Gadget Access

Some of you might have houseplants, and of those some, I’m sure there is a great percentage of you that forget to water them. This next product has been designed for you.

The Grobal self-watering planters are pots designed to water your plants automatically. That’s right, automatically. There is a reservoir within the plant that holds the water, and then the “grow chamber” draws water out of this storage area when it is needed.

I’m not certain how the pot knows when to draw out the water, but I have to say that the system itself is quite efficient. After all, over-watering your plant is not only a waste of water, but can be bad for the plant itself. This way, not a precious drop of H20 is wasted in this Grobal self-watering planter.

Of course, this device does have a little problem. I’m not certain how the user refills the reservoir, and it sounds quite possible for a user to forget to fill the reservoir. Then there is nothing for the grow chamber to tap into but air. So now you are still forgetting to water your plants.

At least you can water your plants on a weekly, not daily basis. Maybe you won’t forget to do it then. Anyway, you can get the Grobal self-watering planters for about $20 in many colors.

Source

Parrot has announced a brand new 7″ digital photo frame which it proudly claims to be “global”. The main reason for doing so being it accepting photos sent to it from a GSM cell phone through MMS, which means you will be able to update your digital photo frame for your family and friends to see despite being half the world away. Sounds like a pretty nifty idea, but make sure your phone’s digital camera is pretty decent to start with (VGA quality will just not do these days), and also ensure you are on some sort of cheap data roaming plan (now that’s an oxymoron if I ever saw one) since sending MMSes isn’t exactly the most pocket-friendly action to take while you’re traveling.

This is made possible since the Parrot DF7700 digital photo frame comes with its own integrated SIM card and a dedicated call number, just like your cell phone. I wonder whether one can remove the SIM card and place it inside a handset - will it then be able to receive incoming calls? But I digress, the DF700 will be able to receive MMSes as long as it is turned on, supporting a host of multimedia objects like images, audio, video, rich text. The entry requirements are pretty low - you will need a handset that supports MMS regardless of whether it is a CDMA, GSM or 3G phone. Secondly, you will need to know whether the area where you are placing the DF7700 will be able to receive MMS over a quadband network.

Other features on the DF7700 include USB connectivity and an SD memory card slot that makes conventional photo transfer a snap. Images will be automatically resized in order to optimize memory, while the built-in flash memory can hold up to 500 photos of your choice. There is no word on pricing, but the Parrot DF7700 is currently available in France. Parrot is talking to cell phone operators in the US, so keep your fingers crossed that they will come to an agreement pretty soon.

Press Release

So you think you’re a LEGO whiz, eh? Why not pick up Brick Tower Mood Light from Brando and build your very own lamp? Each $35 purchase comes with 26 pieces of 8 x 2 bricks and 56 pieces of 2 x 1 bricks, so you can always let your creative juices flow instead of settling on something as boring as this standard lamp form factor. Gotta love the myriad of colors that it comes in - although knocking it on the floor accidentally will probably result in it shattering to bits and pieces or chipped at the sides.

With CTIA going on this week there are a lot of new phones being announced. One of which is the MOTO Z9 for the AT&T network. This sleek slider is packed with enough features to keep almost anyone happy.

The new MOTO Z9 is the first to feature the in-car GPS dubbed AT&T Navigator for those times where you’re lost or in unfamiliar territory.  It will give you turn-by-turn directions as well as locate hotels, restaurants, gas stations and more so you don’t find yourself driving around looking for one.

If you’re a media junkie the you’ll appreciate the Video Share feature which will let you send streaming videos to your friends straight from the phone. The phone is also compatible with Windows Media Player 11, so you won’t have any trouble getting your audio and video files to play.

3G connectivity ensures that you’ll be able to quickly look up information and receive mail on the newest handset. This is also one of the first phones to come with the Opera Mini 8 browser, which from personal experience, is far superior to most other mobile browsers out there.

Finally, the Z9 includes Motorola’s award-winning CrystalTalk technology which ensures that you’ll be heard clearly even in the noisiest of environments. These are available now from AT&T for $249.99 with a 2-year service agreement.

