Gadgets

Waterproof, Anatomically Correct Feeling Eggs Light Up

From Japan, Feeling Egg is a waterproof LED light in the shape of, yes, an egg. You can put them anywhere you want, lighting up places where no egg has gone before, and they sell two pairs in each eggbox. Each egg runs on 3 LR44 button batteries and the set of red, green, blue…

How You Should Cook Your Hot Dogs Tonight: With Electricity

Evil Mad Scientist’s disclaimer that this little project “just isn’t safe” kind of lowballs the danger level involved, since you’re basically plugging your hot dog directly into a power outlet. To be more precise, you alligator clip two forks, which you shove into the hot dog, into a wall socket (or power strip, which would…

Surprise: All those gadgets, computers and TVs are boosting domestic power consumption. [Reuters]

Look Semi-Professional With Revolabs’ xTag Wireless Mic

Attention Podcasters, VoIPers, shoutcasters and general microphone enthusiasts: Revolabs’ new xTag system could be for you! The USB base station connects a full duplex wireless lapel-style mic and earbud to your PC/Mac and pulls double duty as a charger and wireless relay. With 66 feet of range, you can feel free to get animated. The…

Optimus Prime is Refused Service at McDonalds, Shows Mercy to Feeble Humans

Click to viewOur videographer Richard Blakeley and his partner in crime Sarah Meyers caused some trouble using the Optimus Prime helmet at a McDonalds drive-thru this weekend. Apparently it’s against the law to order a fajita as Optimus Prime. Who knew? I guess the manager wasn’t a fanboy, although he looks to fit the part.

Solar-Powered Floatron Cleans Your Pool and Cuts Down on Chemicals

The Floatron is a pool-cleaning device that claims to be greener than the rest, according to its manufacturers. Not only does the $270 gadget radically reduce your chlorine use, but its manufacturers also claim that it purifies your pool water to EPA drinking water standards. Here’s how… When the 12-inch gizmo is floating in the…

Electronic Drum Beat Maker Lets Your Fingers Do the Drumming

We’ve seen finger drums before, but none as cartoonishly convincing as these. This $19.95 Electronic Drum Beat Maker has heads that light up when you hit them, and even the cymbal makes its own sound. Each part of the Finger Drum set plays its own rhythmic loop, and you can string together a sequence and…

Jet Kayak is Fast, Dangerous and Awesome

What happens when you stick an engine in a kayak? You get a really fast kayak, naturally. The dudes on Top Gear raced the jet kayak against a souped-up off-road vehicle in Iceland, on a lake full of giant ice cubes. The result is nothing short of pure, engine-fueled entertainment. Jet Kayak [via Gadget Lab]

The 7 Most Useless Transformers Ever

Transformers fever is in full effect, but with all the hype surrounding the new movie it’s good to keep in mind that not all Transformers are as badass as Optimus Prime. In fact, there are a few robots in disguise that are downright useless. I mean, what good would transforming into a cassette deck do…

Cellphone Projectors on the Way?

South Korea’s Iljin Display has been crowing about its coin-sized laser projector module for more than a year with no haps, but now the company says it’s inked a deal with South Korea Telecom (SK Telecom) to mass-produce the projector for use inside cellphones. Is Iljin’s so-called Nano Projector finally for real? https://gizmodo.com/iljin-display-develops-coin-sized-laser-projector-modul-167323 Iljin says…

Mini Cooling Fan Pen Moves Around All That Hot Air

For all those poor souls confined to summer school, here’s relief with the Mini Cooling Fan Pen, bringing a blessed cooling breeze to those stuffy proceedings with the touch of a button. It’s powered by a single M5 1.5-volt battery, but it’s unclear whether its propeller collapses when it’s not spinning, for easy pocketability. There…

Navy Looking Into Bomb-Predicting Technology

The Navy isn’t asking for much: they just want to be able to predict where bombs will be as to avoid, you know, getting blown up by them. Is that so much to ask? They’re looking for out-of-the-box thinking and new technologies to help in their quest, and they’ve got a big ol’ barrel of…

Wiimote USB Thumbdrive

Never before have people had so little fun with the Wiimote. Hacked from a recent Wendy’s toy promotion, one gamer slid a USB thumb drive into a mini Wiimote keychain/toy/chokehazard. We’re disappointed in anonymous Chinese OEM everywhere for getting beaten to the punch on this one. Hopefully they will take note and put a real…

iPod Dock Bracket, Bose SoundDock vs. Logitech AudioStation

For our next iPod Bracket Battle, we are featuring the most famous of all the iPod docks&dmash;the Bose SoundDock. But its challenger is no slouch. The Logitech AudioStation is younger, hipper and ready to spill Budweiser all over Bose’s Zima-drinking butt. Who wins the competition? https://gizmodo.com/ipod-docks-the-sweet-16ish-bracket-265489 Design/Features Bose The SoundDock is as minimal as it…

Dog Chin Rest Pampers Your Pooch While He Drools All Over Your Leather Upholstery

Doggies love to stick their face out the window of a moving car and catch some breeze, but a car window seems like a pretty uncomfortable place for them to rest their chins. How would you like to rest your chin on a car window while it’s going over bumps and uneven terrain? Not very…

The BEST Portable Chair

About five years ago, the foldout chair market exploded. And an arms race broke into full stride: Netted beer-holding technologies were developed, footrests sprung from nowhere and some…even learned to recline. Luckily, Slate reviewed a ton of fold-out beach chairs so you can own the BEST model at your next BBQ. And they were happy…

NYT: Asian Handset Makers Finally Fear the iPhone, Maybe

The NYT tries to spin the same old iPhone competition story with a seemingly fresh angle: Rather than going on about handset makers writ large adapting to the iPhone, the story at first seems to zero in on Asian companies, like LG and Samsung. But after what amounts to a long introduction, it elides actually…

ASUS PG221 Widescreen Multimedia Monitor

The ASUS PG221 is a 22-inch monitor with a feature set that rivals some home entertainment systems. Two 10W speakers and a 15W sub are built directly into the monitor, which can support 6.1-CH surround sound system with SRS TruSurround XT Technology (though we don’t see much in terms of additional speaker outputs). The monitor…

The iPhone Costs Apple $220 in Components

We’ve run a few stories on Apple’s iPhone manufacturing costs by now, including this dissection complete with component breakdown, but here’s another. When technology Austin analyst Portelligent dissected the iPhone, they determined the components of the 4GB model run $200, with the 8GB running just $20 more. But Portelligent admits that it’s tough to price…

V/a.g.r.a. Lamp Goes Down as Well as Up

Italian design lab Nonesiste has come up with this beautiful lamp. A collaboration with physicist Stefano Besseghini, the V/a.g.r.a lamp (did you see what they did there?) goes up when it is turned on. Romolo Stanco, the lamp’s designer, describes it as a “living lamp.” I could just turn it on and off all day…