Hasta La Gadget!

I’m already preparing my Christmas gift list. And if, for the first time in years, somebody actually buys me a present, they can buy me this, the Photojojo Happy Helmet Bike Camera Mount.

The mount is dead simple — a pair of 1-inch wide nylon straps which thread through the ventilation holes in a bicycle helmet and cinch tight with plastic clamps. In the center is a quick-release tripod socket, strong enough to hold a compact point-n-shoot camera as you jiggle down the street.

Why is this better than, say, our own abortive attempt to build a handlebar camera mount? Because, being up on your head it is rattled much less, as you body absorbs the shock, making for a safer camera and also (unless you are a heavy drinker on a morning ride) less shaky pictures and video. It’ll also follow what you are looking at instead of slavishly staring ahead into the backs of frustrated, traffic-jammed cars.

And we guess video is what this mount will be best at, unless you want to rig a remote shutter release, too. Worried about looking dorky? Too late! You’re already wearing a bike helmet, so it can’t get much worse (note, we fully endorse wearing a helmet. We just don’t like the look of them).

$20 each, or $36 for a romantic his’n’hers double-pack. Available now.

Product page [Photojojo]

Waterproof? Check. Shockproof? Check. Bike mounted? Check. Dahon’s BioLogic iPhone case puts your iPhone up front on the handlebars, right where you need it, and gives it enough protection that you don’t need to worry about it getting rained on or shaken to death.

The mount allows a 360º swivel, and the front membrane transmits your touches so the iPhone can still be used on the go. Legitimate uses: GPS and mapping, cycle-computer applications and music. Bad ideas: in-ride movies and Monkey Ball. Combine with Dahon’s FreeCharge iPhone and USB charger and you can go all day. Available January, $60.

Dahon Announces Waterproof, Shockproof Bike Mount [Bike Hugger]

With eco-friendliness on everyone’s mind, it’s no shock to see more and more progress being made in the realm of solar. Shortly after hearing that boffins across the way were swapping carbon nanotubes for silicon, a Tel Aviv-based startup is now hoping to push its colored panels into the mainstream thanks to their ability to work sans direct sunlight. Granted, the tinted cells have only shown a 12 percent efficiency rate in testing, but they can reportedly be produced for around half of what a conventional panel costs. In essence, the cost savings comes from the dearth of silicon within, as GreenSun Energy has discovered that power can be generated by simply diffusing available sunlight over the whole panel and allowing nanoparticles to handle the rest. We’ll invite you to visit the links below for the science behind it, but we’re just interested in helping Ma Earth while replacing every windows in our apartment with a stained glass alternative.

[Via Inhabitat]

Filed under: Science

Colored solar panels work without direct sunlight, double as PAR Can filters originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI’s been slinging out a healthy amount of laptops here lately, but evidently the outfit is looking to dabble once again in PMP land. The simplistic-yet-stylish MT-V656 boasts a 3-inch display, silver casing, video output, FM tuner, voice recorder, support for an undisclosed variety of games and the ability to handle just about every file format known to man. Oddly enough, it’s not clear if the screen is of the touch variety, but considering the dearth of buttons, we’re guessing it is. It should be available on the streets of Shanghai now for around $42, though make sure you budget for some sort of memory card — after all, 4GB only holds so many David Bowie / Rush mashups.

[Via PlayerBites]

Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

MSI takes a break to introduce 3-inch MT-V656 PMP originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on January 06, 2007 by CyberNet.

Yesterday Blogger announced that they will let their bloggers use custom domains (that are already owned) with their Blogger service. What I found really surprising is that they are not charging for this service, and even more shocking is that they are not the ones “selling” domain names for anyone who doesn’t already have a custom domain. In fact, they are recommending sites like GoDaddy, DreamHost, and *gasp* Yahoo! for registering your domain name.

I’m wondering whether Google is receiving a portion of any sale that might result in users coming from their Blogger service. However, it would have to be purely based on HTTP referrers because none of the URL’s that Google links to use referral accounts (although GoDaddy does list the referral URL in the address bar automatically). So why isn’t Google offering the service themselves? That’s a question that I have been asking myself all day. Nearly two years ago they became an ICANN-accredited registrar which means that can sell any of these top-level domains: .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .name, and .pro. As soon as this happened people began speculating that they became accredited for the sole purpose of selling domains on Blogger, and now that they have released this feature they are recommending other services? It’s pretty bizarre if you ask me.

So how does the competition stack up? I can’t really say that there is competition because WordPress has a solution that costs $10 per year (not too terrible) and they’ll register the domain name for you for just $5 more per year. WordPress also offers an astounding $250 per month package that will put you in the hot seat (not because of publicity…but rather because it burned a hole in your wallet). Typepad also has a custom domain solution that will run you $8.95 per month, which is still a lot more than what Blogger is charging…FREE!

If I had to choose between one of those three services I would probably pick the WordPress.com hosting. By the time you pay for the annual fee on the domain name you can get the WordPress package for just 5 or 10 bucks more. With WordPress you’ll be able to use a wide variety of plug-ins that are currently available to make your site that much more fun. If you do decide to take Google’s route with Blogger, then you’ll find these directions useful in setting up your custom domain.

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