This hearing aid-like device called SpeechEasy helps relieve stuttering by the “Choral effect.” This effect, present when stuttering is reduced or eliminated when people speak or sing in unison with others, is replicated by piping a person’s own speech back into their ear with a slight delay and on a slightly modified frequency. This in turn makes their brain think they’re speaking in unison with someone else. It’s definitely a great idea, but the SpeechEasy is only available in Europe as of now.

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FROM JALOPNIK.COM: One of the reasons the Toyota Prius outsells its rivals is that its looks shout “Hybrid!” People buy them because they want to be seen to be saving the earth.

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Microsoft named its browser a humble explorer; Apple encompassed a whole safari. Do you get the sense that the developers of the 3D browser “SpaceTime” are setting their sights a bit higher?

Most 3D browsers from the early days of the web, such as those from ActiveWorlds and Blaxxun Interactive, became best-known for avatar-based chat, in many ways the precursors of Second Life. 3B, a more recent effort, allows its users to set up web pages and photos on walls or billboards in various 3D environments such as Tech (think bridge of USS Enterprise), Beach, Lounge and what the developers call “Girly” (sort of a pre-teen girl’s bedroom) presumably located in Hannah, Montana.

SpaceTime, though, differs from all these avatar cyberplaygrounds, using 3D instead as a means to more visual web navigation. Large thumbnails of web pages float in front of a slowly drifting Cirrus cloud background; double-clicking them travels through space and brings them full-screen. Alone, this would be little more than eye candy, but SpaceTime’s design goals kick in when you choose a search from one of its partners, which include Google and YouTube, Yahoo and Flickr, Amazon and eBay, among others.

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While we’re not exactly sure whether to be pleased or concerned that Taser International recently posted record quarterly sales, the firm’s C2 consumer stun gun is nevertheless hitting the market. As of this week, civilians who fear for their life or have severely rambunctious children can snap up the C2 at a number of retail locations, and those interested can look forward to wires that fire 15-feet and carry 50,000-volts in order to “temporarily incapacitate a person.” Interestingly, Taser must know that there’s quite a few proactive ladies that are pondering a purchase as well, as the consumer C2 will reportedly be available in a variety of colors — including pink. Hurry it up, grab one before your friends do!

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It looks like some researchers at MIT and Brown University are about to see the fruits of their labor become commercially available, with upstart iWalk set to release the PowerFoot One prosthetic foot jointly developed by the two. Unlike similar devices, the PowerFoot One uses “tendon-like” springs and an electric motor to help propel the person forward, which supposedly reduces fatigue, improves balance and gives the wearer with a more fluid gait. A mix of sensors and specialized control algorithms also ensure that the person stays balanced while walking on slopes or stairs. While there’s no word on what it’ll cost, it should be commercially available sometime next summer.

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We’ve seen more capacious, more glitzy, and more valuable CompactFlash cards before, but Kingston’s latest lineup of CF Ultimate cards are noticeably quick on their feet. The devices, which are available in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB sizes, sport write speeds of up to 266x, which Kingston claims is “twice the minimum sustained write speed previously available in the Ultimate line.” Additionally, users can look forward to the included MediaRECOVER software that comes bundled in, and the lifetime warranty should allow heavy clickers to rest a bit easier. Only catch? These bad boys will run you $83, $144, or $280 depending on size, so unless you’re desperate for the speed, we’d suggest looking elsewhere for your CF needs.

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It looks like the “handsome” new Fujitsu T2010 that we saw back in the beginning of July has made its way into the loving arms of the FCC — where they’ve given it their precious stamp of approval. Of course, this doesn’t mean anything yet, as the company hasn’t made any announcements, but it does open the possibility of seeing the 12.1-inch ultralight tablet around these parts in the future. The Core 2 Duo system runs on Intel’s Santa Rosa 965 chipset, with an integrated X3100 GMA graphics chip, WiFi, Bluetooth, and a weight starting at just 3.31 lbs. Check the read link for pages of fascinating FCC documents.

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Thanks to Peter Jackson, New Zealanders have all the fun. Not only do they get to experience epic Lord of the Rings sites as they are recreated in the countryside, but now they get to do donuts around their flocks of sheep with Halo Warthogs. Jackson’s WETA workshop recently finished building an accurate, working Warthog (machine gun and all) for their upcoming Halo 3 shorts. If you didn’t catch the first trailer that debuted at E3, hit the jump to see what all the fuss is about.

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People say the Japanese public transit system is fantastic, and it’s stuff like this Japan Railways Wi-Fi clock that makes it so. This clock shows you exactly which stop your train is at, so you can plan ahead to see how long it will take for it to reach your stop. Best of all it’s Wi-Fi enabled, which means you get live updates when your train happens to be late. If they sold one of these for the BART here, well, you’d probably get a letter from your internet provider about using too many resources.

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Thanks to the magic of VMWare and Parallels (which let you run other operating systems on top of your own), you can try the OLPC operating system without actually having to be a child in a Third World country. All you have to do is download a pre-configured image, change some settings, and you’re set. Possible uses (besides as a prop when you play Angelina Jolie and the Adopted Child) are developing OLPC-specific software and web apps for the upcoming market.

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