Coolest Gadgets

Here’s another power strip that’s made to help you save some money on your energy bill. Instead of allowing your home theater system to suck power even when it’s not being used, you could plug it into this Belkin power strip. It’ll make sure that those items are not allowed to use up power when the TV is not on at that particular moment. You just plug the TV into that bright green spot and it’ll understand when the TV is on or off. When it senses the TV is off it’ll kick off the 5 items plugged in directly next to the TV and it’ll turn them on automatically when the TV is on. There are also 2 outlets for other items that you don’t want to be turned off with the TV. You can purchase the power strip for $29.99. Source: OhGizmo

Having a little light within reach is always nice. It comes in handy for those times your phone falls off your car seat and slides way back to a dark corner or for some strange idea you can’t seem to find the keyhole on your door. For those cases you could have a very grownup looking Lego City Key Light attached to your set of keys. These keychains come in policeman, construction worker, fireman and just the normal minifig versions. Each one is the normal size of a minifigurine, they just happen to have 2 white LED lights attached to their feet. Plus, they have a handy little keychain attached to their heads. You can purchase one for $9.95 through the Neatoshop. Source: Neatorama

Whenever you’re serving dinner, gravy is notoriously the first thing to go cold. That’s no fun when you’re dying to dive into some steaming hot mashed potatoes and find yourself left with lukewarm mashed potatoes after the gravy has been poured on top. Thankfully it turns out there’s an electric gravy boat out there that won’t require you to trip over any cords. The Electric Gravy Boat has a warmer that will hold sauces or gravies at their ideal temperature. The boat itself is made out of ceramic and has an oversized handle to help you keep a hold of the entire thing. It has an on/off switch and a detachable cord that’ll let you charge it up and remove the cord. You can wash the boat itself in the dishwasher, but the electronic part will have to survive on being wiped clean. You can purchase one for $20.46 through Amazon. Source: GadgetGrid

Take a look at these images here on the left. They aren’t really NSFW, but apparently some airport employees at Lagos airport in Nigeria are wanting to see them. Yes, there are employees who will “sneak off to the cubicle where the 3D full-body scanner monitors are located during off-peak hours and enjoy themselves”. This is disturbing, isn’t it? You can take comfort that these scanners tend to blur the face. So even though some airport employee at Lagos may have seen you naked, they have not seen your face. Unless they leave the cubicle, and do a compare and contrast with the other passengers. So if you have been to Lagos airport, you might want to ignore those people giggling at you. I suppose we all knew that Body Scanners can see through clothes, and yes, it is quite an issue of our personal civil liberties. I have a very short list of people that I am comfortable being naked around. However, if this is a sample of what the TSA employee sees, I don’t fee

If you have never heard of Sunrise, Florida, don’t feel too bad. As it so happens, Google didn’t have this city on Google Maps. This happened for about a month, and it has apparently been the third time that this city has been eradicated from Google existence. If you tried to search for Sunrise businesses, you will be redirected to Sarasota, Florida, which is a city about 200 miles away. That is hardly nearby, and not even close to the same spelling except for the letter “S”. Boy, does this explain why you do a Google search for one thing and get a results list of five things completely unrelated to it. Apparently, there has been people of Sunrise who have complained about losing business because they were not acknowledged by the big Goog. You know what this reminds me of? The Simpsons Movie . There is a scene where the EPA seals off the entire town of Springfield in a giant plastic dome, and manages to eradicate the very memory of the town by simply eliminatin

Lotion is a common item to find in a woman’s purse, so you might as well disguise gadgets as commonly found items. At least that seems to be the Japanese gadget makers way of thinking. After all, they love to model their gadgets after food, jewelry, compacts and many other items you’d find lying around. I suppose if anyone were quickly rummaging through your purse for something to steal they’d at least leave this one alone. These Colurful Tube Speakers come in yellow, pink, green, blue and black. Each one will hook up to your audio devices and work as a portable speaker. I sincerely doubt it’ll have top of the line sound, but it will be highly portable and inconspicuous. Each one of these sells for 1,980 JPY or about $23.20 through Strapya World. Source: Gizmodiva

