Binocktails Sneaks Alcohol Inside Modern Gadgets

If you're neither an old man nor a pimp, rocking a walking cane to sneak in alcohol doesn't really fly. Hiding the secret sauce inside a common gadget, however, sounds like it can actually work. Binocktails will have you covered on this one, with their line of alcohol-sneaking devices that you can carry out in the open without arousing much suspicion.

Got a hefty appetite for drinking? Better come up with a reason to carry the Binocular Flask, a double-chambered alcohol repository that can carry a generous 16oz of booze. Styled like a regular pair of field glasses, you can hang it around your neck while attending concerts and sporting events, sparing you the hassle of having to pay stadium price for a glass of beer. Just uncork the eyepieces and drink to your heart's content.  Burp.

For those who'd just like a little sauce to spice up a lazy afternoon in class, you can carry either the 5oz Bev-Cam (which looks like a cheap-ass Casio Exilim ripoff) or the 3oz-capacity Bev-Burry (which actually looks like a 5-year old Nokia candybar). Since they're more casual handheld gadgets that pretty much everyone carries around, you can literally bring them anywhere without attracting attention. Heck, you can go to church and Mrs. Greta who's sitting right next to you won't be the wiser. Unless she smells your cheap whiskey breath, of course. Eeew.

Carry all three together and you can be looking at 24oz of your favorite poison - enough to keep you going for a couple hours in a club without having to fork out $10 for crappy beer and $15 for a shot of erstwhile cheap vodka. Prices are listed at $12.99, $16.99 and $10.99 for the Bev-Cam, the Binocular Flask and the Bev-Burry, respectively.

[more at Binocktails]

This Manually-Powered Recumbent Bike Just Hit A Ridiculous Top Speed Of Over 89MPH

We’ve long known aerodynamically-optimized human-powered velomobiles can go pretty fast. What we didn’t know is that they can go so fast the darn things can get a speed ticket when you ride them on some highways. At least, that would be the case with the Aerovelo Eta, which recently posted a top speed of 89.59 miles per hour. Yes, you’re reading that right.

Billed as the fastest human-powered vehicle, the velomobile set the new record at highway SR305 outside of Battle Mountain, Nevada. It did that without the benefit of any downhill grade, too, as it set the record-breaking mark while being piloted along a five-mile, nearly-level straightaway. That’s absolutely nuts.

Underneath the Aerovelo Eta’s rocket-shaped fairing is an uncomfortable-looking recumbent bike that combines a ridiculously low center of gravity, absurdly thin tires (seriously, they look like blades), and a preposterously narrow profile. Despite the awkward discomfort that might all suggest, though, Aerovelo claims it actually puts driver Todd Reichert in an ergonomic riding position while also maximizing the amount of power he can push out of his legs. Simply put, it’s one of the reasons why this thing can go as fast as it does.

Since the cabin is fully-covered up, the rider gets a view of the road through two integrated cameras, with an onboard computer providing a HUD so the driver can see the vehicle’s real-time stats. Construction is wet lay carbon fiber for the frame and a carbon-honeycomb sandwich for the shell.

You can learn more about the Eta from Aerovelo’s website.

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Protect Your Food When Camping With Hunny’s Badass Canisters

These are not the only canisters designed to protect your food from wild bears during camping if you'd rather not hang them from a tree. The Hunny Canisters, however, boast superior lightness while still resisting bear bites and bear stomps with the best of them.

Made from an ultra-light, aircraft-grade composite called ultem resin, the canisters boast a compression strength of 19,500 PSI. For reference, a bear bite registers at 850 PSI while a bear stomp clocks in at 2,000 PSI, so you can just imagine how little effect a bear attack is going to inflict on this thing. Unless the bear just picks it up and takes it home, your food should be safe.

Three types of Hunny Canisters are available: Ursa Minor, Basic, and Yosemite. Ursa Minor is the smallest, weighing just 8 oz while cramming as much as 283 cubic inches of food, while the Basic and Yosemite accommodate up to 710 cubic inches each while weighing 13.4 ounces and 25 ounces respectively. All three come with lids both top and bottom, so you don’t have to dig deep when trying to get at food you packed first, with an inner layer permeated with activated carbon to kill the scent of food, preventing it from escaping the confines of the can (so bears can’t smell it).

Both the Basic and the Yosemite are the exact same size, although the latter is heavier because it comes with ceramic-coated aluminum lids (instead of resin) and threaded sleeves, allowing it to double as a generously-sized cooking pot during camping. The latter also gets an access door on the side for quickly retrieving food from the middle of the pack.

A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the Hunny Canisters. Pledges to reserve a unit starts at $19.

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These Smart Binoculars Come With GPS, Wi-Fi, Night Vision, And More

Yes, the ATN BinoX-HD 4-16X is, technically, just a pair of digital binoculars. With high-end camcorder talents, built-in GPS, and connectivity features, however, this thing takes the long-distance optical instrument a whole other level.

Like other digital binoculars, it comes with recording capabilities, allowing you to capture any scene from a distance in 1080p at 30 fps. Whether you’re watching a concert from the nosebleeds, searching for Bigfoot around the local woods, or enjoying scenic views, you can simply hit a button to start recording everything for later review.

