Shuffle Sweatband Uses Bone Conduction, Makes You Happy, Doesn't Require Lobotomy

There has to be something weird about this Vonia Sports Headband from Thanko, our favorite manufacturer of all things tacky and wacky with USB ports in them. That or maybe some people get strangely happy when they think they look like Olivia Newton-John.
The Vonia is no ordinary 80s headband, though: you can connect an iPod shuffle, put it inside the sweatband's small pouch and start listening to your disco music using bone-conduction technology, which allows you to listen to sound using vibrations, which travel from the emitter to your inner ear using your skull. In theory, this gives you clear sound even in loud environments. And probably a strange tingling pleasure and some liquified neurons too. More pictures after the jump.

Via Gizmodo

Brando iMono Memory Card Readers Offer Sub-Pocket Sized Convenience

These tiny iMono Card Readers from Brando are so small you might even lose them in your pocket if they didn't have keychains attached, but they come in three different versions that accommodate your choice of T-Flash/MicroSD memory cards, M2 or miniSD cards, and all three can read SIM cards from your cellphone.
Transfer files to the PC, or slide in your SIM card from your cellphone and back up all your contacts and other information. Might come in handy right before you rock a firmware update on that balky smartphone of yours. Not a bad deal for $10

Via Gizmodo

PogoDrive GPS: Steers You Away From Court

PogoDrive is another GPS in a crowded market of UK-exclusive navigational devices with one unique feature: it will warn you of speedtraps. That's because Pogo has loaded the Origin360 database onto their platform, which has mapped all known cameras and speed traps in the Universe.
The Pogo then allows automatic warning prompts from any of its view modes, while also supporting a function in which you are only warned of speedtraps (sans directions and maps). Not bad, though alternate route selection around speed traps could be a nice bonus for the chronic speeder.
While the Origin360 has been around for years, it's exciting to see more functions merging into GPS devices. Now if we could only get the $462 PogoDrive here in the US, we'll never have to say "I didn't realize I was speeding, officer—I guess was too worried about the orphanage on fire and that round pastry I just dropped out of my car to notice," again.

Via Gizmodo

Logisys Mouse: Give It The Finger

For those who hate their trackpad but enjoy looking like a cyborg, the Logisys Optical Finger Mouse may be a dream come true. Featuring dual buttons, a scroll wheel and 800dpi, the mouse is fully functional and promising for tight spaces—like when you want to browse the Internet while rolling downhill in a tractor tire.
But the migraines you'll get as your mouse seizures every time you type make this a pass, even at its nominal $20 pricetag.

Via Gizmodo

Inkless photo printer that can be used in digital cameras

There is one more way to print your favorite pictures now. You can do it using no ink. That means that photo printers will become hand-held and you will be able to carry them around and print pictures whenever you want. No need to get home or to a shop to print out the pictures anymore.Palaroid Company has invented a new way to print pictures. Now their printers do not use ink to print. These printing gadgets can be built into phones or digital cameras. The product will appear on market in the end of year 2007. The principle of work is very simple; the paper is changing its color when heat is applied. So applying certain amount of heat will make the piece of paper change color to a specific one. You will not have to have liquid ink cartridges in your printer. The paper that is used is not usual. It is originally white plastic that has several very thin layers. The layers are micro-thin layers of different colors: yellow on top, then goes magenta and on the very bottom cyan. When heat is applied the paper changes it color thanks to the different color layers. When the heat is applied to the surface of the paper, the size and shape of the dye molecules changes from crystal to amorphous glasses and allows you to see the layer beneath it, releasing the color. The temperature and exposure on every pixel is controlled and you will be able to make some good pictures right after you have taken the shot. The yellow layer needs the highest temperature and has the shortest melting time. The magenta layer needs lower temperature and some more time to melt, and finally the cyan layer needs lowest temperature and longest exposure time to melt. This is how you can have color pictures at your hands any time you want.A picture 5 cm x 7.5 cm will take about 30 seconds to print. Good speed for a new technology. However, the picture size is not that big. I think that it would take this new technology very long to replace our standard ways of printing photos. Old-fashion way of making photos is much faster and less expensive.The printer will cost you about 0 and 100 sheets will cost you $ 20 so you should thing what you would like to buy. It is a pretty big price for something like that. We will se how good the pictures will be.

Via GadgetReviews

New keyboard and mouse form Microsoft made especially for Windows Vista

Finally when Vista software is out on the market the Microsoft Corporation has released its new wireless mouse and keyboard. The Microsoft Wireless Entertainment desktop 7000 is a set of a keyboard and rechargeable mouse.
The mouse is the Microsoft’s first rechargeable mouse and they have made it great. First of all, the mouse and the keyboard work using Bluetooth technology. They can work from up to 30 feet away from you computer. Not bad for a keyboard, huh.
Why is it made for Vista? Additional buttons like multimedia and some gadget buttons are placed on the keyboard. These buttons will work only with Windows Vista because only Vista has a "gadget" side-bar. And there are a lot of them, in addition to multimedia buttons that have become usual for a keyboard. The multimedia buttons will let you remotely control all the devices that are connected using Windows Media Center; this makes your keyboard a cool remote control.
Mouse keys are specially created for Vista too. For example, pushing the middle button (scroll) will let you see the thumbnails of all the windows that you have opened. The other cool function that is added: You can magnify a portion of the screen. This will help you when viewing some pictures, or reading small fonts.
Being made in grey colors the keyboard and the mouse will match any computer white or black. Besides, the keyboard is made thin and the buttons are pressed easily and don't make much noise.
The first rechargeable mouse made by Microsoft? Yes it is. The mouse has a rechargeable battery and you can charge it when you do not use the mouse. I think that would be at night, or when you are at work.

Via GadgetReviews

51 GB HD DVD disc rivals Blu-ray capacity

San Jose (CA) - Further blurring the line of which format is technically superior, Toshiba has announced that it has successfully created a triple-layer HD DVD disc that holds 51 GB of data. It has begun the process of submitting it for regulatory approval.
Blu-ray Disc (BD) has been regarded as the winner in terms of capacity since the beginning of the next-generation format war. However, the 51 GB HD DVD would slightly overpower BD, which currently has a maximum capacity of 50 GB. Previously, HD DVDs were only available in 15 GB and 30 GB capacities.
Feasibility is a big question, though. It's unclear if the addition of a third layer on an HD DVD would significantly increase mass production costs or time.
HD DVD is struggling to capture more market share after a Nielsen report showed the BDs were outpacing it by two to one. One major advantage it touts is its combo format discs, which work in both HD DVD and regular DVD players. However, that drives up the cost and deters some consumers.
According to media reports, Toshiba is planning to launch the new format before the end of the year.

Via TGDaily

Archos 704 vs. 604: Watch the Video

The successor to the 604 Wi-Fi, the Archos 704 Wi-Fi has been caught on film. Sure, we saw some pictures about a week ago, but let's admit it, we only cared because we had nothing better. It was like an appetizer—the delicate balance of mozzarella to its deep fried bread crumb counterpart was rocking our world—until the surf & turf arrived and we realized the congealing, neglected finger grease had found its way to not just our new shirt, but our new favorite shirt.
Hit the jump for the video. No, it's not amazing, but it offers a better sense of scale and we're considering it the main course...until dessert and coffee come around.




Via PC

Netcraft Launches Google Gadgets: Cool Tools?

It's not quite your typical Web hosting news fare, but it's interesting nonetheless - which may or may not make it perfect blog fodder (I suppose I'm still in the process of sorting that out). Necraft, one of the Web hosting world's oldest and best sources of research and analysis, reported today that it had introduced three new "gadgets" that enable Netcraft Web tools to be integrated into personalized Google homepages.
The "What's that site running?" tool offers quick access to the Netcraft site query tool, which delivers a detailed report on the technology and network behind a given URL.
The "Netcraft News" feed is pretty self explanatory, and might make a nice complement to the WHIR RSS feeds already running through the truly stylish Google homepages.
And the "Report a phishing site" tool is an extension of Netcraft's anti-phishing toolbar that lets you submit suspected phishing sites directly to Netcraft through the gadget.

I'm a big fan of Netcraft, its reports and its tools. But I'm not so sure how any of these tools (outside of the news feed) fits into my personal vision for a personalized homepage.
The phishing toolbar is a particularly excellent undertaking that is particularly well-suited to the conditions of existing as a downloadable browser toolbar.
But I'm not arguing against the new tools. Maybe my rudimentary fumbling with sports scores and weather widgets are by this point as antiquated as my 8 ball jacket.
I know for sure that Isabel, at least, sees no reason why there shouldn't be a widget for every application under the sun. And she's probably right. It couldn't hurt, right?

Via thewhir

Extend Your iPod, Cell and Portable Battery to 100 Hours

It's called a Geekpod 101 and it will change your life. It's a "Super Long Life Lithium iPod Battery" that will keep most cell phones, portable playing devices and iPods charged for up to 100 hours! That's right, not 6 hours, not 10 hours, 100 hours!

It costs $69.99, but it will charge almost every gadget in your collection. For a list of all the gadgets this charger works for, just
The Geek 101 will power most cell phones and PDAs so long as you get the optional mobile tips pack. It also powers the Sony PSP for 15+ hours with the optional PSP cable for GeekPod. This pictured iPod battery pack also powers the Nintendo DS Lite, Game Boy Micro, Game Boy Advance SP and Nintendo DS with the optional connector cables. Will recharge and power most cell phones on the market such as the Motorola RAZR, Motorola Q, Blackberry, Nokia 6061,6030, Samsung C417,D407 and many more phones with the optional 'Mobile Tips Pack' available with a compatibility list in the Battery Pack Accessories section. Not sure what generation iPod you have?

Via Geeksugar

BeoCom 2 Bang and Olufsen phone

The trendy BeoCom 2 Bang and Olufsen phone made its way into the scene where Andy meets her boyfriend and their two friends at a bar and shares some of her trendy Vogue give-aways with them. You can buy one online for $850, which in my world is a little much for a phone, but if you're totally Vogue, go for it!

Via Geeksugar

Plaster Georgia Tech / MIT's unmanned spacecraft with logos, text

If there's anything left to accomplish after creating autonomous UAVs and cramming optical circuitry on a silicon chip, it's allowing tax paying citizens to pen their thoughts on an unmanned spacecraft. In a joint initiative between Georgia Tech and MIT, the Your Name Into Space project aims to launch a small research satellite in 2010 into Earth's orbit, and the technology on board will purportedly "help pave the way for humankind to explore our solar system." Folks who throw their name, slogan, logo, or snarky catchphrases onto the craft can expect photographs of their adornment "with the Earth in the background" while it's orbiting space, and if your piece of textual glory lands on a segment that will be returning to Earth, it's all yours upon landing. So if you're looking to splurge a little this year on a bit of tax deductible fun, you can put nearly anything on this forthcoming machine for $35 to $250 per square centimeter, depending on location.

Via Engadget

Your Desk Will Be Able to Charge Mobile Devices

Do you have tons of portable electronic devices lying all around your desk? Mobile phones, PDAs, laptops, portable music players, Bluetooth headsets and whatever you can shake a stick at could possibly be charged by your office desk wirelessly one day thanks to a tech company called Fulton Innovation and office furniture maker Herman Miller Inc.
Herman Miller Inc. is working with Fulton to develop an office desk that's integrated with a technology caleld eCoupled. Using eCoupled, a person can simply place their device, be it a mobile phone or a laptop, on to the desk and it will charge -- all without attaching power bricks or cables or even having the original chargers around. Fulton does this by using magnetic fields to wireless charge devices. The technology is already being used by several other companies such as Philips, which uses a similar technology to charge its Sonicare line of tooth brushes. According to Fulton's description of eCoupled:
eCoupled technology includes an inductive coupled power circuit that dynamically seeks resonance, allowing the primary circuit to adapt its operation to match the characteristics of the load. The power supply circuit automatically optimizes efficiency by seeking resonance at ultra-high frequencies between the primary and secondary coils for any given load.
The technology is intriguing say analysts and could save companies and users a ton of money in the future. "Those things are 30 bucks each and if you have 50 people in your office the cost really adds up," said Jim Lynch, director of the Association of Professional Office Managers. Fulton's device would be the only device that would require a direct electrical connection to operate. Users plug their desks into a wall outlet and leave it at that.
According to Herman Miller, it is working on developing a line of desks with eCoupled technology integrated into them but did not provide details on cost or market release date. Other manufacturers are jumping on eCoupled too. Visteon Corporation, which manufactures parts for auto makers and Motorola, plans to release devices that will work with Motorola phones and Apple's line of iPods.

Via DailyTech

Asus announces leather-bound W6Fp laptop

Asus may not be ready to provide many specs on its new Lamborghini laptop just yet, but the company's more than happy to spill the details on another of its latest rock solid, heart touching laptops, the W6Fp. As with its Lambo brethren, the W6Fp comes wrapped in leather for your typing pleasure, along with what look to be nearly desktop-sized keys for some additional comfort. Specs-wise, you'll get a 13.3-inch WXGA display, a 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo T5600 processor, Intel 945GM Express integrated graphics, 1GB of memory (up to 1.5GB), a 120GB hard drive, DVD super multi drive, and, of course, Windows Vista (Home Premium edition by default). Rounding out the laptop are built in Bluetooth and WiFi, and a battery that'll give you just 2.7 hours of juice on a charge, although you can nearly double that if you pop in the extra "bulk battery" included with the system. Look for this one to hit Japan at the end of the month for about 249,800 Yen, or just over $2,000.

Via Impress

Man Develops $2,000 Halo-like Military Suit

The grizzly man is back, and this time he's ready to take on bullets and bombs.
Troy Hurtubise, the Hamilton-born inventor who became famous for his bulky bear-protection suit by standing in front of a moving vehicle to prove it worked, has now created a much slimmer suit that he hopes will soon be protecting Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
He has spent two years and $15,000 in the lab out back of his house in North Bay, designing and building a practical, lightweight and affordable shell to stave off bullets, explosives, knives and clubs. He calls it the Trojan and describes it as the "first ballistic, full exoskeleton body suit of armour."
Using the hard-learned lessons of his Project Grizzly experience -- a 20-year odyssey that included a National Film Board documentary, an appearance on CNN and personal bankruptcy -- he's ready to start selling his newest idea.
Already, he says, the suit has stood up to bullets from high-powered weapons, including an elephant gun. The suit was empty during the ballistics tests, but he's more than ready to put it on and face live fire.
"I would do it in an instant," he said. "Bring it on."
Yesterday, he returned to Hamilton to show off the suit, hoping to generate some publicity that will get him the meetings he wants with military and police outfitters.
On Saturday, he plans to wear it to Nathan Phillips Square in downtown Toronto and wait for the reporters. It shouldn't take long to create a stir.

Via Hamilton Spectator

HD-DVD goes beyond 50GB with new disc

Toshiba has announced a new 51GB HD-DVD Rom disc at this year's CES.Beating Blu-ray by 1GB, Toshiba today said that they had successfully created a triple layer HD-DVD disc that could contain 51GB worth of data with 17GB on each layer."Continued improvement in disc mastering technology has achieved further minimization in the recording pit, supporting a further boost in capacity to 17GB in single layer and a full 51GB on a single-sided triple-layer disc. Toshiba has confirmed the disc structure and its successful operation." said the press release. "This time-tested physical structure offers proven volume manufacturing at little cost increment."Toshiba has now closed the storage gab with Blu-ray, which can store 50GB on a dual-layered disc. It will be exciting to see if this has any effect on the raging format war. Stay tuned.

Via DVDTown

Personal computers still at Apple's business core

Jack Minsky built a successful business by writing software for Apple 's Macintosh computers. So when Apple last week dropped the word "computer" from its name, and dedicated its annual Macworld trade show to noncomputer gadgets, Minsky might have felt concern for his company's future.
Not so. Minsky, president of SoftwareMacKiev Co. of Boston, thinks Apple Inc.'s new strategy is right on target. "We're excited as we can be about the way Apple is going," Minsky said. In his view, Apple chief Steve Jobs's decision to downplay Mac computers is part of a strategy that will make the machines more important than ever.
Despite the hoopla surrounding Apple's iPod music players, and the hype over upcoming Apple home entertainment servers and cellphones, the company still makes a lot of money on computers. During the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, Apple sold more than 39 million iPods, compared to just 5.3 million Macs. But the Macs brought in nearly as much revenue, $7.4 billion, as the $7.7 billion in iPod sales, and have a better profit margin. Besides, since the rise of iPod, Apple's computer business has been better than ever, with unit sales up 61 percent over the past two fiscal years.
Arnold Reinhold, an analyst at Hurwitz & Associates, a Waltham technology analysis firm, said that like automaker BMW, Apple has succeeded in "carving out a luxury niche in a commodity market."
Yet under their elegantly sculpted hoods, Macs are little different from their cheaper cousins running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system. In 2005, Apple decided to abandon IBM Corp. processors and use the same Intel Corp. chips found inside Windows machines. Mac hardware performance used to lag behind Windows machine; now they're stride for stride. The switch lowered Apple's manufacturing costs, further shoring up margins.
It also enabled Mac computers to run Windows software.
"It was really the evolution of the Mac to the Intel architecture that opened new opportunities for our products," said Bill Portin, sales director for Parallels Inc. of Renton, Wash. Parallels' software lets Windows and Mac programs run side by side, removing the stigma of using Mac computers in corporate environments addicted to Windows.

