Hasta La Gadget!

Ooh, is that mahogany? Sherwood+Meister’s Block 22 iPad stand is actually carved from a single block of FSC-certified kiln-dried Ipe, which might be even better. Ipe resists moisture and weathering like cedar but is sturdy and handsome like cherry. You can build decks with it, without painting or staining — this has an extra hand-rubbed satin finish to keep the color.

Why is it called Block 22? That’s for the 22-degree angled groove that holds the iPad in either portrait or landscape. Although I think I would keep it in portrait, just because it looks so beautiful that way, particularly from the back:

It’s like a scaled-down mid-century modern iMac, designed by Charles and Ray Eames.

Finally, there’s a rounded dish in the back to hold accessories, like a power adapter, headphones, or camera (which would be the main reason I’d set the iPad to landscape). I’d probably wind up sticking my iPhone in the dish, and then forgetting where I’d put it because it’d be hiding behind the iPad. 21st-century comedy ensues.

If you’ve already got an iPad keyboard dock ($69) or love standing it up in an iPad case ($39), there’s probably not that much extra here to get you to pull the trigger. But if you use the iPad in the kitchen, in a slick design or architecture office, or just go nuts for the contrast of hardwood and aluminum, $35 gets you a very lovely stand indeed.

Block22 iPad Stand [Sherwood+Meister]
iPad Wood [Yanko Design]

All images via Sherwood+Meister.

See Also:

• First iPad Stand Steps into View
• How-To: Gorillapod Doubles as Awesome iPad Stand
• The Pencil iPad Stand: Smart Enough to Impress a New Yorker …
• Wooden iPad Stand Doubles as Kitchen Accessory
• Wired Bureau Chief Builds iPad Stand from $6 Doorstops
• Joule: An Elegant, Minimalist iPad Stand
• HyperMac Crams 16-Hour Battery into iPad Stand
• Compass, an Elegant Fold-Up Stand for iPad

Image from SteelSeries.com

Let’s suppose you’re a hard-core PC gamer, but 1) you’re equally devoted to a LOT of different games, or 2) you don’t want your keyboard to ALWAYS look like you’re battling the Lich King. Like if a girl comes over. You need a chameleon keyboard, ready to do (and look like) whatever you need it to.

SteelSeries makes keyboards for gamers that do this, with custom keysets for World of Warcraft, Starcraft II, and Aion. The hardware lets you swap the entire keyset for different games; the software lets you map every key, record macros on-the-fly, and switch between different custom key layers. The first iteration was the ZBoard; the new Shift model boasts revamped hardware and a more powerful and intuitive software engine.

I have to confess that I’m probably not the target market for these keysets — as a writer, I have to do a lot of typing in a hurry, but it’s generally not purely reacting by instinct — but I’m obsessed with keyboards, both physical and software, and I do love some of the concepts on display here. For instance, the Shift offers “Fine-Tuned Hot Spots”:

Some keys are used more frequently than others, both when gaming and typing. The keys you use the most, like WASD for First Person Shooters, require less force than the keys you don’t use as often.

I think my laptop’s spacebar could actually use the opposite of that, to stand up to my thundrous thumbs. The delete key, too, as I angrily backspace through typos or (even more often) self-inflected stupidity. Maybe they need “journalist” and “fanboy” key sets for the web — the latter could have built-in macros for “You’re too dumb to understand why [Company X] sucks and [Company Y] is the future of [industry Z].”

In the gallery below, check out how the SteelSeries Shift works, with close-ups of the different branded keysets available from SteelSeries (The image quality on the keysets is frankly not great).

SteelSeries Shift: The Swiss Army Knife of Keyboards [Techland]

See Also:

• Video: Neo Keyboard Hooked up to iPad
• iPad Keyboard: Pricey and Awkward, But a Must-Have for …
• IPhone Case Adds Vestigial QWERTY-Slider Keyboard
• Pocket-Sized Bluetooth Keyboard Folds Out Like Tranformer
• It's Another QWERTY Keyboard, Now for TV
• Video: Neo Keyboard Hooked up to iPad
• IPad Keyboard Dock Works with iOS4
• Ghost-Busting SideWinder Keyboard Has Multi-Touch Inside

Owleye makes solar-powered bike-lights, but don’t worry if you forgot to leave one on the window-ledge all day – you can quickly juice the built-in li-ion batteries via USB.

