By Caitlyn Muncy

Playing games on the iPad is terribly fun and takes up a lot of my time. One of the main problems I have; such as the common problem with Dance Dance Revolution, is forgetting where buttons are located, as it’s on a flat surface. With a dance pad, it’s easy to constantly forget where the arrows are as you try to follow what’s on the screen more than you look at your feet. This is the same case with the iPad, as in a game, you focus more on what’s happening on the center of the screen as opposed to where the controller is. There are many times that I’ve been trying to go through a door and moved my hand ever so slightly away from where the on-screen controller is.

Recently the Ten One Design: Fling iPad game controller showed up on my doorstep and all I can say is thank goodness. It’s sometimes hard to play a game when there’s no tangible controller. The Fling is a very simple but effective way to help you keep track of your controller and make your iPad gaming experience 10 times better than it would be otherwise. The design is simple, lightweight, and extremely effective.

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By Andrew Liszewski

We’re excited to announce the winner of our most recent contest for ThinkGeek’s JOYSTICK-IT iPad arcade stick, but we’re having a little trouble getting in touch with the winner. So if you entered the contest, particularly if you did so via Yahoo’s PULSE service (hint, hint) we suggest you login to your account as we’ve left the winner a comment telling them how they can get in touch with us to claim their prize.

We’ll give it until Wednesday night for the winner to get in touch with us, but come midnight if they haven’t contacted us I’m afraid we’re going to have to choose someone else…

By Chris Scott Barr

With St. Patrick’s Day gone, you might see a little less talk about leprechauns and rainbows, however, that doesn’t mean you can’t search for your own pot of gold in your house. Sure, you can make a rainbow by positioning light just perfectly over a mist of water, but who wants to go through that hassle? Instead, you can buy one of these Rainbow In My Room projectors.

The projector is aimed to be a cute nightlight for kids, which projects a rainbow throughout their room. Sadly, it doesn’t make a real rainbow of sorts, since those require water (and leprechauns). Still, if your child likes rainbows and wants a night light, you could do a lot worse for $23.

[ Amazon ] VIA [ GeekAlerts ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While it appears to (disappointingly) lack the ability to fire foam darts or balls, Nerf’s new speaker wheel accessory for the iPhone and/or iPod Touch will still appeal to kids who enjoy playing racing games, and parents who worry about their phone being dropped or damaged.

Oddly enough the whole steering wheel feature actually seems to just be a by-product of the speaker being round, since first and foremost the Nerf N908S is a multimedia dock boosting the performance of the idevices’ own built-in speakers. There’s even a kickstand on the back for propping it up on a desk, and it runs on a set of 4xAA batteries so at least the speakers have a little bit of power behind them. It’s currently available on Amazon for $29.99.

[ Nerf N908S Speaker Wheel ] VIA [ The Rocking Pony ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Its $279.99 MSRP will probably keep it out of the hands of most students looking to record lectures, but for professionals capturing an interview or even an impromptu performance, Tascam’s new DR-07MKII provides a bit of flexibility. Most high-end, all-in-one audio recorders these days feature a set of stereo condenser mics in an XY configuration (pointed in towards each other) but the DR-07MKII allows you to flip them out to an AB configuration as well, better suited for capturing audio from a larger source, like a choir for example.

As far as other features go, the DR-07MKII has everything that’s standard these days with these types of recorders, including high quality WAV or MP3 recording capabilities, auto or manual levels setting, a peak reduction function to automatically set the optimal recording level, an overdub mode which also keeps a copy of the original clip, a built-in reverb effect and support for microSDHC cards up to 32GB in size. And on a set of easily replaceable AA batteries it can record for 17+ hours. Available March 31.

[ Tascam DR-07MKII Handheld Audio Recorder ] VIA [ Gizmag ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If your aging desktop or laptop is starting to feel a little dated, particularly when it comes to wifi speeds, an easy way to bring it up to modern standards without having to remove a single screw is through a USB wireless adapter. And if something unobtrusive is what you’re after, last week D-Link released a couple of new wifi adapters with minimal footprints.

