Gadgets Blog

Just when you thought that you’ve seen your fair share of USB flash drives, along comes a couple of Dutch companies, Hebbuzz BV and Pit Reclame, who are rolling out something unheard of till today - an unique, foldable and recyclable paper USB flash drive known as Boardy.

The paper USB flash drive is developed to match the increasing market demand for enviromental friendly products. The production is done in Europe to achive a low enviromental footprint. The paper USB flash drive can be used as an unique and powerful marketing tool. Compared to the traditional drives the paper USB drive has a large full color printable surface, weights only 2 grams and there is no need for additional packaging material. The paper USB flash drive is fully recyclable and available in all current memory capacities.

We wonder what happens when you leave this in your pants pocket and sent it to the laundry by accident. Will it shred into pieces just like regular tissue paper, leaving only the circuitry behind, or is it hardier than expected?

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LG is an old hand when it comes to flat screen TVs with High Definition capability, and it is nice to see them introduce yet another improvement to their new line up of HDTVs in order to go one up against other competing brands. This time round, the Korean consumer electronics giant has rolled out broadband-capable HDTVs that are able to access the instant high-definition (HD) movie service from VUDU Inc. The HDTVs that fall under this purview will include LG’s LH50 1080p LCD series and PS80 Plasma 1080p series, where they will be come with “NetCast Entertainment Access” from next month onwards. This unique partnership between both companies will see consumer obtain access to thousands of HD movies at the touch of a button without having to go through the usual motion of flipping through a catalog at a video store as of yore.

The VUDU service enables consumers to instantly buy or rent from an extensive library of movies and TV titles. This industry-leading catalog will comprise of over 2,000 high-definition movies, and best of all is, you don’t have to worry about forking out any more monthly fees. In addition, there is no need to purchase, install, or connect any additional hardware for you to get started. Consumers can easily enjoy movies in VUDU’s unique HDX format, with Full HD 1080p resolution, plus Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound to tickle their visual audio senses.

VUDU’s streaming movie service is pretty reliable as well, delivering a near-instant viewing experience as movies begin almost immediately after selection, even those that come in high definition resolution. Not only that, you can fast forward, rewind and browse chapters without having to worry about slow buffering, just in case you want to watch only the best parts of your favorite movie. Movie buffs will be pleased to note that the VUDU catalog is updated weekly, while newly released movies from major studios are typically available months before they make their way to subscription-based services. LG’s 47″ LCD HDTV (model 47LH50) and 50″ plasma HDTV (model 50PS80) with NetCast Entertainment Access will retail for $1,699 and $1,799, respectively.

Press Release

Kerchoonz.com might currently be a social networking and music streaming site, but that doesn’t mean they cannot dip their fingers in other departments, right? After all, Microsoft who was churning out Windows like nobody’s business in the end made the plunge to enter the gaming hardware market with their Xbox and now, Xbox 360. Kerchoonz has done the same with the K-box, a device that utilizes gel audio technology which is capable of transforming any solid surface into a speaker system. This is made possible thanks to their patented Gel Audio Technology, where a solid flat surface, including walls, tables and even windows, can be transformed into a sound generating surface complete with a true bass response.

As long as the K-box is connected to any device which relies on a 3.5mm audio jack such as a laptop, portable gaming console, MP3 player, cellphone or TV among others, followed by placing K-box on a desktop, table top or wall, the patented Gel Audio Technology will get to work right away by converting the entire surface below it into a giant audio speaker. Don’t be fooled by its size though - most mini-speakers might just churn out small ditties, but the K-box operates on a totally different level. So different that the denser the surface, the deeper the bass response. This hybrid speaker will also come with a standard speaker within which delivers mid-to-high frequencies, while the Gel Audio Technology will pump out low-end bass frequencies through surfaces.

Measuring roughly the size of a cellphone, the rubber-based K-box will be able to deliver an average output performance of 95dB at 1m, with the bass performance varying since it is dependent on differing surface levels with output ranges between 40Hz-20Khz. It can be juiced up via USB connectivity, where a single charge boasts up to 20 hours of playback time. Each K-box purchase will set you back by £70 including shipping. You game?

Press Release

If you’re not satisfied with that bright white Xbox 360, here’s an easy way to spruce it up a bit.  This case not only keeps your Xbox protected, but it offers a nice light show as well.  For many the case it comes in is just fine, but if you play your 360 enough, it does get a little dull.  Besides, it shows off to your friends your dedication to gaming.  After all, no casual gamer would bother with purchasing a Black Light HDMI Case.

Keep in mind before you purchase this that it will only work with a 360 that has an HDMI port.  It won’t work if it doesn’t have one.  The case includes a faceplate, DVD bezel, eject button and an air tube with built-in LED lights.  It has a total of 7 LED colors that it can flip between.  Anytime you want the color to change, you just hit a button.  You won’t need any additional tools to switch it over into this case either.  They say it will only take about 10-15 minutes to do the job.  You can purchase it for $89.99 from Extreme Mods.

Source: GeekyGadgets

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

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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.

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