While solar can't tackle most realtime energy demands, it's plenty to handle a Bluetooth headset in standby—which we must say, seems like a decent use for the tech. You'll never have to worry "is this thing that makes me look like a douchebag even working???" again.

Additionally, should you choose to purchase two headsets and actually wear them at the same time, you'll be able to appreciate A2DP (stereo Bluetooth) through multiple pairing. You know our feelings on that maneuver, so to state them yet again would be unseemly.

This solar bluetooth headset can be yours for $67 from Brando. [Brando]

One visionary has steamrolled Edison's design with this credit card light bulb. Tiny LEDs take the place of fragile incandescents, popping out to spread their light through a murky matrix of plastic and unidentified floating flecks—all of it shaped like our old pal the light bulb.

It'll run you $9 or $10, depending on your crazy gadget retailer of choice. [brando and gadget4all]

Accepting 2.5 and 3.5-inch SATA drives through a cartridge-like loading system, the $200 player streams 1080P content (H.264, MPEG1/2/4, DIVX, XVID, TS, MKV, RM/RMVB, TP, AVI, M2TS, VOB, DAT, MPG, MPEG and MOV) through HDMI and component outputs. If hard drives and movies aren't enough, it also reads SD, SDHC, MMC and MS cards and supports e-books and music.

So what's up next for Brando's infamous hard drive dock? Let's just say that if there's no laser or disco ball involvement we'll be vastly disappointed. [Brando]

It's got both audio in and out, and could actually be kind of useful in certain situations. I know in my clumsier younger days, I once accidentally kicked an audio cable that was plugged into my computer's audio out port, thoroughly destroying it, and bought a similar doodad because it was cheaper than getting my laptop repaired. At $32, the "Tube Delight" could probably serve that same purpose, albeit with added garishness. [Brando via DVICE]

Brando's $11 Camera Action Mount reflects a special kind of product design—one that doesn't get bogged down too much with practicality, logistics, aesthetics or forethought. Instead, Brando sees a need—perhaps not a widespread one, but a need nonetheless—and just fills it. For as long as there have been cheap portable cameras and camcorders, shows like America's Funniest Home Videos, and Break.com, people have been lashing their hardware to all manner of makeshift mounts using only their own ingenuity.

In that sense this strappy mess, which essentially hangs a few Velcro tethers from your camera's 1/4-inch tripod mount, is a public service, both to those of us with the inexplicable urge to hurt ourselves on camera, and for those of us who just love to watch. Thanks? [Brando]

To top it off, the slightly stereotypical product has Obama dressed up like Colonel Sanders, and also features a coin bank for change. Sigh. Get it? One has to wonder whether or not they merely thought it was funny, or if they really just hate Black America. And for the record, a Popeye's bucket (despite them frying up superior chicken) WOULD NOT have made it any better. Regardless, though...WTF!

Final verdict? THAT'S RAAAAAAAACIST! [Brando]

Brando say the USB Solar Charging 4-Port Hub (catchy name I think you will agree) can be used either as a traditional USB hub, or as an eco-friendly charger - using the sun's rays to keep your gadgets going.

The lightweight 54 gram device comes with six mobile phone connectors and houses a built-in battery meaning you don't have to have all your tech attached while it's soaking up the sun. It can also be charged by an AC power supply should the clouds be out or you just want to stick it to the environment. [Brando]

In other words, any 2.5 or 3.5-inch hard drive can push HD video (MPEG, AVI, MP4, VOB, and DiVX) through the adapter. It also handles content from HD cards and USB drives and comes with a remote control for added convenience. All-in-all, not a bad set of features for $69. [Brando]

The device attempts to solve a problem that doesn't exist—cooling netbooks that generally run pretty cool—while simultaneously destroying a netbook's main purpose on this earth, portability. Because the USB Mini Netbook Cooling Pad + 3-Port Hub + 2.5" HDD Dock is almost as big as the netbook itself. Almost. In this case, the USB Mini Netbook Cooling Pad + 3-Port Hub + 2.5" HDD Dock is just small enough to make the resting state of your computer into a dangerous challenge of physics.

