Hasta La Gadget!

It’s been confirmed that Polaroid will unveil an Android-powered, mirrorless, interchangeable-lens camera, at CES 2013. While I would have liked for Polaroid to announce that they will continue making old-school instant cameras, this isn’t bad news.

The rumor mill says that the Polaroid IM1836 will have an 18.1-megapixel sensor, and a 3.5-inch LCD touchscreen. It was also said that the camera will include a pop-up flash, Wi-Fi, an HDMI output, a 10-30mm lens and will use MicroSD. There aren’t many more details available, but hopefully we’ll get more information after the new year, or perhaps even some sneaky bits during the holidays. Most of Asia is working during Christmas, after all.

There’s no word yet on what the price point will be for the camera.

[via PopPhoto via Gizmodo UK via Ubergizmo]

Retro gamers looking for a way to keep their beer and sody pop nice and cool should look no further than this fun can cozy designed to look like Pooka, the inflatable round nemesis of Dig Dug.

It’s just one of many fun can, bottle and coffee cup cozies over at Crochet Cozies’ Etsy shop, where you can also find such masterpieces as the LEGO Minifig and the epic Where’s Waldo beer cozy.

The Pooka can cozy will set you back $38(USD), and is guaranteed not to explode – unless you connect a compressed air hose to the can. Then all bets are off.

Facebook’s new Poke app – borrowing the name of its “remember me?” digital jab to the ribs, but the functionality of “sexting” app Snapchat – is an interesting start, but ten seconds sells it short. The headline grabbing purpose of flaunting your undercarriage (and the one to which Facebook coyly and obliquely refers to with a reminder that you can report anything you’re uncomfortable with) will undoubtedly get plenty of use from teenagers and cheating spouses, but with some timer tweaking Poke could become a legitimately useful “Getting Things Done” style tool.

There are times when ten seconds are more than enough. With all due respect to my friends on Facebook, any longer faced with their whimsical bon-mots or grizzled genitals and I’d probably be violently ill. But there are plenty of times when a non-permanent message that lasts longer than the average coughing fit could be very useful.

Email isn’t fashionable, but it’s still a sizable part of our lives. The number of mailing lists, sale-now-on notifications, “let us know by X if you want Y” reminders, and other time-sensitive messages that drop into my inbox seems to only increase, no matter how many I unsubscribe from. Sometimes they’re useful there & then; sometimes I think they might be useful later down the line. Right now, my casual (read: awful) triaging system basically marks as unread anything I might want to act on in future, with flags saved for the most important.

“I forget about things tomorrow that were Very Important today”

I miss a lot of stuff that way. I forget about things tomorrow that I marked as Very Important today. And I’m left with hundreds – maybe thousands – of messages that are old, expired, no longer important, but which are cluttering up my mail and keeping me from inbox zero.

A self-destructing message – one that automatically counts itself down to invalidity, and then deletes itself at that point – has plenty of appeal. Even better, a message that might remind me that the time for final action is upon me, before vanishing once my opportunity is gone. Since it’s Facebook we’re talking about, think along the lines of a virtual to-do list, an “I saw this and thought of you” system where you can ping over suggestions for the weekend that automatically expire come Monday morning, or ideas for a birthday meal venue that fade away along with the torn wrapping paper.

We also know Facebook is eager to sell the space in front of my eyes to as many paying advertisers as possible, and I might be willing to ease my ad-antipathy if the deals came with timers. I’d probably be more likely to sign up to mailing lists through Facebook rather than email or some other method, if I knew they’d clean themselves up along the way. Plus, it might get me looking at my phone – and adverts – more frequently, helping Facebook to monetize its mobile users.

Poke as it stands is a gimmick, briefly fun but with questionable longevity. I honestly can’t think of that many times – smut aside – when I’d want to fire over a transient link or photo to somebody. If Facebook can coax it into being a topical to-do list and recommendations engine, though, using everything it knows about context and relevance, that might earn it a place on my smartphone homescreen.

Sorry Facebook, a 10 second Poke just isn’t enough is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Depending on what type of jeans you wear, I think most of us will agree that it can be uncomfortable having to carry your smartphone in the front pocket. Years ago, I had a pair of dress slacks that had a little pocket midway down the thigh that unzipped that you could poke a smartphone into. I thought that was a great invention.

A company called I/O Denim is running a Kickstarter campaign to create premium denim jeans that have very similar pocket on the leg designed to hold your smart phone for quick and easy access. Other than having that fancy little pocket above the knee for your smartphone, these are your basic denim jeans. The jeans are made in the USA, and unfortunately are far from cheap – costing roughly twice as much as a pair of your standard Levi’s – though they’re no more expensive than fancy designer brands.

The maker says that the First Edition jeans fall somewhere between skinny jeans and straight leg in the way they fit. I guess that means they won’t be too tight and they won’t be too loose. Initially, they’ll be available only in men’s sizes 32, 33, 34, and 36.

A pledge of $100(USD) will get you one of the first 50 pairs of I/O Jeans, saving $15 off of the regular price. The campaign is about 70% of the way to its goal and wraps up on 12/30/12, so if you want a pair, you should order them now.

How can you not love sharks? These awesome creatures are both feared and admired as some of natures most incredible creations. But it’s eat-or-be-eaten in the world of the shark, so maybe you should bite into them before they bite into you.

Thankfully, with these awesome 3-dimensional shark cupcake toppers, you can do just that. These detailed little sharks are the perfect dessert topper for that Jaws screening party you were planning now that it’s finally been released on Blu-ray.

Each one of these tasty little sharklets has been sculpted by Marison Mann of Sweet and Edible using fondant icing, and can be placed on top of your favorite cupcake or cake to complete your sea-themed get-together. Or if you’re like me, you might just eat them straight out of the box. That’s just how I roll. A set of 12 of these cute and cuddly ediblesharks will cost you $35(USD), while a set of 6 sells for $20. Laser beams sold separately.

And if you’re ready to top off a really big cake, be sure to check out the jumbo-sized shark cake topper, which appears to have many more big, pointy teeth.