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AutoChron Offers Smart Home for $30

1 Comment / Gizmo of the Day, Home Automation, Tools, DIY, Home, Office / By /

Autochron Wall Switch TimerOne of the things I feel is holding back the ‘smart house’ revolution is that (many times) to install all the proper gadgetry you would need to get your house rewired and re-plastered – not a cheap option by all means!

AutoChron seems to have come up with a solution to this by offering an automatic and programmable timer that can be slipped on over your existing wall switches and be used to control them without having to do any messy and invasive work to your walls. You can therefore use this piece of hardware to control anything with a switch from your lights to your fan. …

AutoChron Offers Smart Home for $30Read More »

Wake up naturally and refreshed with Philips Wake-Up Light

Gizmo of the Day, Sports, Health & Fitness, Outdoors / By /

philips wake-up lightScientific research has demonstrated how waking naturally to dawning sunlight has many benefits included feeling more rested, waking at an optimal point in your sleep cycles, and the follow-on benefits that flow from these.

Philips has a couple of consumer gadgets that meld sunrise simulation with an FM radio and/or natural sounds – the Wake-up Light. It works by gradually increasing the light starting 30 minutes before your pre-set alarm time.

There are 2 models of the Wake-up Light – one with and without an iPod dock, apart from which they are basically identical.

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $179.99, $114 without iPod dock
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Beamer – iPhone Case with Built-in Light

Gizmo of the Day, Phones / By /

beamer iphone case with lightUser-invented product site, Quirky, has another new and useful product, the Beamer which is an iPhone case (skin) with a built-in light. Just press the button and voila, and there was the light.

The bright LED is powered by the Beamer’s case battery and not by the iPhone’s battery. Hit the button and the light goes on for 10 seconds. Hit it twice to turn it on indefinitely. You can use the light as a flash for your photos.

The light is powered by a replaceable Lithium battery that has a 10 hr lifetime.

Buy now!
Price: $38
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Combination USB Speaker, Alarm Clock, Calendar and Night Light

2 Comments / Gizmo of the Day, Miscellaneous / By /

retro-speakerHow many different things can you combine into 1 device and then of course make it USB-connected and -powered? Obviously the answer is infinite! Here’s another – an alarm clock, with a speaker and a calendar all modeled to look an old-fashioned radio announcer’s microphone (like the one Larry King has as a prop).

The speaker plugs into any 3.5mm audio device (like an iPod or other MP3 player). The clock itself is powered by batteries – another retro ‘feature’. I suppose for the low price, you can’t expect too much. Unfortunately, it’s missing the obvious feature – a microphone!

Buy now!
Price: $12.69
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Science: Device converts light into vibration

Computers, Miscellaneous, News / By /

Recent research over the past few years have shown that light can be converted at least partially into motion, or more specifically vibration. While this seems innocuous, it could open up new ways of performing actions in optical microcircuits.

Physicists at Caltech and Duke University have shown that light could be made to make glass vibrate. They were even able to store a pulse of light traveling down a fiber as a vibration and then release it nanoseconds later.

One application would be to have optical microchips where vibrations or microwaves control high-frequency optical signals or the reverse. Of course, science has a strange way of spawning applications that were not envisioned at the time of discovery.

via ScienceNOW

Flexible Illuminated Keyboard

Computers, Gizmo of the Day, Portable / By /

Flexible Illuminated Keyboard

Flexible keyboards are old news, we’ve seen them and grown tired of gadget programs still referring to them as amazing new technology. The illuminated flexible keyboard gives us something to talk about –  it’s a completely flexible keyboard that can be rolled, folded and washed (yes, it’s fully washable – no more finger grime on your keyboard!) to your heart’s content and comes in 4 different colors; blue, pink, green and white. When plugged in via your USB or PS2 port it lights up to show you all the keys in a fashionable and very practical manner – perfect for surfing the internet under your bed sheets! For $19.99 it’s a bargain!

Buy now!

Price: $19.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

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)

Motorlight Wall/Floor Lighting System – improves your mood

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

Motorlight Floor

The Motorlight lighting system is a high end state-of-the-art lighting system designed by Jake Dyson – son of the legendary multi-billionaire UK inventor, and founder of Dyson, Sir James Dyson. So it seems the creativity has been passed down from father to son. His innovation is far from just vacuum cleaners and hand dryers. This lighting system has variable light projection angles to create a multitude of moods in your room with a simple remote.

The lighting system comes in 2 forms – a floor standing version and a wall version (presumably mounted on or placed inside a wall) and can be run on their own or with another 29 lights in series – provided you have the money to buy 30 of these at £495 ($800) for the floor version or £249 ($400) for the wall version.

More info

Sylvania LED Ecolight Water Powered Shower Light

Gizmo of the Day, Home Automation / By /

Feeling green while you’re in the shower? Hopefully it’s not because you’re dirty, and you just like helping the planet out. If you’re an environmental freak like some of my friends are, then this wireless and energy-efficient shower light is just the thing for you.

Made by Sylvania, the shower light is powered solely by water. Of course, that’s probably a good thing considering lots of electricity from your home outlet and water usually don’t mix together too well – something will usually end up burnt!

The cool thing about this shower light is that the light color will change depending on the temperature of the water. That way you won’t ever get the shivers if the water is too cold, or hop out of the shower screaming because it was burning hot. Intuitively, a red light means hot, and blue means cold.

Additionally, there is an on and off switch for the light if you don’t care for it. It appears to be a pretty easy install, with many reporting it taking only a few minutes.

Stats:

  • 85 psi maximum water pressure
  • Blue scale for temperatures less than 78.8 degrees
  • Red scale for temperatures more than 105.8 degrees

Buy now!

Price: $39.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

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