Category Archives: Home Gadgets

Non-profit organization One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) has been working on its XO-4 convertible laptop for quite a while now. This much-awaited hybrid is not quite ready as yet, but that hasn’t stopped chip manufacturer Marvell from demoing it at CES. The XO-4 is a 7.5-inch convertible notebook, and comes with both a touchscreen and keyboard. Marvell’s aim was to demonstrate the new chip, which they are touting as being “miles faster” than before. The laptop will be powered by a Marvell ARMADA 2128 processor. It comes with a multi-touch display sourced from Neonode that’s capable of being used in direct sunlight. It is expected to come with either 1GB or 2GB of RAM and 4GB or 8GB of storage, and will probably run on Linux (Fedora 18) with a custom software overlay. As can be expected, the exteriors will be colored with OLPC’s signature green and white.

No matter how much you stop your kids, they don’t budge to play their favorite games on the iPad. However, you can make the technology experience educational through various apps and accessories. Griffin is working towards this goal; and introduced various accessories for kids at the CES 2013. The company has also collaborated with Crayola again, to recreate the interactive stylus. Last year they had introduced the ColorStudio HD app with iMarker, and now they have gone a step ahead, and launched the contact-free Light Marker for iPad. This battery-operated Crayola stylus allows your young Picasso’s to draw just by moving their hands in the air. Crayola Light Marker sends an invisible beam of light to your iPad’s front-facing camera. Your iPad translates Light Marker’s movement into lines of color you use to play games and create art you can save or share. Thus, it keeps your iPad scratch free! The free Light Marker app features an assortment of coloring pages, puzzles, paint splatter, and drawing tools.

Hate the no phones and tablets during family time rule? Lenovo is making sure that rule goes right out of the window but the bonding stays and this time over a humongous tablet. On Sunday , Lenovo unveiled a home tabletop touch-screen computer aimed at turning typically solitary online activities into family affairs. It’s the size of your coffee table and I can only imagine the endless possibilities of having a fun time together with your family. You may all use it together to play games and beat each other or individually to update Facebook or browse your emails. The Horizon Table computers weigh about 18 pounds and is built with a hinged stand in the back. Lenovo is going the extra mile by collaborating with gaming stalwarts like Ubisoft and Electronic Arts to create titles especially for Horizon Table Computers and provide users with an enriching experience.

Japanese tech giant Samsung is on a tech-roll. With a number of devices slated for CES 2013, the company has also announced a 3D-capable camera. The new Samsung NX300 is a retro-styled mirrorless interchangeable-lens model with built-in Wi-Fi, a quick autofocus system, a large touchscreen, fast continuous-shooting speeds, and 1080p video capture at a smooth 60fps. The new Samsung NX300 camera is equipped with a 20.3-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, and has been designed to provide users with the ability to capture 3D images and footage. With the lens, you can switch to regular 2D capture at any time, so it can work with other NX cameras as well. While the NX300 doesn’t have an Android/OS, it does have built-in dual-band WiFi, and an accompanying Android and iOS app will allow users to connect their smartphone via WiFi.

Gamers would have to agree that the world of gaming platforms, as it is, is pretty constricted and monopolized. If you are of the opinion that the traditional consoles are too bulky, and could do with a little redesigning, then you will love the new GameStick, which promises to change the way you think of TV games consoles. The GameStick is being touted as the most portable TV games console ever created. They have taken all the bulk of the traditional designs and compacted it into one sleek platform which includes all the controls and connectivity. The idea is to be able to conveniently unplug the USB-style machine and carry it around with you so that you can use it with any TV, anywhere! The controller connects via Bluetooth, with a range of up to 10 feet, so that you can stand back from the TV and enjoy the gaming action in all its glory. The Android Jelly Bean based platform features 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, Wi-Fi and HDMI connectivity from which it also draws its power. It can support up to four additional controllers. There are a whole bunch of games already available from their games store, with many more in production.

Samsung is ready for the new year and how! From revealing new high tech vacuum cleaners to hinting the Galaxy S4, it is going to be the year of Samsung! The Japanese tech-giant is also refreshing it’s laptop range, as they revealed the enhanced Series 7 Chrono. The laptop Ultra model 730U3E is the first in a series of ultrabooks Samsung has planned, while the enhanced Series 7 Chronos features a lighter body and a processing power boost. The new notebook will flaunt the new AMD Radeon HD 8870 GPU that will power a 1080p display. Inside you’ll find a quad-core Intel i7 3635QM 2.4GHz processor and 4GB of RAM, with the option of boosting it up to 16GB. There are two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, VGA, as well as headphone out and microphone in. The entire unit weighs in at 5.18lbs, and has a battery life up to 11 hours. Additionally, the laptop will have JBL speakers and a RAM accelerator that will have the capability to speed up app load times by 1.5 times.

How many Lego-related articles have we covered in the past week? Apparently not many so let’s keep the Lego fever rolling and check out this incredibly interesting Chobi Cam Block. It’s a spy cam and so well-concealed no one would in a hundred years guess it to be a spy cam. Apart from making it a fun toy to play with when not in Bond Mode it does take fantastic videos and photos for you to enjoy. This miniature camera charges up by USB and can shoot in color, or even black or white, adding to the retro look.

