Best Gadgets World

Star Wars geeks will no doubt want this bad boy … it’s an Imperial Tie Fighter Advanced X1 from Star Wars that also acts as a webcam. And although this looks more to be a fan boy accessory rather than a serious video conferencing tool, there are some nifty features that make this not only fun, but worthy of consideration.

What’s really cool about it is that in the business end of the TIEs laser canons are LEDs which will light you up and make it easier for the camera to capture your image. That’s a great idea since webcams aren’t well known for their performance in low light or even ambient lighting conditions. No word on how bright the LEDs get, but even a little in the right place is better than nothing. In addition, adding to the fun factor of this TIEcam is that it has all the expected digital audio effects which will provide the right audio ambience for chatting in a galaxy far, far away. That means laser fire, engine whines, and perhaps even the old John Williams score. Enough to make it fun, at the very last.

The TIE webcam will shoot full screen video and take screen grabs and comes with a built in microphone and handy clip for convenient installation. Not too bad for a price of about $40 US.

Cue John Williams, please.

Hat tip – Technabob

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by Darren Murph, posted Aug 15th 2008 at 7:17AM
For those out there who’ve already doused their grille in platinum, Fabio Dabori’s sponge-loaded toothbrush could double as the ultimate wax machine. For everyone else still rockin’ the pearly off-whites, surely this thing is more comfortable than those stiff bristles found on the vast majority of brushes today. The Giro Sponge concept is an electric teeth cleaner that features a soft, round head that’s particularly kind to babies and grown-ups with sensitive gums. Word has it that Mr. Dabori has patents on the idea and is hoping to get it on store shelves soon, and we can already see that those cutesy replaceable heads will be a huge hit with the kiddos.

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Filed under: Household

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Aug 15th 2008 at 10:40AM
According to a report in USA Today, starting on Saturday the TSA will be relaxing its policies on laptop removal from bags, and will be letting specific bags types ride through the X-ray machines with their cargo intact. The agency will allow travelers using bags which provide an unobstructed view of the computer inside to keep their laptops tucked away during the screening process, though they’ll still require “accordion” or “backpack” style bag-users to grab a bin. The TSA isn’t naming names or attaching labels to specific bags, but has provided guidelines to fliers suggesting what style would be most conducive to not getting shaken down every time you go to the airport. Of course, the TSA could have been doing this since the start of their time-wasting (and false-security-inducing) process, thus saving us innumerable headaches… but that would have made too much sense.

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Filed under: Laptops

FROM APPLETELL - Given that the iphone is designed for less strenuous tasks than the average desktop computer, it begs the question: does the iPhone even need to copy and paste? The answer may be no.
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by Thomas Ricker, posted Aug 15th 2008 at 1:50AM
Perhaps it’s just that nostalgia for the ThinkPad 701 but there’s something about this dual-display reference design that’s causing optical interrupts all over Engadget editorial. It’s certainly not as elegant as some other dual-display laptops we’ve seen, but what it gives up in looks, the Electronic Keyboards, Inc. design makes up for in practicality. They’re currently pitching it to OEMs and will gladly sell you the related US patents if interested. Though given our choice, we’d be more interested in patents related to an elongated trackpad which doubles as a secondary glass display or e-Ink informational widget. Hey, a boy can dream can’t he?

[Via The Raw Feed]

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Filed under: Laptops

FROM GAMERTELL - The PSP Slim has been out for a while now so it may be surprising to learn that Sony is working on a new version. Patents were found lingering on the FCC website show multiple very technical documents about the new PSP-3001 series. Before jumping up with glee you should… MORE »

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by Richard Lawler, posted Aug 14th 2008 at 3:36PM
Details around the wireless edition of Sony’s Bravia Internet Link kit — most notably peeped during CES — are coming into focus. Using that WHDI tech the kids are so into these days, this system is for Sony’s Digital Media Extender-equipped HDTVs, and according to Sony Insider will debut for a price between $350 and $500 at the IFA conference in Berlin. Unfortunately, SI’s info suggests we may only be spec’d for 1080i streaming of up to 5 feet, a bit less than the 200 foot range originally expected — for only the fraction of the price of Monster Cables. Punch the read link for the rest of the details on the DMX-WL1T, while the rest of us hope Sony can turn the distance up enough to make it worthwhile.

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

by Donald Melanson, posted Aug 14th 2008 at 3:03PM
Samsung’s new E200 Eco cellphone may not stand out very much based on its specs, which include a 1.3 megapixel camera and mp3 player functionality, but the company is hoping that folks will take notice of it for another reason: its casing is made of corn. Or, more specifically, a corn-based bioplastic, which has some drawbacks of its own but is becoming more and more commonly used these days. No word on a release ’round these parts just yet, but the phone (which also comes in packaging made from recycled materials) will be available in Europe sometime next month.

[Via HotHardware]

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Filed under: cellphones

by Chris Ziegler, posted Aug 14th 2008 at 2:35PMSupport forum threads on Apple’s site and a number of ramblings across these great interwebs are starting to complain at great length about the iPhone 3G’s headlining new feature — 3G reception, that is — and pretty much every aspect of it: signal strength, call dropping, connecting to EDGE when 3G is present, the list goes on. Some smartypants analyst from financial firm Nomura thinks he has it all figured out, saying that the issues are “typical of an immature chipset and radio protocol stack” and suggesting that a firmware update pushed out to existing handsets is unlikely to ease the pain. We’ve been hearing that Cupertino could actually be working on just such an update at this very second, though, so this cat better get ready for the possibility that he could be eating his own words down the road. For what it’s worth, intermittent issues have been reported the world over, so this doesn’t seem to be anything to do with AT&T’s (or anyone else’s) infrastructure — and needless to say, not everyone is having issues to start. And for anyone whose iphone 3G we just jinxed by writing this post… well, our bad.

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Filed under: cellphones, Handhelds

Thanks to some recently uncovered pages on the Palm.com website, it seems like the upcoming Treo 850 will actually be the Treo Pro. Of course, as you would imagine, a leaked page like this will quickly be taken offline, which will only further add to the speculation, but thankfully there are some screenshots showing off the new Treo Pro.

These images certainly look quite a bit like the previously leaked images of the Treo 850, and we must say its a nice looking Treo. The few details that we can gather from these images further seem to support the theory that the Treo 850 is the Treo Pro, those specs include a reset button, 3.5mm headphone jack as well as a wireless button on the side with a power button on top.

Via [WM Experts]

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