Author: ChipChick.com

Last year CrunchGear reported on Nintendo submitting a patent for a Wii football accessory – well it seems that CTA Digital beat them to the punch and has a new product that looks very similar to the sketches submitted. The Soft-Football for the Wii allows you to play Wii games like Madden, Backyard Football, and Blitz: The League etc…in a much more realistic way utilizing your Wii-Mote. The football has a squishy type feel similar to a Nerf football. Just snap the Wii-Mote into place and you’ll be throwing touchdowns like the New Orleans Saints in no time. Currently it doesn’t seem that it is for sale anywhere, but I’m sure it will be popping up soon somewhere.

Sometimes a simple gadget can be just as useful as a complex one. The Dog-e-minder is one such gadget that is not only for you, but your pooch as well. It’s a simple electronic device that tells you when your dog was last walked, fed, and medicated. The Dog-e-minder is designed to look like a dog tag, but personally we think that it looks like a tamagotchi toy. However there is no pixelated character inside of it that needs to be taken care of, but instead it helps you take care of a real animal – your pet!  The device easily slips on to your dog’s collar and it has a ring on it that allows it to always face front – so no twisting or turning here.  It also comes in four different colors: Black, Pink, White, or Blue.

Set-up:

The first thing you need to do is program your dog’s name, your telephone number, the date, and lastly the time. When we got our review unit it already came pre-programmed with a name, but I wanted to make the experience as real as possible and I wanted to input the identity of my real dog. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how to erase the information that was already on the device – I looked on the website for information – nothing. No matter what I pressed nothing was allowing me to edit it. So after playing around with it for about an hour, I decided to just take the battery out, and then voila – the unit erased all the information that was previously stored on it and I could then start from scratch.

The Dog-E-Minder has three buttons that are supposed to be symbols for the actions/needs of your dog. The Hydrant button indicates the last time the dog was walked. The Bone button is supposed to symbolize food. When pressed it will tell you the last time the dog was fed.  Lastly, the RX button tells you the last time medication was given to your dog. For some pets, this button may never have to be used.

When in setup mode, the Hydrant, Bone, and RX buttons are used to help program the device. You can scroll up and down by pushing either the Hydrant or RX button to spell your dog’s name out, input the date, time, and your phone number. It took about 5 minutes to complete this task. Once your dog’s name is inputted as well as the correct date, time etc…the information is stored and the Hydrant, RX, and Bone buttons now become used for other forms of information.

Features:

So it was time to put this little gizmo to task. I took my dog out for a walk – when I came back in I held down the hydrant button for about 3 seconds, and the date and time that I had completed this task was saved into the device. So the next time my dog walker walks my dog,  all they need to do is press once on that button and it will tell them the last time I walked her. After I fed my pup, I also pressed down on the Bone button and it saved the time details of when I fed her, and the same goes for the RX button when I gave her a PetTab (doggie vitamin). She also took a sloppy drink of water and dipped the Dog-e-Minder in the bowl while doing so, and fortunately the device continued to work fine.

Saving these times on the Dog-e-minder allows me to keep track of the times I feed, walk, and give her medicine. For monthly pills it’s a great idea, since all I have to do is press the RX button and be sure to give it to her at the same time and date every month.  Keeping track of the times of her walks has allowed me to be more considerate of her between walks, and the same could be said about time in between feedings.

Conclusion:

The Dog-e-Minder is a great idea for families with kids who may have just gotten a new family pet. Parents can keep track of when the dog’s needs were attended too, and they can potentially use it to check if kids are lying about whether they did indeed take the dog out or feed it. It’s also good for people who like to be strict about schedules – for some reason this little plastic device becomes very intimating and reminds you that your pet has needs at certain times of the day. However, the device is probably more suitable for larger dogs, because of it’s size of it may be too big for small dogs. Even my small sized pooch was trying to get at it to eat it! However if the device were to be any smaller than it is now, you wouldn’t be able to read it.

