Gadgets Blog

Watched too many spy movies that you wish you had your very own Q along with a collection of toys and gadgets that would put James Bond to shame? Why not start off with the Spy Camera Pen that is able to hold up to 15 hours of footage, where it also doubles up as a fully functional pen to put down your John Hancock on those official government documents.

A tiny built in Spy Camera lens is situated above the pen clip, hard to see even with the keenest eye. Perfect gifts for James Bond wannabes, these Spy Camera Pens are a great addition to our Thumb Camera and Spy Glasses! Use the Spy Camera Pen in meetings, to document important conversations or just to try out your spy skills wherever you go! Just place the pen in your front pocket and record everything in front of you in full color. The Spy Pen camcorder also features sound! A microphone is hidden under the pen clip giving you full video camera capabilities. To download your footage simply install the software disc and attach your Spy Camera to your computer with the USB connector. Simple to use and effective on Watchdog style missions. Go undercover at school, catch your sister picking her nose at home or record your work mates falling asleep in your bosses meeting. The Spy Camera Pen will make your Mission Impossible…possible! Whether you casually leave it on a desktop or wear it in your front pocket, catch the action as it happens! If you need to covert video footage at the touch of a button then this nifty Spy Camera Pen is the ideal solution. Footage can be uploaded onto You Tube, editing tools and emails quickly and effectively.

The £59.99 entry price might be a bit steep for those who are looking for a little bit of fun, but something tells me if this thing gets any cheaper, we’ll see more and more voyeuristic kind of videos around the Net (as though there weren’t enough of these around already).

When the word ‘robot’ is mentioned, most people would think of huge, warring machines that are able to level a city in no time with its array of missiles and lasers. Well, here’s some news - not all robots are marauding technological monsters who love nothing better than wipe out an entire city for no good reason. There are some small and cute ones like the Robo-Q Tiny R/C Robot which are fully walking models, they are also equipped with fully autonomous modes in order to prevent bumping into obstacles as well as chase after the included soccer ball. For folks who are control freaks, you’ll be pleased to know these $39.99 robots will come with a remote. Bear in mind this imported toy comes with an all-Japanese manual, but you ought to figure out how to insert the AA batteries, don’t you?

The world of netbooks sure have grown by leaps and bounds ever since the Asus Eee PC 701 made its appearance a couple of years back, and just about every major notebook manufacturer have jumped aboard the bandwagon and come up with their own version to compete against one another. Samsung is not exactly one of the more mainstream names when it comes to notebooks, but their netbooks have made an impact in the industry so far. This time round, Samsung has announced a couple of new models in the form of the N110 and N120 for those who are interested in picking up a new netbook. They are readily available online as well as in retail stores, going for $469 and $459, respectively.

Let’s take a look at the Samsung N110 netbook first, where you will find its 10.27″ x 1.19″ x 7.3″ measurements to be extremely portable. In addition, you won’t find your shoulders strained when carrying this around with you on your travels as the N110 tips the scales at just 2.78 lbs, making it a snap to be stowed in a briefcase or travel bag. Touch typists will also find the ergonomic-friendly 93% full-size keyboard a joy to use, while the 10” LED SuperBright Glossy Backlit Display ought to do its part in keeping your eyes fresh even after working on it for a few hours at a stretch. Other features include a 6-cell (5900mAh) lithium battery that theoretically provides up to 9 hours of battery life, and we suppose that is only possible with all, if not most of the options turned off. Other features include a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB RAM, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, a 160GB hard drive, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, three USB 2.0 ports and a 3-in-1 memory card reader.

As for the Samsung N120 netbook, this is more multimedia centric although it weighs a tad more at 2.8 lbs. The keyboard is also larger, being a 97% full-size keyboard with trackpad. In addition, you will also benefit from a SRS 2.1 channel system that is powered by two 1.5 watt stereo speakers and a dedicated subwoofer, in addition to a 1.3 megapixel digital motion camera for video-conferencing capabilities.

