Hasta La Gadget!

For some reason, at least in my mind, iPhones and knives shouldn’t really mix together, but that didn’t stop Jeff Glazer and Joe Goetz from combining an iPhone case with a multi-tool – complete with a functional blade.

The ADAPPT XT iPhone case combines a card-based multi-tool with an iPhone case. The case is made out of polycarbonate to protect your iPhone from drops and scratches. The customizable multi-tool includes a bottle opener, flat-head screwdriver, 10 piece wrench set and a ruler. A 1.5″ utility blade is smartly hidden inside the case as well. We’re not sure what the TSA will say if you try traveling with your iPhone in this case, however.

The designers state that the ADAPPT XT will be available for the iPhone 4, 4S and 5 when it’s released. The project was launched on the crowfunding site IndieGogo, and currently hasn’t amassed much but there are still 25 days left for funding. You’ll have to pledge $40(USD) to get your hands on this multi-tool case.

[Thanks for the tip, Joe!]

Samsung normally isn’t shy about showing off its manufacturing prowess, so imagine our surprise to find the company had snuck a super-high-resolution ultrabook onto the IFA show floor. The Samsung Series 9 WQHD ultrabook is billed as a concept right now, but it’s one we’re hoping the Koreans bring to market sooner rather than later: taking pride of place is a 13-inch 2,560 x 1,440 display with a matte finnish, for smooth graphics on a par with the glorious visuals from Apple’s MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

Though the Samsung’s panel doesn’t quite match up to the Retina Mac’s 2,880 x 1,800 resolution, its smaller size means pixel density is almost identical between the two models. The MBPr comes in at 221ppi, whereas the Samsung sneaks ahead at 226ppi (though the difference is, to the eyes, imperceivable).

No matter the stats, Windows 8 looks incredible on a display of that resolution and – as we’ve come to expect from Samsung notebook displays – with such vivid colors and strong brightness. Beyond pixel count specifications were in short supply, but the rest of the machine basically falls in line with 2012 Series 9 notebooks we’ve already seen. That means Ivy Bridge processors and a waifish profile.

Sadly, the detail we were most keen to find out – when we could expect to see the Series 9 WQHD on shelves – was something Samsung wouldn’t discuss. Of course, Apple is tipped to be readying a Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro, and it’s possible that Samsung’s 2,560 x 1,440 panels could be headed to Cupertino’s production partners ahead of even Samsung’s.

Samsung Series 9 WQHD: Hands-on with Sammy’s Retina retort is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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LEGO has been pumping out a lot of wonderful architecture sets this year, and today they’re launching the brand new one, Villa Savoye. At 660 pieces and standing about 3.5 inches tall, it’s a lovely little recreation of the French villa designed by Le Corbusier which become one of the most influential buildings in France. The set goes on sale today, and you can pick it up for $69.99. More »

What do you think Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader do during those afternoons (actually, are there noons when you’re in space? It should be pretty gloomy all the time)? Do they sit down and have a game of chess, or hone their lightsaber skills against one another, get smashed with some extra-terrestrial booze, or simply sip a cup of tea while discussing just which planet the Death Star should blow up next?

Assuming they’re all for afternoon tea with cupcakes and delicious pastry (I still wonder how inconvenient it must be for Vader to eat his meals. Perhaps technology then just pumps nutrients and vitamins into his body), then surely they would have this $19.99 Star Wars Death Star Tea Infuser as part of their kitchen equipment. The tea infuser itself has been molded to resemble the Death Star, where you fill it up with your favorite loose leaf tea, and then plonk it into hot water to let it steep.

This is an officially licensed Lucasfilm collectible, and you just got to love the cute little TIE Fighter that is attached to the Death Star.

[ Star Wars Death Star Tea Infuser copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

You know what they say about keeping track of one’s finances – you have got to start by listing down every single cent that you have spent for that particular day, and do so for the entire month before you are able to better get an idea of just where all of your money has gone to (mostly down the drain or at the local pub, of course, for those of us who have poor financial acumen). Needless to say, if you were to do so consistently for a few months in a row, the results would be more accurate as to the breakdown of your finances. Some of us prefer to take the shortcut and write down whatever we have spent for the day at the end of the day, but as I personally found out, this was not the way to go since I tend to lose my receipts, not to mention a poor memory that made me forget just how much I spent and where. Enter the Doxie Go portable scanner that, as its name suggests, will be able to get the job done wherever you are.

You can saw that the Doxie Go is ideal for folks who live out of a suitcase. After all, it is small enough to be packed into any notebook bag without missing a beat, and even more ideal would be the cordless DNA that was built into the Doxie Go. One drawback would be the reliance on battery power, but I will address that particular issue later on. Do bear in mind that cordless does not equal to wireless capability (as that would further drain its battery), but what you can do is this – first you scan whatever receipts or documents you have for the day with the Doxie Go, and before you retire for the night, you can always use the included USB cable to transfer all your day’s scans from the Doxie Go to your computer itself.

So far, I have tried to scan up to a century’s worth of pages, but right before I hit that magical number (somewhere in the early nineties, I lost count due to the lack of caffeine in my system), the Doxie Go’s battery gave up the ghost. As for the internal memory of the Doxie Go (512MB), it is touted to carry up to 550-plus document pages, but even that depends on the kind of content which you scan.

Of course, if you truly want to take the wireless data transfer route, you can use an Eye-Fi SD memory card to not only store data, but create a wireless connection to a compatible computer or notebook. If the internal memory is not enough, you can always scan directly to the SD memory card or USB flash drive.

Default scanning resolution stands at 300 dpi, although there is the option to scan your document at 600 dpi through a single tap of the power button. Adjusting the documents can be done manually if you find the (often correct) auto adjust work out of whack. The instant PDF button also makes plenty of sense, as it saves you the trouble of saving (excuse me for the lack of a better word) your document again into the PDF format. Do it once, do it right, I say.

For $199 a pop, I would recommend this if you do not have any kind of heavy duty scanning, and it is perfect if you want to keep track of receipts. Otherwise, if you have far more documents to scan and are seated behind the desk at all times, I would suggest getting a dedicated scanner instead.

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[ Doxie Go Review copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]