While waiting for the Sakar Hello Kitty tablet to launch, we came across this cute version of the Android tablet, which every Kitty fan might add to the next gadget list. The Hello Kitty Tablet is an Android based tablet with cute elements of the adorable cat. The 7” tablet comes with built in WIFI/Support, 1024×600 pixels resolution and Dual Core 1.5GHz. It comes with Android 4.1 system, so that you can enjoy the charming Hello Kitty with various apps. The tablet also includes Multimedia features, HDMI, Bluetooth and an e-book. It boasts two mini USB ports, a microSD slot, and a mini HDMI port. It has just one camera in the front with a 0.3MP or 1.3MP resolution. The company promises a 4.5hours battery with Wi-Fi. The tablet includes Hello Kitty features in its icons, wallpaper, and various settings.

Well, we all loved Origami as kids, but that does not mean we extend assembling to computers! Nevertheless, if any of you gadget freaks are interested in transforming their Raspberry Pi into a portable computer, try the Pi-To-Go, this micro linux laptop was created by Nathan Morgan. It comes in a package, and includes everything you need to use a Raspberry Pi in an open source, 3D printed case. The display is a 3.5-inch 4:3 LCD with a resolution limited to just 640 x 480. The keyboard is a tiny USB wireless unit with a built-in touchpad mouse. In addition, storage comes in the form of a 4GB SD card combined with a 64GB SATA II SSD. With WiFi, and more than 10 hours of battery life, this is one awesome little DIY computer! All you need to do is, assemble this PC with help of build instructions, code and 3d files. The 3D printed case is made up of 5 sections with the parts available to download for creating your own. However, you may need to modify the design depending on the parts you use.

Color me impressed by the new Microsoft Surface tablet, the ones with those uber cool touch covers.nif you’ve liked them too then you will love the Nibiqü touch-type style keyboard for your iPad. Nibiqü protects your iPad like a real saviour covering the front and the back side. You can also trust it to behave like a stand to prop up your tablet as you type. Apparently the Nibiqü will be compatible with second and third-gen iPads with the 30-pin dock connector.

We love the way Hello Kitty enhances digitally. Be it the Hello Kitty portable DVD, or Hello Kitty Laptop, this adorable creature makes everything pretty. While, we have seen a few Hello Kitty LCD’s like the Hello Kitty Bow LCD TV or the Uniden Hello Kitty TV, in the past. The new Spectra Hello Kitty LCD TV is to die for! The 19 inch LCD is a Hello Kitty Themed LCD Television packed with features that allow you to connect to everything from your personal computer to a DVD player to a home theater audio system. The LCD features the Hello Kitty logo elegantly, and the bright pink color can complement any girl’s room. It also comes with a matching remote, which features some elements of Hello Kitty.

If you thought that the Polaroid SC1630 was revolutionarily, here is something that will blow your mind. At the CES 2013, Polaroid will release and Android based camera with interchangeable lenses. The camera itself closely resembles the Nikon 1 J, and apparently sports an 18-megapixel sensor 3.5-inch touchscreen, and Android 4.0. Polaroid is also expected to include HDMI and headphone outputs so users can plug the camera into a video source, and maybe even listen to music or other audio while snapping and sharing photos.

The Whale Lee iPhone 5 Case is amazing for not one, two or three but as many as five reasons. It looks killer (killer whale! Get the joke?), the tail of the whale doubles up as a place to wind the line of earphones, the tail also allows the user to hang the iphone 5 if need be. The case is built in ways where you can lay the phone anywhere with the support of the tail as a fixable screen. Last but not the least the rear of the case has space to store your earphones or the USB cable.

2012 is all about the race of the thinnest ultrabooks! After Sony and Gigabyte released their respective “World’s thinnest ultrabooks”, NEC LaVie X Ultrabook is launched, claming the same deal. The 15.6″ ultrabook comes with a stunning Full HD IPS Panel, a powerful Core i7-3517U at 1.9Ghz, 4GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, Windows 8 for just 1.59kg! The LaVie X also measures only 12.8 mm in thickness, which NEC claims makes it the world’s thinnest ultrabook. Other attractive features include a 2-megapixel web-camera, two USB 3.0 ports, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, an SDXC slot, and HDMI support.

Flash drives have considerably developed over the past few years. From the bulky 64 mb drives to sleek USB Drives, we have come a long way technologically. Now, Tech company intelliPaper creates USB drives out of regular paper, turning anything into a storage device. The company embeds a silicon chip between layers of paper, laminates those layers, and then prints conductive USB traces onto the paper, which connect to the chip. The finished paper USB drive works just like a plastic drive and can be filled with data and mailed just like any other paper mailer. With the help of IntelliPaper, you can send paper thin flash drives in the mail alongside business cards, invitations, gifts and more. Although the storage on these drives only ranges from 8 to 32 MB, that should be plenty of room for attaching files, images, and even small lower-quality video files.