Nike Unveils New and Improved SportBand

Whether or not you love running or loathe it, Nike has released a new product to make the experience a little more worthwhile. The footwear company has released an updated version of the Nike+ SportBand. Like it's predecessor, the SportBand records the number of calories burned, the distance covered as well as the pace via a transmitter placed in a Nike+ Shoe or tied to the shoestrings of a regular running shoe.

Some notable improvements are the enhanced display for easier reading and enhanced water-resistance through a welded seal. The biggest improvement has to be the fact that now running fanatics can keep track of their progress sans the bulky armband that used to house your iPod. It's as simple as strapping on the SportBand and start running. The streamlined wristband is lightweight and also doubles as a watch.

Wi-Fi detector cap-and-shirt make you a moving status indicator

Don't be surprised if kids point at you and scream, "Look Mommy, that cap is lighting up!". Or if people around disperse rather quickly as your T-shirt lights up without warning. The good part? Well, to know that you are near a strong 802.11b/g Wi-Fi network that you can crawl into and shut out the external world. And I think that's a handsome compensation for the trouble you would have taken to dress yourself up with either this Wi-fi Detector Cap($14.99), or the Wi-Fi Detector Shirt($19.99) from ThinkGeek.

Both the cap and the shirt serve the geek-noble purpose of detecting a nearby Wi-Fi network, and also visually indicate the signal strength. And displaying this information for everyone to see spares you from having to check the availability of a hotspot yourself. Afterall, the proverbial geek is also a well-known sloth.

Via TechEBlog.

Powramid is a power strip with a difference

Have you ever seen a multi-outlet power strip that isn't boringly rectangular? Or have you even considered that it needn't always be so? Well, someone else did. And in the process, they probably revolutionized the profile of the plain power strip altogether - by designing a pyramid-shaped surge protector called the Powramid.

This 6-outlet power strip is conveniently shaped like a pyramid, and has a green LED light that acts as a surge indicator. The advantage of the new shape is multifold - the larger AC adapters can fit into the outlets with ease, the power strip itself occupies lesser space, and your device wires can be shorter than those required for a rectangular power strip. Only advantages, this one. The outlets are priced between $24 and $29.

Via The Gadgeteer.

From Table to Speakerbox: K-Box Transforms Any Surface into a Speaker

Speakers with all their wires and complicated set-up instructions may go the way of the dinosaurs if multimedia company Kerchoonz has its way. The Scottish company recently went to market with the K-Box. About the size of a standard cell phone, the unassuming black and purple device can turn any flat surface including tables or windows into a speaker.

Using a patented "Gel Audio" Technology, the K-Box passes sound through the surface making it resonate producing some impressive bass. It has speakers to produce mid and high range frequencies. With a standard 3.5mm audio jack you can simply plug it in to your laptop, iPod, phone or gaming system and get some amazing sound.

Retailing at $74.99 plus shipping and handling, the K-Box has approximately 20-hours of battery life and can be recharged via a USB cable.

MIX STIX can help you drum your way through the kitchen

They are cooking "gadgets" that double up as drumsticks, but not of the eating kind. MIX STIX is an innovative set of wooden spoons that can not only help you rustle up your meal in style, but also aid your musical inclinations by becoming a pair of drumsticks as you flip them around.

Designed by Ignacio Pilotto & Jason Amendolara, MIX STIX are a pair of beechwood spoons, one solid and the other slotted like a musical note, and made specifically for dual use as spoons-cum-drumsticks. Sounds pretty logical, doesn't it?

Now I wonder if there is any amongst us who hasn't used kitchen cutlery for purposes other than cooking - breaking into impromptu musical compositions, for instance. Or letting your spouse know explicitly that you are frustrated with the day's proceedings, for another. Thank your stars that nobody has let their imaginations stretch as far as the latter idea just yet.

Watch out for the spoon sisters to hit Urban Outfitters stores this fall.

Via OhGizmo.

