Category Archives: Home Gadgets

My dear game boys who are in love with white gizmos, you can now cheer as Microsoft is offering a new Xbox 360 limited edition bundle in all white. While you’re waiting for the Star Wars Xbox 360 to launch, you could reel in the glory of this bundle that packs in a 4GB Xbox 360, a white Xbox 360 controller, and a white Kinect sensor. A copy each of Kinect Sports, Kinect Adventures and a three-month Xbox Live Gold subscription is also included in the bundle.

You have a new companion when you’re taking a swim or making a sand castle at the beach – Say hello to Eco Terra Boombox from Grace Digital. This IPX7 model is a certified boombox that continues blasting some good music even under water. It hosts two 3-inch speakers on either side and has no iPod dock connector as that function is delivered by a 3.5mm jack inside the watertight compartment. The boombox is pretty convenient to use as you can control music playback and volume through the buttons at the top.

With better technology, newer phones and computers are being released on an almost every-day basis. However, these are so complicated that they just intimidate little kids. Wouldn’t you love to have a simple computer which you can give your kids, for them to learn all the mysteries of computer science without worrying about breaking the device? The Raspberry Pi Foundation, a U. K. -based charity, has developed two models of the Raspberry Pi just for this purpose. It is basically a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard. This software package, developed at Seneca College in Toronto, includes a custom version of the Linux Fedora operating system and basic tools like a web browser and word processor. It can be used for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays high-definition video. The idea is to play around with it and discover for yourself what makes it work. Because it costs so little, parents won’t mind too much even if it breaks in the process. It runs on the extremely low-power, energy-efficient ARM chips, which means you can work them on just four AA batteries.

How does a geek with no discernible musical talent become a rock star? Well, either he pretends to play an air guitar, or he fulfills his ambitions on any one of the various apps that lets you imagine you are playing an instrument. Now you can play the guitar, without knowing a single chord! The Clippard Air Guitar is a pneumatic guitar developed by Clippard Instrument Laboratory. This guitar uses 62 pneumatic cylinders that work together to finger, pick, and strum the guitar’s strings, as well as creating percussive sounds along the way. It is controlled by your iPad through some kind of MIDI controller, so you can just push a button to get it to start playing “music.”

There are way too many piggy banks in the market, but this is one of the coolest ones we have seen in a while. Probably, because we still can’t figure out exactly how it works! The Shrinking Money Box is unique because it boasts “magical” properties. Just put your coin into this box, and watch it slip down an impossibly narrow funnel. It ends up in a clear box in the bottom at a just quarter of its original size. You won’t believe how small your coin looks. Also, you’ll be amazed how many coins this tiny container can fit. However, don’t worry; when you need it back, just pull out the rear compartment. The coins are returned to you at normal size. Like magic! Cool optical illusions aside, this piggy bank is a must-have just for its sophisticated looks. It is a hard black 12 x 8 x 8 cm box, with an attractive Paisley wallpaper design interior.

Following on the trail of the “smart” Zipel oven that can be controlled via an Android phone, Samsung has now released the F457 Washing Machine that allows you to monitor the machine’s washing cycle by a Smartphone. It allows checking the remaining time, finishing alerts, starting or pausing the cycle via a Smartphone. This function is going to make your job a lot easier and will help you pick up other errands in the house simultaneously too. It also features seven specialty cycles PowerFoam Technology that destroys rugged stains, and decreases juddering through the vibration reduction technology. It also has an 8-inch LCD touch screen for ease of use.

The new age kids are following the footsteps of their tech-crazy parents who spend ample time on their gadgets and now they want one for themselves. So, here’s Oregon Scientific rolling out their MEEP Android Tablet for kids. The 7-inch tablet designed for kids over 6 years of age has toughened exterior to recoup from the carelessness of kids that they might be subjected to in the near future. It runs on the Android 4.0 OS and is Wi-Fi enabled. Parents will also be able to access web-based remote parental controls in order to monitor their kids’ activities.

Warning! If people could die of cuteness overdose, this might be hazardous to their health. If you are a fan of either Hello Kitty or Mimoco, then you are probably going to love this cute device. In celebration of Hello Kitty’s 35th anniversary, Sanrio and Mimoco have teamed up to create this adorable USB Flash Drive. This Hello Kitty
Balloon Designer flash drive is available in a 4GB capacity version. It comes preloaded with so many digital goodies, but these can be deleted if you are not too keen on them. It is compatible with both PC and Mac. The digital content includes Wallpapers, Avatars (for use on Twitter, MySpace, etc.) and Icons (the same as the avatars in a larger format). While standing up, this adorable device measures 2.5″ tall by 1″ wide.

