Author: Ali

We just love mentioning those Hello Kitty iPhone cases around here. So of course a new one was just released and yes its an official Hello Kitty case from Sanrio. This latest one has her sitting on a backdrop of retro black and white comic designs. Aren’t those blue overalls just precious! The case comes with a screen protector and is a hardshell design to protect it from bumps and drops. The Hello Kitty iPhone 3G/3GS Case Cartoon retails for $29.95.

We have written about Star Wars iPhone cases before, so I guess the ones they released back in November were such a hit that they had to come out with some more. The Stormtropper Half Helmet and Darth Vader Half Helmet Hard Cases for the iPhone are basically the same as the original versions – they just look a bit more menacing, since it only features half of the helmets. These cases will fit both 3G and 3GS iPhones and they retail for $29.95 each.

Remember back in January when we reported on the new Beats by Dr. Dre Spin Professional DJ Headphones? Yeah well sometime has passed and not only has the name now changed to Beats Pro but so has the price! They will now retail for $399, versus the original $349 price when it was initially announced. That price was no bargain but now that it is even more money, we are dying to see if is truly worth it. The design concept will stay the same and will have the dual cable inputs and ear cups that flip up. I guess we will get our chance to play with these rather soon, since according to the Beats by Dr. Dre website they plan on launching in June.

And the accessories for the iPad just keep on rolling out and the latest is the GroovyStand Writer. This latest stand lets you place your iPad on your lap and gives you not one, but two options for viewing. There are 45 and 18 degree grooves that will hold your iPad in either landscape or portrait. When you’re done with it in your lap, just leave it around your home as it blends in with the furniture. The Writer comes in brown, natural, and black stained hardwood and retails for $14.95.

We wrote about the Lady Gaga laptop skins before, but now the same designer behind those on Etsy has released a new set of Lady Gaga decals focused on her Telephone video. I will admit that these latest ones do capture the essence of the Telephone video but look a bit more cartoony than the original ones did. Each one retails for $12.99 and comes in several different colors for each. Now if only they included Beyonce too, now that would have been awesome Honey B.

The HDMX Mini Boom Box is an affordable solution if you are looking for a new iPod dock/ radio. It comes in the colors hot pink and black and is pretty affordable at $49.99 from Bed Bath and Beyond. Sound wise who knows what the quality is. It also has a digital FM radio with eight station presets and an LCD clock readout. It’s portable with its big handle and can be used with the power adapter or batteries. It also includes a remote control. The Mini Boom Box supports the Nano, iPod Classic, and Mini – if anyone still has that!.

It has been a while since we’ve seen any adorable earbuds come out. Fortunately Empire Brands has launched some cute and aesthetically appealing headphones, with four new lines of earbuds. The Wicked Empires, Wicked Little Buds, Jaw Breakers and Metallics all feature bold design elements and superior sound, providing consumers an eye-catching accessory and an enjoyable listening experience. The Wicked Empire line is punk-inspired, offering a multitude of designs including a skull, eight ball, ace of spades, star and knight symbol. Wicked Little Buds come in four stylish colors that have a semi-glossy finish with a light-weight form. The Jaw Breakers line includes four bold colors with a candy theme and lastly the Metallics line is composed of four metallic colors. All these new buds range anwhere from $12.99 to $34.99 and are currently available at www.empirebrandsinc.com or FYE.

• The Wicked Empire line is top notch and punk-inspired, offering a multitude of designs including a skull, eight ball, ace of spades, star and knight symbol. $34.99

• The Wicked Little Buds come in four stylish colors that have a semi-glossy finish, providing an edgy look, along with a light-weight form that creates a “barely there” feeling. $29.99

• The Jaw Breakers line includes four bold colors with a candy theme, guaranteeing a match to anyone’s unique style. $17.99

• The Metallics line is composed of stylish and vibrant earbuds in four metallically brilliant colors, which are available at an affordable price without sacrificing quality. $12.99

