Gadgets Blog

One down side of surge protectors is they are typically down on the floor and difficult to reach.  If you ever have to switch out something on a regular basis it becomes even more of a nuisance.  Granted a lot of times your computer is on the floor too, but there are other gadgets besides your computer that stay plugged in.   So why should your surge protector be jammed in a dark corner that’s hard to get to?  Well now Belkin has a cool little surge protector that would hopefully make your life a little easier.

It clamps on to your desk, so it won’t take up much space and you’ll be able to have easier access to the cords.  It would also make it an excellent surge protector for work benches out in your garage or for those of you that build computers a lot.  Of course there are always other types of surge protectors that could perhaps mount to the wall.  This way though you could always move it around fairly easily.  You can pick these up on Amazon for $24.95.

Source: ForeverGeek

If you have a strong obsession with racing, this is the clock to keep around.  This tiny clock would be great for any Nascar adorned office, which I see fairly often, being in Indiana.  It’d also be the perfect gift for car lovers.  It is a small clock though, so it would be better suited for a desk, rather than a garage.  It even comes complete with a wrench and screwdriver for hands, for those that enjoy fixing the cars as well as being a fan of a certain type of them.

It’s just a standard cock, doesn’t do any cool tricks, sadly.  It isn’t overly large either, it measures 4” across in diameter x 1.5”.  It among the features says it has a brake disc, brake pads, lug nuts and a valve stem.  It also comes with a stainless steel bracket, although it doesn’t actually mention what for, I’m guessing to mount it to the wall.  You can pick it up through Sourcing Map for $11.99.

Want to introduce a little spark into your marriage? How about the Floating Mood Light the next time you celebrate your anniversary with your spouse at the hotel pool where you had plenty of loving moments all those years ago? These are perfect for the relaxing late night swim or romantic bath, and the 2.75″ diameter won’t take up too much space in the bath tub after all. You can opt to set these Floating Mood Lights to a single specific color of choice or set to alternate between colors as it floats. Picking one up will cost you $9.99, so to fill a swimming pool with a decent amount will set you back by quite a bit.

Cricket Communications, Inc. isn’t one of the major cell phone service providers in the US, but that doesn’t mean it does not do its part to bring in new handsets to this part of the world. Recently, Cricket has just announced the new Samsung SCH-r211 being made available to Cricket customers. This is a sleek, modern bar style phone that features an easy-to-use interface, allowing users instant and easy access to a variety of services and features required for everyday use, offering pretty good value-for-money in the sub-$100 category. Features of the handset includes downloadable content support, AWS support that enables the customer to use the r211 in all Cricket markets, text messaging services, any-key/auto answer and personal tools (calendar, memo pad, alarm clock, calculator, and more). You can pick up the SCH-r211 for $89.99.

Press Release

Carbonite Inc. does not make prison cells to hold intergalactic space pirates like Han Solo, but is instead one of the leading providers of online backup to both consumers and small businesses. This company recently forged a pretty formidable partnership with Acer Inc., where the former will offer their range of award-winning online backup service to the latter’s consumer customers on select PCs that will be shipping to the U.S. and Canada. As per the agreement between the two, both Acer Travelmate and Aspire branded computers will ship with a free trial of Carbonite Online Backup pre-loaded.

Folks who rely a whole lot on their PC or notebook had better pay close attention to what Keith Cooper, president and COO of Carbonite, has to say. “This is an ideal partnership that brings true value to Acer consumers. Everyone will eventually experience the terrible consequences of losing family photos, personal documents, work files and their favorite music. The problem is that most people don’t think about backing up those precious files until after they have been lost forever. By including the online backup on the computers when they are purchased, consumers can easily get protection before that inevitable loss impacts their lives.”

Carbonite will need to be activated before it can be used though, and it requires an email address and password. The program itself won’t intrude, as it will run quietly in the background, going about its task of backing up all data files continually. We’re not too sure how much of a performance hit you’ll suffer from this, but chances are it will be negligible if you’re using a notebook that’s decently powered by the latest line of processors. All data will be encrypted before leaving the local computer, and is sent to Carbonite’s secure data center using HTTPS (SSL) for total privacy. Will Carbonite’s software cause you to choose Acer notebooks over other brands?

Press Release

Royal Philips Electronics recently rolled out their SpeechMike Air, a wireless version of its already popular SpeechMike audio recording device. This new addition to the family helps Philips expand its line of modern, digital speech processing solutions. Well, as you already can tell by the name, the SpeechMike Air won’t be able to help you perform a slam dunk, but will boast built-in wireless functionality, a dictation microphone, playback speaker, dictation control and PC navigation. Not only that, each purchase will be accompanied by software that is compatible with Dragon Naturally Speaking speech recognition software, allowing users to customize SpeechMike Air simply by controlling key functions of the speech recognition software.

