By Chris Scott Barr

Have you ever been listening to music outside, only to find that other people are leeching off of your speakers by listening from afar? You can easily thwart these audio thieves with the cunning use of headphones, but what about when you’re watching TV? Sure, you could watch it inside and draw the curtains, but that’s no fun. No, what you need is a way to block your screen so that no one else has the chance to catch a glimpse of the video you worked so hard to be able to watch.

The TV Hat is an amazing product that takes video watching to a whole new level. At first glance it simply looks like a really stupid baseball cap. Closer inspection will reveal that your first impression was spot-on. Basically, this ridiculous thing will hold your iPod (or any other small device with a screen), so that you can watch it in private. Oddly enough the flaps aren’t there to block people from seeing your screen. Rather, it keeps you from seeing just how many people are pointing at you. This fashion statement can be yours for just $30.

[ ThingsYouNeverKnew ] VIA [ GearFuse ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’ve had the chance to spend a couple of weeks with Nintendo’s latest addition to the DS family, the DSi XL, and there aren’t too many surprises not immediately given away by the ‘XL’ in the name. I’m not going to go into too many details about the system, since it’s essentially a bigger version of the DSi, so feel free to check out my hands-on review of the DSi from last year if you’re not up to speed. Otherwise, you can find my thoughts on Nintendo’s ‘new’ system after the jump.

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By Andrew Liszewski

If you like your hardware ridiculously over-branded, RTC23 has a new line of LCD HDTVs right up your alley. They’ve struck a deal with Marvel Comics to offer an entire line of officially licensed TVs with all of your favorite characters including Iron Man, The Hulk and Captain America. Thor also seems to be an option.

Billed as the “Ultimate Comic Fan’s TV” each set features the super hero branded into the lower corners of the screen’s frame, and an image of the character will appear on screen for 8 seconds every time you turn it on. Yeah, apparently that’s a ‘feature.’ The TVs are available in 22″, 32″, 42″ and 55″ sizes while LED backlit versions are limited to 40″ and 46″. As for pricing, the standard sets start at $338.88 for the 22″ model, while the 55″ model is $1,988.88. And the 40″ LED model is $1,698.88, or $1,988.00 for the 46″.

[ RTC23 Marvel Branded HDTVs ] VIA [ Ubergizmo ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Using this talking heart-rate monitoring MP3 player from Hammacher Schlemmer is a lot like working out while listening to the radio. But instead of the current top 20, you get to listen to your own music, and instead of crappy DJ banter every 1 to 5 minutes, it will pause your tunes to announce your current heart rate, or provide warnings when your pulse is above or below a predetermined target zone. An included chest strap does the actual heart beat monitoring duties, and wirelessly sends the data to the receiver/MP3 player which includes 1GB of memory, good for about 200 MP3 or WMA files. $79.95.

[ Talking Heart Rate MP3 Player ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Cables suck, particularly when you’ve got your HDTV mounted to the wall with an ugly trunk line sticking out the back that’s difficult to camouflage. But Cable To Go’s TruLink 60GHz WirelessHD kit promises to at least get rid of the HDMI cable between your TV and components like your PVR, Blu-ray player or hi-def gaming console. Installing the hardware looks to be as plug-and-play easy as anything, and with a range of up to 33 feet, it should be more than adequate for most setups.

However, there are some downsides that I can see. First of all the transmitter/receiver seem to be dependent on a line of sight signal, so you won’t be able to hide this, um, aesthetically challenged hardware in a cabinet or behind your TV. And it only accepts a single HDMI connection, so unless you have all of your hi-def gear piped through a switcher of some sort, you’ll be swapping cables. Finally, while it does eliminate the HDMI cable running to your TV, it also adds another power cable to deal with on both ends, which can be even more annoying. That and the fact the kit is a whopping $499.99 available starting in June.

[ TruLink 1-Port 60 GHz WirelessHD Kit ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Alarm clocks with iPhone docks are a dime a dozen (well maybe not that cheap just yet) but the uninspiringly named iA5 from iHome manages to stand out in a very crowded market with its own custom app. In fact my eyes usually glaze over when I read about these types of devices, but I’m actually kind of impressed with what iHome has done here.

The iHome+Sleep app is available for free from the iTunes App Store, and in and of itself it looks like a pretty fantastic replacement alarm clock for your iPhone or iPod Touch. It allows you to program up to 18 sleep or nap alarms, using your own music library to get you out of bed, including custom 7.5.2 settings for weekdays, workdays and the weekend. It keeps track of random statistics like your average night’s sleep, bedtime, waketime etc. and can even connect to your favorite social media like Facebook and Twitter, letting friends know your bedtime status. It will even deliver local weather and news in the morning, so you know what kind of day you’re facing.

When your iPhone or Touch is docked to the iA5 though, things get even better. Adjusting the alarm clock’s settings is made about 1,000x easier with a touchscreen interface (it can still be used as an alarm clock without anything docked) and setting the time is as easy as pressing a single sync button. That alone makes the $99.99 price tag totally worth it to me. And the iA5′s Reson8 speaker chamber technology is probably a lot more effective at waking you than the iPhone or Touch’s own speakers.

[ iA5 - App-Enhanced Alarm Clock Speaker System for iPhone and iPod ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Chris Scott Barr

I have a DSLR and enjoy taking pictures now and then, but I’m far from being a professional. Those people always seem to have a million and one accessories to help them get the perfect shot. If you’re one of those people, then you might find interest in this latest gadget from RedRock Micro.

The microRemote is an iPhone holder that will allow you to remotely control your camera from afar, while using the phone to display relevant information. While being able to adjust things such as aperture, and f-stops remotely isn’t exactly new, I’ve not seen anything quite like the DSLR focus controller. The knob you see on the side will actually allow you to adjust the image focus. It’s going to be the closest thing to actually holding your camera, without being anywhere near it. Look for it on sale sometime this summer for a whopping $1,000.

[ RedRock Micro ] VIA [ Dvice ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Gazing at the stars at night is pretty much impossible if you live in a crowded metropolitan area. So as an alternative to building and using a gigantic electromagnetic pinch to knock out the lighting in a big city, Bandai has created the Hyper Telescope, which provides a safer, virtual view of the night sky.

Once you specify your location on Earth, a built-in 3-axis accelerometer and magnetic orientation sensor shows you exactly what celestial objects and constellations you’d be seeing were you staring through a real telescope. And so the rest of your family doesn’t get jealous, it even has a TV-out connection for sharing. There’s also some educational crap and games mixed in too, so your $173 (￥16,182) investment at least guarantees a solid C+ on your kid’s next science report.

[ Bandai Hyper Telescope ] VIA [ ITmedia ]

By Andrew Liszewski

This isn’t LEGO’s first LED-equipped, um, accessory? But adult LEGO fans will probably feel a bit less self-conscious about carrying this 2×2 brick LED light, than the hanging minifig lantern we brought you a while ago. It’s powered by 3xAAA batteries and comes with a wall mount providing a convenient place to stick the light when it’s not in use. At just over 3 inches long on each side, it’s roughly about twice as tall as a standard LEGO minifig character, making it small enough to be easily carried while providing a usable amount of illumination, but not small enough to be accidentally stepped on with excruciating results. $22.90 from Brando.

[ LEGO 2x2 Brick LED Light ] VIA [ GeekAlerts ]