GadgetReview

Over in Fort Wayne, Indiana, they’re talking about a gadget that may not lower any golfers’ handicaps, but it’ll help keep golfers in their etiquette lines.  It’s called the shoe cleaning sand rake, and if you wind up in a sand trap, well, this is just the gadget you need.

If you’ve ever golfed before (and I have, once– my score required NASA-surplus computers to successfully determine and they’re still debating whether or not to actually call it a “Frooglepoopillion”) then you know that getting your ball out of a sand trap is a mess.  Plus, you then have to try and rake the sand trap smooth once again, and that may or may not require you to get your feet back in there again, and that means that observing golf course etiquette will likely damage the course in its entirety by causing the golfer to track sand onto the fairway or possibly even the green.

The shoe cleaning sand rake, however, solves this problem by not only being a sand rake, but also offering several brush bristle points for the golfer to scrape clean his shoes before leaving the edge of the sand trap.

Golfers everywhere should love this idea to death.

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From what I hear, skiing an ultra fresh powder is the bees knees when it comes to downhill.  But with that luxury comes the potential of being buried in an avalanche.  Enter the Backcountry Access’ Float 30.  Although it looks like it’s designed to protect your head and neck from injury, it is in fact built to keep you afloat, or on top of the avalanche’s surface, thus preventing burial and asphyxiation, the number one killer of avalanches.  I’d hope that it would provide some breathing room, much like the Avalung, but that doesn’t seem to be the product’s objective.

The Backcountry Access’ Float 30 works by deploying a 150-liter airbag from the bag’s right shoulder strap when the user pulls the appropriate ‘trigger’.  It also includes a 30 liter hydration-bladder, which should be enough for a solid day’s worth of skiing.

Expect it to hit the Backcountry Access store this December for $499.

[via Besportier]

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Another snoopy fitness gadget comes our way in the form of the Fitbit, which took the TechCrunch 50 by storm last year but couldn’t seem to get off the ground.  But it’s now got a launch date scheduled–this Tuesday.

The ninety nine dollar FitBit will clip to your clothes and, based on your movement, help determine how much exercise you’ve been getting and how many calories you’ve burned thanks to an internal motion detector.  Even better, you can keep track of all that stuff in a direct, graphic fashion by checking an icon of a flower on the side of the device that grows as your activity level grows.  And if you’re not that into flowers, word is you can actually change that icon.

But that’s not all!  If you wear the FitBit while you sleep, that motion detection hardware can actually track your SLEEP patterns based on how often you move in a day.  No worries if you don’t wear much that you can clip it to–the FitBit will work just fine on a wristband.

So if you’re out to get fit, the FitBit may be able to help.

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If you are turning over a new leaf of health consciousness and need a new pedometer to help reach your goals, look no further.  Oregon Scientific’s new Marathon Pedometer has all the important features to help you get your stride on.

The pedometer uses accelerometer technology so you can wear it lanyard style, clipped to a bag, or securely around your shoe.  Its backlit display has a clock, step counter, distance/calorie calculator, and a count up/down function to gauge where you’re at.

The pedometer even features a marathon challenge mode so you can see how long it would take to walk a marathon.  On sale now for $60.  Walk this way!

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Prepare yourself, golfers, for a gadget that will bring about a new epoch of incredulity and laziness to the game–the ScrambleScoop.

Originally designed–and named–for golf scrambles (games in which a party tees off from one location and then hits from the best shot up to the green), the ScrambleScoop allows you to pick up your ball from your cart.  No stooping, no bending, no actual muscle usage.

Yes, you will be shelling out seventeen bucks for what amounts to a net on an aluminum stick, but hey, that’s golf.  Of course, you could just bend over and pick up your ball, or squat down and pick it up, but what fun is that?  Of course, you could also use the ScrambleScoop for a new kind of golf cart polo match like they played in “Navy Seals”.

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Taking an aesthetic cue from the old Sony Sports Walkman series, the Predator VX360 is taunting you to strap it to your dome and take it off a cliff.  Probably the most accessible extreme camera I’ve seen, it seems like a perfect match for the maniac daredevil looking to capture some sick POV footage.

Capable of withstanding impact shocks, it can also be submerged in up to three meters of water and is resistant to salt water damage.  The base unit has an LCD monitor on it for immediate viewing to make sure you captured 100% of the purest of adrenalines.

However, coolness does not come cheap as the Predator VX360is priced at $550.

Check out the promotional video below: …Continue reading: Predator VX360 Wearable Extreme Sports Camcorder (video)

If you really love foosball but you don’t really have the space for an official sized one, this foosball coffee table fusion could be your best bet.  If you want to spend $600 that is.  Made from solid poplar wood (snowboards are made from this too) and using tempered glass,  this table will surely garner attention from anyone that sees it.

The table stands high enough for comfortable playing and hand carved handles ensure a steady grip during the game.  I can see the commercial now.  A man and a woman in typical office romance fashion push all the magazines and whatever else off the coffee table and to the viewers surprise…they play foosball!

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The SwiMp3 underwater bone-conduction MP3 player from Finis is the only player I’ve seen or used that alleviates the suction problem experienced by other players.  While it does have problems of its own, it definitely deserves your attention if you are looking for a music player to entertain you while you are swimming laps at the gym.

Announced today, Finis has quadrupled the storage capacity of the SwiMP3 to 1GB.  Still selling at $150, you’d really have to be an avid swimmer to accept its high price point. …Continue reading: Finis Ups The SwiMP3 Player to 1GB

I myself have never used a Kettlebell, but apparently they’re good for a variety of strength training exercises.  This innovative design provides a multitude of weights in one simple package.  Just simply slip on and off the plates to create weights ranging from 5 to 20lbs.  Course, all that don’t come cheap, as the Powerbell will set you back $200.  But as the maker points out you’re saving $100 by not purchasing individual weights, which can take up much need space.

[via Uncrate]

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The past few years have ushered in a blast of small and affordable digital video cameras that have appealed to the amateur voyeur in all of us.  Looking like it has taken some design cues from the old Sony Walkman Sports line, the Median S47000 will be ready for your next adventure.

Don’t mind the little girl’s birthday party in the above pic for it is definitely not extreme let alone a sport, but the 2″color LCD screen is almost half the size of the entire gadget.  That’s nice.  Having only 90MB’s of internal memory, you are going to immediately need an additional card to jam into the SD/SDHC slot included with the S47000.

Other tech specs of note includes: USB 2.0 and HDMI ports, the ability to shoot in 720P through H.264 MOV files, splash resistance, earphone input, and a lanyard loop.

Looks cooler than the Flip Camcorders sans the faceplate customization options.

On sale now for $130.

[via OhGizmo!]

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