Best Gadgets World

by Ross Rubin, posted May 10th 2008 at 7:04PM

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment.

The best and most popular portable electronics products don’t work for long without them, but the general consumer sentiment toward AC adapters is evident in the terms of endearment such as “bricks” and “wall warts” given to them. They’re referred to with even more colorful language when they’re accidentally left behind on a trip or are otherwise unavailable when needed.

But if a startup GreenPlug has its way, future portable electronics products may not come with an AC adapter, much like many printers today don’t come with a USB cable. With engineering talent that ran design for Apple’s DC power systems for the ipod and the MagSafe connector, GreenPlug is taking on one of gadetry’s holy grails – a universal connector that can work on practically any portable electronics device. GreenPlug would turn the frequently forgotten and mismatched AC adapter into an accessory ecosystem. The company envisions DC charging hubs that would be available in conference tables at the workplace and in tables and walls at coffee shops.

Unlike most of the billions of chargers sold every year and even universal adapters from brands such as iGo and Targus, GreenPlug power systems stop charging products when the batteries in their associated products reach full charge and includes a glowing status indicator like those in Apple’s laptops. The solution relies on a chip and firmware called GreenTalk embedded into the device that communicates with the power supply.

Adding new chips to the cost-sensitive consumer electronics product can often spell bad news for a company with a hot new technology, and GreenPlug’s solution would add significantly to a device’s price. However, the company plans to seed high-volume consumer electronics companies with free chips to set its virtuous cycle in motion. Once there is a significant flow of GreenPlug-enabled devices in the market, accessory makers can begin offering AC adapters that work across a variety of devices from different manufacturers.

Power accessory makers such as Belkin, Kensington and Targus could offer a variety of multi-port power hubs, expanding the “universal” power supply market exponentially at retailers. There could even be enough critical mass for building charging hubs directly into lamps, desks, or even new houses.

So GreenPlug may be free to the likes of Sony, HP and Nokia. But why would they end years of selling scores of profitable replacement AC adapter models? There could certainly be an early mover advantage to the first manufacturers to offer an energy-monitoring solution and it’s no coincidence that these three high-volume device companies have been loudly beating the green drum. GreenPlug notes that, while AC adapters bring in revenue, they are a major inventory management challenge. Sony alone maintains thousands of AC adapters for its products.

GreenPlug is also green in that it encourages reuse. There’s no need to dispose of a GreenPlug AC adapter when you dispose of a product you use with it. In the long term and with a robust enough ecosystem, manufacturers could save money and reduce recall liability by not bundling AC adapters with their products. And manufacturers could still differentiate based on matching designs and other innovations. Acer, for example, could create a GreenPlug version of the brick for the Gateway One’s AC adapter, which integrates USB host and Ethernet ports. Still, the manufacturer incentive is probably the weakest link in GreenPlug’s chain.

The next Switched On will discuss some other challenges to GreenPlug and how the company plans to address them.

Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On are his own.

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Filed under: Peripherals

The new Pioneer AVIC-T10 comes loaded with many nice features, unfortunately, it is set to release only in Japan for the time being. The AVIC-T10 comes with a 5.8-inch VGA touch screen, 4GB of internal memory, Bluetooth capability for hands free calling, and has HSDPA support. To use that, you have to connect your device through your phone. Additionally, it comes with a TV 1Seg tuner, has decent format support including WMA, MP3, and AAC. It also comes with many useful services including Smart Loop Traffic Congestion Information, Parking Availability Information, Gasoline Price Information, and PinPoint Weather reports. My guess is that the first service, the Smart Loop Traffic Congestion Information provides traffic updates, the Parking Space service lets you know where there are available parking spots (that’s pretty cool), the Gasoline service lets you know where the cheapest gas in the area is, and the PinPoint service updates you on the weather. The last service is called the Rendez-Vous service, which basically chooses a convenient meeting place if you want to meet with your friend. It finds out that convenient place by searching through emails sent and received by the same person. All in all, it comes with some pretty nice and unique services. No word on exact pricing at this time, but hopefully it remains relatively inexpensive.

Via [Akihabara News]

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Microsoft has brought back their “Ultimate Steal” promotion, and once again are offering a great deal on Office Ultimate. Microsoft is currently running the promotion for students which will allow them to save $620, which is 91% off the retail price of Microsoft Office Ultimate. The office suite normally retails for $680, however up until May 16 anyone with access to a .edu address can take advantage of this deal.

Based on the website for the promotion, you must be an active student, meaning you are currently enrolled in a class, however the New York Times is reporting that all you need is an active .edu email address. Well, I have a spare $60 lying around, just a shame I don’t still have access to my old .edu address.

