Gadgets Mobile

Having flocks of birds flying near by airports represents a small, but yet unacceptable risk for plane engines (and the birds themselves of course), so someone came out with a 5.25 foot remote controlled robotic hawk that is so realistic that it scares the crap out of local seagulls, making everyone safe from unwanted bird/plane collisions.

Anyone who has actually spent serious time traveling with their computer knows that having a light notebook is only half of the battle. If your notebook’s power adapter weighs a pound, then it defeats the purpose of spending all that money on an ultraportable notebook. After all, even the most efficient notebook can get–maybe–ten hours out of the battery, so even for an overnight trip you need the charger.

So what’s the problem with standard chargers? There are lots of problems actually. In addition to being bulky, they are not shaped for traveling and they tend to only work with a single device. So in addition to having your notebook’s power adapter, you might need a charger for your phone or PDA or e-book reader. By the time these all add up, your bag can get pretty hefty.

While there is no easy solution to this, Lenovo’s 90W Slim AC/DC Combo Adapter is a step in the right direction. It is a designed to charge a ThinkPad, IdeaPad, or Lenovo 3000 series notebook as well as all sorts of other devices. In addition to being versatile it is probably a lot more portable than your current model. The combo adapter weighs 0.95lbs and is just about 1/2″ thick, 5.5″ wide, and 3″ long so it should be easy to slide into a bag where a model that is thicker would not. The final improvement of this over a standard adapter is that it can come with a dual charging cable so you can power up two devices at once, though this is a $19.95 upgrade. A carrying pouch is included as you can get all the gear from place to place without losing things.

Looking at the Combo Adapter we can see that there is not a whole lot to it, in fact it looks just like a better designed version of a power adapter that you already own. Rather than being a non-descript black hunk of plastic, it is quite thin and has lines across the exterior that improve the aesthetics and should help keep it from heating up when in use. On one side is where the cord to the wall outlet is inserted and the other side has the insert for the included car adapter as well as the permanently affixed cable which leads to your devices. There is no switch for changing voltage, you just have to put the right tip on the cord and the adapter does the rest.

The Slim AC/DC Combo Adapter ships with three tips: 16V, 19V, and 20V. These will be sufficient to charge most Lenovo products, including older ThinkPads and a large range of other devices, like phones, iPods, and more, including USB devices. Lenovo has a full list posted. Each extra tip will run you $9.95.

The power adapter will work at home with a standard wall outlet, in your car, or on a plane using the 4-pin in-flight connector that is part of the automobile cigarette adapter. Once you have a power source you simply need to plug the adapter into the wall, make sure have the right tip (or tips) connected, and then attach your device(s). The only thing to watch out for is that the dual-tip extension is marked on one side “laptop” and one side is “aux” so you should be careful to use the right one.

During testing the Combo Adapter performed quite well and had no issues charging a few different notebooks, including an X300, even while simultaneously charging an accessory device, like an iphone.

At $119.95 the Thinkpad and Lenovo 90W Slim AC/DC Combo Adapter is an expensive option. It could be a useful tool for road warriors who spend a lot of time traveling and need to cut down on their extra gear, but by they time you buy the adapter, the dual cable extension, and a few tips you will have dropped a lot of money. This may be worth it if you travel frequently, but the Combo Adapter is still not that small so it could be hard to justify, unless you plan to take advantage of its ability to work with different notebooks and accessories.

The Pleo did not really take off as intended during the holiday season last year, but if you’re one of the few who picked it up, here’s some news for you. Its Life OS has just gotten an update, bringing the version number up to 1.0.2 that enables your robotic dinosaur to explore its surroundings even more, being more alert of its surroundings, and singing whenever it is in a presence of a group of people. You can download the Pleo 1.0.2 Life OS update here.

The Swiftpoint mouse from Simtrix is truly different, and definitely goes against the grain where design is concerned.

Swiftpoint technology combines innovations in hardware and software that enable a more intuitive and ergonomic method of interfacing with the computer across all hardware platforms, software applications and user environments. The Swiftpoint was designed to overcome the limitations and frustrations encountered with the traditional computer mouse. It also allows maximum flexibility and functionality across a diverse range of HCI environments.

The mouse does not require a flat surface and was designed to be held between the thumb and index finger, targeting multimedia and notebook users in mind.

Video watches seem to be getting more and more common these days, and here we have yet another one from ThinkGeek. It comes with a shiny exterior to blind all and sundry, retailing for $79.99 a pop - a $20 discount off its original price.

