- Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community by Chetan

Fella got the iBrella?

Chetan — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 07:34:47 +0000

So you thought that all an umbrella could do was to keep you from catching pneumonia. iBrella is one of the strangest yet fascinating ipod accessories I have come across lately. It interfaces with your iPod so that you can control your white music machine with the movements of an umbrella!

Now you could fold your umbrella for the play\pause function or twist it to change the volume\track and better still shake it for a random track. So if you don’t mind carrying an umbrella along with you (my grandpa used to do that) and make funny faces in public while trying to maneuver its controls, iBrella is just the thing for you.

Check out the dude on the video making a buffoon of himself.

Via: coolestgadgets

The Self Destruct button USB hub

Chetan — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 06:37:43 +0000

Somebody once said to me, ‘To Err is human but to really mess up things needs a computer’. There have been a lot of times when I just wanted to blow the whole hard disk to smithereens rather than going for the subtle (read: boring) alternative of formatting.

So now you can actually have a self-destruct USB button which could be a potential stress buster for those testing times with the nagging computer. The Japanese have come up with this four port device which has real neat exteriors comprising of flickable switches, a turnable key and a protected self destruct button.

Sadly, all that this $62 button does it is to play a ‘Kill...Kill’ audio file scaring the crap out of toddlers and blondes(no offence intended). A nice gadget for a prank but definitely not worth the cost ($25 shipping charges extra).

I am waiting for the Al-Qaeda upgrade which could do something more practical(or stupid) and could justify its cost. Something which would make me have a blast of a time.

Available here

Via: Gizmodo

Squeeze it Dirty Boy!

Chetan — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 05:37:35 +0000

This gadget is sure to solve your personnel hygiene problems if you are just too lazy to be taking a shower. Shower breasts are all set to make you go for a bath again and again due to their err...ergonomic design.

Designed like supple breasts these babies can be mounted on your bathroom wall with each breast having a separate compartment for shower gel\shampoo\conditioner. Just squeeze away to get your hands full of the desired fluid. Sounds great!

The dispenser is a perfect gadget to spice up your mundane bathing life but runs a risk of getting empty a bit too soon in case of over-enthusiastic bathers.

Available for $26.91 here.

Via: Gizmodo

Ultra-thin Fingerprint Sensor

Chetan — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 05:12:01 +0000

Straight out of a Bond movie, Seiko Epson is all set to commercialize the smallest fingerprint sensor for securing all those handheld gadgets. The 0.2 mm thick sensor reads the fingerprint patterns due to the mild electric current from the fingers.

The small size of the sensor would help furthering its use in the field of portable gadgets like MP3 players, cellphones, palmtops etc. Also it could find a big untapped market in self-authenticating credit cards which are being dubbed as the next generation of credit cards ‘in which a tiny on-card processor is used to compare the captured fingerprint data with the user’s fingerprint data stored in an embedded memory. A non-matching fingerprint would render the card unusable, preventing abuse in the case of loss or theft.’

The commercialization drive is being aimed for 2010.

Via: Gizmodo

IOPS F5 : The tiny giant

Chetan — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 04:29:27 +0000

So here is a USB storage device with a host of multimedia features to make it multi-faceted and a ‘competition annihilator.’ The IOPS F5 media player supports MP3, WMA, and OGG audio formats as well as the popular MPEG 4 video format.

The 2GB USB device boasts of a humble 65K color screen(fairly enough for its small screen) and comes packed with various features namely an FM receiver, direct recording, voice recording and a built in rechargeable Li-Polymer which can give it an approximate 17 hours playback time or almost double radio playback time.

The amazing part being that all these features have been crammed in a

25mm x 55mm x 13.8mm body. It is available for a shelf price of £145 here.

Via: ubergizmo

Roadman Camper Trailer makes you the Highway Star

Chetan — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 02:45:13 +0000

So if you are a motorcycle addict who just loves traveling but hates to backpack all the camping equipment(understandably so), Roadman Motorcycle Camper Trailer is a much better option for you. These trailers are meant to be pulled by any small or large motorcycle or a small car.

The easy to set up trailer also features a luggage rack and sleeping space for two besides being extremely handy for carrying other camping equipment. You can choose your own trailers according to your camping needs and the wallet size. You should be able to own a basic one for $2000.

Read more

Via: Travelizmo

ACM-R3: setting standards in robot movement

Chetan — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 02:17:49 +0000

Swift and fluid motion is how you describe the slithering movement of ACM-R3 the latest snakebot to come out from the hiding at an exhibition by Tokyo institute of technology.

The impressive robot has been divided into equal sections with individual servo-motor and microprocessor for the sake of smooth motion. Also, it can slide from any side down. Check out the cool video of ACM-R3 in action!

Via: newlaunches

Store your lifelong music collection with OPUS.

Chetan — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 01:09:09 +0000

I still remember the wordings of one of my college band mates, ‘Music is an alternative to sex!‘ Although it sounded stupid the first time I heard it, if you think about it there is an uncanny resemblance between the two. Your music taste in bands and genres keeps on changing just like your preference for partners would have evolved from school to work. The better thing about music is that you could store your high school music and even after you have moved on you could come back to it so as to get all nostalgic and stuff.

But the worst thing about having a collection is that it is inevitable to lose it to some of your borrowing friends. Not anymore as Olive Media Products, announced a new music server, called Opus, that comes in 400GB (US$2,999), 500GB ($3,499) and 750GB ($3,999) capacities. 750 GB means 2100 CDs or a lifetime of music collection meaning that you would never again have to go through a painful process of deleting those classic songs so as to gain some disk space. OPUS can read and write CDs as well as read DVDs, it’s 2 million song database means you don’t need an internet connection to access artist, song, and album information. The server claims to store the music in lossless format along with full backup.

The expected high price is going to be a roadblock but thinking of it as a life-long investment, its is not a bad deal afterall.

Via: Scooq

A MP3 player that indeed looks different.

Chetan — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 07:40:56 +0000

Is it a remote control? Is it a credit card? Damn! It’s a MP3 player. First look at Signeo sn-a800 and it’s almost impossible to guess the working of this retro styled MP3 player.

It also includes a built-in FM tuner, voice memo recording and the ability to record radio shows into the MP3 format. Sounds cool but the price does seem to prevent you from grabbing this ‘good looking’ audio gadget. You have to shell out $180 for the 512 MB version and $250 if you are interested in doubling the capacity.

Available in blue, black or yellow, its unconventional looks do make it eye candy despite the fact that it is overpriced when compared with its counterparts available in the market.

Via: Ubergizmo

TruScene keeps an eye on your car

Chetan — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 07:15:09 +0000

It’s a bright sunny day and after buying some groceries you come back to your parked car to find a big dent on the bloody bumper and no sign of a culprit or even a note. The sun isn’t shining anymore and all you can do is swear your brains out all the way to the garage.

Well, smile up because this unfortunate event if ever repeated again will have the culprit red handed on video doing the dastardly act. That is, if you have installed TruScene to your car.

This gadget hooks up to the rear view mirror and records anything in front of it in 30 second clips and keeps on deleting it unless it detects a bump or something. In that case it records the clip to the memory and encrypts it digitally so that tampering with the evidence is all the more difficult.

It is not available in the markets as of yet but the expected cost when it hits the shelves later this year is a colossal $1000.Well, truth doesn’t come cheap but same is the case with dent repairs.

Via: oblingo