Apr 19

iHub USB Hub is Shameless Lawyer Bait

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, Today's Chili, usb

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MIC Gadget’s new iHub has lawyer bait written all over it. Not only does the four-port USB hub come in the same shape as an Apple TV, it has Apple’s own logo right up there on the top.

The hub really does look like an actual Apple product. The lines are clean, and the cut-out logo actually lights up when you plug it in, just like the logo on the back of your MacBook. Even the packaging is Apple inspired, looking a lot like an oversized iPod Nano box.

The iHub comes in black or white, and also has a little cut-out in the corner for threading it onto a lanyard.

I am posting a gallery of product shots here for a couple of reasons. First, so you can get an idea of just how much “inspiration” the MIC Gadget folks have taken from Apple. And second, as a kind of image archive so you can still see the thing after Apple sics its law dogs in MIC Gadget’s ass. Available now for $10.

iHub product page [MIC Gadget via MIC Gadget blog]

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Apr 15

iPad 2 Screen Protector Could Disguise Lesser Tablets

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, ipad, Today's Chili

I have never seen the point of screen protectors on glass screens: they add bubbles, they never go on straight and they are usually more prone to scratching than the glass they are supposed to protect. Still, if I was in the market for an iPad screen protector, then I might take a look at the Moshi iVisor AG.

Unlike the usual plastic film kits, the iVisor actually looks like the front of an iPad, with a black or white bezel to match your model. It has cut-outs for camera and home button, and supposedly goes on bubble-free, every time. In this respect it looks more like a slightly floppy, thickish cover than a sticky film, and this is confirmed by its ability to be reused after a bit of cleaning.

I think Moshi has missed an opportunity here. Instead of making the white version iPad 2-only, it should make it for the iPad 1, too. That way we could upgrade our ugly, fat slow and bloated old iPads to look like the sleek, fast and supermodel-hot new iPad 2. Hell, you could probably even take that Motorola Xoom that your idiot boyfriend/girlfriend bought you as a gift and cover up your shame.

The iVisor will cost you $30, which is $9 less than Apple’s Smart Cover. Both seem to be pretty good options for protecting your iPad’s screen with minimal thickness-encroachment.

iVisor AG for iPad 2 White [Moshi]

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Apr 15

Monochrome Bagis Earbuds Snap Together Like Lego

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, earbuds, Today's Chili

Often, we see CGI rendering of concepts that look just like real products. Urbanears’ Bagis headphones are the opposite: a real product that looks like a computer mockup.

The optical illusion is no doubt helped by the Bagis’ single-color construction. Made from rubber, every part is the same shade of whatever garish color you choose. Some may say they look cheap, but I like the look, and if you live in Eastern Europe you could set off your sense of Ostalgie by buying a pair in drab gray or olive green.

Fancy colors are nice and all, but the Bagis (that’s a horrible name, by the way, a cross between “bag” and “haggis”) also have a neat trick: the earbuds snap together like Lego bricks. One ‘bud is male, the other female, and they join together to keep your cord from tangling when not in use. This also provides a quick visual (and tactile) reference as to which is left and right, something tricky to determine with many earbuds.

Finally, like all Urbanears cans, the Bagis have an in-line remote and a mic for making calls. The Bagis are available now, for $30.

Bagis product page [Urbanears. Thanks, Valerie!]

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Apr 13

VelEau, The Most Complicated Bike Drinking System You Could Possibly Imagine

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, Today's Chili

If Rube Goldberg had invented a water bottle, it would have looked like the VelEau

Why use a perfectly good water bottle on your bike when you could use a complex, expensive and awkward to use “hydration system” instead? That’s the promise of the VelEau Bicycle Mounted Hydration System.

The VelEau comes in several parts. First, there’s a saddlebag which holds 42 ounces (1.4 liters) of water. Then there’s a tube through which you drink, much like those found on CamelBak water bags. This runs from under the seat, along the top-tube to the handlebars, where it is secured to a retracting cord on the stem. This cord pulls the mouthpiece back into place when you’re done drinking, where it is secured by magnets.

