Oh! Gizmo

By Evan 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 ]

By Evan Ackerman

The somewhat ironically named company Cables Unlimited announced yesterday that their wireless USB adapter kit is now for sale in various places including Amazon and Fry’s Electronics for about $80. No special software is necessary, it’s as simple as plugging one adapter into your computer’s USB port and the other into the USB port on the device up to 30 feet away, and letting your computer recognize the connection just as it would if there was a USB cable there.

According to the instructions, it works on USB hubs as well as individual devices, meaning just one adapter set can be used for up to 127 different USB devices. If that’s not enough flexibility for you, Cables Unlimited will at some point be selling the adapters separately, so that you can use multiple wireless USB devices with only one receiver on your computer. It would be cool if you could also use multiple receivers to share a wireless USB enabled device on multiple computers, but I’m not sure if that’s part of the deal. And needless to say, there’s no wireless power transmission, so these aren’t going to be able to directly power things like webcams (or USB volcanoes).

[ Amazon ] VIA [ Engadget ]

By Andrew Liszewski

When it comes to price, this $48 tiny wireless keyboard from Brando can’t quite compete with their $25 super tiny keyboard I wrote about back in September. But when it comes to functionality, I think the extra $23 is worth it since not only do you get a whole mess of other shortcut buttons making it particularly useful for an HTPC, but it manages to squeeze a trackball in there as well. As one of 5 remaining people on Earth who actually likes trackballs and wishes someone would use them on a laptop again, I definitely like. And while the 2.4Ghz wireless USB receiver definitely isn’t the smallest one on the market, it does allow for a half-decent operating range of about 32 feet. The keyboard can be ordered now on the Brando website, but it won’t start shipping until the beginning of November.

[ Brando 2.4Ghz RF Wireless Multimedia Tiny Keyboard ] VIA [ GadgetGrid ]