Today marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. And for the first time in many years, people, as well as companies have been actually working hard to go green all year long, instead of just doing something special on Earth Day alone. For example, we have previously talked about gadgets or old computer parts being recycled into kitschy wares. For instance, Steampunking was born from recycled old junk. Supermarkets and drugstores are selling reusable canvas bags so that way you can opt out of using plastic ones. Many banks, credit card companies, and utility companies have all gone green by offering paperless billing. Staples and AT&T are helping the cause by setting up drop off locations for discarded gadgets. Also, new generations of power strips and chargers are taking into consideration vampire energy, that not only sucks up electricity but wastes your money. Lastly, we must not forget the hybrid cars that are slowly but surely hitting the roads. This is not bad progress over a 40 year period, but there is still a ways to go. For now, check out the list below of the latest green innovations or activities you can participate in this week.

AT&T is sponsoring the Earth Day Network’s Earth Week event and hosting an interactive, solar-powered exhibit in Washington D.C. through April 25 on the National Mall. Additionally, today marks the launch of AT&T’s “One Million Eco Challenge,” a year-long program to engage one million youth around eco-friendly practices. AT&T customers can text ECO to 42345 to opt in for eco tips and Earth Week events provided by Earth Day Network and sustainability updates from AT&T.

Puma and Fuseproject just announced Puma’s Clever Little Bag. This new concept on shoeboxes is that it is no longer a box but a bag that will  replace the brand’s shoeboxes. Puma’s Clever Little Bag uses 65% less cardboard than your average shoebox. It consists of a  non-woven mesh and the recycled materials and it can be used as bag! Puma and fuseproject expect that Puma will reduce its use of water, energy and diesel consumption by more than 60% a year just because of this new unique design. Now if that doesn’t encourage you to buy their shoes, I don’t know what will.

If you can’t do something earth friendly today, why not fund an environmental classroom project.  DonorsChoose.Org lets you give a modest donation in order to help students plant trees, create a garden, study the atmosphere, and more. There is a plethora of projects to choose from and not only will it be good for the earth but educational for kids too.

SodaStream offers a selection of soda makers that look a bit retro, yet they are high tech and eco-friendly in concept. Prepare carbonated sodas at home without having to lug home heavy cans or bottles home because there is no bottles, cans, electricity or clean-up for that matter needed. Just add tap water and get ready to drink a cold beverage without hurting the environment.

Lastly Honeywell launched “Add Honeywell,” a new website that demonstrates how the company’s technologies and innovations are making the world safer and more secure, more comfortable and energy efficient, and more innovative and productive. Through their new website  you’ll be able to see Honeywell’s technologies in aerospace, homes, refineries, commercial buildings, and automobiles and its effect on the environment.

Combine two hot button subjects like cruelty to animals and technology and you are bound to get people riled up with opinions. Hence the Frog-O-Sphere Ecosystem we wrote about sometime ago – till this day, that post is still getting people fired up. At the time we thought it was just a fun post on an aquatic system. Well here is a new scandal to talk about – news broke out last week that Taser International was funding a study that had sheep being fed Methampetamines and then tasered. The purpose of the study is to help determine if and when law enforcement use Tasers on suspects, will it lead to cardiac arrest for those suspects high on meth. Another motive for the study probably also stems from recent lawsuits involving deaths caused by Taser guns.
So what does Taser do in order to research this? They subject innocent sheep to torture by not only having them tasered, but also pumped with drugs. We have seen the videos that Taser has put up on YouTube testing their products on real people – so we ask, why not continue with that method? Granted, Taser could possibly be sued or accused of attempted murder if someone dies from that kind of experimenting – but at-least those being tested would be tested with their own free will. Instead Taser International is experimenting on some poor animals that can’t speak up for themselves.

In the end, the experiment found that smaller sheep who where given meth and tasered, experienced exacerbated heart symptoms, but did not experience any life-threatening heart rhythms that could lead to a cardiac arrest.

