Best Gadgets World

The current economic conditions have begun to take its toll on US companies. Among them is AT&T, which is in the process of cutting 1.5-percent of their workforce. This news was revealed by a ruling filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

AT&T employees who will be hit by the layoffs are those who have no direct contact with AT&T customers and are said to include those in management. The plans for the layoff’s are part of AT&T’s ongoing streamlining of operational activity. Despite laying off a big chunk of their employees, AT&T is expecting to get a pre-tax charge of $374 million as a result of this layoffs. But don’t worry because AT&T is attempting to make sure that the remaining workforce after this layoff plan is carried out will still be able to manage and maintain the company’s stability.

Read [CNET]

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Aeryon Labs of Waterloo has released the Aeryon Scout, a brand new invention which is still in its prototype stage. Four connected foam rings, each 30cm in diameter with a rotor inside make up the Aeryon Scout. A camera is hidden in its underbelly, where a “quadrotor” is controlled by a remote control and can fly into places where it’s too difficult, dangerous or time-consuming for ordinary folk to go and snap a few shots. I suppose police and the military will find this useful, and so would the paparazzi.

Source: New Launches

In my second gadget for Earth Day 2008, this gadget is one that will help your pocketbook. In this time of soaring gas prices and the desire for people to find alternative ways of getting around (biking, walking, etc.) the one need with all these alternative forms of transportation is hydration. With the latest news coming from the Nalgene/BPA controversy, people are confused as to what types of water bottles / hydration packs they should use to not only be eco-conscious, but also be safe.

Skullcandy has a hydration pack that has more than just hydration in mind. The Hydration Backpack has the capability to keep you hydrated and refreshed - but it also syncs with your mp3 player or cell phone. From the website:

This Hydration Backpack in gray/orange is the perfect companion on all of trips, from the grocery store to an outdoor camping trip.

Plug in your ipod or cell phone into this ultra cool backpack and you’ll be able to play your favorite music through speakers embedded in the upper straps. When you get a call, simply reduce the music volume with the mid-strap control buttons, which allow you to listen and talk hands free.

The Hydration Pack has a water-tight bag that holds 72 oz. of water [accessed via a bite valve] to keep your thirst at bay! The backpack even has built-in CD/DVD holders as well as a soft-lined protective sunglasses pouch.

It doesn’t say whether or not it’s waterproof - especially with the speakers - so don’t take it out on a 2-day hike unless you don’t care if you blow the speakers. But then if you didn’t want the speakers, you’d just buy a $40 Camelbak hydration pack. Since you do want one, you can pick one up for $129.99. That’s like two tanks of gas right now! A bargain!

[Eco Geek Living]

So you’re part of the remnant on this earth that still owns video tapes but have run out of players to play them. Why not digitize these video tapes instead? At least you will be able to loop them infinitely on your PC, and best of all is there is no need to rewind those tapes once you’re done as everything can be done at the click of a button. ION Audio has just released its VCR 2 PC device that connects to your PC via USB 2.0, with an adjacent composite connection for camcorders, while RCA output is located on the back to playback previews on a TV. In the PAL version, you will find the SCART output as well. All digital conversion will be in the H.264 for ipod/PSP or MPEG-2 for DVD authoring formats. The ION VCR 2 PC will retail for $249 each.

Source: Everything USB

I remember hearing this advice that said if you’re going to leave your dog at home, put a ticking clock in his or her bed. Apparently, the ticking reminds your pooch of his or her mother’s heart, and he or she will be comforted.

I saw a similar situation on MacGyver where he was taking care of a baby (yeah, he took on all kinds of missions). Mac ended up putting a small clock into a Teddy Bear, and Mac claimed that the ticking would help the baby feel less lonely for his mother.

Obviously, there is some sort of science in listening to a heartbeat for comfort. This is the theory behind My Beating Heart, a huggable heart pillow designed to simulate the sound of a human heartbeat.

