Hasta La Gadget!

Amazingly, these waves of Crapgadgets tend to showcase some sort of mini-trend. Oftentimes it’s a certain fondness for USB overkill, while other times it just feels like gaudy is the new black. This go ’round, however, we’re looking at a veritable cornucopia of lameness. Eager to drop a Jackson to enjoy one of the most non-ergonomic wooden mice to ever see the light of day? Now you can. There’s also the common issue of not being able to see text in a book while in pure darkness, but rather than just flipping a light switch or changing time zones to locate the sun, there’s a wearable necklace to do the trick. Believe it or not, the list just keeps on getting better, with a machine gun-styled USB drive, heart-shaped telephone and a USB scent flower rounding things out. Dive into dumpster below if you dare, and drop your vote for the worst of the worst in the poll below.

Read – USB bamboo mouse
Read – Wearable hands-free light
Read – Machine gun USB drive
Read – USB guitar speaker
Read – Heart-shaped telephone
Read – USB scent flower
Read – Steering wheel Bluetooth mount

Crapgadget: ‘no rhyme or reason’ edition originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ll recall, FLO TV showed off a proof-of-concept for getting its mobile TV service onto the iPhone back in November of last year. At the time, it required a somewhat unwieldy attachment, which has now melted away with the inclusion of Mophie into the deal, who will integrate the FLO TV hardware into its popular Juice Pack. Both companies are pretty psyched about the synergy of having one device both receiving mobile TV and doing the consequently necessary battery life extension. You’ll find their collective announcement after the break, and products can be expected in the first half of the year.

Continue reading FLO TV and Mophie team up to bring mobile TV to your iPhone

FLO TV and Mophie team up to bring mobile TV to your iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Has any computer product been re-invented as many times as the mouse? The just-launched Jelfin Mouse combines ergonomics and aesthetics in a design that’s pleasing to the eyes and fingers.

The Jelfin is ball-shaped, so the hand wraps around it and the fingers stay curved. Those who find the traditional mouse shape uncomfortable might have an easier time with the Jelfin. The mouse also has a soft gel covering, to further emphasize comfort. It comes in five vibrant colors (cobalt blue, crimson red, cadmium yellow, electric green, and hot pink) and works with both Windows and Macintosh computers. It’s available from Amazon.com for an affordable $34.95.

While I haven’t tried the Jelfin, a video on the site shows that it requires the user to move his or her whole hand to position the cursor, instead of just moving the fingertips as with a standard mouse. While that would be uncomfortable for a lot of us, it’s a good choice for those with repetitive-motion wrist problems.

Too broke to pay Tony Hawk’s royalties on a Wii skateboard / snowboard? Yeah, we feel you, and evidently Thrustmaster does too. Said peripheral outfit has just introduced its newest Wii accessory, the T-Freestyle NW. Designed with work with any skate or snowboard game that lands on Nintendo’s money-maker, the board is crafted from genuine maple and sports a totally stereotypical “skull” design on the top. There’s also a safety stopper to prevent any sort of toppling disaster, and best of all, this thing will be available at the end of the month for just $29.99. Gnarly, dude.

Continue reading Thrustmaster T-Freestyle NW is your next Wii skate / snowboard controller

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Thrustmaster T-Freestyle NW is your next Wii skate / snowboard controller originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ruh roh. A senior tech manager at a “top tier PC maker” has come out with some entirely unofficial and equally ominous thoughts on what he (or she) sees as the tough road to proliferation for SuperSpeed USB. Pointing out that the new interconnect “won’t get real traction until it gets integrated in the chip sets,” the source opines that Intel won’t be offering motherboard integration before 2011 — an assertion Intel has declined to comment on. AMD and NVIDIA have been vocal critics of what they see as purposeful delays by the Pentium maker, and if this latest scuttlebutt is accurate, their wild finger-pointing will have been at least somewhat vindicated. Although Intel did release the 3.0 controller spec eventually, this wouldn’t be the first (or probably last) time when it has been seen to drag its feet where doing so is in its interest (eh hem, Light Peak). For our money, plenty of people who’ve been waiting for the new standard to show up in machines before pulling the trigger on an upgrade will be disappointed by such news, especially as 3.0 devices are just beginning to ship.

[Thanks, Jacob]

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Peripherals

USB 3.0 held back by lack of Intel chipset support? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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