Best Gadgets World

The Asus M70 can be considered a powerful notebook, but its small brother Eee PC 900 is more into the budget laptop scene.

The original Asus Eee PC was first released in November last year, so this second version with a release date set to 1 of May 2008, is obviously improved in some aspects. The price for a Eee 900 depends on the specifications you chose, but it starts at 329.

As stated previously, there were a couple of improvements and the best one is the option to buy the laptop with the Microsoft OS - Windows XP - already installed. Other details like the screen display, RAM memory, and storage space are also better than before.

- 8.9-inches
- 1GB of RAM
- 20GB hard-drive
- 3.5 hours of battery life

I love to cook, but I’m messy and temperamental and hate to clean up. I throw things around like a little Asian, non-professional Gordon Ramsay. I tell people in my family that in exchange for cooking intricate meals, all they have to do is clean up, but in truth, I’m not sure they get the better deal. The thing that bothers me the most about my kitchen rampages is that when they’re over, I’ve almost inevitably killed any cookbook I’ve been using. My regularly used cookbooks are crunchy with olive oil, batter, and butter, and would probably taste pretty good by now if I baked them. Some pages have become hard to read and I’ve been searching for a solution to protect my precious cookbook collection.

Enter the “chef’s center” which supports your cookbook at a good reading angle, swivels all the way around, and most importantly has a crystal-clear, splatterguard which keeps your book open at the right page and safe from flying ingredients. The spring-loaded screen guard fits everything from the single xeroxed page to the thickest of cookbooks. There’s a pull-out measurement guide to help you adjust recipe servings while you cook. Then when you’re done, the chef’s center folds down flat for easy storage.

The chef’s center is $29.95 from Prepara.

Because I’m so easily distracted, I love silly USB gadgets but they tend to wear out their welcome after a few minutes. I think, though, I could learn to love Tengu. Tengu is a little USB-powered device that responds to voice and music, and while this is the standard modus operandi of most useless USB gadgets, Tengu can actually lip-synch to music or your voice. Not perfectly, of course, but based on videos, enough to be thoroughly amusing for a little while.

Here’s one demo:

Tengu changes its expression if you blow on its um, “face”. This is probably going to be lots of fun when I want to pretend that I’m having a conversation with someone who agrees with me completely.

Tengu is $48 from Compact-Impact. Via Chip chick.

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 15th 2008 at 9:28AM
Using 3D cameras in order to let humans control interfaces by simply moving about is old hat, but for those sick and tired of being strapped to a mouse / keyboard in Second Life, take a glance at this. Hands Free 3D is a prototypical system that gives addicts members of the virtual realm the ability to walk, jump, fly and interact by simply gesturing in front of a PC-connected camera designed by 3DV Systems. Currently, it doesn’t seem like this solution is on the fast track to release or anything, but we have a sneaking suspicion they aren’t demoing this stuff for kicks and giggles. Peek the video right after the break.

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 8 Comments

Filed under: Gaming

For the existentialist in your life who has everything, how about the Milky Way galaxy suspended in a glass cube? Supposedly, there are 80,000 stars inside the cube, rendered using three-dimensional data from Japan’s National Astronomical Observatory. In the exact center of the cube is our solar system - a tiny speck, a reminder of how invisible we are in the cosmic scheme of things.

Because it’s a cube, you can view the galaxy from different angles:

Available from Living World for a mere $80,000 JPN (about $770).

Via Crave.

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Apr 15th 2008 at 10:19AM
Tesla Motors can’t seem to keep itself out of the press, can it? The newest flare-up concerns rival Fisker and claims that the automaker has stolen trade secrets and copied design concepts. In a lawsuit filed Monday by Tesla, the carmaker accuses Henrik Fisker — whom the company had hired to design its WhiteStar sedan — of accepting the work to “gain access to confidential design information and trade secrets.” The company alleges that Fisker then used that knowledge to launch a competing vehicle, and believes Fisker has implemented its range-extended vehicle (or REV) technology in the recently introduced Karma. “I think it’s ironic that Fisker chose to name his car the Karma, when what he’s done is very bad karma,” said the company’s lawyer. Fisker wouldn’t comment on the case, then drove silently away when pressed.

[Via CNET]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 11 Comments

Filed under: Transportation

by Thomas Ricker, posted Apr 15th 2008 at 4:27AM
Dell just pumped out a trio of Vostro laptops for small businesses. The new 13.3-inch Vostro 1310 (starting at $749), 15.4-inch Vostro 1510 (starting at $599), and redesigned 17-inch Vostra 1710 (price, undisclosed) all feature a slot loading optical drive and thinner / lighter designs. They also ship with 10GB of free online storage, Network Assistant and PC TuneUp — all crapware free. The 1310 and 1510 are available today in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) then May 1st for the Americas. The 17-incher hits mid-May.

Gallery: Dell’s Vostro 1310, 1510, and 1710 small business laptops redefine boxy

[Via Notebook Review]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 13 Comments

Filed under: Laptops

For everyone who hates the fact that the prints on their keyboards seem to wear off too fast, the Optimus Maximus keyboard could be your new best friend.

Instead of the usual keyboard print, the Optimus Maximus keyboard is equipped with small 10.1×10.1 mm OLED displays which contain the current character of each figure on your keyboard. And because the keys are displayed onscreen instead of printed on plastic, you can change the characters to any of the writing system and special displays available. These include Ancient Greek, hiragana and katakana (Japanese), Arabic, HTML codes, math functions, etcetera. And best of all, the letters, numbers and symbols don’t wear off. Of course, for such a keyboard, you must be prepared to pay–the Optimus Maximus keyboard sells for £230.

by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 14th 2008 at 8:36PM There’s certainly no shortage of options out there for folks wanting a little assistance on their bike commute, but if you’re still on the fence, you may want to consider one of OHM Cycles’ new models, which includes the Urban XU450 and XU700 for less adventuresome folks, and the Sport XS700 and XS750 for those that like venture off-road occasionally. Each of those include “silent” BionX motors of various wattage, along with Molicel lithium-ion batteries that OHM says can be fully recharged in about three hours. You’ll also get a “command console” that displays all your vitals, and an integrated security system (complete with an alarm) that promises to keep those lazy bike thieves out there at bay. No word on prices for any of them just yet, but the bikes are apparently making their way to dealers this month, so you should be able to get a quote soon enough.

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 26 Comments

Filed under: Transportation

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 14th 2008 at 10:28PM
Granted, we’ve cast our glances upon DVI Extenders before, but IOGEAR’s latest comes in just south of the magical $500 price point and is apt to warm the hearts of digital signage professionals everywhere. The simply titled DVI Video / Audio Extender Kit consists of a pair of DVI units, a local transmitter and a remote receiver, which owners connect with a CAT5e / 6 Ethernet cable. You’ll also find an analog 3.5-millimeter jack for hooking up stereo speakers, and the three-year warranty should help you rest easy all the while. Available as we speak for $499.95.

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 16 Comments

Filed under: Peripherals