Cool Geek Gadgets

I must admit, I’ve always been clueless when it comes to personal computers. I’ve been using computers for school since I was 13 until now with my job as a writer. Whenever I encounter problems, however, no matter how trivial they may be (and I mean ANY type of PC problem), I’ve always had to call either of my two computer technicians. Well, even though I’d have to call them anyways to fix things, at least now I can make some guesses on what’s wrong and no, it won’t be an educated guess or even a haphazard guess — it would a guess left in the hands of fate! It’s called the uber-crazy PC Dice.

The PC Dice doesn’t do anything special, or at all, actually, but it’s a fun novelty item great for gifts or just for laughs. I imagine it would be perfect for an IT professional especially when they’re stuck in a pinch. Having something funny along doesn’t hurt. The PC Dice pack contains three dice in three different colors — red, blue and green. The red dice contains the words Unix, Mix, Wired, Windows, Wireless and Linux. The green dice bears the words Modem, Spyware, Video, Reboot, Virus and Network. And last but not the least, written on the blue dice are the words No Idea (perfect for me), Install, Upgrade, $$, Quit and New PC.

The company ships PC Dice to customers on set schedules. Due to the holiday seasons, shipments were sent out already last November 1, 2007. The PC Dice costs an affordable $27 which in my opinion, is worth it, even just for the laughs. And besides, who knows, maybe next time when you’re having PC problems and you roll the dice, the results might actually be true — the world is strange sometimes.

Source: Techchee via Ubergizmo

Before you get too excited, these aren’t a couple of aliens from outer space. But yes, they do come from the land where anything out of the box is mundane and ordinary — Japan. Feast your eyes on the Takara Tomy Air Filter. These critter-like pastel-colored gadgets were specifically made for babies — so pardon the cuteness, those of you who’re not inclined to like them. These cute little buggers are actually Takara Tomy’s newest line of air filters for babies. Doesn’t look like it at first glance, does it? But there’s no doubt as to what it is.

The Takara Tomy Air Filter was designed to purify the air your precious baby breathes. This is to ensure your baby doesn’t inhale impurities which may cause some health problems in the long run. Air purification of an entire room is made possible by Takara Tomy’s air filtering system which is composed of an antibacterial filter and the so-called “decontamination ion” by Sharp, which is their brand of purification technology. I believe this is a gadget to be had by parents whose babies suffer from weakened lungs at childbirth. However, even healthy babies could benefit from its uses as it can curb whatever illness polluted air might bring.

The Takara Tomy Air Filter is quite a compact gadget being at only 115×80x140mm in size. This means it’s unobtrusive and can simply be placed anywhere in a room with your baby. The price, at USD$150 a pop, isn’t very cute in my eyes, unlike the product itself. But I guess for parents who’d go to great lengths to ensure their children’s good health, it’s a very worthy investment. So if you got a baby in your home right now, the Takara Tomy Air Filter could sure brighten up (and purify) your baby’s nursery.

Source: Gizmodo

From cute microwavable teddy bears, let’s move on to PlayStation 3 updates. Last September, Sony released the wireless DUALSHOCK(R)3 controller for PlayStation 3 in Japan. The US and the rest of the world would be seeing the controller on the Spring of 2008. I know, it’s a long wait, but the Japanese have always had the privilege of seeing the firsts for PlayStation, so it’s nothing really new. Now, even before you get to see the shadows of DUALSHOCK(R)3 controller, Sony will be releasing v1.94 software update for it this November. You can enable the “rumble” feature of the DUALSHOCK(R)3 via pressing the PS button on the controller and accessing the Options on the screen. The software update will come with Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, the first game to use the rumble feature. Japanese gamers sure will be enjoying themselves this winter. In the meantime, the rest of us can eat our hearts out.

In other PlayStation 3 news, the PlayStation Eye was released a few days ago. The PlayStation eye consists of the camera itself and a microphone. It could be used to video chat with friends in the PlayStation Network. It could also, of course, be used with compatible games. The PlayStation Eye was released with the “Eye of Judgement” game along with “EyeCreate” which is the software for the product which allows you to capture videos and edit them using the PlayStation Eye. The “Eye” retails for USD$69.99. Wow. That much for a camera? Hmm…I don’t know. There aren’t much games which are compatible with the Eye yet. Maybe in another couple of years or so, when PS3 games are as numerous as games for the other PS models, I’d buy the Eye. For now, however, I’ll pass, thought I can’t say the same for an avid gamer.

Source: Gizmodo (Rumbler |Eye)

Uhu, you heard that right. I know, it’s weird isn’t it? I did a double-take when I saw it. A teddy bear which goes in the microwave — it made me smile. This smokin’ (well hopefully, “smokin’” in a good way, not because it’s literally burning) teddy bear is called the “Hot Beddy Bear.” Not bad a name, eh? Definitely catchy, these guys know advertising. Okay, so apparently, you need to pop the Beddy Bear into your microwave oven and let it sit there for two to two and a half minutes, depending on your microwave oven. Beddy Bear comes out all right, don’t worry about it, you didn’t kill the cutie. The Beddy Bear is made up of special materials specifically for microwavable products. The bears “innards” are also the same. Just make sure you don’t leave it in the microwave without using the time or it’ll burn if you forget to turn it off.

