GadgetReview

I’m a big fan of taking two products and stuffing them into one neat little package.  The 3-in-1 Laser Level Tape Measure Kit can not only measure up to 25 feet of stuff, but has a laser and bubble level built-in.   And it ain’t no ordinary laser level.  It fires a target on your wall providing you with the balance needed to hang pictures straight.  Of course, you’ll need to set it on a flat surface and adjust its feet such that the bubble level is centered.

Continue reading: Tape Measure With A Built-in Laser, Your Pictures Never Hung So Straight

Is the Eastpak Backpack Couch real?  You bet ya, at least as far as concepts and prototypes go, you know, the stuff that rarely emerges on the market in the initially presented form.  In any case, the Backpack Couch is built for those that reside in what I like to call “small ass” dwellings – think Japan or NYC.

In fact, the Backpack Couch is a partnership between Eastpak and design stuidio Quinze & Milan, and will be presented during milan design week 2010.  Supposedly, they’ll produce limited quantities, which is just another way of saying ‘were not sure who wants to put this hideous thing in their living room’.

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It’s not the type of news that will have you falling out of your seat, but if you’ve got a penchant for all things touchscreen than you might take to Nanovision’s latest LCD, the iMo Plus. This time around they’ve upped the anty from a 7-inch to a 10-inch touch resistive screen with a 1024×576 resolution. Connectivity and power comes by way of a USB interface and the remaining specs, well they’re rather garden variety: 400:1 contrast ratio and 200 cd/m2 brightness.

Keep in mind that this is touch resistive, which means a painfully slow response and a level of sensitivity equitable to a Russian body guard that doesn’t speak a lick of English. When it launches it should cost $270.

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According to leaked screenshot, Microsoft is planning on providing a firmware update to the Xbox 360 that will enable gamers to utilize an external USB mass storage drive for gaming and not just movies/music/etc.  The update will support partitioned drives in addition to “DLC, XBLA titles, games on demand and general game updates”.  But is Microsoft stupid enough to negate their 120GB hard drive, such as the one found in the Pro (was Elite) system?  Nope.  It looks like you can only share up to 16GB of stored Xbox 360 date on an external drive.  The drive must also be at least 1GB in capacity, since the Xbox formatting/partitioning uses 512mb of space.  Also what is not clear, is if copying games to the hard drive will be supported, though a quote from the source (below) seems to indicate so.

USB storage devices may, however, have far greater memory capacity than MUs (at the date of writing, the largest MU is 512 MB), and may therefore support previously infeasible operations-such as installation of a full disc-based title.

But, before thoughts of wielding more than USB drive pop into your head, forget about it.  Apparently, the update will only support up to two external storage devices.  Very weak!  Why wouldn’t Xbox 360 make it unlimitless and use that as a marketing angle against the PS3?

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I’m all for the tandem bike, but it’s difficult to share the experience since one person is inevitably staring at the other’s rear.  Enter the Dual Seat Adult Tricycles.  Each seat includes its own independent set of pedals and gears, you’ll just have to settle on sharing the strearing.  Clearly they’re targeting this thing at the older crowd and hence the uber expensive model ($2,499) which includes an Electric Power Assist mode that runs off an onboard battery and provides up to a 10 mile range.  The cheaper version costs $1,699.

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Scosche has plans for the 2010 CTIA in Las Vegas.  There they’ll officially announce four new products geared towards netbook and surprise, iPad users.  So what are we talking about?

The skyCASTER Headphones are wirefree, operate over the 2.4Ghz frequency and include a USB transmitter.  They have cushioned leather ear cups and an adjustable microphone perfect for all your VoIP calls.  The skyCASTER headphones have a max range of 100ft.

Next up is the new netBOOK Power Line, which features three new charging devices: the inVERT, netVOLT car, and netVOLT home.  The inVERT , which is rated up to 100w, lets you charge your computer via your car’s cigarette lighter.  The netVOLT car, which has half the juice (50w) lets you charge two USB device in addition to your netbook, while the netVOLT home does the same thing but for the home.

Also on hand will be Scoches new line of netBOOK Protect gear, which includes a variety of cases, clear protective screen and eco friendly cleaner.

Last up is the netBOOK Connect line.  It features blueLIFE, a low profile Bluetooth USB adapter, the memoREAD high speed card reader with flush folding USB connection, and the fanBASE portable netbook cooling stand with 3-Port USB hub.

Let’s file this under “Inventions I didn’t know I needed until now” — when you have that nagging itch you just can’t ignore, the Itch Chair does all the scratching for you. You choose from a variety of “fingernail” settings to find your perfect fit, which when used in conjunction with the “itch-calming” mechanism, will make you feel blissfully relaxed — and a little silly for using the Itch Chair. But just a little.

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HD projectors are impressive in their own right, but a 3-D one? That would be downright slick. The new Dell S300W can produce a 90-inch, 720p image from a three-foot distance. Other specs include 2200 ANSI lumens of brightness,  a 2400:1 contrast ratio, and the aforementioned 3-D capability. The device also features wireless connectivity, as well as a USB input for plug-and-play video playback. This thing seems perfect for presentations, movies, or any other media you throw at it.

The Dell S300W short-throw projector is now available for $999.

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Google has updated its Maps application for Android to version 4.1, bringing a slew of improvements, including a new swipe gesture for moving between results, a Latitude widget for the Android’s home screen, a redesigned results page, and support for multiple Google accounts. In addition, a live updated wallpaper of your current location can now be displayed using the phone’s GPS. That should be a big plus to a lot of users.

Continue reading: Google Android Maps 4.1 Released

Amazon launched Kindle for Mac today.  That means Kindle owners and Kindle wannabes can view and buy Amazon’s e-books right on their computer sans Kindle.  If you’re so inclined, to not read all your books on  your Kindle, you’ll be glad to know that you can synchronize your last page read, annotations between devices with Whispersync, create bookmarks and view the annotations you created on your Kindle.  And it’s FREE!

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