Dec 09

Speakal’s “Cool iPig” is a Stylish iPhone Dock

Posted in: audio, iPhone, ipod, MP3 Digital Audio, speaker, Tech Toys, Today's Chili

Speakal Cool iPig

Speakal is well known for their line of adorable animal-shaped iPhone and iPod Docks, but the company just released a new model that’s a little less cute and a little sleeker. The Speakal Cool iPig comes in white and wears a big black pair of shades over his eyes, as opposed to his pink, more docile iPig cousin. 
The Cool iPig works with all iPhone and iPod Touch models, plays while it charges, has a massive subwoofer on the underside, and features motion-sensitive volume and music controls that you can control by moving your hands over his ears or with the included remote control. He also has an auxiliary jack you can use to connect another mp3 or CD player. 
The Cool iPig is available for an introductory price of $149.99 retail, and Speakal says if you pre-order now you’ll get one before Christmas.
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Dec 09

Space Tourism on the Cheap, Send Your Photo Into Orbit for $4.95

Posted in: Space Tech, Tech Toys, Today's Chili

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Who want’s to go to space!? Me too! Too bad the cost of experiencing even a few minutes of spaciness via the new breed of space tourism companies is prohibitively expensive for most of us. Thankfully, one enterprising company has a makeshift solution to sate your extraterrestrial wanderlust: send your picture into space!

And they will be able to do it for the price of a foot-long at Subway.

For a mere $4.95, Photos To Space will secure a spot for your image on board SpaceX‘s upcoming Falcon 9 rocket launch scheduled for April 12, 2011.

There is of course, a slight caveat you should be aware of. You see, sending actual photos along for the ride would be too heavy. It cost $70,000 to get a piece of cargo onto the Falcon 9 and physical photographs can add up to a few grams a piece. So, it would be way too heavy to send the thousands of photos you would need to still turn a profit. So, for now, the only way to get your face into space is to send up a digital version which will be stored on “a device” on board the rocket.

Basically, Photos to Space allows you to send your Facebook profile pic to where no profile pic has gone before.

But $4.95 doesn’t just get your photo on a flash drive stored in a rocket ship’s glove compartment (probably an exaggeration?), you will also receive a certificate and “launch image.” So, if you’re still holiday shopping for the geek in your life, this would probably make a lousy present, but a wonderful stocking stuffer.

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Dec 09

Daily Gift: Electronic Music Synthesizer Shirt

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, MP3 Digital Audio, Tech Toys, Today's Chili

e1aa_electronic_music_synth_shirt_fog.jpgIf you didn’t find what you were looking for in PCMag’s roundup of the best gifts for music lovers, we found another great product that will surely make any music geek smile. The Electronic Music Synthesizer Shirt ($29.99) from ThinkGeek puts a real playable music synthesizer on your shirt. You’ll never leave home without your synth again. It’s no Moog, that’s for sure, but it allows you to play five different pro-quality sampled instruments. Also, up to eight keys can be played at once.

This is the third musical instrument shirt from ThinkGeek. There’s already an Electronic Rock Guitar Shirt, and a Drum Kit Shirt, so I guess the only thing left ThinkGeek needs to make is a bass shirt. Then you and your three friends could walk around playing music from your shirts. The shirt comes with a wearable retro-style amp box with an adjustable tone knob.

It’s perfect for the person who’s always humming tunes, and is always saying, “if I only had my keyboard here, I’d play you a jingle.” That happens, right? And in case you were wondering, the electronics are removable for easy washing. It requires 4 AAA batteries, which I assume go into the amp that clips onto your belt.

One thing I’m wondering: How does this work for women?

Want to see the shirt in action? Check out the video after the jump. There are some wonderful renditions of A-Ha’s “Take On Me,” and Europe’s classic “The Final Countdown.”

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Dec 03

Play Real Instruments in Rock Band with the Midi Pro Adapter

Posted in: gaming, Miscellaneous Tech, Music, Tech Toys, Today's Chili, video games

Mad Catz Midi Pro Adapter

Most of us have dreamt of putting our Rock Band skills to use playing in a real concert for thousands of cheering fans, but have no talent for a real guitar or an actual drum set. If you, on the other hand, know how to play the guitar pretty well but the orange button on your Rock Band guitar controller is a little out of reach, the Midi Pro Adapter from Mad Catz will give you a way to plug in your actual instruments to your XBox 360 or PlayStation 3 and get your game on with a controller you’re more familiar with. 
For $40 retail, the Midi Pro Adapter will allow you to plug in your real instruments, have them recognized as controllers, and automatically map different actions to the directional pas or the controller buttons. You can tweak the settings manually if you want, or just start band practice with the default configuration and see where it goes.
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Dec 02

The XIM3 Lets You Game on the XBox 360 With a Keyboard and Mouse

Posted in: gaming, Miscellaneous Tech, Tech Toys, Today's Chili, video games, xbox 360