Lotion is a common item to find in a woman’s purse, so you might as well disguise gadgets as commonly found items. At least that seems to be the Japanese gadget makers way of thinking. After all, they love to model their gadgets after food, jewelry, compacts and many other items you’d find lying around. I suppose if anyone were quickly rummaging through your purse for something to steal they’d at least leave this one alone. These Colurful Tube Speakers come in yellow, pink, green, blue and black. Each one will hook up to your audio devices and work as a portable speaker. I sincerely doubt it’ll have top of the line sound, but it will be highly portable and inconspicuous. Each one of these sells for 1,980 JPY or about $23.20 through Strapya World. Source: Gizmodiva

This is the Vdara hotel, and it has an amenity that most hotels don’t have: a death ray. I’m not talking about some big Death Star with the ability to annihilate a planet, but it does make the swimmers more than uncomfortable. As you might have guessed, it is not a deliberate death ray. No, it is an architectural anomaly that has to do with the building’s concave shape. Put some glass on this, and the sun rays are reflected onto the pool area. The heat is apparently enough to melt plastic bags and even burn some of the guests. By the way, the designers of the Vdara hotel had some foresight of this problem, and put a film over the glass panes of many of its windows. Still, it created this death ray effect. Apparently, the Walk Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry, the one with the weird curved angles and highly reflective surfaces has caused some similar “death ray” effects. Of course, the worst case scenarios were people who had to turn up their air con

Mention the name Kingston Digital and chances are you will have flash memory come into your mind, with tons of USB flash drives as well as memory cards being released by the manufacturer to date. Of course, I’m pretty sure that all of us own at least one Kingston USB flash drive that we picked up at the shop or even at trade shows. Well, the company has just rolled out its latest CompactFlash Ultimate 600x memory card to the masses recently, where it is capable of supporting UDMA mode 6 and offers read and write speeds of up to 90MB/seconds – now how about that? Such performance figures would automatically boost the Kingston Digital CompactFlash Ultimate 600x memory card to the top of the pile in terms of speed, making it suitable for high-end digital cameras and other devices. According to Mike Kuppinger, Flash card product manager, Kingston, “The Kingston CF Ultimate 600x cards are great for photographers shooting in burst mode. For example, in a situation like a weddi

So we know that the entire Star Wars saga is going to come in fill 3D glory from 2012 onwards, and for those whose favorite episodes are in the latter part of the space opera would be disappointed to know that George Lucas will be releasing his movies in sequence – which means you might have to wait until 2017 if Return of the Jedi is your favorite. Having said that, you can get a piece of Star Wars action from tomorrow onwards in the form of the Droid R2-D2 smartphone from Verizon Wireless, where this limited edition smartphone will feature a graphic design that resembles the iconic Astromech Droid from the Star Wars saga. This Motorola-manufactured smartphone will also look great in the box itself, where it will feature a custom box that resembles carbonite while featuring a Star Wars media dock and wired stereo headset. Of course, as with many other limited edition smartphones, this one will also feature exclusive content such as R2-D2 notification sounds and ringtones,

Love living life in the fast lane? Then you will most probably find the Fast Track Race in a Case one handy piece of work. This £19.99 purchase literally allows you to set up a race within seconds, but of course you will need an adequate amount of batteries to get it going. With this, you can tear up the tarmac (well, plastic would be a much more appropriate and accurate description) to just about anywhere you like within seconds. To get it up and running, just flip open the portable case, slot together the compact figure-of-eight circuit, line up the sub-Eccleston-sized cars, grab your hand-throttle and you’re good to go. The remote itself is a no-brainer to use, all you need to do is give it a squeeze and your racer will pick up additional speed.

Chop! Chop! The Personal Soup Chef is perfect for you to get your favorite soup recipe going in no time at all. After all, it is capable of chopping up your vegetables automatically without the price of nagging at you for all your other faulty traits. It is capable of simmering broth at the optimal temperature to make nearly two quarts of homemade soup with minimal human intervention. Inside the soup cooker lies food processing blades that will slice vegetables and gently stir ingredients as they cook. Nice to see the manufacturer throw in a digital timer as well, letting you set it up to 24 hours in advance so that the cooking process can begin even when you are not around. Depending on the soup that you’re cooking, the temperature can be automatically set from 104º F to 248º F to simmer or rapidly boil the contents. There is also a removable basket that keeps herbs, meat, or stock bones immersed in the soup as it cooks yet enables you to easily strain them from the fin

I usually keep a flashlight near the backdoor of my house, so it’s handy if I need it, but this Solar Window Light would be just as useful. Instead of grabbing a normal flashlight when you need a little illumination, you could pull this light off of the window. After hanging out on the window all day long it’ll have plenty of juice to keep you from tripping over random tufts of grass in your backyard. This comes with 2 AA ni-mh batteries that get charged through the solar panel. When it’s on you’ll be able to see the full power of 6 LED lights. Just attach this to a window that gets plenty of light and after it gets a full charge it’s capable for running for up to 12 hours. You can purchase it for £19.99 or about $32 through Nigel’s Eco Store. Source: Envirogadget

Are you one who loves dressing up your living room tastefully? Well, here is something else that you might want to look into for a different look and feel to the place when the sun sets. We’re talking about the Hypnotic Illumicube which is actually a clear acrylic cube that has been filled with 64 multi-colored LEDs which will systematically illuminate in 500,000 different combinations. That amount of combinations will definitely go a long way in producing a mesmerizing light show, especially so at night. Each LED is capable of generating 1,000 different colors, and when they illuminate in unison or in succession, you can be sure that your eyes are in for a treat. All 64 LEDs are full well capable of emitting a vibrant crimson hue which will slowly fade to magenta, where each row may illuminate in succession to create waves of rolling light, or the LEDs may light-up one at a time to produce a flaring, twirling light streak. The LEDs themselves are able to last up to a who

There is just something about the Star Wars space opera that has had its fair share of fans with each passing generation (so far). Having made its debut a good 30 years ago, we wonder just how much farther can this cash cow be milked? Well, for quite some time more, we suspect. Just check out these Star Wars cuddlies that won’t break the bank at £29.99 each, where you can choose from R2D2, Darth Vader, Chewbacca and Yoda designs. All of them will come with their own characteristic sound effects, where R2 will beep a whole lot, while Darth Vader seems unable to clear his throat (with all the money and power at his disposal, he can’t even find a good specialist), while Chewbacca yaps away like a distressed walking dog with old man Yoda rambling on and on. All it takes is a single squeeze for them to make a sound or phrase, how cool is that?

One of the best parts about going to the hairdresser is having someone else tend to your hair. That includes the relaxing process of having your hair washed, but Panasonic is now about to unveil a robot that does the job for people. If having a robot hold your head in their metal hands creeps you out then you might want to be careful of outlining your wants when your kids pick a funeral home for you. This Panasonic gadget is meant for nursing homes to take some pressure off of orderlies dealing with the elderly. Although some elderly are quite calm, others become very violent with age. The sixteen robotic fingers wash hair after scanning the exact shape of the head. The three motors use just the right amount of pressure for shampooing, rinsing and even giving a bit of a scalp massage. It will even remember the person’s shape of the head for later usage. Although it’s incredibly creepy thinking about a robot giving your head a rub down, I suppose it’s no more stra

Table tennis can be a tricky thing to practice when you don’t have any help. Thankfully there is the IPong for those of you that don’t have anyone to help you out with those practice sessions. It’s a very funny looking device, but it’ll send out as many little yellow balls as you need to keep your ping pong paddle moving. It’s very similar to a tennis ball machine, it just happens to dish out ping pong balls instead. By turning a handy little knob you can select one of 3 spin settings. There is the underspin, topspin and finally the heavy topspin. The trainer will hold 110 balls and even has an adjustable speed dial that can dish them out from 12 to 70 per minute. You can pick one up through Hammacher Schlemmer for $149.95. Source: UberReview

Emergency lights are quite necessary in case of a fire or power outage, but it isn’t always clear which way you should run. This is a concept known as the LED Escape light, and it allows the victim of an emergency to actually see where to run. It has a “portable LED electric torch which will feature an integrated projector to project a map so that you can find your way out accurately”. I have an idea of how to improve on this. What if there is a way to project images of the green silhouettes that you see in this picture. Maybe they can be moving across the walls with some working projector lights. Of course, someone has to be the guy who charges the batteries on these guys. I guess emergency lights have to have some sort of program on them to make certain that they are charged. I have worked at two companies where power outages have occurred, and there was always emergency lighting. I always wondered how the emergency lights could light up if there was a power ou

I thought I would celebrate the release of Iron Man 2 on DVD and Blu-ray today by reporting on a real-life iron man exoskeleton. This is the XOS 2 from Raytheon Sarcos, and it is a lot more bulky than the armor from Mr. Tony Stark. It actually reminds me of the power loader suit that Ripley wore in Aliens . The suit is able to boost the user’s strength. You can see here that the wearer is punching through several layers of wood like a karate master. It is also designed to make a 170 pound weight feel like ten pounds. Sadly, the power source stems from a very thick cable from the back. So it is going to be a while before there will be one of these on every soldier. I’m guessing that would be a very expensive endeavor, too. Still, if you were to put them on every soldier, you would definitely increase their endurance as well as strength. Imagine doing a ten mile hike that only feels like one mile. Yes, the future is looking pretty bright for the future of exo

We have reported on many cool alarm clocks here, and many of them involve making the user do some activity in order for them to get up in the morning. For example, the Flying Alarm Clock, which has a propeller device on it that you are going to have to catch and place back on the clock itself, should you want any Snooze time. This one is merely a concept, at least for now. I don’t believe it has a name just yet, but for the sake of comparison, let us call it the rolling alarm clock. After all, the concept is similar to the Flying Alarm Clock, but instead of a propeller flying toy, it starts a ball rolling. This ball, which I assume has a light weight, is flung into the user’s face in the morning, and then rolls all over the place. If you want the alarm to stop going off, then you’re going to have to find that elusive rolling ball and put it in its place. Okay, this is the time to ask why we need alarm clocks like this. Are we really so wanting sleep so bad that

I’m sure you have noticed that using an escalator can traditionally take you up or down, and in a straight line. The Levytator (pronounced like levitate-or) is designed to take escalators to all sorts of dimensions. As you can see in this picture, these escalators are very curved. There is a video of this technology after the jump so you can see it demonstrated. You can see that an escalator can be put along a structure, and how one of these can go up, down, around curves, and even make flat moving sidewalks. The video doesn’t give me any indication how this works. As far as I know, an escalator is nothing more than a tank tread that can somehow move into a stair-step form. The Levytator can somehow keep its shape throughout. However, once they get this technology perfected, just think about how cool it would be to have museums with moving walkways and stairs so tourists can simply stand and relax while the movement is being done for them. Hey, I got a weird id

Lefties have the predicament of using items always made for right handed people, while righties have the issue that they’re just like everyone else. If you’re wanting to change that there is now a process that can do that for you. It’s done by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation or just some well thought out magnets. I’ve always been a lefty and despite the occasional setback I’ve always enjoyed that I am left handed. I can’t really say that I’ve ever wanted to switch, but it could be fun to have stronger abilities in my right hand as well. When they tested this on 33 righthanded volunteers, they noticed they began to favor their left hands for smaller tasks. It’s hard telling how many other things could be taken care of with strange little magnets. Source: Ubergizmo

I have yet to find a reading lamp that works for the setup in my living room, despite my desperate attempts to find one. Those of you that have a hard time finding proper lighting and comfort for your nightly reads might take a look at this silly looking OttLite LED ComfortLite. It’ll make reading a book a little easier. That nub on one side is where you’ll get your lighting from. Since it is LED it won’t produce much heat or any glare. The pillow is pretty obvious, it is shaped to give you the optimal amount of comfort in your neck. It’s a very silly looking device, but if it’s comfortable then that really doesn’t matter. You can purchase one for yourself for $29.99 through OttLite. Source: Bookofjoe

Halloween is a fun time of the year, you get to see what over the top decorations people will come up with. If you always wished that you could be a part of such creations, then you now have a chance. One man creates these huge Halloween displays and asks for pledges to do his projects. Well this year he’s making a giant steampunk display, but that’s only if he raises the $2200 that he requires. They only have 15 days to go to meet their goal. They do have 60 backers, and not far to go though. The vehicle is meant to look as if it has drilled through the ground and right out into the creator’s driveway. If this is even slightly as good as his past creations, then it would definitely be worth the money. You can check out his previous works by going here. Source: Gizmodiva

There is nothing quite like laying in bed all day long, hoping that the dreaded alarm clock will not ring at all. Well, that is mostly because the majority of alarm clocks out there do nothing but create a really huge din when it goes off – not good for ears, and even worse for those who suffer from a weak heart. After all, no one wants to get jolted awake rudely from their beauty sleep, do they ? LARK Technologies has come up on an answer that has been implemented before in terms of the idea, albeit they do it slightly different this time around. We’re talking about their flagship silent waking system known as LARK Up, where it is targeted to revolutionize the way consumers wake up each morning. Just how does LARK Up work, you ask? Well, it is able to awakens consumers without the need for a jarring alarm, and in the process it does not disturb the sleep of a loved one as well. LARK Up is able to do so since it wakes one person silently and peacefully thanks to the iPho

