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Speaking through spokes on bikes

Gadget displays LED message in spinning wheels.

Mike Yamamoto Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Mike Yamamoto is an executive editor for CNET News.com.
Mike Yamamoto
Everything USB

As cyclists continue to assert their equal rights on the road, their gadgets are trying to keep up with car technology as well--whether they be MP3 players, GPS devices, phones, speakers, or even heart monitors. But until now, one crucial element has been missing: LED messages.

Japan's Digital Cowboy (we love that name) is about to remedy that, however, with something called "Lex" that attaches to the bicycle's spokes. Just download a message from the computer through a USB connection and, according to Everything USB, "as the bike wheel spins down the road, you are able to read the message in the blur of light created by the Lex." If you want to be really clever, you can program it to display Japanese characters as well.

The next bike invention is obvious: an cycling emoticon.