Author name: William Appleyard

DeLorme Earthmate PN-30 – handheld GPS

Gizmo of the Day, GPS, Portable / By /

DeLorme Earthmate PN-30

So for those of you that are into GPS units, take a look at the DeLorme’s Earthmate PN-30. Very recently DeLorme released their PN-40 with a recommended list price of $400 – the PN-30 trumps this with a price of $300 whilst retaining the majority of the features. It is easily recognizable as an Earthmate by its unique shape and bright rubber casing, which also helps protect it from falls. It features a LCD that can be easily read in daylight, maps of USA, Canada and Mexio and is fully waterproof in case the heavens open up while you’re trekking around.

The Earthmate PN-30 contains an SD card slot which can be used to transfer maps from PC or Mac and the latest maps around the world, including lake and marine maps, can be downloaded for just $29.95 a year. If you’re still worried about the aesthetics then you can choose bright green, or camouflage for the device.

For those of you who were thinking about buying a PN-40, we’ll have a quick look at what you lose with a PN-30:

  • 3 axis electronic compass
  • Accurate altitude readings

If you’re willing to sacrifice those features for $100 then go for it!

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer

Price: $283.19 (in green)
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Next-Gen Protection for Gadgets and Humans

Miscellaneous, Sports, Health & Fitness, Outdoors / By /

d3o have come up with a rather magical invention that protects whatever it covers by simply deflecting the incoming object. You can already think of the many applications – pad your iPhone in it to make it bounce back when you drop it, or protect your head when you’re skiing down the mountain. The material consists of ‘intelligent’ molecules. They flow with you as you move but on shock lock together to absorb the impact energy.

d3o don’t actually sell any products online, but they have teamed up with major retailers worldwide to provide some really useful products – full list here.

This video really sums it up!

Gardenwatch Cam – watch your garden grow from your desk

Gizmo of the Day, Tools, DIY, Home, Office / By /

Gardenwatch Cam

The Gardenwatch Cam is a snappy little innovation that lets you record your garden growing by taking pictures at predetermined intervals (standard ones are 1 min, 5 mins, 30 mins, 1 hour, 4 hours, 24 hours or set your own!) in JPEG format, and them playing them back to you in a Discovery Channel-style long exposure movie.

The pictures are taken with a 1.3MP camera and stored on an 8GB internal memory. All-in-all it’s quite an interesting product, and might brighten up your desktop with some amazing photos of the plants and the sunrise that you just wouldn’t be awake for otherwise.

Buy now!

Price: $139.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

The “Electronic” Ruler – redefining stationary

Gizmo of the Day, Miscellaneous / By /

Electronic Ruler

I’m sure no one’s thought of this idea before – turning an ‘analog’ ruler into a digital one – but Shay Shafranek has done exactly that. Taking a circuit board, he placed a set of LED digits under a thing strip of wood-like material and added a reset button and little touch-sensitive buttons on the side to detect where the pencil is. The beauty of this is that it can do everything a normal ruler can do, except better of course! Drawing lines of exact length are instantly more accurate with a digital scale, the ruler can help scale drawing by setting it into scale mode (1 unit on the ruler = x units on item) and measuring long distances are easier as the ruler will add up each individual distance when it’s moved!

I think I’d be happy to pay a crazy amount for a ruler like this, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be for sale at the moment. In the mean time, there’s a really good presentation of what the ruler can do over at ShayShafranek.com.

Mimo Mini USB Monitor – expand your screen real estate

Computers, Gizmo of the Day, Portable / By /

Mim Mini USB Monitor

Having a dual monitor is pretty cool, but desk space, available sockets and video card troubles can be an issue when decided whether or not to buy one. Don’t worry! GfG have found a solution to your problems – the Mimo Mini USB Monitor. This is a portable 7″ screen that can be plugged into a computer or laptop to add a little more screen space into the mix. Connecting via USB (2.0), the mini monitor adds that little extra flexibility to your workspace and is perfect for making notes or reading emails. Landscape and portrait modes are both supported for that bit of YouTube viewing.

The Mimi Mini USB Monitor supports PCs and intel Macs and doesn’t require any extra software or leads – the video card is built into the screen and powers via the USB connection. Some specs:

  • Display resolution – 800 x 480
  • Brightness – 350cd/m2
  • Contrast ratio – 400:1

Okay, so it’s not quite the same spec as a proper monitor but it’s still pretty impressive.

Buy now!

Price: $129.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Cardboard Gadgets, an Art Project

Miscellaneous / By /

Cardboard Gadgets

An artist called Kyle Bean has made some gadgets out of cardboard and lit their tracing paper screens with a simple circuit, all in the aid of awareness. His point is that gadgets today are almost out of date the moment you buy them – and he’s right! He’s also trying to get across the point that we see modern technology as ‘disposable’ (hence the cardboard). The ‘gadgets’ are intricately detailed and look brilliant. The picture here doesn’t do them justice – head over to KyleBean.co.uk for some proper shots.

USB Robot Flash Drive

Gaming & Toys, Gizmo of the Day / By /

USB

Novelty USB flash drives are always popular – you think of it, it has probably been made! This little find is a rather cute retro robot that also serves as a 1GB flash drive – simply pop his head off to reveal a USB plug, plug him into the computer and away you go. To make this product even cuter, his eyes light up when files are being transferred! He comes in blue, green and black and special editions might be released in the future.

Buy now!

Price: $15.00
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Solar Powered Sun Jar

Gizmo of the Day, Miscellaneous / By /

Pink Solar Sun Jar

If you’re looking for something to brighten up your dark nights then the solar powered sun jar might just be for you. Throughout the day it charges via light from the sun and when it gets dark it releases its glow out into the night. For the spiritually-minded of you out there you might want to think of it as capturing a little piece of the sun in a jar, and releasing it later on.

The jars are available in a variety of colors; pink, blue and sun colored and can be used indoors or out (just beware of it attracting midges!) as it is ‘splash proof’. It’s a really nice way to create a unique ambiance on a lovely summer night

Buy now!

Price: $29.43
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Nintendo Wii Vitality Sensor

Gaming & Toys, Sports, Health & Fitness, Outdoors / By /

Wii Vitality Sensor

First came Wii Fit and you canceled your gym membership, but now it looks like Nintendo are set to get rid of doctors as well with their new vitality sensor. This little device was revealed at E3 2009 and it can measure your heart rate (ideally while excercising). Nothing on pricing/release date yet but do you think that this will somehow integrate with Mario Kart? The angrier you are, the faster your kart goes?!

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