Hasta La Gadget!

The chunky Cosmonaut stylus is the same size as a dry-erase marker

Dan Provost and Tom Gerhardt, the makers of the super-successful Glif iPhone stand, are back. This time they have come up with a stylus for the iPad, and it’s called the Cosmonaut.

Unlike many thin styluses, the Cosmonaut is fat, designed to be the size and shape of a dry-erase marker. Tom and Dan did this as they see writing on the iPad’s screen, with the inability not rest your wrist, as being akin to writing on a white-board. I agree — I use the chunky Alupen stylus for writing and drawing on the iPad, and much prefer it to the smaller Pogo stylus.

The all-plastic design (with a thin rubber tip) addresses the one concern I have with the Alupen: I’m scared that its chunky, heavy aluminum body might fall and crack the screen.

And what about that name? It’s not spelled out, but as Dan’s blog is called “The Russians Used a Pencil,” I’m guessing that it’s a play on the anecdote about the Russian space-pen. Which is an awesome gag all by itself.

The Cosmonaut is a Kickstarter project, which has already broken its $50,000 goal by over 50%. If you want one, it’ll cost you $25, which seems to be the going rate for this kind of thing.

The Cosmonaut: A Wide-Grip Stylus for Touch Screens [Kickstarter]

See Also:

• Fingers-On With The Chunky Alupen iPad Stylus
• Styluses
• Brush Stylus Paints on iPad
• The Glif iPhone 4 Tripod Mount Does Much Much More
• Hack Puts Smart Cover on Old, Fat iPads

This bike pump could become as familiar as public water fountains

One of the things I like best about visiting the U.S is the public water fountains. It’s a simple thing, but it means that you can drink free (and in New York, delicious) water whenever you like. They’re even in the airports, which means that you can take an empty bottle through the security theater checkpoint and fill up in the departure lounge. So civilized.

But what about my poor bike? What if its little tires get “thirsty” for air? Sure, I should have my pump, but what if it was confiscated at that same TSA checkpoint because I accidentally called it by its Spanish name, bomba, and the TSA drones freaked out? In this elaborate and highly unlikely scenario I could — hopefully — turn to the Public Bicycle Pump, made by U.K company Cyclehoop.

You may know Cyclehoop from its hoop-shaped add-ons which turn street signs into bike racks. The pump is designed to be installed in a public place and left there so cyclists can get some air. It’s probably a lot safer than the common alternative, which is pumping up your tires with the gas station air hose, a solution which leads to popped inner tubes.

Even better, as you see below, the pump can be integrated into a bike rack so you can park up and also top-off your tires.

The pump can also be integrated into a bike rack

It’s a small thing, to be sure, but in a world that is designed to suit the automobile, it is a step to make cities a little more human-friendly.

Public Bicycle Pump [Cyclehoop]

See Also:

• Amazing German Bike-Carrying Train
• Free Bike Repair Stations Pop Up in Cambridge, Massachusetts …

You didn’t think Samsung was going to leave the classic Galaxy S handset in the past, did you? Dmitriy Ryabinin of hi-tech.mail.ru has tracked down the above comparison sheet showing off a new variant of the 4-inch Android phone, this time packing a 1.4GHz Qualcomm MSM8255T chip and a 14.4Mbps HSPA+ radio. Other than those upgrades and a 1650mAh battery, it’s a faithful reproduction of last year’s original and should be arriving in Russia around the end of April for a price of just under 24,000 rubles ($846). What gives us faith in this apparent leak is our earlier sighting of a 3.7-inch Galaxy S2 “Mini” device from Samsung, which also clocks in at a mighty 1.4GHz. Coincidence? We doubt it.

[Thanks, Andy]

Update: That was quick. Samsung’s Russian mouthpiece has confirmed all of the above, adding note of a metal back cover and a Galaxy S Plus name for markets outside of Russia. Sadly, there’s no word as to where else it might be showing up.

Samsung Galaxy S getting a 1.4GHz ‘2011 edition’ next month (update: confirmed) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 06:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear  |  @dryab (Twitter), Samsung Russia  | Email this | Comments

Water leak detectors add noise to flood damage

You have a smoke alarm, right? And maybe even a burglar alarm. But do you have a water alarm? Probably not.

The Water Leak Alarm is ready to join the bevvy of paranoia-salving gadgets in your home. Place one next to a washing machine, in the basement or anywhere else that water is likely to leak, and sleep easy. When the leak finally happens, and water touches the alarm, it will utter a shrill, piercing 100dB scream for up to 24 hours. So if there’s a leak when you’re not around to see it — which is the only time a leak is ever really damaging — your neighbor will not only have water dripping through his ceiling, but he’ll have to put up with a full day of screeching noise.

The (non-replaceable) battery in a Leak Alarm lasts for up to three years, and you get three in a pack for just $20. That’s cheap enough to dream up some alternate uses.

I can imagine my parents putting one inside the shower, for example. Bear with me here. Taking a shower in my family home is a daunting task. For some reason, my mother and father go crazy if the walls get wet, or if the room gets too steamy. This includes the tiles on the wall inside the shower cubicle, and probably the glass shower curtain itself. Using this handy widget, my father could detect whether an hapless guest has gotten the shower wet, and all without leaving the dining room and the TV showing the 24 hour news and weather channel. Dad — I have your Christmas gift already.

Available now.

Water Leak Alarms [Improvements via Liszewski]

See Also:

• Burglar Blaster Alarm Fires Pepper Spray
• Mercedes-Benz Developing Anti-Fatigue Driver Alarm System

Let’s get the hard facts out of the way first: HP has a pair of as-yet-unannounced laptops in the pipeline, to be dubbed the EliteBook 2560p and 2760p. That info comes straight from a PDF document hosted on HP’s servers, and barring a spectacular change in the company’s model numbering scheme, the new machines will be replacing the 12.1-inch 2540p and 2740p introduced around this time last year. In less concrete but still likely accurate news, the specs for these machines are expected to include low- and standard-voltage Intel Core i7 processors (of the 2011 variety), USB 3.0 and DisplayPort connectivity, and options for 1440 x 900 resolution on matte displays. The difference between the two EliteBooks is that the 27xx series has typically been a convertible tablet PC while its lesser-numbered sibling is usually a straight ultraportable. Can’t be long to go until these ThinkPad X220 competitors get official.

[Thanks, D]

HP EliteBook 2560p and 2760p specs leak out, show Core i7, USB 3.0 and DisplayPort additions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 06:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Notebook Review forum, Notebook Italia  |  HP Fansite, HP (PDF)  | Email this | Comments