USB 3.0 is the way of the future and Toshiba knows it, which is why the Japanese tech giant has come up with the Toshiba Canvio 3.0 Portable Hard Drive which will be equipped with a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface to get you off the ground flying. USB 3.0 will basically deliver up to 10 times the speed of a USB 2.0 drive, albeit without having to balloon your cost substantially. Depending on your storage needs, the Canvio 3.0 will be able to cater them in three different sizes – which are 500GB, 750GB and 1TB. Nice to know you need not worry about anything else such as software installation as well as pesky cable connections, since the Canvio 3.0 is full plug-and-play, boasting pre-loaded backup software as well as backwards compatibility with personal computers and other devices equipped with USB 2.0 ports. This will be the latest addition to Toshiba’s Canvio portable hard drive family, and those who are familiar with it won’t find it hard to get off the ground once the Ca

We all know we really shouldn’t leave our electronics on as much as we do, but not all of us are that great at applying that knowledge to change old habits. Truthfully, I’m not as good at it as I’d like to be and I know I’m not the only one. These HiSaver Powerbars are perfect for the well meaning PC user that just hasn’t been able to kick those nasty habits. This works by using motion sensing technology. You plug in your speakers, printer and monitor into this power strip, then when it notices no one is around it’ll just kill the power to those devices. It’ll wait ten minutes of lack of motion before it kills the power. You can purchase this for $109.99. Which is a lot, but hopefully it’ll pay for itself after a while. Source: SlipperyBrick

At first glance this clock seems to be absolute chaos and like it’s missing a hand. However, once you realize how to read it the clock immiately makes sense. This clock is meant to show that odd relationship between order and chaos. It’s also managed to land itself as my new favorite clock. In the picture above the clock reads 12:10. The hand points to the minutes while the hour is merely indicated by the number that actually reads clearly. The numbers shift around to come together or to form something besides the gibberish you see on the rest of the clock. Before writing up this clock I thought my eyesight was perfectly fine, but clearly it must have gone horribly wrong. Otherwise I would swear that the clock is priced at 2000 USD, but maybe they forgot a decimal point somewhere. You never know. Source: Neatorama

Sanyo’s PLC-HF10000L QuaDrive projector is something that you might want to look into if you have the budget as well as the needs – after all, those who want an authentic cinematic experience would do well to check it out. Boasting a resolution of 2048 x 1080 pixels which by far exceeds the requirements for Full HD resolution, it will come equipped with Sanyo-exclusive QuaDrive technology, making it a native widescreen 3LCD projector that can deliver a mind-shattering 10,000 ANSI lumen brightness with a very wide color gamut, making it the perfect solution if you want to target mid- to large venue presentation markets. Check out what the Sanyo PLC-HF10000L QuaDrive projector has to offer in the extended post. First of all, more on Sanyo’s QuaDrive technology – it will be able to throw in a yellow color control device to the red, green and blue elements of the projector’s existing 3LCD system. Being able to automatically control the amount of yellow light in the image, yo

Hula hoops still have their perks for kids, despite the age of that classic toy, they do still seem to attract attention. However, if you want to update a clear hula hoop, you could always check out this way of adding some technology to your current hula hoop. With this it’ll give the kids a miniature light show while they play. It would be a whole lot of fun to play with this once the sun has gone down. Plus, you’ll always be able to keep track of the kid’s location as long as they’re with this. If you’re curious how to pull this off, Make was kind enough to take you through the entire process. The difficulty is ranked at moderate while the time required is 2-3 hours, so all around it’s not a bad Sunday afternoon project. Source: Crunchgear

Hmmm, audio streaming is catching on these days as the amount of content available gets more and more by the minute, not to mention the easy availability of hardware. After all, streaming audio from one room to another also helps save costs in a household, since you no longer need to purchase separate audio playback units or devices for individual rooms. Sonos knows this, and plans to leverage on such an idea in the form of the Sonos Wireless Dock, which otherwise goes by its model number WD100. This will function as an accessory to the award-winning Sonos Multi-Room Music System, letting you play all of your favorite music from an iPod or iPhone in every room of the house. Let us see what the Sonos Wireless Dock offers in the extended post. Available from the end of next month onwards for $119, the Sonos Wireless Dock is certainly worth looking into. According to Phil Abram, President, Sonos, Inc., “The Sonos Wireless Dock is the perfect accessory for our music loving

