The light bulb has been around for a very long time, and we’re all quite familiar with the standard shape. We’ve seen a lot of new light bulbs in the last few years as we focus more on bulbs that not only last longer, but are also more environmentally friendly. LED bulbs are supposed to be among some of the more eco-friendly kinds, and the designers at Frog Design think they’ve figured out a way to get LED bulbs into more homes.
It’s true that many people are scared of change, so why not make something new that looks just like the object it is replacing? These frogLight bulbs look just like the old incandescent ones we’ve known and loved for years. While I can’t argue that more people will likely buy them if they look like a normal bulb, I think you might need more than a single LED to provide the right about of lighting.
Remember that colorful keyboard that we showed you last year? The one that promised that each key could change between one of 512 different colors? Well it seems that they have finally gotten around to mass-producing it for public purchase. Sure, it’s been a year and a half, but at least we didn’t have to wait as long as we did for the Optimus Maximus.
I’m definitely torn on my opinion of this keyboard. On one hand, it just has keys that light up, which seems a bit cheesy. However, since you can individually control the light on each key, it does make it a little more useful for gaming, or other applications that rely heavily on keyboard shortcuts. It can also do some fancy tricks like flash rainbow colors at you, or only light up keys when they are hit. I think that it does have some practical applications, but for $199, I’ll pass.
I have to say I’m a bit confused by this Dark Knight projector key ring. My first guess was that someone had a warehouse full of LED flashlights left over from the old, pre-Nolan Batman films, which would explain why it projects the old Batman logo. But since Batman & Robin (shudder) dates back to 1997 when cheap LED flashlights didn’t exist, I’m at a loss.
So my second guess is that this is simply a crappy Photoshop job and whoever put together this product shot couldn’t find a version of the new bat-logo to use. (Even though it’s used on the projector itself.) At least that’s what I hope is going on here. It would be pretty crappy to pick one of these up only to find it does project the old bat-logo for some reason. If I was in trouble and desperately needed Batman’s help I would much prefer the Christian Bale version to show up, instead of the George Clooney one.
Convergence gadgets are always hit or miss. Sometimes you end up with something useful, other times you’re stuck with a gadget that is good for two or three applications that have absolutely nothing to do with each other, and thus don’t belong on the same device. This Magnetic LED light falls into the former category.
This gadget is small, yet packs in both and LED light and a laser pointer. What’s more is that the base is magnetic, allowing you to attach it to a metal surface and point the light or laser where it is needed. This would be especially useful when working in a cramped space where there’s little room for a conventional flashlight. Best of all, it’s only about $6.
When I get up in the morning (though I try to push it to afternoon as often as I can) the last thing I want to do is turn on a light. I’ll try to get through as much of my morning routine as I can while turning on the least possible amount of lights. However, there are a few tasks that I won’t do in the dark, and one of them is shaving.
If you have no problem sliding a few pieces of extremely sharp metal across your face with only a tiny light to guide you, then you’ll love the Power Razor. It features a small LED light that will illuminate enough of your skin to shave. Apparently it has benefits when used under normal lighting conditions, as it allows you to see missed hairs under your chin and along your jawline. That’s cool and all, but with the $150 price tag, I think I’ll pass.
Unless you own Lassie (or maybe Triumph), you probably have no idea what your dog is saying most of the time. This prototype LED wand operates on the same principle as the Lampex LED message wand that we wrote about last year: persistence of vision turns a line of moving, blinking LEDs into text. The only difference here is, instead of waving a wand around with your arm (and looking like an idiot), your dog waves the Tail Communicator around with its tail. The Tail Communicator measures the WPM (wags per minute) and translates that into what your dog supposedly wants.
This concept was also shown as part of a Wired story from back in 2005 about Augmenting the Animal Kingdom. Other concepts from the article include night vision goggles and GPS devices for rodents and stealth jackets for whales; check out the slide show here.
This cube contains a 3 dimensional array of 16 x 16 x 16 (that comes to 4,096) multicolor, variable intensity LEDs. Each LED is independently controllable in both color and brightness, and the entire array can update itself 30 times per second, allowing for fairly smooth (albeit low res) animations:
This version is only a prototype; the production model should have a resolution of 48 x 48 x 48, which comes to a staggering 110,592 LEDs.
Sure, emergency mobile phone chargers are useful for camping and the occasional blackout, but what about those times when you’re surrounded by power outlets and there’s plenty of electricity to go around? During those times they just sit in a drawer, unused and taking up space. That’s why this emergency mobile phone charger strives to do more by also serving as an LED flashlight. It’s powered by a single AA battery making it relatively small, and it’s able to provide you with a steady beam of white LED light for hours and hours. It even comes with a handy wrist lanyard minimizing your risk of accidentally dropping it.
It’s available from Gadget4all.com for $21.50. Happy April 1.
Sure, flashlights are useful for camping and the occasional blackout, but what about when the sun’s out or when there’s plenty of electricity to go around? During those times they just sit in a drawer, unused and taking up space. That’s why this LED flashlight strives to do more by also serving as an emergency mobile phone charger. It’s powered by a single AA battery making it relatively small, and it’s able to provide your phone with enough power for 2 hours of talk time. It even comes with a set of 5 different charging adapters for Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and other phones.
It’s available from Gadget4all.com for $21.50. Happy April 1.
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By Andrew Liszewski
