Oh! Gizmo

By Chris Scott Barr

We’ve heard about 802.11n wireless devices for a while now. In fact, 802.11 was first introduced over 7 years ago. There have been devices released in the years since (remember pre-N stuff?), and the Draft-N was finalized back in 2007. Well, it seems that IEEE has finally ratified the standard. Seriously, it took 7 years to get this done. There were almost no changes to the standard from the draft made back in ‘07. Seriously, if they already knew that the Draft-N was going to work with the final standard, why did it take this long to finish things?

VIA [ Electronista ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Having a 3G card can really be handy if you’re on the road a lot. Unfortunately some places don’t get the best coverage. Thankfully many cards have a port to connect an external antenna, which can significantly boost your signal. But what if your’s doesn’t have such a port? In that case, you get a Modem Mate external antenna.

This cool antenna has an adapter that clips onto your 3G card and couples inductively with the internal antenna. That allows you to boost the signal by up to 2 dBi, which should hopefully get you that extra speed to get things done. The antenna itself can clip on the top of your laptop’s screen, where it will likely get the best reception. If you’re a road warrior that needs to squeeze every bit of bandwidth out of your 3G data card, then this might be $56 well spent.

[ Nova Media ] VIA [ Electronista ]

By Colin Ackerman

Now that wireless routers are cheap and ubiquitous, there’s one way that a router can separate itself from the rest of the pack: features. The D-Link DIR-685 Xtreme N Storage Router takes this concept to the Xtreme (okay, sorry, no more of that) by including a 3.2″ LCD, room for a hard drive, and a whole bunch more. We’ve got a full review for you, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

In a press release dated June 19, 2009, Sanyo has seen the future, and it’s a new LCD projector that happens to be the first with built-in 802.11n wi-fi. Using its “Video Streaming Function” the LP-WXU700 can stream video across a wireless LAN (supporting MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, and WMV files) or take advantage of Vista’s ‘Network Projector Function’ making it particularly easy to setup. Other notable features include WXGA resolution (1280×800), 3,800 lumens, picture-in-picture, a 1.6X optical zoom lens and an HDMI connection in addition to the standard projector hook-ups.

The LP-WCU700 will ship on June 19 in Japan for about $6,400.

[ PR - Sanyo LP-WXU700 ] VIA [ SlashGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Oh look! Another pocket-friendly device for hunting down wi-fi networks. From my experience these things never work as well as you’d hope, but at least this one doubles as a ballpoint pen so carrying it around isn’t a complete loss. Pushing a small button on the end of the pen will cause a series of 4 LEDs to light up, indicating the signal strength of a nearby wi-fi hotspot, though it’s limited to B/G networks and it doesn’t provide any indication if it’s locked down or not. But at just $13.99 from USBFever.com, I don’t think anyone’s expecting that much from it anyways.

[ Ball Pen with Wi-Fi Detector ] VIA [ Gear Diary ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Up until recently my computer has been in close proximity to my TV, but now that they’ve parted ways, I’ve lost the ability to easily connect them up without having a VGA cable running between rooms. But that’s exactly the problem the Wireless USB to VGA adapter from IOGEAR solves. The USB adapter pictured on the right connects to your PC or laptop, while the VGA adapter on the left connects to your external display, getting rid of those unsightly cables in-between.

Now the range is limited to about 30 feet but you can push a half-decent resolution of either 1600×1200 (UXGA) or 1680×1050 (WSXGA+). The IOGEAR site also claims you can stream videos up to 720P in resolution, though the range is then limited to about 15 feet, and you’ll need a system with at least a 2GHz CPU. But even with those limitations it seems like a nice alternative to trying to hide cables under a rug, and you can order one directly from the IOGEAR website for $229.95.

And on a side note, even though I find it hard to believe, this is officially my 3,000th post here on OhGizmo! Thanks to everyone who checks out the site every day, I hope I’ve educated or entertained at least some of you. And thanks to David for hiring me all those years ago, and to my fellow writers here at OG! and to all the gadget bloggers who help make this job as entertaining as it is.

[ IOGEAR Wireless USB to VGA Kit ] VIA [ Jonzee ]

By Evan Ackerman

We’ve been fans of Eye-Fi cards since they were prototypes in 2006. I mean, what’s not to be a fan of? It’s a SD card that automatically uploads all your pics to your computer or the website of your choice over WiFi. Cool!

Now there’s a bunch more to be a fan of, as Eye-Fi has released their next generation of cards. The new cards have 4 gigs of storage, and can upload not only pictures, but also video (even HD video) to YouTube or Flickr. They’re available in two versions: the Explore costs $99 and includes low-res geotagging and hotspot access, while the $79 Share doesn’t include these features. You can preorder the new cards now, and the should be shipping by the end of the month.

Meantime, the original 2 gig versions of the Eye-Fi now start at only $49.

[ Eye-Fi ]

By Evan Ackerman

There aren’t very many smaller (or cheaper) ways to add 802.11 b/g/n connectivity to your computer than this minuscule little wireless adapter from Buffalo. It measures 16mm x 33mm x 8mm, and features easy push-button connectivity to many routers, and should be available this February for about $25.

[ Buffalo (Translated) ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]

By Evan Ackerman

Electronics used to be just a bunch of humming beige boxes with blinking green lights. We’ve made a lot of progress in the last decade or so, and now electronics are mostly humming black boxes with blinking blue lights. This vase router take a refreshing approach, forming a wireless router into a sort of nuclear power plant shape with space for a flower in the top. If it’s got space for water in there, I imagine you could fill it with soil and actually get something to grow, and the radiation from the router will undoubtedly cause all kinds of exciting and potentially horrific mutations. Like exploding petunias. Kaboom!

Or, you could just set a vase on top of your existing router and try to grow something in that. Your call.

VIA [ Dezeen ]