Overall, the Dog-Minder is a cute little gizmo that lets you keep on top of your pets needs, and it also makes you an even more responsible owner. However, I was disappointed that it didn’t have a programmable alarm. It would also have been nice if the device featured a flashing LED backlight or beeping alert to remind you that a walk, food, or even medicine is due soon. It would have also been cool to include some type of computer interaction via USB, so that maybe people could upload a log of when the dog was walked. That kind of functionality would be ideal to have if you left your pet with someone and that way you could keep track of what is going on.  However if all these fancy features were stuffed inside of it, than chances are that the Dog-e-minder would cost quite a bit more than the $19.95 it currently retails for.

The Good: Great way to keep track of when your pets needs were last attended too. Easy metal ring lets it slip on to collar easily. Clear digital display. Affordable price.

The Bad: May be a bit too big in size for smaller dogs. Really needs a reset button. There is no alarm function to indicate when your dog needs to be attended to next.

Kensington’s Nightstand Charging Dock and the free Rise&Shine Clock and Weather app pair up together to turn your iPhone or iPod Touch into the ultimate nightstand clock. The nightstand dock can mount your iPhone upright and on its side. The dock acts as a kickstand for your iPhone, displaying its beautiful clock in landscape orientation. This charging dock is ideal for traveling by always displaying an accurate time and weather updates.

Rise&Shine is a very nice clock application with three different clocks, customization, and weather updates. Brightness can be set in the app’s settings. When you’re ready to go to sleep you can swipe anywhere on the screen to easily dim the application so it’s radiating almost no light. The app is free, so you can try it out without purchasing the dock. Just make sure that your dock is properly plugged in to the wall because Rise&Shine will not alert you if you’re iPhone is charging or not.

Although Kensington’s Nightstand Charging Dock is really nothing more than a regular charging dock, it is actually the ideal charger. This dock will charge any iPod or iPhone, which is not always the case with charging docks. Your iPod or iPhone will no longer have to to lie down on a dirty surface. Rest your iPhone in the charging dock and prevent scratches, scuffs, and accidents. Make the most of your iPhone while it’s sitting upright and charging: Watch movies, run visualizers, display RSS feeds, or of course launch Rise&Shine and convert your phone into an amazing digital clock and weather notifier.

Kensington’s Nightstand Charging Dock can be purchased for as low as $22 on Amazon, but it has an MSRP of $29.99, which is the same price as Apple’s own iPhone 3G dock. Below you can find a chart comparing the two docks. The USB charging cord is connected to the dock, and it comes with a USB adapter for wall charging. Unfortunately, there is no audio port on the Kensington’s dock. We have a good feeling it will even work with the iPad, so we’re excited about that.

Conclusion:

Overall, Kensington has come up with a clever way to make a charging dock/cable that much more convenient and useful, and they’ve helped to add to the list of reasons why your iPhone is a Swiss Army Knife of tools. So if you’re in need of a replacement charger for your iPhone or iPod Touch, than you really can’t go wrong with this purchase.

The Good: Free app extends combined with the dock transforms your iPhone into a clock and weather station, competitively priced

The Bad: Lacks extra features like an audio line-out

We’re not sure how long Target has been doing this for, but their site now lets you view MP3 players and accessories, or digital cameras and their accessories by color. So for example, are you looking for iPod speakers or iPod accessories in green, or silver, or red, or pink, or blue, or black, or orange? Instead of having to sift through the site for stuff that matches your favorite color, you can bring up all of the goodies that match the color you’re looking for with one click. Kudos, to Target to thinking out of the box. Now it’s just a matter of time for other online retailers to follow suit.

So it’s officially Spring – so that means we can talk about bicycles again. The Huffy 26 inch Karaoke Cruiser Bicycle is the first bike we’ve seen to ship with a speaker system. In this case, the cruiser bike features the Huffy A.M.P Amplifier/speaker built into its removable handlebar bag. You can plug your iPod or any standard digital audio or CD player into this speaker, so that you can listen to tunes while you ride. The bike also features coaster brakes, a quick release seat and 12-gauge spokes. Granted, we do appreciate that the bike ships with a speaker, but the reality is that there are plenty of speakers out there that you can buy to add to your bike’s handlebars. You can pick up the Huffy 26 inch Karaoke Cruiser Bicycle with MP3 Speaker for just $142.99 and there is both a version for men and for women available at Toys R’ Us.

Native Union’s Moshi Moshi Collection has reinvented the concept of Bluetooth handsets, by getting back to the basics of communication. The folks behind Native Union understand that people are using their landlines less and less, and that cell phones are becoming our primary communication tools which we can use for hours on end each day. They set out to offer better, more comfortable and convenient solutions for talking on your cell phone. As opposed to the traditional Bluetooth headset that clips to your ear like you’re a telemarketer, these stylish handsets are designed to look like your landline phone so that you enjoy a more comfortable experience when you’re conversing. If the concept behind these handsets seem familiar, it’s because they are similar in concept to Yubz. However, according to the folks at Native Union, their products are aimed at being less gimmicky and rather higher end products.

The MM02 is a wired handset that comes finished in a black soft-touch or white high-gloss texture. Available in black or white, the Moshi Moshi 02 connects to your mobile phone via its 3.5mm jack, thus allowing you to use the MM02 to make calls using your cell phone. The handset features a weighted base, and it even comes with a silicon mat to hold and protect your cell phone while it’s connected to the MM02. Aside from looking really neat, and making your conversations more enjoyable, the MM02 offers an obvious health benefit- and that is that your face won’t be up against a wireless device for hours on end. The Moshi Moshi 02 retails for $59.99 and will be available on April 15th and it is compatible with all types of mobile phones. The company offers optional adapters available for phones that don’t have a 3.5mm jack. There is also a USB adapter that can be used to connect to your computer for use with VOIP software like Skype.

The MMo3 is similar in design and concept to the 02, but it’s a wireless headset that uses Bluetooth 2.1 to connect to your phone. And because it supports Bluetooth 2.1, that means that you can connect it to two mobile phones at once, or your mobile phone an laptop at the same time. The Moshi Moshi 03 will retail for $129.99 and it will be available on April 15th.

The Moshi Moshi 04i is another bluetooth product from Moshi Moshi that sports a truly beautiful and unique concept and design. First, the MM04i has been designed to works as a dedicated iPhone charging Dock, and a wireless Bluetooth speaker system with support for Bluetooth 2.1. The top part of the system is designed to look like a handset so that you can easily disconnect it from its base to use it to receive phone calls while it’s connected to your cell phone or laptop. Under the hood, the system is sporting high quality NXT speakers which are two watts each. The Moshi Moshi 04i  retails for $199 and it goes on sale on April 15th.

We’ll have reviews of all three of these products as they become available.

Remember those Casio and Timex watches back in the day that weren’t only digital, but also had calculators on them? Well apparently there is still some interest in them because over at Curiosite it is back. This is understandably not the same retro look or quality as its predecessor, but it’s still cool in its own way. The Retro Calculator Watch displays hours, minutes, seconds, as well as the month, date, and year. You”ll also be able to calculate square roots, divide, multiple, etc…And most likely teachers won’t even notice it, because they will be looking to make sure just that your iPhone or Blackberry is put away during a test. The Cal-Q-Tek 2000 retails for $17.72.

We have mentioned Hello Kitty iPhone cases before but I think this one takes the cake in cuteness. Not only is it a Hello Kitty iPhone case, she is also wearing nerd glasses. I mean how more Hello Kitty geeky chic can you get? The case is available at Hot Topic and is an authentic Sanrio item. Now all we are missing is a matching pocket protector. The Hello Kitty Nerd iPhone case retails for $16.99.

Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3 for the Nintendo Wii, is a unique addition to the DDR series that brings alternative forms of play as well as 30 different song titles. While at first DDR may seem intimidating to new comers, Hottest Party 3 allows for players of all skill levels to have fun while dancing to their favorite songs. One of the most welcoming features is the ability to play the game in brand new ways. The game allows for players to use either a dance pad, a Wii balance board, a Wiimote, or Wiimote and nun chuck combination. These different styles allow for anyone to find a way into the DDR world without having fearing complicated step patterns.

The game offers multiple roles to play including a training mode and DDR school, which are geared towards helping newcomers find their way amongst the flowing multi-dimensional arrows. The tournament mode is where most of your time will be spent. In this mode you will be participating in various tournaments to try and earn your way to becoming a dance champion. You can also unlock new characters and songs in this mode. While playing the game you really get the feeling that you are in an actual dance tournament having to complete regional, state, and finally national level competitions.

The game does a great job of making the songs challenging while never putting them out of reach. No matter how hard a song seems it can be concurred. With artists such as Pitbull, Neo, and Gorillaz making appearances in the song selection you will soon find yourself burning calories and dancing like a pro as you attempt to beat your top scores. The game does have some negative points. The graphics, while decent, are none too amazing. Don’t expect mind bending visual stimulation to go along with the songs that you dance too. Also, despite the fact that the game is newbie friendly, there is a huge learning curve. It will take quite some time before you are able to play this game on its harder difficulties.

Overall Hottest Party 3 is a great investment for some family fun. The game, while somewhat difficult, is not impossible and inspires some hard work. You will get hours of enjoyment dancing to some of your favorite artists such as Neo, Rihanna, and even Lady GaGa. Last but not least, the game is an excellent source of cardio, and it will give anyone a great workout giving it a 3.5 out of 5 in my book. Hottest Party 3 can be picked up as a bundle package with a dance pad included for $49.99 at Amazon.

The Good: Fun way to burn calories, great variety of dance/pop songs

The Bad: Graphics are nothing special, gameplay can get difficult on its harder difficulties

Mimoco, the company behind the MIMOBOT is at it again with a new collection of pop-art infused USB flash drives. The latest is not another Hello Kitty flash drive, but a Mimobot named GiddyUp by Hila Rosenberg Arazi. Specifically made for the ladies this time, the design deviates away a bit from the typical teddy bear style.  Hila has been a fan of the Mimobot’s for some time now and jumped at the chance to actually participate in making one.  Hila herself has an interesting back story: “With an Israeli mother and Australian father, Hila spent her childhood traveling back and forth between both countries, juggling hobbies such as building a cozy house for the garage opossum (he ate it) and making tiny gas-masks for all her stuffed animals during the first Gulf War. She went on pursuit of a bachelors degree in Visual Communications, but slowly drifted towards the Animation department, concentrating on stop motion and the wonderful world of miniature set design.”  The GiddyUp Mimobot will be available in capacities from 2GB to 16GB and will retail from $24.95 to $79.95 respectively.

It’s amazing how old things make us giddy when they are revamped into new creative items. The Funkyfonic cassette-shaped speaker is just such an item.  Looking like a retro cassette tape of years gone by – it actually is an external speaker that plugs into the headphone jack of any compatible device i.e… MP3 players, Blackberry, iPod etc.. that has a 3.5mm jack of course. The Funkyfonic Retro Cassette External MP3 Speaker is powered by two AA batteries and retails for $22 at Fredflare.

Well talk about an interesting iPhone/iPod dock. Reminiscent of steampunking, this dock was made out of electrical industrial parts but it now is an iPod docking station that will support not one, but two iPod/iPhone devices. Made with a USB 2.0 cable – this is really cool for any décor and can serve as a functional yet trendy device. Compatible with any generation of the iPod or iPhone and even the Nano. This is another gem that can be found at Etsy and retails for $95.

