Anyone whose cell phone, digital camera or iPod has gone for a swim in a puddle, sink or toilet will appreciate this one. Bheestie Bag is a low-tech approach designed to dry out personal electronics with the help of moisture-absorbing beads....[More]
BHEESTIE BAG
Anyone whose cell phone, digital camera or iPod has gone for a swim in a puddle, sink or toilet will appreciate this one. Bheestie Bag is a low-tech approach designed to dry out personal electronics with the help of moisture-absorbing beads. As the name implies, it's a bag into which you slip your soggy gadget. Once sealed inside, the beads desiccate the device over a period of 24 to 72 hours.
Cost: $20
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The Zeo Personal Sleep Coach is designed to help wearers understand how they are sleeping and discover habits and behaviors that may be helping or hindering slumber....[More]
ZEO PERSONAL SLEEP COACH
The Zeo Personal Sleep Coach is designed to help wearers understand how they are sleeping and discover habits and behaviors that may be helping or hindering slumber. The product comes with a headband to be worn while sleeping that wirelessly sends brain-wave information to a bedside display. Info includes a summary of the wearer's sleep pattern for a given night; a score that quantifies the amount, quality and depth of sleep; and the amount of time it takes the user to arrive in dreamland.
Cost: starts at $250
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The Kohjinsha Dual Screen DZ Series notebook lets users double the width of their video display by sliding apart the device's two overlaid 10.1...[More]
KOHJINSHA DUAL SCREEN NOTEBOOK
The Kohjinsha Dual Screen DZ Series notebook lets users double the width of their video display by sliding apart the device's two overlaid 10.1-inch LED backlit screens. It comes with a low-power CPU (to save on battery life), Windows 7, up to four gigabytes of RAM, a fingerprint reader, an optical mouse, and weighs about 1.8 kilograms.
Cost: about $1,100
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All you need is a tablet PC. Fairy Devices, Inc. , provides the celestial mapping software and a USB plug-in sensor that will turn that PC into a portal to the stars....[More]
FAIRY DEVICES'S STELLARWINDOW
All you need is a tablet PC. Fairy Devices, Inc., provides the celestial mapping software and a USB plug-in sensor that will turn that PC into a portal to the stars. By holding the StellarWindow up to the sky and adjusting viewing angle and distance of your eyes from the screen you can get an accurate map of the stars. The sensor can even provide a sky map if used indoors (kind of like using x-ray vision to see through your ceiling into space).
Cost: $300
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Ever wonder how much energy your hair dryer or toaster oven uses? Well, wonder no more. Zerofootprint, Inc. , a company that offers services and software for people and businesses who want to lower their carbon footprint, says it can provide the answers via its TALKINGplug....[More]
ZEROFOOTPRINT TALKINGPLUG
Ever wonder how much energy your hair dryer or toaster oven uses? Well, wonder no more. Zerofootprint, Inc., a company that offers services and software for people and businesses who want to lower their carbon footprint, says it can provide the answers via its TALKINGplug. After inserting the TALKINGplug into a wall outlet and plugging your appliance into this device, it wirelessly transmits the energy output to software on your computer. It works both ways: you can also shut down anything that's plugged into TALKINGplug via your computer. Zerofootprint, which developed the TALKINGplug with electric receptacle–maker 2D2C, says it's working with utility companies, appliance manufacturers and technology resellers to bring the product to market globally. (TALKINGplug is in the pilot stage and is expected to be made generally available to the public within the next few months, the company says.) P3 International Corp.'s Kill-a-Watt plug is similar in principle, but it offers an LCD directly on the plug and is not Internet accessible.
Cost: $50 (estimated)
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Tired of being pushed out of their rightful place in living rooms everywhere, televisions are staging a comeback with the help of FLO TV's Personal Television with live mobile TV service....[More]
FLO TV PERSONAL TELEVISION
Tired of being pushed out of their rightful place in living rooms everywhere, televisions are staging a comeback with the help of FLO TV's Personal Television with live mobile TV service. The device receives live and time-shifted content over the FLO TV dedicated multicast network with no buffering, downloading or waiting to view content. With the swipe of a finger, consumers can channel surf through the FLO TV service's programming lineup. The FLO TV service is already available for some cell phones, and the company is planning to offer it for cars (Chryslers, for example) next year.
