Hrkn to .. Gadgets & Gizmos

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...

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 year...

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...

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 with...

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 accoun...

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...

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...

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 stam...

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 usef...

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...

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 properl...

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...

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 eye...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 vac...

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 lawnm...

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 photo...

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 re...

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-r...

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 ca...

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 – a...