Oh! Gizmo

By Evan Ackerman

I don’t personally carry around a purse, but I know people who do (generally, female people). And somehow they manage to stuff all 9 bazillion of their most precious possessions inside. Losing the thing (or having it stolen) then turns into something of a huge deal, so for you absentminded purse people are these Light Bags. They come in a number of fake designer styles, and as their name suggests they contain an interior lighting system that’s activated by the heat of your hand when you reach into the bag, but they also have integrated GPS tracking devices.

The GPS uses Wherify to pinpoint its location and communicate with you via cellphone, and it can also be used as a personal alarm. This service will run you $15 per month (first two months free) in addition to the cost of the bag, which starts at $150. It seems a little steep to me, but if you buy a first edition bag and keep it for 10 years, you’ll get a $1000 rebate check. ‘Course, by that time, the bag will have gone from techy and trendy all the way through the fashion spectrum to old and busted, and you won’t need the GPS anymore since you’ll know exactly where the bag is at all times: in a shoebox at the bottom of your closet.

[ Marilyn Light Bags ] VIA [ Shiny Shiny ]

By Luke Anderson

Most USB hubs you see are pretty standard, as they are a plastic shell (that may or may not look like something cool). They come in two categories; powered and unpowered. The former requires you to run a power cord to a nearby power outlet. At least that’s usually how it works.  This little hub is just a little different.

Instead of plugging into your wall, this little (and I do mean little) hub takes up two of your USB ports. In exchange you’ll have four ports which are powered, one of which is a mini-USB connector for your mobile gadgets. For $12 this really wouldn’t be a bad addition to one’s laptop bag.

[ Brando ] VIA [ Gizmodo ]

By Luke Anderson

Many of us in the younger generation love to pile gadgets on our desks. It’s not uncommon to see a pair of monitors, nice speakers, an iPod dock and a few others all set up at our workspace. What is interesting is that when I see someone’s desk that is a generation or two older, they tend to have more pictures, trophies and other personal objects in place of the technology. If you know someone like that, you might show them this pair of speakers that also act as picture frames.

This cool convergence device allows someone to free up a little desk space by hiding away their computer speakers behind a pair of picture frames.  I’d say they were a good buy at $50 for the pair.

[ BrookStone ] VIA [ EverythingUSB ]

By Luke Anderson

If you’re one of the many people that have jumped on the iPhone wagon, you’ve no doubt realized that typing on it isn’t quite as easy as other smartphones. The main cause for this is the lack of tactile feedback. Sure, I will admit that the keyboard isn’t that bad to use, but if you could actually feel where your fingers were, it would make things much easier. This is exactly the purpose that My Touch Keys plans to serve.

This piece of plastic clings to your screen, with holes where the letters of the keyboard would be. This way you can feel exactly where your fingers are. The blue tint looks like it might wash out your picture a bit, but for $7.99, it can’t be too bad.

[ MyTouchKeys ] VIA [ UberGizmo ]

By Evan Ackerman

If you thought this or this was cool, you’ll definitely be impressed by this 60x cell phone microscope attachment. But it’s not a novelty cell phone accessory… It was designed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley to provide a cheap, reliable way for doctors to diagnose patients in remote areas over the phone. The CellScope comes in two powers: 5x, for diagnosing skin conditions, and 60x, which is enough magnification to diagnose malaria in a blood sample, or perform white blood cell counts for leukemia patients. The first prototype was built entirely of off-the-shelf components for about 75 bucks, and now includes integrated LEDs to illuminate the sample. Researchers hope that health workers with minimal specialized training will be able to send pictures directly to experts at medical centers as easily as they might make a phone call… When they’re not using it to look at cool bugs and stuff, of course.

[ MIT Technology Review ] VIA [ KurzweilAI ]