Remember that awesome TomTom iPhone car kit that we told you about not too long ago. Well if you’re one that loves to blow unnecessarily large amounts of money on something only moderately useful, you’re in luck. Apple has finally started carrying the overpriced cradle over at their store for the promised $120 price. Don’t hurt yourself in your excitement to order it and purchase the $99 app that goes with it.
It looks like Bodum’s unofficial mission to give every kitchen a colorful makeover continues with their Bistro Flatbed Toaster. Like the company’s conventional toasters this model is available in 8 different stylish colors, but unlike their conventional toasters there’s no slots on this one, just a stainless steel flatbed cooktop that uses a 700-watt heating element to toast slot-unfriendly items like croissants, baguettes and leftover pizza slices.
There’s a simple dial allowing you to specify the level of browning, and when not in use the Flatbed Toaster can be stored on its side, freeing up counter space. They appear to be available on the Bodum UK site for about $98 after currency conversion, but it looks like Hammacher sells them as well for $89.95.
It’s widely believed that playing music for your baby while it’s still in the womb will help improve their visual, auditory, language and motor development skills when they’re born. And that’s what inspired the creation of the Lullabelly. It’s a large belt that can be worn over clothes, or directly against the belly, which features a built-in speaker that can be connected to an MP3 player making it easier to play music directly at your baby. There’s a volume control dial so things don’t get too loud as well as a pocket for holding your player, and the whole thing is machine washable, after you take out the easy-to-remove speaker of course. It’s available in 3 different fabric patterns (pink, green or blue polka dots) directly from the Lullabelly website for $55.
Unless you’re a farmer, meteorologist or umbrella salesperson, I can’t imagine you’re too thrilled when it’s raining outside. But apparently that’s not the case in Japan, where students at Osaka University’s Human Interface Lab have developed the Funbrella which can simulate the feeling of rain, even when the sun is shining.
Using a mechanism not unlike a regular old speaker, the Funbrella can be fed a signal and will reproduce vibrations that feel like raindrops are actually hitting the top surface of the umbrella. The mechanism also works the other way, recording the vibrations created by real raindrops, so the effect can be recreated later. This video goes into a bit more depth about how it works, but you’ll probably want to skip ahead to the 1:40 mark, lest you end up even more confused about the concept.
Whenever I build a new computer, there are certain pieces of software that need to be installed. Things like VLC, iTunes, OpenOffice, Flash, .NET and a host of others are essential to my everyday computing. Generally I’ll take some time to install each of these individually just after the OS is loaded. I’ve always thought it would be nice if there was an easy way to just install all of them at once. It seems that my wish has come true.
Ninite is a small piece of software that lets you install up to 59 different pieces of software in the background, with almost no interaction from you. All you have to do is head over to the Ninite website, select which programs you want and download the installer. It will automatically install the software you selected (while saying ‘No’ to any extra toolbars or other annoying add-on programs). This is definitely one of the coolest discoveries I’ve come across in a while.
They won’t slash, cut or burn anything, but these Star Wars themed laser pointers will do a damned good job at directing your co-workers’ attention to important points on your PowerPoint presentation at your next business meeting. They’re each just 4 inches long and modeled after the sabers carried by Vader and Darth Maul, making the red laser beams color-accurate for you particularly anal Star Wars fans, and they’re available from ThinkGeek for just $14.99 each.
Have you ever lost your TV remote? Unless you’ve never owned such a contraption, I can almost bet you’ve answered “yes.” Finally, through our great technological advances, there is a way to prevent ever losing your clicker. All you need to do is get a very large, heavy object (this person used what appears to be a section of a railroad track, but get creative and use your imagination here) attach a length of chain. Next you’re going to need to build a small enclosure for the remote. Attach the enclosure to the chain and voilà!
Of course you could just be one of those people that places the remote on top of the TV every time you’re done. But seriously, doesn’t walking up to the TV defeat the purpose of having a remote in the first place? I think this solution is far more practical.
Are you tired of e-reader news yet? Well since I can’t hear anything other than the voice inside my head, I’m going to assume you’ve answered no. Well as a follow-up to my piece on the Nook the other day, I thought you might find it interesting to know what Amazon did actually think. While they’ve not responded with words, they have done a little trimming to both the selection and price of their Kindle.
Amazon has decided that they no longer need two versions of the regular-size Kindle, so they have dropped one. The International Kindle has had its price lowered to $259, while the US-only version was kicked to the curb. This brings it in line with the Nook, which I don’t regard as enough to help their cause. Yes, the Kindle has become something of a household name (in terms of e-readers), but if customers can get something with a touchscreen LCD (and other features) for the same price, they probably will.
The only sad thing about giveaways is that for every winner there are 300 people that are upset they didn’t win. We’re sorry folks, but there is only one laptop to go around and this time it’s lucky commenter 119, as you can see from the Random.org screenshot. This happens to be commenter “jalp”, who forlornly laments the loss of his own laptop to someone he loves dearly. We’re pretty sure this sweet piece of hardware more than makes up for whatever it is he lost.
Congratulations!
A few notes. “Phlow”, we haven’t forgotten you and although in the name of fairness we couldn’t just outright give this to you for your years of loyal readership, our new emphasis on commenting will ensure you’ll be rewarded soon. Keep an eye out. “McMan”, we’re sorry BuckyBalls seem like somewhat of a letdown next to this, but I guess that’s the way the cookie crumbles, whatever that means. Same as Phlow, your presence and your comments won’t go unrewarded.
And same goes for all of you that have been taking a more active part in this community. We’ve been online for almost 5 years now and despite our substantial readership, we haven’t really built the kind of place that people would want to go to to chat and “hang out”. We’re working on it now and I’d like to thank you all for participating in this and our other giveaways. Hopefully you’ll stick around and comment even when we’re not giving stuff away.
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By David Ponce
