Oh! Gizmo

By Evan Ackerman

With some exceptions, laptops make horrible pillows. I mean, what were they thinking, designing them out of plastic and metal with no soft squishy bits for you to rest your head on? But have no fear: the iSleep pillow computer, um, peripheral (I guess) can give some practical purpose to that pile of circuit boards you’re lugging around.

The iSleep pillow attaches to your computer’s exhaust vent, and uses the warm air to both inflate and heat itself. A valve lets you adjust firmness. There’s some kind of integrated speaker that plays a selection of your music for as long as you’d like to nap for, and then plays an increasingly annoying tone when it’s time to wake up. I think it would be more effective for the pillow to rapidly deflate itself and slam your head down onto your laptop to wake you up, but I suppose something could get cracked that way.

iSleep is currently just a concept, and was designed by Ivonne Dippmann.

[ iSleep ] VIA [ Likecool ]

By Evan Ackerman

The Furutech Powerflux “may be the most sophisticated power cord and connectors in the world.” Their words, not mine. What’s so great about it that justifies the pricetag that’s alarmingly close to two grand? I’m not sure I can answer that question, but here’s what Furutech has to say:

Powerflux conductors are 68-strand α (Alpha) OCC twisted around μ–conductor strands with a special-grade PE insulation or dielectric. (Alpha conductors are fine OCC wire treated with Furutech’s Alpha Cryogenic and Demagnetizing process.) The dielectric is surrounded by an inner sheath of RoHS-compliant PVC incorporating carbon powder that enhances damping, and that in turn is covered by a full α (Alpha) conductor wire braid shield. Another flexible PVC outer sheath and a Nylon braid jacket finish the job.

The extraordinary FI-50 series connectors are a result of the meticulous way that Furutech engineers examine and improve each and every element of signal transfer using breakthrough technologies to reach their Pure Transmission Technology goal.

Furutech’s beautifully-finished FI-50(R) IEC and FI-50M(R) Piezo Ceramic series connector housings are made of multiple layers of carbon fiber in a damping and insulating acetal copolymer, surrounded by nonmagnetic stainless steel bands. The connector bodies combine two “active” materials: Nano-sized ceramic particles and powdered carbon. Nylon and fiberglass are incorporated as well forming an extremely effective, mechanically and electrically nonresonant connector body that may just be the most sophisticated in the world.

Oh, now it all makes sense… It’s the cryogenic dielectric piezo nano ceramic acetal nonresonant copolymer! That’s where my money is going! Totally worth it, I’d say.

[ Furutech ] VIA [ Ubergizmo ]

By Evan Ackerman

I have a bit of a thing for gyro mice. Sexy ones, anyway. Movea’s Gyration mouse may not be as drop dead gorgeous as Logitech’s MX Air, but it does incorporate some of the same sort of futuristic technology that allows the mouse to be used conventionally on a flat surface or by waving it around in midair like a loony. The wireless RF mouse weighs only 4 ounces and has a USB receiver that hides in its butt. It’ll work up to 100 ft away from the computer (not that you can see that far), and comes with software that lets you use mouse gestures. There’s no info about battery life (which could be kinda important), and it doesn’t look like you get a whole lot of buttonage to play with. At $100 it’s a little bit cheaper than the MX Air, and it’s certainly smaller, but not a peripheral whose curves you’re likely to get lost in. Look for it early next month.

[ Gyration ] VIA [ Engadget ]

By Evan Ackerman

If you have an ounce of sense and haven’t blown $1.5k on an Optimus Maximus keyboard, you can (eventually) satisfy your craving for bite-sized OLED buttons with the Optimus Pultius, a 15 key programmable OLED keyboard accessory and the latest promised offering from Art Lebedev. It’s functionally no different from the fullsize 113 OLED Maximus, using the same key hardware with the same configuration software and a USB port on the back. There’s no price announced yet, and the Pultius should be showing up by the end of this year.

