You may remember reading here, back in March, about the D3O protective plasticine goo being used in soldiers’ helmets, but now it’s got a more mundane use–as a gadget protector.

Parent company Tech21 recently launched a wide array of smartphone and laptop cases that offer between, get this, “140 and 221 percent more protection for a mobile device or laptop than existing cases can”.

See, D3O is a strange sort of chemically engineered, enhanced Silly Putty of sorts that, when you pull it apart slowly, stretches much like Silly Putty would.  But if you jolt it abruptly, it hardens and becomes rigid, offering a shock absorption capability for relatively low space.

D3O cases are now available, and cost between twenty eight and fifty bucks depending on where you shop and what sizes you get.

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Huh.  Powered by USB or two AA batteries, this folding speaker’s design “creates a large resonance chamber and makes the sound richer than most other small speakers.”

For $18 it could be worth a try though at this point you probably already have a set of speakers for your MP3 scenarios.

[via LikeCool]

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Balloons have really gotten a bad rap lately.  To usher in a new era of balloon appreciation comes the Balloon-Copter.  Its design and premise is simple in that it is a propeller that is powered by the CO2 in the balloon.

From there the balloon can rise up to 50 meters given the size of the inflatable all the while making a whistling sound to let you know it’s in the air.  A potential great stocking stuffer this Christmas.  On sale now for $7.50

[via Toyology]

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If you happen to own one of five kinds of Nokia phone–an E72, E71x, 5800, N97, and N97 mini phones–and you’re fond of Netflix, then I’ve got some great news for you.

Netflix, just two days ago, launched a new kind of app exclusively for those five phones, that will allow you to remotely modify your queue, browse their library for possible additions to that queue, and even watch previews of upcoming releases.

It’s available on the Ovi Store, under entertainment.

About the only people saddened by this news is everybody at Blockbuster Online, who doesn’t have anything even remotely like this and is still jumping for joy over their new “download movies to SD card” system.  This would admittedly be awesome except the downloaded movies will only play on a television, but that’s beside the point.

If you’ve got Netflix and Nokia, folks, you might as well get the app.

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Have you ever left the house or the apartment, and been struck by the sudden horror that you didn’t turn off your stove or your toaster or your television or whatever?  Yeah, I’ve been there too once or twice.  And I know some people who’ve made an entire psychological disorder out of something like that.

Well, there’s a new gadget, currently in the prototype stage, called the PowerZoa.  The PowerZoa can be used to remotely cut power to any gadget plugged into an outlet.  Everything from your stove to your toaster can be suddenly, remotely, disabled.  The PowerZoa transmits details on power use to a secure website, which you can log into to remotely disable your gadgets.

Of course, it’s entirely possible that such a gadget could be used against you, but even so, what happens?  You unplug the PowerZoa and replug your appliance back into the wall.  For people who worry about leaving things on, this is a great device.

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Having yet to blame a sickness on a dirty toothbrush, I’m sure there’s plenty of you hypo-germaphobes out there that would love to have a gadget like this.  All that is needed is a fresh USB port and you are ready to get your sanitize on.

Looks like a great gift idea for anybody you know that loves brushing their teeth on the go.  If eliminating bacteria is on your to do list, you can pick up this UV USB Toothbrush Sanitizer fresh from Japan for $40.  Thank you Thanko.

[via UberGizmo]

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For those of us who spend countless hours staring at a screen it’s often easy for our necks to get thrown out of whack.  With adjustable levels of vibration to improve circulation, this USB massage scarf could be a great tension reliever in a multitude of scenarios.

From long rides on an airplane to just relaxing couch side, this gadget is easily worth the $12 asking price.  Throw in multiple massage settings and you’ve got yourself a great bargain and go to gift idea.  Available now while supplies last.

[via thanks Frank]

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Qualcomm just yesterday introduced a whole new brand of Lenovo gadget that’ll blow your mind open.  Check this out.

It’s called the smartbook, and it combines all the best features of a smart phone and a netbook.  Slimmer than most smart phones and able to fit in the palm of a hand, it offers not only a QWERTY keyboard but also a “full-size screen”.  It’s powered by a Qualcomm chipset platform that has, for some reason, been dubbed Snapdragon and will run a series of different applications including Flash, Adobe and AT&T’s mobile broadband.

