Gadgets Blog

How many of us have made our New Year’s resolution to work off those fats sticking around our waist like a barnacle that seems to grow larger and larger by the month without any sign of abating, and yet feel disappointed as we prefer to relax on our couches without hitting the treadmill? Perhaps video games could be used to make exercise more fun, as with the Jog Game controller for the Wii.

Jog takes you one step further into the immersive world of Wii gaming by hooking your controllers up to a waist-mounted step counter. Every time you run a step, the sensors pick it up and your onscreen character moves in the direction you’ve pointed the Nunchuk joystick. It’s that simple â€" just plug in and play. Within seconds you’ll be pacing, pelting along and having an all-out sprint to evade black magic zombies, score against Manchester United or knock out the Green Goblin stone cold.

The Jog will work with hundreds of existing games, and you benefit more from both exercise as well as getting an immersive gaming experience right in the comfort of the living room without having to share it with other sweaty folks from the gym. Perfect to bring the family together for a healthy and fun workout-cum-gaming session. You can pick up the Jog Game Controller for just £24.95 and start gaming to a healthier you! Just lay off the pizzas and sodas during those breaks, aight?

Don’t you just hate it that when your life revolves around gadgets and gizmos, one of the most irritating things would be to have that particular device die on you during the most inopportune moments? Well, why not do your part and charge your cell phone as well as portable media player before heading outdoors so that you can have maximum enjoyment of said devices before returning home, but what happens when the situation is less than ideal? There’s always the POWERplus Eagle Solar Charger & Torch.

POWERplus Eagle is a powerful LED torch and solar charger rolled into one cool package. Pack it in your pocket to enjoy the freedom of mobile light and energy wherever you go! This solar charger has triple solar wings for maximum power â€" just fold out each wing in daylight until the internal eco friendly battery is fully charged. Once charged, the Eagle solar power charger holds enough juice to recharge a gadget such as your mobile phone and you’ll find cables and adapters to cover most phone and gadgets. There’s even a built-in LED torch with three powerful LEDs to shine a light on any emergency; select 1 LED, 3LEDs or 3 LEDs flashing.

You can pick up this nifty and potentially handy gadget for just £29.95, making important phone calls getting cut off due to a dead battery in your phone a thing of the past.

The winner of last week’s coolest gadget competition is the Thumb Saver.

This gadget is so simple but makes so much sense and it seems to solve an age old problem that everyone has just become accustomed to. The Thumb Saver is a great invention which through a magnet holds any type of nail in place so you can hammer it in without any bruised, bloodied or broken fingers.

Congrats again to Tech Styling.

In second place we have the DIY: Lego Movie Theater Features Working Projector.

In what is without a doubt the coolest Lego project I have seen in a long while, builder Ricardo Oliveira has built a Lego movie theater, complete with a tiny 24 fps projector. The biggest surprise was that the thing actually worked, had I not seen the video I might have dismissed it as April Fool’s day foolishness; it is real. The level of detail in the theater is incredible, right down to row designations on the seats and cups for the patrons.

Finally in third place comes the Instant phone backup.

How annoying is changing phones and having to get all your contacts onto your new handset? Moving all your contacts onto your phone memory or SIM, taking phones apart, swapping SIMS (if your new handset’s not locked), yadda yadda. It’s got a lot quicker with the use of software and a computer but don’t you just wish it could be instant? Well now, thanks to this little gadget, it is.

Thank you to everybody who voted, submitted, commented or told a friend. The randomly drawn winner of the $50 Amazon vouchers is:

Tim (zxions@…), congratulations.

Thanks again everybody and good luck with the next CGOTW contest on Friday.

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If you write for a gadget themed blog and wish to be included in next week’s contest check out the CGOTW instructions page.