It sort of seems like Art Lebedev is trying to milk their OLED keys for a little extra scratch, perhaps because the cost of the Optimus Maximus is so prohibitively high that I can’t imagine they’re flying off the shelves, despite the hype. But heck, what do I know… I do know that personally, if I want an OLED key fix, I’d just stick with the currently available and presumably cheaper Optimus Mini Three. Or better yet, some Siftables.

[ Art Lebedev ] VIA [ Optimus Livejournal ::cough:: ]

By Evan Ackerman

Plants are nice I guess, but as far as I’m concerned, they have two major problems: they’re demanding, and they’re useless. The Constant Garden is a plant I can appreciate, since (being made of rubber) it requires no maintenance, and as each stalk has a little speaker and an LED embedded in it, it performs a function and looks pretty. The designer, Vitorio Benedetti, imagined the Constant Garden to be a sort of desktop calendar thing… It syncs with your computer, and reminds you of appointments and stuff with “a coordinated audio visual approach.” The rest of the time, it can play “garden sounds,” whatever those are. What kinds of sounds do plants make, anyway? Irrespective of what the Constant Garden is supposed to do, I really like the organic look and feel, and it would bring a much needed something alive(ish) to any sterile work environment.

[ Constant Garden ] VIA [ Tech Digest ]

By Evan Ackerman

When I need more storage nowadays, I’m too cheap and/or lazy to bother with external drive enclosures. I just find a sexy, naked HD, plug her in, and go to town. Brando streamlines the connection process with this SATA drive dock, which is able to read any 2.5″ or 3.5″ SATA HD you shove into its maw. It also reads all of the trendiest varieties of memory cards, and includes two USB ports to boot. Connect it to your computer with either a USB cable or an eSata cable, and you’ll have the only storage media reader you’ll ever need. Except for CDs and DVDs, that is. And IDE drives. And floppy disks. And holodisks. You’re getting close, Brando, but you’re not all the way there yet.

The SATA HDD Multi-Function Dock will run you just under $80, including shipping.

[ Brando ]

By Evan Ackerman

Somehow, creative types keep coming up with ways of improving one of the most basic components of any credibly tangled pile of electronics: the power strip. The Revolve power strip is a cylinder of independently rotating outlets, which can accommodate bulky power adapters. It can’t hold a candle to my all-time favorite cephlapodic power strip, but it’s still a reasonably innovative idea.

If you’d rather not wait for the whole rotating plug concept to make the improbable leap from render to product, Belkin has some products that do sort of the same thing (except less, um, ergonomically) that you can buy here.

VIA [ Yanko Design ]

By Evan Ackerman

3DConnexion has released a new version of its SpaceNavigator peripheral, which is a 6-DOF 3D navigation device that lets you control panning, rotation, tilting, and zoom with one hand, great for applications like CAD or Google Earth. The new model is designed for notebook use, and is smaller and lighter than the original without sacrificing any functionality. The thing is, though, that the SpaceNavigator depends to some extent on a heavy base to function properly. If the base is too light, it won’t keep steady when you’re yanking the thing around. The notebook version is only about half the weight of the full size version, which means you might have to be a little bit more gentle with it.

Somewhat paradoxically, the SpaceNavigator for notebooks costs $129, whereas the larger and heavier less portable but equally functional (and prettier) original SpaceNavigator only costs $59. I guess that’s because the notebook version includes a “travel case for effortless transport.” I love these things, but unless you’re carrying it everywhere, I’d save yourself some money and get the slightly bigger one.

[ 3DConnexion ] VIA [ Ogle Earth ]

By Evan Ackerman

You might remember that I wrote about Logitech’s MX Air last July, under the headline “Logitech’s MX Air Mouse Is Real, Spectacular.” I think spectacular might be an understatement now that I was finally able to wrangle myself a review unit to try out for a little while. The idea behind the MX Air is that you can use it as a normal wireless laser mouse, or you can pick it up and a gyroscopic sensor will kick in, letting you use it just as effectively in mid air. It’s hands down one of the sexiest peripherals I’ve ever had the pleasure of fondling, and unlike a lot of things that look this good, it’s intelligent and functional. But is it worth the $150 asking price? I think I can probably convince you… Read my full review, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »