dyson

The hunt for a real (and bigger) Death Star is on

Last month, NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft suffered a potentially mission-ending malfunction, prompting the eyes of many astronomers and space geeks to grow a little misty. The crippling blow came just as data from Kepler had begun to identify more distant Earth-like planets within the habitable zone.

What's not as widely known, however, is that Kepler data isn't used just to hunt for planets that could potentially support life, it's also been tapped by some intrepid explorers to search for stellar and planetary megastructures created by far-flung advanced societies. Since we've yet to send anything into … Read more

Dyson levels up in the U.S. with two new '2 Tier Radial' vacuums

The inside of a vacuum cleaner is no place to be. Luckily, most of us will never have to endure such a place. The detritus we create in daily living, however, is another story. Not only do we want dust, dirt, and pet hair to be subjected to the internal whirlwind of a vacuum cleaner, we want it to stay there. At least until it's time to empty the bin.

Emptying the bin may be the last step in the journey for particulate matter, but other side of the story is just beginning. The bagless technology that Dyson uses … Read more

Ouya game console hits stores in June

Tuesday's CNET Update is ready for a new way to game:

The Android-based game console Ouya (pronounced ooo-yah) is scheduled to arrive at major retailers in June. Preorders have begun for this open-sourced, crowd-funded console. It will give consumers cheaper access to a wider selection of games to play on their television, and games built for the Ouya will be free to try. The console costs $100 and includes one controller. Additional controllers will cost $50.

Also in today's tech news roundup:

- A screenshot taken of an internal T-Mobile document indicates that the carrier plans to sell … Read more

Dyson's new $1,500 Airblade Tap tested in hands-on video

Dyson, eh? The company is best known for making weird-looking vacuum cleaners and high-velocity hand dryers. So what's the British firm's next invention? Well, to paraphrase the great Admiral Ackbar, it's a tap!

Yes indeed, we've gone hands-on (or should that be under?) with Dyson's Airblade Tap -- a ludicrously pricey new piece of bathroom furniture. Click play on the video below to see what it looks like in reality. … Read more

Dyson solves vacuum's greatest riddle: Hair

Every year, countless vacuums fall to the wayside after accumulated hair clogs the rapidly spinning brushes at the base of the appliance and tangles up within its attachments. My significant other and her copious amounts of long hair can spell out at least five minutes of tediously cutting away tangles from the brush after a floor sweep.

Dyson recently unveiled a new attachment -- labeled the "Tangle-free Turbine tool" -- for its expensive line of vacuums that promises to reduce hair entanglements that occur while cleaning. Instead of a horizontal spinning brush, Dyson's $69 accessory uses a vertical axis of movement. The device features two flexible counter-rotating heads with built-in brushes that actually send hair past the spinners and into the vacuum bin. … Read more

Dyson DC44 Animal: The ultimate in hand vacs gets an upgrade and a price bump

Last year, Dyson released a very high-tech -- and pricey -- hand vacuum, the Digital Slim DC35. That model started out at $350 but has since come down to $300.

Now Dyson is serving up a new hand vac, the Digital Slim DC44 Animal, which improves upon the earlier model, offering better battery life (20 minutes of "fade-free" power instead of 15 minutes), increased suction, and an upgraded attachment for sucking up pet hair (there's an Animal version of the DC35 that costs $329). While those are certainly welcome upgrades, I'm not sure they merit a … Read more

Dyson employees hack vacuums, hit the racetrack

Q: What do you call a vacuum cleaner that doesn't suck?

A: A race car.

That seems to be the refreshingly unexpected answer Dyson's U.K. engineers would provide.

The crew got together earlier this month to shake the dust off with the "Dyson car challenge," a Pinewood Derby of sorts wherein the engineers competed to -- as the company puts it -- "create the fastest go-kart using a few Dyson spare parts and all the torque they could eke out from one of our handheld motors."… Read more

Dyson's new DC39 is company's first canister vac with Ball technology

If you're a fan of Dyson's bagless vacuums but always wished that the company made a canister model that was powered by its Ball technology, that day has arrived: Dyson has introduced the DC39 Multi-floor and DC39 Animal canister vacs.

Dyson vacuums have never been cheap, and the new models, due out in mid-March, cost $449.99 and $499.99, respectively. Aside from its color and higher price, what distinguishes the Animal from the Multi-floor is the inclusion of an accessory that's specially designed for picking up pet hair. Both models are being marketed as "smooth … Read more

BlindSpot: Smart cane concept looks to future

Driven by the oft-overlooked needs of the visually impaired, Selene Chew wanted to develop something that would improve their social lives. She came up with the concept of BlindSpot, which looks like a normal white cane, but integrates a mobile phone.

You could say the device--Chew's final-year industrial design thesis project at the National University of Singapore--is a smart cane.

Instead of a screen, users navigate the menu with a tactile navigator and listen to audio cues via a Bluetooth headset. Both the headset and phone can be charged wirelessly.

Like most of today's smartphones, BlindSpot has built-in Wi-Fi, 3G, and GPS connectivity. … Read more

Facebook's subscribe button

YouTube adds a built-in video editor to the site, Dyson releases a room heater called simply Hot, and Facebook's new subscribe button makes the social network more like Twitter and Google+.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded: