I like USB sticks, especially the 4GB ones, but they are no longer the exciting products they once were. Apart from some new shapes and a bit of software or encryption wizardry, there’s not a lot new to say. A few months back Kingston went the waterproof route and now, this month, it’s out to revamp sticks again with a combined USB Stick and SD Card Reader.
The DataTraveller Reader comes in 1GB and 2GB flavours for now – with 4GB on the way - but under the wide hood there lies an SD, MMC, and SDHC card reader. With the right adapter you can also hook up to miniSD, microSD, MMCplus, RS-MMC, MMCmobile and MMCmicro card formats. This can used for expanding the storage capacity of your stick with cheap SD Cards or for off-loading photos from a card to the stick. This process is made simple enough since the stick and the card inside appear as two partitions when you hook it up to your PC.
Prices for the 1Gb and 2Gb drives – US for the moment – are around £11 and £18, respectively. The 4GB version is coming in Q3. -Martin Lynch
news technology USB memory storage gadgets
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That multi-kajillion unit selling Playstation Portable is back, baby. Our matesover at Kotaku are reporting that many third party and other highly placed industry have confirmed that the PSP2 is coming, this year. The new, fake E3 is coming up soon and I'm no Sony marketing monkey, but that could be an excellent time for an announcement.
Some rumors about the PSP2 already being regurgitated are the inclusion of an even prettier screen, faster load times, improved buttons, internal flash memory (8GB?), touch screen, integrated camera and use of UMD. –Travis Hudson
Rumor: No Denying It, PSP2 Is Coming [Kotaku]
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Now you can make your bath controls all-electronic with the Ondine ESS-Tub or ESS-Standard for showers. You set the temperature you want, and then push the ESS-Tub's Fill button and it will automatically fill the tub for a perfect soak. ESS-Standard is specially created for multi-head showers, and it can control up to three showerheads, letting you input three custom programs that custom-tailor your fave settings.
You can also mount a second control elsewhere in the bathroom, so you can start your shower or run your bath from a distance, getting it all warmed up for you to simply step in. Now if they could just hook this up to a smart home control unit, we could get this thing running from the bed. – Charlie White
Product Page [Ondine, via Oh Gizmo]
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Besides looking rather bad-ass, this TurboChef Speedcook oven can allegedly cook your culinary masterpieces 15 times faster than an ordinary oven. It works with similar principles to convection ovens, except instead of simply moving air around the inside, the Airspeed Technology apparently blasts your roast from the top and the bottom. It's also aided by a special stirring mechanism that make sure that blast of hot air is evenly distributed.
At the same time, there's what the company calls "precision microwaves" that add their own special brand of agitation to the festivities, stirring up those atoms while keeping the moisture and flavor inside the food. There's a lot of hot air moving around here, and we're not sure all of it is inside that oven, either. If you buy into all this, get out your $7,900. – Charlie White
Product Page [TurboChef, via Born Rich]
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If a Taser is a bit impersonal for you, put on these Blast Knuckles that pack a 950,000-volt punch up-side the head. The Blast Knuckles Stun Gun is a $69.95 weapon powered by lithium batteries that lets you slam dunk and smack down any miscreant who might try to help him- or herself to your stuff or junk.
Also works like a champ on that lovable yet playfully bloodthirsty dog next door. It's banned in some of the wussier countries, like old Blighty, of course. – Charlie White
Product Page [Hollywood Gadgets, via Coolest Gadgets]
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This will appeal mostly to students, choc-a-holics and tight parents although we have all been victims of food crime at one time or another. We have all stood and stared stupidly at the space where once resided the last can of beer, the last slice of bread, the last chocolate Hobnob or the last drop of milk. That’s right, we were robbed, and probably by a so-called friend or family member. Not anymore.
The goRemote series of high-end cabinets from award-winning UK outfit, Smallbone of Devizes, come with locks and a remote control to protect our precious foodstuffs. Just click to keep the starving thieves out.
These are not available yet but that’s just as well since it will give us all time to save up the £300 needed for each cabinet. I feel a £3.50 padlock coming on.-Martin Lynch
[More]
news technology gadgets home appliance food kitchen
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Fancy a digital camera that won’t drown on your next holiday? Vivitar has joined the slowly growing ranks of companies launching digital cameras that can be taken for a swim without washing away all your holiday snaps.
However, unlike those than can withstand a depth of 3-feet, the Vivicam 6200W claims it can dive with you to depths of 30-feet. It’s a 6-megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom – the useless type of zoom – and no optical zoom – the useful type.
There’s a 2in LCD so you can see those shark teeth really clearly before “Chomp!”. It comes with 16Mb of internal memory and supports SD Cards up to 1Gb.
I like the rubber wet suit that clothes this little snapper but with no in-built flash – yes, no flash – you’ll be lucky to clear shots from anymore than a few feet under the surface. On a really sunny day. In very clear and calm waters. It costs around £130 and you can see full, yet short, feature list here. -Martin Lynch
news technology gadgets digital camera photo holiday
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Scenario: You meet Jim. He is sweet, kind and most importantly, easy to talk to. It's as if you've known him your whole life. And hugging him, no matter where you may be, feels like home.
Of course he's an alien (or possibly a robot). But what you probably didn't realize is that YOU are an alien, too. Now if you'd picked up an $18.95 Alien UFO Detector Strap earlier, you wouldn't have dumped the one life form in the entire galaxy with whom your sexual organs are compatible. – Mark Wilson
Product Page [via redferret]
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Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
