Sexy Gadgets, Cool Gadgets and Concept Gadgets

How many times did you happen to get your camcorder soaked in the midst of a large wave on the beach? None? Hmm, you sure are careful with your things, way too careful maybe. But if you are Aquaman and still want to record some of the marine wanders I give you the latest ultraportable camcorder from Sanyo.

The new Xacti is waterproof and you can take it down to 1.5 meters deep and use it there for up to an hour. On the camera side, you’ll find an 8MP CMOS sensor with new “face chaser” technology that even works underwater. The camcorder is able to record clips in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 formats at up to 60 frames per second at a VGA resolution. You also get a 5x optical zoom so you can get up, close and personal with some nasty shark grinning at your sight.

This camera appears to be almost exactly like the DMX-CA65 one, but waterproof. It’s pretty good feature-wise, but we can certainly use a 1080p version to capture the marine majesties. Oh yeah, and Sanyo, please make it waterproof down to 50 m.

Do you use your personal computer a lot? Do you want coffee all the time but can not spare the time to actually make one? Then you surely need one of these cool USB Cup Warmers. All you will basically need to do is plug this cool gadget in your PC’s USB port and then put the coffee cop on the special hot plate. This USB Cup Warmer comes with different features you might like. First of, your drink’s temperature can be maintained at a suitable 40 degrees even after 1 hour. Then we also have a useful DC to USB cable included and it is compatible with both MACs and PCs. You will like hearing that it runs on very low voltage, just 5 V and there is no need to install any drivers. You can even choose the color you want in your USB Cup Warmer. Now all you need to do is not use plastic cups and never throw water on it and you have yourself a great, cool gadget you will love.

Now it is hard to think about how to label this gadget. Is it a cool gadget or a useless gadget? At the end it is your choice but it is really hard to choose when talking about this iBreath iPod Breathalyzer and FM transmitter. Now as the name implies, this gadget will tel you if you are allowed to drive or not and has an FM transmitter as a bonus. Using the breathalyzer is basically as you do at the police station. You blow into a special want for a minimum of 5 seconds and then in 2 seconds you will get the result back. There is even a useful timer that will let you know when you will be able to drive again. You can set it from 1 min to a maximum of 8 hours. The associated price tag is $79. It is not much and it is not less than you would expect. In fact, it is all up to your budget and gadget needs basically. Now what can we say? We have an FM transmitter for your iPod and a cool gadget that will tell you if you can drive. Cool or not?

One cool thing I want to try as soon as possible is go scuba diving around a coral reef and take lots of pictures and even record the entire experience. I could use a waterproof camera, but I really want to have my hands free. Looks like I’m in luck this time as the Japanese have just released an underwater digital camera mask.

Coming from Liquid Image, the scuba diving mask is waterproof down to 5 meters, and allows you to take pictures with an integrated camera that only requires one hand to operate. The camera sits somewhere in your forehead region and when you want to take pictures, you just have to push the button in the left side of the mask. If only they made it with a remote control or something.

The internal is not a mere VGA camera. It offers 3 megapixels, an LCD screen, 16MB of internal memory (with a microSD card slot to expand it up to 2GB) and even a VGA video mode. No word on zooming, I guess it’s only digital.

According to Pocket-Lint, the mask is already available in Japan for about $100, but it’s not sure whether it gets commercialized worldwide or not. One more thing to make us go to Japan.

Webcams are pretty standard and common peripheral devices these days, there’s no doubt about it. A lot of laptops have them integrated and the standalone versions are different only as far as the resolution is concerned. But there’s one particular feature that most webcams don’t usually include, that has been embraced and largely debated by a UK company called Promotion and Display Technology Ltd. These guys decided that the market lacks a device that produces a 3D image of the person it is viewing. This is why they came up with the Minoru 3D webcam.

This is the classic version of 3D where the viewer has to wear special glasses in order to see the 3D image properly. The main advantage of this device is that Minoru can be used as a standard webcam with applications such as Skype, instant message clients or even YouTube videos.

Minoru, meaning “reality” in Japanese, is therefore the world’s first 3D webcam. The only thing you should do is to connect Minoru to your PC and he will come alive, his eyes will light up and he will be looking at you in 3D. This way, your friends and family can now see you in 3D over your favorite messaging program like Windows Live Messenger, Skype, AOL instant messenger, OoVoo and many others. You also have the chance to take 3D photos or even shoot 3D videos and then upload them to YouTube.