Samsung Gets Highlights

Yesterday, the Samsung Highlight hit shelves. A slim and curvy number, the Highlight SGH-t749 is a smartphone with a full touchscreen and style for days. With it's rubberized casing, the Highlight is easy on the hands. With vibrant colors like the bright red and orange "Fire" and the cool turquoise "Ice," the phone is seriously easy on the eyes.

In lieu of a QWERTY keypad, the Highlight has a QWERTY touchscreen that can be accessed much like the iPhone. It also has a number of customizable widgets, allowing quick and easy access to some of the user's favorite apps. The screen is has a respectable 240 x 400 pixel resolution which comes in handy when you're cruising the web on the full size web browser.

Drape fashion around your ears with Zumreed Dreams headphones

Imagine what a pair of good-looking headphones can do to your personality. The truth ? Not much. Though it wouldn't be an utterly foolish idea to be aesthetically competent now, would it ? The Zumreed Dreams ZHP-005 headphones can perhaps help you along, given that they are striped chic and are available in 5 bright colors to match with your audio player.

These retro-looking colorfully striped headphones are sure to make a few heads turn to ogle your own, and you can pretend to be so immersed in music that the attention hasn't affected you. For the more serious, the headphones specs indicate decent performance too - they have a frequency response of 20 Hz - 20kHz, a 40mm driver unit and 1.2m length of cord, and come padded with soft earpads for a comfortable fit around the ears. Enough said.

Get yours from AudioCubes at $65.99.

Via The Red Ferret.

iHouse Builds the Better Faucet

Remember that old MGM cartoon "The House of Tomorrow," where we were given a glimpse into the future of the modern household? While it was silly and over-the-top, it got one thing right, today's house is totally different from the appliances of 1949 or even 1990. And thanks to companies like iHouse, the House of Tomorrow is closer to becoming the House of Today.

Bandai's New Notebook: Too Cute for Words

Japan is known for its of out of this world tech and it's obsession with anything cute and animated (Hello Kitty anyone?). And toymaker Bandai, creators of Girlz Connect and the wildly popular Tomagotchi digital pet, sees no reason why cute and tech should ever be separate.

Their latest creation takes the adorable cartoon character RilakKuma, a lovable bear that loves nothing more than sleeping and eating mochi with a netbook creating what could possibly be the cutest piece of tech ever. The netbook is pretty standard fare with 1GB memory, an Atom N270 processor, and 160GB hard drive. Now the 8.9-inch 1024x600 resolution screen leaves something to be desired however.

Soundblock iPod speakers look like LEGO blocks

Elecom has brought out a series of docks for the iPod Nano called Soundblocks that are perhaps the most good-looking ones in the mini-dock category. They measure only 2 x 16mm, and are available in atleast a dozen appetizing colors - just so that you can match your iPod with the appropriate one. Seriously, what more could you want? Well, I for one, would like to know if they sound as good as they look.

The speakers are priced at around $42.

Via TechFresh.

Panda USB hub

Think Panda, think cute. Moreover, the one that we are going to intro is a hassle free pet that lives on a diet of data, not bamboo. Oh well, it is the 4-port Panda USB hub that deserves all the praise because it looks good, is plug-n-play, and is pretty hard to ignore. Plugging your USB drive in adorably lights up its eyes with a cool blue color that, you know, can sorta warm up your heart. At $12 it would have been an easy decision to make, if not for the hugely limiting USB 1.1 interface. Either it is that some people just don't realize what it means to make products of a minimum standard, or they don't expect to sell very much. Your guess.

Via Fosfor.

Juicy Couture Goes Geeky

As if the obnoxious sweatpants with their name across the ass weren't enough, the folks at Juicy Couture have unleashed their latest travesty upon the unsuspecting masses -- the Juicy Couture "Back To School" Flexi Keyboard. Hoping to appeal to the geek girl diva crowd, the rubber and silicone number comes in bubblegum pink, because as you know, women are just suckers for anything pretty and pink (eye roll). The lettering on the keyboard is done in Juicy's usual Old English lettering.

Cheap marketing ploy aside, this USB keyboard does have some good points. The rubber and silicone body lets users roll it up like a yoga mat, making it totally portable. It's also Mac and PC friendly.