It’s interesting to note, however, that this may not be the end of the smartbook line but only the beginning.  Word is that everybody from Asus to Toshiba is planning to launch their own smartbook.  But do people, especially in a bad economy like this, really want or even need another portable computer when they already have laptops, netbooks and smartphones to choose from?  Is there anyone who’s saying “I love my netbook but I wish it were smaller!” or “I love my smartphone but I wish it had more features!” who isn’t just buying the next step in either direction?

Name and price are still being kept quiet on this new model as the product will officially launch this January at the Consumer Electronics Show.

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What’s portable, cute and loves to listen to your every command?  If you said Moshi’s Voice Control Travel Alarm Clock, then you’re spot on.

I have yet to try out any of Moshi’s voice activated alarm clocks, but according to their press release with the push of button you can activate up to 9 settings simply by speaking a command(no programming required), which includes setting the time, alarm, snooze, and asking for the temperature.

The palm sized Moshi Travel Alarm Clock is available in pink, blue, white, and black at their website and will be available at select Bed Bath & Beyond stores come mid to late November. Price: $25.

Video demo after the ‘leap’

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In what we’ve likely never seen before, this little pocket radar will help you do a lot of things.  I just don’t know what.  From gauging the speed of snowballs and such, I’m sure there’s some Mythbusters style mischief you could get into with this thing.

Perhaps police on horses and bike could put this little gadget to work?  The Pocket Radar uses Doppler Radar Signal Detection System coupled with re-engineered microwave and antenna components.  Boasting an error margin of +/- 1 MPH, the Pocket Radar is capable of judging 10,000 measurements on one set of AAA batteries.  We will see this at CES 2010 and it will be available this spring.

POCKET RADAR(TM), THE WORLD’S ONLY POCKET-SIZED PERSONAL SPEED RADAR IS NAMED ONE OF 2010’S BEST NEW CONSUMER ELECTRONICS BY THE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION

Selected As A 2010 Innovations Design And Engineering Award Honoree At CES’ New York Press Preview, The Innovative Palm-Sized, Ultraportable, Speed Radar Device Delivers Accurate Real-Time Speed Measurements With The Touch Of A Button

CES BOOTH #13148/Central Hall

NEW YORK, NY – (November 10, 2009) – Pocket Radar, the world’s first and only palm-sized speed radar device that puts consumers in the action, has been named one of 2010’s top new consumer technologies by the Consumer Electronics Association. The announcement came earlier today at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show’s (CES) New York Press Preview, the annual sneak peek of the hottest new products and upcoming technology trends held in New York City.

Selected as a 2010 Innovations Design and Engineering Award Honoree in the highly competitive personal electronics category, Pocket Radar’s sleek, compact, palm-sized, ultraportabledesign, combined with break-through speed radar technology and point-and-shoot functionality, provides users with extremely accurate, real-time speed measurements of moving objects with the touch of a button.

“Pocket Radar’s design and technology is ushering in a new era in speed radar technology as its small size, light weight and extremely accurate speed measurements transforms the way in which players, coaches, fans and everyday consumers experience the action,” said Steve Goody, Pocket Radar’s CEO and cofounder. “In creating the world’s most compact speed radar device, all aspects of Doppler radar technology have been re-assessed, re-engineered and re-built to achieve a revolutionary break-through that delivers full-sized performance in the palm of your hand.”

Using proprietary digital signal processing algorithms and state-of-the-art intelligent target acquisition techniques to provide users with industry leading accuracy and speed measurement detection across all ranges, Pocket Radar sets a new standard for performance. Designed to be used by both professionals and everyday consumers in a wide range of applications, from coaches clocking baseball pitch speeds, to athletes seeking improved performance, to NASCAR (R) racing fans looking to enhance their viewing experience and become part of the action, Pocket Radar forges a new standard in speed radar performance.

