scanner

KeyScan keyboard with built-in color scanner and ID card feeder

Computers, Gizmo of the Day / By Khalid Hosein / October 12, 2009

This gadget is a bit unusual for the average home user, but I can see some businesses using this – it’s a keyboard with a color scanner built right into it.

The scanner is a sheet-feed scanner that can also take plastic cards like driver licenses, ID cards, etc. It scans into color at 24/48 bits or gray or black & white at a resolution of 600dpi. This USB 2.0 device also has 2 USB 2.0 ports of its own. About the only downside is that it only works on Windows, presumably because they’ve only created drivers for Windows.

Buy now!

More info from the manufacturer
Price: $109.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

UK police could be using remote weapons scanner in a few years

Miscellaneous / By Khalid Hosein / July 6, 2009

Here is some more movie-magic made real by today’s science. UK University researchers funded by the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and supported by London’s Metropolitan Police have come up with a weapons scanner that picks up concealed guns & knives without needing to be close to the subject.

The scanner works using electromagnetic waves and neural net technology to determine whether it’s a weapon or some other non-dangerous object. It also does not produce an image of the subject’s body.

The scanner could be put into use as soon as the next 2 years.

Press release.