Listen to what Perpetual kid, a site designed to entertain your inner child had to say about My Beating Heart: “Hold the Heart a moment and you’ll begin to sense your own heartbeat slowly syncing with My Beating Heart’s carefully designed rhythm. Our hearts naturally begin to dance and sync with the hearts of other we hold or hug. This is a phenomenon we have observed for ages. Hugging the Beating Heart a few minutes allows the calm and dreamy beat to relax the body, ease the mind, and cajoles the spirit.”

I don’t know about you, but I would have to see this heartbeat phenomenon work in order to believe it. If you’d like to give it a shot, feel free to pay $50.00 at the aforementioned Perpetual Kid website.

Source

When you get a flat tire you have a couple of options… you can tackle it like a man and just jack up the car like you should, or you can be a wimp and call recovery to do it for you. For those of you who hate getting on your knees, putting the jack in place and flexing your muscles there is now an alternative option named the Exhaust air jack.

The exhaust air jack is a bright orange bag which you throw under the side of your car. Once there, you hook up the pipe to your exhaust and switch on your engine. The exhaust fumes that are pumped out go in to the bag and will jack up the car within 30 seconds. The bag can lift the car 17 inches off the ground which is plenty of space to allow you to get the wheel off. To prevent exhaust fumes escaping there is a one way valve in to the bag which allows you to switch off the engine while keeping the bag inflated. There are other benefits of owning this product too as it works in in mud, snow and on uneven surfaces.

The Exhaust Air Jack costs $129.95.

Product Page Source SlipperyBrick

Guest Post by Matthew of Gadget Venue.

Pocket-lint reviews the Samsung Armani and writes, “Samsung makes up for this boo-boo with a capable 3-megapixel camera. Admittedly there’s no auto-focus or flash but it nevertheless takes solid snaps with strong colour reproduction. Video capture is also quite slick, shooting in two resolutions: 320 x 240 pixels at 30fps and 352 x 288 pixels at 15fps.”

Read more about the Samsung Armani.

Hitachi’s Ultra Thin line of LCD HDTVs were announced back in January this year at CES. We now know a few more detail about the range. At just one third the depth of a standard flatscreen, at just 1.5 inches, the new Hitachi UT series sure looks very impressive. As well as being very thing, the lineup features ultra-wideband technology from Tzero which allows you to receive HD video wirelessly from any HDMI equipped equipment.

The Hitachi UT series are avaliable in three sizes, as the 32-inch Hitachi UT32MH70, 37-inch UT37MX70, or as the biggest 42-inch UT42MX70. All feature IPS LCD technology providing superior brightness, contrast and colour, have 35mm profiles and weigh a minimum of just 10.9kg. A digital tuner for the UT series will be avaliable in October.

The smallest 32inch UT32MH70 will be avaliable in April, the 37-inch UT37MX70 in May, while the biggest 42-inch Hitachi UT42MX70 will arrive in June.

Traveling to Third World countries might be cheap for those living in the West, considering the much lower standard of living, and the sights and smells are often exotic as well. Unfortunately, all that comes at a price, sometimes safe drinking water is hard to come by, and to rely on bottled water wherever you go is pretty inconvenient. Enter the Thirst Aid Pouch that makes it easy to filter water from just about any source.

Our advanced water filtration technology enables the user to get water from just about any source, from drainage ditch and muddy puddle to a standpipe, and be confident that the Thirst Aid pouch will remove it’s contaminants. The water you get out will have gone through our unique advanced filter which strips out contaminants and pathogens, bacteria and viruses; it also removes sediment, reduces heavy metals and leaves the water odorless and palatable.

A safe, clean water supply anywhere you are? I’ll take one. Sure beats drinking water from the tap and ending up with an upset stomach later on…

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Apr 20th 2008 at 10:07PM
For those of you lucky, lucky folks in Europe (or the UK, more specifically), it looks like your wait for the PlayTV rollout is coming to a close. According to Amazon’s British wing, you can now pre-order the playstation 3 add-on for £59.99 ($120) with an expected release on July 31st. Over here we’ll just continue to twiddle our thumbs, watch paint dry, and check out our Blu-ray version of The Song Remains the Same… again

[Thanks, Mighty Zoltar]

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