Gadzooki

Hatsuden-Nabe Thermo-electric Cookpot: Cell Phone Charger for Natural Disasters

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With natural disasters occurring practically every day – at least in some parts of the world, it is only common sense to do as much as you can in case you actually find yourself in the middle of an emergency – or even the aftermath. We have emergency kits, first aid kits, and all sorts of other kits that can help keep you alive.

What Japanese company TES NewEnergy has done is to add to the arsenal of emergency supplies that everyone has to have. Think about it – after an earthquake, a typhoon, or a flood, electrical power may not be readily available. You might find yourself camping out in an area where there are no facilities. Even evacuation centers may not have a steady supply of electrical power. You probably will have some gadget that needs electricity – chances are that you will have your mobile phone; maybe you’ll have an mp3 player. While these things may be frivolous in times of a natural disaster, they can help survivors make their situation a tad better. Your cell phone can be used to call relatives and friends. It can be used to call for help. At the very least, if your situation is not that bad, it can be used to amuse yourself. The problem is if you’re out of juice.

That’s where TES NewEnergy’s gadget comes into the picture. It is basically a cookpot which can be placed over a campfire. At the end of the pot’s handle comes out a wire which has a USB connector at the end. This connector can then be used to hook up a mobile phone or any other compatible gadget, allowing for the transfer of electric power. This is made possible by the temperature differential between the bottom of the pot (which can reach up to 550 degrees Celsius) and the boiling water that the pot contains (100 degrees Celsius). With this set up, it can take anywhere from three to five hours to fully charge an iPhone. At the same time, you can make lunch or heat it up!

The use of the pot is not limited to emergency situations. The gadget can also be used in places where electricity is not yet available. When you go camping, you can also lug this pot around – it is small enough to carry around.

The gadget is already available in Japan for $284.55, and the company is planning on marketing it in other parts of the world soon.

Via

5 Attempts to Lie, Cheat, or Steal With Gadgets

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We the human race are quite the sorry bunch, and thanks to “progress” it’s easier than ever to indulge our own douchbaggery with gadgets. Often times we get away with it, but sometimes we don’t. Here are five attempts to influence fate with the help of gadgets, ranging from gaining a competitive advantage to simply pure perversion. [Read more…]

The Music Card MP3 Player will wreak havoc with your love life

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Let’s face it, guys. Japan has always been known for their bizarre products, TV shows, commercials, and, well, porn. They also have the tendency to create massively awesome products that change the game – just look at the Playstation and the original Walkman. Finally, they also have a tendency to combine the awesomeness and absurdity of their stuff in ways that we can only barely comprehend.

And we love the them for that.

Japanese gadget maker Strapya is now selling the Music Card MP3 Player, and it’s a credit card-sized mp3 player. I know, the iPod nano’s also small (but not this small, I agree) but does it have external speakers like this baby over here?

Some key specs of the player:

  • Dimensions: 5.4×8.6cm, just 5mm thick and weighs 20g.
  • Plays MP3 or WMA format
  • 2GB internal storage
  • 2.5mm audio jack (comes with 3.5mm audio jack adapter)
  • Built-in speakers
  • 15 hours of playing time using just headphones
  • Compatible with PC and Mac

However, there’s a bit of a problem. According to a promotional video on the Music Card MP3 website, this infinitely cool gadget can actually wreak havoc with your love life:

Guess what? I don’t care if this thing will make me die alone and lonely in some basement. I want one!

The Music Card MP3 Player sells for $26.70 and it ships worldwide.

[via]

The new iPhone has been leaked

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So, the lucky guys at Gizmodo were able to get their hands on an iPhone 4. There’s a bit of a story behind their acquisition. Apparently, Apple has been testing the new iPhone in the wild already, and one of Apple’s employees have, well, misplaced one. A lucky soul found the iPhone in a bar in Redwood City, and was sent to Gizmodo. Wow.

