By Andrew Liszewski

My parent’s dog has never been the ‘working’ type of pet. Some dogs will herd sheep or drag a sled or even sniff out contraband materials, but their dog is really only good at stretching out and sleeping on the floor where he’s most in the way. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but with The Woofer it can most definitely be turned into a good one.

It’s your standard dog coat that turns your pet into a walking, or more likely a lounging, boombox that automatically brings your music to you assuming it’s trained to come when it’s called. Unfortunately the Woofer’s website is a little vague when it comes to the technical aspects of the coat, like if you have to keep your iPod on your pet tethered with a cable, or if it can be connected wirelessly over Bluetooth. And how powerful the speaker is since I’d hate to have a heavy bass beat thumping against my dog for as long as a typical song plays. Is it waterproof as well, given a dog’s affinity for finding mud and puddles? The Woofer’s run from $140 to $160 in small, medium and large sizes, and I wouldn’t mind a bit more info about them before dropping that much coin.

[ The Woofer ] VIA [ Gearlog ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Let’s say that you’ve gotten yourself a shiny new electric car, and are taking it for a trip across a few states. Instead of planning the shortest route like you would on most trips, you instead have to plot out locations where you’ll be able to add some juice to your ride. That’s right, the downside to having a car that doesn’t rely on gasoline is finding somewhere to charge it up. Well it would seem that there is an app designed to help solve that problem.

PlugShare is an iPhone app that allows people to specify that they are willing to let people charge up at their location. Since public charging stations are few and far between, this could be a good solution. Anyone can sign up and let people power a car at their house, or even business. If you’re wanting to help out the EV community, feel free to sign up. Who knows, maybe you’ll need to plug in your car at someone’s house in the future, so why not do the same for someone else?

[ PlugShare ] VIA [ Dvice ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Not convinced when your young’n tells you they’ve properly washed their hands or brushed their teeth? Just install this Wash & Brush Timer from TrendyKid in your bathroom and there’s a chance they just might do a good job at either task for once. The timer features a couple of easy to understand buttons that start an invisible countdown, 2 minutes for teeth brushing and 20 seconds for hand washing. While the counter is running a green light flashes faster and faster until it’s about to expire, at which point it turns red letting them know they’re done, or at the least can stop making brushing and/or washing sound effects to fool you. It’s powered by 3xAAA batteries, can be easily stuck or screwed to the wall and runs ~$8 (£4.99) if bought directly from TrendyKid.

[ TrendyKid Wash & Brush Timer ] VIA [ Babyology ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I don’t know if it’s because I have fond memories of two enjoyable Summers working in a lumber yard while in college, driving forklifts and what-not, but I’m quite enamored with these industrial-looking miniature wooden shipping palette coasters. Created by Spain-based Labyrinth Design Studio, the palettes are exact 1/10th scale replicas of the ones used in Europe, complete with quality stamps. They even come strapped together sitting on their own mini palette, making these mini forklift toys we brought you a few years ago a must-have accessory. A set of 5 coasters is available from designboom’s online store for $21.

[ designboom - Shipping Palette Coasters ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The most annoying part about Wednesday’s new iPad announcement is that from that day forth I have to now append the term ‘original’ anytime I refer to the first generation model. It’s an inconvenience that gobbles up precious seconds of my day, but please don’t let this rare insight into the perils and hardships of a gadget blogger’s life depress you too much. Somehow we manage to muster the strength to carry on our responsibilities of bringing you all the latest toys in a cynical and sarcastic manner.

So today we want to bring you a quick look at another case solution for the iPhone 4 and the ORIGINAL iPad (sigh…) that will no doubt soon be updated to support the new iPad 2 as well. The iChair takes a simple but tried-and-true approach that’s been holding up picture frames for years now. Instead of transforming or flipping around to turn into a stand, the case simply has a flip-out kickstand-like support built into the back which comes in handy when you need it, but stays unobtrusive when you don’t. More after the jump.

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By Andrew Liszewski

The thought of even having to dial a public payphone sends shivers down my spine, let along picking up the receiver and holding it against my face. But it’s not always safe to assume your smartphone is clean just because you’re the only one using it. Most of you will diligently wash your hands before a meal, but don’t forget you probably spend all day swiping those same fingers across your phone’s screen. So what makes you think it’s any cleaner than a payphone? Because you clean it with your sleeve every once in a while?

I’m not implying everyone needs to be paranoid about germs or anything, but every once in a while giving your phone a good cleaning is probably not a bad idea, and these UV-based sanitizers seem like the easiest and least messy approach. The CellBlaster looks like a miniature tanning bed for your phone, but it blasts it with short-wave ultraviolet light which “kills or eliminates 99.9% of germs, viruses and bacteria…” And while the CellBlaster does its thing in just 30 seconds, it also features a small gap for multi-taskers who want to sanitize their phone while it’s being charged. ‘Coming Soon!’ for a yet to be disclosed price.

[ CellBlaster UV Cellphone Sanitizer ]

By Andrew Liszewski

To the untrained eye this hands-free sandwich holder might look suspiciously look like a re-purposed harmonica holder. But that kind of thinking only serves to take away from the brilliance of what could be the first great gadget of the 21st century. Don’t believe me? Try using your iPhone to hold a sandwich… Go ahead, try it! I think you’ll end up with the same results I did, and probably the same dubious stare from the genius at the Apple store. (Apparently that water sensor is just as adept at detecting mayo.)

I’ve no idea where one can buy one of these sadly, but since I’m convinced the inventor of the harmonica holder stole the idea from whoever created this, you might luck out and find something close at your local music store.

[ Afternoon Snooze Button - Hands-Free Sandwich Holder ] VIA [ BuzzFeed ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s kind of hard to complain when you’re wealthy enough to own a high-powered supercar, but while they excel when it comes to performance and handling, they’re typically not known for their abundance of trunk space. At one point it was a trade-off the rich and well-to-do just had to learn to live with, but Koenigsegg feels it doesn’t have to be that way.

Their new 1115HP Agera R supercar has a 0-62mph time of just 2.9 seconds (…sorry, just had to wipe a tear away there) and while it includes a luggage compartment with a 31.7 gallon capacity, that’s just not enough storage for an extended road trip. So the Agera R features an optional roof box that looks as aerodynamic as the car itself, capable of holding a couple sets of skis or a really flat suitcase. The box actually replaces the vehicle’s standard roof, which can be stored in the luggage compartment, and while it probably won’t be hitting the same 0-60 times with it attached, at least it means you can still pack more than a couple of toothbrushes.

[ Koenigsegg Agera R ] VIA [ Gizmag ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The iPhone and iPad have certainly proven themselves to be worthy gaming platforms, though their touchscreen interfaces makes them better suited for certain types of games than others. While action games like racing titles certainly benefit from the devices’ built-in gyroscope when it comes to steering, games that have typically relied on physical buttons and/or joysticks don’t always translate so well. They’re not unplayable, it’s just that it’s hard to ensure your fingers are always properly hitting the on-screen buttons while keeping your eyes on the game itself.

The ‘problem’ has already spawned a few third-party peripherals and solutions that add buttons and controllers via bulky cases and enclosures. But ThinkGeek has created something a little more elegant when it comes to the iPad. Their JOYSTICK-IT accessory attaches directly to the tablet’s screen, providing an old-school like gaming experience to any title featuring an on-screen directional controller. How well does it work? Well you can find my full review after the jump, as well as contest specifics since ThinkGeek wants to give one of our lucky readers their very own JOYSTICK-IT Arcade Stick.

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