In January 1977, a peculiar box appeared on the shelves of American electronics retailers, marking a company’s attempt to carve out a share of the expanding video game business. RCA, the radio and television behemoth, introduced the Studio II, a home video gaming device that transforms your TV into a “entertainment center for family pleasure.” But within a year, it had vanished, replaced by flashier competitors and relegated to clearance bins.
Akko has established itself as a manufacturer of keyboards and related components, such as clickable switches and keycaps in a variety of colors. The MetaKey is the company’s most recent use of such expertise. It’s a physical keyboard that attaches to the bottom of your iPhone and allows you to text without the on-screen keyboard getting in the way. More space above your words. It’s similar to how earlier BlackBerry phones worked, with thumbs dancing over buttons rather than glass.
Prime Big Deal Days ends tonight, but there are still plenty of steals to be had, starting with the 11″ Apple iPad Pro M4 (128GB), which arrives with a body so slim and light that slipping it into a bag alongside a notebook feels like an afterthought. The device weighs just under a pound at 0.98 pounds, is only 0.21 inches thick, and combines that compact form with a tandem OLED panel that layers two screens for blacks deeper than midnight and colors that leap off the glass with pinpoint accuracy, while the 120Hz refresh rate transforms scrolling / swiping into something effortless and fluid. Product page.
Bambu Lab and Presq have teamed up to bring something new to the world of footwear: shoes you can print at home, customize to your heart’s content and wear with pride. This initiative is about giving the tools of creation to anyone with a 3D printer and a spark of imagination. Their first offering, the Fig.(0), is a slip-on clog, and the start of a monthly series of designs that will change how we think about what we put on our feet.
The PicoRing, designed by University of Tokyo researchers, is a ring that’s a full-fledged computer mouse when worn on your finger. Just put it on and your hand becomes the interface. Early testing shows it can do accurate scrolling and clicking with your thumb against your index finger and uses so little power that one charge lasts weeks.
Fred Rogers is known for his calmness in the face of adversity. Now with OpenAI’s Sora 2 bringing history’s lost corners to life, the same calm narration takes us across the Atlantic to 1620. Last Saturday a developer named Gorm the Old fired up the tool and imagined a scenario where Mr. Rogers stepped aboard the Mayflower, sweater and all, to narrate the Pilgrims’ journey.