Cost: $250 (for the FLO TV device)
Service Cost: $9 per month
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Joby, Inc. , makes a variety of products that share the common theme of having bendable legs so that cameras, flashlights and other gadgets can be positioned properly....[More]
JOBY BENDABLE CAMERA TRIPOD/FLASHLIGHT
Joby, Inc., makes a variety of products that share the common theme of having bendable legs so that cameras, flashlights and other gadgets can be positioned properly. Rubberized ring and foot grips provide stability so the legs can be wrapped around poles, tree limbs, bike handlebars, etcetera.
Cost: At the low end, the original Gorillapod starts at $22; at the high end, the Gorillapod Focus sells for $100
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With so many passwords to manage (for work, banking, e-mail, social networking, etcetera) a lot of people resort to reusing rather than remembering the pass codes designed to protect important information, not to mention their privacy....[More]
MANDYLION PASSCODE MANAGER
With so many passwords to manage (for work, banking, e-mail, social networking, etcetera) a lot of people resort to reusing rather than remembering the pass codes designed to protect important information, not to mention their privacy. Mandylion Research Labs, LLC, offers a token small enough to fit on key chain that generates and stores up to 50 pass codes. Worried about losing the token if you lose your keys? The password manager is activated by entering a unique button sequence defined by its user. Pass codes are viewed on the token's LCD display, which has a limited viewing angle to prevent shoulder surfing.
Cost: $50
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Sometimes, no matter how much typing you do, you just can't get your hands to acclimate to a chilly office. Japanese gadget-maker Thanko has a possible solution: heated gloves....[More]
THANKO HEATED GLOVES
Sometimes, no matter how much typing you do, you just can't get your hands to acclimate to a chilly office. Japanese gadget-maker Thanko has a possible solution: heated gloves. The heat comes from plugging in the gloves' mini heaters via USB connection to your computer (or an outlet via an AC adapter). The gloves actually come in three different styles (two of which feature the heating element in the palm of the hand, whereas the third places the heater on the back of the hand).
Cost: about $28
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The next time you're in a dimly lit restaurant squinting to see the menu or in a darkened movie theater unable to see your watch, you might want to pull out a credit card–size LED bulb to shed some light on the situation....[More]
BRANDO CREDIT CARD LIGHT
The next time you're in a dimly lit restaurant squinting to see the menu or in a darkened movie theater unable to see your watch, you might want to pull out a credit card–size LED bulb to shed some light on the situation. Don't have one? Not to worry. Brando Workshop sells what looks like a flat incandescent lightbulb surrounded by a rectangular plastic card just the size to fit into one of your wallet's credit card slots. Pop the bulb up into the perpendicular position and it lights up your life—or at least the immediate surroundings.
Cost: $10
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YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
The list is titled, "2009 Gadget Guide", yet at least two of the items on the list (The Gorillapod and the Mandylion Passcode Manager) have been available for several years. Show us some new gadgets, not old news!
Who the hell designed your web site? If you are going to show a list of ten things, hire somebody bright enough to figure out how to do it without repainting the entire page.
I saw a few things I wouls like, of course they were not the more reasonable items, but that's life. Yes, some items may have been around, but its fun to see what is out there.
I am concerned that Scientific American would promote the Zeo Sleep Coach, a product with little more than anecdotal reports of success in treating a problem which should be referred to medical practitioners.
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3-D Print Your Own Invisibility Cloak at Home
Google and NASA Snap Up Quantum Computer D-Wave Two
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7 Comments
Add CommentI like the Stellar Window thing, but Google has something very similar available on Android phones for free... "Google Sky Map."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYeah, I can see the bad rush to the store for these saught after tec, items.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe list is titled, "2009 Gadget Guide", yet at least two of the items on the list (The Gorillapod and the Mandylion Passcode Manager) have been available for several years. Show us some new gadgets, not old news!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat is wrong with XP??? 7 does not work on my good PC's.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWho the hell designed your web site? If you are going to show a list of ten things, hire somebody bright enough to figure out how to do it without repainting the entire page.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI saw a few things I wouls like, of course they were not the more reasonable items, but that's life. Yes, some items may have been around, but its fun to see what is out there.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am concerned that Scientific American would promote the Zeo Sleep Coach, a product with little more than anecdotal reports of success in treating a problem which should be referred to medical practitioners.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this