Sep 07

Classic Cursor Stylus Takes the Tablet Back in Time

Posted in: accessories, Accessories and Peripherals, ipad, tablet, Tablets and E-Readers, Today's Chili

The BigBig Arrow gives your tablet that retro vibe. Image courtesy of BigBig Cursor.

For those who miss the decades-old aesthetics of that half-arrow, or link-clicking pointer finger, there’s the Big Big Arrow and Big Big Pointer styluses. They, like most models, have a rubber tip designed to point with accuracy, but glide across the glass for drawing and scrolling. Both are magnetic and can adhere to the screen’s rim, Apple Smartcover, or refrigerator.

Steve Jobs has said of his iPad, “If you need a stylus, you’ve already failed,” but there are some major advantages gained by sacrificing the tactility. Besides keeping your tablet free from Cheeto dust, the accessory makes it easier to use drawing software.

The styluses are the brainchild of Mike Mak, a graduate of Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design. Both models are available for $12.99 each.

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Sep 07

Jean Michelle Jarre’s 11-Foot Tall iPad Speaker Dock Is Impractically Awesome

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

One of these speakers is 11-feet tall, the other just 3.5 feet. Can you tell which is which?

Do you have €400,000 ($562,000) lying around? Well, you might want to do something about that, especially if it’s on the kitchen table, you have windows open and it’s a breezy day. And if you’re a complete moron, I have just the thing to waste it on: Jean Michele Jarre’s AeroDream One, aka “The ultimate tower station for iPod, iPad and iPhone.”

Possibly the best thing about the AeroDream One is the publicity photo, featuring a grinning Jarre climbing a (built-in) ladder to put his iPad into the top of the 11-foot behemoth. Why the hell is the slot on the top?

The answer is that this isn’t the real AeroDream One. It is a ginat-sized, fully-functioning replica to be used to (shrewdly) drum up interest in the actual €400 AeroDream One, a three-year-old product. But before we get to that, you want to see the specs of this monster, right?

The tower has an 18-inch subwoofer, a pair of 12-inch mid-range drivers and two three-inch tweeters. These are driven by a 10,000-watt, five channel amp. Inputs come via jack, 30-pin iPhone dock, USB and XLR, and there’s an HDMI output. The whole lot weighs 395 kilos, or 871 pounds.

Is anyone else thinking about Marty McFly cranking up the guitar amp in Doc Brown’s workshop right now?

The more practical version is just over a meter high (3.6 feet), and packs a 60-watt sub and a pair of 30-watt tweeters. It too has a 30-pin dock up top, along with a 3.5mm jack and USB port. It weighs a mere 14kg, or 31 pounds — barely enough to crush a dog if it falls, let alone a human.

I’m not sure if I’m in the market for a $500+ speaker dock just to play crappy MP3s, but once I saw the photo of 1980s legend JMJ up a ladder I had no choice but to write this post. The only thing that could be better would be the same photo, only with David Hasselhoff on a matching speaker ladder, and both of them giving a double thumbs-up. Tell me you wouldn’t pay to see that.

AeroSystem One product page (small) [Jarre via New Launches and Oh Gizmo!]

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Sep 02

GPS Pet-Tracker Lets You Stalk Pooch

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

Now you can follow your dog from the comfort of the nearest browser. Photo credit PetTracker

Photocopied “lost dog”” flyers taped to lampposts and stapled to telegraph poles are so 20th century. The modern day approach to a mislaid canine is GPS tracking. Specifically, the Tagg Pet Tracker.

The Tagg is a collar-mounted tag with GPS and cellular radios. Using it, you can track pooch on a map and find him, wherever he may have wandered. And if he strays from a preset “Tagg zone,” you’ll be notified immediately so you can go grab him before he digs up the neighbor’s petunias. Again.

The Tagg will last for up to 30 days on a charge, and can even be worn for brief swims — it can be submerged up to a meter deep (just over a yard) for 30 minutes — more than enough time to chase a duck.

The $200 kit consist of the Tagg itself, a base station for charging, a collar clip mount and a year’s worth of service. Pre orders can be made now, for September delivery. Further Taggs can be had for $140 apiece.

Tagg product page [Pet Tracker]

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Sep 01

HP Makes Special Edition of 30-Year-Old 12c Calculator

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, HP, Retro, Today's Chili

The new 12c is as hard to fathom as the old one. Photos HP

HP may or may not be dumping its PC business, and it may have messed up its hardware future in a post-PC world, but the company still knows what’s important. A new handheld from the Palo Alto company is set to rock the miniature tablet world. Behold: The HP 12c Financial Calculator 30th Anniversary Edition.

