Hasta La Gadget!

Apple sneaked in a few minor updates to the basic white polycarbonate $999 MacBook this morning–a move widely expected by the Internet rumor mill.

When we found out that the Ion 2-packing Eee PC 1201PNs lacked NVIDIA Optimus tech for switching graphics hardware on the fly, well, it was a bit of a bummer to say the least. But, ASUS is at least fixing its successor, the Eee PC 1215. It’s largely the same machine as the 1201, packing a dual-core Atom D510 processor and Ion graphics to complement the onboard graphics. This one, though, will have the Optimus hardware to switch betwixt the two, saving battery life all the while. The case has also been subtly refreshed but, most interestingly, ASUS saw fit to throw in a pair of USB 3.0 ports, their cerulean insides shining like beacons to guide us toward the future of high-speed file transfers. We’re not sure when the 1215 is destined to hit retail and make the 1201PN obsolete, nor how much of a premium it will cost when it does, but there are plenty more pictures of the thing and even a few benchmarks at the source link.

ASUS Eee PC 1215 with Ion receives Optimus and USB 3.0 augmentation originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 May 2010 08:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Another week, another Android phone. This latest HTC device, the Wildfire, is aimed at the social networking youth of Europe and Asia. Featuring Android 2.1 and Sense UI, the handset should do well for users graduating to their first smart phone. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-20005156-251.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Android Atlas/a/p

When Spencer Nugent cuts something with scissors, he likes to be in control. For him, a bouncing bottom blade is waste of time and just plain uncomfortable, while the double-handled design of conventional scissors twists your wrist to an awkward angle.

Nugent decided to fix this, and came up with the Comfort Grip Scissors. These keep the lower blade still, flat down on the table top, while the upper blade snicker-snacks and does the the cutting. The handles, too, have moved, one inside the other: you simply squeeze them together to close the blades.

Especially good in this concept redesign is the choice of materials. The metal blades and orange loop-handles are so familiar that when you see them morphed like this there is a momentary mental disconnect, like walking into a neighbors apartment, identical in layout to your own, only furnished differently. Get these off the drawing board and into stores, Spencer, and I’ll buy a pair right away.

Comfort Grip Scissors [Coroflot via Core77]

I remain resolute in my continued ridicule of the Pogo Stylus for the iPhone. The entire point of the iPhone is that you don’t need to pull out a little metal pencil to tap the screen. You’re supposed to do it with your fingers. Still, if you insist on it, for instance if you have the cute sugar-cube-shaped Square credit-card reader and want to let people sign their names on screen, then this companion case will at least stop you losing the pen.

The case, from Pogo maker Ten One Design, is called the Tango. It is also the “world’s first case specifically made for the Pogo Stylus”, and we’d guess it will also be the last, this being a somewhat niche category. The case is leather on the outside, micro-suede on the inside and flips open to let you quickly doodle on the screen without removing the iPhone 3GS from within. The stylus sits in a clip on the side.

Compared to the stylus itself, which goes for a rather optimistic $15, the case is reasonable at $40, especially as it comes with its own Pogo stick.

Somewhat hypocritically I was shopping online for a Pogo just this morning. A stylus for the iPhone may be dumb, but a stylus to use with iPad drawing and painting apps? Fantastic.

Tango case [Ten One. Thanks, Jenny!]

See Also:

• Pogo Stylus: The Most Useless iPhone Accessory. Ever
• Pogo Stick Turns Mac Touchpads into Graphics Tablets
• Junk
• Pogo iPhone Stylus Bounces Back. Again