GadgetReview

Taking cues from an organ and a sewing machine, this USB footswitch lets you control 3 of your inputs with your itchy trigger feet.  Totally programmable, you can add more switches if you need them(?), but there are unfortunately no sound effects (besides your own) associated with each pedal push.

Plug and play with no drivers necessary, this USB peripheral would be a weird addition to your set-up and probably a waste of $45.  The choice is yours. …Continue reading: Crap Gadget?: Brando Triple USB Foot Switch

Embracing a Halo type of design aesthetic, this USB drive concept looks quite snazzy.  With its polished silver finish, the main draw here is the bright red display that denotes how much memory is available.  So far this design is just a concept, but I’m sure something like this will hit the marketplace soon enough.

What do you think?  Is this something that would really be that helpful or would it just look cool to your friends?

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Star Wars merchandising will never end.  To add to the planet sized landfill of Star Wars junk comes the LightSaber USB Desk Lamp.  Capable of being unsheathed to conduct a symphony John Williams style at anytime, I can’t imagine this being the type of light that’s conducive to productivity.

The pricing is set at $26, and it’s a licensed LucasFilmTM collectible for all those who really care. …Continue reading: LightSaber USB Desk Lamp

Battery charging is all I can really remember about CES 2010.  Everywhere I turned I saw some new fangled “awesome” way to charge your cell phone or USB gadget.  Probably the best of what I saw first hand was the Zagg Sparq.  Encompassing two USB inputs and about the size of a MacBook charger, you can essentially charge your iPhone up to 4 times thanks to its internal 6000mAh built in battery.

Boasting orange LED’s to let you how much charge is left, the Zagg Sparq is available now on Zagg’s website for an introductory price of $99.  I have yet to see just how many charges I get out of this thing, but my only gripe so far is that it’s a bit heavy.

…Continue reading: CES 2010: Zagg Sparq Dual USB Battery/Charger

It’s a luggage tag!  No, it’s a solar powered battery charger!

No…unbelievably enough, it’s BOTH.

It’s the Keystone Eco Tag, and it attaches to your attache–or any other piece of luggage–just like any other luggage tag.  It’s got a space for you to pencil in your name and address and such in case the bag gets lost.  But it also comes with a couple extra slots to plug in AAA batteries, or any device that has a USB connection.

Four hours of direct sunlight–or eight hours of indirect sunlight–will have those batteries charged in a thrice.

It’s not exactly the kind of thing you expect to see together–forget chocolate and peanut butter, this is chocolate and vodka.  But the combination is actually pretty palatable, and considering they want thirty five bucks a pop, the price isn’t terrible.  But if you’re interested, I’ve got a bit of bad news–these don’t ship until February.  I know, that’s only a couple weeks away, basically, but still.  It’s a bit of a wait.

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I know what you’re thinking–that may be one of the most specific gadgets ever made, but I assure you it exists.  If you’ve ever spent any time rummaging through the many issues National Geographic has put out over the years, then I’m about to give you a massive nostalgia overload.

Today we’re talking the National Geographic hard drive.

It really is about what it sounds like–an external 160 gigabyte hard drive that containes a hundred and twenty years of National Geographic issues, going all the way back to issue 1 from 1888.

Now, here’s where things get interesting.  As it turns out, 160 gigs is about 100 too many for the collection, which only occupies 60 gig of space.  Thus, if you buy this, you get every issue of National Geographic preserved in their entirety (even the original ads are inside!), plus you get 100 gig of hard drive space, free.

And considering you can get one of these for $200 dollars, if you have even the least interest in National Geographic, this is one purchase you must make.

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If you do a lot of talking or texting or just in general playing around on your cell phone, then you know that these things run out of juice at the worst possible time.  And you also know that there are a lot of other portable devices out there that also have a tendency to run out of spark.  Well, we’ve got something here today that should be a huge help with that–it’s called the ZAGGsparq.

Chances are you already know ZAGG from the invisibleSHIELD and ZAGGaudio brands, but now they’ve got a new product there that does something exciting.  It’s basically a big battery with USB ports, and will thusly recharge ANYTHING that has a USB port.  From your iPhone to your laptop, the ZAGGsparq can put a little extra jolt in most anything.

It carries sufficient charge to recharge an iPhone four times over, and can take fully two thousand charges before the battery starts to drop off.  You know how that happens–recharge a battery often enough and it doesn’t hold much of a charge.

They cost $129.99 a piece, and you can place your order for these things soon.

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Claiming 98% accuracy, this 4GB flash drive uses your computer’s webcam to identify whether or not it’s you accessing the memory stick.  All you have to do for set-up is register a couple pictures of yourself showcasing some of your best high security faces and you’re good to go.

The USB drive also works with the conventional password if you want.  Only available in Japan for the moment, it is currently priced at $110.

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As Hipsters are wearing uglier and uglier glasses these days, this pair of video recording glasses should totally slip through the instant judgement meter unnoticed.  These cool guy glasses have a 320×240 pixel video camera embedded between the lenses and is triggered by a press of a button off to the side.

The glasses have 2Gb’s worth of memory which roughly equates to 5 hours worth of footage at 25 FPS.  With swappable lenses (shaded), the internal rechargeable lithium battery also lasts for 5 hours.  Upload your sleazy antics via USB and you can really embrace the voyeur savant you’ve always dreamed of becoming.  On sale now for $150. …Continue reading: PhotoJojo’s “You-Vision” Video Recording Hipster Glasses For The Inner Pervert

This most certainly isn’t the first cylindrical USB hub that we’ve seen, but it’s the first to sport a set of arms that can rotate 90 degrees to point upward or outward.  You can grab this 7 port USB hub for $15 not including shipping.

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