Gadgets Base

The Washingtonpost reviews the Samsing Ace and writes, “The 1.3-megapixel camera captured decent snapshots, but the shutter speed was a little slow (as with most camera phones). The Internet connectivity is zippy, and the oversize Web search bar is a nice touch when you’re dealing with the small font size. Among the other included features are stereo Bluetooth, a memory card slot, and Windows Media Player 10 Mobile with support for Windows Media music sync.”

Read more about the Samsung Ace.

If you haven’t been able to get your hands on one of the coveted iPods so far, but you love the look of them this memory stick would be cheaper and cute.  It doesn’t quite have the sleek look of the iPod, but instead goes for a cuddly lovable version.  Just flip it open and inside is a memory stick to hold all of your data. iPod owners could even carry this around to show their love for all things ipod without having to worry about the real thing getting stolen.

Now that the Touch has been out for a while, this style is a little outdated.  However, somehow I doubt that the little squinty eyes placed on the Touch would look nearly as cute.  It of course only comes in the classic white as featured on all iPods.  The USB drive comes in two sizes, the 1GB for £19.95 ($39) and the 2GB for £24.95 ($49).  If you’re interested, they are both in stock over at BoysStuff.  Although on this particular product I don’t really think that it can be written off as a guy thing.

Source: fosfor

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Think about how many junky cars you see people driving. Where do you think those cars will be in five years? Rotting away in some landfill no doubt. Old car parts can be used for so many productive purposes, rather than gathering dust on some abandoned lot.

Armando Ramirez proves that old cars are so much more than mobile junk piles. He creates these awesome recycled chess sets made from old automobile parts. Each chess set is custom made, each piece composed of the heavy and rustic remnants of an old car.

For example, the heads of the bishop pieces are made using NGK and AC DELCO spark plugs. Each set is completely unique, each with their own individual touches. A truly green process using recycled parts into a product for modern use. You just can’t beat that if you’re a chess player with a heart of green.

Each set will set you back $207.95 which really isn’t bad as far as custom made products go. But what you get in return is a true piece of art. A recycled game with a true rustic pseudo-steampunk feel. We imagine it’s products like this that provide inspiration to all of you green industrial plotters out there.

Product Page via Gizmos For Geeks

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It’s not everyday that you use an cordless phone (remember what those were?), let alone see one that catches your eye. For those of you who still actually have a landline, you might want to consider upgrading your handsets to this sleek new VTech model. It sports both a great design, the most advanced technology, and the added appeal of customization.

The VTech LS6117 is inspired by skateboard and snowboard designs and can be customized to fit every season. Operating on DECT 6.0 technology for crystal-clear conversations, the LS6117 includes interchangeable graphic inserts for customizing the back plate, and the option to create and print your own artwork online.

Some of the key features are: DECT 6.0, 50 calls Caller ID/call waiting, digital security so people can’t drop in on your calls, and it won’t interrupt/interfere with your WiFi signal. It also has a 50 name/number phonebook, any key answer, is a qualified Energy Star product,

The VTech LS6117 is now available with a MSRP of $44.95.

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by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 6th 2008 at 11:05AM
As we’ve seen, laptops have a tendency of getting stolen from even the most unsuspecting places, but a new study has now found one not entirely surprising place where your laptop is particularly unsafe: the airport. According to the Ponemon Institute, more than 10,000 laptops are reported lost at the 36 largest airports in the US each week and, of those, 65 percent are not reclaimed. They also reported a further 2,000 laptops lost at medium-sized airports, with 69 percent of those not reclaimed. According to the institute, folks also aren’t very confident that they’ll ever see their laptop again once it goes missing, with 77 percent of the people surveyed saying they had “no hope” of ever recovering a laptop lost at the airport, and 16 percent saying they wouldn’t even do anything to attempt to recover it. Of course, there’s no shortage of suggestions out there for preventing your laptop from getting lost or stolen, and Network World’s Richard Stiennon has a couple of good ones at the link below.

[Via Network World]

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Filed under: Laptops

by Ryan Block, posted Jul 6th 2008 at 3:10PMSo LAPTOP magazine published a report confirming what most people already believe to be true about SSDs (that is, before last week when SSDs supposedly hit the fan): they use less power than traditional drives. Apparently they got an extra 20 minutes battery life when testing an SSD against a platter-based drive in an Eee PC and Gateway T-6828 (which jibes with our own experiences using SSDs in laptops), but if you ask us, the discussion is seems a little moot. SSDs perform way faster and are far better suited to portable computing where drives are moved, bumped, and jostled — the power savings is great, but the speed and reliability are still our top two reasons for going SSD.

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Filed under: Storage

Every time I see an oxygen bar I’m always picturing President Skroob sucking air out of a can and claiming there is no air shortage to the public.  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, well then, you’re disowned.  Well, okay I suppose as long as you promise to redeem yourself and go rent Spaceballs.  This oxygen bar at least has more perks than a simple can of air, but in my head it’s pretty much the same principle either way except with one extra difference.  This one is to feel relaxed and in Spaceballs it was because they were running out of air.

While you’re breathing all of that pure and clean oxygen you can also listen to soothing sounds through the headset.  It has a spot to add a little aromatherapy and you can put in a drop of essential oils.  The air is pumped into your system through the headset, which has a piece that sits right in front of your mouth.  Basically like a headset with a microphone, only this is blowing expensive air at you.  For one of these it will cost you $299.95.  Pretty sure I’ll just stick with my not entirely pure, free air and just burn some incense to relax.

Source: chipchick

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Summer is the time for hot dogs. And we mean of the canine variety, of course. Yeah, frankfurters are delicious at BBQs, baseball games, and the occasional quick meal, but we’re not talking about meat here. We’re talking about our four-legged companions. Man’s best friend. The dog.

Any pet owner (as long as they don’t own a camel or scorpion) knows that pets and extreme heat don’t mix very well. While dogs might love laying out in the sun and catching rays just as much as we do, you can tell from their panicked panting that the heat is just too much for them to bare at times. The Pant Master 2000 keeps your doggy cool in the dog days of August. And oh yes, that pun was certainly intended. This is one of the coolest gadgets, literally.

While canines might have some sort of internal stress calculator which measures their limits, they certainly don’t have the mental capacity of (most of us) humans. So of course, they are more susceptible to overheat if they can’t tell just how much stress they’re putting on thei bodies. The Pant Master 2000 is a cooling vest which keeps even the most active pooch chilled in the summer sun.

Its light, tough, and waterproof material allows the Pant Master 2000 to be non hazardous to the dog’s body as well as accumulation of no stinky doggy smells. Available in blue or orange, depending on your pup’s preference. You can grab your own for between $50 and $62 from SkyMall.

Product Page via Random Good Stuff

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This is a very cool idea for campers and festival followers, the pocket shower, fill with water, hang from tree, get clean.

The pocket shower comes in a fist sized bag but can hold up to 10 liters of water which is enough for a 7 minute shower. The water reservoir is made from a thin black material which absorbs sunlight and solar heats the water. This is probably one of the few showers you’ll enjoy when camping.

You can buy the pocket shower from I Want One of Those for $26.98.

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by Darren Murph, posted Jul 6th 2008 at 9:04AM
If you found yourself infatuated with Samsung’s YP-U3, you’re sure to love the U4… we think. There’s a complete dearth of information regarding the device itself, but given that it already has a placeholder and image on the outfit’s Korean Yepp site, we’d say there’s a pretty good chance it’ll be getting real soon enough. Hold tight, miniature DAP lovers, Sammy won’t keep you in the dark much longer.

[Via AnythingButiPod]

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Filed under: Portable Audio