Gadget Gift Ideas

Unless you’re under a rock, you know Valentine’s Day is coming up. You can’t go into a store without seeing the acres of red and pink and hearts and all the other things that go along with this sappy holiday designed to sell boxes of candy and keep the greeting card industry afloat.

But what if you could give a crap about Valentine’s Day? Is there a “Bah Humbug” phrase for the anti-Valentine crowd? Or are you newly single and have a lot of angst for anything to do with this sickeningly sweet holiday? Well, have I got the thing for you.

Think Geek is selling Despair, Inc.’s (the creator of the fantastic Demotivators) Bittersweets. They have three different “themes”: Dejected, Dysfunctional, and Dumped. Reminiscent of the traditional candy hearts, these Bittersweets don’t have cutesy sayings like “BE MINE” or “LUV U”, but more sinister platitudes like “RATHER DRINK” and “TRADIN YOU IN”. Here’s the full list of each set: Read the rest of this entry »

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Damn! Now why didn’t they have this during Christmas? Check out this Pac-Man lights that are truly a blast from the past while lighting up your world at the same time. I guess the little yellow fellow did just that back when you were a teen, hanging out at sleazy arcades although the glow from the arcade cabinet could not quite compare to this. Thanks to French lighting company Remake Design, these interlocking light blocks consist of colored ghosts, dots, as well as everybody’s favorite pie chart - Pac-Man. A set of four blocks will cost somewhere in the region of 1,200 quarters - that’s $300 for the mathematically-challenged.

Source: Technabob

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Moving into a new home can be very exciting - but getting all the right measurements can be quite the pain! Just like scales and even the speedometer, it is best to get something more accurate in a digital format compared to an analog dial, and this is where the Digital Measuring Tape comes in.

The Digital Measuring Tape features a large easy to read display that is capable of memorizing your measurements with the push of a button. It can give measurements in either feet and inches or metric units and will even display fractions of an inch (as small as 1/16th) just like a standard tape measure. There is also a setting for adding the case length for taking inside measurements. The Digital Measuring Tape turns on and off automatically, when the tape is extended (on) or fully retracted back into the case (off).

You get 16 feet with the Digital Measuring Tape along with five different measurement formats. ThinkGeek is carrying it for $24.99.

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With the slew of gadgets that one carries around these days, it makes perfect sense to provide them with adequate protection since we know that accidental knocks are harder to predict than the weather. Hence, the Pocket Protector.

Upgrade your geekwear with this fabulously functional Pocket Protector. Each 5-3/4″ x 3-3/8″ vinyl accessory has multiple storage compartments to store everything from pens and laser pointers to flash drives and MP3 players. It even includes a 36″, nylon, breakaway lanyard so you can wear it around your neck at conventions, conferences and symposiums. Comes with a sheet of 25 cling stickers of various geeky icons and symbols that you can use to add some pizazz to your protector.

The $4.95 price tag makes this worth a try even if it doesn’t really work out for you (and your gadget) in the end.

Product Page via Nerd Approved

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Macworld 2008 isn’t all about the Macbook Air and it’s integrated battery - no siree, we also have a bunch of other interesting items to look at, especially for folks who have recently picked up a shiny new Apple product and want to prevent scratches and nicks to it. iSkin Inc. is here to save the day yet again by parading a quartet of new products which target Mac users, and they are the iSkin Pro Touch, the iSkin eVo3 Classic, the iSkin Redline, and the iSkin Fuze. Sounds pretty funky, no? Detailed descriptions of each offering will be made available after the jump.

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Whilst travelling back from a frankly exhausting CES 2008, I found a very small reference in one of the local UK newspapers referring to a new product just about to hit the market. Now, I’ve heard of some strange food and drink combinations in my time, but Marmite with Champagne is probably one of the weirdest. Now I’m one of the odd people in my family who actually likes Marmite and I also like Champagne, but both together, um, I’m not so sure….

This is being marketed as a limited edition valentine’s gift, with only 600,000 being made available. The jar has a gold-coloured label saying ‘I love you’ or ‘For my lovely Marmite lover’.

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You know you’ve got a winning product when everyone who tries it comes away with huge grins and can’t stop talking about the experience. Which was exactly what happened at the TN Games booth today. The FPS Gaming vest is a new gaming peripheral aimed at the first person shooter market. Looking like a flack jacket, the vest will actually "punch" you when you get hit. Not only that, but it punches where you get hit too. It doesn’t bruise, but you definitely know you’ve been fragged and where the shot came from.

Now for the fun part. At the show they’re demonstrating a prototype helmet to add on to the system. When I first heard about this I had a few reservations. I mean, you don’t normally say "yes" to someone when they say "Hey, wear this helmet that will hit you in the head".

It works though, and works well. Playing the demo game I got taken down by an alien, and the fatal shot came straight to the back of the head. Ouch…

Gaming hardware is dead in the water if it doesn’t have title support, which is why TN have developed drivers for a bunch of common games including Crysis, Half Life 2, Medal of Honour and F.E.A.R.

The vest without helmet is available now from the TN Games website for $169 which seems pretty good value to me for the experience. The helmet is still prototype and there’s no final price or availability yet. You need a USB connection and presumably some sort of power for the air compressor.

The unintentional model in the photo is Adam from VeniceTheMenace.com, who had the misfortune to be there as I was walking around with the camera!

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The WoW Wee stand had us hovering around for quite a while and we particularly liked Tribot, the interactive robot. Not only does he have great movement function due to the tri-wheel base, but he also acts as a door guard to prevent pesky little brothers or sisters coming into your room.

Another of his features is as an alarm clock - nothing too new in that you may think. However, when he wakes up, in order for you to turn him off, you have to chase him around the room and he’s pretty fast!

Of course you can also play games with Tribot and there are many to chose from. Available in Summer 08 at $99.00, I’d get him on your Christmas list now.

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