Now, we really can’t be 100% sure that this is indeed the new iPhone. But there are lots of clues that point to it being real. There really is an Apple employee who reported that he lost a prototype iPhone. It was covered in a rubberized casing so it can be disguised as an iPhone 3GS. Right now, it looks like it’s a major departure from previous iterations of the iPhone. Let’s start with the design of the phone itself. Gone is the curved back that defined the first three iPhones. It’s now flat at the back, and if you don’t see the front of the iPhone, you’d think it was made by Nokia or something. I won’t go as far sa to call it ugly, but I’m not exactly a fan of the new look.

Features-wise, this is also a totally different monster. Here’s Gizmodo’s roundup of the new features:

What’s new
• Front-facing video chat camera
• Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
• Improved display. It’s unclear if it’s the 960×460 display thrown around before—it certainly looks like it, with the “Connect to iTunes” screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.
• What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
• Split buttons for volume
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic

What’s changed
• The back is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) or ceramic or shiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Tapping on the back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared to tapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be the orientation of components inside making for a different sound
• An aluminum border going completely around the outside
• Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution)
• Everything is more squared off
• 3 grams heavier
• 16% Larger battery
• Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery

What do you think? Is this the real deal or a really elaborate hoax that Gizmodo fell for hook line and sinker? If this is the real thing, what do you think of the changes?

The CrunchPad is dead. Now what?

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It’s dead, Jim.

And now, news of the CrunchPad’s demise has reached the blogosphere (twice-over, I must say), we’re here to examine the post-mortem. It was an ambitious project: an internet tablet meant to sell cheap. Everybody was waiting for it with bated breath, but it never came. [Read more…]

Panasonic’s “Tiger-Resistant” Laptop

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0623_tiger-thoughbook_170x170Why would anyone require his laptop to be able to withstand a tiger attack? Well, maybe if you’re some dude on TV who purposely goes after animals in the wild, then you would need something that tough. Anyway, even if you don’t exactly interact with ferocious animals on a regular basis, you might want to check out Panasonic’s Toughbook.

Forbes recently ran their own test on this laptop and they had a lot to say about it – most of it praises. These are some of what they did:

We used the Panasonic Toughbook to serve Doritos. Then we crushed the chips to dust between the keyboard and the screen, the same screen we used as a dartboard. The darts poked holes in the screen’s protective coating, but the display underneath remained undamaged. Not a single dead pixel.

The first two, I can see happening in real life. Eating chips while playing or surfing the net – it’s common enough. Laptop as a dartboard? Maybe if you’re so drunk and you mistake it for something else. It is quite interesting to know about the results, though.

Next test:

So we presented the $3,460 Toughbook to Nalin, a white tiger who lives at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Calif. Nalin treated it like a cat toy, knocking it to the ground, gnawing on the screen and licking every inch of its surface. He must have smelled those Doritos.

The tiger chewed off five keys, but that turned out to be just cosmetic. We could still type without them, and were able to glue four back on later (we made sure Nalin didn’t swallow anything). The fifth just snapped back into place.

Amazing isn’t it?

Well that is not the end of it. You can read the rest of the torture that those guys had in store for the Toughbook here.

I guess the price matches its durability, huh?

Nova Slider X600 Laser USB Extreme Gaming Mouse

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The winner of various awards including GametheWorld’s ‘Gold Mouse’ and ‘Top Product’ from www.vortez.co.uk, I was expecting something quite special from this mouse. I can safely say that I was actually quite impressed.

The Nova Slider X 600 is the ultimate fusion of innovation and smart technology. Featuring indestructible super-glide ceramic feet, an innovative cable management system and a powerful 3200dpi laser engine, this revolutionary mouse delivers superior precision and response. With 3 programmable mouse profiles, 8 programmable buttons and 5 different colour illuminations, you can customize your Slider X 600 Gaming Mouse to fit your style and play to give you that extra edge over the competition.

With sensitivity ranging from 400 to 3200DPI that can be set every 100 DPI, the Slider X 600 provides one of the fastest glides available with incredible sensitivity. 3 sensitivity selections are available per profile and are programmable, which allows for on-the-fly sensitivity switching during the game giving you the exact sensitivity setting when you need it.

