By Andrew Liszewski

What I like most about this simple professional audio dock from Alesis is that it’s not trying to be a jack-of-all-trades, but still ends up being one, in a good way. At its heart it’s basically a professional audio breakout box for the iPad, letting musicians and technicians connect all manner of audio gear to a couple of combo 1/4″ XLR jacks or MIDI inputs. It’s also got a set of 1/4″ headphone jacks with independent volume controls, and even video output for connecting to a projector or TV.

But what’s most important is that the StudioDock isn’t designed to be only used with some proprietary Alesis app. Not at all. It’s compatible with pretty much ever single audio and MIDI app in the App Store, so you can create and craft music however you want. You can even connect your guitar and use it with the various amplifier and effects-modeling apps available. So in theory, it can be used to do almost anything as long as there’s an app for that. I can’t seem to dig up any pricing info just yet, but don’t expect it to come cheap given it’s targeted at professionals. But I’m sure if it gets rid of the tangled collection of wires and/or dongles that iPad musicians have had to deal with so far, they’ll be happy to pay a premium.

[ Alesis Studio Dock ] VIA [ Josh Spear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

As part of a campaign for their new “Hot ‘n Wholesome” breakfast menu, Caribou Coffee’s ad agency, Colle + McVoy, created these amazing bus shelter advertisements for the city of Minneapolis. Not only do they look like giant ovens, but the heating element on the roof actually works! So those waiting inside stay as toasty as the breakfast sandwiches appearing on the poster behind them.

[ AdRants - Caribou Coffee Bus Shelter Oven Warms Commuters ] VIA [ PSFK ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s already a week later, but since it’s nigh impossible for any one site to cover everything shown at CES, we’re still digging up interesting tidbits from the show for you. This one comes courtesy of the hard working folk at the AVING network who found this strikingly designed Riplus mouse, presumably at the dadam booth.

As functionality goes it’s not going to take home any innovation awards, but that minimalist glass body with the technical bits hidden inside a black cross are really quite striking. It’s a hard sell though because I’m pretty sure that’s not a touch surface which means I can’t see any means by which one can easily scroll. But hey, they manage to keep this beauty under $2 and I’m sure they’ll sell truckloads!

[ US.Aving.net - [CES2011] Dadam to introduce unique ‘Riplus Mouse’ ]

By Chris Scott Barr

3D is the next big thing, whether we like it or not. I’m still not sold on the technology, but maybe Nintendo’s 3DS will be the thing that changes my mind. We’ve still got a bit of time to wait for that, so in the meantime, why not check out this 3D Giant Chalk from Crayola?

Sure, it’s not quite as interactive as a portable gaming system, but it is portable. Apparently you can take this stuff, draw on the sidewalk, then see the images pop out of the ground when you put on the special glasses. This one again proves just how spoiled the kids today are. Back in my day, you just drew on the sidewalk, and it didn’t do anything special. You had to use your imagination. $16 gets you 4 giant dual-colored sticks of the stuff and two pair of glasses.

[ Amazon ] VIA [ BookofJoe ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned from YouTube, it’s that amateur videographers don’t care enough about audio! Sure you can get a 1080P capable camcorder for a couple of benjamins these days, but I don’t care how amazingly shot or directed or carefully edited your production is, when the audio sounds like crap, it brings the whole thing down. So why not do us all a favor and get yourself a nice mic, like Samson’s new Meteor Mic with its lovely polished chrome finish. (I’m talking to you podcasters as well.)

Its 25mm diaphragm condensor with its 20Hz – 20kHz frequency response will more than outperform the built-in MacBook mic you’ve been using for your dramatic voiceovers, and it easily connects to your computer of choice via USB providing CD quality (44.1 or 48kHz) recordings. It’s also got its own 1/8-inch headphone jack for monitoring recordings without having to deal with any latency or delay of your voice, and of course there’s that lovely reflective finish and the folding leg design making it both easy to prop-up in various positions, and even easier to collapse down and travel with. All for a very reasonable $99.

[ Samson Meteor Mic ] VIA [ Gadget Review ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m not going to pretend that sitting in a typical office chair all day long does wonders for the average spine. But at the same time I’m not ready to declare these ‘active balance’ solutions as an ideal alternative either. Like those giant rubber balls that I’m sure will one day be proven as terrible for mankind as asbestos, DDT or smoking, the Wigli stool features an unsteady platform on which to sit, forcing you to fight to keep your balance all day long.

Now at the least I’m sure it provides a good workout throughout the day. And the wood-finish, three-legged design looks about 100X more professional than sitting on a giant rubber ball, so it’s got that going for it…. which is nice. The lack of any kind of curve or indentation on the soft covered pad means you get the same, um, ‘sitting experience’ no matter how you plunk down on it, and that black flexible joint connecting it to its legs is apparently made from indestructible rubber. For ~$400 (€299), it better be!

[ Wigli Stool ] VIA [ Wired Gadget Lab ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The number of ‘endless’ object keychains is almost getting too long to list every time a new one comes out, but fans of the endless chocolate bar, beer can and shipping envelope will no doubt want to make room on their keychains for this latest creation. As its name not-so subtly implies, the Endless Banana Peel lets you enjoy the satisfaction of peeling open a ripe banana again and again and again, without the risk of overdosing on potassium. There’s probably a reason you can get it from Stupid.com though for $8.99, but I can’t quite place my finger on it.

[ Endless Banana Peel Keychain ] VIA [ Random Good Stuff ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While $9.50 is a heck of a lot to pay for just 7 pieces of twisted steel wire, these clever PhotoHangers make it particularly easy to show off photos, postcards or anything worth displaying by hanging on a tack stuck to a corkboard. They also work just like regular paperclips, though something tells me given their premium pricing you won’t be so quick to use one on a TPS report you’re just going to give away. Available from arango.

[ PhotoHanger ] VIA [ BB-Blog ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’ve transitioned to a high-performance laptop, or like to keep your computer tower hidden away, Moneual Lab’s newest case won’t be of much use to you. But if you still prefer to have it sitting on your desk right next to your monitor, then their DSPC, or Dual Screen PC case, which they unveiled at CES will be most useful to you.

Technical details are a bit sparse on the Moneual Lab website at the moment, but as you can see the tower-style case sports a tall and slender LCD display which can be used as a second monitor to display widgets, tickers, toolbars or other apps that don’t require loads of screen real estate. I’ve no idea what the resolution is, but according to a CES press release the DSPC case will tentatively be available in Q3 of this year for ~$1,500.

[ CES 2011 Innovations Honorees - Moneual Lab's DSPC Case ] VIA [ Chip Chick ]