Gadgets Blog

There are certain situations that it’s difficult to mess with your iPod Touch or iPhone.  For one, I’ve noticed the car being a little obnoxious.  As of now I haven’t installed the radio in my car that incorporates my iPod Touch.  So instead as a temporary fix I have a device that creates a radio station for my iPod and I listen that way.  The serious downside is that I can’t just skip on the radio or stop it.  I have to unlock my iPod and then try to drive and play with my iPod.  With this inline remote from Griffin you can feel exactly where you’re at and never have to take your eyes off the road.

It also makes it so that you can safely tuck your iPod out of sight in your pocket and still keep control of it.  That’s always nice when you’d prefer not to advertise it for fear that it might get stolen.  To make this gadget all the more useful, when you’re bored of the music on your iPod you can switch the Griffin remote over to radio.  Sometimes it is nice to shut off the iPod and just listen to the classic FM radio.  The device works with absolutely any iPod with a dock connector.  It’ll cost you $60.

Source: GadgetLab

With the population rising, it leaves people searching for alternative forms of transportation for heavily populated areas.  Well this idea for Masdar City looks like something straight of an Isaac Asimov book I read years ago.  They are basically an electronic taxi without a driver.  You choose where it is you’d like to go and it will take you there or close to it.  Initially the system will stay fairly simple, but as time progresses it will continue to be modified and become more complex.

Actually, the planner that designed the network refers to it more as an elevator type system as of now.  Just push a button and it takes you to where you need to go.  Passengers will be able to get within 100 meters of any destination.  The system that will be located within Abu Dhabi is definitely revolutionary.  I doubt that this new system is perfect, but I am curious to see it be modified and for other ideas to be spawned from this one.  Personal Rapid Transit is set to make its debut sometime this year.

Source: Gas2.0

Adjustable wrenches are nothing new, they’ve been around for a while.  You always have to adjust it down or up a bit first though.  Sometimes you are off too and then you have to adjust some more.  Well now there’s this hydrokinetic wrench that adjusts in a much more convenient way.  The wrench has a hidden chamber of water that allows for it to adjust very easily.

To work it, just open the valve,  put it on the chosen nut or bolt and then you have to push the gripper on the opposite end.  By pushing that it will compress that liquid and adjust the wrench.  Once it’s to the desired size, close the valve again so that it stays nice and secure.  Then you can loosen or tighten nuts and bolts to your heart’s content.  It’s debatable if this is all that much more convenient than a normal adjustable wrench.  Still though, using hydrokinetics is a much cooler method.  You can purchase it through Think Geek for $24.99.

Source: Crunchgear

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.