Seagate’s latest FreeAgent GoFlex ultra portable drive will carry 1.5TB of storage space in a mere 2.5-inch form factor, making it the world’s first in the process. Already available in the market if you are interested, this is one way for you to store all of your favorite digital memories and content on a single device, regardless of whether you are running on a PC or Mac platform. Just what does 1.5TB offer you? Well, on average, that would equal to 60 High Definition movies, or 750 video games as well as countless hours of digital audio and thousands of photos. What makes the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex ultra portable drive different is also the inclusion of USB 3.0 connectivity – a good idea since transferring up to 1.5TB of data is going to take a while if you use USB 2.0. While it has started to ship Stateside, the rest of the world will be able to have a crack at the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex ultra portable drive later this year. All of them will ship with a USB 3.0

Stereoscopic 3D entertainment looks set to be the next big thing, especially after what Avatar had done for the movie industry on the whole. After that, surely you would have come across a slew of 3D movies, and it is safe to say that none of them actually lived up to what Avatar delivered, making them more of an afterthought instead of being primarily a 3D movie. Well, that hasn’t stopped hardware manufacturers of consumer electronics to deliver 3D devices into your living room, what with a slew of 3D HDTVs being touted at CES earlier this year. This time round, the focus has shifted to projectors, and Sony’s inaugural 3D front projector would come in the form of the VPL-VW90ES. Designed with the custom and specialty consumer electronics market in mind, the VPL-VW90ES is the first projector from Sony to be branded with their very own “Elevated Standard” (ES) moniker, which points toward a high build quality and outstanding video experience. Not only that, it was also s

We are living in a digital age these days, there’s no doubt about it. Well, to make sure that you keep up with the times and preserve your favorite memories of yore, you might want to check out the Professional’s Image Restoring Digital Slide Converter. What makes this device tick is the fact that the scanner itself will rely on the award-winning Kodak digital image enhancement software to convert and restore 35mm slide images to their original quality. Its magazine alone is capable of accepting up to 50 slides simultaneously, scanning them one-at-a-time, which can result in large-scale conversion projects if you so desire. Not only that, individual slides can be previewed thanks to the built-in light panel. At its highest setting, it can achieve a full 3,600 x 3,600 dpi resolution scan, where a single slide will require up to 2 minutes’ worth of scanning time in order to preserve your favorite memories for all eternity (as long as there is a viable back up plan, of cours

Have £59.99 to splash around, but are not quite sure on just how impulsive you would like to get? Then why not use that money to get you the Aerolatte Hot? This could very well be the convenient tool for coffee lovers everywhere, as it is full well capable of frothing and heating up your milk to the optimum temperature, making it ready for you to tip it onto your delicious cup of java while sprinkling your favorite condiment over the top, be it some chocolate powder or even nutmeg and vanilla powders. This might just help you discover that you have latent barista skills that have yet to be discovered. Made out of a special non-stick material which will not have you grapple with horrible burnt milk stains on it, cleaning it is a snap – requiring only a quick rinse and a wipe. A special sensor has been fitted within to detect and heat your milk to perfection, and each Aerolatte Hot can let you make anywhere from one to four coffees’ worth of delicious, hot, frothy white mil

They say that a picture speaks a thousand words, and what you see on the right hand side is just about right. We’re looking at what looks like everybody’s favorite astromech droid at first glance, the venerable R2-D2. Well, upon closer inspection, you might notice that Artoo (as he is affectionately called) has a vacuum cleaner attachment connected – what does it all mean? The answer is pretty simple as it is obvious, Agent Spiff’s imagination has come up with a vacuum cleaner which has been modified so thoroughly on the outside, it looks as though the real R2-D2 is standing there right in front of you. Of course, this is but a Photoshop job, but imagine the possibilities of an Electrolux Artoo. After all, if you have a R2-D2 Droid Edition for a smartphone, why not a vacuum? Source: Technabob

There is nothing quite like a pair of good scissors at home ready to pounce upon any cutting action when the need arises, don’t you think so? Well, the Smart Sizzors is one £9.95 purchase that you would probably find useful to have around, since it is somewhat akin to Superman – the Man of Steel. This multi-purpose steel scissors is equipped with hardened, razor-sharp blades that is able to slice through even tough materials like hot knife through butter, not to mention other multi-purpose uses such as crushing garlic, stripping wire and opening bottles among others. Boasting comfortable soft grip handles, it will play nice with both left or right-handed users while an adjustable tension bolt enables you to tighten them up if they ever work loose. If MacGuyver had a pair of scissors, this would be it.

