Here there you incognito maniac you. Looking for a little protection from more than just the elements? How about this umbrella, so dangerous it can’t even be shipped to California, Massachusetts or New York? While it works just fine as a regular water protector (albeit one with a metal knuckle guard as a handle), simply give it a little twist and you can pull out a 15 inch blade that should be enough to scare off but the most determined of assailants. Like the ones with guns. Then you’re screwed.
Still, for $30, there are worse things money can buy. Let us just be adults and say: don’t be an idiot with this.
While this is an accident waiting to happen, Chinavision’s “Complete Car Bluetooth Rearview Mirror” certainly has managed to cram everything and the kitchen sink in there. Their replacement mirror features the following: GPS, wireless rear-view parking camera (camera kit included), Bluetooth calling, DVR and yes even a media player. The idea is that in DVR mode it will record what happens inside or out (presumably more than the rearview parking camera can be hooked up to it) while in other modes it can either give you GPS guidance or even play back videos for you. We’re guessing you have to be stopped with parking brake engaged for this particular feature to work, though we’re sure enterprising folk will quickly find a way around that. Everything is displayed on a 4.3 inch, 480 by 272 resolution screen and the internals are powered by a Centrality Atlas 4 Dual-Core 500 MHz processor and 64MB of RAM. Yeah, HD files might be out of the question.
Storage is handled via SD or Micro SD cards, of which two are included (4GB each). It’s $205 for one and prices go down with larger order numbers as this appears to be a wholesaler.
A toy!? How is a giant (relative to the insect) freaking maggot ever be construed as a toy of any kind? Is this being marketed to entomologists’ kids? This wonderful little creation is the product of HexBug. One of their self-described goals is to “give children a positive experience with robotics at a young age.” Positive experience, eh?… Well, to each their own we suppose. The Larva is but one of a range of creepy crawly robots, with other members being The Ant, The Spider and The Inchworm to just name a few. The Larva itself just barely qualifies as a robot in that it’s autonomous enough to at least avoid obstacles. It does come in 5 colors and is mercifully inexpensive at around $12. Hey, the Holidays are coming and maybe you’ve conceived a little strange one who might appreciate this.
IBM used to have a laptop business, until they sold it to Chinese company Lenovo a while back. Since then, their product have continued to enjoy high reputation among customers and most models offer excellent value. “Lenovo’s G470 laptops are entry-level machines with a lot of features for the money. Your choice of 2nd generation Intel Core i3 or i5 processors are backed up by up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM and either 500GB or 750GB of storage. Select models can be had with a Blu-ray drive, while Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit and a 6-cell battery are included on every system. You’ll also find HDMI output, four USB 2.0 ports, a 5-in-1 card reader, and 802.11n WiFi on every model.” And today you can have a Core i3, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD configuration for $499 after $300 in rebates.
“Yo dawg… we heard you like phones. So we gave your phone a phone.” Yeah. That’s pretty much what’s going on here. See, the Blutooth Handset TK2 connects to your cellphone through Bluetooth and all it does is allow you to speak (and listen, duh). The thing is… you’re supposed to hold it in your hand. Like a phone! So in a way, it’s a smaller phone that you use… to use your phone. It has no other point. It doesn’t free your hands, it does the opposite.
Granted you can pair it with more than your cellphone, so perhaps this can be a tiny VoIP device… Or something. It does feature Bluetooth v2.1, which means you could pair it to your cellphone and something else simultaneously. So maybe you can eke out a use that way. Like if you’re at home and are taking Skype and cellular calls.
This is not the kind of jetpack you have in mind. The Jetlev R200 is a tethered jetpack, which shoots water out its nozzles as its propulsion system. It’s tied to a companion boat through a 33ft long hose, and since the heavy lifting work of pumping all this water is done on this boat, the pack itself weighs very little and is very maneuverable. Of course the limitations are that you can’t go over land with it, you can’t go higher than 33ft and you can’t go anywhere without the companion boat following you.
But who cares, this thing is awesome! It’s still able to do a top speed of 25mph and with the 26 gallons of fuel on board, you can get up to 3h of fun without refueling. Also, the companion boat is unmanned. It appears you tug it along, though we’re certain it has a propulsion system of its own. And while the Jetlev R200 isn’t new, it used to be that you’d have to pay $99,500 to get your own. Of course normal people couldn’t afford them but word is now coming out that you can rent one for a couple of hours for about $250 from whichever companies bought these. We’ve heard they are in places like Lake Havasu, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and Florida, in the US as well as Germany and Singapore. One of these companies, Jet Pack Adventures, is linked to below.
Radiators are pretty inefficient heating machines. They don’t, for instance, radiate so much as make the wall they’re leaning up against really hot. That’s lost efficiency right there since the heat that went into the wall or even the ceiling right above the radiator is heat that didn’t go into preventing you from freezing. With winter pretty much here, something like this Radiator Booster could prove to be useful. It sits right atop your current heater and hooks up into a wall socket for power. With an internal thermostat, all it has to do it detect when your radiator is sending out heat at 30C degrees or above, then it turn some fans on and shoots the hot air out into the room. It claims to be able to recirculate the air in an average room within 90 minutes. Since it’s not on unless you’re actively heating, the Radiator Booster doesn’t waste any energy idling. And since your room will be more evenly heated, you can turn down your thermostat by 1 to 3 degrees, saving you an average of $225 yearly in heating fees.
Lenovo recently updated their paddle HTPC keyboard and the changes aren’t subtle. It already had a hit on their hands with the first generation of this very hand-friendly Multimedia Remote Keyboard and trackball. The tiny trackball has been replaced with an optical sensor that first made waves on the Raon Everun a few years back. The very responsive sensor also doubles as left click mouse button for very relaxed use. The nano dongle and the key layout are mostly unchanged. Most of the device has also been upgraded from slippery gloss finish to a more gripping rubber texture, only the keys remain glossy.
Other improvements include automatic backlighting and raised bumps on the keys for tactile navigation. The mouse buttons have been widened for larger hands to operate without adjusting their grip. The nano USB dongle can be stored in the battery compartment for travel which may be the only time you ever open it. The very strong wireless connection boasts a battery sipping 3 months of life. Other similar keyboards suffer from weak signals but the Lenovo Remote shows no sign of losing connection at even extreme ‘same room’ distances. Check out the full review at Everything USB if you are interested in how the remote fared after extended use.
It’s no secret that gadgets like computers, digital cameras and smartphones have changed our lives. Though there is some argument about whether the changes many of these devices bring are good or bad, there’s one group that is definitely changing our lives for the better, and that’s in the field of health science. Not every digital consumable can make us healthier, but here are five health science gadgets that do.
A Smartphone For Your Heart
Thanks to the Cardio Defender from Everist Genomics, your smartphone can now actually do something to keep your heart healthy. The Cardio Defender turns your smartphone into a portable ECG device that can keep a constant lookout for heart problems by detecting a variety of changes in heart rhythm that may indicate a problem. A sensor bracelet that resembles a watch collects data and beams it wirelessly to your smartphone, which analyzes and stores it. If a problem is detected, not only do you receive an alert, but the data can also be sent to your physician for instant analysis. If a problem doesn’t arrive, your doctor can still use the collected data to determine the health of your heart and approaching problems.
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