Fans of the Japanese show Tokusatsu and its fighting hero, Ultraman, will certainly be aware of the importance of 3 minutes. These three minutes is all it takes for Ultraman to lose all his solar-powered energy and change back to his human form. So, any enemy has to be defeated in less than three minutes. Sounds like a tough feat, but Ultraman manages it every time. In honor of Ultraman’s 50th anniversary, Japanese toymakers Kotobukiya is releasing the Ultraman Warning Light Kitchen Timer. It is a timer in the design of Ultraman’s warning light worn on his chest. Its dimensions are said to be identical to the original warning light used in the TV series and features the same light patterns and sounds from the shows. In honor of the superhero, this timer only measures three minutes at a time. So, it is perfect for timing a packet of instant noodles, or baking bacon in the oven. With its magnet and grip you can attach the timer to your wall or even your clothes!

This is USB choco lamp. If you like to stay up at night and work at your desk until the wee hours, then this will interest you and probably act as an inspiration for you to remove any unwanted blocks. The lamp can also perhaps serve as a stimulant by just looking at the chocolate drink flow from a cup to a mug. This could rather be healthier than having to consume odd amounts that could tug at your heart some day.

[Available at JTT Shop]

When the whole world seems to be moving away from paper and towards a completely digital world, two new cute gadgets insist on taking us back. However, these are so adorable, we definitely don’t mind! Design studio Berg had announced its Little Printer sometime back. It is a tiny square device with a smiling face on the front. It connects wirelessly to the web, and then brings you any information that you want. You don’t even have to configure it, your phone acts as the remote control. Set up the device and configure what sources of content you would like to receive, like news, pictures, gossip, weather updates, birthday reminders, etc. When you press the button on top, the printer will gather up all the information that it has received and print it out in a miniature newspaper. Adorable! The second is the “Internet of Things” Printer by Adafruit. Firstly, you have to build this printer yourself, which is fun enough. Once it is ready, you can connect by Ethernet to get Internet data for printing onto 2 1/4″ wide receipt paper. You can then instruct it to run code. For instance, you can print out tweets from one particular person, or containing some specific hash tag. Once you figure it out, you can customize the printer to run any code you want. A warning though, you have to have some soldering experience to put this printer together.

Oh! The trials we have to face! Remember those times you had to look closely at your USB for an extra 5 seconds to determine which side is up. Apparently, the people at Buffalo Kokuyo Supply Inc. think this is too much trouble! They have developed a USB hub, which allows you to connect your USB cord facing both upwards and down. Many people out there are probably thinking, what’s the big deal? But if you are like me, and basically just rely on a trial and error system of shoving the USB till it goes in, then you will welcome this technology. Buffalo Kokuyo claims that this is the first USB connection of its kind. It works like a regular USB port in all other respects, and is compatible with Window XP, Vista, or 7, as well as the Mac OSX 10.2 and up. This is definitely the technology of the future.

Barnes & Noble has recently introduced the all new Nook Tablet in an 8 GB version. This new guy in town can easily be dubbed as a competitor to the already existing Kindle Fire from Amazon, a gadget that shares the same memory and price. The company had launched the Nook Tablet last year in a 16GB version but the steep price of $250 on it rendered the gadget rather wry in the market.

Still can’t get over ‘The Flash’ from early 90’s? It’s alright; everybody is obsessed with the comic series. It’s time to own a souvenir that reminds you of The Flash. Instructable’s member Britt Michelson made a flash drive that features the comic book superhero in a LegoMinifigure avatar. It is supposedly taken off stores, so we could use the guidelines to make one at home.

[Instructions at Instructables via - Neatorama]

Fitting those bulky mobile phone stands into our handbag could be bit of a task with all the make-up, keys and important documents. There has to be something that serves the purpose by taking up very little space. We thought that the Hello Kitty Mobile Phone Stand was a perfect accessory that fit all the above parameters. The neat and sweet Mobile phone stand features a suction behind Hello Kitty’s face and also a removable cell phone string handle. Now you don’t need to worry about space in your handbag.