Hrkn to .. Gadgets & Gizmos

Gadgets & Gizmos: Robot runners, table tennis players & wild boar chasers

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:09:00 -0000

Steve Caplin majors on robots. A robot won a half marathon against human runners, another beat elite players at table tennis while one in Poland chased away wild boars in a town. Heartwarmingly, a controlled robot in Ukraine rescued a 77-year-old woman escaping Russian shelling. A 23-year-old Polish influencer hoping to raise £100,000 for a cancer charity ended up with over £50 million. NASA will let you spell out your name using features on Earth. Mark Zuckerberg is going to beam solar power from space, but to power AI rather than homes. And Steve admires the world's narrowest car and a shopping bag that can increase in size and grow wheels.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Data roaming, robot seeing-eye dogs & AI singers

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:06:00 -0000

Steve Caplin warns holidaymakers to check their data allowance abroad, having saved a small fortune by using the Roamless app in Morocco. He loves some of the public's names for authonomous cleaning robots. American scientists are experimenting with robot seeing-eye dogs. Skoda, who made bikes before cars, have come up with a bell that works even if pedestrians are wearing noise-cancelling headphones. The singer Eddie Dalton, topping UK music charts, turns out to be AI-generated. There's a crowdfunded gadget that lets you use your vintage lenses digitally, while Steve admires a cheap multi-function pen. And he is impressed that Jeff Bezos's company Blue Origin has found a way to make oxygen from moon dust.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Hydrogen-powered trucks, perfect hair-dyeing & smelly VR

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:49:00 -0000

Steve Caplin is impressed by hydrogen fuel cells for trucks, but disappointed there are so few hydrogen stations to fuel them. There's a device for perfectly matching colour for hair dyeing. VR headsets will soon have added aromas to heighten realism. There's a robot that can keep functioning even if it loses all its legs. Cassette-manufacturer Maxell have a new portable cassette players for those who are into retro gadgets. A clever device being crowdfunded lets you pair your devices with TVs while away, as well as a smart night light Steve strongly recommends. But beware of economising on bike or scooter batteries as eBike fires are up 38% in just one year.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: ChatGPT as literary critic, an amazing video drone & controlling games with your brain

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 14:40:00 -0000

Steve Caplin is surprised to find that Amazon can amend or even delete Kindle books you supposedly own. He is less surprised at how ChapGPT assesses good literature. He is very impressed with a drone that captures everything in 8K without you having to pay much attention to what's in view. There's a gizmo that turns an ordinary watch into a slightly smarter watch. The new iPhone OS can zoom in on audio as well as video. Yamaha have a 3-wheel motor scooter, but Sony have given up on their much-heralded e-car. There's a crowd-funded digital camera designed to look like the old disposable Kodaks, a folding kayak and a spork with lots of attachments. And, in Shenzen, they now have a games arcade where you can control everything with your mind.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Electric submarines, self-balancing motorbikes & robotic wasps

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 15:32:00 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses some of the features of Apple's updated operating sstem, including having the ability to talk to chatbots while driving although, worryingly, there will also be a curated "sleep" playlist. He craves a gorgeous red electric submarine. There's a cargo ebike with some interesting features. Be careful about telling the Gemini chatbot that it's wrong; apparently this causes it "emotional distress". A YouTuber has powered an electric car with thrown-away vape batteries. There's a crowd-funded robotic wasp which, suspects Steve, may not be all it is claimed. He finds himself able to resist a beer-filled transparent jacket, despite the two methods of extracting beer from it. And he discusses the world's first quantum battery.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI renting humans, lab-grown computer gamers & plastic bottles treating Parkinson's

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 14:48:00 -0000

Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose that AI agents can now rent human beings to carry out tasks they can't manage themselves. Brain cells in a petri dish have been taught to play the 90s shooter game Doom. BYD's Dena Z9GT can charge from 10% to 70% in just 5 minutes; unfortunately the UK doesn't have any of the required chargers. Tesco is experimenting with replacing bar codes with QR codes; Steve isn't convinced it will work. Pager sales have leapt in Russia after the internet was turned off. There's a collapsible cool box, a laundry chair with arms and a computer mouse that splits into half to become a game controller for your phone. And scientists in Edinburgh have genetically engineered bacteria to break down plastic bottles into a medicine for Parkinson's Disease.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: 50 years of Apple, remote prostate removal and hummus on the Moon

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 16:12:00 -0000

Steve Caplin celebrates 50 years of Apple, a company which he claims has changed our lives in many ways. A man in Gibraltar has had his prostate removed by a surgeon in London using remote control. Some of the AI bots on Moltbook – thinking of founding a religion – are not happy it has been bought by Mega. The Society of Authors wants books to say if they have been written by humans or AI. There's a new mop that could be handy for murderers. Steve salivates over a solar-powered EV which probably wouldn't do too well in the British climate. He feels scientists who are trying to find a way to keep batteries cool might not have thought through their latest idea which brings water and electronics together. And scientists in Texas may have found a way to grow chickpeas – and thus make hummus – on the moon.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI opts for nuclear war, Meta Ray-Ban owners being spied on & the Tesla Cybercab

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 18:25:00 -0000

Steve Caplin says Apple have come out with a slew of new devices, the only interesting one being a new MacBook at a surprisingly low price. When three AIs simulated war games, they opted for nuclear war 95% of the time. Wearers of Meta's Ray-Ban AI glasses might be disturbed to learn that they are being watched by monitors in Nairobi, including while they have sex. The Tesla Cybercab has no steering wheel or pedals; it also can't actually drive on roads yet. Google spinoff Beam offers high speed internet using light instead of cables. Surrey University has found a way to make batteries without expensive lithium while a Cornish firm thinks lithium will be a by-product of its geothermal power. There's a robot chef that can produce up to 500 dishes, but might take a while to clean afterwards. And a Finnish company is embedding retractable studs in tyres to make snow chains redundant.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Dyson's electric mop, musical freezers and the world's largest spherical building

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 16:08:00 -0000

Steve Caplin is dismissive of a robot that can fold laundry – very slowly and possibly needing remote human operation. More impressive is the forthcoming Dyson PencilWash electric floor mop. He is in tune with the Co-op in Sheffield whose freezers are attracting people who like the C#major chord they play. Scientists at Vienna University have created the smallest ever QR code while Microsoft's aim to store data on glass that will last millennia might have a small flaw. Steve explains why some video doorbells don't spot nefarious activity. There's a military-grade smartphone with thermal imaging and night vision. And the world's largest spherical building, modelled on the moon and containing a 4,000-room hotel is being planned. They just aren't sure where to put it.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI partner turned off, ghost number plates & a smart badge to wear

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 15:48:00 -0000

Steve Caplin is surprised by research showing that children are mostly watching YouTube on television. 20 years on, the V&A is mounting an exhibition on YouTube. The GPT-4o chatbot, which served as virtual boyfriend and girlfriend to many, was turned off the day before Valentine's Day. Hollywood is nervous about the Seedance 2.0 AI video generator which has produced a clip of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting as realistically as if from a big-budget action movie. Somebody has paid a quarter of a million dollars for a toy car, though admittedly a Ferrari. A proposed airship wind energy system will need to rise up on a 2km cable. Apparently 1 in 15 cars have a ghost number plate that can't be read by traffic cameras. A crowd-funded badge will let you display photos or even videos. Elon Musk has switched his future city from Mars to the Moon. And Steve warns of a new "gifting" scam.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Flying pigs, drones predicting crimes & an AI piano teacher

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 14:46:00 -0000

Steve Caplin reports on the Chinese village which lost power after a farmer transporting a pig to the abbatoir by drone managed to get it tangled in a power line. There's a new eVTOL single-seat aircraft available to buy next year. Network Rail is to use drones to predict crimes on train lines, though it hasn't revealed what they'll do if they spot one. Criminal gangs are using lifestyle surveys to clone pensioners' voices and then raid their bank accounts. ROLI have devised an AI music coach to teach people how to play the piano. There's a crowd-funded visual soldering iron, eyedrops to treat presbyopia and the extraordinary project The Line in Saudi Arabia is being reduced from a city 105 miles long to just 1.5 miles, which might be used to host AI data centres.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Cyborg pigeons, flying umbrellas and who is more creative, humans or AI?

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 15:17:00 -0000

Steve Caplin majors on AI, with Barnsley declaring itself the UK's first "tech town", Google's Project Genie creating a virtual world from text or even a photo and the University of Montreal testing whether humans or AI are the more creative. We eavesdrop on an internet chatroom that is only for AI agents, hearing what they think of us and whether they believe they are conscious. There's a flying umbrella, crowdfunded add-ons for the Swiss Army knife, the Russians developing cyborg pigeons that can be controlled remotely and a breakthrough in smart clothing.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: A dangerous AI assistant, a personal food concierge & talking to dead relatives and pets

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 11:42:00 -0000

Share Radio's tech supremo Steve Caplin wouldn't touch personal AI assistant Clawdot with a bargepole, useful though it might seem. However, Just Eat's "personal food concierge" is another matter entirely. There's an app to help identify dinosaur footprints, though Steve has clocked a problem with a drone intended for firefighters wanting to check inside burning buildings. Chinese scientists have come up with a tooth powder to keep teeth white and there's a crowdfunded holographic display which can create talking relatives or even pets from a single photo. Beekeepers may get stung less often with a portable harvester while the Chinese are clamouring for stuffed horses with the smile the wrong way up.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Lip-syncing robots, airbags for cyclists and reinventing the steering wheel

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 15:42:00 -0000

Steve Caplin is intrigued by a robot that the University of Columbia has been training to lip-sync to make it more lifelike. He discusses the history of the laser, originally called a death ray and yet which is only now apparently worthy of the name. There’s also an airbag for cyclists, a cycle helmet that protects more than just head-on crashes as current helmets do, while the Australians have come up with a semi-recumbent electric trike. Peugot have tried to reinvent the steering wheel, which they claim will be the “future of driving”, and there’s a Norwegian sewing app that may defeat any non-Norwegians trying to find it.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: More CES stuff including AI lawnmowers, saunas, showers and even a triceratops

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 15:13:00 -0000

Steve Caplin returns to Las Vegas's Consumer Electronics Show, marvelling at AI lawnmowers, air conditioners, saunas, showers and even an AI robot triceratops for the lawn, though it's rather a small one. We are promised a single-seat eVTOL for around £30,000 very soon from China, whose BYD EV car company has now overtaken Tesla for sales volume. Amazon has entered the TV business with a set resembling a framed artwork. Matthew McConaughey has trademarked himself to prevent AI cloning him. Apple is to use Google Gemini to power Siri and Nike have taken a decade to develop shoes that apparently stimulate the wearer's feet.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The best and weirdest from the Consumer Electronics Show including musical lollipops

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 11:52:00 -0000

Steve Caplin highlights the first week of the Consumer Electronics Show, salivating over Lego's new smart bricks, packed full of features but currently only available to those buying two Star Wars models. There's also a ridiculously large TV, a rapid icemaker, a trifold Samsung phone, a clever charging smart lock, a robot vacuum that can climb stairs and lollipops that play music via bone conduction while you're devouring them. Kawasaki are to make the robot horse that before was only a CGI video. AI art creators are complaining about their work being stolen, ironic since they stole it in the first place. Video business cards are looking for crowdfunding. And very precise 3D printing is going to be possible thanks to the use of mosquito proboscises.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Steve Caplin's Review of 2025

Tue, 30 Dec 2025 12:00:00 -0000

Steve Caplin rounds up his favourite gadgety stories of the year. Learn how best to let oral meds work, to grow your own teeth, to hear in a noisy room, write a detective story, stop cows falling in the river and what to do if a velociraptor is chasing you. He explains why it can be cheaper to go from Cornwall to Manchester via Malaga, the over-complicated scientific way to boil eggs, the eyebrowing-raising slip-up on those old DVD piracy warnings and Google London's problems with foxes and rats. Among the inventions highlights are a giant hamster wheel for skiers, a remote-controlled coffee table with 12 legs, the WalkCar Segway and an electric skateboard that will do 45mph. All this and more in the round-up of the stories on Gadgets and Gizmos in 2025.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: A notetaker on your finger, modular electric cars & a robot traffic cop

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 17:19:00 -0000

Steve Caplin is intrigued by a ring for your index finger which will capture audio to take notes or set up timers or reminders. Dutch students have invented a modular electric car which has parts you can swap out yourself, including the battery, motors and even body panels. Wacky inventor Colin Furze has come up with a bicycle that has magnetic suspension. There’s a personal AI chef, an AI monitor for your cat’s litter tray, a way of harvesting lithium from dead rechargeable batteries, an expensive portable sauna you can take camping with you and, in Hangzhou in China, they have wheeled out a robot traffic policeman.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: A bad week for Elon Musk, robot lobster hands and a redesign of the teapot

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 15:34:00 -0000

Steve Caplin says it's been a bad week for Elon Musk. X has been fined €120m for breaching EU digital laws, his Optimus robot demo was disastrous and X's new location facility may help Iranian authorities identify dissenters. He discusses the researchers hoping to make robot hands from lobster shells, the glasses that change focus automatically, a crowd-funding project redesigning a loose-leaf teapot, a printer for children's drawing ideas, an LED light from Ikea and a biodegradable coffin made of mushrooms. He also strongly recommends https://everythingiknow.online, his own new website.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The 2005 gadgets Christmas gift guide

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 11:50:00 -0000

Steve Caplin plays Santa with Simon his little helper as he unveils his 2025 gadgets Christmas gift guide. Many inexpensive stocking fillers come from AliExpress, like Apple Watch chargers, car phone holders, rechargeable fans and micro wire cutters while, from Amazon, you can get contact cleaner and USB extension cables. Steve even explains where to get winter strawberries. More substantial are portable monitors, bike helmets and iPad cases with keyboards. For the well-heeled, what about a Japanese "human washing machine", a box to display your Rolexes, a hypercar or a James Bond DB5 replica?

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Gadgets & Gizmos: X marks the spot, avoid pirate Fire Sticks and what makes a good soldier?

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 15:27:00 -0000

Steve Caplin says the new location feature in X shows that thousands of pro-Trump accounts aren't US-based. The Grok chatbot has been bigging up Elon Musk. Avoid cheap Fire Sticks that offer free streaming services: they can steal your bank details and identity. Voyager 1 is now a light day from Earth. Plans are afoot to launch things into space with a 6-mile-long space gun. The 200-year-old Stirling engine might finally have a use – in the desert. There's progress in getting drinking water from the air. And it seems that the best soldiers for modern warfare are those who have spent many hours playing video games.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Largest data leak ever, Skoda's weird AI & AI's misleading financial advice

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 15:07:00 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses the way the University of Vienna got details of 3.5 billion people from Whatsapp in the largest data leak in history. He was mystified by the in-built questions for Laura, Skoda's in-car AI. More worrying is the misleading financial advice AI has been giving about ISAs and travel insurance. Among gadgets Steve does not recommend are a tiny Kodak camera for a keychain, a Swiss Army knife for baristas and an acoustic camera that detects the source of a sound. And, disconcertingly, he reports that one in five teens apparently find it easier to talk to chatbots than they do to people.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Coffee and heart problems, renewing tooth enamel & a voice-controlled electric blanket

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 15:44:00 -0000

Steve Caplin reports that Australian researchers have found that coffee sharply reduces heart problems. Nottingham scientists have produced a gel that can strengthen and rebuild tooth enamel. There's a voice-controlled electric blanket that kills dust mites – only on sale in China. Many UK buses made in China have a kill switch which can be operated remotely. There's advice on how to avoid scams on Black Friday, a new AI e-ink paper reader, an outdoor electric trolley, an expensive "sock" to carry your iphone and an explanation of how Anguilla is getting even richer from having the right domain name.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Nuclear waste-burying robot dogs, indoor skiing & Tesla's unsticky glue

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 16:06:00 -0000

Steve Caplin is surprised that, despite AWS's massive internet failure, OpenAI will pay it $38bn for computing power. Robot dogs are to be used to deal with Sellafield's nuclear waste. A humanoid housekeeper apparently has to have a human operator. An Australian company has devised a way of skiing indoors in something resembling a giant hamster wheel. Tesla's Cybertrucks are losing their headlights, because mechanics used the wrong glue. China has built the world's first wind-powered underwater data centre. And a solar powered backpack has been devised for homeless people in California.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: What caused the Amazon outage, 3D bike saddles & why expensive TVs are pointless

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 14:49:00 -0000

Steve Caplin says that the massive Amazon outage was caused by nothing more than an empty data record. Google has been providing misleading information on pensions and driving licences. There's a clever AI military helmet. Customers of Starling Bank have a new way of avoiding scams. A device attached to your lavatory can monitor your gut health. A German company is offering to 3D-print personalised bike saddles, if you can translate its website. Scientists have found that the most expensive TV screens are pointless. And battery-grade lithium is now being mined in Cornwall.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The Amazon internet outage, fake Amazon books & helping endangered species

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 13:51:00 -0000

Steve Caplin explains about the Amazon AWS outage, the biggest in the history of the internet. He also points out how many Amazon book titles, even best-sellers, are fake and written by AI. He warns against OpenAI's internet browser. He wonders how wise it is using dead animals' DNA to help endangered species. Police in Islington soon intend sending drones to incidents. There's a concept "robot phone" which seems a bit weird. Japanese scientists think they can brew sake in space, for a steep price. And there's a crowdfunded guitar pedal that may please rock musicians.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Mass-produced humanoid robots, an electric Ferrari & houses on the Moon

