Hasta La Gadget!

Who says the USB monitor fun has to end at seven diagonal inches? Not Mimo, that’s for sure. The famed secondary display company has issued its latest device, and this one’s a looker. The 10-inch iMo Monster is aptly named, offering 10 full inches of touchscreen real estate with a native 1,024 x 600 resolution panel. The whole thing weighs just 1.77 pounds and it fully supports both Windows and OS X platforms; best of all, a single USB 2.0 cable provides all the power and connectivity you’ll need. Mimo throws in a stylus, 4.5-inch USB cable and a boatload of bragging rights, but given the “limited availability,” you may want to part ways with your $259.99 right away if you’re looking to pick one up.

Continue reading Mimo goes giant with 10-inch iMo Monster USB-driven monitor

Mimo goes giant with 10-inch iMo Monster USB-driven monitor originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So you’ve got a nice secure thumbdrive, but did you ever think to lock its port? Engineers at the Royal Military College of Canada say the plug and play functionality built into most computers automatically trusts whatever’s plugged into the USB slot. That doesn’t just go for flash drives left out on the street, but all manner of other peripherals as well, as the trio of triumphant researchers demonstrated when they (presumably) infiltrated colleagues’ offices with a totally sweet spy keyboard. That particular device flashed an LED or made the mark’s sound card warble to covertly transmit stolen data, but such exotic methods are reportedly not required — so you’ve yet another reason to cringe when your coworker trots out his Humping Dog.

Researchers say any USB peripheral could steal your data, even a coffee-cup warmer originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jul 2010 05:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whether you’re going on a vacation, a hike, or you just like to watch where the day takes you — from an almost voyeuristic viewpoint –, the Trackstick II is the tool for you. The Trackstick II combines 4GB USB flash storage with a GPS tracking and geolocation device, and a pedometer.

Using the tool, you can geotag the photos you save to the drive with your current location and save them to Flickr, see where you are at any point in time using Google Maps, and count the number of steps and see how far you’ve traveled in a day.

The Trackstick II is powered by a pair of AAA batteries, and once it’s turned on, it’ll keep track of where you roam. When you plug it in to your computer, a Google Map will conveniently show you where you’ve been. You can share that Google Map, along with your path and waypoints, with friends.

The Trackstick II reminds me a lot of the SPOT Satellite Messenger, except without the emergency assistance, or check-in features. In other words, not as useful, but still fun. The Trackstick II will set you back $199 US, and is available now. 

There are a few things in life you can count on. And we mean really count on. You may argue “taxes,” but as one Wesley Snipes has so clearly proven, even those can be evaded given the right motive. Instead, we’re arguing that the next installment of Crapgadget is indeed more likely to be unavoidable, evidenced by the fact that you’re reading this right now. What’s up in today’s best of the worst? Oh, just a USB arm wrestler, a knockoff Land Rover mobile phone, a faux gold World Cup trophy storage device and a handgun that’s anything but. And that’s just for starters. Dive in below if you’ve got a stomach of steel and a thing for sick jokes, and be sure to cast your vote for which turns your evil smile up the most.

Read – USB arm wrestlers
Read – Land Rover phone
Read – Transformers USB drive
Read – World Cup Trophy USB drive
Read – USB handgun
Read – USB itch removal instrument

Crapgadget: frightening party favors edition originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Jun 2010 11:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you have $400 and a serious case of nostalgic yearning, may we then suggest you spend the money on a wonderful USBTypewriter? Described as a “groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence,” the typewriter can hook up to any machine with a USB port and lets you clickety-clack your way through your latest novel, e-mail or even spreadsheet.

The Typewriter Dock, seen in the video above, is an even better version. It holds an iPad in its carriage whilst simultaneously inputting typed letters. All it needs is a Bluetooth component to replace the cable, and a writing app that can use the accelerometer to detect a carriage return and move you to a new line. Ding!

UPDATE: Creator Jack Zylkin emailed to say that the USBTypewriter can detect carriage returns all by itself using a magnetic sensor.

Inside there is a sensor strip under the keyboard which detects the key-presses that hit it, and this pulse of electricity is then passed on to an Arduino circuit-board, whereupon it is translated into a standard USB key-down event. All you need to do is plug it in and type.

$400 buys you a pre-modded typewriter, but Jack Zylkin, the man behind the USBTypewriter, will sell you the electronics to make your own for just $75, or you can send him your typewriter and have him fix it up for you. For true geeks, the design can be had for free under a Creative Commons license, and you can roll your own from scratch.

For those who really love typing on a typewriter, this seems to actually be better than paper: you no longer have to retype whole pages, and white-out will be a thing of the past. For everyone else, using one of these for a few minutes will be a reminder of just why books used to be so much shorter than the word-processed novels of today.

USBTypewriter product page
[USBTypewriter via Etsy]

See Also:

• Steampunk Keyboard MkII: Now with Built to Order Option
• iPad Keyboard: Pricey and Awkward, But a Must-Have for Productivity