We have covered a lot of interesting faucet concepts in the past, such as the spacial interaction one, the one that requires not touching to turn on. This is another concept known as the “No More No Less”. It allows the user to specify the amount of water that you get before you even turn it on. So you know how you have recipes that call for certain cups of water? You will be able to get that amount from the faucet itself, without ever using a measuring cup. Considering I have a way of losing measuring cups, I wouldn’t mind having this on my faucet. By the way, this faucet is able to control the temperature of the water as well as the amount. All of this control is possible with an LCD display. In case you are wondering what is powering the display. Consider it hydroelectric. Somehow, all of the water gushing through this faucet can power up this screen. I don’t think there is any technology on the market that can do this yet, is there? Well, like I said, this

I’ve never really been big on making slushies, but with a machine this cool I might be converted. Having this in your kitchen will make you feel like you’ve managed to find yourself in an old fashioned ice cream parlor. Plus, being such a convenient machine this will make your novelty drinks quick and easy to make. Easy is nice when it comes to treats after dinner. This has an easy pour spout and 20W of power. It’s made to be simple to use as well as easy to clean, which is nice for those of you that hate doing the dishes. You can use your personal favorite fruit juices or flavors. You could probably also add a little alcohol for adult drinks after the kids go to bed. You can purchase the Retro Slush Maker for £49.95 or about $80 through the Prezzy Box. Source: Retrotogo

If you’re still on the lookout for the perfect rustic looking USB drive, this one isn’t too badly priced. It actually has a minor flaw so it’s slightly cheaper. It’s the perfect deal for anyone dying to own something steampunk, but can’t actually stomach the price tag. Plus, it helps if you’re into all things covered in scorpions. This 4GB USB drive is made out of a brass tube with an etched scorpion on one side. Above the scorpion is an amethyst cabochon. It turns out that amethyst is meant to strengthen memory, so they decided that a memory stick could use the extra boost. As for the flaw, the cabochon has a slight hole that only shows when it’s plugged in. You can purchase it for $99 through Etsy. Source: Gizmowatch

Steelseries has come out with yet another keyboard for gamers to pick up. Instead of being made for just one game, this one is able to handle interchangeable keysets. This way if you decide to drop WoW and switch to a FPS game it doesn’t require you to pick up a new keyboard. Plus, with the Shift Keyboard it offers several different ways to personalize it to the point that you’ll be able to use it the way you want. The entire keyboard is fully customizable, all of the keys can be programmed to do something else. The layers are easy to switch out, so it won’t consume too much of your time when you’re dying to just hop on the computer and start gaming. Being a Steelseries keyboard you can count on that it’s a high quality keyboard and that it’s obviously ergonomic. You can pick yourself one up for $90. Source: TechFresh

Remember when we reported on that Geneco VW Beetle that can run on human waste? Yes, there were a lot of great jokes made on that one, the best ones in your comments. This one particular project also sounds like a joke, but it is an experiment by conceptual artist Matthew Mazzotta. This is a way of powering lamps at parks by one thing that parks have way too much of: dog doo. Yes, here is how it works. You pick up the dog doo at the park, and then toss them into the bags and into the “methane digester”. You can then turn a crank to stir the waste up, which will break down the microbes in the organic material and create methane. This methane is fed up into a gas lamp which burns it, thus creating light from the flame. As you can see, the project has a catchy name of “Park Spark”. It is pretty cool to see some waste disposal get combined with clean energy. After all, we have do something to clean up the waste and use it to create power. Isn’t this what saving the

Sure, many people have Roombas and other related products for cleaning up their floors, but very few robot products do windows. In fact, this Windoro product could be the first of its type that I have ever seen. It was developed by South Korea’s Pohang Institute of Intelligent Robotics (PIRO), and it was shown off at IFA Berlin 2010. Windoro uses both water, detergent, and rotating pads to clean the glass on both sides of the window. Apparently, these sides of the robot window washer are held together by the neodymium magnets. I suppose that this would be good for cleaning off a sliding glass door or something, not tiny individual window panes. However, I think where this is really needed are high-rise office buildings with glass facades. Unfortunately, you need someone on both sides of the glass. So I guess you will need that guy who hangs off of the cables outside and some guy inside to put on the other end. You will also need that guy on the inside when you g

