By Andrew Liszewski

Looking for an aluminum machined lamp to match the MacBook sitting on your desk, but also don’t want to have to meddle with pesky on/off switches? Well you might want to drop HC Wang a line and see if they’ll sell or make you one of their Brick Lamps which can be turned on by simply standing it on any of its side facets. It doesn’t look like it throws a tremendous amount of light, but let’s face it, that’s not why you really want one anyways.

[ Brick Lamp ] VIA [ Mocoloco ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Remember the Notepod? They were essentially just notepads designed to look like the iPhone, and I guess it was inevitable that the company behind them would also create a new version that looks suspiciously like the Apple iPad. So say hello to the magical & revolutionary Notepod+, available for just $19.95 including shipping.

[ Notepod+ ] VIA [ TUAW ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Not only will a Garmin GPS navigation system make it easier to get where you’re going, but it will now help you get there using less fuel, in theory. The company’s new ecoRoute hd module plugs into your vehicle’s OBDII or ‘onboard diagnostics port’ and pairs with any of the Garmin nüvi units to provide additional information about your car’s performance including intake air temperature, coolant temperature, throttle position and engine load, intake manifold pressure, battery and charging system information, mass airflow rate, timing advance and even missions.

This information, coupled with Garmin’s ecoRoute software, should allow the GPS unit to not only show the quickest route to your destination, but also the most fuel efficient one. As an added bonus drivers will also be able to see diagnostic trouble codes via the GPS with on-screen descriptions, and even reset that pesky ‘check engine’ light. Available sometime in March for $149.99.

[ Garmin ecoRoute hd ] VIA [ Mavromatic ]

By Evan Ackerman

WiFi? In my SIM card? It’s more likely than you think, if Sagem Orga’s SIMFi SIM card ever becomes a commercial reality, which it won’t, because it’s awesome and wireless providers aren’t. Eye-Fi showed us that you can stuff all kinds of useful things into absurdly small packages, and Sagem Orga has managed to cram a full blown WiFi router into a SIM card about the size of a hiccup. Somehow, the card taps into your phone’s data network and makes it accessible to any WiFi device:

“The new generation USIM card “SIMFi” can be inserted in any type of classic handset to act as a universal and interoperable HSPA/Wi-Fi router for any device.”

What’s that you say? I can just stick this in my phone and give internet to my laptop? Why, that would make my life so much better and more convenient and sunshine and rainbows and I won’t have to worry about forking over another sixty bucks a month so that I can check email on my phone and my laptop!

Aaaand this is why the only way we’re going to see one of these SIMFi cards is through some kind of severely restricted and ludicrously expensive carrier program. Yes, we can’t have nice things because when somebody invents one, our wireless carriers take them out back and beat them with a money brick.

I hope I’m wrong and that AT&T lets me buy a SIMFi for a realistic one time cost and stick it in my iPhone, but they won’t. We’ll let you know how many of your firstborn children you need to sell to get one of these if it ever becomes available.

[ Sagem Orga ] VIA [ SlashGear ]

By Chris Scott Barr

If you haven’t hopped on the Blu-ray bandwagon, it’s becoming easier and easier. Heck, the last two Blu-ray movies I bought also came with a DVD copy as well. Blu-ray players themselves have long since broken the sub-$200 barrier, and now you can even get yourself one that plays your old-school VHS taps on the cheap.

Up for grabs over on Amazon Is a Panasonic DMP-BD70V which plays Blu-ray and VHS for $140. If you’ve got the cash and are thinking about upgrading to the new format, then this sounds like a solid buy. Barring the formats that died before they ever took off (Betamax, Laserdisc, HD-DVD) it’ll play pretty much any video you’ve purchased since the 70′s. There’s even an SD card slot, USB port and internet functionality to stream video from YouTube and Amazon VOD. The price was supposedly only good through yesterday, but it seems to be sticking around. I’d jump on this soon though.

[ Amazon ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

In the past I’ve questioned the need for a standalone calculator since these days everything from computers to phones to watches already has one built-in. But here’s one instance where I think they could still come in useful. I know the last thing I want to do when cooking is touch my iPhone or even my laptop with dirty fingers, but a cheap, $24.95 calculator? Particularly one that can be used to scale recipes for servings and portion numbers, convert cooking volume units, weights, temperatures and even run a count up or down timer at the same time? I’m sold!

Replacing it should it get covered in foodstuffs won’t break the bank, but since it even includes a soft clear vinyl cover so it won’t get clogged up with ingredients, you probably won’t ever have to worry about that. And if you were wondering, the KitchenCalc can also be used as a regular calculator outside of the kitchen, but only if you want your gadget-obsessed friends looking down on you.

[ KitchenCalc ] VIA [ GadgetGrid ]

By Andrew Liszewski

There doesn’t appear to be any info about it on the Jabra site at the moment, but Pocket-lint has dug up some info on the company’s just-announced Clipper Bluetooth Stereo Headset. Bearing a slight resemblance to the previous generation iPod Shuffle, the Clipper attaches to a garment or bag strap and features “minimalistic controls and smooth Scandinavian styling.” It comes with a set of noise-blocking earbuds, but thankfully a 3.5mm headphone jack allows you to use your own, and besides controlling your music and volume the Clipper also allows you to make or receive calls with 6 hours of talk time and 8 days of standby. ~$61 (£39.00) presumably available sometime this year.

[ Pocket-lint - Jabra Clipper announced ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Besides pursuing a career as a computer engineer, it seems Barbie is also considering espionage as a side gig. The Barbie Video Girl Doll, which was just unveiled at Toy Fair, features a video camera ‘hidden’ in Barbie’s necklace that can capture up to 30 minutes of footage. But what’s more disturbing is the LCD display fused to her back that allows you to play back those videos.

Now I know Mattel has never been that concerned with anatomical correctness in the Barbie line, but I’m pretty sure they’re taking some real creative licenses here. There’s also a USB port hidden somewhere on the doll, not exactly sure where, that allows the videos to be downloaded to a PC and/or uploaded and edited on Barbie.com. The whole idea just seems kind of creepy to me, probably even more so if there was a Ken version, but don’t let me stop you from picking one up in July when they’ll be available for about $50.

[ Chip Chicklets - Barbie Video Girl Doll with Camcorder Lets You View Life Like Barbie ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If your home theater is powered by a Windows Media Center PC, the ideal solution if you have a large Blu-ray collection is to rip all of your movies to a hard drive. But that also requires a decent amount of storage, so as an alternative you can go with S1Digital’s Blu-ray Disc Changer which can accommodate up to 100 discs, making them available to watch almost instantly without having to constantly load each one. The included MyMovies software also automatically scans each disc and downloads metadata and cover art so you have a more visually-pleasing way to browse your collection.

However, when connected to an S1Digital Entertainment Center, or any Windows Home Server with enough storage, the Blu-ray Disc Changer can also be used to automatically rip your collection so that it’s available to any PC or media streaming device on your network. With a price tag of $1,500 you’re definitely paying for convenience here, though for that much money it would have been nice if the changer at least had an HDMI connection so you could hook it directly to an HDTV. From what I can tell it’s only equipped with USB 2.

[ S1Digital 100 Disc Blu-ray Changer ] VIA [ eHomeUpgrade ]