Gadgets Comp

by Darren Murph, posted May 31st 2008 at 6:15PM This day and age, there’s really no excuse to have too little room in your average pair of cargo shorts for all the gadgets needed in a day. Convergence and shrinking PCBs have left us with do-it-all handhelds that can fit in the rear pockets of size 2 jeans on a size 4 gal, so really, you have exactly zero reasons to actually buy that abomination pictured above. If you must know, the FreeHand is a wearable neoprene pocket that keeps your keys, flash drives, RSA token and chump change within easy reach, and if you’re lucky, you may be able to convince the boss it’s being worn to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. (Read the full post about ‘FreeHand puts a pocket on your wrist, L on your forehead’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted May 31st 2008 at 5:10PM Frighteningly enough, this isn’t the first (or second) time that we’ve seen scientists pat themselves on the back for creating a mind-reading machine, but a dedicated team from Carnegie Mellon has just announced a computer that “has been trained to read people’s minds by looking at scans of their brains as they thought about specific words.” In a completely unsurprising move, gurus familiar with the development are suggesting that the breakthrough could be used to better understand how the brain organizes knowledge, and eventually, treat language disorders and learning disabilities more effectively. (Read the full post about ‘Computer designed to read thoughts from brain scans’…)

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Yahoo’s Messenger software has been around the block a few times, and the new beta version (version 9) of the software adds some new social features.  While the overall look and feel of the app remains very much the same, users can now invite contacts on AOL, Gmail, Orkut, Hotmail, Myspace, and others to connect through to the Yahoo service.  The new beta version will also sport slightly larger emotions, so you can “express yourself with more oomph.” Also present are the ability to play games with your contacts, right inside Yahoo Messenger.  The status bar is split into two sections: one for availability, one for a place to share a link or thought. (Read the full post about ‘Yahoo Launches Messenger 9 Beta’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted May 31st 2008 at 4:01PM First things first: considering the huge amount of press garnered by a recent position art scam, this here could indeed be just another spoof to get your hopes up. That being said, we’re pretty sure no one with any level of decency would do such a vile thing on Easter Sunday, which is precisely when the above bunny was purportedly created from waltzing about with a Magellan GPS and a digital camera. The artist himself admits that what you see above is a slightly cleaned-up version of the actual path, but we’re told that any edits that occurred had no huge bearing on the outcome of the piece. (Read the full post about ‘Giant bunny formed from GPS path’…)

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What good is your iphone or ipod touch if you can’t get to it? WindowSeat gives your device the best seat in the car by mounting handily at eye level on your car’s windshield or dashboard, putting all of your street maps, directions etc. safely in view and easily within reach. Attaches with silicone suction pads and allows easy access to dock connector and headphone jack. When you leave the vehicle, there’s a convenient corner-release which lets you easily detach your device to take it with you, while leaving the mount safely in place. A nice touch is the swiveling ball-and-socket joint which makes it easy to adjust the angle. Conveniently, it can be used in conjunction with Griffin Technology’s PowerJolt charger for iPhone and iPods. (Read the full post about ‘Griffin WindowSeat - windshield mount for iPhone & iPod’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted May 31st 2008 at 1:16PM There’s honestly not a lot of mind-blowing material in the video posted up after the jump, but it definitely delivers as advertised. You see, you’ve got Creative’s Flip Video-combating Vado cheapcorder all wrapped up, and over the course of 317 seconds, it manages to slip outside of its shell and get handled. (Read the full post about ‘Creative’s Vado Pocket Video Cam unboxed on video’…)

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Nope that’s not a portable GPS unit. In fact, its the latest portable media player offering from iRiver, dubbed the P.ple P10. First introduced at CES 2008, the P10 was expected to release Q1 2008, but iRiver was a little late in their delivery. Regardless, the company has now officially launched their iPod Touch rival in two forms: The iRiver P10 Standard ($328) and Pro ($398). Spec-wise, both models sport a 600MHz processor running a stripped down version of Windows CE, 4-inch TFT touch screen, 800×480 pixel resolution, e-book reader, and a 33GB hard drive. Both models also support PDF, Word and Excel files, and can playback Flash, MPEG, WMA, XivD, MP3, and WAV file formats. (Read the full post about ‘iRiver ‘P.ple P10’ PMP, 4-inch touchscreen’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted May 31st 2008 at 8:38AM So we’ve seen a few solar-powered gizmos (that we wouldn’t touch with a ten twenty foot poll), but Thanko’s own sun-lovin’ DAP actually doesn’t look half bad. The Solar Digital Audio Player, from the front, looks like any other ho hum unit, with a 1.8-inch 220 x 176 resolution display, 4GB of internal storage space and a miniSD expansion slot. Flip ‘er over, and you’ll find a thoughtful kickstand that just so happens to have a solar panel slapped right on, enabling the brilliant, outdoor sunshine to give it a few more minutes of life. There’s no official word on a price or release date, but we wouldn’t bank on it ever coming Stateside, anyway.Re (Read the full post about ‘Thanko’s solar-powered DAP urges you outdoors’…)

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Do you remember playing with a toy called the Weeble? They were miniature weighted ovals, which sort of resembled very colorful paperweights. They were a perfect example of mindless fun and totally addicting. No matter how much you tried to wobble the little guys, they would never fall over. Seemingly inspired from the retro toy, the USB Tumbler Speaker from Brando refuses to fall, no matter how many times you attempt to shove it on its side. Thankfully, the novelty of owning a non-tumbling speaker doesn’t sacrifice the audio quality. The USB Tumbler Speaker features an unscrewable extension tube which maximizes the bass for ultra-booming sound. (Read the full post about ‘USB Tumbler Speaker Spites You With Perfect Balance’…)

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Microwaves are truly an awesome appliance. You could call them the epitome of the bachelor gadget, since so many unmarried men seem to rely on the device for all of their meals. We can’t say we’ve ever thought of using a microwave like this.

This excellent PC case mod makes your computer look like a stock-model microwave, complete with a cheap LED layout and a horizontally opening door.

(Read the full post about ‘Microwave PC Case Mod’…)

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