Is it a puzzle? An action figure? A new best friend? Don’t be so black-and-white - Cubebot is all of those things! This toy, inspired by traditional kumiki puzzles, is just a wooden block until you figure out how to unlock it – then the real fun begins! Available at ThinkGeek for only $20
Kids do not need alarm clocks. They spring out of bed like jack-in-the-boxes (jacks-in-the-box?) earlier every day, carving sleep-deprived chunks out of our souls. But this OK to Wake! Alarm Clock & Nightlight isn’t for waking kids up – it’s for telling them when it’s all right for them to get out of bed and start harassing the adults. The glow of this nightlight changes at a pre-set reasonable wake-up time. Pure genius. Available at americaninnovative.com for only $30
Even though we’ve just barely got through the beginning of winter, we’re looking forward to spring days and flying a kite at our local park. We plan on packing a picnic, carting our bazillion nieces and nephews to the playground and having a run with this AirFoil Sport Kite. Available at jollylama.com for only $30.
The H2GO hybrid is a environmentally friendly R/C car that uses hydrogen to power the battery that turns the motor and moves the toy car. That’s right, this R/C is a tiny electric car fueled by hydrogen. And where do you get this hydrogen fuel? From a pint-size solar-powered hydrogen generation and refueling station, of course.
Toy owners will use a solar panel and water to create the hydrogen fuel supply. The solar panel is also used to recharge the R/C’s remote control and super capacitors. Hydrogen will be used to charge the vehicle’s battery and power the motor, and the H2Go’s super capacitors are used for a little speed boost.
Created by Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, H2Go is the perfect gift for the budding automotive enthusiast with a passion for green tech. The $150 kit comes with a hybrid hydrogen car, solar panel, hydrogen station, and remote control and is available at horizonfuelcell.com
Porsche Design just announced the follow-up to P’9521, a quad-band cell phone milled from a single solid block of aluminum and a single sheet of scratchproof glass.
Besides the black and brushed appearance the P’9522 offers Wi-Fi, GPS, a 2.8″ AM OLED display, fingerprint sensor and a five megapixel still/video camera with flash and digital zoom.
Vestalife will launch the Ladybug iPod / iPhone Speaker Dock at CES International in Las Vegas in January 2008 (it won the CES Innovation Design and Engineering Award you know). This amplified speaker system sports stereo speakers, a subwoofer, LED volume level indicators, a USB port for synchronization and a remote control – I guess I don’t have to mention that it looks like a ladybug, do I?
A few weeks back, Borders opened up pre-ordering for the Kobo e-reader, a simple, $150 tablet that will be attached to its upcoming e-bookstore. We didn’t realize at the time, but the bookseller has no plans of stopping there. In fact, Borders will launch a series of up to 10 e-reading devices across the price spectrum in its retail locations. All the devices will make use of Borders e-bookstore and will be showcased in retail stores in an area called “Area-e.”
Next up on that list is the Libre, an even cheaper e-reading option manufactured by Aluratek. It will retail for $120, feature a 5-inch LCD black-and-white display and double as digital music player. It will also come with 100 preloaded classics. Borders is currently taking orders for the Libre, which will hit the market in July.
Personally, I like what Borders is doing here. When you boil it down, e-readers really just replace paperback books that you could buy for 5 to 10 bucks or borrow for free at your local library. In other words, the cheaper they can make a basic e-reader, the better. That and the fact that these devices are tied to a well-known name in books should make them an intriguing option for consumers, even if they don’t become a rousing success story.
Mmmm.. Fixed device against white background..
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdXRS5mCsLQ&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]
Granted, showing your device fixed up close with hands and fingers walking you through the features, all against a bright white background might just be the most logical way to show what your device got, but Bell’s new ad for Palm Pre does feel a bit inspired by Apple’s iPod / iPhone ads, doesn’t it? Just a tiny bit? Anyway, the device and interface still looks good.
Trying to stay under a $600 PC budget but can’t wait for the affordable ultrathins or ultrapowerful netbooks? Woot’s got a way out with a $549 Dell 17-inch Studio notebook. Built for entertainment, the refurbished Dell Studio 1737 includes a 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB of RAM, a 320 GB hard drive, a DVD player and burner, a webcam and Vista Home Premium installed. There’s also an HDMI output and a 1-year warranty if you’re a worry wart. I know, PCs don’t make the greatest impulse buys, but normally a 17-inch Studio with these specs will set you back $759, so consider pulling the trigger if you were already shopping.
Shuttle launched the “All-in-One Mini-PC” X50 a while ago but will, as of the end of June 2009, be available as a barebone system as well, meaning you get to buy this sleek, 3.6 cm thin and fanless system and then equip it with your operating system, HDD/SSD and RAM of choice.
The X50 is available in both black and white, both sporting Intel Atom 330 dual-core processors (2×1.6 GHz), a 15.6″ touchscreen, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, wlan, gigabit-lan, card reader, stereo speakers, microphone and the forementioned fanless power supply (65 Watt).