By Chris Scott Barr

If you’ve looked at PC cases, power supplies and cooling systems, there’s a good chance that you’re familiar with the name Thermaltake. However, you may not recognize their new brand, LUXA2. The LUXA2 brand features products that keep simplicity, luxury and unique designs in mind. I’ve had the opportunity to check out one of their first offerings, the H1-Touch.

The H1-Touch is very simply a holder for your mobile phone. Specifically, it is aimed at the iPhone and iPod Touch, but the nature of the design allows it to work with just about any phone. Practical applications range from watching a movie to using it as a stand for charging.

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By Andrew Liszewski

When it comes to marketing and product tie-ins I think the only company that can give Lucasarts a run for its money is the WWE. So in this corner we have the WWE Smackdown Alarm Clock Radio which features wake up calls from current WWE stars like John Cena, Edge, Triple H and even the Undertaker. (Yeah apparently he’s still alive.) Or you can just choose to wake up to the radio, it’s your call.

But what makes this alarm clock ever so slightly more interesting is the large blue wrestling mat on top which is actually the snooze button. So for a few extra minutes of shut eye in the morning all you need to do is body slam your fist onto it. They still do that move right? $29.99 available from Digital Blue.

[ WWE Smackdown Alarm Clock Radio ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Wannabe DJs with a bit more money in their pockets now don’t just have to settle with DJ Hero to get their ‘wheels of steel’ fix. Vestax Japan has just announced the ‘Spin’ which is a turntable-esque USB console/controller designed specifically for the Mac.

It’s got a set of touch sensitive scroll wheels allowing you to scratch or backspin in real time, and while I can’t imagine it’s anywhere near as accurate or realistic as the real thing, the Spin at least allows you to play and mix songs directly from your iTunes library. In other words you don’t need to spend money on milk crates full of vinyl. It’s expected to be available in Japan come December for about $330 which gives me a glimmer of hope that it might not actually suck.

[ Vestax Spin ] VIA [ Newlaunches ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Traveling during the holiday season isn’t always the most fun. With crowded airports and the risk of getting snowed in, many people will do their best to steer clear of flying when possible. Of course, if your loved ones are on the other side of the country, you don’t have much of a choice. Thankfully if you do get stuck in an airport this season, one company is making sure that at the very least, you’ll have internet access.

Google has announced that they are making free Wi-Fi available in 47 airports across the US. You can click here for the full list of covered locations. Google isn’t rolling out some sort of new wireless service, but instead paying the service providers to allow everyone free access. They are also matching donations made while at the airports (using Google Checkout) up to $250k. The contributions will go to your choice of charitable organizations. Also if you’re in one of these locations after November 16, you can submit a photo of yourself for a chance to win a number of different (and unnamed) prizes.

[ FreeHolidayWiFi ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The majority of people who are afraid of what will happen when CERN’s large hadron collider is finally put into operation probably have no idea what it really is, or what it’s designed to do. But what better way to educate the masses on the intricacies of the world’s largest science experiment than through an intricately detailed pop-up book? That’s what made me the amateur surgeon I am today!

Voyage To The Heart Of Matter – The Atlas Experiment At CERN was written by Emma Sanders, though it’s probably the paper engineering skills of Anton Radevsky that will make this a must-have Christmas gift for everyone from amateur physicists to the scientists actually working on the ATLAS experiment. But since it won’t be available until the end of November for about $33, it might be cutting it a bit close for the gift giving season.

[ Voyage To The Heart Of Matter - The Atlas Experiment At CERN ] VIA [ Shiny Shiny ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Back in August I brought you something called the ID Guard Stamp which was a run-of-the-mill ink stamp featuring a pattern of random characters allowing you to obfuscate private or important data before you disposed of a document. Well these Disney Eraser Rollers are essentially the same idea, with the cuteness dial cranked to eleven.

They come in a set of three featuring Stitch, Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh rollers, and when dragged across a document each one will leave a trail of Disney-themed advertising behind it, based on the character you’re using. I’d say it would be perfect for kids, but how much private data are they needing to hide on a daily basis? And the overly cute characters and ink trails seem out of place for even the most laid back of corporations. But the final nail in the coffin would have to be the set’s $68 price tag (plus $19 for shipping) from the Japan Trend Shop. Too rich for my blood and too cute for my cold heart.

[ Disney Eraser Rollers Set ]

By Evan Ackerman

You can make a cell phone call from the top of Mt. Everest. They’ve got internet on the ISS and even further. So it seems like the only places left that you can’t have something more important that you should be doing are caves, and the ocean, but Ocean Reef has gone and ruined a whole bunch of that with their underwater cell phone. Learn how, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

This towel doesn’t have a built-in timer, thermometer or any kind of high-techery, but it’s probably still more useful than most of the gadgets in your kitchen. It features a print full of useful measurements and conversions (I had no idea there were 4 pecks in a bushel) and since it’s a towel, you don’t have to worry about it getting dirty since you can just throw it in the washing machine when you’re done cooking. $22 from Bailey Doesn’t Bark.

[ Useful Towel ] VIA [ swissmiss ]

By Andrew Liszewski

This morning Blue Microphones announced their new Yeti model which is apparently the world’s first THX certified microphone. But what’s more useful is the mic’s ‘triple condenser capsule array’ which allows it to be switched between four different pickup patterns including stereo, cardioid, omni-directional and bi-directional. It’s also got a high quality built-in analog-to-digital converter (it does connect to your PC via USB after all) as well as its own headphone jack for zero-latency monitoring of what you’re recording. With an MSRP of $149.99 it might not be the most affordable choice if you’re just going to use it with Skype, but if you’re spitting out podcasts on a weekly basis or doing any kind of prosumer recording with your PC it sounds like it could really up your game.

[ Blue Microphones - Yeti ]