And then it's painted pink to top it all off, a color that matches everything.

Not that anybody cares about the specs on this kind of thing, but the "Moo-Cow MP3 Player" packs 4GB of storage, an LED indicator light (since there's no screen), and buttons on the cow's ears. It's available at the admittedly very reasonable price of $30 in three colors. It's possible that this gadget has something to do with it being the Year of the Ox in China, but we'd prefer to believe it's just the product of careful trendwatching and some misguided inspiration. [Brando]

Now that every press release anyone gets handed comes on a USB flash drive, I've found it hard to actually purchase one. But an unobtrusive 8GB on my keychain for $33 ($22 for the 4GB) is appealing. At least it looks like I can use it with my MacBook and still have room for something in the other USB slot. [Brando]

Update: Speed is up to 15Mb/s read, up to 6Mb/s write

Three levels of the card reader rotate 270-degrees each, with slots to fit SD/SDHC, T-Flash (Micro SD/Micro SDHC), MMC, M2, MS, MS DUO, MS PRO, MS PRO DUO and XD cards. Just don't be surprised when every jackass in your office is constantly grabbing pulling the hub's USB cable from your computer, only to find that, no, this piece of crap isn't a real Rubik's at all! $12 [Brando]

A two-port USB hub is also included (duh!), and it appears that the speakers can play MP3s directly from your USB devices or hard disks. Me? I'm holding out for the one that also integrates a bottle opener and personal massager. This one's $59. [Brando]

SATA HDD Dock Station Combo Stereo Speaker + Hub -

SATA HDD Dock Station Combo Stereo Speaker + Hub is a new concept of
HDD docking with music player. It allows you to enjoy the high-speed
data transfer as well as the wonderful music.

It compatible with both 2.5" and 3.5" SATA Hard Disks flexible and
solid easily plug and play your hard disk or standalone playing MP3
freely.

There is a 2 port USB2.0 HUB on the front plate, which helps to access
more USB devices simultaneously. With the built-in USB audio function
and adjustable volume control, the timbre rich stereo speakers of this
docking station brings high quality voice as well sound music to
upgrade the audio system of your desktop computer or notebooks.

Features:
- Standable, convenient, trendy and patented design
- Supports both S-ATA 2.5" HDD and 3.5" HDD
- PC connection: USB 2.0
- Built in volume control and mute button - Convenient to use
- Built in 2-Port USB Hub
- Built in Stereo Speaker - speaker output power is 3W
- Built in USB Audio Sound Card
- Line-in function - Let the HDD dock be a standalone speaker system
- Microphone in and Speaker output function - Let you connect it with
a headset and therefore access easily to the VOIP applications, such
as MSN, Skype, Google Talk
- Support Window 2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS 9.X or higher
- Dimension: 134 x 117 x 56mm (approx.)
- Weight: 285g

Package Contents:
- SATA HDD Dock Station Combo Stereo Speaker + Hub
- USB Cable
- Universal Power Adapter (100 ~ 240V)
- Audio-in Cable
- User's Manual
**Hard Disk Drive is not included

Thank you
Brando

The PSP Multi-shape Cobra Stand Bundle Kit, offered by Brando, is a two-part kit to hold your PSP-2000 or 3000. In one configuration, you get a tube and a suction cup. Boring! But the other configuration, you get a freaking 3-foot, waist and arm loving cobra.

With the cobra, you can wrap your PSP around almost any appendage, turning it from Pip Boy to sensual belt buckle in a matter of seconds. But proceed with caution. You never know when even the most loyal cobra will strike. And this thing's immune to your lute, or whatever. $23. [Brando]

Styled more like a 1950's car accessory than a USB device, the Rota-Rota only looks like it's made of metal. And before you just laugh this off, consider this: you probably have a USB hub or a card reader, but do you know exactly how hot it is in your office? In Celsius and Fahrenheit? That dream is just $15 away, people. [Brando]

With internal voltage regulation (100-240V) and a number of travel plug adapters, the $22 "AC to 5-USB Power Adapter" should keep your USB devices fully charged through the US, Europe and Asia. It also looks a lot like a MacBook charger, which you may or may not love. [Brando]

Apparently it's not just an either/or scenario. The cable can simultaneously charge a mini-USB device and transfer photos to your hard drive. Plus if microSD is more your speed, there's a version for that, too.

Either cable will cost you $12. [Brando via CrunchGear]

The lenses provide a 6x zoom range, which to make a comparison in the optimistic spirit of this project, is roughly equivalent to a 220mm lens on a 35mm camera. Neat! But it's still a BlackBerry cellphone camera. The lens is affixed to your handset with a special back cover, and will only set you back $17. [BerryReview via Ubergizmo]

Dubbed the USB 2.0 Data Copy and Internet Connection Sharing Dongle, this is ostensibly for people who dislike dealing with Windows' internet sharing app. And I guess the tech geek who demands a hardwired connection at all times, or even less likely, those lacking a wi-fi card/module in their computer could make use of this, I guess. CrunchGear says you plug this thing into the USB port of the internet-connected computer, then run a mini-USB cable from the dongle to the other computer. Shazaam! You have internet, without the need for any special software! It can also transfer files between computers.

It's interesting and easy, yes, but it only works with 32-bit Windows XP/Vista and I can't see many people actually needing this. For those who do, I doubt they'll ever really use it more than a couple times in their life. Then again, it's only $30. [Brando via CrunchGear via BBG]

Like everything Brando, it's USB powered, and on/off switch, and measures 5.5 x 3.93 x 3.93 inches. Actually, it doesn't look that bad, but trust me here, stay away from this unless you want to terminate your relationship the next week. [Brando]

The last time I'd traveled to Hong Kong, I'd narrowly missed meeting Brando thanks to hectic scheduling on all sides. But this time, nothing could stop me from my rendezvous with the legendary USB-gadget maven.

Except maybe... me having no clue where he was. I looked down at the text and blanked. Outback Steakhouse? Where? I consider myself pretty knowledgeable of Hong Kong geography, having traveled there at least a dozen times, but I had never heard of Tsuen before. Turns out this is why:

I don't think I ever thought of Hong Kong as big until that moment.

I was a good twenty minutes late. Red and huffy, I paused outside Outback and glanced around, trying to look for someone whose face matched the one blurry picture I had of Brando.

Maybe it's because the only things I knew about him involved his online store—a treasure trove of gadgets both useful (like the 7-in-1 USB charging orgy) and ridiculous (the choke-able chicken)—but he wasn't what I had imagined. My mental image was that of either a giant nerd, complete with dark suspenders and eyeglass frames taped in the middle, or one of those slick entrepreneurs with oiled back hair. Maybe, like most Hong Kong businessmen, a mixture of both.

Or perhaps, I gleefully envisioned, he'd be an amalgamation of his entire online store, a living embodiment of all things fanciful and useless, be-sprocketed and USB-ports-a-plenty. He'd come fully decked in Workshop regalia, sporting one of those laser pointing bluetooth headsets, his arms wrapped in data bands and possibly one of those tiny camera recorders slung around his neck (though truthfully, I wouldn't mind if that were left out of the ensemble. I'm uncomfortable in front of cameras).

Two boyish looking men, both decked out in hoodies and worn-in jeans, shyly approached me.

"Are you Elaine?" the shorter of the two asked. He waved, in his hand an iPhone. "I am Brando. Nice to meet you."

To be honest, Brando kinda looked like a blogger.

His friend, a tall shaggy-haired fellow with square-rimmed glasses, was called Lawrence and worked with him at his company. I'm still not sure why he was there, but I assume it was for support. There, as he sat across from me, munching on salad and telling me his life story, I couldn't help wondering, Did I make Brando nervous?

"I read a lot of Gizmodo," he told me. "I don't comment because my English isn't good, but I'm always happy to see our goods on there."

