Gadgets Blog

If you’re one that prefers to keep your measuring precise and very carefully double check it every single time.  It becomes a task that seems to take far longer than it really should.  Well instead of setting down the measuring cup so you can crouch down at eye level to make sure it’s right, you could use these.  They will make it so that you don’t have to do more than make sure you’ve grabbed the right tool and pour.  They will only allow as much as you need to be poured out.

These little spouts go on the end of a bottle and range in all kinds of sizes.  They offer a total of five different sizes.  There’s the teaspoon pour, the tablespoon, 1 ounce, 2 ounce and then a free-flowing pour.  Since the sizes aren’t broken down into half a teaspoon or a quarter of a tablespoon, you’ll still need to have a lot of measuring cups around.  However, it’ll at least speed up some measurements for you.  The seals will fit on bottlenecks with sizes ranging from ¾ inch on up to 1 inch.  You can purchase a set of three for $16.50 (teaspoon, tablespoon and ounce pours included) or individually for $5.95.

Source: Gearfuse

We’ve always seen that scene in the horror and thriller flicks where someone drops the flashlight.  It’s of course always followed up by some spooky creature killing them or just scaring them to death.  Now if they had this holster, they might have survived the movie.  It also takes care of when those pesky flashlights die.  It will keep the extra batteries within reach for when the flashlight goes out at a highly inconvenient moment.

Within the holster it can be turned to shine light at all different angles.  Allowing you to choose the ideal angle for whatever it is you happen to be doing. This holster would also be great for anyone that needs to work with their hands, but still needs something to light their way.  The holster will hold a total of 3 different batteries.  You can also choose to put the flashlight on either your left or right side.  The holster can handle three different sizes of flashlight.  You can purchase the holster for $17 from Brando.

Source: Crunchgear

Everyone has things that they enjoy putting on the fridge.  Be it school pictures or just random funny magnets, we all have our preferences.  Well with this you could even have a clock on your fridge that you can map out your day with.  It doesn’t itemize every little thing, but it does have little stick figure men that will illustrate each task you have ahead of you.  It does so in such a humorous way that even the most obnoxious tasks will give you a little laugh.

I’m not sure what each individual magnet is supposed to mean, but you could always use your own interpretation.  It would appear that some are more than a little odd.  Some are things like yard work and working out, but I would swear one of those looks like a guy hanging himself.  The clock was made by a Argentinean design studio, Designplus.  The down side of that is that you can’t purchase the clock right now, but if it ever did get created it’d be perfect for Perpetual Kid.

Source: LikeCool

It’s been quite a while since we report on anything from Turtle Beach. This is a real shame, because the company is putting out a lot of gaming headphones that really helps gamers shut out the rest of the world.

Now, you may think shutting out the rest of the world isn’t healthy, but you should try living in it once in a while. Seriously, the Ear Force series is an excellent collection of padded earphones for gamers, and I had a chance to try many of their models out in person when I was at the Penny Arcade Expo last weekend. (Yeah, I have been mentioning that a lot lately.)

The W3 is designed for the Wii. At least, it seems to be the only one from Turtle Beach that works well with the Wii. It also works with the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PS2. The W3 has a behind the neck design and is ergonomically designed to stay on.

The W3 has a splitter cable so the audio stays connected, and works with a battery. It also has an AC-powered transmitter connects to the audio output. So yeah, it is wireless.

In short, the Turtle Beach W3 is designed to be a set of wireless headphones for the Wii, or any other video game system. They have a very low price of just $24.95 and is available at the Turtle Beach site.

One of the problems with getting energy in developing countries is where to get it from. Some have resorted to silicon solar panels, but Milan Karki has found a simpler form of solar power that uses human hair instead of silicon.

That’s right, I said human hair. Renewable energy is possible with something that everyone but Lex Luthor has. The secret is in Melanin, the pigment in hair that makes color, and its electrical conductive qualities are the secret to hair solar power.

Of course, this is one of those technologies that is probably going to take years to develop, and its current stage can power only devices that operate with a nine volt battery. I don’t even know if I have any devices in my house that use nine volt batteries.

