Hasta La Gadget!

If sales figures from earlier in the year are any indication, it would seem that Ultrabooks are gaining traction, so you can’t really blame accessory makers for wanting to piggyback on their success. Targus just introduced a bunch of slim, lightweight peripherals, and while you don’t have to use them with your skinny little ultraportable, the company’s marketing team really hopes you do. All told, the Ultralife line includes almost a dozen items, all of which have the same anodized bronze aluminum design and peekhole accent (looks like you’re out of luck if your laptop skews more gray). Included in the group are a 65W adapter ($70) and a $40 hub with three USB sockets and an Ethernet jack, the idea being that most Ultrabooks don’t have a wired internet connection built in. Also on tap: a polishing cloth ($10), a stylus with a magnetic holder ($20) and a slew of cases and sleeves, ranging in price from $40 to $80 (the MSRP varies depending on the material, and whether you buy it in a 13.3- or 14-inch size). Finally, the company announced a trio of wireless mice, including a plain-Jane model ($50), one with a microSD reader ($60) and one that doubles as as presenter ($90). All of these are available now, if the heavy, pedestrian mouse and USB hub you currently own just won’t do.

Continue reading Targus Ultralife accessories for Ultrabooks turn their noses up at lesser, non-ultrafied PC peripherals

Filed under: Peripherals

Targus Ultralife accessories for Ultrabooks turn their noses up at lesser, non-ultrafied PC peripherals originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Genius has pulled the covers off a new 2.4 GHz wireless laser mouse that is aimed at mobile users. The new mouse is called the Traveler 9010LS. One thing about using a mouse when you travel is that often you don’t have a mouse pad available leaving you forced to simply place the mouse on the surface next to your computer.

Genius says that this new mouse will work on just about any surface, including glass. Glass is one surfaced that typically will not work for a laser mouse. The mouse has a 1600 dpi laser engine and features a double injection grip for extra comfort.

Lefties will be glad to hear that this is an ambidextrous design suitable for use with either hand. The mouse is also designed to be able to get power from either an AA or AAA battery. The mouse uses the Genius DarkEye technology to allow tracking on clear and shiny surfaces accurately and easily.

The mouse ships with a wireless dongle promising a wireless range of up to 10 m from the computer. The mouse has adjustable sensitivity between three settings of 800/1200/1600 dpi. The little USB receiver can be stored inside the mouse for portability and is small enough to be inserted into a computer’s USB port and just left there. The little mouse is available right now for $39.99.

Genius unveils Traveler 9010LS Wireless Laser Mouse is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Beats by Dr. Dre badge has usually been attached to headphones and the occasional laptop or smartphone. We’ve never really seen it attached to dedicated speakers, however, and that’s where both an FCC filing and a sighting at UK retailer HMV’s online store raise a few eyebrows. The House that Dre Built appears on the edge of launching the Beats Pill, a Bluetooth wireless speaker with four drivers and a shape that more than explains the medicinal name. While we don’t know just how much of that signature Beats thump we’ll get, we do know from the FCC that the Pill can serve as a speakerphone, carries an aux-in jack and will last for a typical 8.5 hours on its USB-rechargeable lithium-ion battery. There’s also signs of a red version of Beats’ Mixr headphones coming at the same time. HMV has publicly scoured its pages of any trace of a ship date or price for the Pill, but cached copies point to a £170 ($276) price and a release around September 28th — not necessarily trustworthy figures, but they may be in the ballpark. Our only question is whether or not we’ll get a dose of the Pill in the US.

[Thanks, Germaine]

Filed under: Peripherals, Portable Audio/Video

Beats Pill Bluetooth speaker spotted at FCC and HMV: take one and call Dr. Dre in the morning originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 09:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  FCC, HMV (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

Between powered gear shifters, electric motors and BMX-mounted mixers, bicycles just keep getting better — but no amount of technological augmentation can sidestep the old adage: safety first. Yes, the helmet is a classic and necessary accessory for cyclists, snowboarders and more. ICEdot and SenseTech hope to take the traditional brain bucket to new heights next year with a Bluetooth equipped crash sensor. Take a spill? The ICEdot sensor will take note of the impact and start a countdown on its companion app. If the rider doesn’t stop the timer before it reaches zero, ICEdot will notify emergency contacts with the user’s last known GPS location and data on the severity of the accident. The accessory doesn’t have a firm release date just yet, but it will make an appearance at the Interbike trade show later this month. Smartphone augmented safety will set you back about $200 when it launches next year. Check out the sensor’s teaser video after the break.

Continue reading ICEdot crash sensor notifies your loved ones after you eat it, tells them where to find you

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

ICEdot crash sensor notifies your loved ones after you eat it, tells them where to find you originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 01:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gizmodo, Ubergizmo  |  ICEdot  | Email this | Comments

Over the years we’ve come across a few signs that pointed to the possibility of touchscreen-enabled iMacs, but Steve Jobs had already dismissed this as a possibility for current Mac form factors. Quoting the man at the “Back to the Mac” keynote from two years ago: “It gives great demo, but after a while your arm feels like it’s going to fall off. Touch surfaces want to be horizontal.”

So perhaps our fantasy’s still stuck in the “research project” phase.

Luckily, the more adventurous touchscreen lovers can look to third-party solutions. For MacBooks you have Axiotron’s Modbook, except you lose the keyboard and you can’t perform the modification yourself. As for iMacs and Cinema Displays, we’ve been following Troll Touch for its resistive touchscreen replacement panels, but they aren’t exactly affordable and most of them have to be installed by the company. Even its user-installable SlipCover series starts from $899, anyway.

This leaves us with the Zorro Macsk, a cheekily named iMac accessory hailing from TMDtouch of Shenzhen, China. The 21.5-inch model is priced at just $199 on Amazon with no modifications required. Plus, it supports multitouch — a glaring omission from Troll Touch’s Mac lineup. So is this truly a bargain? Or is it just a case of “you get what you pay for?” Follow past the break to see how we got on with the Zorro Macsk.

Continue reading Zorro Macsk review: instantly add touchscreen functionality to your 21.5-inch iMac

Filed under: Peripherals

Zorro Macsk review: instantly add touchscreen functionality to your 21.5-inch iMac originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments