- Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community by Adster1980

Let 'Jack' take care of your earphones

Adam — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:06:02 +0000

We’ve all been there. You’re on the way to work when a song pops into your head and you just have to listen to it. Excitedly you rummage in your bag and grab the MP3 device. You find the track in question and set it to play, but where are the earphones? Finally, you find them, tangled up with your keys, your lunch and everything else. Five minutes of detangling later, the train has pulled into your destination and the moment has passed. But such nightmare scenarios will be a thing of the past courtey Earbud Jack!

Earbud Jack is the little guy who promises to make these all-too-common occurrences a thing of the past. Design simplicity at its best, simply wrap your earphone cord around Jack’s purpose-shaped body; under his feet, around his head, pop the earbuds over his shoulders and he’ll take care of your phones until the next time you need them. Take him everywhere with you, to the gym, on the plane, to the shops, and you’ll have no more tangles, and no more ruining your earphones as you try and yank them free from the depths of your handbag.

Jack doesn’t only care about your earphones though, he also does his bit for charity; available from Amazon, 5% of the proceeds from the sales even go to hearing health organizations.

Via: Techchee.com

MP3 'Cassette' Player

Adam — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:43:30 +0000

Keen to enjoy the convenience of MP3 music on the move, but without giving up the retro cool of being the only one of your friends still with a cassette deck in your car? Then worry not, the MP3 cassette player is the device you’ve been waiting for. Now you can enjoy the best of both worlds with this funky format converter. All you need is your own library of SD/MMC memory cards stuffed full of your favorite tunes. Simply insert one into the mock cassette, pop it in to your in-car player or stereo at home and you have all the functionality of an IPod, with an old-school edge. Skip tracks, switch playlists by changing memory cards, adjust volume - you can do it all. But you don’t have to have a cassette deck to enjoy its delights, the MP3 Cassette Player is rechargeable via USB and has its own earphone jack too, so you can carry it anywhere as a stand-alone MP3 Player, and with its hip retro design, you’ll surely be the coolest commuter on the train with this groovy gadget.

Via: geeky-gadgets

Inflatable Video Screen - Cinema in your backyard!

Adam — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:05:22 +0000

With summer fast approaching, nobody wants to spend those few precious sunshine months indoors watching television, but now you have the option to watch your favorite soap without forgoing the rays; with this ingenious inflatable video screen, you can broadcast anything right in your back garden.

Enjoy a barbecue with friends whilst watching the big match, sunbathe whilst enjoying your favorite movie, or beam up some music videos for the perfect garden party vibe. You could even breathe life into a heavy going business presentation by hosting it outside. The options are endless, and hassle free too, as the whole thing can be set up in just five minutes.

The giant screen is a massive 2.44m/8ft from corner to corner providing a full cinematic experience wherever you choose to set it up, and you need not worry about pump or generator noise spoiling your viewing pleasure – simply pump it up, insert the valve, and sit back and enjoy without distraction. Suitable for use with any projector, in a 4:3 or 16:9 format, the brilliant-white vinyl-screen guarantees you the best possible image quality in radiant colours for both front as well as rear projection. A black vinyl covering is also available for front projection to avoid light entering from the rear.

Even British natives familiar with our own particular brand of summer weather needn’t worry about the threat of sudden downpours either, as the whole thing is fully waterproof! And with the supplied nylon ropes and tent pegs, even the wind can’t spoil the fun.

Via: Pro Idee

Volkswagen driver aid - No more parking hassles

Adam — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:19:18 +0000

If, like me, you spent a lot of your childhood glued to the television watching classic 80s show Knight Rider, then the day you first got to sit behind the wheel of a car and realised that you had to do everything yourself will have been a disappointment. Thankfully, somebody at Volkswagen appears to have had the same experience and the German car manufacturers are doing their bit to turn the average family hatchback into KITT!

Ok, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but their latest concept is certainly great news for lazy or unconfident drivers everywhere. Not content with Park Assist (PA), the existing system that allows the car to park itself whilst the driver waits idly behind the wheel, their latest innovation, Park Assist Vision (PAV) doesn’t even require a driver, allowing the vehicle to park itself in any spot, parallel or perpendicular.

PAV cars are fitted with a multitude of cameras and sensors, giving them better spatial awareness than a lot of my friends I wouldn’t dare name. When the driver finds a suitable parking spot, they simply notify the car on a touchscreen, place the gearstick in ‘P’ and hop out. The rest is controlled from a remote control keyfob. The car parks itself, shuts down and locks up, saving you the embarrassment of reversing in and out to the amusement of passers by. Gone too are the days of having to clamber across to the passenger seat because there’s not enough room to get out of the driver’s door.

PAV is still in development, but it’s clearly an indication of the future, and a very welcome innovation. Now all we need is turbo boost and ejector seats…

[Link]Via: Autoblog

High-resolution head-worn camera - The shape of things to come

Adam — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:33:58 +0000

There was a time when the term ‘recording your life’ meant keeping a journal, a scrapbook, or a photo album, but this is the 21st Century and the phrase can now be interpreted a lot more literally than that. Developers have created a head-worn camera device that enables us to shoot our daily activities from our own first person perspective. Imagine the hit Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, and the less funny Robocop, without the four prime directives.

The 450 TVL Resolution Kit is equipped with two small cameras to fit over the ears and strap around the back of the head; capturing nigh-on the same field of vision as the wearer, whilst a microphone picks up sound too, allowing us to capture our experiences in a unique way and relive such exhilarating memories as rollercoaster rides, parachute jumps, skiing, motorcycling and much more besides.

Similar devices are already being applied practically, for instance the UK police use related technology to keep a watchful eye on operations that require supervision, such as crowd control at major events, and door security staff find it a useful deterrent to aggression, but this kit makes it all accessible to the ordinary consumer for the first time.

Moreover, the camera kit has the versatility to connect to a range of portable recording devices, capturing high quality images to playback to an enthralled crowd of friends and relatives time and time again.

Via: gadgetscyber