Pocket Radar utilizes a Doppler radar signal detection and processing system coupled with re-engineered microwave and antenna components to deliver the same powerful performance of traditional bulky radar guns, in a device compact enough to easily fit into a shirt pocket. Accurate to within 1 mile per hour, Pocket Radar is able to take 10,000 speed measurements using one set of AAA batteries. Its small size and easy-to-use point-and-shoot functionality means that Pocket Radar users can get right to the action, while others are still setting up and turning on their traditional, bulky radar speed guns.

Set to be on display at CES Unveiled on January 5th, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nev. and at booth #13148 during the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show, January 7 – 10, Pocket Radar will be available to consumers beginning Spring 2010. For more information on Pocket Radar, visit www.PocketRadar.com.

ABOUT POCKET RADAR, INC.
Based in Santa Rosa, Calif., Pocket Radar, Inc. designs, engineers and manufactures the world’s only pocket-sized personal speed radar device that delivers accurate real-time speed measurements with the touch of a button.  Utilizing a new break-through Doppler radar signal detection and processing system coupled with re-engineered microwave and antenna components that fit into a tiny planar structure the size of a credit card, Pocket Radar employs proprietary digital signal processing algorithms and state-of-the-art intelligent target acquisition techniques to provide users with industry leading accuracy and speed measurement detection across all ranges. Designed for use by coaches, players and fans alike, Pocket Radar provides full-sized performance in a palm-sized package.  www.PocketRadar.com

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First responders, pay attention, because you might be able to save some MORE lives with what I’m about to hit you with next.  Some engineer managed to take ten dollars worth of electronic parts–available off the shelf pretty much anywhere–and modify his mobile phone into a cell phone that does double duty as a microscope.

This is no ordinary engineer; he’s an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of California, and he’s actually started up his own company to market the cell phone microscopes.

Not that this is just great for the medical and scientific communities–now any putz can check a blood sample for signs of tuberculosis, malaria, or anemia!

It’s conceivable that, from here, the phone would then be able to remotely send the images back to actual medical professionals for diagnosis before the patient was even put on an ambulance.

No idea when they’ll be available, but they really should do a whole lot of good when they’re done.

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In what I would consider total tech weirdness, the Presence in Absence USB Couples Locket is unique idea for those engaged in long distance relationships.  Sort of like a digital scrapbook you wear around your neck I really don’t know what to think about this.

Developed by recent Swedish graduate Colm Keller, the Presence in Absence USB is made from birch wood and porcelain caps.  With the included craft knife, the couple is supposed to cut apart the two drives and make necklaces out of them. 

When the couples reunite they plug their appropriate USB drives onto the included hub and their digital scrapbooks are combined.  So why couldn’t this be done with any old USB drives?

I think what Colm is trying to achieve is a bond between humans and technology that may or may not appeal to modern couples.  It actually reminds me of that vial of blood that Angelina and Billy Bob used to wear.  No word on price or availability.  What do we think of this?

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Anybody looking for weird and obscure USB gadgets this holiday season may want to check this out.   It’s a mini-USB humidifier that’s shaped like some weird Japanese beer can.  When those long stints at your computer leave you exceptionally dry, this may be the perfect solution.

Using this mini-humidifier is a moist breeze as you just add water and plug it in and you are ready to go.  Available now for pre-order, this gadget will ship at the end of the month for about $65.

[via Akihabaranews]

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Remember how we just finished talking about the Tele Scouter, which interprets every language and translates automatically?  Well, it’s a bit of a misnomer because there’s one language it won’t interpret–American Sign Language.

That’s right, folks–Ameslan is completely out of the Tele Scouter’s bailiwick.  But now, we may have the answer for that one–the Sign Language Interpreter.

Basically, what this is is a camera connected to a microprocessor that “sees” the motions of sign language, matches them against its own internal systems, translates them, and announces the word or letter that the gesture is the equivalent of.  I’m doing a bit of interpolation there as the read link wasn’t exactly clear on if it can handle words and letters or only letters, but either way, a sign language interpreter gadget will change the lives of deaf people everywhere.

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Combining the most primitive elements discovered at the dawn of mankind, this rolling fireplace from Conmoto wants to go off-roading down your stairs with a passion. From the look of the picture it seems pretty fake but it actually runs off of ethanol and is a real heat source believe it or not.