Looking for a hardcore charging station? Well then you’ll like the newly announced IDAPT i4 at CTIA. This charging station can charge up to 4 mobile devices simultaneously and it is compatible with over 4,000 mobile electronic devices. This includes the usual suspects – the iPhone, iPod, Blackberry, and even PS3 controller. The IDAPT i4 also features an interchangeable tips system making it easier to charge newer and older generation gadgets. The device also has 3 charging docks and an additional USB charging port. In addition there is an LED display light indicating charge status, and on/off switch allowing users to economize energy use.  The IDAPT i4 will be available May 2010 in black or white for $59.99.

So you saw that great dress on the runway, but there is no way you can afford it. Or maybe it’s that you can afford it, but you only really need to wear it once. Well Rent The Runway is a new website that lets you browse dresses of A-List designers online and then rent them. Started by two girlfriends in college – they came up with the idea because they too wanted to wear expensive designer clothes, but their modest salaries wouldn’t allow them as such.  All you need to do is sign-up for a membership, choose the designer dress you want, choose a dress size, and have it shipped to your door – it’s that simple. They even provide the return shipping materials. A typical rental will cost 10% of the retail cost and you don’t have to step foot in a snobby store high-end designer store or go broke to look fabulous.

J&R has come up with an interesting new product section in an area that we think is very overlooked in the tech community. Even though geeks and tech enthusiasts, etc… may love their gadgets, there is a whole other community that desires them just as passionately – those with disabilities. J&R has now designated a whole section of their website called the ‘Assistive Technology Boutique.‘ This section is geared towards people who have vision problems, hearing loss, or issues using standard computers or peripherals. So J&R is now offering an entire section dedicated to selling products that help those with disabilities improve their quality of life. For example – touchscreen computers, amplified telephones, and voice recognition software are just some of the items listed in this new boutique. Overall, this is certainly a controversial move on J&R’s part because many advocates for the disabled may feel that they are being segregated. However on the contrary, we think that J&R is just shining the light on certain gadgets that can be used in more intuitive ways to help people .

It used to be mood rings helped determine what your mood is – well how about lip gloss instead? Yep you read that right. Too faced New Mood Swing Emotionally Activated Lip Gloss starts out clear and then turns into different shades of pink depending on the wearers mood. There are 3 different color shades of pink for you to buy and then depending on how the day goes, different shades of that color will appear on your lips. So I guess if your lips turn a deep pink it means stay away!

[Via 69adget]

POWER A Universal Remote Case adds infrared(IR) remote control capabilities to your iPhone 3G/3GS. The concept is pretty solid; it enables your iPhone to control almost any device which you have a remote control for (IR only, no RF or Bluetooth). Will I chuck out the window all those extra remotes I have and the ones hidden in my couch in place of this gizmo? Well lets just say, not yet. 

What’s in the box:

The package includes three halves of an iPhone case. There is one top half of a plastic iPhone protective case and two bottom halves. One bottom half incorporates the IR technology. The other bottom half contains no technology and just functions as the bottom half of a protective case. Also packaged is a user manual.

Set-up:

1. Plug the bottom half of the universal remote case into the iPhone’s dock connector

2. Slide the top half of the universal remote case onto the iPhone

3. Download Power A Universal Remote from iTunes App Store

4. Create a new virtual remote (there is a maximum of 20 virtual remotes)

5. Click edit and ‘teach’ the app every virtual button by clicking it and pushing the corresponding button on the actual remote control. This is how the app learns the IR signal.

6. Remember to save! It’s way too easy to press ‘back’ and erase all of your progress

Design:

The case adds some bulk to your iPhone, more so than a regular protective case would. It feels as if your iPhone is wearing a battery pack (which it is not). Aside from the added bulk, the design is pretty smooth. It’s nice that it isn’t designed to be a dongle sticking out of the iPhone dock connector, but rather that it is an entire protective case. Fortunately, an interchangeable end piece is included so that you can travel without the IR transmitter when you’re not using it.The IR transmitter is placed on the bottom of your case (by the dock connector), so to use the device, your iPhone is controlled upside down. The application orients itself, so this is not an issue. The device also has a little status light that indicate when signals are sent or learned.

