Gadgets Base

Sony has just introduced a new dock for iPhone and iPods, that has the double function of working as an alarm clock - call it the ICF-ClipMK2.

In terms of functionality with the Apple products and making life easier for the users, there is a remote control to navigate on the iphone and ipod menus, so you can easily pick a song, change the volume, etc.

As for the alarm clock, it offers 3 ways to wake up: the normal and irritating buzzer, radio, or your favorite songs. While this is a dock made for iPods, you can also connect other players thanks to line-in jack, and the included cable.

The Sony ICF-ClipMK2 is priced at $100 and will become available in May.

Adjustable brightness control over the LCD display provides easy readability.

via Akihabara

Ah, remember the days of Tupperware parties? It seems like it was only yesterday. Actually, they still do them, but there is a new trend in this marketing campaign: Taser parties.

That’s right, these are parties devoted to Tasers. According to my source, the idea was conceived by Dana Shafman, and it is where the lady of the house invites all the other ladies and shows them the latest trends in Taser-ware. The cute little electric guns you see to your left are just a few in the latest trend of taser fashions.

I suppose taser parties give housewives and other Pyramid company users the chance to make a little money on the side while giving others a feeling of security as they carry around some serious electric stunning action. Please remember that these tasers aren’t as harmless as say, mace or pepper spray.

I can just see someone trying to promo these: “Now I’ll demonstrate this on Debra.” ZZZZap! “And guaranteed for maximum shocking! Now available in nine different patterns to accessorize with anything!”

I realize that this seems obvious, so I’ll say it in writing: “Don’t tase us, bro, don’t tase us.” Once these parties get around, though, it will be too late.

Source

Taiwan based GPS manufacturer, Marbella, recently announced their new and exciting GPS, the NAV-8800. The main difference of this GPS and the others in the series is that this model comes with a little bit bigger screen at 4-inches. Also, like many other GPS units, it uses the SiRF Star III GPS receiver.

Additionally, this GPS acts a lot like a PMP in the sense that it displays photo albums - which can be cool to show off whenever you are going to a relative or a friend’s house. Also, it has an mp3 player and can play videos, however, no word on formats as of yet. What’s more is that it comes with a really nice integrated 2-megapixel camera. Lastly, it comes with a digital TV tuner, an optional DVB-t box, and support for rear view cameras.

For a great GPS like this, I would imagine it would be a little bit on the expensive side, however, if you are looking for a good quality GPS and live in Taiwan, I would definitely consider this one. No word on pricing or availability as of yet.

Via [NaviGadget]

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Apple announced today that iTunes has become the 2nd largest music retailer trailing Wal-Mart.  Apple states over 4 billion songs have been sold through the service and love to toss around the 20 million served up on Christmas Day 2007.  Apple bases its data on an NPD report.

Apple says it has captured 50 million iTunes users, which if my math is correct, means an average of 80 songs per customer.  Does that sound right to you?  I’ve got more than that.

Can anyone not see a day when iTunes passes Wal-Mart?  Clearly Apple is dominating in online music sales thanks to their players and the ease of use that is the iTunes experience.  With no independent music store pressure, Apple is reaping the benefits of a virtual monopoly.

Site [iTunes]

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PC World reviews the AT&T Tilt and writes, “The device can function as a full-featured mobile computer, thanks to its mobile versions of Microsoft Word and Excel, its multimedia playback (via syncing with Windows Media 10 on your desktop), and its built-in GPS for use with the TeleNav GPS Navigator (an extra-cost service priced at $10 a month for unlimited routes). Whether you use the Tilt to type notes or to watch videos, its revolutionary adjustable and angled screen makes viewing a pleasure. And, hey, it’s also a versatile cell phone.”

Read more about the AT&T Tilt.

FogScreen has brought one- and two-meter walk-through projection screen made up of dry fog in the past, and now the company wants to collaborate further with advertisers so that their brands will be able to be presented in an entirely new medium. This shift in the vehicle of choice will definitely attract the attention of consumers, and what better place to debut this new technology than at the Las Vegas Nightclub & Bar Convention which will be held this week. this week.

The FogScreen One (one meter) and Inia (two meter) both utilize patented technology to create a thin layer of fog that is dry to the touch and environmentally safe. The one-meter-wide screen provides the option of seamlessly linking with additional FogScreen One projection devices to create a fog-canvas as large as the imagination desires. Both the FogScreen Inia and One have fully interactive capabilities that can be implemented as well.