Still, I think Nepalese Milan Karki deserves some sort of award for his forward thinking. I never saw hair as a renewable resource, but think of all the hair in barber shops that will be harnessed for cleaner energy!

Why stop with just human hair? After all, most dogs shed their weight in fur every summer. Just brush your dog and use the excess fur for a solar panel.

In other words, if we could just build some sort of machine where you insert the hair in one slot and out comes a solar panel in the next, then we are going to have no problem with any energy crisis.

Source

I’m not certain if you can read the small print on the photo to the left, but it says “Project was to design a handheld gaming device that would combine the gaming power of the Xbox 360 and the music and video power of the Microsoft Zune”.

This was the vision of Carl Archambeault when he designed this controller with a slide out screen. This Xbox 1080 is a prototype that has a slide-out LCD screen. I am assuming that you get 1080 quality, but doesn’t the Zune HD have only 720p? Oh, wait, maybe it is called that because it is three times better than that pesky Xbox 360.

I believe that the purpose of this is to be some new type of portable video gaming system, but I thought this was some homage to the Sega Dreamcast, that system that celebrated its 10th anniversary yesterday.

Of course this begs the question: where do you insert the games? This also begs the question: where are the trigger keys? We also don’t know the battery life or how to charge this guy, but it’s a concept device, we don’t have specs yet.

I don’t have confirmation on this, but I have heard that this project is something that Microsoft is actually working on.

Source

Not many people use PDAs these days considering the archaic nature of the device, but selected industries and lines of work still require such a device, but ordinary builds won’t be able to last in those environments. The ultra-rugged Nautiz X7 PDA fits the bill though, as this IP67 rated Nautiz X7 is no slouch when it comes to performance, offering a speedy 806MHz processor that is powered by Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system while accompanied by the following features :-

• 3G cellular phone capability
• 3-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity
• 4GB internal memory
• 128MB RAM
• Full VGA resolution touchscreen display
• GPS support
• Digital compass
• Altimeter
• G-sensor

It complies with the IP67-rating and passes full MIL-STD-810F testing, making it impervious to drops from 1.2 meters while working just fine within a temperature range from -30 degrees C to 60 degrees C. No idea on pricing for this puppy though.

Press Release

Epson has rolled out yet another two native 1080p 3LCD home theater projectors for home theater buffs who want nothing but the very best for their personal entertainment needs. The two projectors in question are the PowerLite Pro Cinema 9100 and 9500 UB, where they will incorporate the latest 3LCD chips with D7 technology which are able to produce amazing color and detail alongside significantly higher contrast ratios. Just for starters, you would be interested to know that the Pro Cinema 9100 manages to hit a 36,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio while the Pro Cinema 9500 UB is able to attain an unprecedented 200,000:1 in its class. Boasting professional-level color tools such as ISF calibration and color isolation, both the Pro Cinema 9100 and 9500 UB are able to deliver full-featured solutions right smack in your living room.

The Epson Pro Cinema 9100 is by no means a slouch, where it offers a whole lot of bang for your hard-earned buck alongside a customizable home entertainment experience. It will feature ISF Day and Night modes that allows one to alternate between picture modes and lamp output for the best image quality possible regardless of the conditions. Epson’s Color Isolation system also works great for fine-tuning of color saturation and hue, doing away with the need for blue and red optical filters. Other specifications include a brightness level of 1,800 lumens color and white light output. It will come in a stylish black and silver chassis, where the integrated exclusive Dynamic Iris system will provide vast leaps in contrast improvement, placing it perfectly for fast-action movies with frequent scene changes.

As for the flagship Epson Pro Cinema 9500 UB, this model offers custom installers the ultimate in image quality by bringing together Epson’s C2Fine and UltraBlack technology alongside 3LCD and D7 technology in order to roll out real black levels and vivid images that are a feast to your eyes. A dual-layered auto iris helps control light reduction rates even more effectively, allowing it to achieve the aforementioned contrast ratio of up to 200,000:1. Other specifications include a brightness of 1,600 lumens color and white light output, Epson’s FineFrame technology for smoother frame interpolation, the new Super-resolution technology that sharpens blurry images or low-resolution pictures and 12-bit 3LCD driver technology with an integrated Silicon Optix HQV Reon-VX video processor and PW390 scaler for extraordinarily smooth pictures.