The fancy pants keyboard is retailing at Nordstrom for a whopping $45, a little pricey for a keyboard, but such is the price of couture I guess.

Via CoolestGadgets

Researchers get ticklish to discover origins of laughter

"Hi honey, how was your day?"

"Oh, pretty good - I tickled some chimps for a bit and then started in on the babies..."

Not a typical day in the office for most of us perhaps, but when British researcher Marina Davila Ross of the University of Portsmouth, England began a study to trace the origin of human laughter, she knew she was going to have to get hands on.

She and her colleagues tickled three human babies as well as 21 orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos. They recorded the laughter sounds that resulted from each bout of tickling, and were able to identify some sounds which indicate humans and apes may have a shared laughter heritage. (I'm guessing they also identified that tickling babies and primates is a fun way to spend a day).

To think, at school I was under the misapprehension that science was boring.

Image: Thomas Lersch via Wikipedia.

What's your favorite (imaginary) gadget?

After 15 happy months, my time at Popgadget has come to a close (I know, I'm sad too. But I won't cry. *sniffsniff*)

In that time, I've loved writing about the weird and the wonderful in the world of tech. I've seen some inventions that made perfect sense (every home should have a disco coffee table) and others that boggled my mind (USB breast warmers - enough said).

So this article in The Guardian about household gadgets that haven't been invented but should be got me thinking. I hate taking showers (and don't get me started on baths) but obviously I have to, or I wouldn't have any friends. And no-one would serve me in shops and restaurants and stuff.

Why has no-one invented the dry shower yet? Haven't we been taunted for years with the notion that we would one day be vibrated dry (which sounds like fun and possibly a new weight loss idea)? Get onto it engineers, please. I may not be blogging about gadgets anymore, but I'm still keeping an eye out for great inventions of the future.

What would you like to see?

Birdsong radio woos its fans (for the last time)

Here's a sweet story, or even a "tweet" story... No, I'm not rambling on about Twitter yet again - I'm talking about real birds this time.

After British digital radio station OneWorld was taken off the air, the BBC had nothing to replace it with. So they replaced music with... recorded birdsong.

Almost half a million listeners tuned in over the 18 months "Birdsong radio" was running, many of whom, like author Sir Terry Pratchett, found it "relaxing". Some fans were city-dwellers who never get to hear birds singing in real life.

But at the start of June, the idyll was over: The BBC's new station, Amazing Radio, which will feature unsigned artists, was launched, and Birdsong radio was no more. Huh. I guess it was more of a sad story, really. Shame there isn't room on the radio for upcoming musicians and nature's own, isn't it?

Image: Wikimedia.

BenQ Brings You More "Joy"

Make room for yet another netbook. BenQ, a Taiwanese consumer electronics specializing in LCD monitors, digital projectors, and of course netbooks. The latest release, the Joybook Lite U102 is compact, sleek and shiny just like we like it. The latest iteration of the Joybook is being marketed for the person that's constantly on the go that wants an ultra-portable perks of a netbook without sacrificing the performance power of a laptop.

This obsidian beauty comes with a high polish finish and weighs in at 2.3lbs and is 1" thick making it unbelievably light. The netbook even has a miniature AC adapter. But with all that streamlining, the Joybook still has room for a 10.1" 16:9 WSVGA LED-backlit screen. BenQ also made sure they didn't skimp on the image quality. Videos and images can be viewed in high quality HD, thanks to the 1024x600 widescreen. Unlike other netbooks with small cramped keyboards the Joybook's keyboard is a comfortable fit, 90% of the size of a full QWERTY keyboard. There's also an expanded touchpad for easier scrolling.

Dumbbell Alarm Clock Makes Exercise Like Clockwork

With American waistlines on a steady increase, it's important that we use every spare second to fight the battle of the bulge. Fred & Friends, maker of fun and practical products has just what the doctor ordered with it's latest creation, the SHAPE UP. This handy little gadget pulls double duty as an alarm clock and a free weight.