We have forks and spoons, and now here’s a brand new eating utensil known as the Knork. It makes the many millions around the world who love cutting food (especially cakes) with the side of their fork happy, and the Knork was specially shaped in order to cater to that habit. Plastic Knorks are sharp enough to cut through raw carrots, and from the picture above it apparently makes a pretty good opponent against a juicy slab of steak. One thing though - whenever I cut my steak, I’ll normally need a fork to hold the meat in place while the knife gets to work…something to ponder upon here. Watch the video of the Knork in action here.

This new boombox by jWIN has all the requisite features of your standard boombox: CD player, tape deck, and AM/FM radio. There’s also a built-in microphone so you can make your own voice recordings, but where are you going to get the blank tapes in order to do that or to record off of the CD or radio? I mean, as it is Maxell has already even stopped making blank CDs, let alone a cassette tape. So I can see the tape deck only being useful for playing whatever pre-recorded tapes you still have around.

jWIN however, has brought this boombox into the present by including a USB port, an AUX input, and an SD/MMC card slot. So that’s four total ways you can listen to your digital tracks; using an mp3 CD, any device with a headphone jack, a SD/MMC card, or a flash drive. Now if this thing could somehow also play HD radio and had a little TV instead of the tape deck, getting it would be a no-brainer!  Still, this would be a fun thing to bring to your next picnic or barbecue. The price is $59.99, and it’s available in your choice of black, green, or orange.

Product [jWIN]

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Posted Apr 2nd 2008 12:12PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Storage
Confused by all the various permutations of Western Digital’s My Book line of external drives yet? No? Well, go ahead and add the My Book Studio Edition II to your stack of flashcards, Mr. Smart Face. Just like the previous 2TB My Book products, you’re getting two RAID 0 drives in a quad-interface external case, only this time it’s the updated My Book Studio design. WD’s also gone and upgraded the drives themselves to GreenPower units, which run cooler and use less power, and Mac users will be pleased to know that everything comes HFS+ formatted. Got that? Expect a quiz in the near future. Available now, we’re told, at $349 for 1TB and $599 for 2TB.

Posted Apr 2nd 2008 12:31PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Wearables
Right on cue, Nike’s making things official with its oft-rumored (and still unpriced) Nike+ SportBand and even had the time to toss in details about Nike+ Coach, too. The band, which opens up features at the NikePlus website along with enabling runners to check out distance, pace, time and calories burned, is indeed marketed as a standalone device for those who’d prefer not to have a DAP flanking their arm when exercising. Moreover, the outfit’s online Nike+ Coach system will allow runners to have the information they need to appropriately train for long distance events or achieve customized goals. Get those kicks cleaned up prior to April 10th — after all, that’s the day you’ll be sprinting out to pick this thing up, right?

Gallery: Nike+ SportBand, Coach gets official

Some more home appliance goodness. This time, it’s a much needed 21st century update to that countertop staple, the toaster. This 4-slice Toastess digital toaster features a LCD readouts for each group of 2 toaster slots. What’s more, it has sensors inside that provides for a consistent toast every time. Another much needed feature is a special heating mechanism for bagels - crispy on the inside, warm on the outside. Perfect.

As a safety feature, it shuts off the power if it detects a toast jam. Now you know it’s time to upgrade.

Gimme!

Price: $64.98
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Google has announced the availability of Google Docs even when a user is offline. Using Google Gears, Google Docs will create a document cloud of the user’s online Google Docs accounts. This doc cloud can then be accessed by the user on the desktop and subsequently the user can edit the document and save it on the desktop again. The fun then starts the next time the user connects to the Internet, Google Docs (via Google Gears) will then sync up the documents edited offline with the documents online.

Google Docs offline will be rolled out gradually to users. You’d know when it is already enabled if you see a green downward arrow at the upper right hand of the Google Docs screen. Clicking on the green arrow would prompt Google Docs to ask you to install Google Gears. Once Google Gears is enabled, you can start working offline with your Google docs by simply typing http://docs.google.com on your web browser (make sure you are offline).

Google Docs offline is definitely a welcome addition to the already useful features of Google Docs. Hopefully, it gets implemented as well to spreadsheets and presentation. In the meantime, let us all enjoy working with our documents seamlessly online and offline. Hats off to Google Docs for this new feature.

Here’s a video of how Google Docs offline works from the Google Docs team:

Read [Official Google Docs Blog]

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