After a quick lunch (the first meal he'd eaten that day), we went to see Brando's Workshop.

The place looked like what would happen if a garage hobbyist, comp-sci college student, and nerdy teen mashed all their stuff together and exploded it into an otherwise sterile office. It was, in short, geek heaven.

Boxes, filled with USB cords, wacky flash drives, keychain laser pointers and who knows what else, were stacked on top of each other everywhere.

By one wall, they made a precarious citadel that towered over our heads like some gadgety sword of Damocles. According to Brando, a good chunk of these were being shipped out to other stores, including ThinkGeek. Now you know where they get some of their oddball products too.

Employees stepped gingerly around, avoiding the open containers the best they could. On several people's desks were even more boxes—full of stuff they were still testing, had just tested, were mailing out or were receiving back. Brando wasn't always sure which it was, but he assured me his employees knew.

The more I spoke with him, the more I realized Brando and Giz staffers have a lot in common.

Back in 1998, fresh out of university, Brando started a Palm enthusiasts' site. It became popular among Chinese Palm users and several accessory manufacturers started asking him to promote their products. That turned into a part-time job selling Palm peripherals.

In 2000, he quit his engineering job and went full time, founding Brando's Workshop in his apartment. Four months later, it was big enough to warrant an actual office.

In the beginning, all the Workshop sold was Palm accessories. But by the end of the year, he decided it was worth getting into other products as well.

Fast forward eight years: Brando now lords over 19 employees and takes up an entire floor of the building. He's expanded into USB trinkets, mobile peripherals, watches, toys, random electronics and most recently (and bizarrely) ladies accessories. Like blender brushes and nail stickers—serious ladies accessories.

Brando's "office" wasn't really an office at all, just a corner of the main floor, an alcove set slightly apart from the rest. Arrayed on the cabinet behind his desk were a slew of devices, including a big professional HD camera and a stack of laptops. I could see both a Macbook Air and a Toshiba R500.

“I don't use either of them,” Brando admitted. “I just like to collect things I find beautiful.”

In that vein, he told me some of the favorite gadgets he sold were the prettier ones, such as the spy camera and MP4 watch. In fact, he seemed especially hung up on the spy gadgets, pointing to a bunch that we hadn't covered and wondering aloud why not.

Despite being surrounded by the latest and greatest, Brando said his favorite and most memorable gadget of all time was still the Palm V. Back in 1999, when he used to ride an hour on Hong Kong's subway—the MTR—every morning, that's what kept him company.

“It was thinner than the iPhone but the battery lasted for very long. I would read novels and news on the train ride over. It's still very memorable for me,” he said.

“Palm didn't integrate with cellphones very well. The Palm OS is a very good OS, not like Windows Mobile. But they stopped making their own and switched to Windows Mobile... and so I switched to an iPhone,” he explained.

This was before news of the Palm Pre came out. When it got shown at CES, I sent him an email asking what he thought of it.

“I can't comment, because I haven't tested it,” he replied cautiously, sounding like a lover burnt. “I hope it has a nice open SDK for developers, then it can have a better future. If it is only a closed OS, no hope.”

Before I left, he insisted I see the storage room—the area where they keep everything they sell.

Inside, I felt like I was at a Lilliputian version of Costco: Metal shelves spilled forth a haphazardly categorized assortment of stuff. To my right was a set of tiny remote control cars. To my left was a motley of Bluetooth doodads. I turned a corner and was met by a collection of ladybug-themed fingernail clippers.

Being in there was a strange feeling—exhilarating and claustrophobic at the same time. We blog about millions of things, and the room felt like an aggregation of everything I'd ever written about in one windowless vault.

“Here are our best selling items... our hot items,” he told me, pointing at a particular bracket that, quite honestly, was hard to differentiate from others. I nodded, smiled, and scrambled to get out of there before something fell on me.

And then it was over. Brando thanked me again for coming, and as he walked me to the subway station for my hour long journey back downtown, he told me he was elated that anyone would be interested in visiting his tiny part of Hong Kong. I told him that was really sweet of him, and maybe caught a glimpse of a little blush around his ears.

