Gadgets Blog

USB speakers are pretty much a dime a dozen anymore.  Most definitely fall into the boring category, but they all have their ways that they attempt to stand out from the crowd.  Well these are probably going to appeal to the Transformer fans out there.  This seems more like it’s for the younger Transformer fans, but I’m sure that won’t stop the hardcore fans that love these speakers anyway.

This 3 pound speaker just sits closed up when it’s not in use.  Then when you want to use the speakers, there are two spots on either side of his head that open up.  In addition to the Optimus Prime head, there will also be Ultra Magnus.  Being just your average USB speakers, they’re probably not going to have fantastic sound to please those that are picky.  However, they’d probably work just fine for the average person.  You can purchase the head for $49.99 from the Big Bad Toy Store.

Source: ChipChick

If the illuminated mouse pad with a calculator wasn’t really your style, you should check out this slightly more professional looking mouse pad.  Granted, most people have had zero need for a mouse pad in quite some time, but there are those that prefer to still use one anyway.  If you do like to have one around, this one has plenty of other uses that make it easily justifiable.

It not only makes a convenient spot to use your mouse, but it has a 3 port USB hub built into it.  In addition to that, they’ve included a number pad.  So if you type in numbers frequently, you might find that this is a little easier to use.  It just all depends on how much you would use a number pad.  You can purchase this 3 in 1 Mouse Pad for $29 from Gadget4all, which really isn’t too bad of a price once you factor in how much you’re getting in the one gadget.

Source: GeekyGadgets

I suppose that this next gadget is really for those who want to pay a high price for a puzzle. What you see in this photo here is the MNEMOSYNE 16 gigabyte USB storage cube.

Yes, that’s right, somehow all those pieces will come together to create a cube. Yeah, it brings me back to those days of mental puzzles in the 80’s like the Rubik’s Cube, the Missing Link, and others of its type.

When it is assembled correctly, you will be able to have the USB key that you have been looking for. Yeah, I’m not certain why you would want a storage device like this, nor would you want to pay such a high price for it. Check it out after the jump.

So how much is it? Try 1,000,000 yen, otherwise known as $10,442! I can’t believe that one. I guess if you can solve this puzzle, then you have solved the ultimate puzzle: how to obtain unlimited wealth.

I don’t understand why this is so high on the price scale. Of course, I don’t know where the actual meat of memory of this device is. Not only that, why do you need to assemble it to find the key? Isn’t it on one of the pieces?

Source

For those of you who don’t know, the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11, the first landing on the moon, is this year, on this very month, to be exact.

I suppose it is only fitting that Motorola has put out a special version of the Aura to commemorate this historic event. It is called the Celestial Edition, and it includes the historic audio clips.

I’m sure you know the clips I’m talking about: “that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. By the way, I heard that Neil Armstrong actually screwed up his famous line, as he was supposed to say: “that’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”. Makes more sense that way, doesn’t it? I mean, he might as well have said: “one small step for man, one giant leap for man”.

By the way, I have just learned that Motorola was the company that provided the original radio transponder aboard the Eagle as it landed. In other words, they own the rights to moon transmission. Just kidding. I really hope that is public domain.

I think Motorola also got the video footage from the moon too. I always wondered how they got the camera several feet away from the lunar lander for that historic walk. Maybe they were faked. Also just kidding.

Anyway, the Motorola Aura Celestial Edition should be out soon, but no word about price or availability.

Source

Some of you might remember the Nabaztag White Rabbit, a Wi-Fi enabled device with wiggly ears that can be controlled via website. It would appear that Arimaz has come up with a sequel with MyDeskFriend.

This time, it’s a penguin. MyDeskFriend is supposed to be a “social-media companion”, as it primarily operates from Facebook. You can then exercise and feed the penguin from Facebook in order to keep it in a happy mood. Other Facebook friends can also play with it with the gameplay interface.

Speaking of interface, a user can play with the MyDeskFriend by following his or her finger. And in case you are wondering, you can’t lure MyDeskFriend off the edge of your desk, even though you may want to. No, five infrared sensors let MyDeskFriend know where the edge of the desk is, and it will stop before it takes the plunge.

MyDeskFriend also will alert the user when his or her friends have logged on, read Facebook messages, poke friends, and its eyes can display five different kinds of moods. Not only can it do Facebook functions, it can read e-mail, RSS feeds, stock quotes, weather, Twitter, calendar appointments, and instant messages.

It will also memorize 15 vocal commands, all for a low price of $99. So, what do you think? Worth it or not? Chime in with a comment with an answer.

Source

If you’re on the lookout for a dock, this one definitely has a little bit of that mad scientist appeal that would definitely keep life interesting.  The colors within the ball on it will actually move about along with the beat of the music.  Which would give a cool lighting effect while you’re listening to your favorite songs.  While you’re becoming entranced with the shining bright lights, your iPod gets to sit on the dock and charge up.

Not only can it charge and be played through the dock, but you can also hook it up to your computer to have it synced with your computer.  The dock also has a clock on it, which has an alarm that allows for you to wake up to the music directly from your iPod.  If you’ve had enough of your iPod, you can switch modes and listen to the AM/FM radio instead.  It actually claims that it will work with any iPod, that can hook up to a dock, so yours should work with this.  You can purchase it for $34.99.

