Hasta La Gadget!

Griffin has been on fire recently, releasing all sorts of simple but ingenious gizmos for the iPod and iPhone. Well, almost on fire — the TuneBuds Mobile earbuds were plain awful. The trend looks to continue (the good trend, that is) with a couple of new chargers. The PowerBlock and PowerJolt Reserves.

These acta as regular chargers for an iPod, iPhone or other USB device (one for the car and one for the home) and are around the same size as the Apple-made version. The twist is that there is a little battery pack in there, too, which charges at the same time as your device. When the juice runs low, pop off the spare and clip it into the dock-connector for a few extra hours of use. The spare battery pack only works with iPods, and if you have a Nano or a Touch, you won’t be listening to any music while it’s plugged in — these models have their headphone jacks down by the dock and this dongle blocks the hole.

Both the car and wall-wart version cost $40, and there is a double pack with both for $60. At so little above the cost of a white, Apple-branded charger, we’d say that this is almost a no-brainer. Available “soon”.

Product page [PowerBlock, Griffin]

Product page [PowerJolt, Griffin]

Cell phone, iPod, Bluetooth headset, portable navigation device, digital camera – nobody has just one device to charge. The Callpod Chargepod charges up to six devices at once from a wall socket or in your car.

The charging hub is a silvery disk with a power input jack and six output jacks. The unit with an AC adapter runs $40 (direct), the car adapter is $20, each charger tip is $10, and if you shop around you should find bundles (with several tips) discounted.

Looking for a new way to burn money on your DSi? How’s about a few new charging solutions from the folks at Thrustmaster? Today, both the T-Standee Charger and T-Strap Charger were introduced, with the former expected in mid-June for $12.99 and the latter checking in next month for a penny under $8. As the name implies the T-Standee is basically a charging kickstand / docking station, while the T-Strap builds a charging port right into the strap that can be connected to any powered USB socket for on-the-go recharging. Gnarly, right? Full release is after the break.

Continue reading Thrustmaster intros T-Standee and T-Strap chargers for Nintendo DSi

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Thrustmaster intros T-Standee and T-Strap chargers for Nintendo DSi originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 May 2009 07:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here at Cheap Geek Central, we all have tattoos of Scrooge McDuck. He’s our idol.

1. Some makers of portable music players say you shouldn’t get a screen for $79.99. “Just listen in random order, peons,” they say. (I may have invented the “peons” part.) But the good people at NewEgg.com say no, this tyranny must end. Get a Philips 2GB MP3 player with a 1.8.-inch display for $79.99, they say. The one without the screen is going to sell a billion more units, but this is still a great deal.

2. Speaking of MP3 players, Amazon has a fantastic deal on an iPhone 3G car charger. This simple white charger is only $0.97, which is one of the cheapest deals every to appear in this space. Shipping adds a paltry $2.98 more.

3. Let’s say you want an HD radio for your car. Maybe you love that 3-second delay when switching stations. Well, Amazon has a deal for you. Get a Jensen HD5112 HD radio for $109.07, and it ships for free. The radio also lets you play MP3 and WMA files from CD-R/RW discs, an SD card, or a USB connection.