The Gadgets Page

I am constantly looking for an option to make waking up less of an ordeal. This lamp/alarm clock slowly dims the lights and reduces the volume of the nature sounds while you are going to sleep. Before the time to wake up, it reverses the process and slowly brightens and increases the volume until it is at its full level when you are supposed to rise.

• Verilux Rise & Shine Natural Alarm Clock

I am always enticed by these sorts of alarm clocks, but not by their price. For $150, I think I will have to make due with my current waking methods. I refuse to pay that much money for an alarm clock that doesn’t even play my favorite music.

Via: Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women

ProClip is one of those great ideas that seem obvious—after you’ve seen it. ProClip is a mount for various gadgets that doesn’t require modification to your vehicle and doesn’t damage it. The ingenious part is its two-part universal design: You select one component that matches your car, and one component that matches your gadget. Joining the two together (with screws) creates a customized mount that fits both car and gadget perfectly.

I’ll admit I was quite skeptical when I got my ProClip: I own a car that I’m loathe to damage in any way, firstly because it’s leased and I’m not allowed to modify it, and secondly because I want to keep it nice. So of course I’ve tried suction cup solutions, and you probably know about how well those work—you wind up tossing them after a week in frustration.

The ProClip fits into two of the seams in the car’s dashboard (different ones for each car) and uses the spring tension of the bracket to stay in place. In my car, the lower shim fit between the upper console plate and the bottom of the air vent, while the top shim fit between the dashboard and the top speaker grill (the bass speaker is in the center front of the dash in my car). The lower shim was easy—it slid right in and hooked behind the place when I rotated the bracket into position. The upper shim was a bit more work: There actually wasn’t any space for the shim between the dash and the speaker grill. The ProClip came with a little wedge shaped tool to “make space” between them—hence my skepticism.

But I used it as instructed, and it actually worked. The tool did open up enough space for the top shim of the bracket to fit into, and once it was fit, it stayed perfectly in place. Putting the gadget (in this case, a Treo 650) into the clip takes a little force because it fits snuggly, but the bracket was more than secure enough to stay in place. I worried about the top clip coming off or squeezing out if too much downward force were placed on the bracket as I put the Treo in, but I couldn’t get it to happen so it’s not an issue.

Most importantly, the whole ProClip could be removed easily and didn’t leave any evidence of ever having been there. The gap between the dash and speaker pressed right back together on its own once the ProClip was removed. Now, I don’t know whether or not a permanent gap would be left if the clip was in place for a long period of time, but even if it was, the gap width is less than 1mm wide and 2cm long, and in a position where you’d not notice it even if it did deform the dash plastic.

ProClips make a great hands-free solution for your gadget, and I strongly recommend them for any device you want to keep securely mounted in your car. Your bracket will vary and I couldn’t test them all, unfortunately, but if they’re all made with the precision that mine was, you’ll be quite pleased with them.

Many vehicles even include multiple bracket locations for multiple devices. Brackets cost between $30 and $40 dollars, with gadget clips costing between $20 and $35 dollars depending on type. You’ll need one of each, for a complete solution costing between $50 and $75 dollars. Fairly expensive for a clip, but considering the fact that there’s no installation labor and it doesn’t damage your vehicle, it’s more than worth it in my opinion.

ProClip also makes a handlebar mount for people insane enough to use a gadget while motorcycling, a dual-gadget adapter to mount two devices on any bracket, a move clip kit that allows you to easily move your clip between two vehicles, tilt swivel mounts, and numerous other accessories that will allow you to get exactly what you’re looking for in a device mounting solution.

ProClips are available for nearly all cell phones, iPods, PDAs, and for some specialty devices such as GPS receivers and DVD players. Check their website for complete details.

I stopped reading Engadget and Gizmodo because they were always talking about cool cell phones and other gadgets that I just knew were never going to make it to the United States, much less Utah. I was sick of hearing about the cool stuff in South Korea and Taiwan. It was making me jealous and there was nothing I could do about. NewsFactor Network has the reason why those cool toys don’t make it to us:

• NewsFactor Network – Tech Gadgets Banned in the USA – By Elizabeth Millard

I always thought that the demand for bright pink phones with fur wasn’t high enough, now I realize that companies try things in their country first to make sure they’ll fly here. Here are the reasons cool gadgets don’t make it to the States:

• Work out the bugs: Manufacturers like to release products in their home countries to work out the bugs and product defects. It easier to deal with them before exporting them to the States.

• Test demand: They want to release a small batch of a product to test the market. Just because the consumer testing says there’s a demand, doesn’t mean there really is one.