“Animals given methamphetamine demonstrated signs of methamphetamine toxicity with tachycardia, hypertension, and atrial and ventricular ectopy in the 30-minute period immediately after administration of the drug. Smaller animals (n = 8, ≤ 32 kg, mean = 29.4 kg) had supraventricular dysrhythmias immediately after the ECD exposures. Larger animals (n = 8, > 68 kg, mean = 72.4) had only sinus tachycardia after the exposures. One of the smaller animals had frequent episodes of ventricular ectopy after two exposures, including runs of delayed onset, nonsustained six- to eight-beat unifocal and multifocal ventricular tachycardia that spontaneously resolved. This animal had significant ectopy prior to the exposures as well. Thoracotomy performed on three smaller animals demonstrated cardiac capture during ECD exposure consistent with previous animal studies. In the larger animals, none of the methamphetamine-intoxicated animals demonstrated cardiac capture. Two control sheep showed evidence of capture similar to the smaller animals. No ventricular fibrillation occurred after the exposure in any animal.”

Not surprisingly, Donald M. Dawes, MD and Jeffrey D. Ho; who are both Taser medical consultants and stockholders of Taser International, where participants in the study involving the sheep. So an independent study it was not. Obviously animal testing is still a wide practice that is used for many scientific studies and many see it as a justifiable resource when conducting tests for stem cell research, breast cancer, or any other health related research – but torturing animals for a helpful, but ultimately non essential gadget– just doesn’t sit right with us.

PETA seems to agree with this sentiment, they have already jumped on the bandwagon and have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture calling for an immediate investigation. But sadly this isn’t the first time that Taser has come under attack. Back in 2006 they were blasted for forcing 150 taser discharges on various body locations of 6 pigs. One thing is for sure – no matter how female friendly their product designs and concepts are for their Tasers – we won’t be covering their products anymore.

I’m a huge Dirty Dancing fan. So much so that when every anniversary box set has been  released I got it, just so that I could maybe get a little bit more unedited footage of  Patrick Swayze doing his thing as Johnny Castle. Well now Dirty Dancing has danced its way onto Blu-ray with this latest boxset. There is an abundance of extras in this two CD set as well as tributes to Patrick Swayze and Jerry Orbach. This Blu-ray edition is completely remastered and includes a collectible hardcover 52 page keepsake book as well as a fan reel created by Facebook fans. Dirty Dancing Limited Keepsake Edition retails for $23.99 and will be released on May 4th.

Some other features include:

Kellerman’s: Reliving the Locations of the Film
Patrick Swayze Tribute
Dirty Dancing: The Phenomenon
In Memoriam
Fan Reel*
Patrick Swayze, The Rhythm of Dancing
Dancing to the Music
Never-Before-Seen Photo Keepsakes
Eleanor Bergstein’s Script
Commentary with Eleanor Bergstein
Jennifer Grey Screen Test
Commentary with Kenny Ortega, Miranda Garrison, Jeff Jur, Hilary Rosenfeld, David Chapman
Jennifer Grey Interview
Miranda Garrison Interview
Kenny Ortega Interview
Eleanor Bergstein Interview
Emile Ardolino Tribute
“Hungry Eyes” Video
“She’s Like the Wind” Video
“I’ve Had the Time of My Life” Video
Theatrical Trailer
Trivia Track
Original Screen Tests
Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze
Tribute to Jerry Orbach
Deleted Scenes
Alternate Scenes
Extended Scenes
Outtakes
Multi Angle Dance Sequence
Interactive Photo Gallery
Vintage Featurette
Dirty Dancing: Live in Concert

Looking to add a glow to your X-Box 360 controllers. Well these latest Afterglow controllers should add a little pizazz to your X-Box 360. We have seen these before for the PS2 but not the X-Box 360. Available in 3 glowing colors – they are currently available for pre-order from EBGames for $29.95 and are expected to ship later this week.

