Gizmo4You

It’s said that in slowing economies, companies build value, not go on shopping sprees. So, when Cisco (makers of computer servers and routers of most Internet traffic) decided to pony up half a billion dollars for Pure Digital Corporation, the idea seems to run counter to conventional wisdom. Unless, Cisco is looking to expand their range of services to include the consumer market. And with Pure Digital enjoying a great 24 months with sales of pocket camcorders it can also reveal that Cisco believes that video will be a driving for on the Internet in the future.

The Flip is a pocket sized camcorder that one may want to use for capturing every day moments while out and about. Costing between $130 and $230, it can capture up to 60 minutes of even high definition video on it’s on board flash memory and transfer that video to a PC or even upload to YouTube with its jack-knife like USB plug. On board software can also allow the user to put together a video presentation without investing in any more costly editing software.

Speculation is ripe that Cisco may be looking to take The Flip further into internet connectivity by adding WiFi or even 4G wireless connectivity. This would be a boon as no other camcorder has this feature to date, although many digital still camera models have begun incorporating WiFi access.

Hat Tip – C’Net

Every once in a while, some new device comes out for the kitchen that challenges the traditional model of the cook. Some of you may remember the miBook, and now there is the Demy Kitchen Safe Touchscreen Recipe Reader.

Some of you may have had mothers or grandmothers that kept all their recipes on index cards in a little box on the counter. In all honesty, I don’t know anyone from my generation (Gen-X) who does that.

No, we all digital now, baby! The Demy Kitchen Safe Touchscreen stores recipes in its digital memory, and other recipes can be taken directly from the Demy website itself.

Of course, what I don’t know is how to clean the screen. Remember those recipe cards that I was telling you about? I remember that some of the more often cooked ones had sauce stains on the corners. Can you imagine the stains that will accumulate on this device with its touchscreen?

The Demy Kitchen Safe Touchscreen Recipe Reader isn’t really out as yet, but you can pre-order it from Amazon for about $299.99. I’m not really sure what type of kitchen this would fit in, but I’m guessing it would be one in a very nice house.

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Some of you might remember two years ago when we first reported on the FragFX for the PS3. In case you aren’t familiar with the FragFX, just picture taking an ordinary Dual Shock controller and splitting in half. Then put the right analog stick on a mouse, and smatter it with the square, circle, triangle, and X buttons. It appears that the left joystick and the leftover buttons have been put on something that looks like a Wii Nunchuck.

The FragFX creators have made a version 2.0 for hardcore First Person Shooter (FPS) gamers, which includes many improvements including the optical mouse, mouse sensitivity, motion sensitivity, mouse buttons, d-pad, and games support.

They have also improved the “Frag” button. Just what exactly does this button do? Perhaps it sprays every opponent on the screen with blazing death. Of course, that would take all the fun out of playing games, wouldn’t it?

Or maybe you want that. Apparently, the FragFX is made for those PS3 gamers that are used to PC type of gaming. I’m not really in that crowd, but I know several people who would really get off on this. If you are one of them, you should be able to get the FragFX 2.0 for about $80.00.

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Have you ever had a conversation on a cellular phone, and found that the person that you were talking to could not hear you? Or you could not hear the one that you are talking to? It would be a bad time to get that really important message, like the ones you hear about on those AT&T commercials where the main characters’ phones are talking.

SWAT teams, who work in very loud backgrounds, know about this situation. This is why they often use microphones that attach on the neck. Apparently, the neck carries as much vibrations as the mouth, so the other person on the end gets to hear you very clearly.

This is why Sanwa has made the Throat Microphone, which will be available to the general consumer. You might think that this is an unusual accessory, but there was a time when no one would be caught dead wearing a wireless headset or Bluetooth earpiece.

In other words, Sanwa may be stumbling on the next wave of the future here. I wouldn’t mind wearing one of these myself when I’m working in a loud coffee shop. Of course, I might look like some freak with this collar on, not to mention that I would be talking to myself.

Sadly, there is no world when the Sanwa Throat Microphone will be available, nor any word on the price.

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In an effort to reduce your overall carbon footprint on this earth, why not take the unconventional route of checking out which appliance in your house is the biggest culprit? The new and improved Efergy Elite electricity monitor allows you to take control of your energy bills while saving you money in the process.

Using a small unit that hooks up to your electricity meter and a portable handheld device, you can see how much electricity you are using. With greater awareness you’ll become more energy efficient, as well as unearth those stealth energy eaters that cost you more than you think. Fully educated, you’re in a position to make lifestyle changes to reduce your carbon footprint and reduce your electricity bills. Try switching appliances off and on – you’ll see instant results in your portable LCD display! Built-in memory stores previous data and before you know it, trying to maintain low energy consumption and beat yesterday’s reading becomes a curiously addictive challenge.

Even a tech dummy can set up the Efergy Elite within 30 seconds, featuring an easy-to-read LCD display on the front. You can bring one home for £44.95.