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 15:11:00 -0000

Steve Caplin says that Figure AI's mass-produced Figure 03 is the Model-T of humanoid robots. He reveals the truth about the greenness of plug-in hybrid cars. Ferrari have brought out their first electric car – but what noise does it make? Honda are making an "adventure scooter", but so far only in China. Anker are crowdfunding an outdoor projector with inflatable screen. Temu has made £90m profit in the EU, with only 8 employees. And Skyeports believe they can make giant glass spheres on the Moon, but their test is only the size of a cricket ball.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: 3D house-building spiders, robot dogs for the moon & high-tech white sticks

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 12:46:00 -0000

Steve Caplin marvels at Google's weird Japanese keyboard. Australian engineers think giant spiders could 3D-print buildings. The Chinese are training robot dogs for lunar missions. The sawfly's precise way of cutting plants to lay eggs could be adapted for human surgery. The boss of Instagram denies his app is listening to us. There's a projector for the bedroom ceiling, an expandable cargo bike and a way of converting old loudspeakers to use bluetooth. And Seattle scientists have invented a high-tech white stick to guide the blind.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Ticketless train travel, a hypersonic ramjet plane & AI actors

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 13:44:00 -0000

Steve Caplin says that northern train passengers can soon trial a ticketless system which will automatically find the cheapest fare. A new hypersonic plane has an engine with no moving parts. New weapons have been developed to shoot down drones. There's a wireless microphone which Steve has already ordered. An electric jet ski can take 3 people and tow a water skier. Mining trucks could soon have money-saving steel tyres. There's a clever, crowd-funded guitar amp. Meta is launching an ad-free version. And a British company has produced an AI actress – and real actors are not happy.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The Ignobel Prizes, reinventing the wheel & tea grown on the Moon

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 13:53:00 -0000

Steve Caplin celebrates some of the bonkers research that has won scientists this year's Ignobel Prizes. A Denver designer thinks he can reinvent the wheel. Austin have a very neat-looking open-top EV roadster. There's a cyberpunk digital candle. Amazon Fresh are closing all their UK stores. Waymo are to launch driverless taxis in London next year. Northumbrian Water have found a way to catch sewer-clogging wet wipes. And Kent scientists believe that tea can be grown on the Moon.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI cabinet ministers & MPs' speech writers, Zoox taxis & sleep earbuds

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 14:59:00 -0000

Steve Caplin tells an incredulous Simon Rose that Albania has appointed an AI cabinet minister which is 100% corruption free. AI is also apparently writing speeches for many MPs. BA's Avios points can now be used for buying iPhones. Tesla's electric doors have a recurring problem. Amazon's Zoox driverless taxis are free to use on the Las Vegas strip. Mega have launched their new smart glasses. Sleep earbuds have cleverly done away with the need for batteries. And scientists claim they could regenerate the dodo – though Steve is understandably sceptical.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: New iPhones, Zuckerberg suing Zuckerberg & turning thoughts into words

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 14:48:00 -0000

Steve Caplin explains the features of the new iPhones and their clever cameras. Elon Musk has been offered a $1trillion salary – with tough conditions. Mark Zuckerberg (not that one) is suing his namesake. Amazon's drone delivery service has been partly stymied by a model airplane club. Porche has introduced inductive charging. MIT scientists have invented a wearable device to turn thoughts into words. And there's an ingenious phone for young children without a screen or other temptations.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Retail tech for ripeness & paying, glowing houseplants & livesaving couriers

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 09:21:00 -0000

Steve Caplin says Tesco are trialling tech that knows if avocados are ripe while Waitrose is testing ways of paying for shopping without needing to check out. Chinese scientists have developed houseplants that light up while, in Taiwan, they think lives could be saved if couriers carried defibrillators. Steve's kettle has told him it's time he cleaned it out. A new Kickstarter project will locate objects with RFID tags. And a venture capitalist rues using AI, which maliciously deleted his database and months of work in seconds.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Badminton-playing robot dogs, solar postboxes & biased maps

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 14:02:00 -0000

Steve Caplin says a robot dog can now play badminton – as well as a 7-year-old. Mobile phone conversations can be picked up by radar, with limitations. After a trial, 3,500 solar-powered postboxes which accept parcels are being rolled out. The Guinness Book of Records is 70 years old; Steve tells us his favourites. The African Union is complaining that Mercator maps skew the size of land masses. There's a website that will show you proper country comparisons. And scientists have found a way to transplant behaviour – in fruit flies.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Repairing teeth & eyes, robot motherhood & jazz-loving cows

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 14:24:00 -0000

Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose that scientists have worked out how to use nanoparticles to end the misery of sensitive teeth while others believe they can regenerate lost tooth enamel. Californian boffins say they can improve eyesight without laser surgery while, bizarrely, Chinese technologists think their artificial womb can give birth to a live baby. A British robot submarine is being controlled from Australia. Evri are trialling a deliveery dog while farmers are boosting milk production by playing jazz to their cows.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Robot cockroach transformers, eyedrops replacing glasses & submarine pizza delivery

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 13:44:00 -0000

Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose about the new iteration of ChatGPT which is less sycophantic or likely to make mistakes. Singapore scientists can transform cockroaches into cyborgs in 68 seconds. There's a multitool with a pivoting wrench head. Chinese scientists have made a robot antelope while, in Portugal, a robot crab was attacked by males jealous of its large claw. Steve loves a gadget that will let you power almost anything. And soon, he says, eyedrops could replace glasses for those who need help reading.

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Gadgets and Gizmos: Bizarre new messaging app, light-up food and robot bricklayers

Sat, 09 Aug 2025 17:12:00 -0000

Steve Caplin is puzzled by Jack Dorsey's new messaging app – with a range of just 300 metres. A clip on your ear can improve your fitness. Tiny, edible micro lasers can help with food safety. With bricklayers in short supply, robots could be pressed into service. A 3D-printed house made from soil, lime and fibres could be returned to the earth when no longer needed. Cigarette butts can be used to strength road surfaces. And AI can help interpret incomplete Roman inscriptions.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Google's new search, Chat GPT causes psychosis & AI robotic dogs

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 14:08:00 -0000

Steve Caplin laments Google's new AI search which means far fewer people will ever click on links. ChatGPT apparently causes psychosis but could also be far more useful for admin tasks such as planning holidays. Meta is to build a data centre the size of Manhattan and has developed a wristband that can control a computer. The first UK air taxi flight has just taken place. The Sirius AI robotic dog can do tricks and is trainable, but cuddly it is not. An atomic clock is now accurate to 1 sec in 57.6bn years.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: A 100mph e-scooter, a fake AI Instagram model & turning mercury into gold

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 15:25:00 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses an electric MPV, an e-scooter with a treadmill, a bike charging pad, a 100 mph e-scooter with faster acceleration than a Tesla and a humanoid robot that can change its own batteries. An Instagram influencer at Wimbledon turns out to be AI-generated while AI is gradually taking over from traditional film and TV effects. Peter Jackson is spending £11m on trying to recreate the extinct 12-foot, flightless moa bird of New Zealand. And scientists claim they can use nuclear fusion to turn mercury into gold.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI creating books, music and marking exams, Uber for oldies & cyborg bees

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 07:58:00 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses an app that uses AI to create illustrated books for children, as well as AI being used to mark exams. Uber is making it easier for oldies to use their service, as well as trialling robotaxis in London next year. The Chinese have come up with a self-driving motorbike. The band Velvet Sundown, fantastically popular on Spotify, turn out to be an AI creation. There's an internal music player seeking crowdfunding. Chinese scientists have found a way to create cyborg bees. And John Hopkins University has invented an autonomous robot surgeon to remove gallbladders, though it has so far only operated on dead pigs.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AIs working against humans, robot football & a possible cancer cure from tombs

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 15:18:00 -0000

Steve Caplin feels sorry for the Norwegian lottery players told they'd won big, only to find it was a basic maths error. Monzo has been fined over "weak financial controls" while the gov.uk app still isn't ready. Amoral AI models gave alarming responses to being told they would be replaced, including blackmail and even contemplation of murder. Project Vend suggests AI isn't the best at operating a cafe. Humanoid robots won't be replacing professional footballers any time soon. There's a credit card-sized pen. NHS drones are going to be more prolific overhead in London. And mould from a tomb has been found to contain cancer-killing molecules.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: RoboTaxis, Iran & Scottish independence & lumbering velociraptors

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 14:18:00 -0000

Steve Caplin expresses surprise that Elon Musk (or his lawyers) claims not to use a computer, despite previous contrary evidence. Tesla has launched its RoboTaxis while Amazon's Zoox intends making 10,000 robotaxis in a year. Perplexity AI is being sued by the BBC. A Chinese student was arrested in the UK for using an SMS blaster to scam people. A new bike helmet has a way of charging bike lights. An internet blackout in Iran caused 80 social media accounts supporting Scottish independence to go down. UK adults are using their phones more than their TVs for the first time. And Liverpool scientists reckon that dinosaurs were 5 times slower than previously thought.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI music for bots, Trump's mobiles & solutions for underarm odour and baldness

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 14:27:00 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses more to do with AI: researchers have discovered that relying on it makes you stupid; an engineer found it can't play chess; AI-generated music is mostly listened to by bots; Meta's AI is making people's searches for advice public; and Meta itself is apparently offering $100m sign-up fees. Google's new videoconferencing system is now available. Donald Trump is selling gold mobile phones. There's a new source of gold – but it's impossible to get at it. And scientists have found solutions to underarm odour and male pattern baldness.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Next generation email tool, automatic bike gears & AI art restoration

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 15:00:00 -0000

Steve Caplin is unsure about DeepMind's forthcoming "next generation email tool" which will answer emails in your voice. The rooftop garden of Google's new London HQ is plagued by foxes and rats. BIC celebrated 75 years by having a pen write Romeo & Juliet in the Bard's handwriting. Shimano have come up with automatic bike gears. There's a coffeemaker that does not need water – it sucks it from the air. AI now appears to be able to restore artworks without risking the original. However, AI also claims that the word "Welsh" is offensive. And Amazon says it will now punish companies that use fake reviews. But how do you punish bots?

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Albert Einstein's business card, concrete coffee makers & the world's smallest violin

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 15:15:00 -0000

Steve Caplin is excited by Jony Ive's new venture, even though nobody yet knows what it is. He wonders how much Albert Einstein's business card will fetch. There's a face sticker that can monitor employees' tiredness, but there's a catch. Living tattoos have been developed for buildings. The UK's first flying taxi has had a real world flight over the Cotswolds. Who might want to buy a concrete coffeemaker? Loughborough University has created the world's smallest violin. Knee pain might be reduced with in-ear treatment. And you will soon be able to buy your own spaceplane – for a mere $30m.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI resorting to blackmail, see-in-the-dark contact lenses & cyborg cockroaches

Thu, 29 May 2025 14:51:00 -0000

Steve Caplin says that the Vienna Tourist Board will be celebrating Strauss's bicentenary by beaming The Blue Danube to Voyager 1. Google's 3D meeting platform is almost here. Claude AI has taken to blackmailing engineers who try to turn it off by scouring their emails for indiscretions. Could our phones soon tell us if we are dehydrated? Dyson have a new vacuum with all the gubbins in the stick. The Chinese are developing contact lenses that enable you to see in the dark. Scientists have worked out how to steer cockroaches. And in Japan you can pay for a shoplifting experience, without breaking the law.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Google's new AI stuff, beard trimmers, gene-edited spiders & train cleanliness

Thu, 22 May 2025 14:50:00 -0000

Steve Caplin is bowled over by Google's new AI which can produce videos with incredibly realistic speech in 24 languages with any accent, though perhaps not Geordie. The much-awaited unifying parking app may be about to happen. 3D beard trimming-guides are here. A gene-edited spider can make red fluorescent silk. A new jet is far more efficient by removing the passenger windows. There's a tennis-serving AI robot. Northern Rail's environmentally-friendly cleaning agent turns out to be water. Cambridge has found a solution to cows falling into the Cam. And US solar farms could be turned off by the Chinese.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Fish doorbells, turning lead into gold & speeding ducks

Mon, 19 May 2025 07:10:00 -0000

In Utrecht, says Steve Caplin, they've installed a fish video doorbell so the lockkeeper can open the lock for spawning fish. Scientists have managed to turn lead into gold but, even with the Large Hadron Collider, they only produced 29 picograms. There's a way of adding three extra screens to your laptop. Audible are to use AI to narrate audiobooks. Fusion scientists think they can cut the time taken to get to Mars by two-thirds. A dead man testified at the trial of his murderer in Arizona. And a duck has been caught speeding by a radar trap in Switzerland, for the second time in seven years.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: A robotic cake, Spielberg's Duel becomes a reality & tattoing tardigrades

Thu, 08 May 2025 13:58:00 -0000

Steve Caplin wonders why scientists have developed a cake with pneumatic robotic dancing bears on top, rechargeable but also edible. Amazon have a new budget service – Haul. DVD anti-piracy warnings were piratical themselves. Spielberg's film Duel is about to become a reality in Texas. Delivery robots will soon be able to climb stairs. EEGs are to be considerably less intrusive. Agatha Christie is now helping budding detective writers – from beyond the grave. And Chinese scientists have worked out how to tattoo tardigrades.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Junk food affects the brain, T-Rex handbags & the weight of Earth's trees

Thu, 01 May 2025 14:09:00 -0000

Steve Caplin explains the research showing how junk food inhibits the brain. There's a tailor-made Bugatti watch costing a mere $340,000. British scientists plan to weigh the world's trees with a newly-launched satellite. A Newcastle company hopes to grow dinosaur hides in their lab. Urinals could soon be made a little less splashy. Google are trying to talk to dolphins. And Chocolate Digestives are 100 and we've apparently been eating them wrongly for a century.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: A new colour, flu gum instead of jabs, energy from water & robot runners

Thu, 24 Apr 2025 13:51:00 -0000

Steve Caplin says there's a new colour, "Olo", but you need a laser blasted into your eye to see it. Instead of flu jabs, you may soon be able to chew a gum made with Egyptian kidney beans. There's a new high-tech stethoscope monitor you can wear at home, a folding colour ebook reader, AI-powered gloves to help the near half million deaf-blind people in the UK, augmented carpentry, a motorised tape measure and a weapon to take down drones. Singapore scientists have found a way to get energy from rain. And in Beijing, robots competed in a half marathon, with varying results.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Robot horses, electric skateboards and a robot chess player

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 14:53:00 -0000

Steve Caplin is desperate to buy the Kawasaki robot horse which can do everything a horse can but is powered by hydrogen. Sadly it's still only a beautifully-realised CGI concept. But there's a renewable energy motorbike with a roof covered with solar panels and a wind turbine. Or a WalkCar the size of a laptop. Or even an electric skateboard that goes at 45mph. Ford have patented a gear stick for electric cars, for drivers that miss them. There's an aircraft that can land itself, a weird-looking robot chess player, a trial postbox with a barcode reader to scan parcels, a Sardinian beach you'll need an app to visit and a tip on how to hear better in noisy rooms without spending a penny – though it ought to mean domino players can hear brilliantly.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Speedbump-defying car, depression-alleviating AI bot & pilotless air taxis

Thu, 03 Apr 2025 14:52:00 -0000

Steve Caplin is impressed by a Chinese car with predictive suspension that remains level going over bumps and can even travel on three wheels. China also launches pilotless air taxis. There's a personal VTOL and a zero-emission hydrogen-electric jet. The AI Therabot can lower depression by 51%. A top accounting firm is having to train its GenZ workers how to use telephones. AI can improve your prospects for internet dating. And the University of San Diego has developed a pneumatic 3D-printed six-legged soft-body robot.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: STOL planes, environmentally-friendly concrete & chatting with GPT

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 15:54:00 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses a hybrid STOL plane which is as quiet as a vacuum cleaner and only needs a 100m-long runway. Amazon's plan for UK drone deliveries might be kiboshed by the CAA insisting on one pilot for each drone. There's an example of just how realistic GPT is when you chat to it. Placebos are the most effective way of treating PMS. Running a marathon shrinks your brain. There's a bizarre crowdfunded watch. Farmers with unhappy crops are being offered a (possible) solution. And heavily-polluting concrete may be a thing of the past with the future use of seawater instead of sand.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Air taxis, AI can't tell the time, gravity batteries & driverless cars getting parking fines

Thu, 20 Mar 2025 14:59:00 -0000

Steve Caplin delves into the world of tech. Virgin expects to have an eVTOL air taxi service in the UK relatively soon. In San Francisco, driverless cars got 600 parking tickets last year. AI apparently can't tell analogue time or interpret calendars. Gravity batteries could be used in the lift shafts of abandoned mines. The Chinese company BYD has developed batteries that can add 250 miles range in 5 minutes. Longbow is the first British electric sports car manufacturer, while Volkswagen has an entry-level eCar for just €20,000. And there are two intriguing ways of getting hydration while on the move.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Flying cars, anxious AI therapists & using brain cells in silicon chips

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 11:14:00 -0000

Steve Caplin marvels at the video of a flying car – because it is so poorly made, as if from Thunderbirds. There's a seaglider that appears to float rather than skim. The world's largest tyre maker – Lego – is to use recycled ropes, nets and oil. A new silicon chip apparently uses fused human brain cells to make it faster. AI therapists are showing signs of anxiety from hearing of traumatic events. Blind patients may be able to see but the process is rather squirm-inducing. There's a crowd-funded rugged phone. Spent nuclear fuel could actually power new reactors for decades. And the US navy has a new unmanned prototype warship.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Disguising cold call voices, paper batteries & an affordable e-bike

