Awesome Tech

It’s amazing just how realistic CGI water simulation has gotten. Check out this short demo from Carlos Parmentier using Houdini FX which shows off sea foam, bubbles, wind, mist, splashes and even a dead body floating there.

With three dynamic new metallic colors, Bang & Olufsen’s BeoPlay H6 headphones not only look great, they’re comfortable and offer clean, natural sound. And contrary to the images, you don’t need to be an edgy fashion model to wear them.

The Haven smart lock is anchored at the base of your door, so it’s immune to lock picking and can withstand more stress compared to deadbolt locks. Toggle it through its app or integrate it into your home automation setup.

Dubs Acoustic Filters are stylish ear plugs. They sit flush against the ear and come in four colorways. Dubs claims that the ear plugs have a 12dB Noise Reduction Rating and can reduce volume without muffling or distorting sound.

This simple, yet smart GoPro add-on borrows the design of brass knuckles to provide a stable handheld mount for your action cam. It’s small enough to toss in your pocket, and offers a tight grip no matter what angle you’re holding it at.

(NSFW: Language) GQ’s series Most Expensivest S**t sees rapper 2 Chainz check out luxury items, such as a $295 burger, a $30,000 pair of headphones and a $2 million rust bucket, and evaluates how many chainz they’re worth.

As large as an actual passport, the Passport a 4.5″ 1440×1440 touchscreen and a physical keyboard that doubles as a trackpad. It also has a 3,450mAh battery and access to the Amazon Appstore. More here.

Microsoft teamed up with Motherboard and deviantART to promote the Surface Pro 3 as a tool for artists. Artists each drew a 3-panel strip which shows the transformation of a character. They also launched a gallery for Surface art.

Some people believe that the original Apollo moon landing was faked. For any remaining doubters, NVIDIA used their Maxwell GPU tech to show how the lighting in the controversial photos were accurate to the real moon.

A pair of small magnets that are meant to cover the front-facing webcam on computers. You can easily slide the cover away when you want to use the webcam, and they’re thin enough that you can still close your laptop with them on.

Mercedes-Benz’ Future Truck 2025 is the world’s first autonomous truck, capable of driving up to 50mph on its own. Daimler believes that the truck is ready for commercial use; it’s just waiting for autonomous vehicles to be legalized.

The Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter sends content from any Miracast-enabled device to any HDMI-equipped display. Unlike Chromecast, it doesn’t need a local Wi-Fi connection and it’s not limited to specific apps. More here.

Vizio’s highly anticipated 4K displays are finally available, with an ultra-sharp picture, full-array local-dimming LED backlighting, 1080p upscaling, a fast six-core CPU for its Smart TV experience w/4K Netflix content, and great prices.

The Type 506 has a 5kWh battery good for about 62mi and a programmable rear hub motor, but outside it retains the Czech scooter maker’s beautiful 1950s Space Age aesthetic. It will be available soon starting at about $11,600.

Prep Pad is a weighing scale that, together with an iPad app, tells you the nutritional values of food that you put on it. You can create or get advice on nutritional goals, save combinations of food and more. Works with iPad 3 and up.

Sennheiser chose to promote its new Urbanite headphones using the tried and tested Old Spice route. Watch as a German dressed as a pair of headphones pampers a huge and hairy ear. Join the Urbanite giveaway here.

This crazy cheap tablet comes in 6″ or 7″ and has a 1280×800 display, a 1.5GHz quad-core CPU and the new Fire OS 4. The Kids Edition has a protective case and comes with a 2-year no questions asked replacement warranty.

Kogeto’s Joey is a panoramic video camera. Its 13mp image sensor captures 360º 3840 x 720 video at 30fps. Kogeto already has its video hosting service running, so you can immediately upload and share your videos online.

The Kindle Voyage is lighter and smaller than the Kindle Paperwhite. It has a 300ppi touchscreen, an adaptive backlight as well as forward and back page turning haptic sensors on each edge for one-handed use.

We’ve seen quadcopters that can also drive around on wheels, but the Earth Rider R/C vehicle can go over land, air and water. The downside? Engadget says it only lasts up to 5min. per 30min. charge. P.S.: It’s Cheaper in Japan.

The CM1 is an Android smartphone with optics on par with high-end point and shoots. It shoots 4k video, has a 1″ 20mp image sensor, an f/2.8 Leica lens, a mechanical shutter, and a manual focus ring. Drops in Europe first for ~$1,200.

The Equil Smartpen 2 builds on its predecessor, adding support for Android, Windows and OS X alongside iOS. It now has internal storage, so you can digitize notes and sketches even without a computer, then just import them later.

In a clear dig at the Nest, the makers of Zen thermostat boast that “it doesn’t think it’s smarter than you.” Instead, Zen focuses on simplicity and is discreet when unneeded. But it can also be integrated with smart home apps.