This webcam won’t find its place among common peripheral devices, as I said it before. Minoru has two discrete lenses spaced at roughly human eye distance, but unlike a View-Master reel, it doesn’t deliver two discrete images, rather it mixes both together into a blurry-looking mess that requires the funny two-color glasses.

Moreover, you don’t need a special Web platform or software for viewing: standard video IM clients or YouTube and its ilk are all compatible; the video will look badly out of registration until you put the glasses on.

For those who are interested in the world’s first 3D webcam, Minoru can be purchased for an amount of approximately $100 when it arrives in December, when it’s expected to become available.

TouchCharge is a very interesting cool gadget that is basically a charging kit for PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 controllers. What makes it special is that you will not have to charge the controller by docking it. All you have to do is put it on the special charging surface. The charging dock for the Xbox 360 is $70, the Wii is $60 and the PS3 is $50.

We basically tested the PS3 controller, which was quite convenient. It was very light and did do wonders. We found out that the Wii and Xbox 360 versions come through as batteries that are to be used instead of the ones that you get default. This is exatly why they are a little more expensive. On the other hand, even if it is great to see it in action, keep in mind that there are also other options available for the Wii and Xbox 360. We recommend that you consider the TouchCharge Wireless Charger only for the PS3 version.

After releasing several hot notebooks, ASUS has just added to their success the world’s first Skype Certified Videophone called the AiGuru SV1. The device allows the user to make unlimited phone calls using a webcam, a speaker and a microphone, and to see the person he or she is calling with the seven inch screen.

So, using the ASUS AiGuru SV1 videophone you’ll be giving yourself the chance to enjoy free Skype-to-Skype video and voice calls to friends and family all around the world. You won’t need a computer to get connected and it’s so simple to set up, that you just have to enter your Skype Name and password to start calling.

As I’ve already said, you can now make Skype calls without having to use your computer. Everything you need to do can be done on the videophone. Simply sign into Skype, check your contact list to see who’s available and those free Skype-to-Skype video and voice calls that you’ve always dreamed about. If you’re new to Skype, then you can create a Skype Name and search for friends directly on the videophone. The device is equipped with an integrated rechargeable battery and wireless connection which help you take your videophone with you wherever you are in the home or office. This way, you can share a recipe in the kitchen, show the relatives the new furniture or chat about what’s on television in the living room. This actually means you’ll be able to chat right about anywhere you like when you stay Wi-Fi connected.

In addition, as with regular Skype, you can call regular landlines and mobiles at discounted rates. In order to do this, you need a subscription from Skype which gives you unlimited calls to landlines for one low monthly fee. And if you get an online number you can receive calls from anyone too. You may also use it to make and receive conference calls (3 or more people), however in this mode there will be no video available and purely voice.

As far as the installation is concerned, the AiGuru is a straightforward process. You’ll need an existing broadband Internet connection and you can either connect the videophone via the supplied network cable or wirelessly. The wireless connection is the most convenient but you’ll need to enter any WEP or WPA key via the cursor keys and onscreen keyboard. You can also tweak the display settings such as brightness, hue and saturation. When talking about connections, we must not forget Ethernet, Wi-Fi, 3.5 mm microphone jack, 3.5 mm headphone jack, USB port (for service updates) and 12V DV power input.

It doesn’t matter what you think, as long as your puppy loves eating grass. Unfortunately for you and for your garden, it doesn’t think that the grass is always greener on the other side, so it is all set against your yard. You can’t do anything about it, ‘cause, after all, it was you who wanted the little creature!

But here you have something that is meant to help you with a situation like this, coming from Hammacher Schlemmer. Called the Timelapse Garden Video Camera, the device is designed to help anyone who has a garden to keep track of the progress of his/her plants. To be more precise, the camera does nothing but to allow you to watch the grass grow. Of course, if your dog isn’t in the mood for something stupid. For eating, I mean.

