Category: gadgets

Its on my wanted list: Optimus keyboard

Every key of the Optimus keyboard is a stand-alone display showing exactly what it is controlling at this very moment.

Talk about user friendly (not to mention flashy) keyboard. It is actually customizable to the application its used for.

Unfortunately its just a design study right now – but the idea is so good and the technology should be there to start producing this.

The only question in how soon it will come to market and how much it will cost. Me? I would gladly put down a couple of hundred dollars to own one.

More info at: T3

[Via Email: Einarsen.net]

This is creative. Probably not the most effective and fast RAID ever created but its probably one of the smallest.

Wright This Way: iPod Shuffle RAID

iPod Shuffle RAID

So, what do you do when you and some friends are all getting iPod Shuffles? You make a RAID array out of them, of course!

Interesting choice to have to make. (Not that its a choice I have to make).

A car or a Compact Flash card?

Pretecs 12GB CompactFlash card costs more than a new Honda Civic – Engadget – www.engadget.com

12 GB is impressive for such a small card. Never mind I probably couldn’t use it with any of the gadgets that I have that use CF-cards. (Cameras and PDAs). But when it sells for ~15.000 dollars I just have to wonder who can afford it and what they might use it for. Is the target group millionair-geeks or some business situation where the use warrants the cost. Anyone know?

What happens when you have a lot of old objects laying around in your drawers, a digital camera and a blog to spare? Apparently Heavy little objects is what happens.

[Via Boing Boing]

If the rumours are true, sign me up for one of these.

According to eHomeUpgrade the Archos AV500 is a

“new all-in-one handheld device that combines a portable media player, digital video recorder (bundled with a remote and Electronic Program Guide software), and personal digital assistant (PDA). Furthermore, the device will support Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, and GSM connectivity via an add-on port.

In other words it will connect to your cable-tv when you are home, record your favourite shows, and then let you watch them on the run. It will feature a 20 or 40GB HD, and even cooler – it will use TrollTech’s Qtopia operating system. (Read Linux, from Norway :-)

More rumours over at Gizmodo. Read it and lust!

Just a quick linkdump. Feel free to suggest good gadget sites I should visit.

• Gizmodo – probably one of the best known gadget sites around these days. Well worth a visit if you want to stay current on the latest gizmos
• Engadget – run by the guy that built up Gizmodo to its fame and fortune. Not at all a copy of Gizmodo.
• I4U – if you read the previous two, some of the news might be old to you when you get to I4U, but its a cool site with interesting technews
• Kevin Kellys Cool Tools – this guy always serves up the most interesting tools, gadgets, hardware, a real eclectic selection of stuff you could lust for
• MoCoLoco – focuses on design and the “at home” kind of gadgets. You will guarenteed find something to spend off all your money on.

With this kind of equipment it will be much easier carrying around EVERYTHING when you are out travelling, or taking long walks in the mountains. :-)

I have a feeling where we will first see the Robotic Exoskeleton is in military use, even though there are apperant uses for people with muscle handicaps.

Well, that was fun. Or maybe not. Have been trying for close to an hour to install the cool little USB-Bluetooth-dongle MSI BToes, with no luck. That is to say, the installation went OK until I got this not so funny error message:

The required section was not found in the INF.

My initial thoughts was that there might be some problems with the driver files and Windows XP. But after trying to install the newest version of the MSI Bluetooth software (Currently at version 1.4.something) I got the same problem. BTW: DO NOT install the newest version, use the one that comes with your CD if you have an older version of the software. You need to have the dongle installed to get anywhere with the new software thanks to the requirement of a security code that you can only obtain from their site and with information only available after installing the dongle successfully.

Puh. Well, that much I’ve learnt in an hour. That, and the solution, thanks to Estato: MSI Bluetooth drivers : Accessories : Sony Ericsson @ Esato

The solution sounds pretty crazy, but is dead simple: Make sure you don’t have an internet connection when installing the Bluetooth dongle. For some reason Microsoft is trying to get information related to the driver from the net while installing, and it breaks the install. For me it was just a matter of pulling out the network cable (well, that involved crawling under the desk and roaming through miles of cable, but lets not go there – its a scene I’d rather forget).

Today Apple announced its new iPod mini – a mini version of its blockbusterselling iPod.

The player comes with 4 GB hardrive, and the rechargeable battery lasts for 8 hours. The player will retail for $249 and will be available in stores from next month. (April in Europe).

As some of you might know, several companies have come forth that offers to paint the dull iPods in various colours. And it seems Apple has kept its ears to the ground and picked up on that trend, because iPod Mini will be available in multiple colours, including silver, gold, blue, pink and green.