A new revolution in glide pad material, the Slider X 600 features indestructible ceramic glide pads. The ceramic material guarantees a superior response, movement and speed that deliver a gliding sensation that is unsurpassed. Plus you get to save on the cost to replace your traditional mouse feet every few months as NOVA Gaming stands by its product with a lifetime guarantee on the glide pads.

The Slider X 600 is completely customizable to fit your play style with 5 buttons and the 3 roller controls that can be configured according to a complete list of actions. You can even assign any key on the keyboard to a button on the mouse. In addition, 2 DPI selection buttons allow you to select one of the 3 profile pre selections at any time.

Lastly, there’s a two year guarantee to make sure that your mouse stands up to the test of time. Whilst it appears to be quite an expensive bit of kit at £60, if you’re serious about your PC gaming (for example if you have an Alienware rig), then you won’t mind the extra expense to have a comfortable, customisable mouse with huge accuracy.

The 3G iPhone

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I’ve had 3G on my Nokia N95 enabled since I got it – which is about a month or two ago now. I was thus surprised to learn that the iPhone didn’t include this much faster way to connect to the Internet. Consequently, I wasn’t exactly surprised when Steve Jobs big announcement turned out to be exactly that; 3G for the iPhone. Does it live up to the hype though?

Naturally, the big improvement is in download speed – now you can get access to The App Store much more quickly and get those applications on to your phone in a faster manner. It is significantly improved over the old ‘EDGE’ connection. Also included now is a GPS so you’ll be able to find your way around – again, much like the Nokia N95.

The physical size of the phone is slightly up – it is a little thicker at just a shade over 12mm. A bigger change is the new silky black that’s on the back of the phone. Let it never be said that Apple makes ugly products.

Other than that, battery life has gone up by a few hours – always a nice improvement for any redeveloped phone. There’s also the opportunity to ‘geotag’ your photos to your location. It’s quite a cool feature but I’m not sure if you’re going to use it a whole lot.

It’s great that the iPhone is now available free on contract, as well as the prices being slashed for those wanting to purchase it separately. You’ve still got the 8 and 16GB versions to choose from too, so there’s a phone for you however much you’re looking to spend. You still get that lovely touch screen and the 2 megapixel camera – I’m surprised that they didn’t beef that up to be honest.

Overall, the iPhone is nice, but it isn’t worth getting upset if you have the ‘old’ version. If, however, you’ve wanted one for a while, this could well be the right time to take the plunge. It is available in store from 11th July across the UK.

Asus EEE PC 900

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Taiwanese manufacturer Asus managed to create more than stir last year with the release of the EEE PC 701 – it was more of a revolution. These days, when anything that doesn’t come with an Apple picture tends to get readily forgotten, it managed to make a big hit. No surprise either mind, the little laptop is well put together and with a great number of features.

The release of the EEE PC 900 is designed to go some way to address the (albeit minor) criticisms of the original. Previously, the seven inch screen managed only 800×480 resolution, whilst the new model comes with a nine inch screen with a display of 1024×600 – once again lovely widescreen but with that bit more room to use.

Of course, another issue was storage space of the original. The 4 gig was fine for work, but anything more than that and you could have been struggling. This time round, you get 20GB of solid state hard drive to play with. That means just as before you’ll get a machine that boots incredibly quickly but this time you can stick on films etc and not worry about where that next essay will be saved.

Extras include a 1.1megapixel camera and Wi-fi built in. This is great for your home network and if you’ve got a small study then this would make an excellent addition. Just as previously you’ll get Linux on there for free – something I’d say is perfectly adequate for purpose. However for the die-hards who want Windows, it is possible and it works very well indeed.

Battery life remains about three hours – not too shabby at all for such a useful little machine. The only issue I found was that the keyboard remains relatively small – not too great for my speed typing to be honest! In terms of value for money, you won’t find many other workhorses out there that are so reasonably priced. In fact, I’m beginning to think that everyone should have one…

Verdict: 9/10