Best Gadgets World

Forget about projecting that macho image by learning how to open bottles with your teeth, not when The Hold Up is ready and willing to do that on your behalf.

Nicknamed ‘The Hold Up’ for his raised arms; the tactile and ambidextrous little chap from über-cool design studio Conka Design can open all bottle lids, even two at a time, with metal mitts that allow you to dispense refreshing drinks to your envious friends in double quick time. Crafted from high gloss ABS plastic, The Hold Up is way ahead when it comes to sleek drinking accessories. And Like every girl’s ideal man the Redman is not only handsome but strong, his metal reinforced hands and arms ensure this chic little fella is nigh-on indestructible. Then, when you have given him a thorough workout, you can stand your new drinking buddy on his own two feet next to all of your favorite designer gadgets, because lets face it, he’s far too cool for the kitchen drawer.

If you don’t have a drinking buddy, The Hold Up won’t mind listening to your tales of woe for £14.99.

Product Page via Nerd Approved

Can anyone duplicate the enthusiasm Apple has built here?  Like me, I am sure you’ve read all about yesterday’s Apple event.  Perusing the forums this morning and it feels a bit like Christmas, doesn’t it?

Apple over delivered on a promise they under sold.  Originally an SDK was a no go.  Then, Steve gave it some thought and built something amazing and amazingly simple at the same time: a way to get applications through them to the public all while maintaining control.  How excited are the developers?  I think the SKD download server crashes says it all.

I think Fake Steve Jobs sums it up best,

Seriously, folks, it’s game over. This announcement today is as big as the announcement of the original Macintosh in 1984. At airports all around the world they put flights on hold so that people could stay in the terminal and watch the news as it was announced.

Has Apple found the magic combination by leveraging a hugely popular and familar brand (ipod) with their larger business aspirations?  Over at Salon.com, Farhad is crowning the iPhone for finally living up to all they hype.  How many execs started smiling at the Exchange support announcement?  This road warrior sure as heck did. 

So who can catch them?  Palm?  Uh, Palm, hello?  Palm/Handspring gave it a good try.  They had the Palm Pilot/Visor that was popular, they had a great design and they had a loyal (to a fault) dev base.  But nothing fed those flames and they’ve slowly died out.  Rim?  The RIM UI still makes me giggle, it is so 1998.  Windows Mobile?  I still can’t find access to some settings on my phone and it has been a year in the looking.  Symbian?  To Euro to care about America. 

Now the question becomes, how will Apple continue to feed the flame?  At the one year mark we see iPhone 2.0 software.  Logic would seem to say, hold off on 3G iPhone until September/October to ramp up for the holiday season both on new phones and on discounted left overs.  $5 says the 3G iPhone has the same dimensions so that 6 months later, they’ll intro iphone Slim, perhaps the width of the touch.  Then what?  Clearly Steve’s got a road map and it looks to be a good ride.

Can anyone throw a roadblock?

Read [any tech blog you can think of]
photo credit:

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For some people (ourselves included) its just not enough to read the details or highlights from yesterdays announcement, we have that need to be able to watch and feel the need to take it all in.

If you fall into that category then Apple has taken care of you, they have just posted the March 6, 2008 event online for everyone to enjoy.

Watch & Enjoy [Apple]

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Posted Mar 7th 2008 2:31PM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: cellphones
Knowing how rampant the Apple rumor community can get, we try not to stir the pot too feverishly, but iLounge has made a bizarre little discovery that we thought you might like to see. Apparently, it’s already possible for iphone / ipod touch developers to create pages in iTunes offering content to limited groups of users. While perusing these pages, they apparently stumbled upon the Education First Educational Tours page, where international travel tour registrants can download TourCast audio and video content. Strangely, an odd, almost Zune-like device can be seen in the corner of the graphic for this page bearing the Apple logo. Could this be some wild slip? Is what we’re looking at a rendering of a new iPhone or touch device, or is this some random mockup meant to suggest a “general” Apple product? We’re strongly, strongly leaning towards the latter, though maybe Jobs let one slide through the cracks this time. See the full view after the break.

