Gizmodo: station

WowWee Cinemin Pico Projectors Are Tiny and Cheap

matt buchanan — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:50:50 EST

WowWee's Cinemin pico projectors fit any situation you'd be pico projecting in. The Swivel is a candybar that angles 90 degrees; the Stick's tinier and takes SD cards, and the Station's an iPod dock station.

They're also legitimately attractive pieces of hardware, rare for kit that's supposed to be "affordable." And, wait, WowWee makes stuff besides robots now?

From Toys to Technologies: WowWee Expands and Diversifies Product Line in 2009
Advancements include micro projectors for iPods, a transforming spy-cam, and robots that beatbox
HONG KONG – January 6, 2009 – WowWee, an Optimal Group company (NASDAQ:OPMR), announced its newest line of innovations scheduled for release in 2009, in advance of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, January 8-11. Consumers can expect to see items from four lines, including WowWee Technologies™, which now includes a new category of iPod compatible multimedia pico projectors powered by Texas Instruments' DLP® Technology. The other key lines, focusing on cutting-edge entertainment robotics, plush, and flight, are WowWee Robotics™, WowWee Alive™, and WowWee FlyTech™. Highlights include:

WowWee Technologies
Taking projection out of boardrooms and movie theaters and into the palm of your hand is WowWee's Cinemin™ suite of ultra-portable multimedia micro projectors, powered by Texas Instruments' DLP Technology for ultra clear picture quality. Utilizing the same technology commonly found in high-definition TVs, classroom projectors and large-scale cinema houses, the Cinemin projectors have been designed to work with popular mobile devices, such as Apple's iPod and iPhone. With WowWee's Cinemin™ suite of projectors, a café becomes a boardroom, a camping tent becomes a theater, and Grandma's curtains become a life-size digital picture frame. The line features three products: The Cinemin Swivel™ pico projector, an affordable lightweight micro projector that is roughly the size of a candy bar and features an impressive 3-hour battery life for movie watching, full volume control, and a unique adjustable 90-degree hinge for ceiling projection. The Cinemin Stick™ pico projector is a compact micro projector with internal memory and an expandable SD card memory slot that puts your favorite web videos, digicam snapshots, ambient animations, and more on display. The Cinemin Station™ pico projector is an alarm clock-sized convenient media center and iPod docking station for big pictures with big audio.

WowWee's 2009 product line is being shown for the first time at the Consumer Electronics Show in the Kids@Play TechZone, Booth #72205, Sands Expo & Convention Center.

For more information, please visit the Company's web site at www.wowwee.com.

Apple Docking Patent Works Perfectly with Ultra-Slim MacBook

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:30:05 EST

This Apple docking station patent shows a screen base in which you can slide in a MacBook through its side. While this would be difficult to do with current MacBook models, it fits perfectly with the idea of the ultra-light, ultra-slim MacBook that allegedly will be presented at MacWorld. Basically, the patent shows an iMac-like unit with all the necessary ports and components, with a slot-loading right bay. The system works similarly to the old PowerBook Duo and its DuoDock base station, but vertically instead of horizontally. The complete patent text and diagrams, along with our own step-by-step rendering, leave no doubt about how this works:

While this concept would have been impossible with the current Macbooks, which are too big and heavy, the rumored ultra-slim, ultra-light portable could work perfectly in this kind of configuration. [USPTO via PC Joint]

Gomadic Charging Station Hides Shame, Displays Gadgets

Jason Chen — Thu, 24 May 2007 16:40:05 EDT

We're no strangers to charging stations, having reviewed a couple before, but these Gomadic charging stations seem to be a little different. Instead of hiding a power strip inside the station, as we saw in the Kangaroom units, Gomadic has only one AC connection to the wall.

How do they do it?

Well, the charging station combines a cable organizer/hider with exchangeable tips. This way you can swap in and out tips depending on what stuff you're charging (no points for finding obscure ones they don't support) so you can keep your original chargers at work or elsewhere.

Gomadic's claim is that keeping a power strip and AC adapters hidden is a bad idea because it may lead to the universe imploding. Or fires. We didn't read very carefully. In any case, this charger seems like a neat idea if you have gadgets that are supported by Gomadic's tips. – Jason Chen

Sneak Peek [Gomadic via Digital Media Thoughts via Uber Gizmo]

DIY PS3 Sixaxis Charging Station

Jason Chen — Wed, 23 May 2007 20:20:16 EDT

Is your Sixaxis feeling left out from all the Wiimote charging stations you've been scoping out? Now you can build one yourself for the PS3.

All you need is some wood, USB cables, cutting blades and the ability to not hack your fingers off while you're working. On second thought, you'd probably be better off waiting for a pre-made one. – Jason Chen

Instruction Page [Instructables]

Microsoft Prepping Zune Filling Stations

Jason Chen — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:50:24 EST

According to Microsoft's business chief Chris Stephenson, the company is planning on working with retail chains to provide "filling stations" for the Zune. Such classy places as McDonalds and Starbucks would be the idea place for Zune owners to hop in and download a song or two.

Imagine going to your late teens/early twenties clothing store, hearing a great song over the speakers, and being able to immediately download the track to your Zune right there. No need to walk up to the snarky cashier and ask her what the song is. Cool, eh?

This definitely jives with what Stephenson said before about shrinking down Zunes and releasing one with "true" Wi-Fi. – Jason Chen

Microsoft wants Wi-Fi 'filling stations' for Zune II [The Register via Uber Gizmo]

E-Base Charging Station Hides Wires, Looks BBQ-ish

Jason Chen — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 17:30:35 EST

Say you've got a retro-futuristic motif going with your home decorations. This E-Base charging station will fit right in no matter where you put it, be it your kitchen/bathroom/den or your living room/cock fighting ring/outhouse.

Designed to hide both the power strip and the wires inside the bottom part of the body, all you see is the little bit of wire coming out of the hole into your phones/MP3 players/portable gaming devices. It's a pity this thing costs $180, since you can make one yourself out of a cardboard box and some tape. – Jason Chen

Product Page [APlusrstore via Uber Gizmo]

Digital Power Station: DSP Turns Crappy Speakers Into Honkin' Muthas

Charlie White — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 10:36:42 EST

Jon Bon Jovi's cousin, audio engineer Tony Bongiovi has figured out a novel way to make cheap-ass speakers sound a whole lot better. His device, an unusually sophisticated equalizer he calls the Digital Power Station, originally filled a refrigerator-sized unit with its analog components.

Now he's shrunk all that down to a single digital signal processor (DSP) and stuffed it into a JVC KD-S100 car stereo, where the technology makes its debut today.

How can this possibly work?

The chip can be specifically tuned with more than 120 points of adjustment for the car in which it resides, teasing studio-quality sound out of small, cheap speakers in a noisy environment. Said Bongiovi, "It's so precise that the hatchback Ford Focus has a different tuning from the regular one."

The chip's algorithms can also be run in software, and the technique works on inexpensive home theater speakers, too. But he said there are no plans to develop the technology beyond the car stereo market. Yet. – Charlie White

New chip provides high-end sound even for low-end speakers [Gulf in the Media]