Source: CraziestGadgets

BlackBerry continues the good fight against Apple’s iPhone and numerous other Windows Mobile handsets by making available their latest release, the 3G BlackBerry Tour from RIM. This model will arrive on Verizon wireless Communications stores come this July 12th, where it is going for a $199.99 price point after a $70 mail-in rebate as well as a new 2-year contract. At that price which is similar to the new iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre, it would be interesting to see this tussle work itself out when consumers vote with their wallets. Will the BlackBerry Tour be able to hold its ground or even win some more market share for RIM? We’ll just have to wait and see, but head on right after the jump to know more about the BlackBerry Tour before you make a purchase decision.

The BlackBerry Tour further expands the current BlackBerry family that already comprises of the BlackBerry Storm, BlackBerry Curve 8330 (available in either silver or pink), BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 and BlackBerry 8830 World Edition smartphones in the Verizon Wireless portfolio. What makes the Tour special? Well, this is a 3G world phone after all, which offers the privilege of customers making phone calls in 220 countries alongside the ability to access e-mail and Internet in any of the 175 countries where Verizon Wireless provides data roaming services. Other features that normal phone users have come to take for granted are also included in the BlackBerry Tour, and these include RIM’s popular push-based mobile solution for e-mail, messaging (IM, SMS, MMS) and social networking, a 3.2-megapixel camera with geo-tagging and video recording, audio and video playback for portable entertainment, integrated GPS navigation capability, full HTML Web browsing and support for Verizon Wireless’ Mobile Broadband Connect tethering service.

Of course, what’s a BlackBerry if you don’t have a reasonable data plan to back it up? Email and Web for BlackBerry plans start from $29.99 upwards whenever you add on to any Nationwide voice plan. You interested?

Press Release

Dell’s foray into the business computing world continues with yet another model release - the Dell Vostro 1220. This little machine has the objective of redefining the way small businesses think about mobile computing, where traditional business models are now obsolete since entrepreneurs require the added flexibility to get work done just about anywhere they are. The Vostro 1220 aims to meet this need by being part of the industry’s broadest lineup of small-business notebooks that will cater to folks who are always on the go. The Vostro 1220 is an extremely portable 12.1″ notebook, making it the only 12″ business notebook in the world that is able to boast similar firepower to a full-size notebook.

With the 11″ to 12” panel size being extremely popular among commercial customers everywhere, the Vostro 1220 was designed to meet that stance, and it will come with a whole host of improvements over its predecessor that was launched a couple of years back. New additions and improvements include :-

• Improved performance with the latest generation Intel processors
• Up to 8GB of memory and faster HDD options
• More ways to secure your data â€" encrypted hard drives, solid state drives
• Video conferencing
• Faster connectivity with Gigabit and Wi-Fi options
• Up to 9 hours of battery life

I don’t suppose that only business-oriented folk will be able to pick this up, as surely ordinary people like you and me who want a reliable notebook that won’t strain your shoulders on road trips will also find the Vostro 1220 to be an alluring purchase. With encrypted hard drives and fingerprint readers, you ought to feel much safer already knowing that it will be much harder to break into this notebook in case of theft, ensuring your data within remains safe and sound from prying eyes. It also sounds like a great back-to-class notebook to have.

Press Release

Now this is one vehicle that ought to get the neighbor to sit up and take notice - even if he already owns a fleet of vehicles and take exotic holidays all over the globe, but chances are he’ll never be able to own this Fiat Cinque Tank right in his garage for one simple reason - it is custom built using an old Fiat 500 (preferably unwanted) body that has been mounted onto caterpillar tracks of a secondhand tractor. You won’t break any land speed records with this as it plods along to a maximum speed of 3km/h, but it will definitely boast a look that is guaranteed to turn heads. Also, it can do its fair bit in a yard thanks to the working power shovel.

Source: Pink Tentacle

Have designers run out of ways to make the USB flash drive a desirable piece of peripheral for your computer? Well, apparently not. Remember those rendered cigars of Sarge in Quake III and the cut-scene in Star Craft? Well, here’s something that will definitely make your desktop much cooler sans smoke - the USB Cigar flash memory. It won’t harm your lungs one bit, and will actually glow red when connected, getting brighter whenever you access it. Woe to you if someone uninformed stumbles into the room when you’re not around only to panic and splash water on your computer for mistaking it for an actual, burning cigar that has been left unattended.

Source: Instructables

This vest is probably not something you would wear if you’re even remotely worried about fashion.  However, if you really just couldn’t possibly care any less, it would be useful.  It is a solar vest, which would be blatantly obvious to anyone around you, purely due to the giant bold white lettering that states “SOLAR VEST”.  That was kind of them to add that, just in case anyone should get confused.

It has a total of four solar panels on the back of it, that are completely weather proof.  So you won’t have to worry about dodging rain drops when you’re out wearing it.  It also has 5V, 6V, 9V and 12-20V ouputs.  It has light indicators to let you know how much of a charge is available, when the light is green it has more than 80% power built up, orange is between 30% and 70%.  Then if it actually lights up red it has less than 30%.  You can purchase the vest for $140 from Chinavasion.

Source: Crunchgear