Ask HN: What's the coolest tech you got this Christmas? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What's the coolest tech you got this Christmas?

16 pointsrosstex22 comments

FLIR One thermal camera for my phone. I think it'll be sensitive enough and have sufficient resolution to usefully capture the subtle thermal signals of the leaks and lack of insulation around the doors, windows, and in the walls of my old house.

One of the google cardboard style VR devices. It cost under twenty dollars. You put your phone in it and it synchs with the device. You can look around and it will actually shift the view according to where you are looking.

It was a novelty, but for the price it was a very good novelty.

It had problems though. I found that the device tended to get confused about my original facing. So straight ahead would eventually mean turning my head. I'd have to shift around to avoid straining my neck, but it didn't really help because straight ahead would just continue shifting after a little while.

I don't use it much, but it was definitely the coolest thing I got.

Unfortunately most implementations of orientation on these devices rely simply on the phone's IMU -- and since the phone is perpendicular to the ground, I'm guessing they don't make heavy use of the compass. Therefore, the only way to get the direction you are pointing is to extrapolate it from the changes in forces that the IMU senses. Unsurprisingly, over time, the error compounds and really destroys the experience -- as you have discovered!

>and since the phone is perpendicular to the ground, I'm guessing they don't make heavy use of the compass

Magnetometers are typically 3-axis.

Electric brush cutter. We live on 10 acres and do lots of trimming so having a rechargeable and relatively-quiet tool to grab and do a bit whenever we have spare time is truly awesome.

Not worrying about fuel, oil, etc is great and turns trimming from a proper "job" to "Ill just do a bit of trimming while waiting for dinner". It has been one of the biggest and best improvements to our daily farm chores in years.

I gave myself the new rMBP with the touchbar.

I spent countless hours reading all the articles bashing Apple for it, and finally concluded that much of it boiled down to the fact that it was an expensive machine for the specs it delivered. And that is undeniably true.

But I stare at the darn thing virtually all hours I am working and a significant chunk of my leisure time as well. The reality is that for my actual computing, things like weight, battery life, how the keys feel, the screen, etc., matter far more in my enjoyment and utility of the computer, and on that measure Apple continues to knock it out of the park. I got my first MBP because of the retina screen, and soon thereafter realized I could never go back to using a device with a lower pixel density. I kinda feel the same with this machine when it comes to color: It is just stunning. Given how often I am looking at it, that dimension alone made this purchase worth it IMO.

The Touchbar has in fact mostly been a gimmick, although pairing it with BetterTouchTool has actually been extremely powerful and I've come to use it more and more.

Samsung Gear VR. Unfortunately I'm returning it as the technology isn't to the point that prevents me from getting nauseous when using it.

I would love to get VR, but I have a bad feeling I'll end up getting nauseous from it. Everywhere I look, it confirms that the technology just isn't there yet.

yea I was excited. All I did was use the Netflix app, which was pretty cool, and just moving around made me sick. I hope they are able to get the tech to a place where I can be able to use VR.

The key is in tracking quality, latency, and refresh rate. High-end VR (Oculus, Vive) have spent considerable time and effort solving this issue in particular, which unfortunately requires a lot of hardware, but are largely acknowledged to be successful in their efforts.

Why not try out an in-store demo to see if it works for you?

As a 3D gamer since 2011 (Nvidia 3D Vision), I completely know the feeling. It took me a few weeks to get used to it. The problem comes with screen resolution and processing power. If everything was 120 frames per second and 4k resolution (give it a few more years), I would bet a lot of people would be having less issues with nausea. And because you need 2x processing power (one per eye), its just hard to meet the requirements with our current technology (unless you spend $10k on a beast machine).

A Fujifilm Instax camera. Maybe not very exciting, but reminded me of how it feels to have a photo in hands, and to browse them by spreading them on the table. Awesome.

I got a toaster with a button to add a bit more toasting time. It's pretty neat and removes the guesswork from trying to get the toast just right.

I love the "A Bit More" button. Such a brilliant idea.

A Pebble Time Steel. It's clearly a device in a class of its own; using an embedded computer to do watch things well instead of using a watch to do computer things badly. It's a design philosophy reminiscent of the (original, e-ink) Kindle. It's a shame Pebble failed, but that doesn't make the hardware less useful - and the free software community surrounding it looks robust.

htc vive. Vr is expensive and space demanding, but wow its amazing. The cardboard and the gear vr just dont compare.

Call me a vr believer now

I surprised Cardboard and GearVR are even mentioned here. The Vive is amazing and its tracking technology is solid. I'm sure wireless solutions, higher resolution, and more ergonomic controllers are on the way. I have the Rift as well, and sensor occlusion make it unplayable.

If you're interested in developing for Vive, there's https://aframe.io

Thanks, Ive been using unity to test some dev.

Apple watch. Actually it's more than a gadget for me now. It's quite convenient for taking calls, managing music, messages etc.

I finally pulled the trigger on getting a drone. I picked up the Phantom 3 for $350 and have loved flying it around.

Where did you buy it? Was it used, or new?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com