Thursday, March 21, 2013

Victorinox Electronics (3) : Electronic scales and LED "lite"

I'm a real gadget-freak. Everything from an Ipod to robotics have an addictive effect on me. When I first heard of the small electronics, integrated in my beloved knives, I went a bit over-excited... ;) First off... The LED...It isn't the most bright one, but when you need a flashlight and you just can't find one, this is probably the next best thing! It's sufficient to  illuminate small surfaces on a distance of max a meter. Last year, during my visit at the Victorinox museum in Brunnen, I saw the flashlight-integration prototype and I laughed... They tried to slide a small AAA Maglite with lightbulb, inside a wide Spartan. It just looked funny. If you look at the evolution from bulb to LED, it was obvious that Victorinox used this technology in their knives. The design looks incredible. Thin,small, yet powerful enough to help in the smaller tasks. It uses two CR1225 Li-Ion batterys and has one flaw.. It isn't waterproof.... The electronic scales are perfect, a great example of Swiss ingenuity. One button, disguised as the Victorinox shield, scrolls, selects, resets and even activates all the integrated features. Some models have the clock in combination with the timer, alarm clock and temperature sensor. Others like the Voyager have the full package... The clock, altimeter, barometer, alarm clock, alarm, timer and temperature sensor. Even with this impressive list of features, Victorinox still managed to add an illumination feature and a loud alarm sound. Victorinox, welcome in the Electronic era, you've earned your place!














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