The Beddy Bear could stay warm for hours. Now, what’s the use for a warm teddy bear? Well, I, for one, think it’ll be great during the winter season. Taking the Beddy Bear to bed for added comfort and you’d be a happy camper when you wake up. It’s great for warming stomachs and aching joints too. Other than being warm, the Beddy Bear is also scented with lavender. When you warm it in the microwave, the Beddy Bear would give off a lavender scent which is perfect for aromatherapy. In case your Beddy Bear loses its scent, you could always re-apply the lavender scent. Honestly, for USD$20+, I’d buy this little guy. Can you see how cute he is? With the holidays rolling in, I can imagine this being a fantastic Christmas present, not just for kiddies but for old timers whose joints creak when it gets cold.

Source: Gizoo via Ubergizmo

Do you remember my post on round LCDs? Well, if not, head on over and read it because Toshiba Matsushita Designs has come up with a myriad (well not exactly) of round LCD products. The new product prototypes are made to demonstrate the potential of round LCDs in the market. The products were presented at FPD 2007 in Yokohama. As mentioned, Toshiba Matsushita is touting round LCDs as the product used for automobiles and similar venues.

The round press power-like device held by the woman in the picture is actually a phone. Now…a rounded mobile phone? I’m sure a lot of people would love it, but unfortunately, not me. It’s like carrying a compact. I don’t like it and I’m a woman, what more a man? Of course, if a man’s used to carrying pressed powder in his suitcase, that’s a different matter. Back to topic, I do think round LCDs are cool, just not in products which look like a second press power in my bag.

The range of products presented by Toshiba Matsushita looks highly futuristic and fit for a movie with that theme. Other than this press power-like telephone, concepts for other products includes that of an mp3/mp4 player. Now THAT I might like. I’m really not big about the phone but I’ve envisioned a round iPod-like player and I like what I’m imagining. So yes, I might be just sold on the round music player concept. As for other range of products, we’ll see what I think about them when they’re actually conceptualized.

What do I think this means for square and rectangular LCDs? I think it’d matter little. Major LCD-based products such as computer monitors and televisions would still use them. And if rounded LCDs become popular in the future, it would only be for a limited set of products.

First off, when I first saw this, I thought I was looking as a toy computer (which it probably is). The Chumby is a small clock and internet device, perhaps for those who can’t get enough of the web. Think about it this way — you put the Chumby by your bedside as an alarm clock but you wake up in the middle of the day crazily wanting to go online. That’s where the Chumby comes in. The Chumby has uses touch screen device. The whole gadget’s soft aside from the screen itself. That way, the Chumby could be squeezed where others cannot.

The screen can only display up to 3′5 inches but if you want to surf the nut for fun and the most basic things such as reading news, blogs, RSS feeds, etcetera, the Chumby could be your new best friend. It connects to the internet on a WiFi connection. It also has USB ports so you can connect the Chumby to your computer or iPods to stream songs. By pushing the button at the top of the gizmo, you can access the device’s control panel though when it’s time to wake up, you would have to manually disable the timer of the computer process of the system.

The Chumby boasts 180 kb RAM, along with the speaker, and the monitor among others. Okay, I do think that Chumby’s a cute little thing but $200 a Chumby? If it’s just the Internet you want, then there are other options available to the public. You want to surf the net in the middle of the night, turn on your laptops. Sure, they might be as handy as the Chumby, but you know quite well they’ll last longer. In the end, you have to think about whether buying a Chumby would be practical. I believe I can live without a Chumby so I leave all the buying to everyone else.

Precious memories collected as photos could be glorified with the new HDMS-S1D digital photo album by Sony. You don’t have to stick printed photos in a lousy old-fashioned photo album anymore. No more cheesy days flicking through old photo albums. Not when this new Sony baby has come out. Basically it’s one big and modernized well, photo album. It allows you to store all your precious photos and show them to the rest of the world when it strikes your fancy. Don’t bee fooled by its looks — I know by the pic it looks nothing but a crappy old box, but I promise you, it’s not.

The memory for this black box is a whopping 80GB. I know, I know, 80GB doesn’t amount to much nowadays. In real life, and when used with the computer, an eighty GB hard drive would probably fill up after a day or two downloading. However, if you’re only going to store photos, 80GB is a big storage unless you’re using a high-pixel camera and store your pics in high-resolution formats. So, what does this digital photo album do? Well, other than the fact you can store 80GB of pics in there, you could create a slide show along with background music. If that’s not enough, you could also set the show so that the intervals between the pictures are dramatically faded for effect (tissue, anyone?).

Now this black box which might have seemed more appealing after my humble description doesn’t come at a bargain. I hope you didn’t expect it to be so either. The Sony HDMS-S1D digital photo album comes at a hefty $400 a pop. Frankly, I don’t see any everyday person going into a store buying one. But some people CAN afford it and if you can, then good for you.

Source: Engadget 

Ah…it’s been a more than a thousand years since Aristotle and his buddies talked about the world being round. And come to think about it, most natural things on earth come with rounded shapes and many are not just rounded but really circle like oranges. So I don’t see why humans can’t develop a circular LCD. Why not? It’ll be cute, cool, and…round! Good thing Toshiba Matsushita thought it up — it might just be the future of technology. Well no, I don’t think so, really, but I think it would be a turning point. We might see a lot of rounded gadgets in the future, who knows? And frankly, I welcome the change.

Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd. recently announced its advancements in their rounded LCD endeavors. Just like you see in the picture, they appear to be doing just fine. Not fine enough to release the technology right now, but fine enough that results are actually seen. I don’t reckon it’s going to be soon that we see these babies up for sale. After all, Toshiba Matsushita was only successful enough to produce a tiny 2.95 inch diameter LCD. The company’s expecting to use the LCD for automobiles and for other venues which require small-scale LCDs. The viewable portion of the tiny 2.95 inch LCD is only 2.44 inches supporting 260K colors.

The technology is really new, as specified and I bet it’ll be long before we could see it in the market. Still, I’m thrilled in anticipation — what would the circular LCD be in 10 years’ time? It could have developed into a whole new technology of its own but it could also have been stunted along the way, just like many new ideas for tech gadgets. I guess we’d just have to wait and see.

Source: TMD via Gizmodo

I don’t know what’s wrong with me (or is it what’s wrong with the world?), but I’m taken by cute gadgets recently. I can’t help it! Just take a look at this new Hello Kitty phone. I know, I know, I’ve seen my share of Hello Kitty phones before. But I have never come across something this…pretty! It doesn’t just slap a Hello Kitty picture somewhere on the phone — the whole thing’s Hello Kitty-fied! If no one will hang me upside-down for saying so, the whole phone’s dripping with cuteness it makes sugar taste sour. Now who’s not enamored by cuteness, right? Come on, admit it.

This Hello Kitty phone is the model C150T by Taiwanese company Okwap. Aha! You just thought this was a Japanese phone, did you not? Well, the Taiwanese are known to have a predilection for anything Japanese, and don’t even get me started. Now, this cute girls’ new best friend comes built in with a media player capable of playing mp3 and mp4. You can even take pictures with your friends with its 2 megapixel camera. But for me, those are just icing on the uber cute Hello Kitty cake. According to sources, it also has numerous different interfaces or themes for your preference and you could Hello Kitty-fy it even more than it already is. Talk about overkill — not that I’m complaining (too much).

The cost of this baby’s still unknown, but I don’t reckon it’d come too cheap — I’ve never seen anything Hello Kitty that’s cheap unless it’s bootleg. There’s still no news on whether this will be available outside Taiwan though, so don’t get your hopes up too much unless you’re already there. Realistically, I don’t see anyone other than die-hard Hello Kitty fans buying this. Though for a country such as Taiwan where a lot of girls swoon over cute hand phones, this just might be a hit.

Source: Engadget and Akihabara News

I never thought I’d see this day come. From the time I watched cool ol’ Darth breathing through his mask like an old man with very bad asthma I knew I was doomed to be a fan for life. But then episodes I, II and III came and cool ol’ Darth looked so much like a Backstreet Boy gone bad, it broke my heart. But I really never thought the day would come when Darth becomes a FLASHLIGHT *gasp*. Yep, my cool ol’ Darth who used to be the symbol of evilness because a small, and if I may say, “cute” little flashlight.

Looking like a plushie straight out of a toy store (which it would probably be sold, I bet) this little Darth flashlight’s bulb is located at the face underneath Darth Vader’s infamous mask. But wait, there’s more! As long as the flashlight’s turned on, a Star Wars sound effect is played! Now that’s beyond cool. If only for that, I’d buy this little cutie. Wait, did I say cutie? Cutie and Darth Vader don’t match so well, but this flashlight sure did its job. I bet every kid in the world thinks Darth Vader’s a Disney character now. Maybe in the future they’d even have stuffed Darth Vaders. Or are there, already?!

This cute little gizmo comes with a simple on and off switch which means the little kiddies could really play with it. As you may have noticed, I’m not exactly too hot about Darth being made into a flashlight. A cult figure being reduced into a *cute* light source? Well, I’m not complaining either. This cutie would float some people’s boat. And in fact, if only for the heck of it, I’d get one too. Too bad it’s already sold out. Maybe I’ll drop by Ebay later…

Source: Ubergizmo