Archive for the ‘Accessory’ Category
TV Tuner cards, Tivo, DVR’s are of great convenience allowing you to record your favorite programs for later viewing. But what if you are on the move and want to watch the latest episode of Family Guy which was just shown. Sounds impossible, well not if you are in Japan and have the IO-Data GV-MVP terrestrial broadcaster installed on your PC. What installed this nifty card can record your favorite programs and using NTTDoCoMo’s FOMA service you can check whats recorded and even set the recording from your mobile phone hundreds of miles away. What’s more once you have selected the recording you can watch it on your mobile phone in real time as it is streamed from your PC. This service costs a measly 525 Yen ($ 5) per month.
The keyboard has come a long way from the days of being a simple input device and much of the advancement in keyboard design has come from the needs of the gamer. Long (long, long) ago we first saw a mock up of the Optimus Maximus keyboard that used tiny little OLED screens for the keys. That keyboard taunted us with vision of sweetness for years before it finally came to market in 2007 at a price few were willing to pay despite how cool the keyboard is.
The makers of the Optimus Maximus keyboard, Art Lebedev Studio’s, have announced it is working on a new project that will go along side the Optimus Maximus and the Mini Three devices already on the market. The new device is called the Optimus Pultius and sports 15 keys. The Pultius looks like a number pad and has the same OLED keys we are familiar with. The device also has on USB port for connecting other devices as well. Pricing is unknown and availability is set for late 2008 or early 2009.
Music fans tend to have vast libraries of digital tracks stored on their computers and PMPs like the iPod. Samson has announced a pair of new StudioDock systems that are aimed at users looking to hear their digital music from more than one device. The Samson StudioDock 3i features USB connectivity allowing users to play digital music libraries from their PCs on the speakers.
On the top of the StudioDock 3i is an iPod dock compatible with most iPod’s including the nano. The dock can sync, charge and allows for playback of music from the iPod. The StudioDock 3i has 3-inch magnetically shielded speakers with a 25mm silk dome high frequency driver. Power for the dock is 15 watts per speaker and the system features a front panel 3.5mm aux input, headphone output and volume control. The MSRP for the StudioDock 3i is $149 per pair. Samson also announced a StudioDock 4i that offers the same features but has 20W of power per speaker and larger 4.25-inch drivers.
The 3-Button unique USB mouse from Thanko features a 3-button layout with a scroll wheel and a 2-inch fan built into the palm base of the mouse to help keep you cool during the lengthy work sessions. The mouse comes with an on/off button for fan and can be used by both right hand and left hand users. Thanko USB mouse cooler mouse USBCOOLM measures 6 x 12.6 x 4 cm and is available for approximately 1,980 yen ($18), from Thanko. The mouse is compatible with Windows 2000 (SP4) / XP (SP3) / Vista (SP1).
Flash drives come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, but if you want one that evokes nostalgia, look no further than the MIXA 2. It is sequel to last year’s successful USB tape cassette, and the most notable improvement is the retractable USB connector. You can either outfit the sleeve with your own custom design and optionally spice it up with ‘mixa bits’, or simply pick one of the pre-made images. The color of the tape however is limited to black, white and turquoise. The recent re-launch means the MIXA can fit into a conventional tape box, but MIXA is still going to need a USB extension cable considering how wide the drive is. This is no doubt another novelty flash drive so don’t expect to slip it inside your tape deck for MP3 playback through your car stereo. The MIXA tape (1GB only) goes for £19.99, worldwide shipping will come at extra cost.
For whatever reason, toasters are redesigned entirely more often than most any other kitchen gadget, but the Trapdoor Toaster may actually be an alternative worth checking out. First off, the item you see above is no concept — as a matter of fact, it’s available for purchase right now at Hammacher Schlemmer. Essentially, this thing inhales bread, bagels and frozen waffles, toasts ‘em to your preferred level of brown / black and then shoots them out below onto a serving tray. Sadly, this removes that iconic eject function that makes traditional toasters so fun to watch, but it does prevent you from scalding your fingertips as you try to dig out slices from the fiery slots. Novel? You bet. Worth the $79.95 asking price? Not on your life.
For spreading olive oil evenly on bruschetta, focaccia, and grilled or roasted vegetables, and for spraying muffin and cake pans with vegetable oil, this dispenser is a nifty tool. A plastic cap underneath the sprayer’s top twists off so the sprayer can be half-filled (1/3 cup) with oil. Inside the top is a plastic tube that fits over the spray nozzle. Push the top up and down to pump air pressure into the canister. Then spray for 10 seconds and pump up again. It’s simple, ingenious, and practical. With its cap on, the sprayer stands just 7-5/8 inches high, so it tucks away easily on any countertop. Made of satin-finish aluminum with a black-band accent, it’s sleek as well as utilitarian.
Features
- Pumps up to spray any vegetable oil
- Spread olive oil on focaccia or spray muffin pans
- Satin-finish aluminum
- 7-5/8 inches high by 1-7/8 inches in diameter
- To clean, fill with hot water and a drop of mild detergent, and spray
If the PlayStation 3’s Eye of Judgment ever got drunk and made some bad decisions in Tokyo’s nefarious Kabukicho district, the resulting offspring would probably resemble this Cyber-Maid Augmented Reality device from Geisha Tokyo Entertainment. The "Dennoh Figure ARis" (Cyber Figure Alice), on sale this fall, will come with all manner up alternate reality upskirts, strip teases and "augmented" promiscuity. And yes, because you asked, it comes with a virtual poker.
Alice comes with two marked cubes and two similarly marked sticks. Using a webcam to track the cubes and sticks, the software displays your personal maid onscreen. You can then use the sticks to, well, this is perhaps best said in pictures.
RATOC system introduced new mini Wireless Audio amplifier for your computer, the RAL-AMP01. Our new mini-amplifier can be connected to a computer thanks to a 2.4GHz USB transmitter. This device provides a Data rate transfer of 4Mbps.
This Amplifier also provides an output power of 2×10Watts, an impedance of 8 Ω, a frequency response of 20Hz?20kHz(-0.3dB), features RCA input/output, a speaker output terminal, and Jack mini output (3.5mm).
Lastly, it measures 138×180×125mm for 2.6Kg and it should cost around 240€
Anthropics has released Portrait Professional 8, its automated portrait retouching software. This release is available for the first time on the Mac platform, but only for Intel Macs.
Among the highlights of the new version are:
• Smooth, recolor and thicken the hair
• Control the eyes and mouth in much greater detail
• Change the eye color of the subject
• Save and use multiple changes at once with Saved Slider configurations
• Improved User Interface: Help, Tutorial and Undo functions
A free trial download is available at the Anthropics site. We previously reviewed the earlier Windows version.