[Thanks, Christian]

I must be dehydrated, because I’m writing about another drinking-related gadget. This one is a bit more simplistic than the single-serve blender I spoke of earlier. Some people tend to burn their hands (or tongues) on hot coffee or hot chocolate, which is never fun. Other times you’ll leave a cup sitting around for longer than you realize, then take a swig of a disgustingly-cold drink. That’s never fun. This simple mug makes it blindingly obvious how warm your drink is.

The mug is coated with a heat sensitive glaze which changes color according to the temperature of the beverage contained within. Sure, it’s not a necessity to have your cup tell you how warm your drink is, I think you can find out yourself. That’s really not the point though, it looks cool and it might save you from taking a sip of nasty coffee now and then. The asking price for one of these mugs is $25.

Source: UberReview

If you just wish you could translate your finger drumming skills into something more tangible, here’s the USB Drum Kit to help you out.

Your USB Drum Kit includes six different pad areas (snare, kick & two toms). Simply install the included software, plug your kit in, and let your rhythmical hammered fists of fury fly. The software will allow you to control and select the various sounds programmed to each pad. You can choose between 50 percussion sounds, 20 preprogrammed percussion sets and 100 preprogrammed beats. If you are a n00b, you can select the ‘learning mode’ and play along to some pre recorded beats. Otherwise, just enjoy the free play mode. When you think you are good enough (the cute sales droid down the aisle starts paying you some mind), you can even record your riffs and save to .wav file.

Get this annoying desktop toy for just $29.99 from ThinkGeek.

The Wave is Neutrogena’s newest foaming face product, intended to simulate a very affordable facial/dermabrasion-like experience. The starter kit includes a hand-held vibrating wand with two trial packs of pre-soaped pads, and an AA battery. Much like I do with my toilet wand, the Wave’s head is designed to “grab” the pads. If you spend your days out on the farm, playing the jungle, or mucking out the horse stalls at the tracks, this might be a cheap way to reveal those gorgeous freckles of your’s.

Or keep using your fingers, working them in small circles around your face, and washing with your favorite cleanser.

When it comes to your toilet bowl though – make waves, stick with the wand!

Price: $14.69 at Amazon.

Charles Cooper got to snoop around Intel’s research lab and comes back with some interesting tidbits on where Intel thinks we’ll take technology.  Sure, many of what they research won’t make it to market, but they are driven by the premise , “what if?”.  It is enlightening to see what they are up to.

Real-time feedback: So much of public policy is based on best guesses (I fail to come up with a solid example, you’ll have to use your imagination).  How about placing pollution sensors on taxi cabs?  This allows a street-by-street view of how city decisions on parking, traffic flow, zoning laws and much more effect pollution.  A fantastic tool that started off in Ghana and worked so well, San Fransisco adopted the sensors to their street sweepers.

Another interesting tech Intel has going is its Rural Connectivity Platform allowing remote areas higher speed internet connection.

It’s a low-cost way of providing roughly 10 megabits-per-second connectivity to remote areas. The RCP needs a clear line of sight to work, but when set up without obstructions, Intel says the wireless long-distance nodes can connect every 60 miles.

By stabbing at the future, Intel has done much they stay central to it all.  Click the link for two more of Intel’s concepts.

Read [C|Net]

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In keeping with the actual name pattern, as opposed to those strange letter number combo’s, Verizon has taken the Samsung U740 and renamed it the Alias. The odd twist here is the U740 is not a new released and was originally added to their lineup back in February 2007, perhaps Verizon is hoping this new name will help with branding and attract more of a following.

If nothing else the name change from Verizon just makes it seem like it belongs in the current lineup a little more as it keeps the same pattern of other handsets such as the Venus and Voyager.

Via [Mobile Mag]

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This rumor is spinning today and it makes some sense.  It is said Sprint is considering selling off Nextel to stem some of the losses it is encountering.  Many analysts name the merger between Sprint and Nextel as the cause for Sprints ongoing troubles.

Recently, we’ve Sprint making some big changes both in-house and with their customers.  In house, they sacked the CFO and CMO, for customers they pitched the Unlimited $99 plan and also a data-less unlimited plan for $89.  Each of these moves demonstrate a troubled Sprint trying to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.  Clearly Sprint is trying to move beyond its current state.

Does shedding the beep-beep laden Nextel help this situation?  Would there be any takers?

Read [Crave]

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