Gadgets Base

Posted Mar 8th 2008 6:54PM by Paul Miller
Filed under: cellphones
We’re sure there have been some really great Java Micro Edition apps developed over the years, we just haven’t been fortunate enough to find any that aren’t a Bejeweled variant run into many of them. But that could very well change with the news that Sun is using that fancy new SDK to develop a Java Virtual Machine for the iPhone, which it expects to have ready “some time after June,” and which will allow iphone users access to the vast libraries of existing JME apps. We suppose the real conundrum now is which Java ME app we’ll grab first: Harry Potter, or MapQuest Mobile. These choices, they overwhelm us.

[Via Mac Rumors]

Asus has just released a new travel mouse that in design is similar to a large tube of lipstick or a block from the game Jenga, with it’s miniature design and compact buttons the MS71 still allows for the basic functions of every mouse with two buttons and a scroll wheel. If you look closer you’ll find the the back portion of this little guy pops off and plugs into your computer which acts as the wireless transmitter for the mouse, and also at the same time acts as a thumb drive. The storage capacity of this device is unclear at this point but with the increasing storage in micro devices these days I would not be surprised to see a few gigs in there. Personally I’m wondering how practical this travel mouse really is, I could see maybe for very light use and for people with smaller hands and such but for someone like me with larger hands I don’t see this playing into my life any time soon. 

Via [New Launches]

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We saw the Eee PC pick up an incredible, almost cult like following and with that came more mods and hacks than most of us could even imagine. It has taken some time, the Cloudbook has gotten off to a slow start, but that seems to be coming to an end. A decent community is starting to get going behind the Cloudbook, albeit not as large or devoted as the Eee PC has, but still its getting there and I am sure it will continue to grow with time. With the community getting behind the Cloudbook we are beginning to see some cool new mods, along with some tips and tricks that make the gOS-based ultra-portable a little more user friendly.

Being dubbed the “Dreambook” a user by the name of Azazel has added some very cool mods including a touchscreen display, internal 4-port USB hub, a GPS unit and 4GB’s of internal memory via a flash memory stick. In this case the internal webcam suffered and was removed due to the need for some extra space, but with all those other goodies on the inside I am sure its very easy to live without a 0.3-megapixel webcam. Very good news on the “internal” Cloudbook front, according to Azazel “there is a lot of room to work with!” Sounds good to us, while I am not quite brave enough to tear into mine, I am excited to see what the future brings.

If you are interested in the Cloudbook or looking for some cool stuff the user forums over at Cloudbooker is a great place to check out the budding community.

Read [Cloudbooker]

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Posted Mar 8th 2008 4:20PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Misc. gadgets
Automating Etch A Sketch units to pull off all sorts of mesmerizing tricks is certainly not new, but angelabuilds’ beautifully created Etch A Sketch clock truly is a notch above the rest. Reportedly, it was built upon the Arduino platform and obviously references a few other EAS masterpieces, but we really can’t think of a better wall clock for the true geek. Click on through to check out a video of the unit drawing 11:41 and moving on to 11:42 — seriously, watching the seconds tick away has never been more riveting.

[Via MAKE, thanks Nick]

Posted Mar 8th 2008 3:40PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Networking
CeBIT and Powerline seem to have a thing for one another, and sure enough, this year we’re seeing yet another firm storm onto the scene in an attempt to advance the flagging technology. London-based En-Twyn set up shop in Germany to showcase its En-Compass, which doesn’t require any special wall cutouts and differs from most other Powerline systems by packing its electronics on the backside. In other words, you won’t have any unsightly adapters protruding from the front. Beyond that, everything else works as expected — Ethernet signals travel over your existing home wiring setup — but unfortunately, the product is still stuck in prototype stage at the moment.