Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re stealing a car these days, there’s a good chance you’re not bothering to actually pick the locks, but if you are, your job is about to get a little easier. A device called the Electronic Key Impressioner is inserted into a car door and scans the position of the tumblers inside. It feeds information back to a PC over USB which then, when told the car’s model, can provide the necessary information to cut the perfect key on the first attempt. Right now it only works on Fords with simple metal keys (like, say, a 1967 Shelby GT500), but the hope is to expand the device to support other manufacturers and, possibly, electronic keys in the future. It will be available to locksmiths and authorized security professionals in 2010. Sorry, Nick, you’ll have to find another way to get into Eleanor.

Continue reading USB Electronic Key Impressioner could help you be gone in 60 milliseconds

USB Electronic Key Impressioner could help you be gone in 60 milliseconds originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Imagine a HyperMac, but one that’s highly portable and engineered specifically to rejuvenate your USB-connecting gizmos. That, our friends, is the ZAGGsparq. Our good pals over at Gadling had a chance to sit down with the portable charger recently, and as expected, they came away duly impressed. At its core, this is little more than a portable 6000mAh battery with a pair of USB inputs; you simply plug whatever USB gizmo you’ve got into it (a smartphone, portable media player, e-reader, GPS system or anything else that can be charged over USB) and watch as it provides life where there was none. It also supports international power sockets (which you’ll have to provide separately), and it packs enough juice when fully charged to bring five dead iPhones back to full capacity. At just under a Benjamin, it’s hard to not recommend for the avid traveler, but feel free to give the source link a glance if you need more proof.

ZAGGsparq portable USB charger gets reviewed, adored originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 03:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know that 49-port USB hub you picked up last year? Sissy. Thanko just introduced an 80-port USB hub to charge all of your gadgets from a single location. Fantasy or nightmare? Well, first you have to consider the price (¥14,800, about $165) and the cabling chaos this will bring. Then you must know that the hub seems to charge your devices only: no USB data. And are you really man enough to handle the repulsive stares that a device like this will surely invoke from your family and so-called friends? Who cares! When a gadget promises this:

“When viewed from the side of the port in line, you feel powerful and somewhat like a soldier in the army.”

You’d be crazy not to want it.

80-port USB hub makes you feel like a powerful soldier originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple didn’t give us a great amount of time with its newly unveiled iPad today, and as you’ve likely seen, we spent the bulk of our allotment touching the unit itself. Lost in the proverbial shuffle were a number of the unit’s launch accessories, including the admittedly intriguing keyboard dock ($69), case ($39), iPad Dock Connector to VGA adapter ($29) and camera connection kit ($29). Each of these doodads seem to look and feel exactly as you’d expect ’em to, though we’re still baffled by Apple’s decision to make you pay extra for access to the world’s most widely accepted connector. We’re also somewhat appalled (but not surprised) by the $39 price tag purportedly attached to the stripped-down case, and while the $69 MSRP on the keyboard dock is apt to cause some grumbling, at least there are a few iPad-specific keys on there to make it (marginally) worth your while. Dig in below for more on each.

Read – iPad keyboard dock hands-on
Read – iPad case hands-on
Read – iPad Dock Connector to VGA adapter hands-on
Read – iPad camera connection kit hands-on

Apple’s iPad keyboard dock, case and other accessories get the hands-on treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When the so-called “friendly skies” are mentioned, a few airlines in particular come to mind: Virgin America, Singapore Airlines and Qantas, for starters. Starting today, you can safely include Air New Zealand in that discussion. In a bid to turn long-haul international travel on its head, the outfit has today revealed a freshly outfitted Boeing 777 with a coach cabin that easily puts every coach cabin found in the US to shame. Designed by Recaro, the world-class coach area includes 11 rows of Skycouches that can actually fold flat in order to create (admittedly short) beds for two. The best part? The “third seat” in the row will only cost a couple 50 percent of what it normally would, making it somewhat more affordable to buy a bed without springing for first class. You’ll also find power sockets, USB ports and iPod connectors in every single coach seat, leaving the plane a Gogo-module away from being absolutely perfect. Pop those source links below for a hands-on at the Auckland unveiling by our good pals at Gadling.

Air New Zealand ‘revolutionizes’ coach cabins: power, USB, iPod support and Skycouches originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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