We have been inundated with iPad cases and bags but even so – this latest one from Urban Tool might be the funkiest yet. The pocketBar is perfect for the iPad hipster. It has a 1 main pocket with waterproof zipper closing and 4 individual pockets on the front side. There is also a secret zipper pocket on the backside, pen slot, carabiner, and key strap. The best part is it doesn’t look like an iPad bag or any type of gadget bag – perfect for going geeky incognito. The pocketBar retails for $99.90

We haven’t seen any decent Simpsons wares in awhile, so we were drooling like Homey would over donuts when we spotted these Simpsons keyboards and mice. Big Bad Toy Store has a selection of keyboards  and mice available for pre-order that are adorned with Simpsons imagery. Each one is cuter than the next, and would add personality to any desk at work or at home. The keyboards are wired and the mice are wireless. The Keyscraper Wireless Simpson Mice retail for $34.99 and the Keyscraper Wired Simpson Keyboards retail for $49.99. Now all you are missing is the Duff beer to drink while you’re working.

So remember those iPhone App Magnets we mentioned a month ago? Well now you can wear a matching shirt. The icons are authentic images of iPhone apps and the perfect ensemble as you whip out that iPhone to answer a call or tap away on your iPad.  The App Shirt retails for $19.99, comes in black and requires no syncing to iTunes or OS updates.

Because technology is moving at the speed of light these days, the IT History Society has announced the availability of the first searchable international database of historical information technology. Personally I can’t even remember all the cell phones and laptops I have had over the last 13 years – let alone some of the biggest technological feats from the last 50 years. The database today consists of 233 international information technology historical and archival collections encompassing over 2.4 million documents that uses over 195 gigabytes of storage. The database in the near term is expected to nearly double over the next 5 years. With a partnership with Archive-IT of the Internet Archive, all of the 233 sites will be crawled and text indexed every 30 days for full keyword search ability. Like all societies they do need donations and or you can become a member, in any case I’m just glad that this information is being archived somewhere.

I guess someone else figured out that not only is the iPad a portable media entertainment system but it would also make a great digital picture frame. Marware has come out with a bunch of cases that are called Photoshells. The Photoshell is recessed case shaped to look like a picture frame that perfectly accommodates 5×7 inch photos.  The case itself is made out of a smooth rubberized plastic and is perfect for not only makes displaying photos on your iPad cool but logos and signs as well. The MarWare Photoshell for iPad comes in assorted colors and is currently available for pre-order at Amazon for $39.99.

Once again Sanrio is collaborating with Apple to bring you nifty looking official Hello Kitty iPhone cases. This latest one is a Hello Kitty case for your iPhone 3G and 3G S and features a retro flower power look. Its being called Hello Kitty iPhone 3G/ 3GS Denim and it retails for for $29.95 and also comes with a screen protector.

This past week at a special interactive showcase in New York City, we got a chance to see some of the latest innovations utilizing Intel’s technologies, as well as what Intel is currently working on in their research labs. The event highlighted 16 different pieces of technology for the home, healthcare, fashion, social media, and transportation spaces. However, we will be focusing on the ones that especially caught our eye.

For the Home

Lighting Fast Movie Downloads – The public’s insatiable need for instant gratification only reinforces how important it is for companies to deliver content to our computers, cell phones, and mobile devices at a faster rate. Developed by Intel with the codename Light Peak, there will be new high speed optical cable shipping in 2010. These thin pieces of optical fiber measure about the width of a human hair, and they will enable ‘Light Peak’ to transfer data over thin flexible wires and deliver download speeds we could only dreamed of five years ago. A good example that Intel is using to explain why this technology is so incredible, is that the library of Congress currently contains over 10 terabytes of information. Using Light Peak technology which downloads data at a speed of 10 billion bits per second, you could theoretically download the entire Library of Congress in 17 minutes.