Read [The Ultimate Steal] Via [Lifehacker]

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The recently released Photoshop Express, which is a free web-based photo editor has just added support for Flickr. With the newly added support users can now take images from their Flickr account, edit them in Photoshop Express and place the hopefully nicer images back into their Flickr photo stream for everyone to enjoy. If you are new to Photoshop Express, you can check out the recent review from our own Debbie Cook.

Via [Lifehacker]

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by Darren Murph, posted May 10th 2008 at 5:33PM
It’s been a hot minute since we’ve seen any fresh new kit from Plextor, but the firm has just rolled out a new pair of NAS drives for those on the hunt for — what else? — networked storage. The StorX PX-NAS500L / PX-NAS1000L drives offer up 500GB and 1TB of capacity, respectively, and each unit includes a gigabit Ethernet port, one-touch USB back-up button and the ability to grow thanks to a pair of USB 2.0 sockets. Beyond that, you won’t find much else special about the new duo, and your guess is as good as ours on pricing / availability.

[Via BIOS]

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Filed under: Storage

It seems like companies are always looking for new and innovative ways to advertise. Sure, in the old days they could get away with the usual ads in magazines and on TV and radio. However, these days you’ll see advertisements in movies, video games, on your coffee cups and just about anywhere you can imagine. One area that is largely untapped is the sky. However this device aims to change that.

We’ve all seen the Goodyear blimp hovering over sporting events, but thats really all we see in the way of sky-high advertisements. This machine churns out a logo made of specially formulated soap bubbles. These floating logos (called Flogos) range from 24 to 48 inches in size, and will hold their shape for a great distance. Depending on weather conditions they can travel 20-30 miles and reach altitudes of 20,000 feet. Environmentalists need not worry, these bubbles are 100% safe.

Source: OhGizmo

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Remember the days when you just bought (or built) a computer with however much storage you needed/wanted? Nowadays, your computer is more brains and less brawn, at least in the storage department, as detached storage, typically on the network becomes more popular for the home.

Here’s another such example - the HP Media Vault. We’re featuring the 2120 that ships with a 500GB SATA hard drive, and you can another one to it (up to 1TB), but HP has a whole line of these media vaults. It can handle RAID 1 mirroring so you don’t lose data if one of your drives goes down. It ships with a 10/100/1000 NIC. Excellent.

But what gives these storage devices (or media vaults as HP calls them) that little extra oomph, is the embedded OS (typically Linux) and applications that allow you to control the drives remotely as well as share out specific sections of data to your home network or even the Internet if you so choose.

For example, you could set up the 2120 as your central media location and stream your music and videos from it. It also has HP’s Photo Webshare for showing off your photos. For even more control, you can set up user accounts and dictate who can access and/or modify what.

For under $300, these external storage solutions make expanding your capacity a snap. You may also be interested in checking out the Drobo which takes storage redundancy to a new user-friendly level.

Gimme!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $289.00
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Posted in Computers, Gizmo of the Day

So what does an auto loan lender do when borrowers forget to pay? Give them a really annoying box that beeps when payment is already due and prevents the car from starting. Sub-prime borrowers can no longer give an excuse that they forgot to pay because this box won’t fail to remind. 

Called the “On Time” this gadget is installed in the car and blinks when payment is near the due date and beeps on the date itself. When payment still isn’t made, the car won’t start, leaving you without a car to use until you have settled your bills. If payment has been made, the auto-loan lender will give the borrower a code to reset the box and stop being annoyed by all the beeping and the blinking. 

Lenders say that they missed payments have been down by 30%. I wonder if mortgage lenders should do the same for houses. Install a similar device, only no beeping and blinking…just a recorded voice that nags every morning and night. Now that would be really cool and yeah, so annoying. But at least, people will be motivated to pay.

Read [The Consumerist]

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Laptop sleeves are becoming more and more popular these days. Not only do they allow a laptop to be carried safely in a bag that doesn’t scream “I have an expensive computer in here!”, they also help users avoid carrying backbreaking amounts of junk. The new Cargo Laptop Sleeve from Built NY is perfect for those who just want to carry the bare minimum. It’s made out of tough, protective neoprene and aside from holding a laptop it offers three pockets that can hold a portable hard drive, a mouse, an ipod, or whatever you can find that will fit. It’s also got special zig zag stitching that gives it extra water resistance. It comes in three sizes: Large (fits laptops up to 17-inch), Medium (fits laptops up to 15.4-inch) and Small (fits laptops up to 13-inch). Prices range from $40-$50.

Product [Built NY] Via [Crave]

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by Darren Murph, posted May 9th 2008 at 11:08PM
As lovely as the D2 is, we’ve always had a secret wish for it to offer up a bit more internal capacity. Apparently the higher-ups at Cowon have heard our inner cries, as a 16GB edition of the player is now available through JetMall. Aside from being more capacious, nothing else has changed, but if this was just the thing to push you over the edge, you can hand over your $240 right now and join the club.

[Via AnythingButiPod]

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Filed under: Podcasts, Portable Video