Hasta La Gadget!

In theory, Apple’s AirPlay technology is great – effortless mirroring or streaming to media players from an Apple device. But in reality, AirPlay is severely limited by a couple of factors. It’s only compatible with a handful of media players – including the AppleTV – and it needs an Wi-Fi connection to work. Which is why I think the AirBridge is going to be a massive hit.

The AirBridge is primarily made of three things: an adapter that plugs into iOS devices, an app, and a receiver with HDMI, VGA, 3.5mm aux and USB inputs.  With the AirBridge you can do everything you can do with AirPlay compatible devices – stream videos, music and pictures, mirror your screen, play games on a bigger display – but that’s not all. The AirBridge can also stream content from one iOS device to up to 10 iOS devices at once, and allows those with the app to upload and share files with each other straight from and to their iOS devices.

The AirBridge does all of this without the need for an Internet connection. And since it works with any device with an HDMI, VGA or USB port, it’s compatibility far exceeds that of AirPlay. It also has a rechargeable battery that lasts up to 3 hours, so you can have a totally wireless setup for a good amount of time, enough for meetings or parties.

Pledge at least $99 (USD) on its Kickstarter fundraiser to be the first to own an AirBridge. It will be available in two models – the high end AirBridge Pro  ($125) does all of the above, while the AirBridge Lite ($99) lacks the VGA and USB ports and won’t be able to stream between iOS devices.

Likewise, the AirBridge app will also come in a free and a $3.99 (USD) version. The $3.99 version has support for more file sharing services and has no size limit on file sharing, while the free version has a 10MB limit but is good enough if you just want to stream media. I really hope it goes into production and I can’t wait to get my hands on an AirBridge.

[via GearCulture]

We’ve all seen keyboards made for tablets, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen a display made for tablets. It’s called the Monitor2Go, a 15.6″ display with a built-in slot for the iPad 2 and the new iPad. What’s next? an optical drive accessory?

Mobile Monitor Technologies (MMT), the company behind Monitor2Go, is positioning their product mainly for business use. The display connects to iPads and other mobile devices via HDMI – meaning you’ll most likely need an adapter – but it can also connect to other computers via USB so it can be used as a secondary screen. In fact you can daisy chain up to six Monitor2Gos thanks to the two built-in USB ports.

The display rests on a base and can rotate and pivot up to 180º, so other people can look at the display while you’re free to poke, jab and hog your tablet’s display. Of course you can also use it as a media player, especially since it has speakers.

Here’s a demo of the display shot by ITTV, back at CES earlier this year:

Whatever your purpose, it may seem silly to carry a tablet (or a phone), a cable and the Monitor2Go instead of one 15″ laptop. But I think it will have a niche, however small. What I think is silly is that the Monitor2Go has no built-in battery and thus needs to be plugged in. That takes away a lot of its portability. To be fair, MMT did say on their website that they will release a “battery power module” soon.

I’d tell you to hold off purchasing until then, but if you’re sold, you can order the Monitor2Go from MMT’s website. It’s available in two models – one that sells for $299 (USD) and has a screen resolution of 1366×768, and one that sells for $329 because of its 1600×900 resolution.

[via Fancy]

Barnes & Noble has announced a pair of new tablets called the Nook HD and the Nook HD+. The Nook HD has a seven-inch screen and the Nook HD+ has a nine-inch screen. The seven-inch unit has a resolution of 1440 x 900, and Barnes & Noble claims that is the highest resolution of any seven-inch tablet device on the market.

The seven-inch tablet is powered by  a 1.3 GHz dual core OMAP4470 processor and has 1 GB of RAM. The tablet is available in white or black colors with 8 GB or 16 GB of storage.

The nine-inch screen tablet has a resolution of 1920 x 1280 (at a density of 256ppi), meaning it supports full HD resolution for streaming video. It’s powered by a 1.5 GHz dual core OMAP4470 processor and has 1 GB of RAM. Both tablets can be expanded by up to 32GB using a microSD card as well, and require a Wi-Fi connection to download or stream content. They also both have an HDMI output for connecting to your TV.

The Nook HD will come in an 8GB model for $199 (USD), 16 GB for $229 or 32 GB for $269; while the Nook HD+ will go for $269 with 16GB and $299 with 32GB. The tablets will be available on November 1st in the US, and in late November in the UK. No word yet on launch dates for other regions.

While I rarely switch my phone off, (i.e. never) I do like to make it shut up when I’m busy. That means that I had to adjust all my push notifications, because I don’t want an update whenever you like a cat on Facebook. That being said, with iOS 6′s Do Not Disturb, do you still need a pouch to block signals?

The answer is yes, because some apps just manage to get through without being blocked, like WhatsApp. So if you don’t think Do Not Disturb is good enough, and don’t want to switch on Airplane Mode – which is my favorite way to shut my phone up, then check out this pouch that will block all signals. The Blokket Signal Blocking Phone Pocket will allow you to easily find a quiet moment, without fiddling with your settings.

The woven silver and nylon fabric works as a pocket-size Faraday cage, blocking up to 99.7% of radio frequencies. It’s a great place to keep any sensitive RFID-enabled cards as well. This portable dead zone sells for $24.99(USD) from ThinkGeek.

[via Geek Alerts]

For some reason, in Japan it’s become a popular pastime to stick odd little doo-dads into the empty headphone jack on smartphones and media players. While the utility of these things is somewhat questionable, there’s no argument that they’re fun little embellishments for your gadgets. But up until now, most of them have been too cutesy for my taste. That has now changed.

You see, these headphone jack plugs are designed to look like tiny Luchadors. Just snap them into your empty headphone jack, and a tiny wrestler will protect your phone from all who dare to take him on. While the’ll look pretty cool on most phones, the wrestler will look like he’s doing a headstand in my iPhone 5′s oddly-placed new headphone jack.

You can choose from five colored masks, including red, pink, yellow, blue and black. The Luchador headphone jack plugs sell for ¥630 (~$8 USD) over at Strapya World.