Intel Intelligent Home Energy Management Proof of Concept – More than ever, monitoring energy consumption is an important variable in our day to day lives. The Intel Intelligent Home Energy Management Proof of Concept will be powered by the atom processor and lets you monitor thermostat temperature, turn off appliances, and it can even shut off home security systems that are all connected through a home network. It will also give suggestions for better energy management and conservation. You can check out the video demo here.

Fashion & Shopping

3D Scanning with a Digital Camera – With the public’s thirst for anything 3D growing at a monster rate, Intel is busy at researching how photography could be used in the future to allow amateurs to create 3D visual content, without the budget of Avatar or years of education. Intel also hopes to bring to the masses the ability to make life-like avatars from real life images created without any special equipment – just your average digital camera and PC. Currently this research is being conducted in Intel’s China labs.

Virtual Worlds for Fashion – Have you ever considered the waste that goes into fashion designing? Yards of material goes wasted after that haute couture gown is completed, and the scraps can’t be used for anything else. Well Intel and the Fashion Research Institute are looking to change all that by using fashion-specific 3D virtual worlds which will offer a platform for designing apparel with accuracy and detail, without requiring 3D CAD tools. You will be able to recreate prototypes over and over again, thus eliminating waste of materials and this will also allow designers to collaborate and share ideas with fellow designers across the country.

In order to bring this concept into a reality, Shenlei Winkler, CEO of the Fashion Research Institute has enlisted a group of students to create a virtual runway which includes four ‘model bots.’ FRI will be providing technical fashion expertise to engineer the technical aspects, while the students will be developing their real-life collections for the model bots on the virtual runway. So soon enough, actual human models may be the thing of the past.

Hands Free Technology

The 48 Core Processor – The 48 Core Processor is currently being researched and tested at Intel labs, and if all goes well, it could soon let us interact with our gear in a totally new way. This powerful system could possibly lead a computer to have the same ‘vision’ as its human counterpart. Basically, the chip could allow you to interact with a computer on a more human level. The need for mice, keyboards, or any type of peripheral device may be a thing of the past if this technology goes as far as it plans too by letting the computer know what you are thinking without even pointing or clicking.

Understand Me – So you think the iPhone or Andriod phones are so cool? Well what if these phones were just in their infancy in regards to intelligence. Understand Me is a project that aims to make phones understand their owner, through the use of sensors, movements, heart rates, and device usage. What this will do is enable the cellphone to help us in real world situations, transforming your phone into your own personal travel adviser or secretary. The possibilities could be endless, unfortunately that does mean if you lose your phone, you really are screwed.

Transportation

Connected Car – Intel and Visteon demoed what could be the latest addition to your vehicle that allows you to connect to the internet, GPS, weather, content streaming, and so much more. The Connected Car is essentially a console system for your car that will also work with an iPod, it has USB and Bluetooth support, and basically encourages you to never to leave your car, if only for a bathroom break.

Communication and Social Media

Dispute Finder – Wikipedia is great but is it always accurate? Not really, especially when it relies heavily on user inputted data, which at times could be skewed. Dispute Finder is a project that works as a cross check when comparing data on the internet. It will take the information you are currently searching for, 
and find if infact it is being disputed by another source. Dispute Finder is currently available as an extension for Firefox in the Intel Labs that reads the text of every page that the browser finds, and then highlights the disputed content for easy accessibility. What triggers the Dispute Finder into action are statements like “Falsely claimed that X” and “experts no longer believe that.” I can only imagine that in the end the Dispute Finder will find that just about everything is disputed on the internet…

So there you have it, a look into some of the pinnacle innovations from Intel Labs and the devices utilizing Intel research and technologies. What this means for us is that Intel has many new projects in the works that will influence our lives in the not too distant future.

Let’s take a breather from all the iPad reviews, accessories, etc… and talk about a product that may not have all the bells and whistles of the iPad but it is also a pretty good multimedia unit for on the go, and especially for those long roadtrips with the kids.  The iLuv i1166 is a multimedia player that plays both DVDs as well as media from your iPod Touch or iPhone. It’s a perfect companion if you are traveling with a lot of people as it has multiple headphones jacks, comes with a car charger, and a 8.9″ display big enough for everyone to share.