Above you see the 30-year old original (left) and the new version, side by side. The tiny calculator was used by bean counters who apparently loved its shirt-pocket size, accurate calculations and the fact that you can use it in CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) exams (the other permitted calculator is the Texas Instruments BA II Plus).

I have a vague memory of owning one of these, although I’m not sure why. And I’m absolutely certain that I didn’t know how to use it. Put a scientific calculator in front of me and I’ll rip through cosines, tangents and non base 10 math as if I were still in school. But put the 12c on my desk my eyes will roll back in my head at the thought of Reverse Polish Notation and Zzzzzz. Uh. Sorry. You see?

The Anniversary Edition is exactly the same as the original, but for the writing on the front and a laser-etched production number on the back. You’ll be able to pick one up for $80, or around the same as a TouchPad (Sorry. Couldn’t resist).

The HP-12C turns 30, Goes Limited Edition. Thanks, Greta! [HP]

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Sep 01

VooMote Zapper, a Non-Ugly iPhone Remote Dongle

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

The best thing about the VooMote Zapper is that it isn’t ugly. Photo Zero1

The VooMote Zapper is a remote-control adapter dongle for the iPhone that has one major advantage over all other such dongles: it isn’t hideously ugly. The tiny “paperclip-sized” widget plugs into the iPhone’s dock connector and works with a companion app to control any device in your home. Or at least any device that already has a remote — it won’t work with your oven, for instance.

Adding to the visual appeal, the VooMote can also be had in a rainbow of color options with matching with matching bumper-style cases.

The good looks extend to the software, usually a throwback to the bad old days when smartphones actually had their own IR ports. The interface is clean and dark, and you can customize everything, including button positions. There’s also a TV guide which lets you search for shows right there.

I don’t know if I could be bothered to attach a dongle every time I wanted to watch TV (even if I had a TV), but I’d sure dedicate my battered old iPod Touch to the job, especially as it is already used as a remote for AirTunes.

The VooMote Zapper will launch soon, for an as-yet unannounced price.

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Sep 01

Bamboo iPad 2 Cases Almost As Skinny As The iPad Within

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

Despite chugging free Coors every day, the folks at Blackbox Case still turn out these beautiful bamboo cases

What material could possibly be light and strong enough to make a hard-shell case for the skinny iPad 2? According to the folks at Blackbox cases in Golden, Colorado, that material is bamboo.

Previously we covered the Blackbox oak MacBook case in these very pages, but Greg and Anthony at Blackbox have moved onto more sustainable and better-looking Bamboo. Your iPad 2 slides into the case and is secured there with a laser-cut leather strap. The iPad will fit in with or without its Smart Cover.

All this is even more amazing when you consider that Golden is also the home of Coors beer, and the pair regularly hold “meetings” at the brewery where they get free beer. It’s a wonder the cases ever get made.

Unlike the iPad, the Bamboo Blackbox isn’t cheap at $100, but it is hand made. And the boys are getting ready to make bamboo cases for MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs, and are currently soliciting help via Kickstarter. Here you’ll find the iPad 2 cases for $80, and the MacBook cases starting at $100.

I think they look great. I’m currently on my second iPad 2 (the first one was replaced by Apple thanks to a faulty microphone), and it already has two dented corners and a scratched screen. I should probably think about one of these cases.

Blackbox Bamboo iPad 2 case [Blackbox Case. Thanks, Greg!]

Bamboo Blackbox Cases [Kickstarter]

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Aug 31

Stickers Turn Magic Trackpad into Magic Numpad

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, Today's Chili

Using just expensive stickers, the Numpad turns your trackpad into a numeric pad

I love to use a number pad to enter lots of data, but I hate having a giant keyboard which forces my Magic Trackpad too far off to the right. So I put up with the regular number row and curse every time I need to type numbers longer than one digit.

Now, though, I can press my Magic Trackpad into action as a numerical keypad with Mobee’s Magic Numpad, a horribly-named accessory which lets the Trackpad do double (or actually quadruple) duty.

Numpad consist of three stick-on films which you can apply to the pad. These are overlays showing a plain number pad, a number pad plus the pointless other keys usually found in this section of a keyboard, and a number pad with a set of customizable keys. These works in combo with software which maps the positions of these virtual keys and turns your presses into the correct output.

