GadgetReview

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’ …Continue reading: Moshi Issues Travel Sized Voice Activated Alarm Clock, Just Speak To Set It (video)

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.

…Continue reading: Pocket Radar Accurately Gauges How Fast Women Walk Away From You

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.  …Continue reading: Presence In Absence USB Couples Locket

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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