New Home Gadgets

by Ryan Block, posted Jun 15th 2008 at 6:07PM
While Dell is still readying their new Inspiron Studio line of laptops, we’ve gotten a little more on what they’re up to. Although we caught a glimpse before in the roadmap, we now know that personalization is a big push for them; the first line will feature options for permanent “Pictaflex” prints of art by Mike Ming (shown after the break), as well as multiple colors (orange, red, green, purple, pink, blue, etc.) We also know they’ll have higher end features like HDMI, and eSATA in the 1536, as well as WWAN options for Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T, hybrid and dual drive options (in the 1735), ATI 3450 and 3650, and NVIDIA 8600M GT graphics (depending on the model).

As for the Studio line itself, it sounds like what we heard before was about right: Dell’s fast-tracking it to be their new higher-end consumer brand (more here and here). (Read the full post about ‘Even more on Dell’s Studio 1535 / 1536 and the Studio brand’…)

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by Ryan Block, posted Jun 15th 2008 at 6:07PM
While Dell is still readying their new Inspiron Studio line of laptops, we’ve gotten a little more on what they’re up to. Although we caught a glimpse before in the roadmap, we now know that personalization is a big push for them; the first line will feature options for permanent “Pictaflex” prints of art by Mike Ming (shown after the break), as well as multiple colors (orange, red, green, purple, pink, blue, etc.) We also know they’ll have higher end features like HDMI, and eSATA in the 1536, as well as WWAN options for Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T, hybrid and dual drive options (in the 1735), ATI 3450 and 3650, and NVIDIA 8600M GT graphics (depending on the model).

As for the Studio line itself, it sounds like what we heard before was about right: Dell’s fast-tracking it to be their new higher-end consumer brand (more here and here). (Read the full post about ‘Even more on Dell’s Studio 1535 / 1536 and the Studio brand’…)

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Well it’s about time. Think about how many gadgets we use on a daily basis are powered strictly by AA batteries. TV remote controls, flash lights, even wireless mice. The amount of batteries we go through has become a burden on not only the landfills, but our finances as well! How much money do we spend on batteries per year? Probably much more than we need too.

Sure, we can always pick up a set of those expensive rechargeable batteries. But even with them, you need a special adapter just to charge them up. And how many times can they really be recharged?

(Read the full post about ‘USB Rechargable USB Batteries’…)

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by Ryan Block, posted Jun 15th 2008 at 4:03PM We don’t have much to go by, but the image above image might just be the Nikon D90, successor to the well-received D80 — and according to Nikon Rumors, it might be due as early as tomorrow. We’ll let you know.Read PermalinkEmail this1 CommentsFiled under: Digital Cameras (Read the full post about ‘Nikon readying D90 for launch?’…)

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Professor Stephen Burkinshaw, a professor of textile chemistry, at the University of Leeds has invented a new washing machine that uses plastic chips and only 1 cup of water per load. The chips can be used about 100 times and leave clothes just as clean as traditional washers, but less than 2% of the water and energy. The other benefit is that there’s little need for a dryer as the clothes come out almost dry.

The washer is currently being developed by UK company Xeros, and it could possibly be sold as early as 2009. Good luck to Xeros and professor Burkinshaw. My only concern is what to do with those plastic chips when they’re used up.

(Read the full post about ‘Wash Clothes with Plastic Chips, Only 1 cup of water’…)

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There was a time that I would go out in the sun and never ever burn.  Then I started working from home and well, now I burn to a crisp.  I burned in the car, thankfully my car has a sun roof so its an even burn.  Frankly even before I started burning I should have been a bit more worried about sunblock and UV rays due to skin cancer or not wanting to turn into the raisin lady.  If you’re not sure what the raisin lady is, thats the person who has baked themselves to a shriveled crisp, year round, since they were five.  Once they hit 35 their skin has turned to this weird not so natural skin texture.   Now if they ever grew a brain and decided to be careful in the sun this little gadget is definitely the way to do it.

To be perfectly honest I don’t really know how much sunblock is optimal, when to reapply or what it means when there are high UV rays.  Well this UV monitor doesn’t just tell you the UV rays are particularly vicious today.  You program in your skin type the SPF of the sunscreen you slathered on and it will begin a timer for you.  It lets you know when you need to reapply your sunblock.  Be careful in the water with this bad boy though, it is splash proof but I wouldn’t go diving into the depths of the ocean with it on your wrist.  It is being sold for about $48 or £24.99.

Source: teechee

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Here is yet another watch to make your head hurt, only this one isn’t just a concept design. After you’ve finished causing your brain to hurt from trying to figure it out, you can run off and purchase one. The watch actually isn’t as bad as some I’ve seen, but it definitely doesn’t show time in the classic way. It features four different bars, the top two bars are hours the third is minutes and the fourth is seconds. The first hour bar shows 1-6 hours and the second hour bar is 7-12. Which means it wouldn’t be that hard to read, and the minutes bar is actually marked with 15, 30 and 45 to make things easier.

These watches from Nooka were designed by Mathew Waldman and come in several different styles and made out of all different materials.

(Read the full post about ‘The Nooka watch – yet another confusing watch to read’…)

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I’ve had it up to here (insert imaginary height chart here) with people stealing my pens! I gave it to you for three seconds, not your entire lifetime. I’m especially sick of having to high-tail it to my nearest office supply store (since Coolest gadgets doesn’t have a supply cabinet to steal from) just so I can buy a new pack of pens which will eventually be stolen. Well, not anymore! I’m taking a stand against all of you pen hoarders. I mean, really, where do all of these pens wind up? Is there some crazy pen collector who has piles of writing utensils? Don’t get me wrong. I love pens. I used to be quite the pen connoisseur. That was until I had my Dr. (Read the full post about ‘Sure, Borrow My Pen, But I Bet You’ll Give It Back’…)

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When I carry this bag I feel like a PowerPuff Girl - all soft, pink and feminine, but secretly kicking villain butt. Bubbles would carry the Lucy bag, in cheery pink with white piping and a large, white heart patch on the front. This bag says she’s confident, has a great sense of humor; that she wears her heart on her sleeve.

Not only is it the cutest of my new bags, it’s also well designed, with plenty of inside pockets, soft, comfortable shoulder straps, a magnetic snap outer pocket (great for travel docs), metal feet, and at 2.4 lbs, it’s also pretty light for a large computer bag.

(Read the full post about ‘Love the Lucy Bag — laptop bags’…)

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by Ryan Block, posted Jun 15th 2008 at 5:14PMThere’s still plenty of emerging details and news on the iPhone 3G kicking around, but here’s what you need to know from the minor bits floating around over the past few days: Jobs also told NYT that Apple’s acquisition of PA Semi was, in fact, intended to reduce Apple’s reliance on third-party chip makers. Specifically, he said, “PA Semi is going to do system-on-chips for iPhones and iPods.” So, guess that’s that. Per the feature showing up missing on a number of Apple’s international iphone 3G product pages, iLounge compiled a list of carriers which may or may not planning on implementing visual voicemail. (Read the full post about ‘More iPhone 3G details: future Apple-made chips, varying visual voicemail, and new video features’…)

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