Big Knob Turns Kettle Into MP3 Player October 28, 2006
READ MORE Digital Audio , Gadgets , Home Entertainment , Peripherals , Portable Media
It’s not often I get to see a product that claims to turn your kettle, bag, PC monitor or anything else into an MP3 player. That’s the claim behind the AllTunes MP3 Knob and, as you see, the product description is bang on the money.
This knob – which is actually the player – is designed to attach to anything that’s nearby. The screen has been removed because of its ‘uselessness’ and replaced by the ability of the player to read out the song listings as you browse. Is this more than a player with a magnet – you tell me. This is what the blurb behind it says:
Press the central button to play or pause/stop playback. Turn the inner knob to adjust the volume. The outer knob is for smart listing. In listing mode the player pronounces by numbers all songs of the current album, then all albums, in pause mode - the name of the album. At the bottom of the device you will find Lock
button and Repeat all\Shuffle switch.
I can't say I fully understand it all but you can confuse yourself here.-Martin Lynch
Via Red Ferret
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Kremlin Sells Off Golf Carts Of The Rich And Famous October 28, 2006
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Would you buy something that once had Tony Blair’s arse-print on it? Maybe you would and now the Kremlin is giving you the chance.
In a most uncommon show of Western Capitalism, the Russians are selling off the golf carts used by G8 world leaders visiting the St. Petersburg palace last July. You see, unlike normal peasants, world leaders get to drive their very own golf buggies around the palace grounds.
The carts, used by the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and other G8 leaders, have an electric motor and can get up to 25mph. A spokesperson for the Kremlin’s property office said:
"We carried out a market study and we consider there's demand."
They fully expect the opening bid of £70,000 to be topped.-Martin Lynch
Jammin' John Guitarlet: Toilet Seat of the Blues Immortals October 28, 2006
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Master guitarists have immense respect for their instruments, coddling them like babies. For example, BB King even named his favorite ax Lucille. The Guitarlet from Jammin' Johns takes that concept down another road, letting you shit on your guitar while surrounded with matching accessories. Get it in natural wood or metallic white, or you can choose an electric guitar model or even a piano. It's $99 for the seat, an additional $99 for all the accessories.
Oddly enough, this is not the first toilet seat/guitar mashup we've seen; this one was the other way around, where the guitar was made of a toilet seat. Apparently expressing love for the guitar can take a variety of forms.
Product Page [Jammin' Johns, via TRFJ]
FujiFilm FinePix F31fd Takes Better Pictures of Your Ugly Mug October 28, 2006
READ MORE Digital cameras
This is FujiFilm's latest camera, the FinePix F31fd. It has the usual bag'o'tricks including 3x optical zoom, 6.3-megapixel sensor, 2.5-inch LCD screen, etc. The one unique feature it does include is a "Face Detection System." The FDS will recognize when a face is in frame and automatically bring it into focus along with adjusting the brightness and flash accordingly. Sorry, ugly people, your days are numbered.
FinePix F31fd, the camera that knows you [Akihabara]
Rube Goldberg Machine from Office Equipment October 28, 2006
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We like to think we know a thing or two about wasting time around the office, and we hope our cubicle-warrior readers do too (you are reading this now, aren't you?). But these guys one-upped all of us and raided the office supply storage closet to make a pretty bitchin' Rube Goldberg machine. What's the deal with the toy bowling pins, though? Got kids running around the office?
Siemens FA Porsche Toaster October 28, 2006
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Toasters may not be the most gadgety product around, but we sure do love it when companies design awesome toasters.This toaster from electronics manufacturer, Siemens, is no different. It comes in brushed aluminum. In addition to looking sweet, this Porsche Toaster also has a memory system that remembers how you like your toast. Unfortunately, it carries a very hefty price tag of $221.
Product Page [Via Josh Spear]
Momsee Monitoring System Turns Your Tyke into a Momma's Boy October 28, 2006
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We tend to walk the other way whenever we hear a baby cry, but if the crying baby happens to be yours, this little gizmo might help you race to his/her side. It's a wireless baby monitoring system that consists of a wireless camera and a portable LCD monitor. Whenever the camera hears little Bobby cry, it'll instantly trigger an alarm on the monitor so you can run to his side and shake him till he stops. No word yet on pricing or availability, but if it helps shut a crying baby's trap, we're all for it.
Momsee [via AVING.net]
Cheap, Recycled Geeky Gifts October 28, 2006
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Just in time for holiday season comes this line of very geeky gifts from acorn studios. Most of the gifts are made from circuit boards—including tree ornaments, earrings, keychain, clocks, etc. They also have some cute little gifts made from keyboard keys such as rings, necklaces and cufflinks. Most of the gifts are under $20, some even as low as a few bucks and could be the perfect small presents for that nerdy co-worker.
Product Page [Acorn Studios]
MP3 Player Moonlights as VoIP Phone October 28, 2006
READ MORE Portable Media
We've seen our fair share of VoIP phones before, but this might be the first MP3 player we've seen that does double duty as a VoIP headset. The Mystic comes in sizes ranging from 512MB to 2GB and plays your typical MP3, WAV, and WMA files. It'll even play back video on its 1.5-inch OLED screen. But plug it into your computer's USB port and suddenly it'll let you take and make VoIP calls (as well as recharge in the process). We like its simple styling and the 512MB model will set you back around $100 bucks.
Rimax Mystic [via Electronista]
Dcube Mvision: HD Playback, No Discs October 28, 2006
READ MORE Home Entertainment
Bypass the Blu-ray and HD DVD "revolution" altogether with the Dcube Mvision, an HD DivX player that can also play ripped DVD files from its hard disk. This setup box plays back DivX, OGG, WMA, WMV and MP3 files from its internal hard disk, and sends Dolby 5.1 sound through optical and coaxial ports, too.
So where would you get the HD files for this thing? That's up to you, but we've heard of a little thing called BitTorrent that might be able to help. Grab those files from the Interwebs on your PC and transfer them to this unit via that LAN port in the back. There's everything you need back there, well, except an HDMI port, but you can use a DVI-to-HDMI adapter for that, and hook this up to your HDTV.
Lots more pics and commentary, after the jump.
This is the way HDTV will be viewed in the future, not with physical media. If Dcube could just manage to bring its ambitious little Mvision box to these shores, we'll be all set. No pricing or delivery date was announced yet, but this is just the first of many units of this type.
Jasper S20 Cellphone Rocks The Java OS, People Flee in Fear October 28, 2006
READ MORE Mobile phones
Lots of people hate Java for being both slow and a memory hog, so what better place to put it than on a cellphone? The Jasper S20 is the first guinea pig cellphone to meet the JSR-209 specifications on the Java Platform Micro Edition. Translated into English, all it means is that the Jasper S20 is the first jawn to run the latest (and greatest?) version of the Java mobile OS. It allows developers to pump out prettier 2D graphics, among other things.
The phone itself looks like something Fisher Price or Nickelodeon would produce, with a joystick-like device in the center for navigation. Also supported is multimedia playback (MP3, MPEG, etc.) and a microSD card slot to store all that junk. It'll ship to Asia "soon." There's a few pics of the super happy fun Java interface after the jump.
Instant FM Music: TiVo for Radio October 28, 2006
READ MORE Home Entertainment
If you're lucky enough to have a good FM radio station nearby, you might want to check out Instant FM Music from ADS Tech, a $49 USB key that lets you record FM radio or web radio on your PC and transfer that to MP3 files or onto a CD.
It works like a TiVo, where its included Snaptune One software shows you a playlist of songs from your choice of radio stations, recording that station's entire playlist and then letting you pick which songs you'd like to listen to on the PC or transfer to your iPod or a CD. Timeshifting? Scheduling recordings? It does that, too. Sounds like TiVo to me.
We have one of these Instant FM Music devices here and we'll be testing it over the weekend, so stay tuned for our results. Our first impression? Aren't those record company greedmeisters going to hate this? Sure, the FM sound quality won't be that great, but still, you'll be able to have and hold those songs for free.
Product Page [ADS Tech]
Sonnettech Volta: Watch iPod Movies for 16 Hours Straight October 28, 2006
READ MORE Portable Media
If that 3.5-hour playback time of the 30GB iPod or 6.5 hour playback of the 80GB model isn't going to be enough for you, here's the Sonnettech Volta Rechargeable Battery Pack, claiming "up to" (we're always wary of those two weasel words) 16 hours of video playback on a single 5.5 hour charge.
In addition to its extended video playback capabilities, a fully-charged Volta can actually charge your iPod three times if you can't get to a hot USB port or AC adapter. Even though it's yet another device to put into your bag of tricks, this one looks like it could keep you watching video until your eyes get crossed.
Beyond that, it can keep that iPod going for 80 hours of music listening. This is great for those of us who whine about the iPod not having enough battery longevity. If that's a priority, it might be worth shelling out $69.95.
Product Page [Sonnet Technologies, Inc.]
Delphi SkyFi3 Review, A Capable Ugly Duckling October 28, 2006
READ MORE Home Entertainment
We've had our eye on the SkyFi3 for some time now and the folks over at CNET have put it through the ringer noting that other than the MicroSD expansion slot it carries, the SkyFi3 doesn't bring anything new to the market (especially not with its budget feel and monochrome display). You'll have to splurge an additional $49 dollars on a pair of "funky-looking" antenna headphones if you want Live XM capability and even then, the sound quality is "a tad compressed sounding." Overall, it's deemed a "nice audio companion for those who spend lots of time in their autos." If the Inno and Helix are outta your range, the $200 SkyFi3 might be what you were waiting for.
Delphi SkyFi3 [via CNET]
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