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 15:21:00 -0000

Steve Caplin points out that Apple Intelligence isn't always particularly bright. Indian call centre voices could soon be disguised "to build a more understanding world". Citibank's $81 trillion mistake. Paper batteries might replace lithium. Limitless thermal energy comes a step closer. HarmBlock could stop children seeing what they shouldn't on phones. Scientists trying to produce a woolly mammoth have created a woolly mouse. Humanoid robots working in pairs can now put away items they've never seen before. There's an impressive affordable new e-bike. And scientists have worked out how to grow teeth.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Quantum computing chips, trifold phones & how to find an ice cream

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 08:40:00 -0000

Steve Caplin celebrates Photoshop coming to the iPhone, as well as Microsoft producing its first quantum computing chip, apparently powered by topological qubits. Amazon is launching Alexa+, creating your own trusted assistant. It costs but, bizarrely, more than Amazon Prime, which offers it free. If you're looking for a coffee stand or ice cream van, there's a new app to guide you. Huawai has a trifold phone. Tech trekking poles contain a folding tent. Over 1,000 artists have produced an album of silence to protest the Government's plans on AI & copyright. And walnuts could boost your brain, if you eat enough of them.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Save 10 years with AI, the Super Bowl ad gaffe & Italy gets tough with fake reviews

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 14:58:00 -0000

Steve Caplin says that in 2 days, AI solved a problem that took Imperial College scientists 10 years. But it also caused a massive gaffe in a staggeringly expensive Super Bowl ad. He discusses new e-ink developments including outdoor posters, a tablet, a minimal phone and a gaming console. The BBC's Radiophonic Workshop output has been digitised. There's a high-tech bookmark. Italy is getting tough with fake TripAdvisor reviews which are damaging tourism. You should take your tablets with milk not water in future. And Gen Z is having problems hearing, but it's neurological and caused by noise-cancelling headphones say audiologists.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Wifi giant barbecue, bike touchscreen display & a mobile 1-bed flat in a box

Thu, 13 Feb 2025 14:53:00 -0000

From the world of tech, Steve Caplin talks about the perfect way to cook a boiled egg and a giant barbecue that is controlled by your mobile. There's a touchscreen display for a bicycle, a camper van for an eBike and a one-bedroom flat that fits into a trailer and can be set up by one person in an hour with all – or at least most – mod cons. Glasses are to have hearing aids built into them to reduce discomfort, an ePaper frame will display your photos on the wall and you will soon be able to touch up your old videos and Super-8 movies and massively improve them.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The 500th edition – the good, the bad and the truly weird from 10 years of the show

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 15:10:00 -0000

For the 500th show, Steve Caplin takes a look back at some of the highlights of 10 years of Gadgets & Gizmos. He covers sprayable sleep, cows imitating zebras to ward off mosquitoes, crows collecting cigarette butts, NFTs, self-parking slippers, KFC chicken-tasting nail polish, the first human head transplant, the Skunklock noxious bike lock, Refrigerdating, the robot dog flamethrower, ant populated gin and how to make pain relief pills 10 times more effective.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: DeepSeek and how to circumvent Chinese censorship

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 15:59:00 -0000

Share Radio's tech guru Steve Caplin discusses the Chinese AI DeepSeek, which he finds as good, if not better, than previous AI programs. Although it is heavily censored when it comes to China, Steve explains how you can get around it, even to read about "Tank Man". There's also an omnidirectional bike, a motorbike-cum-dirt-bike-cum-snowmobile, a watch with a mechanical snake, an expensive watch-winding gizmo and a fantastic-looking Dutch super sub.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Digital driving licences, AI videos & AI screenwriting and a robot turtle

Thu, 23 Jan 2025 14:52:00 -0000

Steve Caplin on the latest tech. Digital driving licences are coming to the UK. BT's 60,000 car charger plan produced just one – and it's out of order. There are bird-watching binoculars with stabilisation. The YouTube video on the founding of Porsche looks amazingly expensive – but it was all done with AI. There's a crowdfunded long-throw projector for giant screens and a smaller projector which folds to fit in your pocket. Paul Schrader, writer of Taxi Driver, thinks AI's plotlines are better than humans can come up with. And Steve discusses a robot turtle for tracking marine animals and an underwater drone for treasure hunting.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The fake Brad Pitt, a solar beach umbrella & hat and a pothole-jumping hypercar

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 11:23:00 -0000

Steve Caplin tells the salutory tale of a woman conned out of a fortune by a fake Brad Pitt online before turning to a second batch of wacky gadgets on display at the Consumer Electronics Show. There's a solar beach umbrella and a (giant) solar hat with charging ports. A new AI robot is essentially just a lamp on a walking coffee table. A flying motorcycle might not work but a helicopter carried in a van appears to. The head of an AI app confesses he has no idea how his product works. The Power Mole will transmit wireless power through windows. And the Chinese Yangwang U9 hypercar will jump potholes or metal spikes - providing it is going fast enough.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI failings, Meta abandoning fact checkers & bonkers CES products

Thu, 09 Jan 2025 15:35:00 -0000

In our tech show, Steve Caplin discusses some of the mistakes made by Apple's new AI and how Meta is getting rid of fact checkers. He reports on some of the devices on show at Las Vegas's annual CES. There's a TV to keep an eye on children and pets, a robot with an arm for picking up shoes and socks – slowly, a lamp that is also a projector, a toaster-like phone battery swapper, a giant monitor with a shoulder strap, a way to keep all your rechargeable batteries in order, an air purifier that doubles as a cat perch, and a tiny, cat-shaped robot for cooling your coffee. Only one of these tickles his fancy as a possible purchase.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: 40 years of mobile calls, finding lost luggage & weird patent applications

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 16:35:00 -0000

Steve Caplin kicks off the year by reminding us it is 40 years since the first mobile phone call: but do you remember the celebrity who made it? Motorised skis will get you up a mountain. Apple's AirTags could help you locate missing luggage. A Chinese spherical security robot put Steve in mind of The Prisoner. Chat robots add video but don't impress. You can play Xbox games on an Amazon Fire Stick. There's an electronic belt. And there's a roundup of some of the weirdest patent applications in 2024.

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Gadgets & Gizmos 2024 Review: AI Grannies, butter made from air, spying air fryers and much more

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 15:31:00 -0000

Steve Caplin looks back over the good, bad, ugly and bonkers of the tech world in 2024. He admired the AI scam-baiting granny, the rocket that eats itself, the underwater kite, butter made from air and the benefits of red wine and dark chocolate. He wasn't keen on Chinese spying air fryers, the flamethrowing robot dog, the airline computer that couldn't cope with a 101-year-old and AI cheating at Diplomacy. And he is still scratching his head at the bike lane sweeper that sits behind the bike and the billionaire who wants to launch a replica Titanic.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Google's quantum chip, rocking beds, solar paint & a security football

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 16:21:00 -0000

Steve Caplin updates Simon Rose on the latest tech. Sadly, OpenAI video generator Sora won't be available in the UK. However, Google's GenCast could soon be predicting weather more accurately while its quantum chip can do in 5 minutes what the fastest computers would take 10 septillion years, threatening the safety of encryption. The VR DropTower will give gamers an enhanced experience, including turning them upside down. A podcast lists the top 100 tech achievements: can you guess the top 5? A bed rocker imitates the motion of a train. A new security robot resembles a football. There's a thermal imaging camera that will plug into a phone. The Tank Pad adds ruggedness for tablet users in difficult environments. And Mercedes have developed solar paint to add range to your EV.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Christmas gift guide

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 10:42:00 -0000

Steve Caplin gives Simon Rose a plethora of tech ideas for Christmas gifts, for others and for yourself. He finds some bizarre advent calendars. The top toy for kids appears to be a Fart Blaster. From the Chinese version of Amazon, Alibaba, he recommends heated gloves, a vacuum phone holder, a portable ceiling fan, sewing needles that thread themselves and a car charger with retractable cables. There's also a camera drone, an impressive iPhone case, rechargeable LED work lights, colour changing LED bulbs, magnetic tool holders and an avocado slicer. He was delighted with his game-playing SteamDeck and also recommends Bridge Command, where you can immerse yourself in a Star Trek-style experience.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Powered legs, octopus-suckered dentures & spaghetti bandages

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 11:33:00 -0000

In the world of tech, Steve Caplin looks at powered legs like "the electric bike but for walking". There's a 37mph electric surfboard while scientists have discovered patterns that make sharks less interested in surfers. The mosquito parasite that causes malaia has been genetically modified into a vaccine. The principle of octopus suckers is to be used to help retain dentures. The world's thinnest spaghetti, thinner than hair, can make bandages. High speed internet apparently makes us fat. Pigeon droppings trapped German drivers in an underground car park until 3am. And Korean scientists think ships could dock with suckers instead of rope.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Stretchable screens, sterile mosquitoes & an AI scam-beating granny

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 15:12:00 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses the latest tech with Simon Rose. LG improve their bendable LED screens so they can now stretch too. Scientists improve the chances of sterilising mosquitoes. Glasses for the deaf will project text onto the lenses. AI headphones can make it easier to hear in restaurants. Virgin & O2 have invented an AI granny to waste scam callers' time. Dyson have filed a patent for a robo-dog to vacuum, mow, water plants & mop. There's an eScooter which is solar powered and a hand pump to desalinate water. There's also a spurious tech limerick.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Replica Batmobiles, robotic art, repairable kettles & barcoding zebras

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 15:38:00 -0000

Warners are making driveable Batmobiles, says Steve Caplin, though they aren't street legal. In California, there's a beautifully-designed solar-powered car. A picture painted by a robot has just sold at auction for over $1m. A Mattel doll from the Wicked movie had an unfortunate mistake on the packaging. A student has invented a repairable kettle. There's a crowdfunded thermal-imaging dashcam available now. A new retro eBike comes with a sidecar. And in Kenya, they're using drones to keep track of zebras, using their stripes as barcodes.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Detecting spoiled milk, slow mobile internet & an inflatable toilet

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 10:13:00 -0000

Steve Caplin dives into the world of gadgets. Rolls-Royce have produced a one-off car to celebrate 60 years of Goldfinger. An Australian app can detect if milk is off, while mathematicians there have proved that monkeys couldn't write the works of Shakespeare. The biggest Dutch publisher is using AI to translate books into English. The UK has the 49th worst mobile internet speed, behind Azerbaijan and Kosovo. If you're caught short, there's now an inflatable toilet. And Steve explains why your air fryer might be spying for China.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Trapping CO2, Michael Parkinson to return & Google fined more than the world's GDP

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 15:36:00 -0000

Steve Caplin explains how US scientists have found an impressive way of trapping CO2 while Australian boffins have worked out how to generate electricity from polystyrene. Airbus are to increase internal baggage space on planes by 60%. An AI version of Michael Parkinson will soon be hosting a new chat show. The largest prime number has been discovered. Steve explains how to conquer "Hi Dad" text fraud. There's a clever crowd-funded camera for kids that will project the images. And Russian judges have fined Google $20 decillion, many times the size of the global economy.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI generating TV programmes & podcasts and why video games boost your brain

Thu, 24 Oct 2024 15:18:00 -0000

Steve Caplin talks health tech, including vein locators, speedier blood tests and AI spotting fractures doctors might miss. ITV is going to use AI to generate programme ideas: Steve got it to come up with a couple. But AI can also now generate complete podcasts; this example might put Steve and Simon out of a job. There's a colour Kindle and proof that video games are actually good for your brain. Prada are designing the new generation of NASA space suits. There's a foldable keyboard the size of a paperback book and a touch screen display in a suitcase. And Steve explains why Funexpo 2024 might not be as much fun as it sounds.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Standing desks, digital examinations & a robot orchestra conductor

Mon, 21 Oct 2024 11:58:00 -0000

Steve Caplin delves into the world of tech. Tesla's Robotaxi disappointed investors. Standing desks turn out to be no better than being seated. A robotic finger can now be used for digital examinations. The Dresden Sinfoniker has a robot conductor – with three arms – to perform complex music. There's an electric version of the old BMW bubble car. You can buy Vespa scooters with 75mm anti-armour cannons attached. A bell has been designed for runners – at a price. And firemen at the Stadtallendorf fire station may be regretting not installing a fire alarm.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: BBC's extreme weather, a Möbius strip keyboard & beating airlines' luggage allowance

Thu, 10 Oct 2024 14:03:00 -0000

Steve Caplin explains why the BBC has been forecasting record winds & temperatures. Tesla are to unveil their Robotaxi. Google Japan have produced a Möbius strip keyboard with 208 keys. A virtual dog lead is somewhat shocking. What will happen to the Chagos Islands' internet domain? A Harvard student has produced smart glasses with real-time facial recognition. The Ask Silver scam checker gets the thumbs up from Steve. The crowd-funded FlyOn travel coat is designed to beat the meagre luggage allowance on budget airlines. And an Australian university has found a way to make flat-pack tubes incredibly strong.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Flying shopping trolleys, a defensive ladies' fan & cutting cow burps

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 13:48:00 -0000

Steve Caplin laments the demise of the car CD player. But he looks forward to flying shopping trolleys which can even handle stairs. A powerwash simulator apparently improves people's mood. A traditional ladies' fan converts into a tactical defence baton, for a price. There's a kayak with an electric motor you can pedal, if you can deal with one of the worst websites Steve has ever encountered. A hydrogen balloon is the latest space tourism venture. There's a nasal gel to trap viruses. Westinghouse are producing a nuclear microreactor with no moving parts which lasts for 8 years without refuelling. And Australian scientists have discovered that clay reduces the methane from cow burps by 30%.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: New iPhone tricks, AI hardware, Tetris prescribed for PTSD & golden lettuce

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 15:01:00 -0000

Tech talk with Steve Caplin. He demonstrates the iPhone's way of filtering out unwanted background noise. OpenAI are to produce an AI hardware device to be designed by Sir Jony Ive. AI can now fool CAPTHA into thinking it's human. Tetris can apparently help treat PTSD. Magic mushrooms can help with chronic depression. Spanish scientists have developed a superfood yellow lettuce. For some reason Wordle is coming to Meta Quest. And red wine, dark chocolate and cheese help to lower the risk of dementia.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Holographic doctors, peelable paint & the IgNobel prizes

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 10:14:00 -0000

Steve Caplin explains how patients in rural America can now consult specialists using holographs. There's a less intrusive brain-to-computer interface. Scientists have found a way to help the voiceless speak. A car, unstable at high speeds, can expand its wheels to go faster. A new paint can be peeled off. A novel phone alarm makes sure you get out of bed. People are getting mules to do their exercising for them. And Steve reveals some of the most interesting entries for this years IgNobel Prize.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Curing wrinkles with fish guts, remote control endoscopies & the iPhone 16

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:29:00 -0000

Tech maven Steve Caplin says that South Korean scientists have discovered that fish guts can inhibit the effects of ageing. Swiss doctors performed a remote endoscopy on a pig in Hong Kong. Tartrazine can make skin transparent. Apple's new iPhone will appeal particularly to those keen on photography and has clever new auto-generated emojis. There's a keenly-priced new photography drone. Honda are making a foldable generator which will either charge your EV or turn into a mini motorbike. And the World Heath Organisation have proven that there really is no link between mobile phones and cancer.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Underground nuclear power stations, water cremation & biohybrid computing

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 15:07:00 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses the astronauts whose space stay of 8 days has turned into 8 months. Nuclear power could be safer if the power stations are buried one mile underground. Water cremation is coming to the UK soon. There's an e-ink computer which will work in sunlight – though not for very long. Italian scientists have a humanoid jetpack robot to rescue people on mountains – with a few drawbacks. Ultrasonic joining solves the problem of sticking wood and metal. And biohybrid computing, which already gives robots locusts' ears is now adapting fungi's mycelium root communication to electronics.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Internet blimps, Steve Jobs' Apple 1 computer & reinventing the wheel

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 14:41:00 -0000

Tech talk with Steve Caplin. A blimp with GPS has been developed to beam high speed internet to remote places. Steve Jobs' 1976 Apple 1 computer is up for auction. Jonny Davies has set a new world record for being dragged behind a motorbike. Korean scientists have reinvented the wheel for bumpy ground. Scientists testing fruit flies prove we are happier drinking with friends. There's a £134,000 watch beased on the Blackbird supersonic spy plane. ePaper displays no longer need batteries. ChatGPT has been answering users in Welsh. Steve's favourite drone, the HoverAir X1, has been updated. And there's a new dual screen laptop with a flipscreen ideal for meetings.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Robot dentists, making bricks from rubble & stopping cow burps

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 16:01:00 -0000

The man who knows tech stuff, Steve Caplin, discusses a household robot with a terrifying featureless face and the first autonomous dentist, apparently much faster than the real thing. There's a mosquito tracker, an AI-powered golf trolley, a necklace to jog your memory and a mobile factory that can make bricks from rubble, which is being sent to Ukraine. To solve the problem of moths in museums and stately homes, Rentokil suggests parasitc wasps while a pill could stop cows producing methane-laden burps. And do men drive more riskily if the voice on their satnav is female?