Imagining some awesome YouTube videos involving bowling and day care centers this fireplace isn’t designed to roll at all.  What are we supposed think?  Anyway, cool concept and I’d love to mess with one.

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Several months back, we introduced you to the Philips Tapster headphones.  But there’s some bad news here for everyone who was looking forward to them–there’s now pretty much no way they’ll hit store shelves.

The folks out at Crave on Cnet’s Asian subsidiary believe they know why, too–they don’t work.

It’s a strange theme these days, gadgets that don’t work, but the beat goes on (or rather doesn’t) from these headphones.  They were supposed to be a major innovation in playback and volume controls, which are supposedly controlled by tapping and swiping the ear modules.  Under normal circumstances, this would dislodge them from the ear, but with these, they didn’t dislodge.  Something of an accomplishment there, but the problem was, the purported tap-and-swipe system of volume and playback control never materialized.

So a little bit of vaporware for you, folks…and that’s always at least a little sad.

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Soon to appear in the style section of a men’s magazine, these new external hard drives from Brinell ooze some serious swank.  Available in leather, carbon, wood, or stainless steel, these drives go from 160GB’s to 500GB’s.

Each drive comes with a cleaning cloth for first impressions, a mini-USB cable, and back-up and sync tool software called PureSync by Jumping Bytes.

What won’t be so cool is the asking price:  Starting at $277 and ending at $337.  Boo!!  Better check if these things fit in your suit pocket before purchase.

[via GearDiary]

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The ADE 651 is a device with an impressive marketing angle.  Over in Iraq, it’s being used to sniff out everything from bombs to guns to drugs and beyond, and detect them all from a distance of up to half a mile.  It’s a handheld device, easy to carry, the Iraqi military swears by it…there’s just one problem.

It doesn’t actually work.

ATSC, the company that makes the ADE 651, claims that they work via “electrostatic magnetic ion attraction”, which if I remember my collegiate physics courses correctly means “a bunch of sciencey terms strung together almost at random”.  Independent testing of many similar devices by the Department of Defense shows none of them work much better than pure chance.  And here’s the part that’ll kill you–they sold the Iraqi military fifteen hundred of these things at prices ranging from $16,500 to $60,000 dollars EACH.

And there you go.  The Iraqis bought at least $24 million worth of bomb detectors that don’t detect.

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Way back in the depths of 2005, we talked about a kind of ultra portable scanner called the Docupen.  Well, the company that makes these has just released a brand new kind that they’re hoping will be so extreme you’ll likely ignore the mostly pointlessness of the device and buy several.  It’s the Docupen X-Series, and the X is almost certainly for X-treeeeeeme.

The Docupen is essentially a scanner the size of a standard ballpoint pen, and allows you to scan a document or a photo into JPEG format by rolling the scanner part along the surface of the thing you want scanned.  It has 64 gigs of internal memory, microSD card compatibility, and can scan to 600 dpi, which is no mean feat for a pen-sized scanner.

If you do a lot of photo manipulation or deal with a lot of actual paper documents–like, say, business cards at trade shows–then you might feel pretty good about the Docupen X-Series.  But you likely won’t feel good about its price, a whopping $369.

Chances are you’ll almost never need to use this, and chances are even greater that you’ll lose it in short order anyway, so it’s probably not what you’d call a good investment.

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All right, road warriors, pay attention–because this is some really awesome news, especially if you have to do a lot of time-zone hopping in the course of your travels.  This is also awesome for anyone with a hugely variable schedule that requires you to work, and sleep, at different times every day.

We’re talking about Daylight Savers from Flinders Tech, glasses with a pair of bright blue LED lights that shine directly into your eyes, causing a delay in your circadian rhythm.  Now, circadian rhythms are those things that generally cause you to get tired at the same time every day, or wake up at about the same time every day, or even get hungry at certain times.

There are literally dozens of different uses for this product, though I have to wonder about the long term effects of artificially altering your circadian rhythms. However, for people whose time clocks are already out of whack, this could be the answer to your prayers.

They’re not yet ready for market, so there’s no pricing or release data, but they hope to have them available within the next year.

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