Small toy helicopters abound in the market these days, but what happens when you want to duke it out with the rest by introducing the biggest, baddest boy on the block? The 4-Channel R/C Apache Helicopter is perfect as it measures more than 15″ long and features a quartet of channels of control, allowing you to dominate office airspace in a jiffy. The introduction of dual counter-rotating blades allow even beginners to handle this Apache copter like a seasoned veteran. You will be able to enjoy up/down, right/left rotation, and forward/backward movement and full pitch control on the bottom rotor which makes room for strafing right and left to avoid incoming imaginary missiles. Diminishing returns plague remote control helicopters till today where power is concerned, and the same applies to this 4-Channel R/C Apache Helicopter - it takes a quarter of an hour to generate 7 minutes of fly time. ThinkGeek has placed a $109.99 asking price for this.

ProLink Solutions is a name not to be trifled with when it comes to GPS golf course management systems as well as digital out-of-home on-course advertising, hence their announcement of introducing the new GameStar GPS system that is currently being used at The Hollows Golf Club (Montpelier, Va.). For folks who love hitting a fair number of balls on the green, The Hollows Golf Club is but a short drive from downtown Richmond, nestled in scenic and historic Hanover County, near Scotchtown, the home of Patrick Henry. It has been touted to be one of the areas most user-friendly links, where you will be able to indulge in three 9-hole courses (Road, Lake, and Cottage) that were specially designed to accommodate golfers of all skill levels.

According to Andrew Bemis, General Manager at The Hollows Golf Club, “Golf is a more enjoyable and less stressful game with ProLink, thanks to its accurate yardage and expert guidance. The system provides noticeable pace-of-play improvements and is an outstanding tool for managing the course.”

The ProLink GPS golf course management system comes with a patented 10.4″ high-resolution color screen which incidentally is the industry’s largest, and it is mounted onto a cart for dynamic, easy-to-read graphics that are easily accessible. Information derived includes distances to the pin and hazards, pro tips, pace-of-play timer and radial arc for cart-path-only holes. Should you feel your stomach start to rumble and your mouth itching for some nibbles, you will be able to place orders for food and beverage items with a touch of a button on the ProLink screen.

ProLink Touch is proud to be the golf industry’s first cart-mounted “Touch” screen. It is touted to be one of the most advanced and user-friendly unit on the market, where its innovative system will boast enhanced scoring functions that is able to automatically calculate “Nassau” and “Skins” results without resulting in you having a headache doing it yourself.

Press Release

We as gamers have it much better these days, as there are free content and demos floating around on gaming networks and download kiosks for us to enjoy a sneak peek of a particular title before deciding to drop some serious coin for the final product. Unfortunately, are these really “free”? After all, somebody has got to pay - and according to a report by MTV Multiplayer, Sony has started to charge publishers a per-gigabyte fee for bandwidth used when downloading content. This deal would seem rather strange as it gives off the vibes for not releasing popular content or demos on the service instead.

It also goes against conventional wisdom at this moment in time as Sony surprisingly has a large advantage over the Xbox 360 as this platform offers free online gaming and content downloads. While Xbox Live costs approximately $50—less if you get a deal, where there is a treasure trove of content made available to Gold members first and Silver members down the line, Sony will instead pass the bill onto publishers for these online features. We suppose the high road that Sony could take would be to absorb the bandwidth costs and hope that this incentive will cause publishers to be more enthusiastic about the PS3 by releasing better quality games that will let more and more people sign up for this as the gaming platform of choice instead of the Wii and Xbox 360.

It seems otherwise though as MTV Multiplayer has managed to get hold of a memo sent to publishers from Sony which changes the fees associated with hosting content on the PlayStation Store. Publishers will now have to pony up 16 cents per 1GB downloaded via the store for the first two months where free content is concerned, and in perpetuity for paid content. That’s not chump change by any means as a demo which is downloaded one million times will cost a publisher approximately $160,000 - all this on top of the regular fees that Sony charges to put content and games up on the store. Do you see a solution out of this, and is the Xbox Live model a better one to follow?

Source: Ars Technica

Here’s a nice update to the classic boring walking stick.  It adds a few extra features that make using a walking stick far more convenient.  The big perk being that the stick is housed with LED lights.  Making walking at night a lot easier to do and definitely a lot more safe.  Even better is that the LED lights shine in two different directions.  One shines up ahead and the other at your feet, making it highly less likely you’ll stumble over any unseen objects.

The Slik-Stik walking stick has other nice features such as having a built-in magnet for when items are dropped.  It also has a wrist strap to make sure you don’t drop the cane itself, there is also a rubberized hand grip with a non-slip coating to prevent dropping.  The cane has a four position stem that will adjust to the height that is most comfortable for you.  It also folds up to make it easier to store when it’s not in use.  To power the lights you can either plug it in or wind it up for a slightly more eco-friendly approach.

Source: Newlaunches

When you’re traveling, sometimes you have to give up your precious cup of espresso.  Which can actually be more catastrophic for those that have to deal with you than it actually is for you.  So as a service to the people around you, you should make sure that you’re never away from your coveted caffeine fix.  To do that, you will need this Handpresso.  It’s small enough to easily pack away in a suitcase so that it will be handy no matter where you travel.

Although it might not be quite up to the quality of a machine that you might use at home, it would at least be far better than nothing at all.  In order to work the hand held item, just use the handle to pump in air up until you reach 16 bars of pressure.  Then pour the hot water and press the release button.  It then dispenses espresso with crema on top.  There is no power needed, making it even more travel friendly.  You can pick it up for $99 through Amazon.

Source: Bookofjoe