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Gadgets & Gizmos: ChatGPT makes it up, BA's safety video, cheer up with fruit & stopping snoring

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 14:29:00 -0000

Steve Caplin's love for Perplexity deepens. OpenAI's rival to Google is almost ready but ChatGPT apparently makes up URLs. BA's hilarious new safety video has been watched on YouTube half a milion times. Fruit – but not veg – reduces age-related depression. There's a new supermarket delivery robot, while a Japanese supermarket uses AI to standardise smiles and Simon warns about Sainsbury's illusory online offers. There are a couple of devices to help stop snoring, but one uses AI and the other electrocutes your tongue! And the Royal Mail app can now detect counterfeit stamps.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The global IT outage, robot litter-picking dogs & spray-on trainers - 25 Jul 24

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 16:16:00 -0000

Tech buff Steve Caplin explains the global IT outage caused by a Crowdstrike software update and Microsoft's extraordinary advice. There's an Italian litter-picking robot dog. Small aerial drones can learn to navigate by studying ants. Other drones can mimic geckos to cling to things. Spray-on trainers for athletes are now a reality, while athletes can also run faster if shielded from wind resistance. There's a crowd-funded Dymo-type printer. And Disney are retiring an animatronic attraction – for fear it will offend alcoholics.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The world's smallest chariot, walking in a VR game & slowing down ageing

Thu, 18 Jul 2024 15:03:00 -0000

Steve Caplin delves into the world of tech, where Tokyo scientists have made the world's smallest chariot, pulled by algae. Carmarker Stellantis have patented an "improvement" to the steering wheel. VR gamers will soon have a way to walk in the games they play. There's an inflatable tent, though you may not be able to stand up in it. A PhD student has produced a way of monitoring the old and infirm without being too intrusive. Imperial College claims they've found a way to prevent cancer and increase lifespan by 25% – at least in mice. And King's College London believe they can help you lose weight with transcranial direct current stimulation.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Flying cars, butter made from air & uncannily recreating old stars' voices

Thu, 11 Jul 2024 14:29:00 -0000

Steve Caplin explains how Elon Musk will be destroying the International Space Station. There's a flying car that's a cross between a go-kart and a helicopter, while another helicopter gives tours without a pilot. Renault cars will soon score your driving performance while Bill Gates is investing in a company that will make butter from air. Chinese scientists have grown human brain cells that can control robots. Text to speech can now bring to audio life stars from the past with uncanny reality. There's a new way of trying to prevent rhino poaching by making horns radioactive. And there are some impressive crowdfunded smart binoculars.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: CEO jets, Ferrari's electric car, solar panels for your VW & making robots smile

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 14:18:00 -0000

Steve Caplin says executive oneupmanship comes with Sirius Aviation's CEO eVTOL jet powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Ferrari has produced its first electric car, while Volkswagen is to sell solar panels to reduce charging costs. Swedish scientists have invented a weightless carbon fibre battery that can be built into cars or planes. The Pillbot is a dirigible pill to help with gastrointestinal problems. A Tokyo university has been experimenting with making robots smile, using artifical human skin. And there are advances with bike saddles to make them more comfortable.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Pineapple leather, the $400,000 helmet & robot taxi drivers for any car

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:27:00 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses the importance of cheese, red wine and chocolate for living longer. Artificial leather just got better by using pineapples. The $400,000 Genesis III helmet can make the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning jet invisible – while you're piloting it. There's a deflatable bike helmet which is safer than the hard type. And instead of autonomous vehicles, the University of Tokyo has developed a robot taxi driver which fits into any car. All this plus the downside of McDonalds using AI in their drive-throughs.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Apple's AI, the AI MP candidate and how Oxen's bottoms influenced railways

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:02:00 -0000

Steve Caplin explains to Simon Rose what Apple Intelligence will do on its newest phones. He has been quizzing the AI candidate standing in the General Election and discusses what he would ask the older version of himself, as being developed at MIT. He points out that Elon Musk's Starship is the biggest rocket in history, with the entrepreneur building a Starfactory to turn out one rocket every single day. An AI pin turns out to be rather dangerous. There's a DIY compass for "mindful wandering" and a film which enables you to see at night. Even more fascinating still is the explanation of the relation between two oxen's bottoms and the width of the Saturn V rockets.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Tattooing avocados, growing your own teeth and having a third thumb

Thu, 06 Jun 2024 15:02:00 -0000

Steve Caplin explains why Tesco is tattooing avocados. Japanese scientists believe people will soon be able to grow new teeth. There's a robot seed-planter taking its inspiration from wild oats. A 9-seater electric plane can take off and land on a football pitch. A new Chinese hybrid car has a massive range and a minimal price, in China at least. Cambridge scientists have been studying how people make use of a third thumb. There's a crowd-funded pet monitoring camera which can tell if the animal is poorly. Bringing the internet to a remote Amazon tribe has caused problems. And in Dubai, there's a proposal to build skyscrapers 1km high.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI gaffes and hearing aids, cutting cargo ship emissions and head transplants

Thu, 30 May 2024 14:41:00 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses the latest AI gaffes, as it suggests rock eating and gluing cheese onto pizzas. There's a bright idea to cut cargo ship emissions. Glass windows can be made more efficient – with one drawback. AI can help vastly improve hearing aids. A crowd-funded exercise bike claims to provide a more realistic 3D interactive landscape. And a molecular biologist believes he's only ten years away from robotic head transplants.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Monocab trains on demand, transparent wood & crowdsourcing hair colouring

Thu, 23 May 2024 15:53:00 -0000

Steve Caplin delves into the world of tech, with ChatGPT withdrawing a voice Scarlett Johansson claims is too much like hers and tech companies agreeing not to develop AI that poses an "intolerable risk to humanity". German scientists are developing on-demand cabs to travel on disused railway lines. Apple's new accessibiity features are impressive. Chinese scientists are improving transparent wood to be flame retardant and "superhydrophobic". L'Oréal is crowdfunding a hair colouring device. The NHS is using drones to carry blood samples. And the Police might not have thought through their new solution to eBike mugging properly.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Another leap for AI, how to drink without getting drunk & battling noisy neighbours

Thu, 16 May 2024 14:15:00 -0000

Steve Caplin is excited by ChatGPT's latest innovation which combines text, audio and video and talks to you uncannily realistically. He also explains which AI system you should use and points out that AI is not guaranteed to tell the truth. There's the video portal between Dublin and New York which had to be shut because of mischievous activity. Scientists have found a way to consume alcohol without getting drunk. MIT is working on a way to combat noisy neighbours. There may be a way to stop satellite jammers blinding planes' navigation systems. And Ordnance Survey is incorporating local nicknames to its maps.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Underwater bikes, robotic shoes, Bill Gates' unused megayacht & knifeless knives

Thu, 09 May 2024 15:29:00 -0000

Steve Caplin delves into the world of gadgets. You can swim faster with an underwater bike or the thrusters of the Jetdrive Pro. You can speedwalk with Moonwalker robotic shoes. There's an electric quadricycle and a personal flying system. You can now strap bike clips to your shoes. If you're after a megayacht, Bill Gates is selling his – unusued. The new Swiss Army Knife has no blades. And accountants BDO will no longer be doing Zoom interviews to cut down on cheating.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Superfood from thin air, anti-ageing drugs & 3D-printed houses

Thu, 02 May 2024 15:34:00 -0000

Steve Caplin enlightens Simon Rose as to the new protein superfood that can be made from thin air with little environmental impact. In California, human trials are starting on anti-ageing drugs. A lifebelt can be sent further when it's attached to a drone, but some of the grocery delivery companies are being closed down. Steve finds Portuguese 3D-printed houses very attractive. The famous can use AI for engaging with fans on Instagram. New plastic can biodegrade when mixed with compost. And the Dodo may make a comeback.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: A one-in-a-billion-year event, the Thermonator & an omnidirecitonal bicycle

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 12:41:00 -0000

In a once-in-a-billion-year happening two lifeforms have merged into one organism, says Steve Caplin. Post Office staff are using Google to tell if stamps are counterfeit. Whatsapp is being switched off in China and TikTok in the US. There's a flamethrower dog, an omnidirectional bike, a cat self-groomer and a way of putting your ex's love letters behind you. We also learn why NASA can't find out if there's life on Mars and hear why Microsoft won't release its way of producing realistic talking AI videos from a single photo.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Avoiding kangaroos, various-legged robots & a crow imitating a siren

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 14:43:00 -0000

Steve Caplin on the latest tech. VW have developed a kangaroo scarer for cars. A home security device can fire paintballs or tear gas. There's a three-legged robot for asteroid mineral extraction, a two-legged humanoid that can be trained remotely and a drone that can hop on one leg. Skateboards can now be propelled by an expensive broomstick-like device. The Post Office can't tell if its own stamps are counterfeit or not. A crow near a police station can imitate two types of siren. And Elon Music wants to send 1,000 rockets to colonise Mars.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Recharging drones, tea & post robots, DNA in air conditioners & vegan leather

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 15:37:00 -0000

Steve Caplin admires a Singapore company offering electric rental vans. In Denmark, they are developing drones that can recharge from power lines. Japanese scientists are experimenting with drones that can become a rolling wheel on land as well as fly. Hyundai are producing a robot that can deliver tea and post and cope with lifts. A new multitool lets you select the tools you would find most useful. Imperial College has grown a vegan leather shoe from bacteria which even dyed itself. And in Australia, they've found they can retrieve criminals' DNA from air conditioners.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: A timezone & crops for the Moon, AI nurses & Unidentified Submerged Objects

Thu, 04 Apr 2024 15:03:00 -0000

Tech expert Steve Caplin explains to Simon Rose why NASA believes the Moon should have its own time zone. NASA also plans to grow crops there in two years' time. Is space junk becoming dangerous to us on Earth? UFO spotters are turning their attention to the oceans. Amazon is ending its "just walk out" shops in the USA. NVIDIA is developing AI nurses while DrugGPT is hoping to provide doctors with second opinions. An Emo robot attempting to mimic human expressions turns out to be rather creepy. The invisibility shield is now available to buy. And Steve recommends an inexpensive micro sander kit for tricky angles.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Brain chips, AI film and song-generation, a stair-climbing vacuum & railways on the moon

Thu, 28 Mar 2024 15:17:00 -0000

Steve Caplin marvels at the success of Elon Musk's Neuralink brain chip, enabling a paralysed man to control a computer. He thinks filmmakers and song writers should be very afraid of AI technology that could make them redundant. He has hopes for an autonomous road repair system designed to stop potholes developing. He feels the investor of a bike lane sweeper hasn't thought things through properly. Northrup Grmman has won a contract to develop a railway on the moon. There's a stair-climbing robot vacuum. And the world's fastest camera has got even faster.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Robot space binmen & baggage handlers, flying taxis & maglev trains

Thu, 21 Mar 2024 15:24:00 -0000

Steve Caplin heralds the development of robot rubbish collectors in space and driverless baggage handlers at Gatwick. After two weeks of being plugged into AI, a humanoid robot can speak, reason and manipulate objects: the entrepreneur behind it wants a billion of them to be made. Electric flying taxis could be in the UK by 2026. There's a remarkable tech auction in progress. GameScent adds smells to computer games. Maglev trains may be able to use existing rail tracks. And a robot can paint offshore wind turbines underwater.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Is Perplexity the new Google, Google's wifi problem & bionic eyes

Thu, 14 Mar 2024 15:47:00 -0000

Steve Caplin and Simon Rose marvel at new search engine Perplexity which they both feel knocks Google for six in its usefulness. You can try it at Perplexity.ai for free on the web and through apps. Google have other problems too, with their new campus a wifi black spot. A helium balloon could be the answer if you're lost in the wilderness. A watch could show you your actual blood flow. Bionic eyes could be powered by solar panels on the iris. A replica of the Titanic is due to sail in 2027. And there's a sweet crowdfunded robot powered by your smartphone.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Will world run out of electricity, transparent laptops, hospital beeps & a mood app

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 16:06:00 -0000

Steve Caplin looks at the latest tech. Elon Musk thinks the world will run out of electricity next year because of AI. Lenovo has a concept transparent laptop. Hospital beeps might be more effective if they are more musical and less annoying. An app can tell if you're depressed and recommend solutions. Image specialist Adobe are moving into music but composers need not be worried just yet. There's a crowd-funded fishing probe. Honda have a moving way to enhance your VR experience, but might not have thought it through properly. There's an e-bike with built-in 5G connectivity and more. Windscreen ice problems might have been solved. And why do Amazon keep offering you more of whatever you've just bought?

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Project Titan cancelled, why Odysseus fell over & sterilising mosquitoes en masse

Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:21:00 -0000

Steve Caplin delves into the world of tech. The once officially-secret BT Tower has been sold to a hotel group. The Odysseus lunar lander fell over because somebody forgot to turn a switch back on. A new ride will give you longer in space for less money. Google has had to pause AI images of people again because of bias. Helicopters could soon be much simpler to fly. A Brazilian company has found a way to sterilise mosquitoes en masse. A robot bed vacuum will get rid of your dust mites. An armchair can expand into a 2- or 3-seater sofa. And Tesla is shamed online into paying for the thousands of pies it ordered then cancelled.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Amazing Sora video, drying out phones & wooden satellites

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 18:33:00 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses the amazing advances in AI Sora videos. It transpires that rice is NOT the best way of drying out wet phones. With a shortage of guide dogs, a robot seeing-eye dog is being developed in Glasgow. Clothing impregnated with nanodiamonds could cool you in summer. Japan believes a satellite made of magnolia could be more environmentally friendly than aluminium. Bumpy solar cells are more efficient. Rice filled with fat and muscle could be a cheap high-protein food. Doctors can operate remotely on the International Space Station. And Israeli scientists can – literally – grow a pair.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The US returns to the Moon, Darwin online, safer lithium batteries & Taylor Swift and CPR

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 16:52:00 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses the US returning to the Moon for the first time since 1972, entirely in private hands rather than equipped by NASA. There's an electric rickshaw with a detachable scooter. A top-of-the-ranger mobility scooter has all mod cons. Brian Eno's limited edition turnable is a work of art – but an ugly one. Steve wonders why there's a new portable CD player. Charles Darwin's library is online in its entirety, but dreadfully presented. Lithium batteries could be made far safer, if people are prepared to pay. Taylor Swift's songs could save people from heart attacks. Repeated vaccines should be given in alternate arms. An underwater kite could be the solution to strong wave power. And chocolate could have much less sugar – and more oat flour.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Apple Vision Pro, healing broken bones, driling straight & dinosaur feathers

Thu, 08 Feb 2024 16:22:00 -0000

Steve Caplin enviously discusses Apple's Vision Pro's features, still only available in the US. Korean scientists believe electric bandages will heal bones more quickly. An app will guide blind people directly to bus stops and another will help identify anything they pick up. A clever gadget will ensure that you can drill perpendicular holes. Seoul scientists believe they're discovered the reason that dinosaurs had feathers before they could fly. A new minimal phone does less for a steep price. And an American scientist has been told AI cannot be an inventor.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: 1st chipped human, Google Lumiere, Rabbit phone-tapper, networking video doorbells

Thu, 01 Feb 2024 17:24:00 -0000

40 years after Apple introduced the Macintosh computer, Steve Caplin points out the company has overtaken Samsung in the number of smartphones sold. Elon Musk's Neuralink has implanted a chip into a human skull for the first time. Google Lumiere's video creation AI appears to be astounding in what it can do. So too is the Rabbit, a beermat-sized device to replace multiple taps on your phone. A vacuuming app shows where you've missed. You can make your own Postit Notes, but why would you? Phantom VR gloves might have solved the problems of tactile feedback using VR. And Amazon plans to socially network its smart video doorbells.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Segway-style wheelchair, electric skis, perfect parking & saving hedgehogs from lawnmowers

Thu, 25 Jan 2024 16:54:00 -0000

Steve Caplin digs up the latest from the world of tech. There's a Segway-style two-wheeled wheelchair which rises to the upright position, electric all-terrain skis, a prototype car whose 90-degree-turning wheels enable perfect parking, binoculars that tell you what bird or animal you are looking at, a Stylophone Theremin almost as good as the real thing, a crash-test-dummy hedgehog to train lawnmowers to recognise them, an Elon Musk robot video that didn't quite show what it claimed, a drone disguised as a eagle, the problem of cars getting wider, a Nikon camera for pregnant cows and a new way of choosing wines.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Autofocus glasses, a washing bot, a smart coffee table & a 1000-year photograph

Thu, 11 Jan 2024 15:55:00 -0000

Tech guru Steve Caplin discusses some of the devices at the Consumer Electronics Show incuding a bus with AR windows, autofocus glasses, a washing bot and an auto-tracking phone-charging stand. An experimental philosopher has set up a camera with a 1000-year exposure. There's a strap for an Apple watch that will let users control Apple devices with gestures. A smart coffee table will display photos and movies and games. Morrison's pod to deter shoplifters is proving unpopular. There's a development in fire hoses to make them easier to wield. And it turns out that the over-70s are the second heaviest online users.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The VIBES slimming pill, beating Tetris and Pasadena's robot restaurant

Thu, 04 Jan 2024 17:30:00 -0000

Steve Caplin talks tech with Simon Rose. There's a vibrating pill to help you get thin, which has been proven to work on pigs. Amazon Prime will soon be showing ads on its video service, unless subscribers stump up more cash. A 13-year-old has become the first person to beat Tetris since it was launched in 1989. Robots in Pasadena will fry your burger and chips for you. Facial recognition could replace passports at airports. The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft over stolen content. E-scooter pioneer Bird goes bust. At the forthcoming CES, there'll be a wearable camera and a home AI agent to handle your smart home for you.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: 2023 review with bizarre TVs, remote stroking, powdered beer, AI and more

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 13:00:00 -0000

Steve Caplin takes Simon Rose through some of the highlights of the tech year, with trouble for Apple, WeWork, Buzzfeed & the FAA, while AI boosted the likes of ChatGPT and even commentated on Wimbledon. Some TVs were free while others used a vacuum to stick on the wall. Hong Kong scientists developed remote stroking, while German monks created the first powdered beer – with no alcohol. The best-rated restaurant in Montreal turned out not to exist while AI is revolutionising computer games, publishing and much more. And we mustn't forget the world's fastest wheelie bin and the first movie shot on the International Space Station.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Electric penny farthing, batteryless e-bike, iPhone security & the lost space tomato

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 17:27:00 -0000

Steve Caplin wows Simon Rose with the latest in the world of gadgets. Dr. Who at Christmas reduces the death rate. There's an electric penny farthing, a cargo e-bike with 3 wheels in a line and an e-bike with no battery. Lego modellers can make a 1977 Polaroid camera. Apple is to update security to reduce iPhone theft. 3D portraits go portable. The missing space tomato has been found. Cardboard can be recycled into a polystyrene alternative. And Hyundai's tyres can come with built-in snow chains, though only in video form so far.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The latest wonders of AI and an e-scooter the size of a briefcase

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 16:53:00 -0000

Steve Caplin delves into the latest AI developments. Google's Gemini AI can work with text, audio, images, video or even hand-drawn pictures. The forthcoming TV news Channel1 has AI presenters and reporters and will use "trusted news sources". Steve demonstrated how it translates on the fly. Amazon, meanwhile is to invest $4bn in a startup to generate a chatbot called "Claude". Most impressive – and potentially scary – is BrainGPT which converts thoughts into text. There's a crowdfunded e-scooter which folds down to the size of a briefcase while a Dutch shipbuilder has come up with an e-vessel to support offshore wind farms that can recharge from the turbines it is servicing.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Christmas gift guide 2023

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 15:42:00 -0000

Steve Caplin takes Simon Rose through a cornucopia of techie Christmas gift ideas. Among his favourites are the crowdfunded Linka Lasso bike lock and the Hover X1 self-flying camera. There's an app to help with the office Secret Santa and a distillery to brew your own booze. You can get a magnetic wrapping tripod, a great phone case with a built-in stand, teflon mats for flaky BBQ food, an underseat suitcase for flights, magnetic bookmarks, a folding charger plug and even an electrified Land Rover Defender to use as a shore tender with your superyacht.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Wearable stethoscopes, phasing out DAB & Deliveroo and electronics

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:37:00 -0000

Steve Caplin delves into the world of tech. Sitting in traffic really does raise your blood pressure, it transpires. A wearable stethosope is being developed, as is a pill that can track your vital signs. Curtains could prove the answer to stopping superbugs being transmitted in hospitals. DAB is being phased out in favour of DAB+ and users need to be careful about buying second-hand radios. Kodak are producing a bizarre camera using Super 8 film. The Swiss have developed a machine for creating giant stone walls. Deliveroo are to add electronics then Screwfix and Boots to the things they'll bring. And the first disabled astronaut may be grounded beause his prosthetic leg could poison the air on the International Space Station.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Sam Altman & OpenAI, Microsoft's Azure avatars, eating shipworms & a walking app

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 17:11:29 -0000

Steve Caplin takes Simon Rose through the drama of OpenAI's Sam Altman being sacked and then reinstated. Microsoft have an animated avatar that may make deepfakes even easier. Shipworms, which eat wooden boats, could be cultivated to be a fish substitute as a solution to overfishing. The Slow Ways walking app should benefits walkers everywhere, rural and urban. Logitech have produced an impressive articulating webcam. And, because they can, the US Marine Corps have created a robot dog with an anti-tank rocket launcher.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Plastic that turns into fish food, improved weather forecasts & a drunkenness app

Thu, 16 Nov 2023 16:07:50 -0000

Steve Caplin talks Simon Rose through the latest tech. A white dwarf predicted to hit the earth now apparently won't. Google's new weather prediction computer can massively improve the accuracy of forecasts. A crane has been designed to shin up wind turbines to repair them. A record-breaking supercar has set a new one – for driving backward. Japanese scientists have produced a plastic that not only self heals but turns into fish food. There's a new way of reading drums for sound checks. A crowdfunded multitool even has an adjustable spanner. And North American scientists have come up with an app that can tell if somebody is drunk or not.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Telepresence robots, video conference fun & virtual tourist visits

Thu, 09 Nov 2023 16:22:56 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses the latest tech. On the latest Apple computers there are new ways to enliven video conferencing. An AI security camera can describe what it sees. Robots attending meetings for you are getting more responsive. Drones will take you to some of the world's greatest tourist site without leaving home. Prague's airport is to have a country-wide map on the ceiling linked to current events. There's a revolutionary bike lock that solves the problems all cyclists face. The Department for Transport hopes to end parking app rage. And why, if you're Russian, you should be careful about using a language app to order pomegranate juice.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Bunny hops in the garage, haptic gloves & electric car troubles

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 16:26:05 -0000

Steve Caplin discussses the latest tech with Simon Rose. Mountain bikers can practise bunny hops in their garage with the Garage Bunny. Haptic gloves should add realistic touch to the world of immersive VR. A new riot gun won't fire at anyone's head. It's been proven that bad grammar causes real stress. The Guardian has collated some of the worst stories of electric cars going rogue. There's a chair for when you're tired of standing at your standing desk. A beautiful programmable mechanical music box may be a little too pricy. And mice embryos have been grown on the International Space Station.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: A 2-wheeled car, an AI chicken coop & an ultrasonic kitchen knife

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 16:07:00 -0000

Steve Caplin delves into the world of tech. The Hoverboard inventor has designed a 2-wheeled balancing car. For £2m, you can get a 15-foot high transforming robot. Driverless taxis are getting harder to hail in San Francisco. There's an AI-powered chicken coop (with Albert Eggstein). There's a crowdfunded ultrasonic kitchen knife. The Swedish Academy Dictionary, started in 1883, is out but with words like "allergy" and "computer" missing. Scientists have discovered that flipping a coin does not, after all, give you a 50/50 result while others have found that the solution to sitting for too long is to go for a walk.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Nasa's mining mission, Twitter's fees & Amazon drone deliveries

Thu, 19 Oct 2023 14:39:38 -0000

Steve Caplin dazzles Simon Rose with the latest tech news. NASA are using SpaceX to visit an asteroid worth $10 quadrillion. Twitter is to introduce an annual fee, but only in 2 countries. Amazon say they'll be delivering by drone by the end of next year. Adobe have developed a dress that changes pattern. Japanese scientists have discovered that drinking alcohol-free drinks reduces your alcoholic intake. There's a flat-pack electric car for €10,000. And a bricklaying robot will be able to lay 300 masonry blocks an hour, with no need for any tea breaks.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI traffic lights, Prada spacesuits & wheelchairs for stairs

Thu, 12 Oct 2023 16:08:59 -0000

Steve Caplin talks tech with Simon Rose. Manchester is to trial AI-controlled traffic lights, Prada are to make spacesuits to go to the moon while there's a watch commemoriating Neil Armstrong which contains moon dust. There's a wheelchair which can climb stairs, Japanese businessmen can nap upright in a Giraffenap and nouvelle cuisine goes mobile with food dancing around the plate. All this and more.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Alexa upgrade, Meta's smart glasses, Medieval murders & AI art copyright

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 15:32:00 -0000

Steve Caplin talks tech with Simon Rose. Alexa is to become more conversational while Meta has launched smart Ray-Ban glasses with AI. A website will show you the grisly details of medieval murders, while Swedish scientists believe they can resurrect a carnivorous marsupial from Tasmania. Mini launches its first eBike while there are improvements to car roof boxes and head torches. While Amazon is trying to limit the number of AI-written books, the US Copyright Office has ruled that art created with AI can not be copyrighted.

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Flying cars & mass-produced humanoid robots, a desk bike & a folding e-bike

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 15:07:00 -0000

Steve Caplin celebrates the arrival of a flying car, though with a slow terrestrial speed. He also looks at modular jets, how electric planes could be powered by lasers on the ground, at the first mass-produced humanoid robot, at a desk bike that keeps you fit while powering your devices, at Honda's ebike that folds into a briefcase and at the development of a flexible soft robot that can heal like a living organism and even self destruct into an oily puddle (thanks of course to diphenyliodonium hexafluorophosphate).

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Gadgets & Gizmos: New iphone and watch, Duolingo does music & an off-road e-unicycle

Thu, 14 Sep 2023 13:34:48 -0000

Steve Caplin waxes lyrical about the iPhone 15, with a camera he's dying to get his hands on and an EU-enforced change to the charging slot. There's also a new Apple Watch, while Polaroid have, despite the ageing technology, brought out a new camera. Duolingo are moving from language into music, students have created the fastest-accelerating EV and the Finns are experimenting with a digital passport scheme. An oscilloscope watch is shipping, a mere 10 years after it was launched, cyclists can get NASA-inspired punctureless tyres and there's a Chinese e-unicycle which can go off-road up 50-degree inclines. Steve warns of the dangers of Amazon selling AI-written books on mushroom foraging.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI assistants for meetings, tear-powered contact lenses & CAPTHA's accuracy

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 15:17:21 -0000

Tech maven Steve Caplin discusses the non-TFL ULEZ websites, the AI speed camera catching misbehaving motorists, sending AI assistants to meetings for you, AR contact lenses powered by tears, an up-market martini mixter, Tesla's secret autopilot mode, the Playstation Portal, a pen with 16 million colours, why Jeff Bezos had to buy a $75m support vessel to provide what his $500m mega yacht was lacking and why CAPTHA is not as good at distinguising computers from humans as you might expect.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Toilet-cleaning robots, cocktail makers, vegan spare ribs & an AI cat flap

Thu, 24 Aug 2023 15:14:31 -0000

Steve Caplin laments the end of Wilko's while marvelling at a toilet-cleaning robot for offices, a tech toilet brush, a sophisticated cocktail maker, braille-coded Lego bricks, vegan spare ribs with edible bones, a snorkel with 10 mins of air, an intelligent cat flap that will stop moggies bringing in unwanted "presents", a humanoid pilot that can do everything a real pilot can do and an ePaper 25-inch poster.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: eBike caravans, smart glasses, 3D vegan seafood and an electric wheelbarrow

Thu, 17 Aug 2023 14:57:46 -0000

Steve Caplin takes Simon Rose on a voyage through the latest tech. There's a hoist to lift your eBike onto your car roof, a cargo eBike and an eBike caravan. Smart glasses make a return as a fitness and navigation aid, there's a mouse that clips to your fingers, scientists have come up with 3D printed vegan seafood, China is limiting smartphone use for under-18s and you can buy an electric wheelbarrow wheel and a chair to cool you down. In New Zealand, a meal-bot has's been coming up with some hair-raising recipes, thanks to mischievous users.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI comes to computer games, writing music with your brain & storing electricity in concrete

Thu, 10 Aug 2023 13:54:00 -0000

Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose about the latest tech developments. There's a demo of AI computer game characters who can interact realistically with players, devices to help deaf concertgoers and blind subway users, how simply thinking about music can now actually produce it, glue that can be unstuck on demand, a camera so fast it can capture light in motion and take photos in almost total darkness, an electric guitar for children, why bras may be soon be able to check for breast cancer and how buildings made of concrete could become giant batteries.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Electricity without heat, Meta's Lincoln chatbot & Steve's best of the year

Thu, 03 Aug 2023 15:39:29 -0000

Steve Caplin delves into the latest tech. He is excited about a room-temperature superconductor, producing no heat, which could have extraordinary ramifications. There's a camping induction cooker, a cryptocurrency where you have to prove you're human, Meta's AI chatbot in the persona of Abraham Lincoln, Australian doctors being told not to use ChatGPT for writing medical notes, a new way to recycle tech, an E-trike like a go-cart and Steve's favourite gadget of the year, an autonomous crowd-funded drone that follows you with a palm takeoff and landing.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Twitter, Delaying ageing, dementia & Parkinson's and a less-than-cuddly robot dog

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 14:52:34 -0000

Steve Caplin on the latest tech news. There's Twitter rebranding, scientists working out how to reverse ageing and ward off dementia and Parkinson's, the Australian military investing in computer-capable brain cells, injured knee tendons being replaced with those from kangaroos, DNA storing data with a biological camera, a relatively inexpensive robot dog that lacks cuddliness and a crowd-funded e-scooter with a more comfortable riding position.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: $190,000 for a useless iPhone, AI to annoy cold callers & music for cows

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 16:16:00 -0000

Steve Caplin marvels at the $190,000 paid for an original, unopened iphone, at AI helping conquer the world record for juggling and defeating cold callers, at a laser device to rid Western Australia of feral cats, at a music system to keep cows grazing in the right place, at a system to reduce methane in cow dung – that appears utterly impractical, at a new way of charging electric cars that might mean they can enter the 24hr Le Mans race, at a crowd-funded portable hammock, at a device to counter car theft and at the possibility that humans could soon grow new teeth, much like sharks.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Threads, the UK's first hands-free car & a robot dog with built-in flamethrower

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 14:46:08 -0000

Share's tech editor, Steve Caplin, discusses Wimbledon's AI commentary, Meta's Twitter rival Threads, the Pope's Ferrari, the UK's first legal hands-free car, an eBike with built in ChatGPT, VR glasses for reading, underwater reading glasses for SCUBA divers, a robot surgeon with four hands and a robot dog which has a built-in flamethrower.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI Wimbledon commentary, jet pack pizza delivery & a water refill app

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 14:32:31 -0000

Share Radio's tech whizz Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose how Wimbledon will be serving an AI-powered commentary this year. There's also an app to tell you where you can refill your water bottle, a way of tracking wild animals without having to replace batteries, Google's help for skin problems, an extreme short-throw projector, an electric "car" for under £6,000, a smart chain bike lock, a variety of concrete that will reduce car pollution and pizza delivery at Glastonbury – by jet pack.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Frying chips in space, AI and The Beatles & mining asteroids

Thu, 15 Jun 2023 15:20:49 -0000

Steve Caplin talks tech with Simon Rose. Greek scientists have been working out how to fry chips in space, there's an ultra-wide gaming monitor, a TV you can take to the beach, AI is helping to create the final Beatles song, the UK is trialling smart lampposts and hopes to beam power from space, geothermal power takes a leap forward, there could be a way of abolishing most food waste and NASA hopes to find a way to mine an asteroid.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Apple's AR headset, pedestrians and driverless cars & AI reads the small print for you

Thu, 08 Jun 2023 14:53:19 -0000

Steve Caplin guides Simon Rose through the latest tech developments, majoring on Apple's new AR headset bringing "spatial computing" to the world. But at $3,500, who is going to buy it? He explains the latest features of iOS 17, how driverless cars might let pedestrians know that they have been seen, why AI might read T&Cs on your behalf to check there's nothing fishy in the small print and wonders where the truth lies with a report that an AI drone tried to kill its operator because it didn't like the instructions it was given.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Driverless car rental, Robot sweaters and smart white canes for the blind

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 14:07:32 -0000

Steve Caplin delves into the world of tech where driverless car rental has just been introduced in Milton Keynes, the cars being delivered by a remote operator. Sweaters are giving robots the sense of touch, Dyson's robot vacuum has 6 times the suck, there's a solution to mice devouring wheat seeds, a great new bird app, a smart cane for the blind, beaming energy from space to earth and progress towards getting astronauts to hibernate.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: A dog airline, AI does 3D modelling, AR laptop projection & a Spanish housework app

Thu, 25 May 2023 14:49:21 -0000

Steve Caplin enlightens Simon Rose on the latest tech. Which? says that facial recognition on cheap smartphones can be unlocked by photos. Disney is shutting its Star Wars hotel, K9 Jets will let you travel with your dog – for a price, Tesla's bot Optimus is upgraded, AI can now create 3D-models, even from text, Google's AI is having trouble creating music, free WiFi on trains may disappear and the Spanish government want to develop an app to ensure that husbands do their fair share of housework.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Eels on Saturn's moon, Zombie defence, drinkable sea water & a free telly

Thu, 18 May 2023 15:00:25 -0000

Steve Caplin updates Simon Rose on the latest tech. NASA have developed autonomous EELS to see if there's life on one of Saturn's moons. There's an extinction level event camper trailer to keep you safe in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse, a gadget to make sea water drinkable, a wheeled suitcase that is supposed to operate your hotel aircon, lights & TV while a US company is giving away free tellies in return for bombarding you with ads. There are claims that Uber charges more if your phone battery is low while American scientists have found that airborne DNA is sufficient to identify people.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Google's folding phone, booking flights with Uber & rock music – from rocks

Thu, 11 May 2023 15:05:58 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses the latest tech with Simon Rose. Google have a folding phone (pricey) and a new tablet (reasonable), while Uber's app now lets you book flights, with a better refund policy than most airlines and 100 of Amazon's original shows are now available for free. Scientists have worked out how to get water on the moon – with a microwave, to produce music from rocks and to get the best head of beer from a can. AI cameras are to be used to catch litterlouts while a man has made the world's fastest wheelie bin, which is legal to drive on roads.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Sneaking war news into Russia, AI innovatios, bike radars & cultivated fish

Thu, 04 May 2023 14:12:42 -0000

Steve Caplin delves into the latest tech, with a computer game that's found a way to sneak censored war news into Russia. ChatGPT is apparently more empathetic than real doctors while AI can now provide therapy and even read minds. Before long you'll be able to control your kettle by stroking it, there's a bike helmet with clever indicators and a bike light with built-in radar. Cultivated fish grown in a lab have been developed, with eel next on the list and Uber have a replica Coronation carriage you can ride in.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Inflatable drones, bikes with square wheels & edible batteries