• Sometimes it just won’t work: Some products don’t work as well in the States as they do in other countries because our systems (telecom companies, broadband companies, etc.) are different.

• Consumer VS. Business: Japan gadget sales are driven more buy consumers, whereas businesses are the driving factor to gadget sales in the United States.

• The Best Vs. Good Enough: Other cultures are more willing to pay a premium for the best, fastest and smallest, whereas the perception of the United States is that we want something that is “good enough.”

• Horrible Profit Margin: The cost of exporting products is steep and can cut profit margins down to nothing.

• Difference in Patent Law: Since our patent laws are so different, it creates a huge workload to export technology and try to protect your patent in all the countries.

I always felt like manufacturers in other countries underestimated our respect for smallest and fastest, but that is only one factor in the huge equation. It feels so much better to know the reason that I can’t get that cool ultra-tiny GPS phone from Europe.

Via: Tech Gadgets Banned in the USA – Yahoo! News

I don’t know about you, but it has happened to me a million times. I am at a store and I see something that I want to buy, but can I get a better deal online? It’s not something I desperately need, so if I can save ten bucks by ordering it online, maybe I should. The only problem with that is I need to go home to check the prices online.

Not anymore.

Now, you can call one phone number, type in the product’s barcode into your phone and it will tell you the prices online. It’s Frucall and it’s what you have been wishing for.

• Frucall: Online Comparison Shopping Web site for Mobile Shoppers

Program this phone number into your cellphone right now: 1-888-363-7822. The call is free. You don’t need to set up an account. You don’t need to give them your email. The service is paid for by sponsors, so expect to hear a commercial or two. I can listen to a commercial in order to prevent a drive home to check prices. Just try it out. If you hate it, never call it again.

I tested this out on a couple of bar codes that I had lying around at home and the only company that they quoted prices for was TigerDirect. TigerDirect usually has some good prices, but Amazon beats them sometimes, so that might be a fatal flaw in this service. Additionally, remember that prices include estimated shipping and handling. If you see a price that’s better on a different online site, it might be because they haven’t included shipping. I haven’t checked to see if the prices on EVERY product on the planet are accurate, however. If you call it and find that they are screwing up, please leave a comment here and tell the world about it.

I used to live in an apartment with a balcony. I had plants in boxes lined along the edges, but none of them looked as good as these Steckling Pots from rephormhaus.

• rephormhaus – Steckling

Even if we live in tight and cramped quarters, there is a desire to nuture things. These pots give you the chance to improve your surroundings without the rust and decay of planter box holders.

This photo actually gives you a better idea of the design of the pot. I was worried that they wouldn’t be sturdy or be so narrow at the top that they wouldn’t fit over most railings, but it looks like it will be stable. Add a little greenery to your balcony or fire escape. You will feel like you have a garden right outside your window.

Via: Pro domácnost | Gadgets.cz

I’ve seen you do it. Maybe you own a cellphone, but you really only use it to make calls. When people call you, your voice mailbox hasn’t been set up and even if it was, you wouldn’t listen to the messages.

Or maybe you use a computer at work. You do exactly what you were trained to do with the computer and have a list of buttons to push in a little notebook on your desk. It’s like a book of incantations that make the computer go. When someone suggests something different that you could do using the computer you already have, you go pale.

Are you one of those people? Do you let gadgets intimidate you? Are you still in your incantation phase? Here are some tips on how to get past it and become more gadget-saavy.

• Read the instruction manual: I know that instruction manuals are written as if the author hates you, but struggle through it. Usually, there is barely enough information to figure things out. Think of your instruction manual as a guide. It doesn’t want to ruin the story for you. It just wants to give you enough clues to get you discovering the intricacies of your gadget on your own.

• You can’t break it: Okay, I lied. You CAN break it, but you pretty much have to drop, throw or stomp on it to break it. Pushing buttons NEVER breaks it. I know it seemed like you broke it before, but you didn’t. Sure, you can push the wrong buttons and get to a weird screen that you’ve never been to before, but breathe deeply and figure out how to get out of that screen.

• Play with it: I know your computer is there to balance your checkbook and read email, but that doesn’t mean you can’t play with it as well. Every gadget has some really fun feature that you would absolutely love if you just knew it existed. Maybe it’s the macro feature on your camera that lets you take pictures of bugs up close and personal. Maybe it’s the instant messaging on your phone that lets you send snarky comments to your buddy across the room. Maybe it’s the solitaire game already installed on your computer. Whatever it is, you’ll never get to enjoy it unless you do a little exploring and play with your gadget.