Read more at Boston.com

MoGo The Worlds Smallest Bluetooth Adapter

Newton Peripherals, makers of those sweet MoGo mice that fit inside your PC card slots, have now come out with the tiniest of tiny bluetooth adapters. The idea here is that it's so small and smooth that you can just leave it plugged into your computer all the time. And if my three and a half year old laptop didn't have bluetooth, I'd be all over this lil' guy. Look for them around June for $49.–

Via Gizmodo

LG Hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD Player Cannot Be Sold As Is

Nate Mook, Editor-in-Chief, BetaNews: LG may have a difficult time bringing its newly announced BH100 hybrid Blu-ray and HD DVD player to the market, BetaNews has learned, because it will not receive certification from the DVD Forum. Without such certification, LG cannot publicly claim the player supports HD DVD as it is doing now.
The problem stems from the lack of support for HDi, the advanced interactivity technology used by HD DVD. LG has only included support for BD-J, Blu-ray's interactive menu system, in the BH100. Without HDi, only the video content from HD DVD discs will play back; menu systems and other interactive features will simply not be usable.
Kevin Collins, Microsoft's representative for the HD DVD group who sits on all the steering committees, says LG will not be able to sell the product and claim it supports the format if it leaves out HDi. Collins said LG provided no advance notice before announcing the BH100 player at CES, and noted he was surprised by the move.
In fact, Collins explained to BetaNews that the DVD Forum could pursue legal action against LG for claiming the hybrid player supports the HD DVD and using the HD DVD logo, just like it does against pirate hardware manufacturers in Asia that build DVD players without paying licensing fees.
LG plans to begin selling the BH100 in the first quarter of this year for $1,199 USD. But objections from Microsoft's Collins and other companies involved in HD DVD could force LG to make changes, or scrap the player altogether. Collins noted that studios would be "very upset" if consumers could not playback HD DVD movies as they were intended, with interactive menus and special features.
BetaNews was awaiting a response from LG on the matter by press time.

Via Betanews

Apple anounces IPhone

Capping literally years of speculation on perhaps the most intensely followed unconfirmed product in Apple's history -- and that's saying a lot -- the iPhone has been announced today. Yeah, we said it: "iPhone," the name the entire free world had all but unanimously christened it from the time it'd been nothing more than a twinkle in Stevie J's eye (comments, Cisco?). Sweet, glorious specs of the 11.6 millimeter device (that's frickin' thin, by the way) include a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 touchscreen display with multi-touch support and a proximity sensor to turn off the screen when it's close to your face, 2 megapixel cam, 4GB or 8 GB of storage, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP, WiFi that automatically engages when in range, and quad-band GSM radio with EDGE. Perhaps most amazingly, though, it somehow runs OS X with support for Widgets, Google Maps, and Safari, and iTunes (of course) with CoverFlow out of the gate. A partnership with Yahoo will allow all iPhone customers to hook up with free push IMAP email. Apple quotes 5 hours of battery life for talk or video, with a full 16 hours in music mode -- no word on standby time yet. In a twisted way, this is one rumor mill we're almost sad to see grind to a halt; after all, when is the next time we're going to have an opportunity to run this picture? The 4GB iPhone will go out the door in the US as a Cingular exclusive for $499 on a two-year contract, 8GB for $599. Ships Stateside in June, Europe in fourth quarter, Asia in 2008.

Via Engadget

Duracell FM transmitter, extended battery combo for iPod Video

It is already available for the iPod nano, Battery-Biz is rolling out their Duracell PowerFM line to the iPod Video, complete with FM transmitter, extended battery, and bonus protective silicon case. The extended battery more than doubles the iPod's run-time while powering the FM transmitter, with unlimited channel selection. It also replicates the iPod's dock connector, so you can still use all those other accessories without unplugging your 'Pod. No date yet (they're saying end of Q1, early Q2) but you must expect a retail price of $79.99.

Via Engadget

Microtek enters LCD HDTV market with duo of 1080p sets

Hot on the heels of Microtek unveiling four new plasmas to feast our eyes upon, the firm has taken the wraps off two new 42-inch LCD HDTVs, which marks its first offerings in the LCD TV realm. Both sets tout that oh-so-coveted (or not) 1080p "Full HD" resolution, 500 cd/m2 brightness, 1,200:1 contrast ratio, and a 176-degree viewing angle as well. Additionally, the firm claims that each set is calibrated at the factory to set the "optimum brightness, contrast, sharpness, color saturation, and color balance for a typical home viewing environment," but we're sure you videophiles out there could always find something just a bit off kilter. Nevertheless, both displays also feature ATSC / NTSC tuners, component / S-Video / composite inputs, VGA in, and HDMI for that silkly smooth 1,920 x 1,080 imagery. Likely to make an appearance at next week's CES, the pair of TVs should be available anytime now, and while the silver-clad L42CX2A will run you $1,899, the all-black Cineon CL42HA demands an extra Benjamin just for the "superior" color motif.

Via Engdaget