The Epson Pro Cinema 9100 and Epson Pro Cinema 9500 UB will retail for $2,599 and sub-$4,000, respectively, when they’re available.

Press Release

Western Digital has just announced that it will begin to ship its 2.5″ WD Scorpio Blue 640GB hard drive that will see action in mainstream notebook computers, making it the largest capacity 2.5″ hard drive in the industry today where its 9.5mm, 2-disk form factor is concerned. Despite being larger in capacity, the new WD Scorpio Blue 640GB drive manages to reduce its overall power consumption by up to 30% thanks to the implementation of several new technologies within. Several features found on the WD Scorpio Blue include :-

• WhisperDrive – WD’s exclusive WhisperDrive technology offers state-of-the-art seeking algorithms
• ShockGuard – Leading-edge ShockGuard technology combines firmware and hardware advancements
• IntelliSeek – Calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise and vibration

Expect the WD Scorpio Blue 640GB (also known as model WD6400BEVT) hard drive to retail for $149 a pop – which is a pretty good price considering the amount of storage you’d get.

Press Release

Palm’s Pre was certainly a watershed device alongside the impressive webOS operating system, signalling new life into this ailing company that was tethering on the brink due to dropping sales and the migration to other smartphone platforms. While the Palm Pre did not do as well as many people predicted, that doesn’t take away from the capabilities of the Pre which is still able to hold its own even until today. Well, Palm has announced its second webOS-powered smartphone known as the Palm Pixi, but don’t expect any magic fairy dust to be sprinkled all over this device for an instant corporate turnaround – there’s still work to be done, but the Pixi does look like a step in the right direction.

This candybar phone is really slim in nature, where you get a visible full keyboard that while comes with smaller keys compared to the Palm Pre, they’re apparently easier to type with according to first impressions that have circulated around the Web thanks to a higher profile that makes one less prone to making mistakes while typing out a flurry of emails and text messages. You will be able to personalize the exterior according to your liking, making future artsy owners drool in anticipation. The Palm Pixi is able to connect your information from Google, Facebook, Exchange ActiveSync, Yahoo! and LinkedIn to Palm Synergy, allowing you to view the entire collection in a united view for an unprecedented level of contacts intergration.

You get a smaller display though, lopping off 80 pixels, but the 2.63″ 320 x 400 resolution TFT display still ought to work well enough for most applications, with a large enough gesture area to function without any hassle. Other features include robust messaging support, a desktop-class Web browser, built-in GPS capability, audio and video playback, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support and 8GB of internal memory. Basically, this is a thinner Palm Pre with Wi-Fi support not included. We don’t know how much the Pixi will cost when it arrives from Sprint during the holidays, but it shouldn’t be more expensive than the $149.99 which Sprint has priced the Palm Pre.

Press Release

I can never entirely decide what I think about electronic devices that are supposed to repel certain types of insects.  One thing I do know though, is that I have heard several people swear by them.  Well now here’s one to keep the mosquitoes away from you.  I’m not sure why you’d need a USB device to do that, but perhaps your laptop has a pesky mosquito infestation.  It could happen.

The USB device is definitely portable if nothing else, which is always nice.  Just plug it into your USB port of your laptop or main PC and it will get to work.  It doesn’t use any chemicals, so it’s a slightly more environmentally way to do things.  At least according to the seller.  Hey, you might just like to carry your laptop into the woods with you.  Then this could be a perfectly practical gadget to have around.  You can purchase it for $5.69 from UXSight.

Source: EverythingUSB

Just to keep up with the current bleak times, Apple understands that you need to stretch your wallet even further, and hence has slashed the price of its iPod shuffle to just $49 for its new 2GB model, while the 4GB model will retail for $79 a pop. Available in five brilliant colors – silver, black, pink, blue and green, the iPod shuffle won’t sport anything new, still maintaining its intuitive controls that are conveniently located on the headphone cord alongside the VoiceOver feature that allows your shuffle to speak out song titles, artists and playlist names, making the still-missing display a non-issue.

