We all know that Michael Bay has at least another Transformers movie up his sleeves, which is why you will find Transformers toys sell very well during the movie release, with Hasbro executives laughing all the way to the bank. Why not launch a pre-emptive strike on the speculator’s market with the Transformers Optimus Prime Projection Alarm Clock? After all, for £24.99 you will get a decapitated Optimus Prime who speaks phrases (’Autobots transform and roll out’, ‘This is Optimus Prime, do you read me?’, ‘It’s time to stomp some Decepticons’) that suit the Autobot leader’s personality while projecting the Autobot Shield every time the alarm goes off!

If you own an iPod nano 4G and want to turn it into a powerful voice recorder, then look no further than Incipio’s Lloyd. This microphone adapter turns your nano 4G into a personal assistant and perhaps even note taker, featuring a state of the art, high quality microphone adapter that is specially designed to help reduce wind and breath tones while recording.

Whether conducting an interview, taking lecture notes, or capturing the sounds of life happening around you, simply attach Lloyd to your iPod nano 4G for immediate voice recording capabilities. Lloyd’s built-in headphone jack allows you to listen by connecting your headphones or external audio source while on the go. This compact microphone adapter fits easily into any purse or pocket and can even remain on the nano 4G at all times. (Simply rotate to charge)

You will be able to pick up the Lloyd for $17.99 in classic black or soft white colors.

Product Page via Press Release

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Well, that adage will definitely apply to those who actually fall for the antics of the Annoy-a-tron, which is now available in version 2.0. This time round, it comes with six sound choices along with volume control, making sure that you are twice as fun and annoying at the office! Some of the sound and volume combinations found on the Annoy-a-tron 2.0 include :-

• 15kHz (Mosquito tone - young folks can hear it, older folks cannot!) (full volume)
• Cricket chirping (medium/low volume)
• IM Doorbell (low volume)
• Grating Electronic noise (full volume)
• Typical Electronic Beep (medium volume)

What would make this most interesting would be setting the cricket sound - make sure you place the Annoy-a-tron 2.0 somewhere a few feet off the ground, since most people would look for that dastardly cricket at floor level and will most probably miss the Annoy-a-tron 2.0’s secret location. Well, only your clueless colleagues will be irritated - our loyal CG readers will definitely throw a knowing wink at the prankster. The Annoy-a-tron 2.0 will retail for $12.99 each.

Open Air Cinema is a name that is familiar if you’re into outdoor cinema equipment, and it seems rather strange for them to announce their new 16ft x 9ft Open Air Home Screen considering we’re right smack in the middle of winter at the moment (for those living in the northern hemisphere at least). Seriously, I would much rather sit at home around a cozy fireplace toasting marshmallows with a piping cup of hot chocolate in one hand instead of freezing my derrière off in the chilly cold and “enjoying” a rented movie played via my projector. Come to think of it, this only works with a weatherproof projector of sorts, right? The Open Air Home Screen is no ordinary display though, as it is a behemoth inflatable movie screen. Good to know you won’t need to rely on lung power to engorged it, otherwise it might take much longer than viewing the entire movie itself. Perhaps Open Air Cinema released this in anticipation of folks who love being prepared 6 months ahead of the coming summer, or folks from Down Under would like to import one of these puppies.

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Sharp is at the forefront of projector technology yet again, this time round with the new PG-F255W that offers native WXGA (1,280 x 800) resolution without breaking the bank. This new DLP BrilliantColor model will merge the following features into a $999 price point - vibrant color reproduction, exceptional compatibility and reliability that makes it suitable for use in corporate, educational and home/office fields. The projector caters to those who want to view full 720p images from HD sources, while you will also be able to enjoy pixel perfect 1,280 x 800 WXGA resolution in 16:10 aspect ratio from the latest generation of computers, alongside an expanded color palette for more realistic and lifelike images thanks to BrilliantColor technology with multi-color processing.

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This isn’t the first time we have reported about new Navigon GPS navigation devices, as we covered the Navigon 5100 max about a month ago. Today’s breaking news is that the Navigon 5100 (not the max model) is available at a very low price of $99 (with a mail-in rebate).

Any GPS that is below $100 is a pretty good deal, especially in light of the holiday season. Navigon sweetened the deal even more by removing the subscription charge included with most GPS devices. That’s right, the real-time traffic updates are included for the life of the GPS.

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This modern age of cell phones has certainly made communication easier, and the only downside is the necessity of charging our cell phones. This need always keeps us going back to the AC outlet, often at inconvenient times.

Devices like the solar-powered Solio or other AA-battery powered chargers might give a cellular phone a tiny bit of juice that it needs, but what if there was a simpler way? What if charging our phone was as simple as talking to it?

This is what some University of Houston scientists are suggesting is possible with piezoelectricity, when a mechanical force is converted to electricity. For example, a barbeque grill lighter uses piezoelectric forces when you push a button. The button puts pressure on a crystal, the crystal produces a voltage, and the result is a spark that lights your coals.

A specific size of crystal or ceramic material could become a power cell for a mobile device, and the sound waves for our own voice could be the spark that powers it. Some of the power generating crystals would have to be very small, only 23 nanometers wide. To put this into scale, a human hair is about 100,000 nanometers thick.

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Since iPods and iPhones are so popular, the accessories have gotten a great deal of business.  A lot of the companies selling accessories have started to attempt to think outside of the box.  Which does mean that there are a lot of bizarre iPod accessories out there.  However, this one actually makes sense, at least to me.  A lot of people like to have a night light in different places to make wandering the house at night a little safer.  Well then why not combine that with a charger?

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