“It can focus as close as 20” away to illustrate petal growth or, with its wide 54” field of view, it can capture perennials as they grow to conceal your spent spring bulb foliage. The camera takes a picture at one of six pre-determined intervals (five seconds to 24 hours) and combines them into a single 1280 x 1024 pixels resolution AVI movie file for easy playback on a computer”.

The camera comes with a light sensor that is meant to turn off the camera when the dusk comes and to turn it back at dawn. This way, the video capture is continued each day and you’ll never have it interrupted. No matter what.

After being time-stamped, the pictures are all stored on a 2GB USB flash drive, meaning approximately 18,000 photos. Because the camera will have to work outdoors, it comes with a weather-resistant “outfit”, so it’s able to function from a temperature of 122 degrees Fahrenheit to 14 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Timelapse Garden Video Camera works on four AA batteries that are not included in the package. They provide about four months of operation. Interested in it? Go to Hammacher Schlemmer and it can be yours for $159.95.

According to mobile operator 3, the mobile phone industry is definitely changing. The question we need to ask ourselves is if it is for the better or not. Now we get to look at the new Skypephone and think whether it can be the future of cell phone calls or not.

Skype is currently used on around 246 million personal computers. We are faced with a lot of possible users but not all of them will be making the switch to the mobile phone. For starters, one huge problem is that you will stay at home if you basically want to use the software. Since now there have been many attempts to create a Skype mobile phone but none was established outside Wi-Fi. This mobile phone from 3 comes with a special Skype contact button. It is used to call directly your Skype contacts.

The handset is actually manufactured by Amoi. It looks a lot like the Sony Ericsson with a large enough screen and a keypad that is simple and large. It also features a good 2 megapixels camera and included 256 MB of memory. We can basically say that there is not a lot that you get from this phone. It is simple and effective.

There is an interesting set of Skype procedures associated. You will log in to your Skype account and you can basically have both the PC and the phone logged in at once. If you get a call you will choose what to use when answering. As you might expect, phone call quality is not that clear but it is good enough, just like Skype. The package you will get from 3 will allow you to make 4000 minutes of phone calls. To make everything even more special, 10,000 messages are also added to the mix. Remember that this Skypephone does not have a QWERTY keyboard so you will need to be good at texting.

So you’ve run out of gift ideas for dad? There’s always salvation in a belated gift though, and Parrot claims to have the perfect device for the father figure in your life with the MINIKIT hands-free solution. Perfect for dads as they begin to plan summer trips for the family, allowing him to handle pesky calls from the office while he’s driving his family to the intended destination. The Parrot MINIKIT portable mobile speakerphone boasts Bluetooth connectivity, voice recognition and great audio quality without being bulky at a mere 3.5 ounces in weight. It is able to pair up to 5 different Bluetooth-enabled phones, storing up to 150 voice activated contacts per phone! The Parrot MINIKIT retails for $89.99 a pop. Strange to see how a one-year plus product is still being bandied about as a Father’s Day gift though…

It has been a while since we have written about the eStarling Digital Photo Frame, but they have made some recent advancements that are worth talking about all over again.

The latest 8-inch digital photo frame from eStarling’s is Wi-fi capable, but that really isn’t anything new. What is new is that the frame is made for Facebook support. All a user has to do is provide his or her username and password, and when his or her friends upload their pictures, they will be automatically downloaded directly into the frame with a resolution of 800×600 pixels.

All this will insure that the content on the frame is constantly changing, without having to hook it up to the computer and do the constant downloading and erasing that usually occurs when updating digital picture frames. You can download through a memory card slot that supports MMC, SD, MS, and CF formats.

Another terrific feature is the frame’s ability to allow the user to email the pictures, even when on the move. It even comes with some spam-blocking software in order to prevent the frame from getting email from unauthorized email addresses.

The eStarling Digital Picture frame is available for $450 with a Black Piano Finish.

Having too many peripherals on the desk these days is not cool – you end up with a mess that might never be cleared up, considering the amount of workload that you have. Brando aims to help with this 3-in-1 Data Tray Dock. What’s so special about it, you ask? Well, it not only holds a 2.5″ SATA hard drive inside, it also comes with a 4-port USB hub and a memory card reader enclosure, all rolled into one. This means you can organize a variety of USB peripherals in a neat manner while gaining a look of approval from your boss. Available in silver or black colors, retailing for $69 each.