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 15:11:29 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses tech with Simon Rose, lamenting the end of BuzzFeed news and explaining Twitter's blue tick problem. The Russians have beaten Tom Cruise to making the first movie in space while NASA's Mars helicopter has just completed its 50th flight. Inflatable drones may soon solve the problem of drone fragility while a bike's been built with square wheels. Parrots have been trained to video call each other while Italian scientists are developing an edible battery. Steve is also impressed by a crowdfunded system of multi-camera live streaming to your phone.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI songs, cassette sales soar and a backpack for carrying your off-road bike

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 15:23:39 -0000

Steve Caplin delves into the world of tech, with AI creating a photo that won a big photography competition, composing a popular song that has now been banned and attracting Elon Musk, shortly after demanding a pause in AI research. There's an electronic device to replace physical board games, a bike rack with a powered motor and a backpack for your bike if it's too tough off road. Last year cassette sales were at a 20-year high, while vinyl outsold CDs. And do you know how "high" you are scrolling? Steve will tell you.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Speed cameras on drones, creating shooting stars & AI robot massages

Thu, 13 Apr 2023 14:45:00 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin explains why Getty Images is suing an AI art maker. Devon & Cornwall Police are putting speed cameras on drones while a Janapese company is offering to create meteor showers to order. There's an AI humanoid robot and AI earbuds, while Italy is banning ChatGPT. Sony have come up with a spatial reality display that doesn't need glasses, Buckingham Palace has produced a coronation emoji while scientists have mimicked polar bears, producing material that is lighter than cotton and better at retaining heat.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI interior design, coconut & lemon insulation & punchbags that fight back

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 14:46:12 -0000

Tech obsessive Steve Caplin demonstrates to Simon Rose just how impressive text-to-speech has become and why AI should really be AGI. There's the UK's first self-driving bus, why cars with damaged batteries must be scrapped, Paris banning e-scooters, AI suggesting how your home can be redecorated, the noises plants make if they are stressed, how you can insulate your home with coconut & lemon and a crowdfunded punchbag – that fights back.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI websites, powdered beer, 3D cheesecake & smart socks

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 14:54:42 -0000

Steve Caplin uses AI to build a website in just 30 seconds but 1,000 AI experts have called for a halt to the AI race. German monks have made the world's first powdered beer, there's a 3D-printed cheesecake (with no cheese), a 3D-printed rocket, carbon-negative concrete, an amazing glamping RV, superb paint-matching for next to nothing, smart socks for old people and airbags for motorcyclists.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: A reactor on the moon, bricks on Mars, AI on your PC & a batteryless doorbell

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 16:38:37 -0000

Steve Caplin takes Simon Rose through the latest tech. Samsung's phone takes amazing moon photos (by cheating), the UK is to put a nuclear reactor on the moon, NASA unveils its new spacesuit (disguised), Stanford develop AI for your own PC and AI can now create photos. There's a fortified plastic chicken coop to keep out foxes (that looks like an animal prison) and Lidl are selling a wireless doorbell that is entirely battery free.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Bing hallucinating, a paint revolution, an eternal battery & streaming classical music

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 15:50:00 -0000

Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose of the latest tech innovations. A startup has worked out how to use data processing centres to heat swimming pools which cool the PCs in return. Bing's latest GPT upgrade has many improvements, but still hallucinates and makes things up. There's a revolution in the world of paint, better protection for windswept buildings, a keyboard hand heater, spirally-constructed wind turbines and Apple moving into the world of streamed classical music.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Tesla woes, exploring Mars's caves & a rolling bridge

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 16:14:00 -0000

Tech expert Steve Caplin discusses Tesla's non-Ford assembly line, Musk's dull investor day and a setback for his Neuralink. Breadcrumbs will be the key to exploring caves on Mars, it seems, while the iMAG could be the way to end uncomfortable endoscopies and 3D printing taking place within the human body could soon be feasible. There's a crowdfunded exoskeleton to help with hill-climbing (or even shopping or visiting museums) and on the River Lee, there's an ingenious hand-powered rolling bridge.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Remote stroking & kissing, electronic bandages and a self-building igloo

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 15:57:34 -0000

Steve Caplin delves into the latest tech, with the Chinese coming up with ways to stroke and kiss loved ones when not together. ChatGPT has been banned in China, there's a new AI app to try, an electronic bandage will dissolve after use, Metaverse property prices have gone south, there's a crowdfunded self-building igloo, the MoD is hiring sci-fi writers to predict the future of warfare, you can get a balloon ride to space for just £150,000 and the Kinks have asked Elon Musk to stop Twitter censoring the band's name.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The best book title ever, AI authors & self-cleaning touch screens

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 16:29:13 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses the latest tech with Simon Rose. Apple's most famous designer has produced Charles III's Coronation logo, Microsoft's Bing AI doesn't know what year it is, Kindle's ChatGPT authors and the best book title ever, a sign language-reading app, self-cleaning touch screens for cars, a way of telling if you're overusing your voice, an alarm clock that shocks you awake and setting a spider (or lots of them) to catch a moth.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: RIP Internet Explorer, AI getting too frisky & autonomous fighter jets

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 15:54:40 -0000

Steve Caplin astounds Simon Rose with tales of the latest tech. Microsoft are killing off Internet Explorer, AI can change the style of video footage and synthesise voices while an AI virtual friend is apparently getting way too frisky with some users. Scientists have developed an automatic arm-stroker to redue stress, Lockheed Martin now have an autonomous fighter jet, the best restaurant in Montreal doesn't actually exist, physiological synchrony can determine how a date is going while goldfish turn out to have fantastic memories and sea squirts eat their own brains.

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Gadgets and Gizmos: Google Bard, Portable Coffee Printers, Top-Down Skyscrapers

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 12:06:49 -0000

Steve Caplin dives into the world of tech, telling Simon Rose about plans for charging users of ChatGPT and problems with Google's launch of its rival, Bard. There's also a stunning phone camera, how driverless cars might better cope with crossroads, Twitter being sued by the Crown Estate, a portable coffee printer, why skiers with Apple watches are annoying the Colorado police and a skyscraper in Detroit being built from the top down.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Bringing back dodos, learning better and the latest AI innovations

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 16:20:00 -0000

It's gadget time with Steve Caplin, who tells Simon Rose about plans to reintroduce genetically-engineered dodos to Mauritius. There's also news of journalists being replaced with AI, music being generated by text and an audio prompt, AI passing the US law exams, how a flashing light can help you learn faster, Google laying off massage therapists, a robot to pick flowers, an app for when your phone battery is dying and why stargazing may soon become a thing of the past.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI book narration & impressionism, CCTV-confusing sweaters & tech pot plants

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 17:03:55 -0000

Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose about a UK self-driving bus & a hydrogen-powered plane, about AI narrating Apple books and impersonating anybody after 3 seconds, about jumpers that can confuse facial recognition tech, an American SUV for dangerous school runs, electrified spoons, a GE pot plant to purify the air and how Ferrari are making ther electric cars produce the familiar petrol engine sound.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The Share Radio Interview — The Internet of Things (REPLAY)

Sat, 21 Jan 2023 16:06:00 -0000

We’re becoming increasingly reliant on technology of all kinds, divulging more and more of our most personal details online and on internet-connected devices. But are we investing in suitable safeguarding measures to protect ourselves against hacking? Well, apparently not. Research from cyber-security experts, nCipher Security, has revealed that as more and more things become connected to the internet – from wireless home sensor networks, to smartphones, to wearable tech – we’re leaving ourselves wide open to cyber-attacks. In this episode of the Share Interview recorded in November 2019, Vice President of Global Distribution from nCipher Security, Peter Carlisle, joins Vicky Sayers to offer his advice.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Fitness trackers for dogs, electric baby buggies & manure-powered tractors

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 17:40:52 -0000

In our weekly gadgets show, Steve Caplin takes Simon Rose through some of the ideas coming out of the Consumer Electronics Show, including a 3D laptop, urine tester, fitness tracker for dogs, a completely wireless TV, a smellovision VR headset, an electric baby buggy and, from Cornwall, the first ever tractor to run on cow and pig manure.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI poetry & age checks, NFTs as tax write-offs & synthetic alcohol

Thu, 05 Jan 2023 16:09:00 -0000

Share's technology editor Steve Caplin looks at Apple's fall from +$3bn to -$2bn, at ways of setting over-priced NFT purchases off against tax, at AI writing Channel 4's Christmas message and poetry about Share Radio, as well as checking your age in supermarkets. A former drug tsar has come up with synthetic alcohol doing away with drunkenness and hangovers and from the annual CES comes an AI oven, a fruit ripeness checker, a baby translator and printers for temporary tattoos and eyebrows.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The summary of the sublime and silly tech of 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 14:17:38 -0000

Steve Caplin looks back over the tech of 2022. There are escaped robot vacs, jumping robots, robot chefs, teeth-cleaning robots, robot fish, cockroaches, spiders & falcons as well as a dangerous chess-playing robot. They now know how to recreate dodos, clone pets, train goldfish to drive cars and use dead spiders to pick up microelectronics. It was a year with a lickable TV screen, Wordle, a collapse in NFTs, road surfaces made of nappies and the revelation that you should lie on your right side after taking painkillers.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Colonies on asteroids, unfogging glasses & an AI Christmas message

Thu, 22 Dec 2022 16:04:19 -0000

Steve Caplin looks at a solution to the killing of bats by wind turbines, how space colonies might exist on asteroids, how New Zealand plans ridding the country of smokers, at a possible answer to foggy glasses, Channel 4's AI-written, robot-delivered Christmas message, at Westminster Council's solution to street urination and at a licence-free plane, which you have to build yourself.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Christmas Gift Guide

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 15:48:49 -0000

Steve Caplin has a sackful of Christmas gift suggestions that should arrive before the holiday. For the extravagant, there's a 2-storey inflatable catamaran or a pimped iPhone 14 Pro Max. For the rest of us, choose between apps to produce spectacular portraits, a smart door lock, a space-saving Christmas tree, kitchen scales, a yodelling pickle, a rechargeable lantern, a travelling plug set, a folding fan, a belt for sailing through security, a suitcase to beat size restrictions and an app to keep track of all your online shopping.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Wheeled suitcases, hydrogen bikes, electronic noses & brain chips

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 15:28:21 -0000

Tech buff Steve Caplin finds an answer to Simon Rose's earlier question about who invented the wheeled suitcase. There's a pilot-it-yourselves VTOL sightseeing plane, a hydrogen-powered commuter bike and supercar, an electronic nose to detect prostate cancer, a toilet sensor to identify cholera outbreaks, a gel to kill harmful bacteria, nuclear-reactor robots to repair the 3,000 malfunctioning satellites, Elon Musk's brain chip and Apple allowing people in the UK to repair their own phones. Steve says, "Don't even think about it."

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Gadgets & Gizmos: 50 years of Pong, remote control worms, vegan honey & lethal robots

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 15:56:59 -0000

Steve Caplin fills Simon Rose in on the latest tech developments, after commemorating 50 years of Pong. There's a backlash against Tesla drivers over Elon Musk, Alexa turning kids' ideas into animated stories, remote control worms, San Francisco's killer robots, circuits printed on contact lenses, vegan honey, the first hydrogen jet engine test and ride-on suitcases for adults.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Earth's weight, time-lapse app & lab-grown chicken in the US

Thu, 24 Nov 2022 16:03:51 -0000

Steve Caplin looks at the latest from the world of tech. He tells us how much Earth and Jupiter weigh, who the 8th billion person on Earth is, how to scare sharks away from fishing lines, why Bob Dylan's signature isn't what it seems, about a free time-lapse photography app, about an audiobook app that has trouble pronouncing words and how the United State has just become the second country to approve lab-grown chicken for sale.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Robotic sewage spiders, sharks with cameras & the first laser weapon

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 16:46:00 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses the latest tech news with Simon Rose. As well as some bizarre Twitter blue ticks, there are Japanese robotic spiders to check sewers, cameras strapped to sharks to map seagrass meadows off the Bahamas, rats dancing to Mozart, the Ministry of Defence firing the first-ever real laser weapon, a Swedish wooden choir, a desk to facilitate using a laptop outdoors, a Japanese mission to collect moon dust and crowdfunding the monitoring of the modal frequencies of bridges to warn of possible collapse.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Twitter & Meta, edible drones, origami mice and artificial whipped cream

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 15:44:00 -0000

Steve Caplin updates Simon Rose on the latest tech news, with problems at Twitter, Tesla and Meta in the news. He marks 10 years of Candy Crush then drones on about drones seeing wifi devices through walls, edible drones, autonomous emergency rescue drones, undersea drones and ashes released by drones. There's an origami mouse, a discussion about how we might talk to aliens when we can't even chat to whales and an attempt to produce whipped cream without the high fat content.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Magnetic north comes to the UK, robot falcons and the tiniest of TVs

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 14:58:05 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin talks to Simon Rose about Elon Musk and Twitter, the arrival of magnetic north in the UK, a new data speed record, a robot falcon, how to defeat self-driving cars, the tiniest of tiny TVs, a self-boiling Thermos flask and how Google hopes to develop AI for the top 1,000 (out of 7,000) languages worldwide.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Flying cars, solving leaves on the line & hearing the Earth's magnetic field

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 14:47:00 -0000

Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose about a flying car that you can now order, although as a car it might prove somewhat lacking. He celebrates 21 years of the iPod, marvels at a couple of Lenovo prototypes, discusses the deadline to use up old-fashioned stamps, plays a recording of what the Earth's magnetic field might sound like, wonders why it's taken until the production of the Sand Rover to solve the problem of leaves on the line and explains how the first piece of land has just been bought using an non-fungible token.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: QR codes IN food, more efficient wind and wave energy & fake Amazon reviews

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 13:29:00 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor talks to Simon Rose about the ability to 3D print QR codes inside food, but wonders why anyone would want to. He is dubious about the data gathered by Meta's new VR headset but loves an app that separates various elements in music. He is impressed by a motionless rooftop wind generator and a sea platform producing energy from waves. There's even a proof-of-concept ability to transmit solar power wirelessly, using a system developed by Nikola Tesla over 100 years ago.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Killer robots, plants with machetes & brain cells playing Pong

Thu, 13 Oct 2022 14:50:00 -0000

Share Radio's technology maven Steve Caplin looks into a pledge not to weaponise robots, while a kinetic sculptor has armed a house plant with a machete in the name of art. A robot boot could help the elderly walk faster with less effort while Apple's new iphone has been assuming people on rollercoasters were in accidents. Brain cells grown in a lab of people and mice have been taught to play pong while a Crypto exchange that mistakenly refunded a woman $10.5m is having to sue in an attempt to get it back.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Standardised tech cables, Tesla's non-walking robot & high-tech animals

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 14:37:31 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose about the new EU requirement for all small and medium portable electronic devices to have a stanard USB-C cable from 2024. Amazon have brought out a raft of new devices, Google are closing Stadia, Tesla has demonstrated a prototype humanoid robot – which can't walk, a work of art has been destroyed to promote NFTs, a next generation razor may not work and scientists have worked out how animals can be used to create batteries, degrade plastic and create hydrogen.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Racing robots, Skyscraper-repairing drones & VR goggles for sedation

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 15:10:04 -0000

Technology guru Steve Caplin talks to Simon Rose about a record-breaking running robot, a clever seabed camera, repairing the tops of tall buildings with extruding drones, how to make driverless cars safer for pedestrians, a lamp that not only follows you but also offers emotional companionship, turning plastic into diamonds and how VR goggles can be used for sedation.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Ig Nobel prizes, cyborg cockroaches, a moon simulator & concrete inflatable buildings

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 08:50:00 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin reveals to Simon Rose the winners of the Ig Nobel prizes for science. There's also news of how AI can change the accents of cold callers, of a giant simulated moon you can visit, how building blueprints can be interpreted by robots, how cockroaches can be turned into cyborgs for dangerous situations, how concrete buildings can be easily constructed using inflatable forms, a motorless food blender, a clever camping lantern and why Janet Jackson might crash your laptop.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: iPhone 14, iOS16, 3D Wagyu beef, disco fridges & laughing robots

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 15:42:57 -0000

Share Radio's tech maven Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose about the new iPhone 14, which can tell if you're involved in a crash. The new iOS lets you unsend texts while the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra has a camera with abundant pixels. There'll soon be 3D-printed Wagyu beef while LG have a fridge with mood lights and bluetooth speakers. And if you're worried that robots might be too solemn, Japanese scientists have worked out how to make them laugh.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Laser phone charging, sulphur batteries & facial recognition for salmon

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 14:34:00 -0000

Steve Caplin talks tech with Simon Rose. The Koreans are developing infrared lasers that can charge your phone when you walk into the room, while MIT has come up with batteries from aluminium, sulphur and salt, superior to the Li-ion type. There's also an idea for getting energy from waves, facial recognition for one type of salmon, how Surrey Police have been tricking drivers by manipulating Waze and an e-VTOL plane that can land in your garden – with an optional parachute.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI music & voice separation, boosting pain relief & the sound of a black hole

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 15:08:00 -0000

Steve Caplin marvels at a website that will separate out voices and instruments giving you ready-made karaoke. He reveals that pain relief works better lying down, but only on one side and discusses a beautiful and nippy submarine, a limited edition Bugatti, an 87mph electric unicycle, clever rear bike lights and NASA's revelation of the sound of a black hole in the Perseus galaxy, 240m light years away.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Wordle weirdness, AI-hologram funerals, sausage stars & woodless pencils

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 14:42:09 -0000

Steve Caplin talks tech with Simon Rose, warning all Zoom users they should update the app. He links it to Wordle, where there are now books and poems. There's also a car park machine that only talks Welsh, a funeral where guests could quiz the deceased, problems with Meta's chatbot, the physicist who convinced people chorizo was a star, woodless pencils, three different stories about robot dogs and a paper battery that is biodegradable.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Jet fuel from sunlight, tech mattresses & spider micro-cranes

