Gadgets posts

There are rumours floating around, ever-increasing in intensity, that Sony Ericsson is gearing up to release an Android phone that ain’ never been seen before – one that will carry the PlayStation branding. Various news sites are all carrying various details with various claims of accuracy, so I think at this point it’s safe to say that what is ‘known’ is sketchy at best. However, all seem to agree that this is happening – it’s just  a matter of when. The device resembles a PSP Go or typical slide phone, with familiar gamepad controls instead of a QWERTY. The screen is approximately 4 inches with…

Let’s face it – your phone’s camera sucks. I don’t care if you’ve got a fancy-assed iBerry Droidstorm Triple X Premium. Its camera sucks. Phone cameras just suck. That said, we need our phone’s camera. Y’know, for taking pictures of stuff (I sure can’t afford a Nikon). But that doesn’t make them suck any less. What are we to do? Do the opposite of fret, of course. The photophiles over at Photojojo have decided to entreat the lesser photographer to a set of lenses that help your camera phone become the faux DSLR you never wanted to pay for. And you’ll never have to, because these little guys are not only…

For the gentleman who is just too hot for his own good, Thanko has been gracious enough to supply the most ridiculous hunkalicious gadget the tech world ain’t never seen. The USB Necktie Cooler 3 doesn’t do anything you’re not expecting by title alone – except of course for turning you into an inescapably sexy lust magnet. You thought the ladies were attracted by your regular tie? What kind of pathetic ignoramus are you? Just plug this blinding sex symbol into a USB port, strike a manly pose, and attract female coworkers and passers-by alike with the gentle whirring of your love tie. All from the comfort…

You never see stress balls anymore. I wonder why that is? Surely the world hasn’t de-stressed enough that it need not balls. We’ve got, like, ducks covered in oil and, like… other stuff, too. We need balls. If not balls now, when? ‘Right the hell now’, says Italian designer Patrick Staudt. Or, I bet he would say that if we asked. Either way, Staudt has developed a mouse that is nothing if not ergonomic. Utilizing the delightful squish of the classic stress ball velcro’d to a base plate, Staudt has created a malleable mouse that conforms to your hand. The ‘PetPad’, as he terms it, clicks by tilting the…

If there is one universal constant in the tech world, it’s that Microsoft doesn’t have much of a sense of humour, usually preferring to be all frowny-faced and bland in its delivery of product news. But this… this is downright cryptic. Over the past few days, Microsoft Hardware’s Twitter account has been hinting at a new product by posting fragments of a JPG. What it is is anyone’s guess, and the Twitter feed has only this to say: “Don’t be so touchy… flat is where it’s at.” Above are the two images stitched together. Is this a possible answer to Apple’s Magic Trackpad? That could be the side of a keyboard…

Today is a great day for tech and design coming together. This one’s a bit of advertising. You’re already looking at it, so I may as well just ask outright: is this not the most clever packaging for a pair of earphones you’ve ever seen? If you answer no, you are clearly a soulless husk of a person, content with your suffocating silence. You’re horrible. Get out. Just, get out. Anyway, the design is by ad agency Scholz & Friends in Germany, and their goal was to ‘attract new target groups’ for Panasonic’s music tech products. Imagine seeing these on a wall of headphones at Best Buy. I’d say Scholz and…

Isn’t the iPod Touch the worst, guys? It’s an iPhone for all intents and purposes, save the notable exception of, y’know… the phone part. That’s gotta be frustrating. Enter the Apple Peel 520. Developed by a company fit to call itself Yosion, the Apple Peel is a fancy hack which attempts to do the impossible: turning your (presumably jailbroken) iPod Touch into… well, not an iPhone proper, but close enough. Retailing for a rumoured Â¥300 – Â¥500 ($44 – $74), the case allegedly also acts as a beefed up battery (800mAh) to account for all the calls you’ll be making. That is, of course, if you’ll be…

If you’re on the ball, you already saw this this morning. If not, welcome to the internet! Let me be the first to introduce you to the Apple Magic Trackpad. Look familiar? If you use a Macbook at all, you’ll note that this is its trackpad, blown up to match the scale and angle of a wireless Mac keyboard. The device connects via Bluetooth and allows for a gestured-up multitouch experience. And the best part is, quite possibly, that it retails for only $69. But hang on a minute. Look, Apple, you guys are the kings of interaction design, so I don’t mean to get on your case, and I’m going to reserve final judgment…

You know what the internet loves? Nostalgia. Seriously. I mean, have you ever heard of Tumblr? It’s full of people posting ads and pin-up girls from 50 years ago. You know what else the web adores? Mash-ups. Mix-up anything online, whether a Ke$ha track or a cat and a parrot, and people will go nuts for it. So really, this new camera app from those crazy kids at MIT should, in theory anyway, make the internet explode. It’s still in its prototype phase at the moment, so it currently requires a laptop connected to a camera, but what it essentially does is direct your camera to the exact co-ordinates of a pre-existing…

I’ve always hated iPod stereos – always these fruity little white folding egg-shaped dealies with questionable sound quality. I mean, I enjoy what they’re trying to go for, emulating the design sensibilities of Apple itself, but guys, it’s not working. Case in point. I like minimal, sexy things, but I demand performance. I demand big, square woofers. I demand a man’s stereo. It would seem that JVC has heard my cries (seriously, guys, I stand on my balcony and shout about this in despair. All the time.) and, in JVC fashion, has decided not to piss around in forging a big, sweaty man-device to throw…