Press Release

It goes without saying that we love to be entertained, otherwise how else would you explain sold out rock concerts, millions of Thriller albums making their way to living rooms all over the world and the clamor for the latest hit movies. In fact, with the advent of the iPod, entertainment has gotten all the more portable, spawning a mushrooming portable media player industry that has players from various companies coming up with their own creations. While these devices can be carried around in one’s pocket, what about entertainment options in the vehicle itself? Right now, we’re just stuck with built-in DVD players as well as in-dash displays (or those attached to the sun visor) to keep the kids entertained with Barney’s DVD during that cross country road trip, but what if entertainment could be personalized in high definition for each passenger? That’s what Fujitsu Microelectronics Ltd. aims to do with their new MB88395 processor, an LSI which supports the “1394 Automotive” communication standard for automotive information systems.

Basically, the MB88395 will offer a capability to simultaneously transmit video data from Blu-ray discs, terrestrial digital TV broadcasts and car navigation systems. This is made possible thanks to doubling the transmission speed of its previous product to 800Mbps, making transmission of 720p HDTV video a very real possibility, in addition to throwing in a function to compress HDTV video data to 1/4 and uncompress it. Its predecessor was unable to scale such heights, hitting data compression of just 1/3 at best.

We would assume that this new technology would be able to reroute video from various sources to individual screens in the car, making sure each passenger will be able to watch a video of his/her choice without having to quarrel over whose show must come first. Sample shipments have already started, and we hope to see a working consumer solution in the near future.

Source: Tech On

Bluetooth headsets aren’t exactly in vogue depending on which side of the camp you’re on. Some people who seem to be more busy on their phones compared to even stock brokers and remisiers during a bull run will definitely be for Bluetooth headsets, but others think that it is just a silly piece of device dangling off one side of the ear, making you look more like an assimilated human into the Borg collective instead. No matter which side you favor, take one look at the new Aliph Jawbone Prime Bluetooth headset and you’ll definitely be taken in by its range of colors as well as design. Of course, what’s good about a device if it isn’t able to perform as advertised? More on the Jawbone Prime in the extended post.

The Jawbone brand is noted for being among the top tier of Bluetooth headsets so far, as they were one of the pioneers of bone conduction technology although it did take a fair bit of practice to get the original Jawbone positioned correctly before delivering unparalleled performance compared to stock Bluetooth headsets. The Jawbone Prime takes off where the Jawbone and its sequel left off, featuring the latest in NoiseAssassin technology that offers superior noise elimination performance in an integrated digital approach to wind reduction, as well as doubling up as a fail-safe solution should the Voice Activity Sensor (VAS) not touch the user’s face.

According to Hosain Rahman, Aliph’s CEO and co-founder, “We watched our customers closely and saw how they struggled to be heard in extreme noise environments. So, we focused our engineering team to go deeper on the tough problems like crying babies, pounding jackhammers, beeping elevators and the like. As a result, we are excited to announce Jawbone PRIME, with orders of magnitude better noise suppression, so our customers can continue their conversations wherever they happen to be.” Each $129.99 purchase comes with its own trio of round Earbuds, three New Fit Earbuds and an optional earloop to connect to virtually any ear. Image courtesy of Engadget.

Press Release

Panasonic has its fingers dipped in many segments across the consumer electronics industry, but we’re pretty sure that they’re fairly new to the world of portable navigation devices (PNDs). This doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to do a good job, and we’ll have to take a look at a quartet of models from its Strada Pocket series of PNDs before coming to a more conclusive judgment. Depending on the model picked out from the foursome, you can expect to fork out anywhere from $612 to $765 (after direct conversion from the Japanese Yen). More on these right after the jump.

As with many other products from the same line, you will be able to find similarities across the family, and this Strada Pocket range is no different. All four models will come with a 5″ touchscreen LCD display, utilizing acceleration and angular velocity (gyro) sensors to complement the GPS function, helping increase the accuracy of their current position estimation. Mark June 12, 2009 on your calendars if you’re interested in picking up one of these so that you no longer will be lost whenever you attempt to drive around Japan.