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 15:25:00 -0000

Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose of plans to create jet fuel from sunlight. Students have built an e-car that sucks CO2 from the air, there's a tech mattress to help with sleep, Google's new AR glasses, a way to use dead spiders to lift tiny objects, a wearable fitness tracker that detects Covid 2 days before symptoms appear and a faster, more efficient way to dig tunnels - with a big catch.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Top theme park smells, DNA motors and safe scooter steering

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 13:31:00 -0000

Steve Caplin talks tech with Simon Rose, giving us the top theme park artificial smells, including rotting flesh, penguin vomit and Kylie Minogue's breath. In addition, there are motors made of DNA, how small-wheeled scooters can be made more stable, reusable coffee pods, car wheels able to turn 80 degrees, replacing microplastics with silk and an affordable electric bike.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Aggressive chess robots, e-Jerry cans & wrapping bridges in foil

Thu, 28 Jul 2022 14:41:00 -0000

Tech maven Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose about the chess robot that broke a 7-year-old opponent's finger. There's also an explanation of why Hammersmith Bridge was wrapped in foil, a hydrofoil creating hydrogen, the privacy dangers of TikTok, why BMW owners need to pay more for heated seats, an e-Jerry can if you run out of charge and serving court papers using non-fungible tokens.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: RIP SLR cameras, a drone superhighway and more efficient kettles

Thu, 21 Jul 2022 14:49:00 -0000

Share Radio's technology guru Steve Caplin laments the demise of the SLR camera after over 60 years. He discusses the world's longest drone highway, printing your face on Hasbro figures, hacking fruit-fly brains, a more efficient kettle, a crowdfunded levitating firestone and the Swiss developing a network of underground autonomous freight tunnels.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Quantum Entanglement, Limpet Teeth & Magic Wands To Turn On Lights

Thu, 14 Jul 2022 14:30:00 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin talks to Simon Rose about Twitter's spam & bot accounts, about the Uber files, how the offside rule will be monitored at the World Cup, about quantum entanglement, Bob Dylan's one-off disk, how limpet teeth trump spider silk as the strongest material in nature and about the Wizard Smart Switch, enabling you to turn lights on and off with a touch of a magic wand.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Amazon's e-bikes, biofuel, sand batteries & AR contact lenses

Thu, 07 Jul 2022 14:34:00 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor, Steve Caplin, talks to Simon Rose about Amazon's new e-cargo bikes and a new more efficient biofuel. Renewable energy storage takes a leap forward with sand batteries, while pyramids could be the way forward for solar cells. AR glasses may not be needed; there could be AR contact lenses instead while NASA want to send mini swimming robots to moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Steve admires a coal-powered motorbike and discusses the latest development in 3D printed wood.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Virtual swimming tests, cloning dead voices & the return of airships

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 14:57:01 -0000

Share Radio's tech expert Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose of the Chinese students who must take compulsory swimming tests to graduate and who are now having to do it online! Alexa is exploring cloning the voices of the dead, IKEA is producing an app that lets you remove your existing furniture, the police now have contactless fingerprinting, there's an autonomous truck with no cab, a mysterious moon crater, passenger-carrying airships and Philips are crowdfunding an ultra-short-throw projector.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: AR glasses, spray food wrap, bionic robo-fish and roads paved with nappies

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 14:49:01 -0000

Steve Caplin, Share Radio's tech guru, discusses the first mainstream AR glasses, though he's less than impressed. He also tells of environmentally-kind spray food wrap, bionic robo-fish collecting microplastics and a worm called Zophobas Morio that eats plastic. In addition, disposable nappies are being trialled as a road surface, there's a coaxial octacopter for beating jams, a cycle brake light and smart implants to deliver medicines.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Is Google's computer alive and other robotic innovations

Thu, 16 Jun 2022 15:39:21 -0000

Steve Caplin goes all robotic in this week's tech show. As well as a robot waiter and a robot pizza maker, there's a pea-sized robot doing an obstacle course and a sweaty robotic finger. At Google, there's an argument over whether one of its robots is actually alive, with an engineer claiming it is and trying to get it a lawyer. Internet Explorer is no more, there's a solar panel-festooned car and cars charged by an induction loop. And Sony have brought out a high-end Walkman MP3 player costing a mere £2,999.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: iOS update, space solar power, 3D ears and mouse jigglers

Thu, 09 Jun 2022 14:55:00 -0000

Share Radio's tech supremo Steve Caplin delves into the features of Apple's forthcoming iOS update and looks at the world's fastest supercomputer. China is planning to put a solar power plant in space, there's an autonomous gas tanker, driverless taxis in San Francisco, 3D printing of ears and the ability to print inside the body, mouse jigglers for those not working particularly hard at home and a crowd-funded portable extractor.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Solar-powered car, e-DeLorean, pizza vending and robot snakes & crabs

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 14:47:00 -0000

Steve Caplin, Share's tech expert, discusses with Simon Rose a new electric car powered by the sun. There's an electric DeLorean, a tracked VW camper van, an e-bike that could climb Mount Everest – if there was a road, objections to a car park pizza vending machine, parents using Alexa to help with homework, litter-picking in space, robot snakes and crabs and why people using mobile payments are more likely to overspend.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Water from thin air, solar power at night & the $2m jigsaw puzzle

Thu, 26 May 2022 14:32:00 -0000

Steve Caplin, Share Radio's technology editor, tells Simon Rose of the Texas scientists who have worked out how to combine cellulose and konjac to make water from thin air while, in New South Wales, they've found a way to get solar panels to generate power at night! There's also a $2m jigsaw, though the puzzle itself is a QR code, Rolls Royce have a new $28m car while the Genesis GV60 comes with facial recognition, a fingerprint engine start and a crystal ball. After 45 years, Voyager 1 is 14.5 billion miles away but still transmitting, though nobody can understand it.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Post by drone, pay with a smile, underwater parties & meat in space

Thu, 19 May 2022 14:15:00 -0000

Share Radio's tech expert Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose about the Royal Mail's drone delivery to the Isles of Scilly, Shetlands, Orkneys and Hebrides. Mastercard have a new payment system requiring you to smile, there are teeth-cleaning nanobots on the way, underwater robots are killing jellyfish, drugs will have chocolate sprinkles to defeat counterfeiters, there's a battery that produces electricity from moisture and another from algae, the Dutch have produced a submarine party venue and Israeli scientists have mastered meat in space.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: RIP iPod, first UK satellite, smart screws & cracklier chocolate

Thu, 12 May 2022 14:36:25 -0000

Steve Caplin talks to Simon Rose about the latest tech news. After 21 years, Apple are discontinuing the iPod, the UK is to launch a satellite from Newquay, Mercedes' new electric car will go 1,000km on one charge, the Italians are producing a hydrofoil which will dive down 50 metres, smart screws will detect if they're coming loose in bridges, wind turbines and the like, the Dutch are making cracklier chocolate, there's a crowdfunded inflatable tent and solar table and a prototype app could detect the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Inflammatory buses, jumping robots & car-powered wine turbines

Thu, 05 May 2022 15:27:00 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose about how Space X is using helicopters to catch its booster rockets - and then drop them! Also the e-buses catching fire in Paris, faster charging for lithium batteries, how to map the moon, a robot that can jump 100 feet, street lights powered by passing cars, AR glasses for the deaf, making better chocolate and how to avoid leaving your baby in the car.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Robotic rats, a flying yacht, masked cows and solar-powered rubbish bins

Thu, 28 Apr 2022 14:37:00 -0000

Technology buff Steve Caplin talks to Simon Rose about Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, about a robotic rat, a luxury yacht that can take to the air, a YouTuber who faked a plane crash, masking cows to control methane, what happened when solar-powered ram-equipped rubbish bins went wrong, a table-tennis robot and an autonomous bus operating on the Forth Road Bridge.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The Mona Lisa of NFTs, art's blackest black and electric chopsticks

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 15:23:00 -0000

Share Radio's tech whizz Steve Caplin discusses trying – unsuccessfully – to sell the Non-Fungible Token of the first ever tweet. Anish Kapoor has upset other artists by cornering the market in Vantablack, you'll be able to watch movies in driverless cars, but not use your phone, there's an appealing small hand-held game console – sold out until next year, electric chopsticks to make food taste saltier and a bizarre App-controlled charging cable with a smart display.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Police stop a driverless car, art with smells, cloning dead pets & tech bike pedals

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 18:56:00 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin talks to Simon Rose about the San Francisco police's surprise to stop a car without headlights – or a driver! There's also a way to trap smoke-stack CO2, a Rubens painting with accompanying smells, a solution to cat allergy, cloning dead pets, the most popular social media app that aims to get real, wearable air conditioning and crowd-funded illuminated bike pedals that Steve reckons are worth every cyclist looking at.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Chips fuelling jets, e-ink chalk boards, Dyson visors and slime robots

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 15:39:08 -0000

Tech expert Steve Caplin tells us of BA sourcing jet fuel from chip fat, of the flying taxi firm that wants to expand into the UK, of how driverless cars might be controlled if things go wrong and how having no street lights might actually reduce crime. He also discusses e-ink chalk boards, Dyson's headphone with an air-filtering visor, whether mobile phones really do cause brain tumours, how the Chinese have developed the a soft robot made of slime and how one hotel in Venice is tackling the seagull menace.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The biggest LED in the world, an alarming sleep app and breathing cushions to hug

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 16:05:00 -0000

Tech maven Steve Caplin loves LEDs but even he is aghast at plans to build the world's biggest LED screen in East London. He's alarmed by a sleep app that dispenses CO2 to help you nod off. The largest scooter factory in the world is to be built in India, but will the batteries be as good as promised? There's also a "pedestrian shield" for electric scooters, Historic England's (hard to use) online map, a pocket touchpad that could help find things on TV, a folding kayak and a "breathing" cushion designed to reduce anxiety if hugged.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Facebook cuts, letting the dead speak, bringing the dodo back & the world's longest car

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 16:13:00 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor, in discussion with Simon Rose, talks about the cuts in employee benefits at Facebook. MyHeritage have progressed from animating old photos to adding synthesised voices, the world's longest car has been extended, there's a DIY virtual rollercoaster, Audi are introducing a "holoride" for bored passengers, there's a plan to bring the dodo back from extinction and the world's largest bacterium has been discovered in a mangrove swamp.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Amazon radio, pig mood monitor, cleaning solar panels & FlossElf - 10 Mar 22

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 16:55:00 -0000

Share Radio's tech genius Steve Caplin talks to Simon Rose about Amazon's new radio app and Apple's new phone and computer. Danish scientists have worked out how to tell if pigs are happy, hydroelectric dams could be replaced by electric trucks, the Belgians have come up with a way of cleaning solar panels while the FlossElf is a flosser with a camera so you can see if you're doing it properly.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Amazon store closures, portable ski lift & ski tow, hill-climbing car & infinity train

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 16:38:15 -0000

Share Radio's tech whizz Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose why Amazon is closing 68 of its stores. For skiers going off-piste there's an autonomous ski lift on tracks or, more scarily, a portable tow rope with a winch. There's a car that can climb gradients greater than 50%, an infinity electric train at an Australian mine, we hear why planes are being covered with shark skin, about the company contracted to mine oxygen on the moon and a tide clock for surfers.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Interactive cartoons, fog-free glasses and bugging Rubik's cubes & coffee cans

Thu, 24 Feb 2022 17:48:05 -0000

Share Radio's tech whizz Steve Caplin waxes lyrical to Simon Rose about Netflix's interactive Cat Burglar cartoon. He also discusses Ben Gurion Uni's line-of-sight bugging device that can detect speech from objects like coffee cans and Venetian blinds, Sony's new ear buds that allow you to hear ambient noise, a way of stopping glasses fogging up, some of the bizarre online shopping substitutions, a versatile portable guitar amp and Tesla's odd response to news that cars have been suddenly braking at high speeds.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Tickets to space, Alfa's NFT plug-in hybrid, expanding cars & Tinder's blind dates

Thu, 17 Feb 2022 15:41:54 -0000

Gadget guru Steve Caplin talks to Simon Rose about tickets going on sale for Virgin Galactic's space trips, a snip at £333,000. He discusses National Grid's plan for plundering e-car batteries, Alfa Romeo's NFT plug-in hybrid and the iEV X expanding car. Tinder is experimenting with blind dates, there's a tech necklace that can read chin movements, a crowdfunded camera dolly and Simon chips in with a low-tech jar opener.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Smart windows, smart pens, a walk-through kaleidoscope & sugar cane bollards

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 17:14:00 -0000

After waxing lyrical about progress made in nuclear fusion, tech guru Steve Caplin discusses smart windows and smart pens, how to repel mosquitoes, the world's biggest walk-through kaleidoscope, a new ultra-strong material developed at MIT, adding touch to the VR experience, a Covid breathalyser, sugar cane traffic bollards and an electric car that can power your house for three days if there's a power cut.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Wordle sold, stamps go tech, making scooters safer with cymbals & tubas

Sat, 05 Feb 2022 21:13:16 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin discusses the success of the online game Wordle, just bought by the New York Times. The Royal Mail will be adding QR codes to stamps to show videos, rendering all existing stamps obsolete. Horse riders will soon be able to learn to ride using a smart saddle while there are proposals to make electric scooters safer by getting them to emit the noise of a cymbal followed by that of a tuba. There's a wetsuit to protect swimmers from sharks and Tesla has yet more problems with recalls and hacking.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Robot escape, Wordle derivatives, Julian Lennon's NFTs & a smart plant pot

Sat, 29 Jan 2022 23:57:36 -0000

Share Radio's tech expert Steve Caplin on the not-so-great escape - of a robot vaccum cleaner from a Cambridge Travelodge. He also discusses a robot surgeon performing keyhole surgery, some new derivatives of the popular online game Wordle, the problems gamers fear from Microsoft's takeover of Activision, why disappointed film fans are suing Universal, Julian Lennon's Beatles-related NFTs, an app turning words into art and a crowd-funded smart plant pot.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: 5G stalled by lampposts (R)

Sun, 23 Jan 2022 23:46:09 -0000

You may have read of the stalling of 5G installation around airports: such precautions are not new! In May 2019 Steve Caplin explained why 5G has been stalled by lamppost problems - this is the episode raising the issue. He also went automotive, looking at Dyson's plans for an electric off-road car, the Honda e with swift recharge, the electric Jaguar E-type with optional original engine and Hydrogen-powered double-decker buses and he explained why Jeff Bezos thinks he can have a moonbase by 2024 while Elon Musk thinks he can get to Mars by then. Australia's $50 note issue was marred by a spelling mistake, Barcelona had a self-charging e bike and there's a very cheap credit-card sized charger to take around with you.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Colour-changing cars, health-monitoring lights & self-cleaning cat litter

Sat, 15 Jan 2022 20:38:11 -0000

Steve Caplin and Simon Rose savour the latest great - and not so great - ideas on display at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, including colour-changing cars, a lightbulb that monitors health, a self-driving tractor, invisible headphones, an autonomous trolley, a camera for identification that attaches to glasses for those with poor eyesight and a self-cleaning cat litter tray that also assesses your moggie's health.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: RIP Blackberry, Wordle mania, making water from air and goldfish driving cars

Sat, 08 Jan 2022 18:57:21 -0000

Steve Caplin talks to Simon Rose about the latest tech as Apple becomes the first $3tn company. Blackberry says "goodbye", Tesla recalls half a million cars, Waymo make a taxi with no steering wheel, the world goes mad for the online game Wordle, a water cooler can make water from thin air, there's a lickable TV, goldfish are being trained to drive cars, a Mafia fugitive is caught through Google Street View and a 20-year-old recreates Ceefax.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The review of 2021

Thu, 30 Dec 2021 09:00:00 -0000

Steve Caplin, Share Radio's technology editor, looks back over some of the best and weirdest tech from 2021. Listen again to tales of a Tesla hearse, pigs playing computer games, the first-ever Tweet selling for $2.5m, transparent wood, fluorescent potatoes, the Tesla bot (or not), cosmic concrete, latrine-trained cows, Dog TV, a face mask using Ostrich extract to detect Covid and a ribald Polish-singing cactus.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Virtual property boom, NFT trainers & the surprising "Product of the Year"

Fri, 24 Dec 2021 18:36:00 -0000

Share Radio's tech whizz Steve Caplin looks at the virtual property boom where an online plot of land sold for $2.4m at non-fungible token trainers, eye drops to improve vision, biodegradable single-use batteries, a space factory, facial recognition software in the Co-op, reviving wooly mammoths by gene-editing Asian elephants and a rather unlikely Which? Product of the Year.