The software is free, although you can only get it when you spend the $30 for the overlays. This strikes me as rather expensive given that you can buy USB number pads for less. I’ll tell you what, Mobee: sell me the software for $5 and I’ll grab a Sharpie and mark up the trackpad myself. Deal?

The Magic Numpad [Mobee via Mac Stories and TIMN]

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Aug 31

Ultimate SleeveCase Fits Any Tablet, Even Ones You Haven’t Heard Of

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, Tablets and E-Readers, Today's Chili

This is the rare, little-seen Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet next to a case that fits it perfectly. Photo SF Bags

As a Gadget Lab reader, its likely that you are a nerd. In which case, you may be one of the three or four people who bought a Motorola Xoom, BlackBerry Playbook, or a Galaxy Tab. Or perhaps you are unlucky enough to have ask your significant other to buy you an iPad as a gift, only to receive a fire-sale HP TouchPad instead (hint: divorce the cheapskate right now).

If so, then this post is for you. Waterfield Designs will sell you the Ultimate SleeveCase, a padded envelope-style case available in myriad sizes to fit pretty much any tablet or “slate.”

The case is made from ballistic nylon (the tough one that goes fluffy if you rub it a lot, not the thin one that tears) and has a soft, screen-cleaning Ultrasuede lining. A flap shuts the tablet in, and a stiffened insert protects the screen.

You can also opt for leather trim, or a strap, or just eyelets for a strap.

But more interesting is the range of tablets that are listed on the sizing chart, some of which you may never have heard of. Fujitsu Q550? Check. Acer Iconia Tab A500? It’s there. Samsung Sliding PC 7? What?

The bags run from $52 to $57, depending on size, plus $5 for leather trim and from $5 to $22 for strap options. If you have the TouchPad, that might just come out at more than you paid for the tablet.

Tablet Ultimate SleeveCase [SF Bags. Thanks, Heidi!]

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Aug 30

Wacom Inkling Brings Ctrl-Z to Paper Drawings

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, Today's Chili

Inkling turns your scribblings into bitmap and vector files

Inkling is Wacom’s latest digital drawing tool and, frankly, it looks amazing. Inkling consists of a special ink pen and a detector device which digitizes anything you draw on paper and lets you send it to your computer. This is nothing new — just yesterday I wrote about a the Apen for Android devices. But there’s a reason Wacom is at the top of the pen tablet market: it does these things better than anyone else. Take a look:

Assuming that the Inkling works as well as it seems to do in the video, there are a few things that stand out here. First is that the pen is pressure sensitive (with 1024 levels), so the lines that end up on your computer should have the same weight as those you make on the paper. Second is layers. Tap a button to start a new layer. On paper. That’s pretty amazing right there.

Finally, you can import your drawing into Adobe Illustrator as a vector file. Frikkin’ vectors! This means that you can bend and tweak the individual strokes of your ink drawing as much as you like. It also means that you could scale up a tiny doodle and print it onto a billboard with no loss in quality.

Once done, the resulting files can be opened in Photoshop, Illustrator, Autodesk Sketchbook or Sketchbook Designer on the Mac or PC. And even the case design is clever: The pen sits inside the oversized hinge, and the case itself is the charger (three hours of charging gives eight hours of use).

It’s not often I go out and buy something I write about here on Gadget Lab, but I’m ordering one of these as soon as they start to ship in September. Sure, it costs $200, but it’s my birthday soon.

Inkling product page [Wacom]

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Aug 30

JawBone Icon HD And Its New Friend, The Nerd

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, Today's Chili

JawBone’s Icon gets a bigger speaker and a new friend — the Nerd. Photo credit JawBone

You’re still going to look like a total dork if you wear it, but at least you won’t go crazy with frustration when you use the new JawBone Icon HD Bluetooth headset, and its accompanying dongle, the Nerd.

The Icon HD is the same as the existing Icon, only with a bigger, better speaker inside — hence the “HD” moniker. You can connect to two devices at once (like JawBone’s JamBox speaker), letting you stream music from your laptop and also answer incoming calls from your phone. You can also add the same DialApps (actual applications) and AudioApps (voices that read out status and caller ID) as with the old Icon.

But the big difference is the Icon’s plucky sidekick, the Nerd. This brings an instant Bluetooth hookup. Plug it into a computer’s USB port and it will automatically register as a USB audio device. And because it is already paired with the Icon, you don’t need to do bothersome pairing every time you use a new machine.

The Icon HD comes bundled with the Nerd and can be had for $140. Now, if only JawBone would make a pair of stereo headphones already.

JawBone product page [JawBone. Thanks, Eva!]

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