Kit Eaton, Author at Gizmodo

White Stick for the Blind Gets Sensor Upgrade with “Tactile Wand”

Designer Jin Woo Han has created the “Tactile Wand” as a 21st-century conceptual white stick for the blind. The rechargeable gadget uses some sort of distance sensor and communicates by buzzing, letting the user know of upcoming obstacles: the stronger the buzz, the nearer the object. Neat design, Jin, but can it detect doggy doo…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Mar 7

Samsung Adds a Little Elegance With The PAVV 650 LCD TV

Samsung has added more TVs to their PAVV line, this time three high-end LCDs at 40, 46 and 52 inches. Incorporating a new LCD panel, dubbed “crystal rose,” the TVs have slim-bezel cases with touches of red, which at least makes them a dash more elegant than the usual run-of-the-mill black boxes. Samsung has also…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Mar 6

Crocs Make Shoe-Themed Cellphone Holsters, We Wonder Why

Nurses and Doctors rejoice: you can now buy Crocs for your cellphone! Ok, so the Crocs “O-Dial” [sic] is actually a shoe-themed cellphone holster, but it is official. Why your phone would enjoy the lightness, comfiness… um, waterproofness and stain-proofness of those lovely rubbery, resinous shoes is another matter, though. Oh — its got raised…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Mar 5

Touchscreen Blackberry Patent Suggests RIM has SideKick-Envy

A new patent filing by RIM for a “hybrid portrait-landscape handheld device with trackball navigation and Qwerty hide-away keyboard” suggests that future Blackberrys may remind us pretty strongly of a SideKick Slide, or perhaps an HTC Tilt without the tilt. We’re guessing that the trackball is a version of their pearl controller, though the patent…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Mar 5

Ripserver NAS Makes CD Archiving Easypeasy

Okay, so the CD is maybe slowly on its way out but for a while there’ll be enough around to make the Ripserver NAS gadget useful. In use it’s as simple as its case design: slot in a CD, and it automatically rips it, archives to its hard drive, and spits the CD out again.…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Mar 5

Trak Mobile Inkjet Printer Concept Snaps Onto Laptop Lids

Designer Hung Chih Wang thinks the inkjet printer market has room for an ultra-mobile concept: his “Trak” design is a mini printer that snaps onto the lid of your laptop. Handy for hardcopies on-the-go, it’s small enough to be USB powered and even has a detachable print head for easy travel storage. There’s no mention…

Tech News Kit Eaton Mar 5

Simtrix Swiftpoint Slider Mouse Uses Your Keyboard for a Mousepad

The Simtrix Slider joins the list of strange pointing devices like the finger mouse designed for mobile computing. Held between thumb and finger, it’s designed to slide right over the keys on your laptop, making the whole keyboard a mousepad. Supposedly this offers efficiency savings, as your hands don’t have to dart off to a…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Mar 5

Chat to Your Mutt with the DogBone Speaker Phone

Missing your dog while being away from home wouldn’t be a problem if the DogBone Speaker phone concept ever became a reality. Think of it as a two-way reassurance device: you call it up and your dog gets to hear the familiar sound of your voice, while you get to hear its happy barks. It’s…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Mar 4

Morgan Hydrogen Fuel-Cell LifeCar from Concept To Shiny Reality

The guys over at Jalopnik had a chance to get up close and personal with the Morgan LifeCar hydrogen fuel-cell prototype at the Geneva Motorshow, and boy does it look like an awesome chunk of eco-sport goodness. You can see in the gallery just how close the real deal matches the design sketches. https://jalopnik.com/morgan-unveils-lifecar-details-ahead-of-geneva-356134 Morgan…

Tech News Kit Eaton Mar 4

iBird R/C Toy Looks Like Flapping Good Fun

The new iBird comes from the same makers as our favourite R/C microcopters, but this time takes a leaf from Mother Nature’s design book. Controlled with the same kind of infrared remote and charging system as the Picoo Z’s, the flapping wonder is supposed to look and fly like a real bird. Real, hey? I’d…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Mar 4

PSP Spends Time in the Sun, Gets Bronze Skin

From late April, it looks like Sony’s PSP Lite will be getting a matte bronze skin color as part of a new Value Pack. This pack will include a 32MB Memory Stick Duo and an AV cable along with the newly tanned PSP. Available for around $200, the new pack is scheduled for release in…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Mar 4

Bookseat: the Book Storage Chair for Small Libraries

Useful if you have a really really small apartment, or you just appreciate bookshelf-cum-furniture design, the plywood Bookseat stores your TV Guide copy of War and Peace handily within reach. Alternatively, if you think books are old hat, you could store your DVDs and computer mags in it. Some might think Bookseat is design convergence…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Mar 3

Asimov’s Law Weighing Machines: Scales That Lie

No one likes learning their weight from a set of scales, so Alice Wang’s new concept devices take inspiration from Asimov’s First Law of Robotics to protect you from the cruel truth. Her three scales are designed to not “harm a human being ” (i.e. you) by either requiring another person to read them or…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Mar 3

