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.
One of the annoying things about getting in the shower is making sure that the water is the right temperature. This is especially annoying if your shower takes a minute or two to get warm. Sure, you could just stick your hand in and feel the temperature, but surely there’s a geekier way to do it, right? Of course there is, just get a shower head that emits light based on how warm the water is.
The LED Shower Head will change color from blue to red when the water gets over 89° F/32° C. Sure, you’ll probably still need to do a bit of tweaking to get it just right, but at least you’ll know when it is warm. My favorite part of this is that the LEDs are powered by the water flowing through the shower head. The water pressure builds up energy by passing through small turbines contained within. You can pick one up for $45.
I’m not sure if these light up salt and pepper shakers are really “exceptionally clever” as the website claims, but they could come in handy if you’re enjoying a night time barbecue or find yourself suffering through a rolling blackout. They’re made of long-lasting ABS plastic, have an easy to fill spice reservoir and feature a standard flow-selector that adjusts from sprinkle to pour.
They each require 4 AA batteries to power the LEDs but that coupled with the built-in reflectors should provide more than enough light to tell when your food has been properly seasoned. A set of two shakers is available from HomeWetBar.com for $24.99
Last January was a trying time for our great nation. Apparently a couple of terrorists went around placing false bombs all over major cities in an attempt to scare us into submission. Of course, the citizens of these cities were too smart, and quickly realized that these were merely LED signs flipping the bird. Well, except for the people of Boston, they feared for their lives.
We of course all know that this was merely a promotion for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie, and not some terrorist plot to instill fear in the masses. In apparent celebration of the one year anniversary of this amusing day, the folks over at Evil Mad Scientist have put together a DIY guide to make your own scary LED sign. Think of it as a really cool Lite Bright.
Skateboarding is quite popular where I’m from. I’ve never really been interested in it, and I’m not just saying that because I can’t stay on one for more than a minute or so. It’s just that I see people skating all the time, and they don’t seem to be having much fun. Granted, they’re practicing, it’s just that they seem to practice on every public place that has stairs or something they can jump off of. But watching someone (unsuccessfully) attempt to flip their board over half a dozen times while I’m waiting on the light to turn green doesn’t make me want to run out and pick one up.
I do admit that if I came across some guy skating on a board with neon lights, I’d probably stop and watch him, at least for a few minutes. There’s just something about neon LEDs that just seems hypnotic in certain situations. These Photon Light Boards would definitely create that atmosphere. Each board is highly customizable with around 30 LED lights. The boards themselves will cost you between $110 and $120, while the whole setup is around $200.
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