Good hardware is pointless if there is no suitable software to back it up, and the new Strada Pocket series will rely on Toyota Mapmaster Inc’s map data, powered by the Windows CE operating system in the background. All of your map data will be stored on a 4GB microSD memory card, as Panasonic thinks doing so is much more convenient when it comes to updating map data compared to using an SSD, and we thoroughly agree with this assessment. Before you fall over your seats in curiosity to know what the four models are, they consist of the CN-MP200DL that boasts 1seg digital TV broadcast support in addition to a bunch of accessories, the CN-MP200D with similar 1seg capability, the 1seg-less CN-MP100DL that has accessories or the CN-MP100D that lacks 1seg capability and accessories.

Source: Tech On

Are you one of those who need to go to bed with some music, otherwise you can’t fall asleep? I can attest that wearing a pair of headphones while lying down on a pillow can get pretty painful on the ears after a while, hence the availability of the Penguin Music Pillow that comes with a connection to your favorite portable media player, where you can not only fall asleep with your favorite tunes playing softly through the pillow without running the risk of hurting your ears. Perfect for those post-lunch catnaps - the Penguin Music Pillow retails for $14 a pop and comes in two other animal designs.

Ever watch the Gremlins years back? Brings back memories of a cute little bugger that comes with specific care instructions, which were obviously disobeyed resulting in a whole lot of chaos in the neighborhood. Well, nice to see ThinkGeek offer the Singing Gizmo Gremlins Plush that won’t spawn nefarious copies of himself when fed after midnight or getting wet.

Now you can take your own cuddly plush Singing Gizmo home with you. He’s a little smaller than life-size and looking a bit mischievous. Shake him and he sings the soothing song of the Mogwai while slowly rocking back and forth. Please don’t get him wet, expose him to bright lights or feed him after midnight. We can’t be responsible for the consequences.

Looks (and sounds, literally) like the perfect gift for any 1980s movies fan without costing a whole bundle with him going for $22.99.

We all know how Apple has defied the odds by churning a profit this quarter despite the overall doom and gloom feeling that we’re all experiencing at the moment, and it is a testament to the strength and desirability of their product line up. Surely nearly everyone we know has an iPod, while the iPhone 3G remains one of the most sought after smartphones in the market thanks to its multitouch capability and general ease of use. Well, with so many iPods and iPhones running around, one would have to be a fool in order not to see that there is a huge third party accessory market for the taking, and the iPWR SuperPack hops aboard the bandwagon with its claim of being the “smallest, lightest and longest lasting rechargeable 1800 mAh power source available for the iPhone 3G and other Apple products with a 30-pin connector dock in the world”.

The iPWR SuperPack uses direct-connect technology in order to juice up your device’s battery no matter where you are, and even when the device is in use (which makes perfect sense, of course). This SuperPack is touted to offer more than double the amount of time an iPhone 3G user can spend with their device before it gets exhausted, which translates to roughly seven hours of non-stop yakking, 10 hours of Internet surfing (although we think you’d do much better with a notebook’s screen size) or audio playback of up to 40 hours. When the iPhone 3G is left idle and being charged, it takes a mere 2.5 hours to juice up to the maximum, which is pretty impressive when you think about it.

The SuperPack uses a lithium-polymer battery and comes with sophisticated integrated switching circuitry that allows the battery to maintain a 100% charge state for up to a year - I know, that’s even better than what Sanyo’s Eneloop offers. Apparently, the SuperPack is also longer lasting, being able to be charged up to 100% for over 500 charge/discharge cycles. You can choose from black or white colors for the iPWR SuperPack at $59.95 a pop.

Press Release

Duracell is a name that is synonymous with their pink colored bunny that loves banging those drums long after other ordinary-powered bunnies have retired and fallen by the wayside. The energy firm however is smart enough to know that it cannot just rely on selling AA alkaline batteries throughout the years in order to stay afloat, and hence have released various other energy-related devices throughout the years in order to stay ahead of the competition. This time round, they aim to fill the gap of integrating mobile device technology and the automobile by coming up with the Duracell USB Charger. This device is actually a USB charging port which is able to plug straight into the vehicle’s DC socket, alongside a trio of other connectors available for the Duracell My Pocket Charger.

