Hasta La Gadget!

I like Knog bicycle lights. They’re cheap, bright, tough and more-or-less waterproof, and their rubbery bodies make them as easy to mount on the bike as they are to toss in your bag. What I don’t like is buying batteries, whether they’re AAAs or button cells. That’s why I’m excited about the Boomer Rechargeable, a USB version of Knog’s 50-lumen Boomer.

The light was spotted by the good folks from Urban Velo on a trip to the recent Interbike show. The Boomer Rechargeable works like every other Knog lamp: a plastic core containing the electronics and LEDs is wrapped in a stretchy silicone cover. The difference is that when you slip the skin off this one, you see a USB plug which you can jack into a computer or charger. It could hardly be better for a commuter who rides to work on dark winter days.

The regular Boomer costs $35, so expect this to be a little more. The lamp isn’t yet live on the site, but (hopefully) will be soon.

Knog Boomer Rechargeable [Urban Velo]

Knog Boomer [Knog]

Photo: Urban Velo

See Also:

• Hands-On with the Knog Frog Bike Light
• Knog Demonstrates Keyless Electronic Bike Lock

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Look out, world — Seagate‘s got a new portable hard drive comin’ your way, and it’s as capacious as ever. If you’ll recall, Western Digital broke the 1TB mark in the diminutive 2.5-inch drive sector back in July of last year, and now we’re seeing a 50 percent boost with the 1.5TB FreeAgent GoFlex ultra-portable drive. The company’s claims that this is a first of its kind, and we certainly aren’t in the mood to argue. It’s designed to play nice with both Macs and PCs (it’s formatted as NTFS), and better still, it’s all set up to take advantage of that shiny new USB 3.0 port on your shiny new laptop. As with the other GoFlex gear, this one also has a removable dongle on the bottom for docking (with an optional GoFlex Net or GoFlex TV HD, naturally), and as with some of the company’s past drives, you’ll also find an assortment of 20 Paramount Pictures movies that can be unlocked via license key online. She’s available in every color you could imagine so long as it’s black, and it can be yours for the tidy sum of $249.99.

Continue reading Seagate issues industry’s first 1.5TB external 2.5-inch HDD: FreeAgent GoFlex USB 3.0

Seagate issues industry’s first 1.5TB external 2.5-inch HDD: FreeAgent GoFlex USB 3.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Still wondering what to get the guy that just so happens to have everything, including (but not limited to) a 1920’s style Bluetooth headset? Found. Crosley Radio has just introduced what’s possibly the most awesome nugget of retro goodness in the year 2010 AD, the Revolution CR6002. Believe it or not, the object you’re gawking at there on the right is actually a battery-powered, USB-enabled turntable. It’s quite obviously designed for travel, but it’s purportedly capable of spinning the 33 1/3 and 45 RPM records that your pop is so fond of. Furthermore, it’s capable of tuning into your fav FM radio station, and the USB interface enables analog-to-digital transfers for keeping those vinyls in a much safer place. Hit the source link if you’re ready to wave goodbye to $149.95, or hit that Vimeo vid if you still need convincing.

Continue reading Crosley goes way back, way forward with battery-powered USB turntable

Crosley goes way back, way forward with battery-powered USB turntable originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Sep 2010 23:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As with almost any software update, Apple has seemingly introduced a few new issues while ironing out a couple of others. Automotive forums around the web are ablaze with talk that iOS 4.1 has introduced any number of playback problems, with the bulk of complainers citing scratching, crackling or random disconnects when piping audio from their device to their vehicle via the dock connector. We’ve tested two iOS 4.1-equipped iPhone 4 handsets in two separate vehicles here at Engadget HQ, and we saw no quirks whatsoever, but we’ve no doubt that the issue is real to some extent. Prior firmwares have caused permanent incompatibilities between our iPods and vehicles before, and we’re about at our wit’s end. We know it’s impossible for the software engineers at Cupertino to test new builds on every car adapter out there, but we’re starting to wonder if they bother to plug ’em into any vehicles at all. Tell us below if you’ve pulled any hairs out in recent days, won’t you?

[Image courtesy of Murphy5156 / TiPb]

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Did iOS 4.1 introduce in-car USB playback problems for you? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’d heard back at Christmastime 2009 that USB 3.0-infused DisplayLink kit would be hitting shelves in 2010, and lo and behold, it looks as if someone is dead-set on keeping a promise. Here at IDF 2010, DisplayLink has come forward with public plans to gravitate towards “any device, any display connectivity” with its new USB 3.0 chip platform. The DL-3000 and DL-1000 single chip series are being introduced in San Francisco, with each offering integrated display and networking connectivity, HD video support and “third generation DisplayLink adaptive real-time compression technology that dynamically manages bandwidth, taking full advantage bi-directional throughput of SuperSpeed USB.” The gist of all that? Thanks to SuperSpeed bandwidth increases, multiple full HD videos, high resolution graphics and networking data can be processed simultaneously, and there’s even the potential to enable graphics delivery over gigabit Ethernet. Essentially, USB 3.0 has opened up an entirely new playing field for DisplayLink, and we’re hoping that 2011 is the year that we finally put those resolution caps behind us on USB-enabled docking stations. We’ll let you know if we hear more from the show floor — much to our dismay, hardly anything is said about actual product implementation dates in the PR.

Continue reading DisplayLink aims for ‘any device, any display connectivity’ with USB 3.0

DisplayLink aims for ‘any device, any display connectivity’ with USB 3.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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