Hasta La Gadget!

No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you — not one little bit. You’re looking at a PC gamepad built into the bottom of a mouse, and not a drab one at that. It’s called the Shogun Bros. Chameleon X-1, and if you just fell in love, we’re afraid there’s no suggested price, shipping date or a way to buy it yet. What we do know are the promised specs, which include a 5-stage adjustable 1600dpi optical sensor with 125Hz polling rate — which admittedly sounds last gen — that connects to your Windows PC over a USB dongle sporting 2.4GHz wireless. There’s 14 buttons on the bottom, 7 on the top, and the company’s support page suggests the device has force feedback as well. We’re not terribly bullish on the “sophisticed Norway Nordic Chip System” the controller apparently has, but considering there are three very legitimate looking pictures of the device in our gallery below, we’re not going to write it off quite yet.

Update: Shogun Bros. tells us the Chameleon should be available in Q1 2011, for the suggested retail price of $55.

Shogun Bros. Chameleon X-1 mouse flaunts its hidden gamepad (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 21:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen a fair share of VCR hacking in our day, but this momentum scroll wheel built from an old VCR head by Instructables community member Osgeld sets a new bar for jerry-rigging dead technology. Apparently the project arose from a desire to find a 21st century-approved use for the circular part that was gathering dust after being stripped from a spare Sony VHS player. The result is a bulky, yet useful, scroll wheel that can easily be set into motion and sustained via its own inertia to keep spinning for long periods. That feature could prove useful to anyone saddled with a mountain of video editing work, or even you lazy folk just hoping to flick less while reading the web. Unfortunately, a quick glance at Osgeld’s DIY tool and part lists indicate you’ll need to do quite a bit more than ransack a tape player to get this job done right. But then, when do the good things in life ever come easy?

VCR head gets Frankenstiened into a beefy momentum scroll wheel originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 01:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The reversal of aging has been one of the great dreams of humanity, but it seems like our rodent overlords have beat us to it. The Harvard Medical School has demonstrated “a dramatic reversal” in the aging process when reintroducing the enzyme telomerase into old and feeble mice. What happened was that their naturally worn out organs started to regenerate, instead of degenerating further, bringing them back to a youthful state of health. Sadly, while the results of this study are hugely important, there are a couple of caveats to make: firstly, the mice in question were genetically modified to suffer from a lack of telomerase, which might have inflated the results of the tests relative to regular mice, but more importantly, an increase in telomerase in humans is “a hallmark of most human cancers.” So, if you want a shot of Benjamin Button brew, you’ll have to be very patient indeed. For now, let’s just be happy that Algernon and his buddies have found their fountain of youth.

[Thanks, Vygantas]

Harvard scientists reverse aging in mice, laugh maniacally at human possibilities originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 06:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back when we first locked eyes with the Smartfish ErgoMotion Mouse at CES we knew there was something totally unique about it. No, it didn’t have a touch strip or 18 buttons, but thanks to its “pivot system,” it did tilt in every which-way. Created by a former chiropractor, the laser mouse tilts in all directions, but not with the aim of moving the cursor or controlling anything on screen as one would think. It wobbles for one reason and one reason only: to relieve arm tension and reduce the risk of Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI). Today the company’s releasing a smaller, more mobile version of ErgoMotion, now called the Whirl Mini, for $49.95. So, is it what the doctor ordered? Or is it just another odd looking peripheral to add to the collection? We’ve been using it as our primary mouse for the last week, so you’ll want to hit the break to find out.

Continue reading Smartfish Whirl Mini Notebook Laser Mouse review, now on sale for $50

Smartfish Whirl Mini Notebook Laser Mouse review, now on sale for $50 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aww, look at that cute little mouse cuddling up in its nest. Wait a tick… an inductive charging mat for the Magic Mouse? You won’t currently find the Magic Charger at the Apple Store (something that could change soon) but the good folks at Mobee are finally taking orders for this intriguing product on its website. To mark this occasion, the Swiss company sent us a review unit for some sweet wireless charging action. Read on for our full review after the break.

Continue reading Mobee Magic Charger review: wirelessly juice up your Apple Magic Mouse

Mobee Magic Charger review: wirelessly juice up your Apple Magic Mouse originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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