Hasta La Gadget!

ZooGue’s leather folio-style case for the iPad is called the Genius. That’s some fancy talking right there, but amazingly it actually manages to live up to the name. Almost. A slightly more accurate name would be Fat Genius.

Let’s get the problem out of the way first. The Genius might be incredibly handy, but it is also thick and heavy, thanks mostly to the profusion of clever extras. Empty, it weighs 16-ounces, or around two-thirds the wight of the iPad itself. It is also fat, looking less like you have slipped the iPad into a case and more like you have tucked it up in bed: The case is all but a full inch thick. All that material does help protect the iPad inside, though.

The Genius might be bulky, but the features it packs in almost make up for it. First, slot the tablet in. It works like the Apple case, with the iPad entering through a slot by the hinge. A flap then wraps around and Velcros into place, and all ports and switches are left clear. Flip the case open and the stiff front-cover sits around back, out of the way.

This cover has a pair of ugly Velcro strips along the top and bottom edges (along with a nasty plastic logo-badge, apparently shrunken from an earlier version). These strips engage with a Velcro-tipped kickstand on the back, letting you prop the iPad at any angle from around 35-degrees to vertical. This is the best part of the case: adjustment is fast and easy, and the stand is as sturdy as you could wish for. It is also very comfortable for reading, with the iPad either on your lap or on your chest (if you’re lying down).

The other gimmick is a strap that wraps around a car-headrest to keep the kids entertained. The strap is elasticated, and in two parts. Wrap both sides around the headrest and they Velcro together. It works well, and the straps can also be used to keep the case closed.

The leather is plush, but slippery. Prop this against a wall and it may slip and fall flat, unlike the grippy Apple case (still my favorite of every case I have tried).

If you don’t mind its size, then the Genius should be on your list: It’s well made and easy to use, and for what you get, pretty cheap at $50. If you’re looking for something simple and slim, move along.

This little SD card reader is like a tiny plastic toaster for your camera’s memory cards. The little cube has four slots, each of which can take its own SDHC card, and the box comes with a detachable USB cable – essential for traveling light where you don’t want every single gadget to come with its own tail.

The blurb says that Elecom’ reader is compatible with all things SD: SD, microSD, and miniSD, but it really looks like the tiny pinky-sized microSD cards would need an adapter or get lost in the slot, just like the last runty slice of bread gets lost in the toaster and burns on the hot elements.

Why use this? Pros in the field will appreciate being able to drop a whole shoot’s worth of cars into one reader and then go grab a coffee. Surely that’s worth the $48? Available mid-December in Japan.

Four-slot SD reader product page [GeekStuff4U]

See Also:

• ZoomIt: An SD Card-Reader for iPhone
• AirStash Wireless SD Card Reader: Perfect iPad Companion?
• Flush-Fitting SD-Card Reader Swings Both Ways
• Tiny USB Card Reader Packs 16GB, Is Smaller Than USB Port

Bzzzzzz hummmmmm krrrrrzzt! Those are familiar sounds to the electric guitarist, and they’re caused (respectively) by a dirty/dusty jack socket, a mains hum and a simply plugging in the jack to the amp. Sanyo’s Eneloop Pedal Juice won’t help with your clumsiness or lack of hygiene, but it can cut out that hum, and it also does away with yet another trip-hazard cable.

The Pedal Juice is a 9-volt lithium-ion power-source for effects-pedals. It will power a single pedal for 50 hours, or three pedals for 20 hours, and because it’s off the mains loop, it eliminates AC ground-looping noise. It is also water and shock resistant, so you can spill beer on it and smash up your guitar, Pete Townshend-style, and still use it again for the next gig.

Power levels are indicated by green, orange and red LEDs so you can check battery life at a glance, and you can use it to power anything that needs a 9v hookup – not just pedals. The Pedal Juice is $200, available now.

Pedal Juice press release [Sanyo]
Pedal Juice product page [Sanyo]

See Also:

• Make It: iPhone Guitar Connection Kit
• Gibson Dark Tiger: 'The World's Most Advanced Guitar'
• Let There Be Rock: Digital Guitar Better Than The Real Thing …

Lensbaby’s new bag is like an oversized egg-box for your precious light-bending optics. The long padded stick has movable sections inside to hold up to four lenses, and there is a mesh section for small accessories, an external zippered pocket for other extras, and the ends themselves open with flaps for quick access to an oft-used lens. Finally, you can attach a shoulder-strap and stack multiple bags using interlocking Velcro straps.

For just $40, Lensbaby owners will probably snap this up. I have a few of the focus-distorting lenses and they tend to rattle around in a bigger bag, and it seems like overkill to actually lug a proper camera-bag just to carry these and a camera body. The bag also makes swapping out the changeable optics a little easier, as you don’t have to juggle their little plastic containers, too (pro tip: don’t forget at least one of these containers’ lids. It is also a removal-tool).

What I like best is that it is slimline, and comes with a strap included but not attached. Perfect for tossing inside a stealth camera-bag.

Available now.

Lensbaby System Bag product page [Lensbaby]

See Also:

• Lensbaby Tilt Transformer Marries Nikon Lenses to Micro Four …
• Hands-On With Lensbaby Fisheye and Soft-Focus Optics
• Scout: The Lensbaby That Doesn't Bend
• Lensbaby Control Freak Puts You in Charge

Using a regular ol’ office keyboard to play games on a PC is like using an office-chair to race in the Tour de France: it’ll get the job done, but it’s not pretty. What the dedicated MMORPGer really needs is the Nostromo from Razer, and co-designed by Belkin.

Slide your hand into its cockpit and you’l find it cosseted by the ergonomic wrist-rest as your thumb falls perfectly over the eight-way directional pad and your fingers will hover poised over the 16 programmable (and backlit) keys.

As you’d expect, everything is configurable, from the keys themselves to the limitless macros, through the instantly-switchable key-maps to the 20 game-profiles that can be stored within. Just add a gaming mouse and you can leave that boring old QWERTY to the spreadsheet jockeys.

Nostromo product page [Razer]

See Also:

• Review: THX Razer Mako Advanced Desktop Speakers Bring The Sonic …
• Razer Shrieks, Whirls Commemorative Boomslang Mouse Around Head …
• World's First Left-Handed Gaming Mouse
• Everglide Pro Gaming Keyboard: Full Metal Jacket
• Nostromo SpeedPad n52te Adds Backlit Keys, Fancy Config Software …
• 18-Button Open Office Mouse Makes A Keyboard Look Minimal