When describing a new type of smartphone technology, the term “Handedness-Agnostic” probably wouldn’t come to mind. But that’s one of many slogans dreamed up for Vice Versa, a conceptual user interface that improves on the user experience by taking into consideration how the human body works.

Most of us experience the irritating button layout on smartphone screens several times daily. In the current setup, our thumbs are forced to contort in ways that are unnatural and uncomfortable when we are using our phones with one hand -which, according to designer Michael Oh‘s research, 49% of us do.

The main idea behind Vice Versa is that it accommodates the thumb’s natural motion. And a simple flick of the wrist changes the left/right handed orientation of Vice Versa, making it the first ever politically correct user interface by being “Handedness-Agnostic.”

Vice Versa is a “diagonal form of binary UI optimized for single-hand use” that can be used across multiple platforms. Used on a Kindle as seen here, it can help alleviate the frustration of accidentally turning multiple pages at once and then having to switch hands to reverse the mistake. This is just one of the reasons Michael Oh dove into the challenge of inventing a whole new user interface – and we hope to see it in use on our gadgets someday soon.

The post Diagonal Touchscreen UI Takes it Easy on Human Thumbs first appeared on Gajitz.

You’ve heard all of the urban legends about how to fix a phone that’s been rendered useless by a dunk in liquid, but real working solutions that won’t void your warranty are few and far between. A new device called DryBox is a different kind of fix that will restore your waterlogged phone to working order in less than half an hour. All you do is stick your wet phone in the patent-pending drying chamber and the device purportedly removes moisture at the molecular level.

With a claimed 80% success rate and a money-back guarantee if the process doesn’t fix your smartphone, the DryBox seems like a pretty great deal for the butter-fingered phone owner. The machines are currently only located in Austin and San Antonio, Texas, but the brand is looking to expand. We can imagine one of these in every mobile phone store, saving the phones of the chronically clumsy – for a fee.

The post Wet Phone? This Box Will Rescue it in Under 30 Minutes first appeared on Gajitz.

The DoorBot is a cool way to stay secure in your own home; by bringing a live streaming view of your front doorstep to your mobile device, it lets you see exactly who is ringing your doorbell. The wireless system was developed by Edison Junior, a four-person design lab dedicated to solving everyday problems. With a wi-fi enabled doorbell unit and a free app, the company has made it possible to answer the door remotely from anywhere in the world.

A doorbell unit with an integrated camera is the DoorBot’s claim to fame, and the way it revolutionizes the very simple act of answering a door. When a visitor pushes the button, the resident receives a notification on a synced mobile phone or tablet. The user can talk to the visitor via the mobile device’s microphone, which would be infinitely helpful when telling delivery people to leave a package on the stoop or informing friends to join the party in the back yard.

An optional door lock also lets homeowners lock or unlock the door from anywhere in the world. The Lockitron is another product in the early stages of production that can be ordered – and easily integrated – with the DoorBot’s interface. With the two products working together, users can see who is at the door and decide whether or let them in…all without even being in the house. DoorBot is raising funds for its production run on a new crowdfunding site called Christie Street. $169 gets you the DoorBot while $319 is enough for both the DoorBot and the Lockitron.

The post Video Doorbell Shows You Who’s Knocking From Anywhere first appeared on Gajitz.

Cell phone design has evolved to the point that we no longer have to pull out an unsightly antenna before making calls, but the infrastructure could still use some work. Most places in the developed world are full of unsightly cell phone towers. While some can be creatively camouflaged, the vast majority of cell towers are blights on the landscape. A company called Chamtech wants to make those ugly towers a thing of the past with an unlikely solution: spray-on antenna.

The solution comes in a can and contains mysterious nanomaterials that, according to Chamtech, charge and discharge like tiny capacitors extremely quickly. The material gives off no heat and can be sprayed on virtually any surface. Tests have been incredibly promising so far, in one case increasing the range of an RFID chip from five feet to 700 feet. If the company’s claims prove to be true, cellular service antennas could eventually take the form of painted sides of buildings or painted trees. The U.S. government has an interest in the product, and we would climb over our own grandmothers to get a chance to try this stuff out. The company’s website doesn’t list a price for the antenna kit, and you know what they say: if you have to ask how much it is, you can’t afford it.

The post Spray-On Antenna Gives You Cellular Reception Anywhere first appeared on Gajitz.

Generally speaking, thrusting your pelvis in the direction of something to indicate that you like it is not socially acceptable. This fun piece of hacked hardware called the LikeBelt makes it not only acceptable, but almost charming. Using NFC (near field communication) technology, the LikeBelt allows wearers to perform hip thrusts in the general direction of things or people that they want to share with friends on Facebook.

The LikeBelt was engineered by DeepLocal and uses the currently-underused NFC technology to post directly to Facebook. NFC is used very sparingly right now as a real-world purchase platform for Google Wallet and a few competitors. It’s not very widespread at the moment but a few cellular devices are equipped with it – and the LikeBelt uses one of those, the Nexus S. When the belt interacts with an NFC chip (which could be placed pretty much anywhere), the wearer’s Facebook profile gets an update.

DeepLocal doesn’t intend on producing the LikeBelt for sale, and they also don’t mean it to be taken as a serious product. Think of it as wearable social satire. Humping the things, people and places you like in order to let your circle of friends know that you like them – that’s pretty funny. But if NFC takes off and becomes much more widely used, something like the LikeBelt (but not necessarily involving pelvic thrusting) could be a serious way to share with friends.

The post Elvis Would be Proud: Belt Uses Hip Thrusts to Share ‘Likes’ first appeared on Gajitz.