If that seems like it’s complex, unnecessarily heavy and annoying to use, that’s because it probably is. However, there is at least a compartment to carry a multi tool in the same bag, which adds some utility.

The VelEau will cost just $80, or the price of around 16 water bottles. Available now.

VelEau product page [VelEau via Bike Snob]

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Apr 13

IScilloscope: $300 Kit Turns iPad, iPhone into Multitouch Oscilloscope

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, ipad, iPhone, science, Today's Chili

Oscium should have called its iPad oscilloscope kit the iScilloscope

When I saw the Oscium iMSO-104 oscilloscope, I smacked my forehead with my open palm and cried “Of course!” What could be more sensible than taking a bulky, expensive piece of hardware and shrinking it down to fit in an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch?

The iMSO-104 is a combination of a free app and a hardware kit which attaches via dock connector. With these two parts, you have a mixed signal oscilloscope. This isn’t an oscilloscope which plays it coy, one day flirting with you and the next refusing your calls. The mixed signals in this case are digital and analog. You get one analog input and four digital, and you can choose to display the signals from any or all on the screen together.

Using the computing power and display of your iDevice means that, according to Oscium, this is the world’s smallest oscilloscope. That’s neat and all, but it would be a waste if the iPad’s touch screen wasn’t used.

Happily, it is. Swipe up and down to change the analog input level. Pinch to zoom the axes in and out, and tap and drag to move the input readouts just where you want them.

The app is free to try out, and can be grabbed from the App Store right now. The iMSO-104 kit is just shy of $300, and the first batch — due to ship April 29th — has already sold out. More should be coming soon.

iMSO-104 oscilloscope [Oscium via Slashgear]

iMSO app [iTunes]

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Apr 12

$30 Infra-Red iPhone Dongle Marred by Hideous Interface

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, iPhone, Today's Chili

Ri is a perfectly good IR dongle for the iPhone, with a perfectly ugly companion app

Apptwee’s Ri is yet another device that promises to turn your iPhone into another universal IR remote. Unlike the slick $100 Peel, though, the Ri distinguishes itself by being cheap ($30), small and sporting one of the ugliest interfaces ever to appear on an iOS device.

You can probably guess how the dongle works. Like the Square credit card reader, it is a tiny white plastic chunk which plugs into the headphone socket. Once configured, software tells it to beam an IR signal out to your various home entertainment machines. And therein lies the problem.

What is the point of a touch-screen universal remote if not to toss away various physical remotes and consolidate their functions into an easier to use and prettier interface? None, which seems to be the aim of the Ri. After using some menus to tell the device which IR “drivers” to download, you are presented with an interface that looks like the IR remote app I had on my early 2000s-vintage Sony Ericsson P900 — only uglier. Check it out, if you dare. Skip to a minute in to see the horror begin:

Ugh, right? You get all the buttons you need, but the interface does nothing to take advantage of the iPhone’s multitouch gestures.

Still, the app is free, and presumably you could grab any number of other IR apps and use them with the device instead. At $30, it’s not much more expensive than making your own.

Ri product page [AppTwee]

Ri app [AppTwee]

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Apr 12

Magic Bar Adds Wireless Charging to Magic Trackpad, Keyboard

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, charging, power, Today's Chili

Mobee’s Magic Bar charges Apple’s keyboard and trackpad, wirelessly

The biggest failing of Apple’s Bluetooth trackpad and keyboards is that they aren’t rechargeable. Instead, you have to keep them fed with a constant diet of AA cells. Low-discharge rechargeables do the trick, but if you have any regular NiMH cells around, they tend not to last so well for such low drainage purposes.

I also use a Magic Trackpad on either side of an aluminum Bluetooth keyboard, which means I get through the alkalines at a fair clip.

Enter the Magic Bar (of course) from Mobee. It’s a wireless charger for your Apple keyboard or Magic Trackpad. The Magic Bar comes in two parts. First is a double-AA sized battery pack, and second is the dock cradle. The cradle connects to the computer or other power source via USB, and has a channel into which the cylindrical rear section of your chosen input device snugly fits for charging.

It sounds ideal.

