Hasta La Gadget!

According to I4U, Alienware will soon be offering a $200 instant discount on the Area 51 m17x Notebook (which starts from $1,999) and the Area 51 790i Desktop (which starts from $1,349). This deal will be available from November 26 until December 2, and free shipping is available …

In another example of companies catering to people that need to justify their anti-social behavior with a need for absolute silence, Yamaha is coming out with a simple one-person room called My Room II.

The new My Room is a soundproof block with all the amenities of a cardboard box, but with less room and a little bit more technology. Inside the Room, a touch panel control allows the user to control the air-conditioner and overall temperature, and comes with an embedded 66-watt fluorescent light. It’s also lined with a flame-proof carpet that further quiets the space.

We couldn’t find the decibel level the insulated panel walls can suppress, but if it’s presumably good enough to use as an office within an office as Yamaha suggests, it’s likely to be able to handle between 60 (normal conversations) and 80 decibels (city traffic).

But most critically, the room deludes the user into thinking about something other than the depressing fact that the human population is increasing to such a degree that suffocatingly tiny rooms are necessary to get some peace and quiet.

Overall, the popularity of miniaturized personal spaces is growing. Earlier this year, we featured mini houses that adjusted the American dream of owning a home down to a simple, spruced up RV shack featuring only the most necessary amenities.

Yamaha is not getting into the mini-house craze just yet, but they are also selling an even quieter personal room called the Cefine II. It’s a slightly larger room for jamming and practicing music, with better acoustics and thicker walls.

The My Room II is currently available in Japan for $6,500, and the Cefine II comes in at $15,000.

If you’ve ever thought about building a guitar for one second, you know that it’s so insanely complicated that it’s almost not worth the effort. The Zoybar kits aim to reduce a lot of those complexities — the components are all open-source, extremely customizable, and modular. They boast seemingly endless options for the guitar (or whatever you choose to build), not to mention the possibilities of the special effects displays. It looks like it’s going to be pretty simple to get creative with the kits, but it’s a little hard to tell. There’s no word on what the components or kits are going to cost, but they claim to be launching in December. Looks like we know what we’re getting cousin Yngwie for his birthday! Hit the read link for several insane videos of the extremely wild, ingenious results.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Zoybar open-source DIY guitars for Steve Vai-types only originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a world where dumb accessories are plenty (gadget shoulder holster anyone?), the Awethumb can put many to shame and that’s no easy feat.

These plastic thumb guards are ostensibly designed to make typing easier and prevent repetitive stress syndrome from constant tapping on tiny phone keypads. The rubber pad at the tip of the finger "cushions" the thumb or index fingers, says its website, protecting from what has come to be known as the ‘BlackBerry Thumb.’

But one look at these plastic finger guards and you know they aren’t going to help with anything.

Don’t miss the little sign at the bottom of the website indicating patent pending worldwide. Yes, the Awethumb is that innovative. One Awethumb set costs $8 plus shipping and handling.

The Scosche TuneStream adds A2DP stereo Bluetooth to most recent iPods, but it has some quirks.

(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET Networks)

When Apple was set to unveil its second-generation iPod Touch back in September, stereo Bluetooth was among the features rumored to be included. Hopefully, no one was holding their …