Gadgets Blog

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.

Webcams are a dime a dozen and if you can think up a theme, it likely already exists.  For the Spiderman fanatics, there is this cool webcam.  It’s an official Marvel product and gives plenty of geek references.  Specifically Peter putting his camera in a sticky webbed mess so that he can take pictures of himself in costume.  It even has a little film sticking out of the side of the camera showing some shots.

The webcam itself is nothing special, just a USB webcam.  It has a nice base and a 4-foot USB cable that will give you plenty of room to position the cam properly.  You won’t need any drivers for Mac OS or Windows.  It will also of course work with the usual things like iChat, MSN, Skype, AIM and any other place you might want to broadcast within.  Dream Cheeky has this one listed, but they aren’t telling how much this camera will set you back.

Source: OhGizmo

Do you remember the scene from Meet the Parents when Robert De Niro has Ben Stiller connected to a lie detector? In all honesty, I don’t see how you could not. After all, it was on the poster. I remember a certain line from that scene where De Niro tells Stiller: “You’d be quite surprised at how reliable [lie detectors] are”.

I always wondered how true that is, and if we really have perfected lie detecting technology. If so, why not just wear a lie detector on our wrist? This is the concept behind the Truth Wristband.

The Truth Wristband measures the user’s galvanic response to a question, and will go from blue to red which will reveal if the user is telling the truth.

Now, there is a question of who would use such a device. Obviously it has the potential to make interrogation much easier. I suppose someone could choose to wear these things. That would be quite a conversation piece, and a true test of your character.

Just like of the Truth Wrist Band as an application of Liar Liar, without the use of a birthday wish. Something tells me we might be seeing this device on Lie to Me, a drama on Fox that I highly recommend.

If you want to purchase the Truth Wristband Kit, feel free to head over to Maker shed and lay down $44.95.

Source

I heard a while ago that certain companies were cracking down on the use of the word “netbook”, but that hasn’t stopped MSI from announcing the U123 series.

This Wind series includes the U123, the U123H, and the U123T. All models feature a 10-inch screen, and yet compact enough to fit in an A4-sized bag. Inside is the latest Atom platform CPU (the 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280) with HDD capacity of up to 160GB and 2GB of DRAM.

Of course, what would these netbooks be without 802.11 b/g/n WiFi? The U123 series has it, and the U123H model has 3.5G mobile network cards. Other features include an integrated TV tuner that allows the user to watch and record TV programs by attaching an antenna.

Another feature is the EasyFace Manager, which is an embedded webcam that scans the face of the user and can recognize the eyes, cheekbones, jaw line, and the nose. The user can store ten facial images, and Easy Face can also be used to Log on.

So far, the official press release hasn’t said anything about the Wind series price or availability, but there is word that it will be available in colors such as pearl white, dolphin gray, midnight blue, and silver red.

Source

For those of you enjoying the unibody MacBook or 15″ MacBook Pro that came out last year, Bookendz has finally released a docking station just for your Mac laptop.  The dock station would allow for you to have a permanent set up of USB devices on your desk.  Instead of unplugging 15 things when you need to take your laptop with you, just unplug the dock instead.  Then you can leave all of the other devices the way you like them plugged in.

Granted, if you needed to take with you one of those devices it could easily be disconnected from the dock.  Just plug your MacBook into the dock and it will allow for extra ports by replicating the ports and then routing them to the back of the docking station.  It gives a total of 5 USB ports, which gives you quite a bit more room to plug things in.  It also has a audio in, microphone in and headphone out.  It leaves the area open to plug in your usual MacBook cord and then has an AC/DC adapter that will power the USB hub itself.  The 13″ MacBook Docking Station will cost you $279.95, while the one for the MacBook Pro 15″ will cost $299.95.  At some point they will release a version for the 17″ MacBook, but as for these docks, you can pick them up in May.

Source: ChipChick

Everyone has those times when it’s really frowned upon to have your phone turned on.  However, there are still those that need their phone on no matter what the situation.  Yes, you could leave it on vibrate, but people can still hear that obnoxious buzzing noise.  When they do hear it, they know exactly what that noise is.  If you have a designated desk that you use at work and need to know about phone calls, this would be a great gadget.  It could alert you that a phone call is coming in and you can always step out to call the person back.

After all, if you’re a working parent starting out a new job, it’s nerve wrecking to know that your boss is aware that your kids keep calling you.  This little egg guy just looks like a quirky robot that merely displays the time.  You could even go so far as to claim it was just a silly gift from your children.  When a phone call comes in, the egg just shakes his legs.  It does nothing as obnoxious as flashing lights or doing something that makes enough noise to disturb anyone.  So far I’ve only seen this from vendors out of the UK.  For those of you within the UK it’ll cost you £3.99 from Amazon.

Source: TechFresh

We all know that police as well as other authorities often have their own versions of devices and gadgets, presumably allowing them to nab lawbreakers with added efficiency. Apart from rugged laptops, here we are with QiGi Future Technology’s AK007 cell phone. No idea whether the 007 code at the second half of the device name has anything to do with paying homage to the world’s most famous fictional secret agent or not, but it does have a nice ring to it. This handset will be tough as nails to cater to a police’s everyday line of work, featuring a 2.8″ display at 320 x 240 resolution, a 2-megapixel to capture incriminating evidence of a crime in progress, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity to help one while the time away on a nearby Wi-Fi hotspot when on duty, GPS navigation to know where one is headed to if he/she is a rookie in that particular area of the ‘hood and quad-band (850/900/1800/1900MHz) GSM telephony to help keep the police in question connected with the rest of the force.

It seems that China’s Ministry of Public Security has a different taste compared to the masses with their apparent preference for Windows smartphones, since the AK007 will be powered by Windows Mobile 6.1. No idea whether the Chinese government will hold back further details concerning this handset for their police force or not, but it makes us wonder what else goes into the ruggedized case that measures measures 4.44″ x 2.67″ x 0.62″, while tipping the scales at 3.88 ounces. You will also find damage-resistant bumpers around its edges just in case of drops and knocks, and at least the commoner would know better than pick this up on the black market since it comes with the word “police” emblazoned on the front. No idea on how much equipping the entire police force in China with this handset will cost them…

Source: Windows for Devices

There is just something about sports that challenges yourself to be the best you can be at all times each time you participate, unless you’re in it for health purposes of course. What’s the whole point of a sport if you aren’t going to do your level best whenever you step up to the plate, so to speak? For folks who always look towards improving their golf scores on the greens, there are tons of training aids to choose from, and with a little help from the Garmin GolfLogix GPS-8 won’t hurt either. This device offers the latest in golf GPS technology, where it gives you the exact computer readout of the distance to the green for each shot you play - perfect for folks who always seem to come up short on their approach shots or hit too hard at all times.

It might seem uncanny to your friends and golfing buddies at first when they what improvements you’ve made to your game, knowing full well just how hard you need to hit to make that shot, overcoming all water hazards where you used to fail. That’s when you can pull out your trump card and introduce the GolfLogix GPS 8 by Garmin to them. They’ll be amazed at what it can do - you can first place it on a golf buggy or bag (or somewhere that makes it easy to look at), turn it on and let it do its magic. After all, it will be able to calculate the exact distance to any green, sand bunker and water hazard on the golf course so that you can make an educated choice when it comes to playing the right golf club with an added zing of confidence. No idea on how much this puppy costs, but if it helps you win your games from the moment you use it, it could help you win back your money after a few bets with previously sniggering golf mates.

Press Release