Simply set the alarm for your usual wake up time and catch a good night's sleep. When it's time to wake up, the alarm sounds, but unlike regular alarm clocks, you can't shut it off with an uncoordinated, early morning button push. To turn off the alarm you have to do 30 reps with it.
That's right, you actually have to exercise in order to turn off the racket.

SHAPE UP is as environmentally-friendly as it is health-conscious. The clock comes packaged in a clear recycable box. Perfect for a health buff or someone that needs a little gentle prodding to get to the gym, the SHAPE UP makes a great gift.

Another USB hub that's much more

Here's yet another USB hub with a difference - this one has an integrated luminous calculator for number crunching, a mouse pad and a 3-port hub, all rolled (out) into one entity.

The USP of this device is that it lights up with a "blue, moody light" that illuminates the calculator making it look pretty fetching (in complete darkness, ofcourse). And it is super-slim too, measuring just around 4mm in thickness. The calculator can be switched off and used as a mouse pad, or as a USB 1.1 (only ?) hub. The device itself runs either on external power supply or a single battery (power adapter / battery included).

Well, if you haven't bought yourself even one of the zillion USB-hub-cum-this-'n-that devices yet, head on to GizFever and check this one out. Costs $17.99.

Via Engadget.

New website encourages parents to Panic About Babies

It seems like expectant parents are always being faced with incredibly scary information (like the fact that if you're pregnant, that baby is going to come out of you, and it is going to hurt, or that you are going to be sole caretakers of another human being, that kind of stuff). "Don't panic!" Parenting books exude, while you're hyperventilating into the paper bag they came in.

Well, a new site launched this week by popular "mommybloggers" Alice Bradley (aka Finslippy) and Eden Marriott Kennedy (of Fussy fame) takes a total different tack.

Fulton Innovation Wants to Turn Your Sofa into a Wireless Charger

With our lives becoming increasingly digital, we need an ever growing amount of gadgets to keep up. And where there are more gadgets, there are more wires and clutter. To combat the problem, many companies are going the wireless route using routers to keep our gadgets connected to the net, but technology to wirelessly charge our toys has been slow in coming. But if infrastructure manufacturer Leggett & Platt and Fulton Innovation have their way, soon gadget geeks will have a stylish and comfortable way to keep all their digital necessities charged and ready.

What does the internet think ?

Ever wondered what that huge informational powerhouse called the "internet" thinks about a particular topic, say - Barack Obama, Swine Flu, The iPhone 3Gs, or just Dirty Laundry?

Well, being the powerful entity that it is, the "internet" ought to have a mind of its own now, doesn't it? Which is why this site called whatdoestheinternetthink tries to demystify those nagging questions which have, until now, remained unanswered. whatdoestheinternetthink analyses the search results from popular search engines (Google, Yahoo & Bing), and categorizes the final result on the topic as being Positive, Negative, or Don't Care. It also colorfully depicts the percentage of search results that fall under each of these three categories, along with a short summary of this topic being discussed on Twitter.

Pretty useful and gets quite addictive. Plus, it was quite interesting for me to know that 64.7% of the internet doesn't really care about Michelle Obama, while 71% is actually positive on Lindsay Lohan (according to Google). Hmmm.

14 year old girl discovers supernova

We're more used to seeing news stories about teenage girls running up astronomical cell phone bills than having an interest in astronomy, but 14 year old Caroline Moore is clearly exceptional. Caroline, who is from New York, was scouting the night sky with her amateur telescope when she spotted celestial object SN 2008ha (catchy name, huh?)

The supernova is an exploded star located 70 million light-years away from Earth (approx) and no-one had ever identified it before. It appears to be unusually bright.

As Alex Filippenko, the leader of the supernova group at the University of California in Berkeley told Softpedia.com:

“Coincidentally, the youngest person to ever discover a supernova found one of the most peculiar and interesting supernovae ever."

Kudos, Caroline - keep up the great work!

Image: NASA.

What's the miracle cure for cellulite?

There is none. But you knew that.

The New York Times's Catherine Saint Louis explains why. If you are beach-bound, there's really only one small ray of hope. Your cellulite may be temporarily less noticeable if the skin around it is plumped up. Cellulite creams and machines often work this way. They irritate your skin so that it swells, which disguises lumpiness a little bit for a little while.