The SpeechMike Air is based on a streamlined shape and comes with enlarged function buttons which allow you to keep movement to an absolute minimum so as not to interfere with the recording session. It is equipped with a “push-to-dictate” function that helps simplify the dictation process, allowing it to be more intuitive. Users are able to use a single button to enable start and stop functions so as to make the entire operation simpler. According to Dr. Thomas Brauner, CEO and Category Leader, Philips Speech Processing, “We believe the SpeechMike Air sets the global standard in terms of innovation, ergonomics and user-friendliness. The system clearly highlights our position as the world’s leading one-stop shop for modern, digital speech processing solutions - now also boasting a wireless solution for the office, medical practice or law firm. With innovative technology and sophisticated solutions that work, we are shaping the workflows of our customers even more productively.”

Part of the SpeechMike Air system also includes both the SpeechMike AirPort docking station and SpeechMike AirBridge receiver module. The former will hook up to a computer for two purposes - to keep its internal battery juiced up as well as making data transfer a snap, all this while the receiver module handles speech data from the dictation device wirelessly as long as you remain within a 32 foot radius. All data transfer will be encrypted and happen over a Bluetooth connection, making sure nobody is able to “eavesdrop” on your precious data. The image you see above is from the wired version, so the final product ought to be rather similar in design.

Press Release

Usual rules, vote for what you think is the coolest gadget and leave a comment for a chance to win a $50 Amazon voucher.

Case Folding Coffee Table - Coffee Table To Go

Portability in coffee tables has not existed until now - we give you the Case Folding Coffee Table. The table folds itself into a case when not in use and is made of easy open/close birch wood pieces each spring loaded with locking hinges. It can take loads of up to 100 lbs, and is handmade in California. A big thanks to Beth for sending this in.

The full post can be found on Single Serve Coffee.

Salt it like a Polaroid Picture

They shake themselves! It’s now fun and simple to add some panache to your fine dining. Just pull the cord, invert, hold - MOVERS AND SHAKERS do all the work! Traditional “diner” styling, packed 2 pcs in a frosted box. Perfect house warming gift.

The full post can be found on RGS.

Shoe phone

A phone in a shoe - you’ll never forget it or lose it and when used with a Bluetooth headset, it’s a pretty cool place to hide a phone from pickpockets. But best of all is how this phone can be used to help the elderly. It will monitor shocks and orientation changes when someone falls. The shoe will then automatically call emergency services and put the whole conversation on speakerphone so that the patient can communicate when they’re in trouble. A cool gadget that will actually do some good.

The full post can be found on Decide What to Buy.

World’s First PC Free Videophone

The Asus Ai Guru SV1 lays claim to the title of the first Skype videophone that doesn’t need to be connected to a personal computer for it to function. This self contained unit only requires an internet connection and an account on the Skype network for the operator to be able to make video conference calls. Doing away with the computer requirement makes this gadget portable and easily accessible for the masses.

The full post can be found on Coated.

Wearable Social Networking Fabric May Be Good for Spying

You would no longer have to login to a boring account but you could just wear it on your clothes and the device or wearable social networking gadget will let you know if one of your friends passes by.

The full post can be found on EliteChoice.

On Time Headset System Is a Multi Functional Bracelet

On Time Headset System is an interesting gadget that functions as a bracelet, and even handles all your incoming and outgoing calls. It tells you what time it is and also alerts you when your phone rings.

The full post can be found on Trends Updates.

The $16,000 Water Cooled PC

This has to be the craziest PC we have seen here at geeky gadgets, built by the guys at Puget Systems in cost a massive $16,000 to build.

So what exactly does spending $16,000 on a custom PC get you? This crazy PC features four quad core Opteron processors, 32GB of RAM and eight hard drives in various RAID configurations.

The full post can be found on Geeky Gadgets.

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A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd. has just rolled out the highest capacity SSD in the industry at CeBIT 2009 - in the form of the 512GB XPG 2.5” SSD. This monster SSD was specially designed to cater for notebook and PC enthusiasts who want the best of both worlds - superior data transfer rate as well as a large amount of space to store their media. The 512GB XPG 2.5” SSD is no slouch when it comes to data transfer, capable of delivering up to 230MB/s and 160MB/s read and write speeds, although all these are in theory at the moment and hopefully real world figures will remain close to the advertised ones. These fast speeds are made possible thanks to a high speed SATA II interface. No idea on how much this will cost though, but you can do the math by taking current 128GB SSD prices and multiplying it a couple times.

Press Release