Death Star Planterium lets you look into the Star Wars galaxy

The mind of a child is a truly wondrous thing, or something in the same vein was muttered by Master Yoda back in Attack of the Clones when Obi-Wan was trying to locate the Kamino system in the Jedi archives. Well, you can let your imagination run free and child-like with the Death Star Planterium, a device that is capable of turning your dark room into that of the Star Wars galaxy, now how about that? To make matters more interesting, this tabletop planetarium itself resembles that of the Death Star, hence its name. It can not only project the Star Wars galaxy and planet names, it also has a much more down-to-earth (pardon the pun) feature in the form of projecting the Earth’s night sky as well. Good to know it comes with a fun and informative learning guide to make the toy all the more interesting. The Death Star Planterium is powered by a trio of AA batteries, where you can bring one home for the kids for $27.99.

USB LED Desk Lamp

Working in the dark is no fun, and while we understand that you sometimes need to get work done in bed with your partner trying to get some much needed sleep, surely a little bit of light will help? After all, this compromise won’t flood the whole room with light, just a small section of it. Being powered by USB, you can easily connect it to your notebook’s USB port and its dozen LEDs will come to life. With the ability to be rotated up to 270° to be at the perfect angle just the way you like it, you can also opt to have it run off a trio of AA batteries whenever a powered USB port is not available. At $9.99 a pop, it will cater for your basic illuminating needs, but don’t expect to perform surgery under it.

mophie makes Juice Pack Powerstation available

mophie has marked yet another entry into the world of iPad accessories with their latest Juice Pack Powerstation. Basically, this is the third quick charge external battery which will form part of the family of its new Juice Pack Universal range. While the iPad itself already has some pretty long lasting battery life going for it, you can never tell when you might actually need additional juice on-the-go, and the Juice Pack Powerstation is here to help. Spedically designed to deliver a portable power solution to Apple device users who are always out and about, this is the most powerful of the trio, bringing up to 2.1 amps of charging output with a 3600 mAh capacity. Heck, with that specifications, it might even be one of the most powerful external power sources for the iPad on the market.


The Juice Pack Powerstation does not only deliver super-high output charging, it does so without additional bulk, and will also play nice with most of the other commercially available USB devices worldwide, and the iDevices family is no exception. You can now go for days without having to look for a power outlet, where its lightweight and portable design allows you to tote it around without causing any strain on your shoulders. Interestingly enough, the advanced battery cell within the Juice Pack Powerstation is smart enough to switch between desired mAh charge, including 500 mAh, 1A and 2.1A, automatically, and there is also a stand-by toggle switch to make sure no drainage occurs whenever the powerstation is not in use.

If you’re interested in bringing this puppy home, it can be yours for $99.95 a pop over at Apple stores or directly from mophie’s website itself. There is a 6 light LED battery status indicator that lets you know just how much power or a charge it carries within, and the built-in function of an extremely bright flashlight makes this a prime candidate to be carried around during your camping trips.

Press Release

Whistle Keyfinder Set of 2

Most of us would have experienced the sinking feeling of having lost our set of keys one time or another, hoping that some kind soul would return the key to us upon finding it, or for us to find it years later in some unexpected place. Why not take no chances with the Whistle Keyfinder Set of 2? It works slightly differently compared to all the other keyfinders in the market, as all you need to do is give a nice whistle and the Keyfinder, should it detect your whistle, will light up and beep noisily until you successfully locate the merry bunch of keys. Of course, it would help if the batteries in the Whistle Keyfinder Set of 2 have enough juice to work, so make sure you test the batteries from time to time and replace when necessary. The Whistle Keyfinder Set of 2 will retail for £5.99.

Eye-Fi outs new wireless memory cards!

Eye-Fi is one company that we thought might not last the distance when they came up with the first wireless memory cards in the world, but it is nice to see them still hanging around, and doing pretty well in fact. Today, they have just announced a range of new wireless memory cards which will deliver the next generation Eye-Fi experience in the form of the the award-winning Eye-Fi Pro X2. What does the X2 family of Eye-Fi cards offer for the layperson? We are talking about faster-than-ever wireless photo and video uploads, improved performance, and virtually endless storage capacity with Endless Memory mode. Depending on your needs and capacity, these new wireless memory cards will retail from $49.99 upwards.


Apart from new hardware, Eye-Fi has also increased its number of hotspot upload locations to over double of what it originally had. Now, users of the Hotspot Access feature will be able to upload photos and videos straight from their camera at more than 21,000 hotspots across the US, and these include 6,500 Starbucks coffeehouses, and Harborlink hotspots such as BP gas stations. Sounds like the perfect place to stop if you are embarking on a road trip, eh? The Eye-Fi Connect X2 and Explore X2 will join the Pro X2 as Eye-Fi’s new family of products, where each of them will boast Class 6 performance, an 802.11n radio which is much faster when it comes to uploading data as well as the vaunted Endless Memory mode. You ought to be able to pick up all these Eye-Fi Cards from retailers such as Best Buy, Office Depot, Amazon.com, Adorama, B&H and J&R. We’ll look at the various Eye-Fi cards in greater detail just below.