The ATN Binox-HD 4-16X comes with 4X optical zoom and 16X digital zoom, with a magnification that’s so smooth, the whole thing will feel so natural. It has a 220-foot field of view when magnifying scenes 1,000 yards out, with a built-in gyroscope keeping everything stabilized even while you’re on the move. Of course, it comes with IR viewing option for scoping out the landscape at night, with options for both the standard green and black-and-white rendering. With the built-in GPS, you can easily geo-tag your recordings, with an onboard altimeter allowing you to monitor ascent and descent stats.

Features include an electronic compass for continuously tracking the precise direction you’re viewing, a Wi-Fi module for transferring videos to your phone on the fly, a microSD card slot, and a battery rated at up to eight hours of operation. It comes in a rugged, weatherized construction, so you can use it anywhere, regardless of the season.

Available now, the ATN Binox-HD 4-16X is priced at $479.

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Nvidia GEForce GTX 1060 Brings Beefy GPU Power At An Affordable Price

If you held off on upgrading graphics cards until this year, then you should be congratulating yourself, as it’s turned out to be the best time to beef up your desktop gaming rig with high-powered GPUs coming out at highly accessible price points. I mean, a VR-ready GPU for $200? While the Nvidia GEForce GTX 1060 doesn’t quite match that price, it’s still a highly-affordable option for the power it brings to the table.

The most affordable card built on the outfit’s new 16-nanometer Pascal architecture, the new GPU boasts equivalent speed to Nvidia’s previous GTX 980 flagship, all while coming in at less than half the price. That’s pretty wild, allowing you to step up your gaming rig’s power without spending an inordinate amount.

The Nvidia GEForce GTX 1060 comes with 6GB of GDDR5 RAM, along with a clock speed of 1.7GHz. It’s open for overclocking, top, which Nvidia claims should boost it up to 2GHz. If you want to compare it to the two other GPUs using the Pascal architecture, the 1060 comes with 1,280 CUDA cores compared to 1,920 for the 1070 and 2,560 for the 1080. Yes, that’s a huge difference, but those two are also considerably more expensive. Of course, the card also integrates the simultaneous multi-projection technology that will enable it to handle VR without choking, so you can get your Oculus Rift or HTC Vive ready.

Slated to come out later this month, the Nvidia GEForce GTX 1060 is priced at $249.

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Swiftpoint Z Gaming Mouse Can Trigger 50 Different Actions

Over the last few years, we’ve seen the gaming mouse evolve into a peripheral with more than the left, right, and center buttons. It just makes it that much more useful for gaming. The Swiftpoint Z does the same thing but goes even further, throwing in a variety of sensors to give it even more control possibilities.

Armed with an accelerometer and gyroscope, the mouse can be used as a motion control device, with the ability to identify tilts, pivots, pitches, rolls, and yaws, turning it into a unique controller that can simulate flight, driving, and similar activities. It even comes with a three-axis extender, which, when placed under the mouse, allows you to move it with free-form control without having to take your arm off the desk.

Of course, the Swiftpoint Z gets extra buttons. That includes a pair of thumb buttons, two side buttons, a pair of finger buttons that flank the scroll wheel, and two trigger buttons designed to be pressed by the lower part of your fingers. If that’s not enough, they also throw in a force sensor, so it can sense how hard you’re clicking, enabling it to detect speed and force – information that can prove useful in both games and plenty of applications.

With the combination of gesture control and the additional buttons, the mouse can access over 50 different actions at any time, making it a veritable gamepad all on its own. Other features include 12,000 DPI resolution, rubber finger grips, RGB lighting on the logo, an OLED display on the side, and a braided cable.

A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the Swiftpoint Z. Pledges to reserve a unit starts at $149.

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Hyperkin Smart Boy Turns Your Android Phone Into A Modern Game Boy

Still hoarding the Game Boy cartridges of your youth for some reason you can’t quite explain? Well, the reason just presented itself in the form of the Hyperkin Smart Boy, a smartphone accessory that turns your powerful mobile device into a 90s-era video game handheld.

Originally conceived as an April Fool’s joke last year, the accessory seemed feasible enough that fan demand eventually convinced Hyperkin to actually produce the darn thing. And, yes, it’s coming this year with the same familiar buttons and taking the same familiar cartridges as the old handheld, all while playing everything on a modern high-res screen.

The Hyperkin Smart Boy docks your phone (Android only) in the integrated enclosure (where it plugs into a double-side micro-USB port), leaving only the top half of the screen for use by the companion app, which should put it a lot closer to the Game Boy’s original tiny display. A cartridge slot in the back takes both original Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges, so you can use it to play any games you’ve decided to hold on to for the last 20 years. It uses the same D-pad and four-button ensemble from the original console, so this should provide an authentic retro-gaming experience.

Do note, the upcoming release isn’t aimed at general consumers, as the software will be functional but half-baked. Instead, Hyperkin is aiming this at developers (complete with an open-source serial app and firmware), with the hope that the community will help fine-tune the software before releasing a final retail version.

Slated for availability on December, the Hyperkin Smart Boy is priced at $59.99.

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