The lamp in question is the catchily-named 1996-906. Like all Owleye’s other lights, it has solar-panel on the side which will provide enough charge for 90 minutes if left to soak in the photons for two-hours. LEave it in the sun for four hours and switch the 200-lumen LED to flashing-mode and you can enjoy six-hours of night-biking.

The trick here is that you don’t need to turn the house-lights on if its a cloudy day, or to charge the lamp overnight. With the 1996-906, you can just plug in to a handy USB-port or charger and juice it that way.

The idea is a good one – I hate buying batteries or even swapping-out rechargeables. The lights are also small, so you can keep them handy in a backpack or pocket. They’re not cheap, however. Online, this model is going for $80 a set. If you don’t need the USB option, Owleye makes cheaper, bulkier lamps starting at $20.

Owleye product page [Owleye via Urban Velo]

See Also:

• Hands-On: Spaceship Bike Light Blinds Puny Humans
• Boomer: A Rechargeable USB Bike-Light from Knog
• LightLane's Lasers Make an Instant Bike Lane
• Video: Sanyo Eneloop Bike Pedals For You
• Pimp Your Ride: Cyglo Bike Tires with Embedded LEDs

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

If you can’t ride your bike safely with one hand, you probably shouldn’t be on the road. Poor control skills, though, are the excuse for the Seil bag, a bikers’ backpack with flexible LEDs and circuitry applied to the back which lets you make turn signals with both hands on the bars.

The Seil, by Lee Myung Su Design Lab, comes with a removable, bar-mounted wireless controller. Flick a lever on the side and arrows blink on your back to show where you plan to go. When not being used to warn other road users of your intentions, the LED display flashes with cute little symbols: space-invaders, hearts and the like, guaranteed to either distract or infuriate drivers.

Indicators on bikes keep popping up, either as concepts or as actual products, but never catch on. This is likely because anyone experienced and responsible enough will be comfortable with giving good, clear hand signals and would therefore never pay for extra blinking lights. These things are a novelty, and sticking them on a backpack is even worse. What if it stops working and you lurch across traffic thinking without signaling? Or if you don’t have your pack with you one day and (gasp) are forced to use boring old arms to signal?

Happily, the Seil remains a concept, not an actual product.

Seil bag [Lee Myung Su Design Lab]

See Also:

• Ultra-Bright Bike Tail-Light Resembles Star Wars Spaceship …
• Spooklight: Accelerometer Brake Light for Bikes
• Hands-On: Spaceship Bike Light Blinds Puny Humans

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

I like Knog bicycle lights. They’re cheap, bright, tough and more-or-less waterproof, and their rubbery bodies make them as easy to mount on the bike as they are to toss in your bag. What I don’t like is buying batteries, whether they’re AAAs or button cells. That’s why I’m excited about the Boomer Rechargeable, a USB version of Knog’s 50-lumen Boomer.

The light was spotted by the good folks from Urban Velo on a trip to the recent Interbike show. The Boomer Rechargeable works like every other Knog lamp: a plastic core containing the electronics and LEDs is wrapped in a stretchy silicone cover. The difference is that when you slip the skin off this one, you see a USB plug which you can jack into a computer or charger. It could hardly be better for a commuter who rides to work on dark winter days.

The regular Boomer costs $35, so expect this to be a little more. The lamp isn’t yet live on the site, but (hopefully) will be soon.

Knog Boomer Rechargeable [Urban Velo]

Knog Boomer [Knog]

Photo: Urban Velo

See Also:

• Hands-On with the Knog Frog Bike Light
• Knog Demonstrates Keyless Electronic Bike Lock

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.