Roomba Turns 10, a DIY Autonomous Paintball Turret, and More at Tested.comRoomba Turns 10, a DIY Autonomous Paintball Turret, and More at Tested.com

When they’re not busting myths on the Discovery Channel, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage are busy cooking up great DIY projects and keeping up to date on the latest achievements of the world’s best makers.

Here’s some of the latest from Tested.com:

The Roomba Turns 10

Everyone’s favorite robo-floor cleaner is now 10 years old. Tested.com outlines the history of the home robot and the company that creates it, iRobot.

3D Printing at the World Maker Faire

Meanwhile, at World Maker Faire, Tested.com checks out a new 3D printer that uses stereolithography instead of extruded plastic filament to build highly detailed objects.

The Autonomous Sentry Gun

How cool is this? Project Sentry Gun is a homemade paintball and airsoft turret that uses open source software to track moving targets with a webcam and trigger arduino-connected servo motors to activate a homemade sentry. You’ve got to see it in action.

Talking With Makerbot Industries’ Bre Pettis

Finally, Tested.com talks with the co-founder of Makerbot Industries, Bre Pettis. He explains the improvements in the company’s latest 3D-printer.

Victorinox Unveils 1 Terabyte Solid State Drive in a Swiss Army Knife

Image: Victorinox

The Swiss Army drive is ready for its update.

At CES, Victorinox announced two new products to its portable storage line: the Victorinox SSD and Victorinox Slim 3.0 USB drive. Both look like teeny flash drives. Both pack quite a bit more.

The company claims the drive is the world’s smallest high-capacity solid-state drive, ranging from 64 gigabytes to 1 terabyte. It has a 220 MB/second read and 150 MB/second write speeds with 256-bit AES encryption. The drive can also handle automatic backup and syncing. The drive is removable and can be outfitted with two included cases, a TSA friendly one and a signature Swiss Army one with all the bells (blade, scissors, nail file/screw driver). The Slim 3.0 USB drive has a capacity of up to 128 gigabytes and is up to 10 times faster than the its predecessor. Pricing for either product has not been announced.

Samsung Debuts New Product Category: The Note is a Smartphone-Tablet Hybrid

Image: Samsung

It had to happen. On Thursday, Samsung debuted a tablet-phone hybrid with the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note.

Samsung’s new product category, CNET reports, combines tablet-like functionality with smartphone features and portability.

The Note, with a 1.4-gigahertz dual-core processor, has a Super AMOLED touchscreen, which Samsung says is more vivid and brighter than standard hi-def displays. The screen — large for a smartphone, tiny for a tablet — makes is easy to view websites, books and documents, but overall the phone is pretty thin at 9.65 millimeters.

It runs on Android’s Gingerbread operating system, comes with a stylus (did we return to the ’90s?) and has both a 2-megapixel front camera and 8-megapixel rear camera. With 16-gigabyte and 32-gigabyte versions, the phone will also support the various 4G networks: one model will support HSPA+ and the other LTE. But details are scant on pricing and timing.

Portable mCAMLITE Turns Your iPhone Into a Versatile Video Camera

The mCAMLITE turns your iPhone into a top-level video camera (Images: Action Life Media)

Yes, you can use your iPhone as a more than decent video camera, but if you want to get better, more professional results, wrap it in an mCAMLITE.

Made from aircraft-grade billet aluminum, the mCAMLITE not only protects your iPhone when climbing on rocks to get the perfect angle, but it gives it the weight and heft you need to stabilize your hands whileshooting.

And because the pros don’t just use one standard lens when pushing for the perfect shot, the kit comes with two 37mm interchangeable lenses: a wide angle for capturing everything you want in the scene, and a macro when you want to get up close and personal. Together, they give you the chance to get shots that are downright impossible with the iPhone’s lens.

Since the best videos have sound, the mCAMLITE comes with a 180-degree external microphone, allowing you to capture directional sound and reduce ambient noise, so your YouTube fans can hear every note of your keyboard-playing cat…

The mCAMLITE’s housing is designed with consideration of your growth as an auteur. It has mounts on top and bottom for accessories and tripods, and has a cold shoe on top for pro quality mics and lights. They even offer a pair of action carts so you can slide your cam along to get smooth action shots. So as you get better and demand more from your cam, the mCAMLITE can oblige.

At only $159.95 it’s the perfect starter kit for any visionary filmmaker (or photographer), to add to their portfolio without spending a fortune. Don’t quote me on this, but I think this is how Scorsese got started…