Gadgets Base

Remember the Meccano Spykee that was seen at CES last year? Well, it still hasn’t been perfected just yet, but a micro version is already ready to rock and roll.

The RC unit controls his forward and spin motion, as well as firing off his three sound effect features, and lighting up his head and base (which looks well cool at night of course). He’s basically your very own pet mini robot and driving him about is curiously addictive. The great thing about his tracks is that his movement is highly effective on any surface, whether it’s a slippery desktop, or a deep pile carpet, he’s really not fussed. His arms and head are articulated, so you can position them into a multitude of anthropomorphic gestures, and his beeping, sirens and various wooshing sound effects are, we imagine, the equivalent of futuristic cyber chatter. Maybe one day all pets will look like this.

Funny how big brother Spykee has not been launched yet while its Mini Me is already rolling about to stores for £19.99.

Who doesn’t want to dry themselves with a nice, warm towel? The Private Resort Towel Warming Shelf does the trick, although you have to cough up $119.95 for one of these in your bathroom.

This compact heated shelf keeps towels comfortably warm, dry, and within easy reach while saving valuable floor space. Heat from the rails rises up through stacked towels and accumulates for maximum thermal retention and dispersion throughout the whole towel, so bath linens are pleasant to the touch whenever you use them. The efficient 65 watt dry heating element draws as little power as a standard light bulb so it can be left on continuously and can’t leak like oil-filled or hydronic towel warmers. The rack can also be used to dry damp hats and gloves in chilly winter weather, or to aid drying of bathing suits or delicate articles of clothing. The shelf also has a non-heated bar for hanging towels or other bath items. Commercial grade steel tubing stands up to years of use and has a polished chrome finish. The illuminated power switch tells you at a glance that the shelf is operating.

Well, there’s not much use of this in spring, but at least grab this before the next winter arrives.

I must say that wireless technology is very welcome - when was the last time you took a peek at the mess of cables right behind your desk? Wasn’t a pretty sight, was it, and chances are you’d find wayward stationary, nail clippings and even a booger or two that was flicked in that direction by an ingrate of a colleague. With our lives being so busy all the time at the office, it makes perfect sense for something like the SpaceStation to exist. Check out the product description right after the jump.

An extended desk organizer for laptop users with internal coiling pins conceals all the cords that usually sprawl over the desk. Hovering just 5mm above the desk, cords are free to enter or exit the hub at any point – on the side to connect a scanner, the front for an ipod, the back for a laptop or camera. An internal 4-port USB hub will keep all peripherals connected. One USB plug exits the station right where needed to connect a laptop. Just tip the front of the SpaceStation up to access the hub and cords.

The rubber pad is the place to rest a laptop, raising the back to create an ergonomic keyboard angle and allowing airflow underneath. It is also a surface for placing a phone, and daily accessories for easy access. A rear accessory railacts as a great business card slot and sports a handy page holder to keep all the paper you want standing upright next to your laptop for easy reference. The extended design will bring the cords to their accessories on the left or right side of the laptop. The computer may be placed centered or offset leaving space for a full letter sized page and other accessories.

The SpaceStation retails for $79.95 each. Al, I think it’s high time all of us CG writers got one of these…

Source: Crave

Posted Feb 25th 2008 3:36AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Robots
We’ve seen some pretty fantastic replicas grace the always fascinating pages of eBay before, but this particular creation is apparently hitting home with quite a few wealthy nerds prospective buyers. The fiberglass reproduction of Gort from the famed 1951 classic The Day The Earth Stood Still is currently sitting just above $4,000, and there’s still quite a few hours left for bids to fly in from other galaxies. Unfortunately, the winning bidder will be forced to trek to San Francisco to pick it up, but at least you can look forward to checking out its tilting visor and array of sound effects before it melts your wallet and calls you master.

[Via Technabob]

Posted Feb 24th 2008 11:24PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Gaming, GPS, Handhelds
Well, well — what have we here? Apparently, this PSP (developer’s edition, we’re told) was spotted at the Game Developers Conference in California attempting to showcase how well the gaming handheld could handle navigation. Unfortunately, the underground nature of the booth resulted in a slightly inaccurate reading, but we’re sure it’ll do quite alright under normal circumstances when it’s (hopefully) loosed in the not-too-distant future.

[Via NaviGadget]

Posted Feb 25th 2008 1:39AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Laptops
While many stores are slashing down hd dvd player prices as much as management will allow, it seems that one diehard supporter is casting a blind eye to the whole format war meltdown. Rock — which tooted its own horn after making HD DVD standard on many of its laptops — hasn’t changed its approach one iota. Even now, the firm is still offering up internal HD DVD drives (and writers) in a plethora of its machines, and curiously enough, there’s not even an option to select a Blu-ray or combo player. C’mon Rock, we know you’re just trying to clear out inventory, but at least give prospective buyers a choice in the matter, would ya?

Read - Pegasus 670
Read - Xtreme 770
Read - Xtreme SL8
Read - Xtreme SL Pro

Posted Feb 25th 2008 12:17AM by Ryan Block
Filed under: cellphones, Gaming
We keep on telling people that the iphone and Wii are like totally going to be huge, but maybe they’ll finally believe us now that Jon Stewart trotted both out on stage during the Oscars this year. Oh, and perhaps now would be a good time to remind everyone that voting is still open on the 2007 Engadget Awards. (Wii shots after the break.)

It seems Sprint users have something to look forward to, a new selection of phones to choose from. A selection of new phones are expected to be launched on April 16 and seem to offer a nice selection.

First up is the LG LX400, a clamshell phone with Qchat push-to-talk network compatibility. Next up are a few models from Sanyo, the PRO-200 which is a slim clamshell that is expected to retail for $249.99, the PRO-700 which is a rugged phone that is dust and shock resistant that is expected to retail for $269.99 and the Katana LX which is a budget minded phone that will show up in pink, black and blue. Wrapping the new additions is the blackberry Curve 8830 in a new titanium color, which will join the existing black version.

In addition to the phones Sprint is also expected to add the Sierra Wireless 597 data card, which is also expected to hit the lineup as of April 16.

Via [SlashPhone]

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Posted Feb 25th 2008 2:15AM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Laptops, Storage
Solid state is still what gets our motors purring, but 500GB of storage in your laptop isn’t anything to scoff at, either. Fujitsu’s new MHZ2 BT is the second drive to hit the half-terabyte mark, but just like the Hitachi 500 gigger it’s a non-standard height (12.5mm), meaning you won’t be able to slap it in most laptops or enclosures — unless you’re willing to shave out an extra ~3mm of surrounding matter. Expect ‘em out in May.

Walking up to your house’s door and searching for the right key can be quite a hassle, especially when you live in an area where all the streetlamps aren’t working, no thanks to the poor job of the local municipal council. Fret not - the LockLite allows you to see which is the right key to use in a snap.

This ingenious gizmo transforms any standard round-headed house key (Yale etc) into a powerful LED torch. Simply snap the slimline stainless steel assembly on to your door key and you’re away. To activate the ultra bright LED just press the rubberised pad and a lock-dazzling beam of light shines directly ahead up to 3 metres. It’s quite literally brilliant!

At £4.95 a pop, I would say the LockLite is worth checking out.