Then we take a closer look at the specs. A pair of regular AAs will last you for months. The battery pack that comes with the Magic Bar gives just ten days of life on a six-hour charge, thanks — presumably — to a reduction in battery size to accommodate the charging circuitry. This is the same problem as befalls Mobee’s other product, a charger for the Magic Mouse.

The Magic Bar will be available to order on May 15th. The price is still unannounced, but as a guide the Magic Mouse version — which is a lot smaller — costs €50, or $72.

The Magic Bar [Mobee]


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Apr 12

Picker’s Wallet for Guitarists

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, Today's Chili

The Picker’s Wallet is like a leather holster for a guitarist

The Picker’s Wallet is a full grain leather wallet with a little pocket at the front for a guitar pick. It’s very simple, and could easily have become a tacky novelty. As it is, the handsome implementation makes for a very nice wallet indeed.

Apart from the pick-pocket (oh-ho!), there are three credit card slots and a cash pocket at the back, along with a compartment for your driver’s license, and the wallet can be had in black or brown colorways.

I’d bet than any pick-using guitarist already keeps a plectrum in his wallet. I do, and I’m not a very good player. It’s practical, as it’s pretty much the only place you can keep a pick and be sure of always having one with you.

The Picker’s Wallet costs $30.

Picker’s Wallet [Whipping Post Leather via Uncrate]

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Apr 08

Video: Hilarious Fake Smart Cover Falls Apart — Literally

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, Today's Chili, video

The fake Smart Cover manages to wake the iPad 2, but things go downhill from there

Note to Chinese knockoff manufacturers: If you’re going to make a fake iPad Smart Cover this bad, at least sell it for less than $33 — at $39, Apple’s own case only costs $6 more.

This hilarious (and long: the first minute contains everything you need to see) video shows the folks at MIC Gadget comparing the knockoff with the real thing. It certainly looks the part, but in use, things quickly go wrong:

As the magnetic hinge approaches the iPad’s left side, the two are supposed to leap together like long-separated lovers. The knockoff doesn’t even manage a weak hug. Instead, it just falls apart — literally. The entire hinge section just drops to the floor.

And according to the reviewer, Chris Chang, it also smells bad. How bad? So bad that even Chang’s dog isn’t interested in sniffing it.

The cover does have one functioning part. Over on the right side, it contains the same 15 magnets as the Apple original, which means it will at least unlock the screen when you open it.

Maybe some of this would be forgivable if the thing cost $5 or $10, but at almost full price it becomes an unintentionally hilarious joke.

Finally, A Smart Cover Knockoff! [MIC Gadget]

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Apr 08

Over-Engineered iPhone Stand with ‘36,000 RPM’ Bearings

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, iPhone, Today's Chili

Spend just $170 and your iPhone need never lie flat again

If you ever thought that it might be practical to take the Power Loader from Aliens, put it in your kitchen and use it as a fruit bowl, then we may just have the perfect iPhone stand for you. It’s called the RokForm RokStand and it is possibly the most over-engineered accessory ever made.

Made from CNC-machined aluminum with rubber rings to cosset the iPhone within, the specs contain quite ridiculous bullet points. Here’s one: “Precision High speed bearing and cam adjustment” [capitalizations in original].

The stand works with one of the several dozen white iCharging cables you have already, clamping it into place with grub screws. Once propped agains the precision milled “billet 6061 T-6 aluminum” widget, you can set one of six angles of view by clicking around the little lever on the side. There are also shaped ports in the case to “enhance” the sound from the speakers.

At least you can be pretty sure that your phone never falls over.

The price for this monster is a whopping $170. If that seems like too much (although I can’t see why it would) you can opt for the portable version for “just” $120. It only has two angles of adjustment, but it does come with “Adjustment arms [which] ride on double sealed 36,000 RPM bearings.” 36,000 RPM! That should set your mind at rest.

I’m sure all of you have stopped reading already and are currently over at the RokForm site, desperately entering your credit card details into the shopping form. If not, then may I interest you in a new product I’m working on? It’s an oversized, hand-machined, aircraft aluminum pen-holder, which weighs a satisfying two pounds and will cost you just $200.

RokForm RokStand product page [RokForm via Oh Gizmo]

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