XIM3

Fans of first-person shooter games and real-time strategy games usually fall into two camps: the ones who refuse to play with anything but a full keyboard and mouse and the ones who refuse to play on anything but a controller. Now, with the XIM3 XBox 360 peripheral, you can connect a keyboard and mouse and use the on-screen controls to map your keys to controller functions, bridging the gap between PC gamers and console games. 
The XIM3 markets itself as a high precision keyboard and mouse adapter for the XBox 360, but PC gamers who wish they could play titles like Halo: Reach and other console exclusives will be happy just to have an option. Pricing and availability on the XIM3 have not been announced just yet, but according to a post at SlashGear, the device’s predecessor, the XIM2, retailed for $149.99, so the new model will likely be more expensive.
 
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Dec 01

A Parrot Flies in Canada

Posted in: Tech Toys, Today's Chili, Toys

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Our neighbors to the north can now enjoy one of the season’s hottest toys. The Parrot AR.Drone is flying into Canada, arriving at Best Buy. If you haven’t heard about it, the Parrot AR. Drone is a quadricopter that the user controls with an iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad. Besides taking flight, if combines real and virtual worlds. A front camera lets the pilot see what the Parrot is seeing right on their iOS device.

A hallmark of the Parrot is that it’s easy to fly indoors or out. It works with the AR.FreeFlight app in the iTunes Store and creates its own Wi-Fi network for easy connections. Once in the air, the Parrot mirrors all movements made by the iOS device while the pilots left thumb is on the control button. The copter retails for $349 Canadian.

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Dec 01

Ice Touchscreen Brings Modern Tech to Penguins, Santa (Video)

Posted in: diy, Miscellaneous Tech, nokia, Tech Toys, Today's Chili, touchscreen

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As the concept of physical controls become ever more dodo-ish, we see digital interfaces on just about everything. Even our solid forms of water aren’t safe.

A group of Finnish researchers who were able to build a touch screen out of a block of solid ice.

This very cool (get it?) touchscreen was assembled at the Nokia Research Center in Tampere, Finland.

The team used a set of infrared emitters and detectors to determine hand location on the wall of ice. The data was then collected and sent to a computer which projected images through the back of the semi-translucent block, creating an interactive surface.

Video after the jump.

via gizmag

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Nov 30

Put Your Data on a Light Cycle with a TRON: Legacy USB Drive

Posted in: flash drive, Tech Toys, Today's Chili, Toys, usb

TRON Legacy USB Drives

There are TRON-themed gaming mice, TRON-themed motorcycle suits, TRON-themed 3D Glasses, and now, if you couldn’t get enough TRON: Legacy merchandise ahead of the movie’s release, you can grab one of these TRON: Legacy USB flash drives in the shape of light cycles to store your data on. Choose the model of light cycle you prefer, dump your data, and impress everyone in that business meeting by bringing up your presentation on one of these stylish USB drives. 
The Kevin Flynn light cycle (shown in white, from the first movie) comes in 8GB, and the Sam Flynn model (in black, from the new movie) is 4GB, and both are available from Toys R’ Us stores or online. They’ll cost you $34.99 and $24.99 retail, respectively.
[via OhGizmo]
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Nov 29

Huey the Chameleon Lamp Matches the Color He’s Sitting On

Posted in: Gadgets, Tech Toys, Today's Chili, Toys
Probably the most adorable light source I’ve ever seen, Huey the Color Changing Chameleon Lamp combines an optical sensor and LEDs in various colors to duplicate the color of any surface you rest him on. 
If you put Huey down on a red table, he’ll turn red. If you put him up on a blue wall, he’ll turn blue: and he’ll usually match the shade of the color pretty closely. If you find a color you particularly like and would prefer he glow that color only, just set him on the surface until he changes, then squeeze him and put him down somewhere else to make him stay on that color. 
Huey is made of soft vinyl and rests on any surface. You’ll need 3 AAA batteries or his included AC adapter to keep him powered on, and he comes with an experimentation sheet with a few colors on it so you can see how well he matches. If you want one, you can order him from ThinkGeek for $29.99 retail price. 
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Nov 29

Daily Gift: Stuffed Android

Posted in: Android, robot, Robots Robotics, Tech Toys, Today's Chili, Toys

Android Meet Android.jpg

Given the mobile OS’s rapid increase in market share, it
seems a pretty safe bet that you’ve got at least one Android users on your
shopping list this year. This Android Plush Robot from Think Geek is quite
possibly the most adorable tie-in you can buy them this holiday season–and best
of all, it’s on sale.

The stuffed robot features posable arms and legs, and is guaranteed
“three laws safe” (i.e. it won’t hurt you and will generally obey orders). The
Android Plush Robot will run you $9.99 (marked down from $12.99), and is
compatible will all of the major carriers and your love (though you’ll have to teach it what that emotion means).

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