Press Release

Just like the new generation of iPod nano was announced earlier this morning, so do we have news of a new iPod touch as well, pushing the device into the third generation. One thing that would disappoint most people about this would be the lack of a built-in digital camera after being hyped up about it through various rumors and fan sites over the past weeks and months, but guess there is always the anticipation of seeing said integrated digital camera make an appearance sometime in the future with the fourth iteration of the iPod touch. What’s cooking with this generation of iPod touch? We’ll take a closer look at it right after the jump.

According to Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, “At just $199 the iPod touch is the most affordable gateway to Apple’s revolutionary App Store with more than 75,000 applications that you can wirelessly download right into your iPod touch. You get a great iPod, a great pocket computer with the industry’s best mobile web browser and a great game player, all in this super-thin beautiful enclosure.”

Yes, that’s right – prices for the new iPod touch will start from $199 upwards for the 8GB model, where those who feel that they need more space can always fork out slightly more for the 32GB and 64GB models that will retail for $299 and $399, respectively. Too bad for those who just picked up an iPod touch yesterday, getting half the capacity at the same price – good things always come to those who wait, eh? In this case, it pays to be well informed ahead of time, especially with companies like Apple who announce upcoming events ahead of time so that you can stop your purchase before a particular date if it isn’t too much of a rush.

Press Release

So the yearly cycle continues, with yet another iPod being updated this time round. Apple’s event at San Francisco saw the appearance of Steve Jobs to the masses, and it goes without saying the man had a hand in unveiling the latest iPod nano to the crowds, now in its fifth iteration. What makes the iPod nano so special this time round? Well, Apple has decided to throw in a video camera, a microphone and a speaker to what is already deemed as the most popular portable media player in the world, allowing music aficionados to shoot short video clips (limited by its memory, of course) regardless of where they are. These video clips can then be viewed over the computer after performing a quick and painless transfer, and further uploaded onto YouTube if you’re so inclined.

According to Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, “iPod nano is the world’s most popular music player with over 100 million sold. And now we’ve added a video camera to its incredibly thin design, without any additional cost to the user.” New owners of the 5G iPod nano will be pleased to know that it comes with a larger 2.2″ display to make navigation easier on the eyes, while you get to enjoy more album art alongside the ability to shoot and view video clips in a jiffy. Apple has also included fun real-time effects in one’s video content including Thermal, Film Grain, Kaleido and X-Ray without the need to process it all over again using specialized software on a computer later on. Other features include an integrated FM radio with live pause and iTunes Tagging, where the former enables users to pause and resume playing their favorite FM radio shows – handy for various situations, while the latter lets you keep tabs on a song you like but can’t quite catch the title, letting you preview and purchase that tagged song on iTunes later on.

The fifth generation iPod nano will come in silver, black, purple, blue, green, orange and pink color choices, retailing for $149 for the 8GB model while the 16GB model is going for $179.

Press Release

I’ve always been one that leaves various notes lying around.  Despite that I’m on my computer quite often I’ve never really gotten into typing notes out.  I prefer bright yellow post-it notes.  However, the down side is that sometimes I just need the info written down for a couple of minutes and it seems a waste to use a whole note for that purpose.  Which leaves me with post-it notes with all kinds of things scribbled out and written in the corners.  Instead of going that messy route, you could pick up this mouse pad.  It’s definitely a quirky design, but it’d be great to write something down in a rush.

The Noteable Mousepad, Scratch-n-Scroll, can be written on with the included stylus or with the tip of your finger.  In order to erase what you’ve written, you just lift the sheet on the top.  The pad will work with both not only optical mice, but the old fashioned ball kind as well.  Right now this isn’t out just yet, but you can pre-order the product.  When it does get shipped out to you, you won’t even have to pay for shipping.  The mouse pad will cost you $14.99 from Quirky Designs. Although I am not that big into mouse pads, as far as mouse pads go this one is actually interesting.