The most interesting thing about Brando's Workshop, I thought, was how much his work sounded like ours.

Brando doesn't actually make the things he sells. Rather, he's more of a gadget hunter.

Brando said most of his early years at the Workshop were spent in conventions all over Asia, looking for vendors from which to source the weird and wonderful. Now that he has employees to do the grunt work, he spends a lot of time reading magazines and blogs, always on the search for new products that would be good for their company. He claims that ten new products are added to various sections of Brando's Workshop each day.

His only real criteria, he said, “I want it to be interesting. I want it to be fun.”

So do we, Brando. So do we.

The USB Aircraft Mouse, packed with enough plastic, LEDs and USB-connectivity to only be made by our friends at Brando, will turn your mouse hand into the best fighter pilot in the office. If only the thing we wireless, you could perform a radical flyby on a coworker's monitor, establishing yourself as the alpha and the omega of spreadsheets while showing the world what upper middle management is really made of. [Brando]

Hot!

Sure, this cable is from Brando, and could very well toast all your handhelds with questionable craftsmanship, but just think of the tag team fun you'll grant your Game Boy and PSP on their way out.

Seven bucks to make a handheld's day. What's to lose? Oh, it's Brando. Might 'splode [Brando via DSFanboy]

With Valentine's Day a little over a month away, we're all scratching our heads as to how to get our loved ones jewelry that we can actually play with. Luckily, the $33 USB Thumb Drive Bracelet showed up just in time to ship from overseas. Hiding a discreet 8GB of fold-out USB flash storage behind two dazzling lines of glued-on "decorative crystals," your girlfriend will just think you're cheap. But you'll know the truth.

(Well, you are cheap, and the bracelet has a hidden USB drive). [Brando]

The test is by no means exhaustive, as there are many hundreds—if not thousands—of USB drives on the market today. The test did include popular sticks from recognizable brands, as well as some budget and novelty pieces that you might be likely to pick up. The results were somewhat predictable: sticks from reputable companies like OCZ, Lexar and Sandisk offer greater read/write speeds, and sticks in the 4GB range perform consistently well.

There were some surprises, namely the standout performance from OCZ units and the plodding, about-as-fast-as-it-would-be-if-it-stored-data-on-actual-wood Brando Wood drive. And results aside, I've derived some comfort from the fact that out there somewhere, there exists a man named Kristofer Brozio who is willing to actually run a dozen time-consuming benchmarks on over 20 USB keys. Check out the full results at the source link. [Test Freaks via Engadget]

Measuring up at 170x81x15mm, the 56-key unit isn't going to do you much good for banging out more than a few short emails or blog posts, but by eliminating the tether and illuminating the keys, Brando has made what could serve as an easy-to-find, full-featured media center remote. In any case, this little stocking-stuffer will run you $47 dollars, though it won't be available until just after the holidays. [Pocketlint]

Luckily the White Bread Wrist Rest has been engineered by the Brando R&D team (which we're beginning to think more and more every day consists of a superior alien intelligence that has a penchant for both USB ports and pet toys) to offer you hours of computer usage without painful, cramped wrists.

How is this possible? Think back to being a kid, eating bologna or peanut butter and jelly every day for lunch, sandwiched between two glowing pieces of bread. Were you complaining of carpal tunnel syndrome then? Of course you weren't. Case closed.

One slice will cost you $6, or two go for $10. [Brando via Crave]

At its core, the system is a dual-fan USB-powered laptop cooler with extra USB ports. Enter Brando, and this simple device gets injected with a rear-loaded 2.5" SATA hard drive dock to add extra storage. It's hard to believe that the average laptop USB port can power two fans, a SATA drive and three additional USB devices, but it looks like there's AC power to back up the system (the product description was a bit light on this point).

The USB Notebook Cooling Pad + 3-Port Hub + 2.5" HDD is available now for $33. Live it up. [Brando]