• Ask a guru: You know who I’m talking about. There are always gurus in your life. They’re the people who you bug when you think you’ve broken something. If you ask them to show you something cool, they will be a lot less bugged. Don’t ask them to do it for you. Ask them to tell you how to do it yourself. They will open right up for you and tell you all the nifty features you never knew your gadget had.

Your gadgets were made to be used. Not using them not only cheats the gadgets out of their totally cool factor, but cheats you out of some of the features that you have purchased. You wouldn’t buy a stove and only use it to bake cookies? Heck no! There’s a whole world of Ramen noodles, pot roasts and homemade bread out there to be made. Just like you use your stove to the fullest, make sure you use your other gadgets for what they were destined.

Don’t let anything intimidate you, especially an inanimate object. You deserve to master all of your gadgets!

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I love to play karaoke. I have a hard time finding anyone who is willing to play with me, so half the time I play alone at home. It looks like IBM has teamed up with Xing to create a small wireless karaoke machine that has access to thousands of songs.

• IBM Press room – 2006-09-29 IBM and Xing Revolutionize the Karaoke Experience Through Collaboration – United States

Unlike the karaoke bar standbys, you would no longer have to have a huge karaoke song book and punch in a code to play. Instead you merely browse the lists on the touch screen and choose the song you want. It looks like this isn’t the first of its kind in Japan, here is another wireless karaoke machine:

• Translated version of JoySound – Kiyoku Navi

The Google translation isn’t much better than just trying to read the Japanese, but it does show what the older versions of the Kiyoku NAVI looked like. It included games in addition to the karaoke play.

There are so many cool things that are being created in Japan that just aren’t released here. I wonder if this new IBM and Xing collaboration will result in more things being released here in the U.S.A. or if it will just go back to Japan and we’ll never see it.

Via: IBM stars in new Wi-Fi karaoke device | CNET News.com

If you ever wanted to stand out at the disco, Phillips has the t-shirt for you. They have just introduced Lumalive Textiles, which use LEDs to create light up t-shirts.

• Fabric 2.0 « The Spreadshirt Blog

The cool thing is the shirt is still flexible like normal t-shirt material. I expected to see a huge plastic backing on the other side of the material, but it looks like it’s just normal fabric. Here is a commercial from Phillips describing their product:

What I would have liked to see is what it takes to keep it lit. Is there a 9 volt battery hanging off the back of each of those shirts? What about circuit boards. There has to be some sort of circuitry to tell the shirt what to display, so where is it? I want to see it.

A friend emailed me about Molly McB because they carry a line of doggie t-shirts, but I ended up falling in love with their dog walking bags. They are so gadgety that I’m surprised no one had heard of this before.

• Molly McB & Company – Dog Walking Bag

The cool thing about this bag is that it has a pocket that will hold a roll of doggie bags that you can find at PetsMart and PetCo. They come out the bottom of the pocket and make it really easy to pick up doggie poo when you’re going on a walk.

I was so impressed with the dog walking bags, I contacted Gini and Emily, the women that run Molly McB & Company to find out more:

Laura: “Do you make the purses and dog walking bags yourself or are you silk screening imports? They looked well made. I LOVE the pocket with the hole for the dispenser bags. AWESOME! “

Gini: “We do all of our own screen printing (I should say Em does most of it – I am the assistant). I am the sewer and we make all of the bags ourselves. I am glad you like the dog walking bag. I designed it so I would have something to carry the waste bags, my cell, keys etc. We will have to let you know when Em puts the new designs on the web site. We have a really cute Chihuahua pirate and a dog skeleton. She does the designs.”

If you have been looking for a great gadgety dog walking bag, go on over to Molly McB & Company. They just might have what you’re looking for.

Using a unique backpack, Larry Rome has invented a way for soldiers to keep their high tech devices powered up without carrying twenty pounds of batteries.

• Penn Current | Turning exercise into electricity—one step at a time

Using Larry’s Suspended-Load Backpack, soldiers can keep their gadgets fully charged. The backpack needs to be fully loaded (with the typical 80 pounds of gear) in order for it to work. The pack uses the weight of the pack to charge the gadgets by bouncing the load on springs.

If he could make the prototype a little more pretty, this could be a viable option for those of us who are addicted to our gadgets and want to take them camping with us. It generates one watt an hour, which is enough to charge a cell phone or night vision goggles. More than enough to keep the iPod charged on a hike, even with an old battery.