Source: GeekyGadgets

Epson has just announced a couple of 1080p front projectors for the masses in North America, where they are the PowerLite Home Cinema 8100 and 8500 UB to further expand its 3LCD home theater projector family. Both models will come with D7 technology for brilliant color and detail, alongside a higher contrast ratio count with the Home Cinema 8100 reaches a 36,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio while the Home Cinema 8500 UB manages to achieve an unprecedented 200,000:1 figure. Both the Home Cinema 8100 and 8500 UB will also boast the latest technologies in real color reproduction capabilities which ought to keep home entertainment and AV enthusiasts more than satisfied.

The lesser Home Cinema 8100 does not mean it is inferior by any means – as mentioned earlier, it comes with an improved contrast ratio of up to 36,000:1, making it double the amount of its predecessor while hitting 1,800 lumens color and white light output in terms of brightness to provide an outstanding image quality regardless of whether it is used in dark or lighted rooms. The Home Cinema 8100’s Dynamic Iris system also helps to a dramatic contrast improvement, letting light be controlled on a frame-by-frame basis at up to 60 times per second.

As for the high end Epson Home Cinema 8500 UB, it will be powered by the latest D7 chip set and will see Epson’s C2Fine and UltraBlack technology in action, offering superb black levels and vivid images. Other features include 1,600 lumens color and light output brightness alongside new dual-layered auto iris technology that paves the way for an impressive contrast ratio of up to 200,000:1.

Shared features between the two include :-

• Cinema Filter: Delivers larger color space for improved color fidelity
• Fujinon OptiCinema Multi-Lens Optics System: Projects clean, precise edges with consistent image quality across the entire screen, expanding installation flexibility
• Pre-set Color Modes: Features seven color modes (Dynamic, Living Room, Natural, Theatre, Theatre Black 1, Theatre Black 2, x.v.Color) for optimal viewing in any environment
• E-TORL (Epson Twin Optics Reflection Lamp): Provides optimum light uniformity and increased light output for screen sizes larger than ten feet with exclusive 200 watt high efficiency design; uses less energy for up to 4,000 hours of lamp life
• Advanced Dust Filtration System: Ensures efficient power use, reduced cool-down periods, lower fan speeds, quieter operation (only 22 db), and 98 percent efficiency for longer filter life
• Input Options: Features two HDMI 1.3a inputs with Deep Color support, high definition component video input, S-video input, composite video input, and VGA-type RGB input (D-sub 15)

Press Release

It’s been established before that there are few gadgets left that only perform a single function.  Well this is what happens when they’re desperate for another function, but don’t want to put a whole lot more money into the gadget.  Just put some USB ports on it and then hollow out the inside.  Presto, you have a place to hide paper clips.  Just what you always wanted, a paper clip holder.  It does more than that though, it hides them away behind a tiny door when you don’t want to se them.

I know how ugly paper clips can be, so it’s best to keep them well hidden.  Of course you could hide other small items within the device as well.  To open the little trap it appears that you just rotate the end of the hub and it will pop open.  The hub has a total of 4 ports to plug in your other gadgets.  You can purchase the USB Hub With Clips Holder for $12 from Gadget4all.

Source: PocketLint

This would probably be the first time that I have reported on eyewear on this site. After all, most sunglasses seem very non-technological, but rest assured, there is a science behind it all.

This is certainly the case with GUNNAR Optiks, a “technology company that has pioneered the development of digital performance eyewear”. GUNNAR gives its customers digital eyewear that helps to stop Digital Eye Fatigue (DEF). DEF is the result of the never-ending stream of digital information that results form sitting around a computer all day.

Symptoms of DEF include blurred vision, eye strain, dry eyes, light sensitivity, and headaches. If it is left untreated, it can lead to Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS), a repetitive visual stress disorder that affects 125 million computer users.

I got a chance to try out Gunnar Optiks at the Penny Arcade Expo last weekend, and I found that their glasses had a yellow tint with a small magnification that allowed a more relaxed feel when reading a digital screen. When I say relaxed, I mean a reduced glare, plus a better ability to read the small print on the display.

In short, GUNNAR Optik’s products are designed for those who are constantly at the computer or television all day, which is a great majority of people. For more information, check out the GUNNAR Optiks site.