Awesome Tech

This battery-powered lantern provides a bright, directional light source which can be stood up, flipped over, or hung from above. In addition to its quick-charger microUSB port, it can be juiced up via its three solar panels. Offers two brightness modes, plus an SOS flashing mode.

I Like To Make Stuff built his own scoreboard using an Arduino 101, LEDs, MDF and a ton of 3D-printed bulbs. For such a simple device, it took an extraordinary amount of work to make. No wonder these things are expensive. We’ll stick to apps and monitors.

Robotics company Festo developed this incredible appendage that mimics the movements and suction abilities of an octopus tentacle. It can grab and hold onto objects that might challenge other robots. It attaches to the end of their bendy Bionic Motion Robot.

Kyle McCabe shows off a neat prototype he put together a few years back – a car brake light that gets wider and brighter as more brake force is applied. A simple, yet smart idea we’d love to see go into production vehicles.

Samsung makes its Edge display standard with the Galaxy S8 and S8+. You get either a 5.8″ or 6.2″ 2960×1440 AMOLED display, 12MP rear camera, 2.35GHz 8-core CPU, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, microSD slot, water- and dust-resistance, and eye- and face-recognition.

Handcrafted arcade machines with a minimalist retro cabinet. The Replay has a 17″ 4:3 LCD display with a scanline generator to recreate the look of CRT displays. It also has stereo speakers, 1- or 2-player setups, and customizable buttons, paint scheme, and an LED-backlit marquee.

A limited edition of MSI’s small form-factor gaming PC, decked out in snowy white, packing an Intel Kaby Lake Core i7-7700 3.6 GHz CPU, and GeForce GTX 1070 graphics, making it powerful enough to run VR games. Front USB 3.1 and HDMI ports make VR setup a breeze.

A winner of Android Japan’s Experiments: Object contest. Kosho Tsuboi’s Magic Calendar is a large digital calendar. Tsuboi’s prototype uses a low reflection display, but he hopes that in the future there will be an E-ink display that looks and feels like paper.

“I’m gonna need a moment here.” Watch Lazy Game Reviews geek out while opening and setting up an IBM AT – 8Mhz CPU! 512KB RAM! – and the legendary Model M keyboard. You can skip to 23:15 to see the setup come alive, but you’re going to miss out on the fun.

At first glance, this gadget looks like just another USB charger for your car’s cigarette lighter outlet. But this smartly-designed device also packs a spring-loaded glass breaker and a seat belt cutter, which can save your life if you’re ever in a car crash.

PC parts maker Corsair’s first attempt at a complete computer is a surprisingly competitive package. The One is a compact (mini-ITX) build with a restrained design, separate radiators for the GPU and CPU, a huge exhaust at the top, and a competitive price, given its power.

Shnatko shows off one of the coolest coffee tables we’ve ever seen. It’s got a matrix of 512 RGB LEDs he’s programmed to display a variety of animations, and proximity sensors which can be used to detect movement and objects, and change the display accordingly.

Lomography’s latest camera has a wide-angle 38mm (21mm equiv) f/4.5 glass lens. It’s designed to offer the sharpest pics you can get with an instant, and can focus down to about a foot. It does multiple exposures, and comes with a remote shutter release and color gels.

It might look ridiculous, but this mask does serve a useful purpose. The Hushme uses masks your voice during phone calls, letting you make private calls without prying ears listening in. It can also cover up sounds with everything from Darth Vader to a squirrel.

Rocket scientist Mark Rober and his pal spent about 3 years perfecting their invention. This motorized dartboard is designed to track a dart being thrown at it, and ensures a bulls-eye assuming you’re somewhere within its board. It also can make you miss every time.

Engineers from the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology developed a robotic marimba player who “listens” to live music then provides improvised accompaniment via artificial intelligence algorithms. Listen to more smooth robojams here and here.

A bargain-priced, compact 3D printer made primarily from sturdy metal components. It not only can print PLA, PVA, ABS and Nylon, but offers modules for carving and laser engraving. Our main concern is the lack of an enclosure for containing noise, odors, and debris.

A USB charging cable with a combo plug that supposedly works with both Apple’s Lightning port and microUSB ports. The cases of Magbine’s connectors are also magnetized for easy storage, while the cable itself has a braided sleeve for durability.

Researchers at EPFL looked to the soft wings of insects to create a drone that could solve one of their biggest problems. Its frame is made of 0.2mm fiberglass, which makes it soft and flexible. The rotors attach to the electronics with magnetic joints for added resilience.

Designed with Yves Behar’s Fuseproject, The Frame is an upcoming 4K TV that really looks like a picture frame. When not in use, it enters “Art Mode”, cycling through 100 4K resolution artworks. It also adjusts to ambient light and has a variety of magnetic snap-on bezels.

A user-friendly Internet solution for large households. Plume consists of multiple small routers that plug into a socket in each room. These tiny routers learn and adapt to your usage, and let you manage connected devices through a dead simple app.

Love to go out to dinner or drinks with friends? Split the check with ease with the Square Cash app. It lets you request or send cash instantly, and spend it with a virtual credit card or Apple Pay.

Joto is a modern take on an X/Y plotter that displays pictures, screenshots, notes and more by drawing them on a whiteboard marker, then erasing them when it’s time for a new image. With support from developers, it can integrate with apps like Twitter, Slack and Spotify.