The DWA-131 Wireless N Nano USB Adapter, aka the ‘larger’ of the two pictured above, works on IEEE 802.11n or ‘g’ networks and features 11n technology for speeds up to 300Mbps. Its dime-sized built-in antenna also provides for a greater range, and uses the company’s ‘Intelligent Antenna Technology’ to circumvent dead spots and interference by broadcasting multiple signals at the same time. The DWA-121 Wireless N 150 Pico USB Adapter is the smaller of the two pictured above, and offers mostly the same features as the DWA-131 though with speeds reduced to 150 Mbps, and obviously a more limited range given its minimally sized antenna. Both are currently available directly from D-Link for $49.99.

[ D-Link DWA-131 & DWA-121 ] VIA [ The Gadgeteer ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Believe it or not, there was a time when the iPhone wasn’t A2DP compatible. While wireless speaker solutions still existed, they either relied on wifi or some proprietary dongle technology that attached to the iPhone’s dock connector. So not surprisingly, dock-based speaker systems ruled the market. And I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with them, it’s just a lot more convenient to be able to keep your iPhone on your person when listening to music through a speaker, allowing you to quickly switch tracks or customize a playlist on the fly.

But as of iOS 3.0 those dark days of tethered speaker use are long gone as Apple granted A2DP support to us grovelling gadget-loving masses. And now that using a wireless speaker is as easy as setting up a Bluetooth connection, we’ve slowly been seeing the portable BT speaker market grow. And as far as we’re concerned, they’re a must-have accessory these days. Last month we reviewed Jawbone’s JAMBOX which is one of the more flashier options now available, and today we’re taking a look at the SuperTooth DISCO. It sports a more traditional black-grille speaker design which will disappear in your home or office if you’re looking for something a bit subtler, and while it’s a bit larger than the JAMBOX, what you lose in portability you gain in sound quality. Read our full review after the jump.

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By Andrew Liszewski

It’s probably not going to get the job done if you spent your day wallowing around in a pigsty, but for reasonably soiled garments, this washing machine from Russell Hobbs has a ‘super rapid’ mode that can clean an entire load in just 12 minutes! The secret is apparently a twin jet system which blasts the load with water and detergent at the same time using two separate nozzles.

Not only does it apparently offer a better wash, but it can also reduce water usage by 15%. And since it’s running less, it also reduces energy consumption by 30%. That equates to saving the average family about 212,415 gallons of water over a lifetime, and 2 years and 4 months of time spent waiting for the washer to finish. That’s time that can be better spent living life and dirtying more laundry! ~$400 (£247) for the 7kg model pictured above, and ~$520 (£320) for a 9kg model.

[ ASDA direct - Russell Hobbs 7Kg White 1200 Spin Washing Machine ] VIA [ Gizmag ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s taken me the entire week to recover from having my mind blown by the Chopula we brought you last Monday. And just when I thought it was safe to go back in the kitchen gadget store- BAM! The Spoon Tongs blow my mind wide open yet again. I’ll understand if you’re having a hard time wrapping your brain around what you’re seeing, but it seems some government and/or Food Network research lab has finally succeeded in merging a serving spoon with a set of tongs.

Many have said it couldn’t, and more importantly shouldn’t be done, but here we are. Measuring 12 inches in length the Spoon Tongs feature a set of silicone teeth when split apart that are heat safe up to 400°F and of course allow you to grab and flip or stir and spoon. They’re also spring-loaded with a locking mechanism for easy storage in a drawer, and will set you back a mere $10.95 from Vat19. I’d say the next step in kitchen gadget evolution would be a combination of the Spoon Tongs and the Chopula, but I feel the world isn’t ready for that much usefulness in a single tool just yet.

[ Spoon Tongs ] VIA [ Bem Legaus! ]