Oh! Gizmo

By David Ponce

I think Ford CEO Alan Mullaly said it best: “The new Taurus rocks!”

After spending a day with the car in a snaky mountain drive from Knoxville to Asheville, I came away impressed and with a new outlook on a vehicle I wouldn’t have thought about even twice just a few years earlier. For its target market, the Taurus hits a sweet spot; an engaging mix of class-leading technology, muscular and elegant design, and exceedingly civil road manners. While there are some minor issues that I’ll address in the body of this review, Ford may just have hit on a product that could allow it to pull ahead of its rivals. After all, simply “still being around” isn’t quite enough. With the Taurus, they seem to be bringing their A-game.

In this review, I’ll mainly focus on the plethora of gadgets and technological features that make the Taurus not only an enjoyable drive, but a treasure trove for any gadget lover. OhGizmo! is, after all, a gadget site. But let me spend at least a little bit of time telling you about the car, the engine and how it feels on the road.

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This post is syndicated with permission from GamerFront.net

We’ve seen a lot of LEGO video games over the last few years, most of which have been a lot of fun. Well the guys in charge decided it was time to branch out from the RPG games that they’ve been so focused on of late and bring us LEGO Battles. This real-time strategy game for the DS lets you take command of pirates, wizards, spacemen and more. But does it deliver the fun?

The game has several different campaigns to play through, each from a different LEGO theme. Each campaign is broken up into three acts, which get progressively harder. The game is great for those unfamiliar with RTS titles, and walks you through every little step at the beginning. After a couple of battles you’ll be building towers and commanding your men like a pro.

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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 Chris Scott Barr

Talking on the phone while driving can be something of a hassle when you don’t have any sort of handsfree device. I have had the opportunity to check out one of the latest offerings from Parrot in this department. The Minikit Chic is a sleek little device that clips to your sun visor and offers a little more than some similar products on the market.

The first thing you’ll notice (other than the floral pattern) is that there really isn’t much to this little device. It’s roughly the size of my iPhone, only a bit thicker. You’ll find two buttons, a knob, a USB port and a clip. The clip is obviously for attaching it to your visor, while the USB port is used for charging and interfacing with your computer if needed. All of the functions you’ll use are controlled by the knob and two buttons, which seems rather simple for all it can do.

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By Chris Scott Barr

Last year I reviewed Scosche’s passPORT iPhone adapter, which helped me to charge my iPhone when I was in my car. Well earlier this year they released their home version of the passPORT, which did the same thing, only for the iPhone docks that you have sitting around your house. I got my hands one of these, and put it through our grueling review process.

Much like it’s mobile cousin, there really isn’t much to this device. It fits any dock that uses the standard iPod dock, so as long as you’re not using the iBoo or iPanda (which have really funky docks) you should be good. Just remove the dock insert from your device, insert the passPORT Home Dock and put the dock insert into the passPORT. That’s really all there is to it.

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By Ian Chiu

Elgato – a long time Apple peripheral maker – has been making FireWire and USB TV tuners since 2002. Its EyeTV Hybrid USB TV has now received a third update, bringing Clear QAM, reportedly improved HD reception and better EPG to Mac couch potatoes. Despite being called a hybrid, the EyeTV is not a “dual” tuner, meaning you cannot watch analog and digital channel at the same time. Its software fortunately supports a second tuner if you get a EyeTV-compatible model.

Everything USB in its recent review has tried to watch two live 1080i HD streams on a 2Ghz Core Duo MacBook just fine, but ironically, switching both tuners to analog resulted in lack of USB 2.0 bandwidth error due to the uncompressed video format used by EyeTV Hybrid. The USB gadget site also praised the hardware quality; improved TV recording software; and Wi-Fi streaming capability to iPod touch & iPhone. Though, be prepared to come up with 7.5GB of HDD space for every hour of 720p HD program.

[Elgato EyeTV Hybrid 2009 Mac TV Review @ Everything USB]

By Andrew Liszewski

Once a privilege only enjoyed by kings, presidents and software magnates, electric toothbrushes have come down in price over the years to the point where you can now pick up a basic model for around $10. However, those looking to pimp out their bathroom with the latest in high-tech gear will be happy to know that there are still electric toothbrushes on the market that cost well over a Benjamin. Like the Oral-B Triumph for example, which currently sits at the top of the heap when it comes to consumer-level dental care. But is it worth the investment? Check out my full review after the jump for those answers, and more!

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This post is syndicated with permission from GamerFront.net

When most people think about PC gaming, they envision a sweet desktop with the latest and greatest components. However, not everyone chooses to go the desktop route. Unfortunately for those that do go with a laptop, heat becomes a major issue. There’s nothing quite like having your game interrupted because your computer shut down to prevent overheating. There are quite a few different solutions on the market today, but I’m going to show you the Cryo LX Notebook Cooler from NZXT.

The last time we took a look at something from NZXT we were impressed, so I had high hopes when I dug into this Cryo LX cooler. If I were to judge this simply based on weight, it would definitely win an award. It’s made from solid aluminum, so the weight doesn’t come as too much of a surprise. You certainly don’t have to worry about it moving around on you while you’re gaming. Surprisingly it does fold up partially to make it easier for transporting.

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By Evan Ackerman

The Clarion MiND (which I will herein capitalize as normal) is supposed to be a lot of things. It’s supposed to be a GPS, an internet tablet, a media player, and more… All stuffed into one sleek and portable package. It’s a brilliant idea, an idea that a lot of companies have been trying to make happen for a long time. So is this what the Clarion Mind is? A video explains it all, plus my review, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »