Gadgets Blog

For those of you that don’t need those extremely loud alarm clocks, it might be nice to wake up in a much more calm manner.  With this Philips Wake-Up Light, you can wake up a little more gradually, instead of getting a very abrupt start to your day.  All the while it can charge and play your iPod or iPhone by utilizing the built-in dock.  It might not be something that would be ideal if you’re sharing the bed with someone though.  Especially since the light does get brighter over a slightly extended period of time.

It takes it a total of 30 minutes to reach the maximum amount on the light.  Which means you set the alarm for one time and it starts preparing you before that alarm ever goes off.  Once it does go off, you can set it to wake you up with nature sounds, the FM radio or with music directly off of your iPod or iPhone.  The light can also be turned on to be used as a bedside lamp.  So although it is a slightly bulky clock, you won’t have a need for a lamp to be on the end table as well.  You can purchase the clock for $199.99 from Amazon.

Source: Newlaunches

Now this is what you call overkill.  Typically when you turn a wrench you can pretty much feel when it’s tight.  Usually the best indication of this is that it gets more and more difficult to turn.  It’s pretty basic.  However, for those that need to know a distinct moment when things are tight there is this wrench with a digital display.  You’ll never have to guess again, but that luxury is going to cost you a pretty hefty amount.

This looks like something you find at a novelty store to pick up for your Dad on Father’s Day.  Instead though, this wrench is something you have to buy online for $323.  Yes, that’s right this Digital Adjustable Wrench will cost you hundreds of dollars.  The best part is that if you hold the ergonomic handle in the wrong place it won’t give a proper reading.  Not only that, but if you happen to break it for some reason, you’re just hosed.  Any decent tool typically comes with at least some kind of warranty, but there’s no chance of that at the Japan Trend Shop where you purchase it.

Source: Crunchgear

Runco has recently released five new 1080p plasma monitors to their line, which are the first to feature the company’s own OPAL (Optical Path Alignment) Technology as well as the DHD 3, “the most advanced video processor controller to date”.

For those who don’t know what OPAL does (which included me before I wrote this article), it uses the best imagery for “deep blacks, impressive brightness, and contrast ratio”. It can reduce surface light reflections on the screen, which is distracting to viewers and from image quality.

I’m sure there are those who don’t know what DHD 3 is either, which also included myself. Runco’s DHD 3 uses Vivix III 1080p processing with VirtualWide and VirtualCinema aspect ratios. It can enhance all digital and analog signals to near high-definition quality, matching output resolution, sync types, and output formats to prevent “double scaling”.

Of course, the prices of these are not exactly affordable to the average consumer, but here they are in case you can afford them. By the way, I believe that all of these models are available now, so check out the Runco site for more details.

• CinemaWall XP-OPAL50 - $6,999
• CinemaWall XP-OPAL65 - $13,495
• PlasmaWall XP-OPAL50 DHD - $8,995
• PlasmaWall XP-65 DHD3 - $13,495
• PlasmaWall XP-OPAL65 DHD - $15,495

Source

“Taser! Taser! Taser!”

This is apparently what a Taser employee is supposed to say before he shoots three ladies. You can watch the video after the jump if you don’t believe me.

Introducing the Taser X3, a semi-automatic Taser. I have no idea if it is the first semi-automatic taser, but it is enough to shoot three shots without reloading, or recharging, or however you change the ammo in Tasers. I suppose this is for situations where one shot isn’t enough, like when you’re being pursued by a gang of criminals.

Looks pretty sweet, doesn’t it? It reminds me of a science fiction weapon like the guns in Aliens or that one multi-purpose gun in The Fifth Element, only without the net, bullets, freeze gas, flamethrower, and whatever else that it had.

I have no idea if the ladies in the video are Taser employees, but if they are, then they should demand a raise. I will have to admit that it plays with conventions as you normally see helpless women take out assailants with Tasers, not the opposite.

I don’t really have a price on this item, and in all honesty, I don’t know if you need a license to have a Taser. Maybe it could be something to be shown at the next Taser party.

I don’t know why high-tech vending machines like the Touchscreen Vending Machine from Samsung are coming out in droves, nor what is keeping them from being put on every corner in the world.

The latest offering is one from Hitachi, which requires no cash in order to work. No, Hitachi has used a finger vein biometric authentication system so that all the customer has to do is give the machine the finger.

Let me rephrase that. A user just puts his or her finger in the machine, and it will be scanned. As long as the user is registered, the amount for the soda or whatever snack food will be deducted from a chosen credit card account.

According to my source, the “buyers will get to see personalized ads or other information on an LCD screen”. Well, Hitachi currently has just one prototype of this machine, and they don’t know if they will commercialize it. Hitachi employees should have it by the end of the year.

I’m wondering if this biometric vending machine will encourage those Hitachi employees to buy more vending machine products. I think we all know that money that is easy to spend gets easily spent. It might be an interesting experiment if they were to do a before and after snack inventory.

At least there will be no more of trying to feed a dollar into machines just to have it come right back on you. Lets hope the Hitachi vending machine doesn’t find new ways to eat your money.

Source

Are you a huge fan of the King of Fighters series? Well, if you happen to own a PS3 and are looking forward to the release of King of Fighters XII on that platform, we would highly recommend you get the The King of Fighters XII USB Stick as well. Retailing for a rather pricey $89.90, it does help put you in the mood with images of the game’s characters being displayed on the joystick. This arcade-style fighting controller is based on SNK’s Neo Geo stick, and is suitable for other games as well (particularly from the fighting genre). Play-Asia is carrying it at the moment, so you can go ahead and place your pre-order while waiting excitedly for it to ship on the 30th of this month.

We’ve seen our fair bit of bottle openers in the past, but this time round ThinkGeek appeals to the Trekkie in you by offering the delectable Star Trek Enterprise Bottle Opener. Modeled after the Enterprise (NCC-1701), it is missing the main portion of the bridge so that there is enough room to create pressure when it comes to cracking open the finest ales and beers in the galaxy. Fully decked out in chrome, having one of these on hand at all times might lead you to adventures that you’ll never imagine, regardless of whether they’re alcohol-imbued or not. The Star Trek Enterprise Bottle Opener is going for $17.99 a pop.

The fact that the Sonos CR200 is about to hit the market is a very real and apparent one, where we’ve covered news of its FCC approval earlier this month. Well, the time is ripe for the Sonos CR200 to hit the market, making this one state of the art music Controller for the home, bringing a full color display alongside an ultra-responsive touchscreen display which enables you to literally find and play your entire digital music collection in a jiffy, all with but a subtle touch of the finger. Sonos has taken their cumulative years of experience (7 in total) when it comes to designing wireless music systems for hundreds of thousands of customers in over 60 countries, culminating in the CR200 that is touted to be the most innovative and intuitive way to find, play and control music anywhere in the home, although some other folks might argue that the iPod’s interface is still more intuitive.

The Sonos CR200 is equipped with a 3.5″ full-color VGA display (640 x 480 pixels) that features a capacitive touchscreen that makes room for accurate and responsive operation. The touchscreen keyboard is also convenient to use, enabling rapid search of the world of music, where it includes multi-million song jukeboxes (such as Napster and Rhapsody), provides over 25,000 radio stations and podcasts, SIRIUS Internet Radio, and the ability to sieve through your personal music library. Apart from the rich graphics, you will also be able to view metadata such as artist information, cover art and more. It comes with an anodized precision machined extruded aluminum case and soft durable rubber backing which just oozes with class and quality, making sure it fits comfortably in your hand.

The Sonos Controller 200 will ship with the Sonos Charging Cradle 200 that makes it a snap to find and juice up the controller so that it is ready for use at all times. It will retail foor $349 in the US, and will also be available worldwide. Just in case you have some extra dough to spare, the Sonos CR200 will be available as part of the new Sonos Bundle 250 ($999) that comes with a Sonos ZonePlayer 90 and a Sonos ZonePlayer 120.

Press Release