Today, the Apple store was down worldwide - and this means some of your favorite Apple products have received an upgrade!

The MacBook Pro received a ton of new features today: the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, larger hard drives and 2GB of memory standard (upgradeable to 4GB!), the latest NVIDIA graphics processors (with up to 512MB of video memory) and the Multi-Touch trackpad (first introduced in the macbook air) in addition to all the standard features all MacBook models have.

From the Apple press release:

Build-to-order options for the MacBook include the ability to upgrade to up to 4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, a 160GB or 250GB hard drive, Apple USB Modem, Apple Mini-DVI to DVI adapter, Apple Mini-DVI to VGA adapter, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare® Protection Plan.

The 2.4 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US), includes:

* 15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 LCD display;
* 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB shared L2 cache;
* 800 MHz front-side bus;
* 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
* 200GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
* a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
* NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256MB GDDR3 memory;
* DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video adapter sold separately);
* built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
* built-in iSight video camera;
* Gigabit Ethernet port;
* built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
* ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
* two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port and one FireWire 400 port;
* one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
* Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
* 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.5 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:

* 15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 LCD display;
* 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache;
* 800 MHz front-side bus;
* 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
* 250GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
* a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
* NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB GDDR3 memory;
* DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately);
* built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
* built-in iSight video camera;
* Gigabit Ethernet port;
* built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
* ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
* two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port and one FireWire 400 port;
* one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
* Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
* 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.5 GHz, 17-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,799 (US), includes:

* 17-inch widescreen 1680 x 1050 LCD display;
* 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache;
* 800 MHz front-side bus;
* 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
* 250GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
* a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
* NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB GDDR3 memory;
* DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately);
* built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
* built-in iSight video camera;
* Gigabit Ethernet port;
* built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
* ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
* three USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port and one FireWire 400 port;
* one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
* Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
* 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options for the MacBook Pro include the ability to upgrade to up to 4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, a 2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 200GB (7200 rpm), 250GB (5400 rpm) or a 300GB (4200 rpm) hard drive, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter, Apple USB Modem, glossy widescreen display, 17-inch LED-backlit 1920 x 1200 high-resolution display and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

Available right now at the Apple Store.

[Apple.com]

When you work on computers, one of the easiest ways to pull data off of a hard drive is to plug it into a different working PC. Rather than actually cracking the case on said PC, one of my favorite tools to use is an external USB adapter. While this method is much easier than putting the old hard drive inside of your computer, I always wondered if there was an easier way. As it turns out, there is.

This cool dock from Fujitsu actually lets you use a hard drive in the same fashion as your ipod when you want to sync it. Just slide in the hard drive and you’re good to go. This eliminates any of the annoying cables that you must plug and unplug with the traditional adapters.

It appears that this handy gadget is only compatible with SATA drives, though with an adapter will work with both 2.5 and 3.5-inch drives. Look for it to arrive in Korea by the end of this month, unfortunately availability in other areas and pricing are yet unknown.

Source: Aving

This is high in the, “I didn’t know that” ranking.  Apparently, when you get a Gmail email address you actually get two: your regular @gmail.com and a @googlemail.com.  Both email addresses get to you.  Perhaps Google wasn’t sure the “Gmail” name was going to take off? 

No matter, as here is a handy trick you can use to further filter your mail.  By giving the @googlemail.com address to your close and trusted friends and family, you can set up a filter to always allow their mail to get through leaving the @gmail.com address to be more of a catch all.  Less spam that gets to you is a good thing.

Read [Digital Inspiration]

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Every now and then I see a product that will just have environmentalists up in arms. Usually these are products that use unnecessary amounts of power for nothing more than one’s own amusement. However, this time it’s simply a battery that is intended for a single use. This Cellboost will keep your iPod going during those times when you absolutely must listen to some tunes.

This iPod-compatible Cellboost is exactly what it sounds to be. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Cellboost, which gives you power for your phone for short periods of time. I understand the use of such a gadget, as phone calls can be extremely important, if not life-saving in some cases. However, I wonder just how much one might actually need to listen to music.

If you don’t really mind the fact that you’re buying a battery that you intend to use only once (mind you I haven’t purchased a non-rechargeable battery in years) then this product is pretty cool. It will work with any dockable ipod and will net you up to 8 hours of playback. The price isn’t bad, as you’ll only be charged $5.99.

Source: Crave