new gadgets: August 2012

Wednesday, 22 August 2012

dog eat dong

Mirrors for James Webb telescope finished

Updated 23 hours, 29 minutes ago

BOULDER, Colo. — One of the most challenging parts of NASA’s huge new space telescope, the building of its ultrasophisticated mirror system, is now finished, and the mirrors are ready for delivery

10 apps, tech gadgets for summer fun

Logitech introduces washable keyboard

Logitech

I keep cleaning and cleaning my keyboard, but it still looks grungy; if only I could throw that sucka in the washing machine. Of course I can't, but Logitech is coming out with one that can be hand-washed — with real water.

The Logitech Washable Keyboard K310 ($39.99) is a full-size keyboard with drainage holes. There's a dunk maximum of 11 inches, so we're thinking you'd likely scrub it down in the kitchen sink.

The keys "can last up to five million keystrokes, meaning this keyboard can take a washing, as well as a pounding," the company says.

The keyboard — which is configured for Windows only — should be coming to stores in the U.S. this month and in Europe in October. It is not wireless.

There are definitely some caveats when it comes to washing this keyboard, caveats that might steer the laziest folks away from thinking all their dirty-keyboard problems are solved. Specifically, "Do not wash in dishwasher." It bears repeating, along with other helpful guidance:

Hand wash only. Use mild soap and a soft cloth in warm water less than 30cm (11 inches) deep and less than 50°C (120°F). Do not wash in dishwasher. Do not use abrasives, alcohol, solvents or harsh detergents.

‘Invisibility cloak’ science to bring broadband Internet to everyone, everywhere

Kymeta

A mockup of Kymeta's Portable Satellite Hotspot is shown here. The device will make broadband satellite Internet connections available to anyone anywhere.

A lightweight, compact antenna made with an exotic “metamaterial” will soon bring broadband satellite Internet connections to anyone, anywhere with a portable laptop-sized hotspot.

The hotspot is the first product to be offered by Kymeta, a startup launched Tuesday by Intellectual Ventures, a Bellevue, Wash.,- based patent and research company led by former Microsoft chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold.

The metamaterial at the heart of the company’s antenna manipulates electromagnetic radiation to point and steer a radio beam so that it stays locked onto a satellite.

The same type of exotic material is behind efforts to create a Harry Potteresque invisibility cloak by manipulating light waves. The antenna technology works with waves further down the electromagnetic spectrum, Kymeta CEO Vern Fotheringham explained to me Tuesday.

The hotspot will deliver speeds of 10 to 20 megabytes per second, at a data plan price point equivalent to today’s 3G and 4G wireless networks.

“It is a totally different marketplace that hasn’t been able to be exploited,” Fotheringham said.

The marketplace is now available thanks to the metamaterial technology in combination with an expected tenfold increase in satellite broadband capacity by 2015, compared with 2010.

The company expects to have a pre-production prototype in 18 months and the first devices on stores shelves by late 2014 or early 2015.

The device “can literally be set up by anybody just by aiming the satellite hotspot towards the orbital arc [of the satellite],” Fotheringham said. “And because the technology creates a beam that automatically aligns with the satellite, there is no sophisticated pointing required. Anyone can set one of these things up in a matter of minutes.”

The technology, he added, will compete against traditional satellite Internet service providers such as Dish and HughesNet as well as mobile satellite provider Inmarsat.

The technologies behind Dish and HughesNet use fixed parabolic dish antennas, take an average about 30 minutes to set up and are not easily transported, Fotheringham said.

Following the rollout of the portable hotspots, the company aims to sell its technology for use on airplanes, trains, boats and in other mobile environments.

John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technologyseries, watch the featured video below.