Eye-Fi Connect X2 – At 4GB capacity, the Eye-Fi Connect X2 will automatically upload JPEG photos and videos to the computer and one of more than 25 online sharing sites, such as Flickr, Facebook, YouTube or Picasa, through a Wi-Fi network. MSRP: $49.99.
Eye-Fi Explore X2 – At 8GB of capacity, the Eye-Fi Explore X2 will automatically upload JPEG photos and videos to the computer and one of more than 25 online sharing sites. It offers lifetime automatic geotagging so photos and videos arrive at the user’s computer with location information already included to identify where the image was captured. Explore X2 also offers one year of hotspot access for uploading away from home at more 21,000 hotspot locations across the Unites States and through open hotspots. MSRP: $99.99.
Eye-Fi Pro X2 – Unveiled at CES and winner of CNET’s “Best of CES” award, the 8GB Eye-Fi Pro X2 will automatically upload JPEG and RAW photos and videos to the home computer, and will send them to one of more than 25 online sharing sites. It also allows users to create an ad hoc connection directly to their computer to wirelessly upload photos and videos while away from a wireless router. Like Explore X2, Pro X2 offers lifetime geotagging and one-year of hotspot access to enable uploads away from home at more than 21,000 hotspots and open hotspots. MSRP: $149.99.
Press Release

Twist Alarm Clock needs you to use your brains

Do you happen to have plenty of trouble trying to get out of bed every morning? Well, this is where the Twist Alarm Clock comes in handy – it will only shut up once you managed to solve the relatively simple math problem displayed on the screen. There are two displays and an equal number of rotatable parts which will work in tandem to present you with a math problem each morning, where you will need to provide the right answer before it keeps quiet. Talk about being forced to use your brains the moment you open your eyes! It is currently available in Japan only for $30 after conversion, although we’re pretty sure that you can import this puppy if you want something totally rad for the bedroom.

Source: Crunchgear

Wind Up Socket Concept Timer

Here is an interesting concept that allows the user to save energy, the easy way.

Think of it as a power strip made up of egg timers. Even if you’re too young to know what an egg timer is, you can still figure out how to use it. Just turn it to the proper setting, and it will tick down until the bell goes off. It’s technology that has been almost completely replaced with digital clocks. My children have never seen one, I’m sure.

The Wind up Socket is designed to save energy by plugging in your device, and then turning it to the time that you want it to run. It’s perfect for devices that don’t need to be always plugged in.

The Wind Up Socket is so easy that even your grandmother can use it. I realize that this could come across as a slam to most senior citizens, but hey, just watch her try to program a VCR. She still hasn’t figured out that the VCR has been replaced by DVR. She probably still uses egg timers, though.

Of course, this looks like an easy way to get your cords tangled up, doesn’t it? That seems like an obvious design flaw in an otherwise good-intentioned idea from designers Dongwon Joo and Jieun Choi. Perhaps that figure out another way of doing this idea by simply putting dials near the plugs, not as the plugs.

Antigravity Platform

Own an imposing office desk, but want to have that air of mysticsm around you? Why, there is the Antigravity Platform which will help break the ice in any social setting as curious minds ask you about the mechanics behind such an interesting device. Of course, you can’t claim to have the blood line of David Copperfield, so you will just have to let them know that it is because of an electromagnet within that allows you to virtually levitate just about any object of your choice a few inches above it. Each £89.99 purchase will come with a globe to get you started, and we must say it looks smashing when revolving within. Just make sure the object of your choice placed does not weigh more than 3 ounces, otherwise it won’t work.

Adesso CyberPad A4!

Adesso’s CyberPad A4 is not the iPad by any stretch of the imagination, but it certainly is useful.

I’m guessing the audience for this device is students or anyone else who has to take notes frantically in the classroom. I have found that a laptop or netbook is useless for taking notes when the teacher is drawing shapes and equations on the blackboard that will be on the test later.

Despite our technology, Pen and Paper is still the best way to go as far as taking notes in class is concerned. However, the CyperPad A4 is able to take whatever you want to write on its notebook better than a digital pen, and then saves it to its 32MB of internal memory.

If 32MB is not enough, then you can add on more with the integrated SD slot and reader. When you want your notes back, you can just connect the included USB cable to your computer and download the notes with special software. This included software can also translate handwriting into text.

Granted, the handwriting recognition isn’t always accurate. That, or I need to write a whole lot neater. Yes, I got a chance to try it out, and I might just start writing my entries with it.

The Adesso CyberPad A4 is available from the Adesso site itself, for a price of about $160. This price includes the software like Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0.