Gadgets Blog

Camera straps that come with the camera tend to be on the, well, lame side.  They always have coarse material and the edges dig into your neck. Not to mention they display your camera brand name in shockingly bold lettering.  So for those that use their camera a lot, it gets to the point when you have to seek out a camera strap that suits you a bit better.  Well these straps made out of old seat belts look like a far better alternative than anything I’ve come across thus far.

The material itself is more of a silky smooth texture and you know it’s built to stand up to plenty of weight.   Since they are older seat belts, the edges will be nice and smooth, so they probably won’t cut into your neck quite as badly.  Plus you get the added perk of knowing that you’re giving an old item a new purpose.  Thankfully these seat belts come in several different colors, such as Mercedes Gold, Porsche Purple, T-bird Teal and Dodge Silver.  You can purchase one for $20 or two for $35.  This is one product that is definitely going on my wish list.

Source: GadgetLab

The moment I heard of this next device, I couldn’t help but think of this old Far Side cartoon. It would appear that an acoustics engineer John Reed has been working on a way to actually translate dolphin squeaks.

Apparently, the technology used to decipher dolphin chatter is the same as the tech we use to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. In all honesty, I didn’t know we had technology for that purpose.

The dolphin translator, called the Cymascope, has an odd set up. It uses a basin of water with a video camera, along with sand, brass plates, and a violin bow. When the dolphin sings, it records the input and analyzes it for common syntax patterns.

You want to know something hysterical? I was just watching an episode of American Dad where Stan Smith takes his son to work, and they meet some talking dolphins. Apparently, all dolphins want to talk about is mackerel. Let’s hope the dolphins will have a lot more to say than that.

I suppose that the “best case scenario” of this device is that the dolphins tell us things that we don’t already know. For example, that we are polluting the ocean and killing their primary source of food. Oh wait, I guess we already know that. Maybe we will listen now.

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I’ve noticed that a lot of educational toys are always based on animals. I suppose that kids need to learn about animals before they learn that the real world has nothing to do with them.

Okay, that was cynical. Yeah, I know there are many careers available for those who have an interest in animals, and now parents have a way to develop their children’s interest in animals with the Discovery Channel’s Smart Animal Scanopedia.

The Scanopedia comes with a handheld scanner, a laminated sheet full of animals, and a plastic animal figure. When you scan the sheet or figure, the scanner tells you a lot of pertinent information like what the animal sounds like, as well as its habitat.

The toy even allows you to take quizzes on the information your child has learned like guess that call, guess that habitat, and where in the world does the animal live. I believe that more animals are unlocked as you do the quizzes.

It looks like the Smart Animals Scanopedia is one of those toys where you amass a collection. It reminds me of these “Wild Animal cards” they used to make back in the day. Every month, you would get a new deck, complete with animal photo and lots of information.

If you’re interested in starting your collection, you should be able to purchase this guy from the Discovery Channel site soon for a price of $29.99.

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When life gets too stressful, it seems like it always becomes far more difficult to sleep.  You could pick up some pills to help you sleep at night, but that’s never a great alternative due to the side effects.  Plus it can get expensive over time, especially for those without health insurance.  According to the site, after only a few minutes it will begin to work you into a deep and restful sleep.  It’d be a nice way to shut off your brain without investing in pricey pharmaceuticals.

It has a total of 3 hours of soothing music, that music is embedded with natural delta wave frequencies.    These are frequencies that they claim your brain creates during the deepest stages of sleep.  It comes with earbuds, but you could hook this up to some speakers.  If you have a loved one that sleeps with you that doesn’t want to hear it, sleeping with earbuds can be very uncomfortable.  I know I attempted it for a little while and always woke with sore ears.  So what you might do is pick up some headphones designed for sleeping with.  It runs on one AAA battery and for $34.95, I’d say this sleep aid is worth a shot.

Source: Newlaunches

Yesterday, we reported on the Spiderman Webcam, and it is only logical that someone would create a webcam based off Star Trek. The Star Trek webcam celebrates the spirit of one of the most beloved shows of all time, and it is an excellent way to make a buck.

The Star Trek Webcam is set up for 720p, and can mount on your desktop screen with a bendable gooseneck. Apparently, the webcam has a sticker underneath the insignia, and you can plug it in to a USB.

Plug and Play software should get the Enterprise-shaped cam working better than Scotty could, and the nacelles will light up when the camera is on. The nacelles are those red engine things on the spaceship, for those who are non-Trekkies.

I suppose we could add this to the infinitesimal gear that has come out for Star Trek fans in the past fifty years. The most recent contributions are the Star Trek Scene It game and the Wallpaper. We are probably going to see a lot more franchise-related stuff as the release of the new Star Trek movie by J.J. Abrams comes out.

My sources say that the Star Trek webcam is doing to be released by Dream Cheeky, but there is no word on a release date or a price.

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A fan is really just a fan.  It blows on you, the only extra that is useful that could possibly be added to a fan is a heating option.  Beyond that nothing extra is really needed.  Yet, you do need your gadgets to match your style and even your interests.  So if you need a fan to blend in with cheesy USB gadgets, this is the one.  That or this could be for teachers and Apple/apple fans.   Although the fan doesn’t come in very Apple-like colors, meaning, it doesn’t com in white.

This cheap flimsy fan in the shape of an apple is powered by a USB cord.  If you want it blowing on you while you’re away from the computer, you’ll just need 4 AAA batteries on stand by to keep it powered up.  Those batteries are of course, not included with the brightly colored fan.  The fan comes in red, green and orange.  As I said before, sadly there is no white version.  It includes a USB cable with the fan upon purchase.  You can pick it up for $16.99 from Gadget4all.

Source: Pocket-lint

The slotRadio is a simple device that comes ready to use with a microSD preloaded with 1,000 of hits selected from the Billboard charts themselves. The user can use from genres of Rock, Alternative, Country, R &B/Hip Hop, Contemporary, as well as Workout and Chillout.

If you don’t like any of the preloaded tunes, then you can just connect it to your computer and load up the tunes that you do like with drag and drop. So if you want an MP3 player, and don’t want to deal with the hassles of loading, or messing with iTunes, then you don’t have to. In short, this might be the perfect Portable Media Player (PMP) for those who are not in the iGeneration. That’s right, your mother or even your grandmother could use the SlotRadio.

This is the best part of the SanDisk SlotRadio: from out of the box, a new user can instantly immerse him or herself in a world of music. If he or she does not like what is currently playing, the user may cut to the next track, or to another genre. It even has a built-in FM tuner if you want to listen to more music.

This is the worst part of the SanDisk SlotRadio: it is too random. The device only has a forward advance button. So if I wanted to hear “Dream Police” by Cheap Trick again, I have to keep hitting the forward advance until it gets to it.

If this is the PMP for you, feel free to head over to the SlotRadio site for about $99. The company is even offering a Mini Travel Case ($14.99 value) for a limited time.