Best Gadgets World

With more and more gadgets coming with us everywhere we go, its becoming harder and harder to keep them all charged with limited cigarette lighter sockets available in cars today. Thankfully most gadgets now-a-days have a USB port, and this latest gadget will only take advantage of that. The “Car Charger with 4 USB Ports and 1 Cigarette Socket” offers up just what the name implies, a cigarette socket along with 4 USB ports, and retails for $22.99. The charger will work with most regular cars and trucks that have a 12V ~ 24V input, it also features a removable (and changeable) fuse. The little gadget is available in black, not really sure why they only have it pictured in white, but as of this writing its currently out-of-stock, so if you are interested you will have to wait until “early Sept. 2008.” However USB Fever is promising it to be shipped no later than the middle of September.

Product [USB Fever] Via [techchee]

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Bowers and Wilkins, best known as the manufacturer of high quality speakers, has launched their subscription-based Music Club this summer.  The service allows subscribers to download high quality music, recorded in (former lead singer of Genesis) Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio, in Bath, Great Britain.  Each month, a new album, from a selected artist, is released.  Some of the past featured artists include, Gwyneth Herbert, Little Axe, and Brett Anderson.  Subscriptions can be purchased in 6- or 12-month varieties, for $39.95 and $59.95, respectively.  After using the service for a few weeks, I have some mixed feelings.

The Good

• High quality music available for download in Apple Lossless or FLAC formats
• Songs have no DRM
• Inexpensive; albums for $5-7, depending on length of subscription
• Digital cover art and CD inserts included, in PDF and JPEG format
• Site is fairly simple and easy to navigate

The Bad

• Only one album a month
• Albums only available for a month, meaning no back catalog
• Almost no choice — either you like the month’s album, or lose money
• Subscription only — no a la carte purchasing
• No desktop application for organizing music
• Downloads managed by site’s own pop up window — no support for browser download manager

Conclusion

Honestly, I personally did not have too much fun with this service, because of the lack of music choice.  Other than that, it is honestly quite a bargain, for those interested in a subscription based service.  This month’s album, by Gwyneth Herbert, was not exactly my cup of tea, but was still quite a complete and decent album.  What really blew me away was the music quality, which is almost better than CDs I’ve ripped to Apple Lossless, let alone to the regular slew of 128/192kbps files.  In all, it is definitely a great value for those who love all types of music, especially high quality that is exclusive to the club.  I give it a 3 out of 5.

Check it out [Bowers & Wilkins Music Club]

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This news has excited both the chocoholic and the egomaniac in me: you can now personalize M&Ms! You can both select the colors of your choice and choose the letter you’d like instead of an M. As Shiny Shiny reports, you can have your very own message printed onto each piece of candy, too (but keep it short or it might take Ia magnifying glass to read it).

However, the best news of all as far as I’m concerned is that you can add a photo to each individual M&M — a great way to celebrate a special occasion, and let’s face it, just plain fun to make!

I can see these being used as wedding favors instead of tired old almonds, as a unique way to wish someone a happy birthday, or just a fun experiment. Find out more via the M&Ms custom print store.

What’s the next best thing to watching the Olympics live from inside the Beijing National Stadium? Why, carrying up to 4GB of music on the “Bird Nest” mp3 player everywhere we go, of course! Modeled after the famous stadium, the player features an LCD screen, FM tuner, voice recorder, and anti-theft security in the form of disguising itself to look like a misshapen lump of melted quarters, which thieves find utterly useless.

Available now in 1GB ($19), 2GB ($24), and 4GB ($33) capacities.

Via Chip Chick.

by Steven Kim, posted Aug 13th 2008 at 2:04PM
While we won’t complain about the performance or styling of InFocus’ Play Big IN83 projector, the $6,000 price tag is a little steep. Sure, it’s got that 1080p DarkChip4 DLP and styling that don’t look like you “borrowed” it from the boardroom, but that $6,000 price tag gives us pause. InFocus is adding the Play Big IN80 model to the lineup to fill the gap, though. The specs put the IN80 above the company’s X10 model — it packs a 1080p DarkChip with BrilliantColor, can pump out 1300 lumens in the snow scenes and shares the design with its IN83 big brother, so you won’t be tempted to try out your PowerPoints at home. Best of all, though is the MSRP £1,299 ($2500) when it ships in September.