Granted, cell phone displays these days on the high end segment are able to display a whopping 16.7 million colors, and that specification doesn’t really matter since the display is so small to begin with. What about your monitor? Surely it can do more than that, but HP’s latest offering will definitely put whatever number your monitor can muster to shame. The new HP DreamColor Display (we mentioned it briefly earlier this week) is a new LCD screen which is able to offer a whopping 1 billion colors at the very minimum in a 30-bit, LED-backlit display. Of course, it would be a waste to purchase this just for word processing and surfing the Internet, so you must realize that this targets those who deal with plenty of colors in their everyday work including designers and animators. This phenomenal display is now shipping worldwide for $3,499.

How did this monitor come about anyways? Well, it is but the result of an unprecedented technology collaboration with DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., helping address an increasingly critical need for affordable and consistent color accuracy in the animation, game development, film/video post, broadcast, product design and graphic arts categories. The HP DreamColor breaks new ground as for the first time in mankind’s history, we will have a color-critical LCD display that is affordable enough (relatively speaking) to be placed on virtually every desk, resigning color checks, redesigns and multiple proofs to history.

The HP DreamColor display was designed for professionals for whom accurate color management is a must have, while consumers who have pockets deep enough and want the very best in technology innovations will find the HP DreamColor display more than suitable, achieving over 64 times the colors available on mainstream LCDs. This means reds, blues and greens are visibly deeper, while blacks are four times darker and whites are adjustable.

Go green with the USB Solar Mobile Charger from Brando – this device features a 1,500mAh lithium battery, storing up juice harvested from the sun’s rays for a time when you need it most. It will feature connecting tips with cell phones, digital cameras, MP3 players as well as portable media players – heck, anything goes as long as there is a right adapter to fit your gizmo. Should the days be particularly overcast, there is always the AC charge ability that helps you juice up the USB Solar Mobile Charger via a power outlet or through a USB port. Perfect gadget for the traveling dad, and the price ain’t too shabby at $37 either.

We can basically say that the HP Touchsmart TX2 is one of the coolest laptops we have seen in quite a while now. It is both a laptop and a touchscreen interface that can be used with 2 fingers. The user is capable of using iPhone gestures. Examples can be given in arc, rotate, pinch, press, drag, flick and double taps. What is really unique stands in the design. There is a hinge that you can use to change everything in 3 modes: tablet, display and PC. To make the package even more special, you will also get a digital ink pen that is rechargeable and you can use it in order to make screen drawings. You can even use it to write and the handwriting will be transformed directly in typed text.

Now let us see what else we get. The HP Touchsmart TX2 also has HDTV features. It has special software that will allow you to watch movies and Internet TV in HD. There are even rumors that HP users will get special channels like Comedy Central and MTV. The actual screen of the HP Touchsmart TX2 is of 12 inches. It runs on the AMD Turion 2.2 GHz X2 ZM-82 CPU. There is a memory card reader included, 3 USB ports and a hard disk of 250 GB.

I think there may be a market for projectors on a cellular phones, and wouldn’t be surprised it becomes a standard feature. The technology is still young, but it might soon be a reality.

Projectors might not be ready to be put inside all cell phones just yet, but a projector for a specific cellular phone might be here sooner than we think.

A company known as Honlai Technology unveiled a model of a portable projector for the iPhone at Computex 2008. I guess 3G isn’t enough for the big Mac, they have to have a projector to go along with it. I guess Mr. iPhone just has to have more. (There’s a double meaning here. Read the label on the projector in the picture and you’ll get it, trust me.)

This iPhone projector works as easy as popping your iPhone in, and playing whatever video is loaded on it. Unfortunately, this device is still a concept. So we are a long way from playing our cellular phone videos on our wall.

However, I think we all have seen this coming. After all, the screens on our cell phones are so tiny, and it was about time they were put on something bigger. Something tells me that whoever perfects this projecting technology will be quite rich.

LaCie is a well known manufacturer and now they pulled out a new idea linked to how you can store information and move it on and off your personal computer. It is not actually a new idea but it is special. We can say that we are dealing with an external hard disk that put in some extra features that are unexpected.