Very irritating.

Every girl's dream: the weightless wedding

It wasn't exactly a wedding in space, which I told you last year will happen in 2011. But it was a weightless wedding, probably the first to be held in the 30-second periods of zero gravity possible when the G-Force One aircraft flies loop-de-loops. Cost: $7500 per person, not counting the photographer.

Thanks to Jennifer Ouellette at Twisted Physics, who provides technical details on the nuptials. For a more traditional account that covers how bride Erin Finnegan and groom Noah Fulmor were dressed, plus a photo gallery, see Australia's Daily Telegraph.

Sony Ericsson Wants to Light up Your Wardrobe

As our gadgets have become more prevalent in our lives, it's also become a necessity for our tech to not only improve our lives but look good while they do it. Cell phone companies have answered the call for high-quality tech and aesthetics with phones specifically designed to function as high tech fashion accessories decked out with everything from precious metals to jewelry.

Download file

Microsoft Bing search engine review

microsoft-bing-logo

So we have all heard of this new entry into the search engine market called “Bing” or more like Microsoft second crack at gaining more search engine dominance against Google and Yahoo. Microsoft over the last month has been hyping this new search engine as the next revolution in search as its search engine market share has been slipping in the last couple of years and marketing (pay-per-click) struggles to make a profit. At first glance the front page search looks very simple and has an almost google feel to it, doing a search in Bing does reveal the same results or very similar results as it did with the MSN search engine and I can see Bing weighs the domain name quite heavy for search result. The one neet feature I can say was quite helpful was the left hand sidebar with my search history (although if you where searching for something sketchy and forgot to clear the history that might be embarrassing).

Overall I think Microsoft did a decent job making the look and feel of the search engine “Google’ish” but will it gain more market share or increase what Microsoft has now?

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Microsoft Bing search engine review

Fifa 2010

 

During the presentation of FIFA 2010 in Emirates Stadium of London, England, EA show a Demo and the advances of the game, now it is 45 % complete for the consoles Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. This game will have a lot of improvements with your defensive, because every player is going to be able to act independently and this mode is going to add more realism to the game. Graphically FIFA 2010 is going to be better than FIFA 2009, all the players are going to have more graphic details.

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Fifa 2010

Xbox360 project Natal

This is absolutely amazing technology from Microsoft called xbox360 Natal. It is an interactive technology with you and the system, no controllers, no wires just you a camera and the tv screen. Big deal right? there has been interactive tv/video games for a while. Well thats not the only feature, xbox has almost created true artificial intelligence and interaction with a character called Milo, he can recognize you, your face, your emotion and even interact with you via the camera on the xbox (just by holding a picture or a drawing to the camera in a split second he can see it and identify whats on that paper). This is absolutely ground breaking and revolutionary technology that I have never seen before and it will change the gaming and AI industry forever. Check out the youtube video: Lionhead Peter Molyneux Milo Demo - Xbox 360 Natal

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Samsung, Omnia Pro B7610 instead of Louvre B7610

Samsung announced officially slide type phone ‘Omnia Pro B7610’ instead of ‘Louvre B7610’.
Omnia Pro B7610 has 3.5’’ WVGA AMOLED display, 800MHz and 5-mega pixel camera. It is told that it will be released in August with Windows Mobile 6.1 not officially but it is certain that it will support Mobile 6.5 upgrade.

Watch more details of Omnia Pro B7610.

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Samsung, Omnia Pro B7610 instead of Louvre B7610

Samsung, Zet

Samsung’s new touch phone, Zet is unveiled. It has Samsung 6410 processor run with 800MHz, 5-mega pixel camera, 3.1’’ WVGA AMOLED display and Dolfin browser based on web kit.
Samsung makes it a non-smartphone by adding Touchwiz 2.0 UI and Samsung OS. It is impressed that it supports MS Exchange Active Sync that we only use on smartphone even though not concerning DivX Video play function. And it also contains On Board Navigation function with A-GPS. There is no source about release date.
Watch more details of Zet.

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Samsung, Zet