The iLuv i1166 debuted way back at CES 2009, but only till recently did it officially launch and become available for sale. The i1166 packaging is simple and comes with an AC Adapter, Car Charger, Remote, iPod dock adapters, and manual. The device itself is colored a high gloss black and it has a nice compact design with a built-in stand that flips out so it can easily sit on your desk – which is certainly a nice touch. In order to insert your iPod Touch/iPhone or DVD you have to lift up the front of the i1166 and once done reveals a DVD area and a dock for your iPhone/iPod. The i1166 supports the iPod Touch 1st and 2nd generation, iPod Nano 4th and 3rd generation,  iPod Classic, and iPod with video.

One we inserted both our iPhone and a DVD movie, it was time to see just how portable and fun this device was. When you turn the device on, the iLuv logo comes on and then a menu screen appears that you can navigate using a cross hair pad located on the face of the unit, or alternatively you can navigate the menu system using the included remote control. I was disappointed to see that the very impressive renderings originally shown off for the device’s menu system at CES 2009, are completely different now. Instead, a very watered down menu screen gives you options to choose to play media from your iPod, DVD, SD Card, or USB Flash Drive.

We chose to play a movie first – the Godfather. The display was crisp and clear and played well on the 8.9 inch screen (sadly though it’s not a touchscreen). However the viewing angles are a bit disappointing. Since this device is very practical for sharing, if you have people sitting to the right or left of you, they will see mostly shadows, while the person directly viewing in front will get the best viewing experience. There are ways to tilt it that make it less of an issue, but that can get frustrating.  Another gripe that we have is that the highest the volume goes is to 15. The DVD I played didn’t sound very loud when jacked up that high. The audio experience is definitely better when listening to the device via headphones. Also, if you want to skip scenes or fast forward or rewind, you will need the remote as the control pads on the i1166 don’t not operate when in DVD mode, so you really can’t afford to lose the remote. I also tried to reenact what a typical car trip would be like – you know, the device ends up getting rocked around on bumpy roads. So I tried shaking the device, the result was that the DVD stuttered, but didn’t completely stop and it then resumed right where the interruption happened.

Moving on to the iPod/iPhone feature of the device. Just dock your iPod/iPhone and the i1166 will pick it right away, and you can choose to play either videos, songs, playlists, etc… You can select to play songs in shuffle mode, one by one or as a playlist in its entirety. If you decide to play songs or videos one at a time, you will have to keep hitting the ‘Menu’ button which also doubles a back button to get back to the song list to play another song after the current one is done playing. Navigation takes a bit of getting used too, but once you do, it’s pretty simple to operate. Again, sound quality was tinny sounding playing out of the built-in speakers, but sounded incredibly better and louder with a pair of good headphones. On a single charge I was able to squeeze out 4 hours of playing time on the i1166 before it went dead.

Conclusion:

Back in 2009, the iLuv i1166 was a trendsetting device that was ahead of its time. But a lot has changed since then, and the device can’t help but fall into the shadow of the iPad and other touchscreen tablets with their slick interfaces. We also can’t help but feel like this is a poor man’s iPad. After all, it essentially transforms your iPod Touch or iPhone into a giant one. But for those who already have an iPod, and are looking to purchase a portable DVD player, it doesn’t make sense to buy anything but the i1166 since it lets you play both DVDs and your iPod on a bigger screen. The fact that it has multiple headphone jacks for sharing, supports many media types, and has additional media inputs is a huge plus. However the poor viewing angles do dampen the experience. You can pick up the iLuv i1166 for as low as $230 on Amazon.

The Good: Easy portability with compact sleek design. Decent battery life. Large screen. great for road trips. Liked that they include a car charger. It plays iPod movies and it’s a DVD player!

The Bad: Poor viewing angles. Low quality speakers. Menu system is almost antiquated. Would have liked a touchscreen interface for the price.