Headphones, from Deutschland
Sennheiser, the German audio electronics company, wants to make it easy for buyers in India. “Free shipping across India,” their website proudly announces. The company, formed just after the end of World War II, and initially called Labor W, is involved in the design and production of a wide range of both consumer and high fidelity products. These include microphones, headphones, telephony accessories, and avionics headsets for consumer, professional, and business applications.
Sennheiser was in the news recently with the launch of its PMX 95, PCX 95 and PX 95 headphones in India. Check their website for more details.
It has quite a few firsts: the world’s first open headphones in 1968, which was the best selling headphones of all times; wireless microphones in 1982; the shotgun microphone; and has won awards for its RF wireless technology.
Fritz Sennheiser, who died at 98 in 2010, the founder of the company, interestingly enough grew up with an interest in radios and electronics. He built a crystal radio when he was 11 years old, after seeing an early radio! (Talking about which, kits to build crystal radios are still available in some places, online.)
Here’s Fin
Gesture-based control for your devices. A Bluetooth enabled device, which can control a number of other devices. “Now, everything is at your fingertips and it feels like having magical power,” say its promoters. You
can answer calls, control the AC, or even take photos with it. Or even share files.
Fin has been packaged as “a real life buddy for every individual to do their digital interactions as natural as possible”. This is a trendy gadget you can wear on the thumb and make your whole palm as a digital touch interface. It has been one of the Top 15 startups in the world at TechCrunch Hardware Battlefield 2014.
So far, only the prototypes have been developed. Its promoters are seeking crowdfunding support.
http://wearfin.com/
Patchnride… for your cycle
You would wonder why they took so long with a gadget like this. Faced with a bicycle flat tyre? Just use it, and get going in a minute’s time! It’s not the end of the world, if you have Patchnride. You don’t even have to take off the wheel when you get a flat tyre.
Remove its cap, insert it into the hole in your bike, remove the tool, and pump up the bike. You’re up and running. It works for almost anything with an inner tube. Pre-orders are already available online. Each kit comes with two patch pods and two leak detectors. It costs $25, but the shipping is a costly $20 more, for international buyers.
Says the website treehugger.com: “There’s nothing like a flat tire to bring a bike ride to a screeching halt (short of an accident), but this invention could have you back in the saddle in less than a minute after
a flat.”
Incidentally, the Patchnride is designed to work for holes up to 3mm in size in tubular, clincher, mountain bike, cruiser bike, tubeless, and jogging stroller tires, and tubes can be patched multiple times. The device measures about 5 inches long, and weighs less than 100 grams, making it easy to keep with you on a ride, and the only drawback apparent to me is that it uses single-use patch pods (each pod is only good for one patch).
Bring this idea to India in a hurry please!
https://www.patchnride.com/
Gadgets from Hyderabad
What better way to keep in touch with a gadget exhibition than via YouTube.com? The recent BYTE ME Hyderabad-based India Gadget Expo 2014 is getting quite some coverage in cyberspace.
Going beyond the officialdom’s perspective — who inaugurated and when — there have also been some insights into what exactly was on exhibition there.
It aims to be a platform where tech companies can come and launch their products. “Big companies have the money and the media covers them when they have a launch,” says Sanjeev Kumar. This year there were 35-40 participants being the first year, organisers said, but they hope to get participants from China, Thailand and other parts of the world. More international speakers and global brands are being promised in Year Two.