App:

The app is very simple, but poorly designed. You can create up to 20 virtual remotes. All of the virtual remotes have the same default buttons, which resemble that of a DVR remote control. Buttons cannot be moved, resized, deleted, or even renamed. So if you want to program your ‘Sleep’ button, you will have to do so under a different button name. As previously mentioned all IR codes must be taught to your iPhone one by one. The app has no support to automatically download IR codes. In other words, you cannot automatically download a standard Cablevision remote to your iPhone. It’s beneficial that the app will learn any IR signal, but it would be nice to also be able to download remotes (for when you’re on the go [or at a bar]). The last thing worth mentioning about the app is that the virtual remote is not statically placed on your screen, it scrolls up and down to fit all of the buttons on your iPhone screen.

Performance:

POWER A Universal remote functioned as it should have. It learned all of the IR codes for a variety of devices. The range of the remote is about 10 feet, which isn’t all that great. Because the virtual remote lacks any customization, in order to set up your home theater you will likely need to create a few different virtual remotes for different devices. This can become cumbersome or confusing when switching back and forth between virtual remotes.

Conclusion:

POWER A Universal Remote is very cool in concept, but in practicality it doesn’t make a lot of sense yet for someone looking for a home theater universal remote. The IR transmitting case works pretty well, but the experience is spoiled with the complementary iPhone app. Currently the app does not support any customization of virtual remotes, meaning you’re stuck with the remote control layout and buttons that POWER A chose for you.  If you’re looking for a universal remote for your home theater, we recommend waiting for an app update. Also keep in mind, unless you have an extra iPhone lying around the house you will need to plug the IR case into your iPhone anytime you want to use this application. Fortunately, a version of the POWER A Universal Remote will be available for the iPod Touch soon as well. Meanwhile, the POWER A Universal Remote for the iPhone can be purchased from the Apple Store for $59.95 and it is certainly a lot cheaper than say a Logitech Universal Remote, but unfortunately the App acts as a crutch to what could have been a really unique device.

The Good: Can learn codes from almost any IR device, support for 20 virtual remotes, devices doubles as a protective case

The Bad: No virtual remote customization, weak wireless range, cannot download virtual remotes.

We said it was coming and it has arrived, new additions to Speck’s limited-edition Fitted Artsprojekt cases. Now available exclusively in the Apple Store, these latest designs are even funkier than then the previous ones. There is the brightly colored “Waves” and cute “Campsite” by Montreal-based Eve Duhamel to pleasingly patterned “Bosque” by Buenos Aires duo Yo Amo La Leche and  “Chemical Girl” by Caia Coopman of Oceanside, California. They are made of the same materials as the first ones that launched and still retail for  $39.95 and fit both the iPhone 3G and 3GS.

The AT&T ZERO Charger is looking to be the first of its kind to eliminate wasted electricity by sensing when a cell phone is not plugged in to a charger and then cutting off the power supply from the wall socket.  It also improves charging efficiency when powering a device. The ZERO Charger works with most USB powered devices, so that means that by using it, you could potentially eliminate the amount of chargers you have lying around, which can ultimately lead to cutting the number of chargers produced, therefore cutting landfill waste.  Really, the concept of the AT&T Zero Charger is similar to a lot of the newer power strips out there that also help to cut out the ‘vampire load’ that many gadgets and AC Adapters have a tendency to use up. The AT&T ZERO charger will be available in May in AT&T stores nationwide, and it will supposedly cost the same amount as most replacement chargers cost.

Well it looks like i-Luv is ready to make your iPad into a music machine by debuting their  ISP150 Bar Speaker. This portable speaker can be used for your iPad, laptop, and even that old fashioned iPod. However from the imagery, it’s being marketed to work with your iPad. It sports a 3.5 MM jack, built-in speakers and is powered by a USB or 4 X AAA batteries. The system also has a power switch and volume control. Overall, the Bar Speaker’s is pretty cheap to at only $34.99. But, we just don’t get it – if you need to start lugging all these accessories around to make your iPad more than it is – why not just stick to your laptop or netbook….