Gadget Access

On top of the Rota and the Athletes, there is a new USB hub on the market available at USBGeek, and it has the shape of a cross.

Thanks to the uncommon shape, the hub offers four USB ports, which are more than enough to suit the needs of a “normal computer person”.

One of best details is that you don’t need to worry about the size of USB gadgets that you want to connect to the hub, because they can all be plugged-in at the same time.

- Dimension: W58 x D58 x 14 mm
- Weight: 55g

The Polar USB Cross Hub only costs $10.

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Posted Feb 25th 2008 5:27PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Transportation
Finally, mankind has the answer to that eternal question, how many coconuts does it take to go from London to Amsterdam? The answer: 150,000 — converted into biofuel and poured into a special 747, of course. Virgin Atlantic completed its first biofuel tests yesterday with solid results, using a mix of 20 percent coconut oil and 80 percent jet fuel to power a 747 — a first for the airline industry. There’s still a long way to go, of course — only one of the jet’s four tanks carried the alternative fuel, and even Richard Branson admits that giant coconut plantations devoted to airline fuel probably aren’t workable — but despite harsh criticism from skeptics, it’s still an impressive achievement. Branson says that although this test didn’t use a viable fuel, it’s a landmark proof-of-concept — and that next-generation biofuels made from algae may one day power all our aircraft. Sure, that’d be nice, but we’ll stick with tiki-power — anyone have a drink umbrella?

[Via The Register]

Posted Feb 25th 2008 10:29AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Portable Audio, Wearables
Oakley’s Split Thump mp3 player sunglasses’ fashion offenses are too numerous to mention, and we’re not sure this is helping matters. According to the folks over at Tech Digest, the wrap-around music players will be getting a very special 500-piece, 1GB Jamiroquai edition, replete with purple and white camouflage design and two new remixes from the disco-aping singer’s 1993 album Emergency on Planet Earth. Grab your glasses, get out your floppy hat, slip on some Mickey Mouse gloves, and crack open a bottle of Vicks VapoRub — it’s time to party like you don’t know any better.

Posted Feb 25th 2008 3:11PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Storage
Right on cue, Hynix is getting official with its latest 2-Rank 8GB DDR2 RDIMM, which features MetaRAM’s MetaSDRAM technology. According to Hynix, the HYMP31GP72CUP4-C6 “effectively doubles the memory capacity of AMD Opteron-based and Intel Xeon-based systems,” and better still, it improves power efficiency “by up to 30-percent” when compared to alternatives. Unfortunately, the price of the unit — which is said to be available now in production quantities — remains a mystery, but we are told that an 8GB DDR3 RDIMM using the same MetaRAM magic is slated to launch in the latter half of this year.

[Via Electronista]

One of my favorite hobbies is to play pool. Unfortunately the town where I live doesn’t seem to care for pool halls, and the only tables to be found are in seedy bars. Needless to say, I haven’t played much lately. There have been many times over the years that I’ve wanted to purchase my very own table so I could play whenever I wanted. The main issue that always arises is space. I don’t generally have a lot of spare room, and my wife refuses to entertain the idea of getting rid of our dining room table. However, I just might be able to talk her into a FusionTable.

The idea of a pool table that converts to a dinner table has crossed my mind on a number of occasions, only they are rather difficult to find. The two biggest pitfalls to designing such a table are the height (pool tables are a bit higher than most dining tables) and the pockets stick out like sore thumbs. FusionTables take both of these into consideration. The Easy-Lift system allows you to raise the table a full three inches simply by lifting. The spring-assisted leg extensions take care of the rest. The pockets are completely hidden unless they are actually in use. They are made out of a hi-tech stretch memory cloth which will expand to accommodate the balls, then contract out of sight once they are removed.

It looks like these tables are being offered in a variety of finishes with matching chairs and benches. Pricing was conveniently left off of the site, but I think the old adage would hold true here. If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

Source: Yanko Design

Posted Feb 25th 2008 2:42PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: GPS
Multifunction PNDs are starting to hit the low end of the price spectrum, which is always welcome — check out G-Sol’s Marbella 8800 nav unit, which sports PMP functions, AV-in, and a 2 megapixel digital camera for a wholesale price of $160. That means the retail price will probably be around $200, but you’re actually getting a decent piece of kit — there’s a SiRF Star III GPS chip in there, which is pretty respectable. Of course, some willing wholesaler’s got to be willing to to bring this bad boy to the States first, but hey — that could be you, if you’re willing to fence a couple thousand of these a month.

[Via Navigadget]

MobileBurn reviews the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic and writes, “The 2-megapixel camera on the 5310 churns out average quality photos, which is quite disappointing. Photo-taking is done in portrait mode, as the centre D-pad key is the shutter key. Unfortunately, the 5310 does not have a dedicated shutter/camera key like a lot of phones tend to have these days. There are, however, settings enabling users to take photos in various color modes – black and white, sepia and negative. The white balance was not exactly great during my tests, giving a bluish hue to all the photos taken. The end result is always good enough for candid shots, but never good enough for prints, which isn’t surprising for a fixed focus camera like the 5310’s.”

Read more about the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic.

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.

Posted Feb 25th 2008 8:58AM by Paul Miller
Filed under: Digital Cameras
Tired of taking candid shots with your point-and-shoot that can barely stretch over the state of Nevada? Sony’s got those megapixels in spades with its new DSC-W300, the new top-end shooter in its W lineup. In addition to the 13.6 megapixel sensor, the camera sports a 2.7-inch LCD, 3x optical zoom, optical image stabilization and up to ISO 6400 shots in “extra high sensitivity” mode. The camera also brings along Sony’s Smile Shutter tech, and other fancy processor capabilities, including a limited burst mode. The DSC-W300 will be available in May for about $350.

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.