If anything, it’s great to see that Apple won’t get to use the iHealth name, and considering Xiaomi’s recent plans of expansion, you shouldn’t be surprised when these b.p. monitors make their way to a store near you. Yes, that includes the US. All in all, it’s great to see Xiaomi getting involved in the health industry, and I hope that this smart blood pressure monitor is not the only medical gadget it will develop. As I’m sure that many are aware, this company knows exactly how to hit the sweet spot between high quality and affordability. Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about how Xiaomi overtook Samsung as China’s top smartphone vendor, and the Xiaomi Mi 4 and Mi Band wearable.    |
| Bittorrent’s Bleep is the Secure Chat App You’re Looking For Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:17 AM PDT  Bittorrent just launched a new and alluring chat client, “Bleep,” and it just might be what the doctor ordered for those fleeing Facebook. When Facebook bought Whatsapp, it had 450 million monthly active users. It just recently passwed the 600 million MAU mark, and Mark Zuckerberg says it might hit the 1 billion mark faster than Facebook did. Despite this rapid growth, many people are not excited about Facebook managed chat services, especially after the social giant started forcing users to download a separate chat app with a sketchy user agreement. As a result, many have started looking for secure alternatives to chat options from giants like Facebook and Google. That’s where Bittorrent’s Bleep comes in. Bleep is a peer-to-peer chat client for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Since it’s peer-to-peer, there is no server broadcasting your messages. All chats are a direct connection between each participant, and the connection is also end to end encrypted, meaning the sender and receiver and the only eyes involved in teh conversation. All chat logs are also locally stored, so there is no cloud to even hack. Clearing your chat history eliminates all traces of the conversation. It may sound like that’s all a little unecessary unless you’re taking part in some shady conversations, but with the recent privacy backlash, many people just want to know that their conversations aren’t being eavesdropped. It’s not only privacy against the likes of the NSA, but Bleep doesn’t collect any metadata, meaning the contents of your conversation aren’t analyzed for any topics for marketers. The biggest drawback to something like Bleep is that it’s yet another account that needs to be opened, and you can only chat with other registered users that have added you to their address book. That might not seem like a big deal, but part of the appeal of the likes of Whatsapp and Facebook chat is the large user base. Many people are unwilling to go through the inconvenience of setting up a new account just for privacy’s sake. The app itself (although still in an open alpha) is fairly innovative. Once an account is created, you can activate additional devices under your account simply by scanning a QR code in the settings menu, making it extremely difficult for a third party to gain access to your account. C ontacts can also add each other through the same QR code scanning method, meaning you don’t have to give out your actual contact infromation to anyone, adding a layer of anonymity. It would be even slicker if this step could also be completed through NFC tapping, but the service is still new, so that very well may happen down the road. At the end of the day, Bleep might not be for everyone, but for anyone who places a high value on privacy (and has friends who place a similar value on privacy), Bleep can provide the secure Facebook alternative you’ve been looking for. Source: PCWorld Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter Read more on Walyou, 5Ghz LTE Means More Data for More People, Apple Gives FaceTime a Boost in iPhone 6    |
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