[Via AboutProjectors]

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Today, Cannondale unveiled a “Secret Scalpel” version of their popular light cross country racer for the Olympics.  Three riders, Roel Paulissen, Jakob Fuglsang and Kashi Leuchs will be putting the new rig through its paces in ten days in China.  The bike features the culmination of black box skunk works from a lot of different companies.  The bike weights an impressive 8.8kg or 19.4lbs.

According to Cannondale, that weight was achieved by:
• the Scalpel’s Zero Pivot optimized chainstay
•high modulous carbon layers
• raw carbon finish (no paint) and lightweight personalized national decal kits
• HeadShok Lefty, ride tuned and race optimized by 88+
• Cannondale’s Si SL 2×9 mountain crankset with ceramic bearings
• Vredestein prototype Black Panther tubular tires
• Mavic’s prototype tubular wheelset

The highest-end Scalpel Team weighted in at 22.4lbs and cost a stuffy $6900 retail.  3lbs of weight is impressive and likely a lot of it was taken out of the wheels and tires, making it seem a light lighter (rotating mass).  It will be interesting to see what these athletes are able to do aboard this exclusive ride.

Personally, I can vouch for the Scalpel.  I owned a team version when the bike was introduced and it was one of the best cross country rigs I’ve ridden.  From the single sided Lefty fork up front to the clever bending chainstays, it was an impressive ride.

Read [Cannondale] via [bikeradar]

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The last time we covered a Raon Everun product, it was the Ultra Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC).  Today, it is the Everun Note netbook, which is just about as light as a UMPC, coming in at about 1.64-pounds. 

Other specs on the Note netbook is a seven inch screen with a 1,024 x 600 resolution, as well as a QWERTY keyboard.  It also has 1GB of RAM, an ATI RS690E 64MB video card, and it is the world’s first netbook to be powered by a AMD Turion dual-core processor. 

Hard drive options are a 12GB SSD or 80GB, and the operating system is Windows XP Home Edition.  It also has an Electronic dictionary function, Bluetooth connectivity, as well as an SD/MMC memory card slot. 

Unfortunately, the Raon Everun Note netbook has only recently been unveiled.  There is no word about its release date or price, but we do know that is slated to be shipped only in Korea. 

Via [ubergizmo]

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by Darren Murph, posted Aug 13th 2008 at 8:28AMLook folks, we won’t deny that hardcore usage of the Wii could result in weight loss, but we have all ideas Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima relied a lot more on swimming laps religiously and eating a set diet than playing Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Nevertheless, the Olympic gold medalist, who snagged said medal in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke earlier this week, did mention that he used the game to prepare his mind. “See, Mario does the breaststroke,” he stated, “and thus, it’s perfect mental training for envisioning the actual Olympic hall.” We’d say that’s being mighty generous, but whatever gets you to the other end first, right?

[Via Joystiq]

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Filed under: Gaming

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 12th 2008 at 8:16PM
In all honesty, USBfever almost nailed this one. The $22.99 in-car charger plugs right into your cigarette socket and gives motorists their cigarette outlet back along with 4 charging USB ports. The one (admittedly massive) tweak we wish it would’ve made? Replace that cig adapter with a traditional AC outlet. Yeah, yeah — that would make the whole thing a lot bigger, but you can’t deny that it would be way more useful. Version 2, anyone?

[Via Coolest gadgets]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Capable of providing you with stunning photographic results, Samsung L201 Camera is the latest buzz in the digital market. This 10.2 mega pixel camera sports a slim body and an amazing look. The L201 camera features a 3x optical zoom and a 2.7-inch Intelligent LCD. This camera supports ISO 1600 and enables you to choose from 10 different scene modes.

Features

• Digital Image Stabilisation
• Face Detection
• Red-Eye Fix
• Photo Help Guide
• Auto Exposure Bracketing

Samsung L201 Camera works efficiently with a Li-on battery that can be charged from within the camera itself. You can also create a Multi Slide Show on Samsung L201 Camera and arrange your memorable photos the way you like. This newly launched camera also features a Recycle Bin allowing you to retrieve images that you have already deleted.

Price and Availability

Samsung L201 Camera is available at a price of £129.00. The Camera is available in five exciting colors including, pink, green, blue, black and silver.
Source: Samsungcamera

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