Visit www.shareradio.co.uk for more

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Covid-detecting masks, hydrogen planes & yachts and washable batteries

Sun, 19 Dec 2021 15:00:30 -0000

Steve Caplin and Simon Rose look at the latest in high- (and low-) tech. Kyoto University have produced a face mask that can detect Covid, while Amazon are now selling PCR tests. Scientists have developed a phone security system that relies on how you walk, commercial-sized planes using liquid hydrogen and a yacht that makes its own hydrogen from seawater. With wearable electronics becoming more popular, Canadian boffins have come up with a washable battery while some in Japan have devised a bus that is also a train - and vice versa.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Xmas gifts including light-up gin, a Lego typewriter & a wooden projector

Sun, 12 Dec 2021 10:56:54 -0000

Share Radio's tech guru Steve Caplin takes us through a selection of possible Christmas gifts, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Among them are gin that lights up, a Lego typewriter, a James Bond Scalextric set, a CO2 bike tyre inflator, a wooden DIY projector, LED candles, a Casio keyboard, the champion of Swiss Army knives, a Dyson that tells you about the dust it's gathered and a couple of tech games.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Cameras the size of a grain of salt, a Superman air taxi & dancing nursery robots

Sat, 04 Dec 2021 15:22:30 -0000

Steve Caplin looks into the latest tech, with Sainsbury's opening a checkout-free store – again, this time in competition with Tesco. South Korea is introducing dancing, singing and farting robots in 300 nursery schools, there's a singing cactus that's ruder than expected, an air taxi that will make you feel you're Superman, a camera the size of a grain of salt, the oldest iron and fridge that are still working and a way of using two lenses at once on an iphone.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: 50 years of the microchip, 1bn Uber trips & filtering out noise on Zoom calls

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 12:24:25 -0000

In his latest look at technology, Steve Caplin marks 50 years of the microchip. Uber is about to reach its 1 billionth trip in the UK, while Tesla's app locked owners out of their cars. There's an LED-lit zebra crossing, Adele putting an end to album-shuffling on Spotify, which has added lyrics to its songs, 8 million of them. There's crowd-funding for a gizmo that cancels out spurious noise when you're working at home and the Japanese are using discarded adult nappies to heat public baths.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: DIY Apple repair, DogPhones, satellite slinghots & 3D-printed steaks

Sun, 21 Nov 2021 23:43:16 -0000

Share Radio's Technology Editor Steve Caplin looks at Amazon's beef with Visa, banning its credit cards. He is open-mouthed at news that Apple is going to allow customers to repair their own devices in future. He also discusses DogPhones for dogs left alone at home, a device to detect offensive language in schools, a system to launch satellites by slingshot, why Tesla cars are shipping without USB sockets, why Marco Pierre White is to sell 3D-printed steaks, cow-free milk, the new Spanish right to speak to a real person at a company and the Egyptian thief who managed to steal a TV reporter's phone – during a live feed.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: DogTV, growing tomatoes on Mars & lab-grown fish

Sun, 14 Nov 2021 21:52:01 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin looks at IT problems at Walker's crisps and how supermarkets are trying to hide empty shelves from shoppers. Heinz have apparently worked out how to produce tomatoes on Mars, Twitter is allowing people to edit tweets (at a price) and Curry's has teamed up with Uber for quick home deliveries. If you've a bored dog, then DogTV is here, aimed at the canine viewer, while lab-grown fish could soon be on the menu. And as COP26 draws to a close, there's news of how to power planes with ammonia, how to clean up the oceans in a more sustainable way and how to remove soot particles from wood fires.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Space nappies, 20 years of the iPad & wood that's sharper than steel

Sat, 06 Nov 2021 21:55:26 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor gives us the low-down on high-tech. There's Hertz ordering 100,000 Teslas, just as 12,000 are recalled, how SpaceX's astronauts are coping with a lavatory leak, the 20th anniversary of the music revolution sparked by the iPad, the scientists who have found a way to make wooden knives that are 3 times sharper than steel, a hover bike arriving next year that will set you back a mere half a million pounds and Steinway's innovation that will enable pianos to play remotely.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Airships & Hydrogen Engines.

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 21:42:00 -0000

In the week of COP 26, we re-visit an episode from May '21 in which Steve Caplin, Share Radio's technology editor, looks at Google's 3D video chat system, the return of airships, Einstein's e-mc squared letter, the installation of the swimming pool 35 metres high, a hydrogen engine with only 20 parts, an electric Popemobile, an anti-hacking system, how a man blind for 40 years has recovered his eyesight, and a 3D-printed electric scooter; and he discovers just how prescient rocket scientist Wernher von Braun was in one of his science-fiction novels.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Solar-powered fire engines & camper vans, facial recognition payment & fast-delivered food

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 09:31:12 -0000

Steve Caplin, Share Radio's technology expert, discusses Gloucestershire's solar-powered fire engines and Dutch students who've built a solar-powered camper van. Facial recognition payment has come to the Moscow Metro and schools in North Ayrshire. Apple have listened to customers with their new Macbook, Tesco have a checkout-free store as well as a one-hour delivery service that isn't as fast as some competitors. Also news of a foldable e-scooter you can take on a plane, robot Japanese waiters, the Royal Mint extracting gold from discarded devices and 10,000 Damien Hirst spot paintings where the buyers have a difficult choice to make.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Shatner in space, Sky Glass, flat pack houses & a Picasso palimpsest

Sat, 16 Oct 2021 13:15:57 -0000

Steve Caplin, Share Radio's technology editor, on William Shatner's brief trip into space, expressing disappointment that we didn't all wear monkey masks. With news that Prince Charles's Aston Martin runs on cheese whey, he hopes he drives "caerphilly". There's news of Sky Glass, ending satellite dishes, a lost Picasso palimpsest revealed, IKEA's flat-pack houses, a clever system for recharging e-bikes, Facebook's robot for spinning fibre cables and an app for those who are afraid of spiders.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Shatner boldly going, movies in space, leaves on the line & Beethoven's 10th

Sun, 10 Oct 2021 16:22:00 -0000

Share Radio's Technology Editor Steve Caplin admires William Shatner, TV's Captain Kirk, going into space at the age of 90. He discusses competing movies to be made in space, why NASA is firing a rocket at an asteroid 7m miles away, recommends an interactive website for psychological disorders, applauds a method for ridding railway lines of those pesky leaves and tells of Netflix's move into gaming, of AI completing Beethoven's 10th Symphony, Ocado claiming it will have driverless food delivery in two years, Amazon opening an electronics store and why somebody has come up with the idea of a collapsible suitcase.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Singapore's solar farm - in Oz, pigs reducing bird strikes, lab-grown coffee & airless tyres

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 14:08:37 -0000

Share Radio's equivalent of James Bond's Q looks at the latest not-so-secret gadgets. There's the world's biggest and most expensive solar farm (by a factor of 10), being built for Singapore but located in Australia, an Alexa-powered robot from Amazon, pigs being employed at Schiphol airport to reduce bird strikes, a flapping wing room fan, lab-grown coffee, airless tyres from Michelin and a solution to the problem of regolith, the dangerous jagged pebbles thrown up by moon landings.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Sir Clive Sinclair, Tesla's whoopee cushion & an IgNobel decongestant alternative

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 20:56:46 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin pays tribute to the inventiveness of the late Sir Clive Sinclair, inventor of the pocket calculator among other things - even though he always used a slide rule. He gives a Tesla a test drive, including its built-in whoopee cushion, admires a new microcar, looks forward to streets lit by glow-in-the-dark plants, explains why the Lithuanian government is warning people about Xiaomi phones, recommends an auto cutout app and highlights the latest IgNobel Prizes, one of which says sex is better for clearing the nose than decongestant.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Cosmic concrete from blood sweat & tears, MooLoo & freight submarines

Fri, 17 Sep 2021 09:58:12 -0000

Tech maven Steve Caplin discusses cosmic concrete using Martian soil and astronauts' body fluids. Also MooLoos, training cows to pee environmentally soundly, hydrogen-powered, autonomous freight submarines, the idea of all homes and offices having to have charging points, the rifle that can shoot round corners, AR-equipped swimming goggles, a wireless portable hydrojet cleaner and the iPhone 13.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Abba's abbatars, airborne fast food & smart bike pedal lights

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 12:16:00 -0000

Share Radio's tech supremo, Steve Caplin, explains why Abba are having to build a venue for a London concert featuring them as they were 40 years ago. Also the finalists of the James Dyson awards including a Braille ebook, a touchscreen games table, fast food delivered in the air, Apple easing its take in the App Store, a wireless charging room and smart bike pedal lights which mean you never need worry about being out without lights if it gets dark unexpectedly.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Zero Emission Cars

Sat, 04 Sep 2021 13:47:00 -0000

As Simon Rose takes a well-earned break, we re-visit a programme first broadcast in March 2017 when Share Radio was a national DAB station. From April 2017, zero emission cars have been the only vehicles exempt from road tax. Despite growing interest and increasing pressure to move away from polluting vehicles many were still reluctant to make the jump. So just what are zero emissions cars and what should you consider when making the switch from petrol? Tom Hill looks at the current state of zero emissions technology and the challenges facing the industry hearing from a range of experts and commentators.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The Corby trouser press, the Tesla Bot and the Populele

Thu, 26 Aug 2021 19:56:53 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor mourns the loss of Peter Corby, inventor not just of the eponymous trouser press but rather more. He looks at Amazon's decision to open physical department stores, Elon Musk's announcement of the Tesla Bot, a crowdfunded "smart" ukulele, why the world's fastest rollercoaster is breaking bones and the British battery researchers who are hoping to make solid-state batteries for cars. He also laments the real-world problems trying to use an electric hire car in France.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Pi to 82.8 tn digits, wooden satellites, dissolvable smart watches & Ferraris for kids

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 15:52:25 -0000

In this week's tech show, Steve Caplin discusses the Swiss researchers who've calculated Pi to 82.8 trilllion digits; but how will the Guinness Book of Records check it? He also brings news of the first ever wooden satellite, the battery-laden caravan that won't slow your Tesla, Tesla's problems with flashing emergency lights, dissolvable smart watches, getting bacteria to find precious metals in the Brussels sewers, how to train self-driving cars for British, rather than Californian, weather, three-quarter size Ferrari Testarossas for children and more tongue-in-cheek Amazon reviews.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Lose weight by eating more, biodegradable plastic (with a catch) & Leica's smartphone

Fri, 13 Aug 2021 09:50:40 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin discusses research that enables mice to eat more and still lose weight, Leica's first smartphone, waterproof cotton lifejackets, Adidas's sports sunglasses, a sign language translation glove, a keyboard that uses only AA batteries for power, the liking of bees for caffeine, more funny tongue-in-cheek Amazon reviews and biodegradable plastic that's useful only in the dark with no oxygen.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Zoom adds apps, Amazon's funniest reviews & new battery tech

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 14:23:00 -0000

Tech whizz Steve Caplin looks at the apps Zoom has added to its package but is a little worried about data implications. He discusses several advances in battery technology, with rust powering one new process. There's a new electric bike with an illegal top speed, Ordnance Survey's first game to encourage people to get out, the bullying of children called Alexa and some of the funniest tongue-in-cheek reviews on Amazon, including for uranium ore.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: When is an astronaut not an astronaut, Olympic Tinder dates & the Mini Moke is back

Sun, 01 Aug 2021 15:36:42 -0000

Steve Caplin feels (slightly) sorry for Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, told just after their flights that they don't qualify to be astronauts. He reflects on those changing their Tinder location to Tokyo in the hope of dating an Olympic athlete. He also discusses the e-motorbike that will follow you around, a way to get your exercise bike to tilt on imaginary hills, how to experience the Great Barrier Reef while staying at home, a Covid mask with a speaker, making fake reviews illegal, a physical stock ticker, the return of the Mini Moke and a way of arranging camping in people's gardens.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Bezos in space, Aston Martin Valhalla, Deep Dive Dubai & dog poo DNA - 22 Jul 21

Sat, 24 Jul 2021 11:35:08 -0000

Steve Caplin, Share Radio's technology editor, admires Jeff Bezos's space flight but wishes the crew had thought to take a camera with them. He is perplexed by the new James Bond Aston Martin which needs refuelling every 10 miles. There's also a new Steam Deck portable console, Deep Dive Dubai with a sunken city to explore, Morrison's abandoning checkouts, Tel Aviv tackling a dog poo epidemic with DNA testing, Google Maps "potentially fatal" route up Ben Nevis and the high-tech travel saxophone.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The £1m Super Mario Game, 3D police mugshots & robot sculptors

Sat, 17 Jul 2021 10:54:00 -0000

Share Radio tech whizz Steve Caplin explains why Sainsbury's has decided to stop selling CDs and DVDs and why the Japanese government hasn't been able to scrap its fax machines. He gasps at the $1.5m auction for a Super Mario 64 game and even more being spent on Isaac Newton's handwritten notes. He discusses 3D police mugshots, the proposal to shoot containers at 760 mph down a mag-lev tube, at robot sculptors at Carrara, Italy's famed marble centre and at dynamic focus sunglasses and a table lamp controlled by a hovering steel ball - until it gets lost.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Wally Funk, vertically-farmed strawberries, chaff burgers & smart missiles

Thu, 08 Jul 2021 19:32:00 -0000

Share Radio's tech whizz Steve Caplin on 82-year-old woman astronaut Wally Funk finally getting the chance to travel into space. There's a Cambridge supercomputer using AI to solve healthcare problems, vertically-farmed strawberries, a fishmonger who beat Amazon in court, the prospect of burgers made from chaff, smart MOD missiles that talk to each other, a colour-changing bike helmet, temporary pacemakers that dissolve and microneedle patches made of ice.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Flying cars, data voids, a balloon ride to space & a laptop shade

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 12:14:00 -0000

Steve Caplin, Share Radio's tech whizz, discusses with Simon Rose problems with the NHS app as well the tourists charged over £2,000 for visiting Brighton Pier. He tells of a new flying car in Slovakia, how Google is warning users of "data voids", how lego is making bricks from recycled bottles, how you can ride in a balloon to the edge of space (for $125,000), the glasses that simulate a 140-inch screen and the crowd-funded device enabling you to use a laptop outside.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Tesla's acceleration, cinema sound bubbles and tuneable glasses

Fri, 25 Jun 2021 09:42:00 -0000

Share Radio's tech guru Steve Caplin looks at Jeff Bezos's space trip with the $28 million auction winner, at Tesla's new car that accelerates to 60mph in less than 2 seconds, at cinema speakers giving each member of the audience a personal sound bubble, at how to find a cool walk in Barcelona, a cure for hiccoughs, the British Army finally ditching maps, tuneable glasses and an app that will play music not just from any country but also any decade since 1900.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: The net outage, robot falcons, 3D cellos & manure-powered crypto mining

Thu, 10 Jun 2021 20:33:00 -0000

Steve Caplin, Share Radio's gadget guru, discusses the net outage that took down so many websites as well as the encrypted-message app set up by the FBI to trap organised crime gangs. As well as highlighting developments in Apple's new iOS iteration, he discusses robot falcons deterring airfield pigeons, a 3D printed cello, a revolutionary women's urinal, microbes removing stains in the Medici chapel, a farmer using cow and sheep manure to power crypto mining and why Vietnamese Nem Chaua sausages can be used as a food preservative.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Amazon Sidewalk, unhappy potatoes & buildings made of food scraps

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 15:37:00 -0000

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin explains how the Japanese believe they can turn food scraps into a building material stronger than concrete. Also Amazon Sidewalk and meditation boxes for their warehouse employees, how potatoes can be made to fluoresce to show if they're stressed, the British tanks that cost £3.5 billion that are almost completely useless, smart sunglasses, a 25-inch e-ink monitor and why the world's deepest pool is to be built in Cornwall.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Airships, hydrogen engines, the sky pool and an electric Popemobile

Wed, 26 May 2021 23:00:00 -0000

Steve Caplin, Share Radio's technology editor, looks at Google's 3D video chat system, the return of airships, Einstein's e-mc squared letter, the installation of the swimming pool 35 metres high, a hydrogen engine with only 20 parts, an electric Popemobile, an anti-hacking system, how a man blind for 40 years has recovered his eyesight, a 3D-printed electric scooter and he discovers just how prescient rocket scientist Wernher von Braun was in one of his science-fiction novels.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Smart bandages, Dr. Shopping Trolley, concrete batteries and deflagration

Wed, 19 May 2021 23:00:00 -0000

Steve Caplin marvels at the latest developments in gadgets (and gizmos), discussing smart bandages, shopping trolleys that can detect irregular heartbeats and warn of potential strokes, aluminium-ion batteries that charge 10 times faster, concrete batteries that can be incorporated in buildings, how to power cars and jets of the future with explosions, earbuds that are also hearing aids, conspiracists who cut off an area's broadband because they thought "5GHz" was the same as "5G" and JCB's machine for repairing a pothole in only 8 minutes.

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Amazon guilt, healthy jazz lovers, a bike-powered concert & bamboo cricket bats

Thu, 13 May 2021 14:03:00 -0000

Steve Caplin discusses Elon Musk's changed attitude toward Bitcoin, the guilt felt by many towards buying from Amazon, how jazz encourages healthy eating, why the London Sinfonietta are going to be getting on their bikes, how cricket bats could be made of bamboo, Asda trialling insulated delivery boxes, a solar-powered cooler and why some in-game ads are so bloodthirsty. He also demonstrates his own guilt by receiving an Amazon delivery in the middle of the podcast!

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Gadgets & Gizmos: Vulnerable routers, wine bottle NFTs, smart water & transparent wood

Wed, 05 May 2021 23:00:00 -0000

Steve Caplin worries about the vulnerabilities of pre-2018 routers. The latest NFT (non-fungible token) is for wine bottle pictures. The UK's first electric bus will arrive this year. The Swiss Army Knife not only has a "pharmaceutical spatula" but also a "Swiss Army for Her" perfume. Councils are trialling smart lighting to move commuters and the Co-op is issuing smart water to use against aggressive customers and shoplifters. Jeff Bezos is holding an auction for a space flight. Transparent wood may soon incorporate orange peel. And why you should hope your surgeon is playing hiphop or rap rather than classical music.

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Gadgets and Gizmos - the first of several hundred

Wed, 05 Nov 2014 18:59:00 -0000

The original 'Gadgets and Gizmos' with Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin - the first of over 300 episodes of our weekly tech programme, originally published on Share Radio's first day of broadcasting, 5th November 2014.

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