With a full color screen this watch displays video and images very nicely with a 128×128 pixel resolution. The OLED screen is crisp and bright and the watch itself is surprisingly well proportioned (not thick or bulky). It also has a stylish band and metal case. Audio is accommodated very nicely, with MP3/WMA playback and 5 equalizer modes. A built-in microphone allows recording of notes to self, meetings, conversations or various ramblings for later playback. Battery charges via USB and sports a 7 hour play time (4 hours for video playback). Available with 2GB storage capacity.

If you’ve recently purchased a new low-end MacBook, I don’t advise reading this, as it may upset you slightly. I used to be a big Mac fanatic (and have slowly been drifting back that direction) so I remember when the G5s came out and everyone raised a big stink about the lack of an L3 cache. While the newer chips still outperformed their predecessors, the absence of the L3 cache still gave the G4s an edge under certain circumstances. If you haven’t caught on, I’m trying to tell you that last year’s entry MacBook actually outperforms the ones currently on the market.

History has a way of repeating itself, and just as in the case of the G4 vs G5 debate, the cache comes into question. The newer Penryn processor features less cache than their Merom predecessors, which causes the entry-level MacBook to actually run slightly slower. We’re not talking anything significant, in fact you probably wouldn’t notice much of a difference, if any between them. However, it is a little disappointing to know that you’re better off with the previous model. If you’re looking at getting a higher-end MacBook, don’t worry. The faster clock speeds of the other models makes up for the fact that it has less cache.

Source: PrimateLabs

Even though we know that creating backup files is a very important task, most of us do not actually do it regularly for a lot of reasons. Some simply forget about it but others find it very tedious. Now, there is a new and easy-to-use device called SanDisk Flashback Adapter which aims to streamline this process.

Developed for Windows-based laptops with an ExpressCard slot, this adapter instantly copy and encrypts your important files to any SD or SDHC memory card. No need to schedule your backups, burn your files to CD/DVDs or save to your external hard drive. A simple yet effective solution since we really don’t know when our laptop will crash or petty accidents will happen.

All you have to do is install the software included in this Flashback Adapter and select the files or folders you like to backup regularly. Don’t forget to insert the SD card to the adapter as well (sold separately). After that, Flashback Adapter will automatically copy and encrypt as soon as there is any change in any of the files you selected.

SanDisk Flashback Adapter comes with a price tag of $29.99 without the memory card and will be available worldwide beginning in Q2 2008.

Read [SanDisk] Product [Flashback Adapter]

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Apple and Nike have announced the next stage of the Nike+ rollout. Right now, Nike+ lets your iPod talk to your shoes, but in the future, your iPod will talk to stationary bikes, step machines, treadmills and other torture devices.

Apple and Nike are in talks with gym equipment makers to include the Nike+ functionality in their machines so that their use can be tracked and aggregated. At the start of a workout, you plug your ipod into the machine and it will record everything you do for later upload to a computer, and then on to the Nike+ site via iTunes.

The point of Nike+, as we see it, is to bring a little bit of geek appeal to the square old world of sports, and adding a whole lot of gym-gadgets into the mix can only help those straights gain some nerd-cred. We’re unsure how exactly Nike will benefit from this deal. Apple will sell more iPods, sure, but Nike? How many pairs of sneakers do you need?

Press release [Nikebiz]

Posted Mar 5th 2008 8:03AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs
Just in case Dell’s Latitude XFR D630 was too mainstream for you, DRS Tactical Systems has a pair of equally tough rigs for you to chew on. Up first is the ARMOR C12 convertible (shown above), which packs a 12.1-inch outdoor readable touchscreen, 1.2GHz ULV U1400 CPU, 512MB of DDR2 RAM, a 60GB shock-mounted HDD, full-sized keyboard, integrated WiFi, Ethernet, PCMCIA, a biometric scanner and a die-cast magnesium case built to pass MIL-STD-810F / IP54 standards. As for the ARMOR X10 tablet (pictured after the jump), you’ll find a 1.2GHz U2500 Core Duo processor, an optional 16GB SSD, 10.4-inch sunlight readable display, Bluetooth and many of the same highlights seen on the aforementioned C12. No word on a price for either at the moment, but trust us, you’ll pay a pretty penny for a machine that just begs for pain. [Warning: PDF read link]

Posted Mar 5th 2008 6:57AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Digital Cameras, Features
There it is, the world’s smallest DSLR — the Olympus E-420 (left) — snuggled up next to its slightly bigger E-410 bro. Note that the E-420 on display at CeBIT is a near-final, fully-functional engineering prototype. What more can we say, it feels great in hand and the space and weight savings are certainly welcome. However, without any images to compare the best we can do is ogle the gallery until the reviews roll in.

Gallery: Hands on with Olumpus E-420 — the world’s smallest DSLR