gadgets - page 22

Protex’s new iPad case is a big improvement on the original – aesthetically, at least. The folks at Higher Ground (the company that makes the Protex) sent me the original and I couldn’t bring myself to review it as it looked like a rubber boot with a stripper’s underwear sewn to the back.

The new one keeps the rugged design, but swaps out the stretchy, satiny X on the back for a cross-shaped silicone grip.

Remember the Area Ware wooden iPhone dock concept that we saw back in May? No, neither do I, a problem not helped by the fact that Google insists on searching for “are aware” when I tap in “Area Ware”. Either way, that neat design has been, uh, redesigned and can now be almost bought: it’ll be shipping on November 1st.

I never thought I’d describe a camera and iPhone accessory as “creepy,” but here we are. The Keizus is a quadropod (four-legged tripod) which looks like somebody ripped the skeleton out of one of those cymbal-bashing monkeys beloved of 1970s and 1980s horror flicks. Shudder.

It was only a matter of time before somebody put a SIM card inside a camera. That camera is the Q, comes from Sweden and is – according to the pitch – “world’s first social camera.”

But is it too late?

I’m always surprised how much bigger and louder stereo speakers make music sound. It might be the fact that the 3-D space it creates fools our stupid brains into thinking that the music is surrounding us, but the difference is huge. Try it: take a device that’s hooked up to actual separate stereo speakers and flip between stereo and mono with your source.

And so I expect the Earshots Stereo Speakers to sound a lot bigger than their 34mm diameter would suggest.

Logitech is taking another stab at making a good keyboard case for the iPad mini, and it certainly looks hot. It’s called the Ultrathin Keyboard Folio for iPad mini, and it’s a tiny and lightweight book-style case with built-in Bluetooth keyboard. But can any iPad-mini-sized keyboard actually be good enough to type on?

If you’re planning on buying a pressure-sensitive Bluetooth stylus for your iPad, then you should probably hold off until October; that’s when Wacom puts its new Intuos Creative Stylus on sale.

If all goes according to historical precedent, the ICS will follow the Bamboo along with all of Wacom’s plain styluses as best-in-class.

Having been teased and tempted by so many similar gadgets in the past, I can’t quite believe that the DigiPod could ever be real. But the folks at Indiegogo at least seem to have some faith in the new pitch on their site. The DigiPod is a little insert which slips into your film SLR and turns it digital.

I’m always interested to see a new iPad stand, and I’m especially interested if it can do the job of both my two favorite stands in one neat package. The stand is the Nimblstand, and it wants to replace the Origami keyboard case and stand, plus the PadPivot, or similar.

I should probably start a Tumblr for weird and amazing Kickstarter videos, but I’m sure someone has made it already. If I was starting one, then my first video would be this one, from Dave Garcia and GearLeash. The product is called the iPhone Bumper Case and Holster, which will probably conjure up images of polo-shirt-and-chinos-clad office drones practicing their Travis-Bickle-style quick-draws in the bathroom mirror.

And that would be pretty rad. But Dave has managed to go one better: His Kickstarter promo features muggers, gymnastics and girls leaping down stairs. And that’s just for starters.

I showed the picture of this Victorinox knife block to The Lady and she asked the obvious question: “What could possibly go wrong?” Indeed, what mishaps could possibly befall the user of an iPad stand which also houses a clutch of heavy, sharp metal knives? Nothing, clearly.

Goal Zero’s new Lighthouse 250 Lantern and USB Power Hub is a camper’s best friend. By day, it’s a USB charger with a backup battery, ready for juicing your waning iPhone. By night, it’s a lamp which will run for up to 48 hours.

I have a few things to say about external iPhone batteries, but we’ll get to that in a second. First, here’s the Jackery battery for the iPhone 5, a backup battery distinguished by being slim, having a nice sleek design, and featuring an absurdly pretentious video promo on the product page.

Usually when we mention a Kickstarter project it’s with a mixture of excitement (because it’s like a totally cool product) and disappointment (because it will usually be at least half a year before we see a product, if ever).

However, some of these products make it into stores. The Vaavud is one. It’s a no-power wind-meter which you can buy today.

I don’t know what I like most about MindShift’s new Contact Sheet: its name or its purpose. The Contact Sheet (named after a sheet of photographic paper showing all the photos from a roll of film, printed by putting the film right on top of the paper and flashing it with light) is a kind of fancy lightweight tarp for photographers.

Wahoo, known for making sports-tracking accessories that hook up to your iPhone and turn it into a bike/running/fitness computer, has finally made a bike mount for your trusty outboard brain. It’s called the PROTKT, and it puts your iPhone up on your handlebars whilst making sure it stays safe.

When I reviewed Kubxlab’s Ampjacket for the iPhone back in May, I found it to be excellent. And as I kept on using it after the review (always a good sign), I got to like it even more. Now, the Ampjacket is available for the iPad mini, and I expect it to be even more useful.

Before I recently discovered that the typing-related wrist pain I was experiencing was caused almost solely by the wrong chair/table height ratio (most tables are too high to be used for typing, even for a tall feller like me), I picked up one of Microsoft’s ergonomic keyboards, the Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. It has two standout features:

1. It is extremely comfortable (once you get used to touch typing).
2. It is extremely ugly.

The new Sculpt aims to fix the latter.

A printer is already pretty much disposable, thanks to the environmentally hateful practices of manufacturers; it’s almost cheaper to buy a whole new printer than it is to pony up for replacement ink. So why not go the whole way and make the printer out of cardboard? That’s the idea behind Samsung’s concept designs, which take the metal and plastic guts of the printer and put them — literally — into a cardboard box.

This is pretty awesome: How do you fancy having a proper, optically-zooming lens on your iPhone? That’s what the Sony ‘Lens Camera’ will do for you. These leaked shots show one version of the new device, which is actually an entire camera that lacks a screen and controls. These are provided by your iPhone (or Android phone).

The last thing I want to do as I stumble into my bed through a bourbon-soaked fog is to set up my sleep-tracking device. It’s nice to have an app tell me how fitful is my kip, but the pre-sleep perambulations are a pain: you have to slip your Fitbit into a wrist strap, or plug in your iPhone and launch the sleep-tracking app.

Beddit takes a different approach. It’s a strap that stays permanently wrapped around your mattress, ready to record your snoozes.

Ever wondered why you can’t pick up a cheap used Mac Mini? No, me either—I always figured the new ones were already cheap enough.

But the answer is both interesting and unsurprising. Unsurprising, because it’s just down to supply and demand. Interesting because—well, let’s ask some people who really know about selling used Mac Minis: Macminicolo.

Would you like a Leica, but don’t-a like-a the price tag? You could do what I did, and buy a $70 Leica strap for your cheap-ass $1,300 camera. Or you could buy this cute Leica-inspired SD card holder. Price: a mere $185.

Ever used your iPhone to take a photo through the viewfinder of your camera? Or tried to line up the iPhone’s lens with one half of a pair of binoculars? Then you’ll know how hard it is to get a good result. But if you’re willing to sacrifice an old iPhone case and pony up a few dollars for an SLR eyepiece, then you can make an adapter that’ll get you great Instagrammatical pictures every time.

The eTeleporter is a brand new box that will teleport humans from one physical location to another, instantaneously. Wait, no. Let’s start again. The eTeleporter is a kind of a phone booth for your iPad.