The Duracell USB Charger is touted to be one of the smallest and simplest USB charging devices availalbe on the market right now, boasting innovative technology which offers 5-volt DC power to charge mobile devices while you’re traveling in your vehicle. It doesn’t matter whether you are trying to juice up a dead iPod, iPhone or even portable media player of other makes, this USB Charger ought to be able to do the job as long as it has the right connector for your device. In addition, it won’t take up too much space in your vehicle thanks to its thumb-sized form factor that is discreet enough not to be an eyesore. When plugged in, the Duracell USB Charger functions as an USB opening which glows with a soothing blue light to indicate its readiness to charge.

There is no word on pricing, but these power solutions can be found online as well as at selected mass and specialty retail stores around the country. After all, there is nothing quite like the feeling of having your iPod run out of juice at the most inopportune (and boring) of moments, eh?

Press Release

It is interesting to see how TVs have evolved from just getting regular programming from transmitting stations to what they are today - fully fledged multimedia devices that are able to keep us entertained around the clock even if they were disconnected to our cable networks. After all, most new HDTVs these days do come with a USB port that enables us to plug in our favorite photos and videos in the form of a USB flash drive, while other people hook up their Blu-ray players via HDMI to enjoy full HD movies. LG is at the forefront of this scene yet again with their new range of digital TVs that are touted to be the first device series in the world which can play back full DivX HD 1080p videos. Currently, over 200 models of LG digital TVs have been DivX Certified, and these include the LH50, LH70, LH85, PS70 and PS80 series. Not only that, there will be a wider range of innovative LG TVs that will be DivX Certified for playback of full DivX HD.

According to Simon Kang, Chief Executive Officer and President of LG Home Entertainment TVs Company, “Being first to market with digital TVs capable of playing back DivX HD 1080p video is a big win for LG as well as our customers. As people expand their DivX HD video collections they are looking for more convenient ways to watch them on their TVs. We’ve given them the ultimate convenience by building support for DivX HD playback into our digital TVs. This is another feature we’ve integrated beautifully inside of our TVs and we look forward to working with DivX in the future to offer even more innovative solutions that effortlessly bring HD video into people’s living rooms.”

I wonder whether the torrent scene will be even more active with such TVs in circulation as more and more people might turn to the dark side and download illegal copies of ripped movies in this format. Only time will tell whether the world thinks that movies are overpriced…

Press Release

The TV, or better quipped as the idiot box, is a major fixture in many homes around the world. In essence, it allows families to gather in one spot, apparently “spending time” with one another without having any interaction except perhaps in between commercials. Well, our hectic lifestyles have to compete with the TV and its programming for our time, which means there are many times when work wins out over recreation - which was why the invention of digital video recorders came about. Well, there are more and more shows and series released these days that make us want to watch all of them despite being busier than ever, which translates to more recorded shows taking up hard drive space on our recorders. Many will be pleased to know that Western Digital identifies with this group of viewers, hence increasing the maximum capacity of its My DVR Expander to a whopping 1TB which ought to last you for some time (assuming you actually catch up on all those recorded shows, of course).

The 1TB My DVR Expander is TiVo Verified compatible with TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs, where its newly acquired space is able to store up to 140 hours of high-definition (HD) television programming. In addition, you don’t have to worry about sluggish data transfer speeds since it relies on an eSATA connection which is ideal for consumers who require more room to store the ever-expanding HD entertainment options offered by their service providers.

If you’re interested in picking up the new and improved TiVo Verified My DVR Expander 1TB, make sure you set aside at least $199.99 from your salary this month. The other thing is, get a good secretary so that she will be able to organize your time and squeeze in enough minutes into your busy schedule so that you have some time off to catch up on your recordings.

Press Release