Best Gadgets World

The fact that I don’t actually own a 3G iPhone - yet - hasn’t kept me from buying, testing, or sampling all of the new accessories. (Sadly, I am limping along with my “old” iphone until the lines diminish at my local Apple store.)

The new 3G cases from Griffin are some of my favorites, especially since a few of them, such as the Nu Form, feature the EasyDock solution, a clever new way to dock your phone without taking the entire case off. The bottom section just slides off and on for charging and syncing.

Made of a 2-piece shatter-proof polycarbonate shell, it snaps around your iPhone, giving you plenty of protection while still allowing full access to all the controls. Available in black or white, it’s $24.99 at Griffin and Amazon.

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jul 25th 2008 at 10:25AM
Poor xTablet. First it’s used as a hammer and now it’s submerged under water by an accented man in a wetsuit. In the latest test of the xTablet T8700, the guys over at RuggedPCReview swam gingerly with the machine all the while tapping away at its screen, amazed that it continued to work, submerged and “without bubbles.” The Jacque Cousteau-like narration had us hoping that a shark (or even a furtive sea turtle) would come along to make things a bit more exciting, but all we saw was some creepy whispering, scuba gear, and uncomfortable silence. We mean no harm to the diver, we just felt as though something really, really bad was about to happen. Video after the break.

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Filed under: Tablet PCs

Scary alien pig alert! Scary alien pig alert!

I mean, seriously. How freaky looking are these pink and white pig loudspeakers? They’re already equipped with speakers beneath their volume-controlling ears, as well as where their bellies should be. Did the sadistic manufacturer really have to gouge out their eyes and stuff two more speakers into the sockets?

There’s a possibility that I could be coaxed into appreciating the bass control located on the pig’s behind, but there’s no way I’ll ever think that nuclear glow coming from its mouth is okay. I can’t get on board with the whopping $105 asking price either.

Via Geek Alerts.

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jul 25th 2008 at 11:44AMVOIP provider Vonage is doing a bit of reshuffling at the top, while putting the finishing touches on a $215 million infusion of cash from Silver Point Finance LLC. Dry enough? Perhaps, but we’re sure Jeffery Citron, CEO and current interim chief executive of the recently embattled company will be pleased to get the helping hand. Citron is currently preparing for a swap of duties as well, taking a step back from the day-to-day — which will probably provide a welcome respite from the flurry of legal hits the provider has taken. Enjoy your vacation, Jeff.

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Filed under: Household

FROM APPLETELL - Orange may join O2 in providing the UK with iPhones; perhaps as soon as October this year.
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I’m sort of a fan of the FitFlop “mini-wobble board sandals”, which I wear around the house, because although they don’t appear to actually do anything to make me more fit, they’re pretty comfortable, at least for short periods. One thing I definitely don’t have the sartorial panache to pull off, however, is the flip flops with the cute dress look. On me, it looks much less casual chic and much more like I’ve just escaped a house fire and was lucky to have anything on my feet at all.

FitFlops has addressed the, um, need, for dressier flip flops by coming out with a few new styles more appropriate for wearing when you’re not at the beach. The Aurelia Gladiator is either so ugly it’s cool or maybe just trying way too hard, I’m not sure. The Gladiator sandal is supposedly THE trend of summer 2008, but other than admiring the look on Gwyneth, I haven’t really seen anyone manage to wear them without looking like someone who works at a Gladiator-themed mall restaurant.

At the very least, if you wear these, you’ll have some amusing pictures that you’ll be defending by saying, “they were so HOT in 2008, seriously!”. And possibly, you’ll have some added muscle definition in your creatively laced up legs.

The Aurelia is a limited edition designed in collaboration with Kirna Zabete. The black kid leather is $150 and the snakeskin is $165, both at Kirna Zabete.

Chinavasion has produced an MP4 player known as CVSJ-1304-4GB, which is notable because it is 4.5 mm thick, making it the world’s thinnest.