For those who run establishments that need a TV outdoors (al fresco dining, anyone?), or for folks who have a really large back yard and want to enjoy their favorite series and movies privately, why not consider what SunBriteTV has to offer? This unique 22-inch all-weather outdoor display was specially concocted to cater for either category, making a splash at CEDIA EXPO 2010. The 2220HD will be available from October 15th onwards for $2,095, and before you go about screaming just how expensive that is for a 22-inch TV, hear us out in the extended post. Do not judge a book by its cover, and in this case, don’t judge a consumer electronics appliance by its price. According to Lynn Stearn, SunBriteTV’s Vice President of sales and marketing, “Great things do come in smaller packages. Model 2220HD is designed to meet the needs of CEDIA dealers who are looking for multi-room integration for the up-close-and-personal viewing areas, such as the barbecue, for the spa or any oth

Are you a real klutz that you have dropped your netbook or notebook for more times than you care to remember? If that is the case, then you might want to check out a more durable device which can withstand such punishment – we’re talking about the Panasonic Toughbook U1 Ultra. What makes Panasonic’s offering so different from the rest? Well, it not only delivers improved sunlight visibility, it also runs off Windows 7 and boasts some pretty decent performance figures for a device in its cass. For its display, the Toughbook U1 Ultra is equipped with a TransflectivePlus display for up to 6000 nit viewability in direct sunlight, while being accompanied by a 64GB solid state drive, 2GB RAM, an Intel Atom Z530 1.6GHz processor and Windows 7 as the operating system of choice. It’s target market? Those who are involved in highly mobile jobs including direct store delivery (DSD), eCitation and vegetation management in markets like supply chain management, public safety and utilit

It seems that the next big thing when it comes to mugs these days would be for the ability of such mugs to change their color or pattern whenever some hot beverage is poured within. Not wanting to be left behind the times (Dr.Who has always been pretty forward looking after all), the Heat Changing TARDIS Mug will show the TARDIS sitting calmly in London – at least until you decide to pour in hot liquids. London will then disappear, where the TARDIS is suddenly seen as floating in outer space, now how about that? Each mug can hold up to 12 ounces of your favorite beverage, letting you drink to your very own (literally) out-of-this-world adventure conjured by your imagination. You can pick this up for $10.99 if you’re interested.

The mind of a child is a truly wondrous thing, or something in the same vein was muttered by Master Yoda back in Attack of the Clones when Obi-Wan was trying to locate the Kamino system in the Jedi archives. Well, you can let your imagination run free and child-like with the Death Star Planterium, a device that is capable of turning your dark room into that of the Star Wars galaxy, now how about that? To make matters more interesting, this tabletop planetarium itself resembles that of the Death Star, hence its name. It can not only project the Star Wars galaxy and planet names, it also has a much more down-to-earth (pardon the pun) feature in the form of projecting the Earth’s night sky as well. Good to know it comes with a fun and informative learning guide to make the toy all the more interesting. The Death Star Planterium is powered by a trio of AA batteries, where you can bring one home for the kids for $27.99.

Usually I write down the history of a photo as I put it in an album. That way if I forget or someone else seeing the album wants to know, it’s easy for them to glance at it and know. However, if you’re just not big on writing or would prefer to leave your voice behind instead, this Photo Album Story Teller will let you record the story behind each and every picture. The great benefit is that you can have your Grandmother tell the story on some old pictures and you’ll get to hear it from her perspective. With each picture you put on a little sticker and the device scans that sticker. It will then play the story that goes with it out loud. The kit comes with 500 stickers, so you do have a limit on the amount of pictures you can do this on. Just in case the device gets compromised you can back up your recordings on your computer. You can purchase it for $99.95 through First Street Online. Source: GeekAlerts

I’m sure you have at least heard an ornithopter before. It is essentially a flying machine that has wings that can flap like birds. If you haven’t heard of it, perhaps you have seen it. For some reason, my mind has images of black and white films with people in machines with odd flapping wings that never get off the ground. I’m sure that when these old reels were filmed, it might have been tragic. After all, these guys wanted to be the Wright Brothers, but now their attempts are spliced together with a soundtrack that is plucked from America’s Funniest Home Videos. Some guys at the University of Toronto have created the “Snowbird”, and it has a 105 foot wingspan, weighing 94 pounds. By the way, the pilot had to lose 18 pounds in order to fly this thing. The Snowbird managed to make it up in the air for about 19.3 seconds, and flew for 475 feet. It was only for 20 seconds, and can go at 16 miles per hour. It’s hard to believe that mankind has actually achieved