Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

CES is a veritable playground of every type of electronic device you can think of, but one of the things that really caught my eye at this year’s show was a line of laptop bags and gear cases of all things. Now if you’re the type who just crams all of their toys in a bag and couldn’t care less about what happens to them, there’s a good chance you’ll have no interest in this post. But if you’re like me and need to be assured your stuff isn’t going to get dinged or scratched up in transport, you might want to take a few seconds and check out my hands-on look at the Cocoon laptop bag.

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This post is syndicated with permission from GamerFront.net

For 10 to 12 hours a day during the week I work in a small office with wooden floors and a low ceiling and every noise is amplified, not the least of which being my pc with it’s 6 fans (not including the fan on my graphics card which beats them all). It’s not until a power outage, or re-arranging the office when everything is shut off do you realize just how much racket a PC can make and that it’s time for a change. Enter NZXT’s WHISPER Classic Series chassis, engineered from top to bottom to provide a quieter computing experience.

Assembling an ultimate gaming rig or digital audio workstation based on the WHISPER chassis is an enjoyable task thanks to its smart layout and a pre-drilled wire management system that makes routing cables a snap. One thing to keep in mind when putting a system together is the length of the cables coming from the power supply and the positioning of the power connections on the motherboard, some motherboards have their power connections placed towards the top which can for an impossible reach for some power supplies.

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By Evan Ackerman

As loyal readers who care about my safety, sanity, and well being might remember, my laptop was stolen about a month ago. Yeah, that sucked. It’s been replaced (I’m writing this review on it, can’t you tell?) but I needed to get myself a new case for it, so I thought I’d try out a new case/tote from Uniea called the Omniverse. I’ve got a review for you, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

Try as they might, I’m just not convinced that my iPhone is ever going to replace my DS as my portable gaming device of choice. But given a good chunk of those billion apps sold through the App Store were games, I have to assume that there are plenty of people using the iPhone or iPod Touch for that purpose. And it’s those people that the Jam Jacket Game will appeal to.

It’s basically another case designed to make gaming with the iPod Touch a bit easier, but unlike the ridiculous GameGrip from last week, the Jam Jacket Game features a set of considerably more subtle ‘handles’ on the back providing a better grip on your device. At $19 it’s a cheap way to protect your Touch (it’s actually not iPhone-friendly) and it even comes bundled with a clear adhesive screen protector.

[ DLO Jam Jacket Game ] VIA [ Gear Diary ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The term ‘wooden iPhone case’ doesn’t conjure up an image of the sleekest, sveltest way to protect my device, but somehow Etsy seller Substrata has managed to create just that. Their series of handmade wooden cases for the 3G are shaped and sanded to compliment the iPhone’s curves, and the inside is contoured to hold the phone snugly. Just keep in mind that while your phone is being protected, you won’t have access to any of the buttons.

It looks like there are three versions of the case to choose from, depending on your wood grain preference, and given they’re handmade, the $84.99 price tag is not that surprising.

[ Wood iPhone Case - Custom handmade box for iPhone 3G ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While wandering the floors of a trade show like CES, the only thing more important than having a bag for stashing press kits and other assorted crap is finding a comfortable place to sit while writing. Unfortunately for me that turned out to be the floor 90% of the time, but not next year! Thanks to Hammacher Schlemmer ($129.95) I’ll always have a place to sit, and shout directions, with this Messenger Bag Director’s Chair.

The chair folds down to less than 4-inches thick and while the whole package weighs about 9lbs it can actually support weights up to 250lbs, which equates to about half of the brochures I had stuffed in my suitcase when I left Vegas. As an added bonus there’s a cup holder on one of the armrests for holding your perpetually empty water bottle, and various pockets for storing other gear.

[ Messenger Bag Director's Chair ] VIA [ The Design Blog ]

By Evan Ackerman

You probably keep your old VCR around because of that pile of VHS tapes that you still have. But come on, are you really going to go through all the hassle of rewinding a tape just to watch Labyrinth in lousy quality one more time? Yeah, true, I totally would. Anyway, you should relegate that entire technology system to the garage or the basement and replace it with something that’s relevant in this day and age: a media center PC. And just to make the transition easier for you, it’s a media center PC that looks just like a VCR.

Currently available from Maplin in the UK, this is a barebones system, meaning that you get to stick your own operating system, hard drive, and optical drive into it. But it does come with a Intel motherboard and processor, a wireless card, a bunch of inputs and outputs, and a TV tuner. Only problem is, it’s a European tuner, which means you’re either gonna have to run a really really really long cable, or find some way of swapping it out for something that’s relevant in the civilized part of the world.

The VCR barebones media center PC is $212 plus shipping.

[ Maplin ] VIA [ RFJ ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Cocoon Innovations was one of the hundreds of companies to email me a pre-CES press release about their new products being unveiled at the show this year. And while the images they sent of the company’s line of cases, briefcases and laptop bags showed off their unique designs on the outside, it really wasn’t enough to pique my curiosity. Thankfully though, I happened to stumble across the Cocoon Innovations booth on the last day of the show, and it turns out it’s what’s on the inside of their cases that truly makes them unique.

Instead of a bunch of random (and restrictive) pockets designed to only fit specific items like pens, cellphones or PDAs, the Cocoon bags feature the company’s ‘Grid’ system which is a proprietary web of elastic fabric designed to securely hold any object in almost any configuration. Basically, it’s the most flexible compact storage system I’ve ever seen.

And the elastic grid isn’t randomly thrown together either. It’s actually strategically designed to accommodate objects of all shapes and sizes while always maintaining sufficient tension so your electronics, cables and other gear doesn’t come loose while in transport. As someone who’s a bit (cough!) obsessed with being organized, I think it’s a brilliant idea, and I can’t wait to get my hands on one. And while they didn’t have any specific pricing info, the company is actually planning to target the Caselogic demographic (for lack of a better description) by keeping their cases extremely affordable.

[ Cocoon Innovations ]

By Luke Anderson

If you do any amount of traveling, you likely understand the annoyances related to the security checkpoints. While I don’t believe that there is any product which will get you out of removing your shoes, you can get away with leaving your laptop in its bag. There’s just something about setting my computer in a plastic bin and setting it on a conveyor belt that just bothers me.

This new FlyThru case may not be the first of its kind, but it is still worth mentioning. All you need to do upon reaching the security checkpoint is to unzip the bag and lay it flat on the belt. This will allow it to be seen by the security officer, while still leaving it nestled gently in your case. It will hold notebooks up to 15.4 inches, and is set to go on sale for $60 sometime next month.

[ Belkin ] VIA [ GearLog ]