Is it just me, or is suspicion aroused when I hear “world’s thinnest” (or world’s anything, for that matter). First of all, it is hard to verify that, as there are so many companies who make Portable Media Players (PMPs) worldwide. Not only that, PMP technology changes all the time, so by the time this report is written, some other company will come out with a product the world’s thinnest, smallest, or whatever.

I believe that Reachgood’s PMP said they were the world’s thinnest at 5.5 mm, and this new one from Chinavasion beats it by a whole millimeter! This unit has a 1.8 inch display with 160 x 128 resolution, a 2.5 millimeter headphone jack, a USB 2.0 port, as well as a rechargeable battery. It supports media formats such as MP4, MP3, WMA, ASF, and WAV, and even has an FM tuner.

I believe that another PMP known as the MSC Dino E. made the world’s thinnest claim, but it was at 7.8 mm. However, the ipod nano is about 7.0 mm. Once again, the world’s thinnest controversy continues.

The CVSJ-1304-4GB is priced at $39.55, but I have no word on availability.

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It turns out that slightly bizarre mouse with the built-in fan to blow on your hand wasn’t the only odd gadget they had with cooling in mind.  They also have a keyboard that blows on your wrists as you’re clacking away at the keys.  For weirdos like me, they need a heated version that blows hot air directly onto your wrists.  It’s sad when I say that in late July.  I’m just thinking ahead I swear, it’s definitely not that I can’t even cope with air conditioning.

For those that are the sweaty types, this is one more way to make sure that your sweat doesn’t go dripping into the crevices of your keyboard.  Pair this with their cooling mouse and you’ll never have issues again.  As long as you don’t leave the computer that is.  This is of course a Japanese product being Thanko.  However, if you don’t mind having your gadgets shipped from around the world, you could still pick one up.  The keyboard is being sold for 6,650 yen or a whopping $62.  Not to mention the fees it would take to get the product to you.  I suppose for now we can all deal with those little desktop fans.

Source: fareastgizmos

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ZVUE has just unveiled their latest digital audio player, a special 1GB model that is not only branded with some bitchin’ Journey graphics, but also comes pre-loaded 11 classic tracks as well as 11 that are new.

I will admit a little guilty pleasure when it comes to some of the classic Journey, but still have to ask, they have new stuff? Anyway, perhaps the best part, and maybe the only savior is that that you can pick one up for the low price of $39.88. The Journey branded ZVUE will be available from Wal-Mart online and seems to be available for home delivery or in-store pickup.

I just cannot resist some sarcasm here, but something about a Journey branded player being released in 2008, that is available from Wal-Mart is just screaming no-class. However I am sure there are still some Journey fans that will find this a little to hard to resist. Of course for under 40 bucks that could be a decent player to use when you are afraid of damaging your real portable player.

Product [Wal-Mart] Via [anythingbutipod]

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It’s looking like a slight bit of admittance of defeat coming from HP in regards to their Mini-Note, according to some recent statements from Jerel Chong, HP Australia’s Market Development Manager for Notebook PCs they are looking to follow up the 2133 Mini-Note with a lower priced model.

“From a retail perspective we’re looking at a similar device (to the 2133) but at a lower cost”

While the Mini-Note is a very nicely made and very solid feeling notebook, its hard to argue that its among the most expensive of the netbooks currently on the market, so a lower priced model may be a welcomed addition.

In regards to the lower pricing, while HP has not mentioned just where they would be cutting those costs, it appears that they may be looking to recoup some of that cost from how the Mini-Note is made because Chong went on to state that “it won’t be as durable but it will be cheaper”.

Lets just hope that if they do make a cheaper but not as durable model they are still able to at least improve on the processor, because while the current Mini-Note works fairly well for everyday use, it would be much nicer with an Intel Atom processor as opposed to the current VIA C7-M.

Read [apc mag]

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