ZeroPointZero Watch Handcuffs Get Us All OneHundredPointZero Under the Collar

Designer Luis Beruman’s new ZeroPointZero concept is a set of digital watch handcuffs. Yes, that’s handcuffs, guys: snap them onto your own wrist for that cool jailhouse look, or share some happy time with a friend. We know very little about them apart from the photos in the gallery. Nevertheless, this fetishistic concept has got…

Tech News Kit Eaton Mar 3

U&I UIBS700 Stereo Bluetooth Headset has Plug-in speakers, Necklace Design

For those of you who don’t like Uhura-like Bluetooth headsets that stick out of your ear, the new U&I Capella UIBS700 headset is a necklace-style alternative that does stereo sound. Its slightly old-school-styled case fits in a small LCD screen and also comes with a 1.2W per-channel speaker add-on. It’s got enough battery power for…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Mar 3

PQI’s Intelligent Stick Flash Drives are Tiny, Waterproof, Dust-Proof

PQI’s new Intelligent Stick USB flash drives may be a boon for those clumsy people, like myself, who often spill coffee on their electronics or get them soaking wet in pockets that let the rain in. I can’t think of a time when I’ve got a gadget too dusty to use, but these tiny flash…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Mar 3

Scientists Build Optical Databus Capable of Tbps Transfers

IBM’s new prototype 48-way optical databus takes up just 3 mm of width on a PCB, and is capable of a truly ridiculous data rate of around 8 Tbps. That’s roughly 5,000 high-definition video streams per second, even if better has been done on fiber. Even better, this “green optical link” is a hundred times…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Feb 29

Green Cell Eco-Concept: One Battery For All

Green Cell is a concept with a single simple idea: use safe, standardized rechargeable batteries in all portable gadgets. The environment would benefit from fewer batteries being thrown away, and you’d need fewer chargers for all your gear. Green Cell batteries would even be made without toxic chemicals, and sold from vending machines that double…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Feb 29

Exercising Dog Returns Some Dignity to Animated USB Toys

Our friend the animated USB dog has returned, this time with more of a healthy G- rather than a rampant R-rating. Just plug him in, and watch him do sit-ups all day long. It may inspire you to head down to your gym, or perhaps find a bar because the sight of all that abdominal…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Feb 29

Brando USB Hub has Multicolor Moodlight For Desktop Cheeriness

I nearly labelled this four-port USB hub with digital alarm and seven-colour moodlight “just another boring Brando USB gadget.” But on second thought, I decided I actually like it: if you’re going to have a USB hub on your desk, why not combine it with some multicolored LED goodness? Brighten up your dreary cubicle with…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Feb 29

Kit Eaton

White Stick for the Blind Gets Sensor Upgrade with “Tactile Wand”

Samsung Adds a Little Elegance With The PAVV 650 LCD TV

Crocs Make Shoe-Themed Cellphone Holsters, We Wonder Why

Touchscreen Blackberry Patent Suggests RIM has SideKick-Envy

Ripserver NAS Makes CD Archiving Easypeasy

Trak Mobile Inkjet Printer Concept Snaps Onto Laptop Lids

Simtrix Swiftpoint Slider Mouse Uses Your Keyboard for a Mousepad

Chat to Your Mutt with the DogBone Speaker Phone

Morgan Hydrogen Fuel-Cell LifeCar from Concept To Shiny Reality

iBird R/C Toy Looks Like Flapping Good Fun

PSP Spends Time in the Sun, Gets Bronze Skin

Bookseat: the Book Storage Chair for Small Libraries

Asimov’s Law Weighing Machines: Scales That Lie

ZeroPointZero Watch Handcuffs Get Us All OneHundredPointZero Under the Collar

U&I UIBS700 Stereo Bluetooth Headset has Plug-in speakers, Necklace Design

PQI’s Intelligent Stick Flash Drives are Tiny, Waterproof, Dust-Proof

Scientists Build Optical Databus Capable of Tbps Transfers

Green Cell Eco-Concept: One Battery For All

Exercising Dog Returns Some Dignity to Animated USB Toys

Brando USB Hub has Multicolor Moodlight For Desktop Cheeriness

The ‘Street Fighter’ Movie Knows What It Is

Trump, When Asked About White House Meeting with Anthropic’s Dario Amodei: ‘Who?’

‘The Batman, Part II’ Has Finally Found Two-Face’s Dad

TotalAV Keeps Prices Low While Covering the Basics of Online Protection

RAM Shortage Expected to Continue Into Next Year or Later

Marvel Studios’ Former Art Staff Discuss ‘Shortsighted’ Layoffs

Amazon Delivery Drones Involve a Perilous 10-Foot Drop. Users Are Posting the Apparent Results

Organ Transplants Without Lifelong Meds? New Trial Shows It’s Possible

The AI Doomers Who Are Playing With Fire

Mysterious ‘Red Dot’ Galaxies Could Have ‘Relic’ Black Holes Predating the Big Bang

Alienware’s $350 QD-OLED Gaming Monitor Nixes Everything for a Pretty Screen

Sony Inzone H6 Air Review: A Perfect Case for Open-Back Gaming Headsets

Anker’s EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages

The Soundboks Mix Is Going to Make You the Most Popular Guy at the Park

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026