We are talking about the LaCie Internet Space. You will get a lot of storage space as the start version is 500 GB and the maximum you can get is 1 TB. The concept is very simple. You can use it as any PC hard disk but it is also accessable from a work station that is connected to the Internet. Even if your computer is turned off, you can still access the data on the LaCie Internet Space. Also, there is the possibility to have more than one possible Internet users. Multi access can be created through a simple emal system based on invitations. If you take advantage of the included DesktopMirror feature you can also back up the data that interests you. Hey, you even get one extra USB port that you can use.

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Are you thinking of getting a brand new PC sometime in the near future? Well, if you happen to have the budget for something big and powerful, you can always consider the HP Blackbird 002 which will be available in an exclusive configuration at Amazon.com, Newegg.com and select Best Buy, Circuit City, J&R and Micro Center retail stores and online shops this summer. This landmark event also marks the first time the HP Blackbird 002 will be made available in retail stores, allowing more customers to experience it up close and personal before they make up their mind about purchasing it. Of course, the retail configuration won’t disappoint when it comes to cutting-edge design and performance elements, since this is a thoroughbred machine that is meant to be set apart from the other desktop PCs in its class. Retail displays will also include video demonstrations of the system while offering live play.

What makes the Blackbird 002 so special? Well, it boasts Voodoo DNA which has won many bouquets over the years, and has the ability to handle extreme computing challenges, ranging from next-generation games to demanding professional applications courtesy of its isolated thermal chambers, tool-free accessibility, and cable-free hard drive installation. Design-wise, it is pretty much up there, guaranteed to drop the jaws of whoever sees it. Pricing starts from $3,299 upwards, and below are the specifications.
Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q9450
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium 64-bit edition with Service Pack 1
Quiet, liquid cooled CPU
NVIDIA nForce SLI motherboard with RAID support
Dual SLI NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT graphics cards with support for Microsoft® DirectX 10
4,096 MB Corsair Dominator system memory with DHX technology
500 GB 7,200 rpm SATA hard drive
Five internal, hot-swappable hard drive bays
7.1 onboard HD audio
Concealed USB, FireWire® and audio ports, plus 15-in-1 memory card reader
900 watt power plant
One-year HP limited warranty and toll-free phone support

Western Digital has released a new line of hard drives – the Caviar Black. Sounds pretty mysterious and foreboding, no? Well, the Caviar Black is a 7200 RPM 3.5″ SATA hard drive that isn’t meant for everyday use – instead, it targets high performance desktop, workstation and multi-drive systems. There are only two capacities to choose from – 750GB and 1TB, which goes a long way in simplifying the purchasing experience for customers worldwide. According to Don Bennett, WD vice president and general manager of desktop storage, “WD Caviar Black hard drives offer the highest capacity and performance in a desktop class drive available on the market today enabling users to maximize the features and functionality of power computing applications such as multimedia, video and photo editing. Selection of a WD Caviar Black drive ensures WD customers receive the best WD has to offer in terms of features, performance and reliability.” Well said, but hopefully the marketing claims will be able to live up to the hype.

Some of the features found on the new line of WD Caviar Black hard drives include :-
Dual processor – Twice the processing power to maximize performance
32 MB cache – Bigger, faster cache means faster performance
StableTrac – The motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking, during read and write operations
NoTouch ramp load technology – The recording head never touches the disk media ensuring significantly less wear to the recording head and media as well as better drive protection in transit

You can look out for the WD Caviar Black 750GB (model WD7501AALS) and 1TB (model WD1001FALS) hard drives from next week onwards via select distributors and resellers. The former will retail for $199, while the larger 1TB model is $50 more expensive. Each purchase is accompanied by a 5-year limited warranty, but bear in mind that isn’t a license to abuse your newly purchased hard drive.

It never seems to amaze us what the human mind can come up with when thinking about gadget. Now we get to see a USB Hamster Wheel, which is simply incredibly fun and cool. You just put the device in your USB and love the special software that you will get with the included CD. When you type that hamster will start running and spin the wheel. The faster that you type, the faster the hamster run. When we tested it we could not stop laughing. You whould know that the USB Hamster Wheel is compatible with Windows XP and Windows 2000 and should not be used by children under 10. In order to run you will need 2 AA batteries. You will get them in the package but you will also have to buy others on the long run.