Gadgets

Laptop features drive-in feel

One of the most recognizable quotes in "The Incredibles" came from Buddy, aka Syndrome, when he said: "It's bigger. It's badder. Ladies and gentlemen, it's too much for Mr. Incredible!"

He was referring to his new Omnidroid robot, but he may well have been referring to the Eurocom M590K Emperor.

The M590K is a monster of a laptop with a 19-inch screen and two Nvidia GeForce cards for driving video. Nineteen inches of screen seems a bit weak when shopping for a desktop monitor, but on a laptop, it is a bit excessive. … Read more

An 'acoustic' guitar with automatic tuning

Our Jan. 11 story about the Performer self-tuning system for solid-body electric guitars focused on how the device was developed and how it works. But it also included the observation, offered by the Performer's inventor, Neil Skinn, that most requests for automatic tuners come from acoustic-instrument players, not from electric-guitar players.

Unfortunately, the approximately 3.5 pounds of electronics and miniaturized machinery that go into a Performer installation aren't suited to hollow-body guitars, whose sound derives not only from the vibration of steel or nylon strings but from the accompanying vibrations of the guitar body's thin tone … Read more

Flash drive or flashy jewelry?

The Petito flash drive is so small that you might think it shrunk in the dryer.

It may have been, since it is designed to be waterproof. The drive is completely encapsulated, also making it dustproof and shock resistant.

In theory, you should be able to forget the drive in your pants pocket and run it through the washing machine without worrying that it will get damaged. I don't plan on testing that theory anytime soon, but it is nice to know I have a contingency plan should I be feeling particularly dense one day.

The USB 2.0 … Read more

Teensy video player fits in your pocket

The Nano Channel is the newest miniature video player by TakaraTomy out of Japan. The pocket-size player has a 1.2-inch backlit display that's comparable to the screen on a cell phone.

This gadget is more of a fun little trinket than a serious contender for the portable video player market. With the small form factor and low price, I would expect to see the next incarnation as a watch.

Much cheaper than the iPod video but with much less ability, the Nano Channel plays videos in MPEG-1, MPEG-2, WMV, QuickTime and ASF formats. It also doubles as a … Read more

USB drive inflates when full

Call the Flashbag the technological equivalent of a blowfish.

The USB flash drive by Russian designer Dima Komissarov has a built-in micropump that expands and contracts the storage device depending on the amount of data it's holding.

When the drive is about to inflate you'll see an error message on your screen: "There is not enough free space." When switched off, the Flashbag stays pumped up, letting you estimate at a glance how many more pictures, books, albums and other space hogs you can stuff onto it.

Cool, we know, but the patent-pending design has yet … Read more

Let this bed be your babysitter

The time has come for baby cots to step into the cyberage. The Intellicot promises to relieve both restless babies and sleepless parents.

The cot, which is set to go on sale this year, is an aquarium-like creation, with classic wooden bars swapped for a breakout-proof polycarbonate glass wall through which parents can observe their tykes.

In fact, worried moms and dads don't even need to be in the same room to watch over their little treasures--the Intellicot features a built-in video camera, connected to a portable monitor, that can be carried around the house.

A warning to neighbors … Read more

I love what the rats have done to your walls

Rats aren't just beady-eyed little creatures that scamper through the sewers. They're interior designers--at least in the hands of the Front design studio out of Stockholm, Sweden.

In its quest to develop a series of everyday objects influenced by the behavioral patterns of animals, the design team of Sofia Lagerkvist, Charlotte von der Lancken, Anna Lindgren and Katja Savstrom set the rodents to work gnawing on rolls of wallpaper. The result is "Rat Wallpaper," a roughly hewn, layered wall covering with repetitive patterns created by the rats' chewing.

Other animal-related conceptual designs by Front include clay &… Read more

The guitar amp meets MP3

How do you know something is a gadget? That's kind of like asking how you identify obscene material or a funny joke. You know when you see it. When it comes to consumer technology, I'm pretty sure that if you can attach an iPod to it, then it's a gadget.

SoundTech used the same line of reasoning when it announced its AMP3 guitar amplifier and computer music center on Tuesday. There is not much gadgety about a guitar amplifier. Until, that is, you can attach an MP3 player to it.

The AMP3 offers features standard on many … Read more

Virgin plays risque game with teens

The new Kyocera Switch_Back is a clear alternative to the family-friendly Disney phone. The Kyocera handset was announced in a press release titled "Virgin Mobile USA Switch_Back Handset by Kyocera Wireless Is Sure to Make Teens :-)." The most noteworthy feature about the phone is not its technical specs, but the fact that a phone being marketed to teens comes preloaded with a strip-poker game called "Sexy Poker." Titillating games are fine, but Virgin Mobile and Kyocera Wireless might want to question the wisdom of preloading a strip-poker game in a phone being marketed to kids.… Read more