Grobag Egg Thermometer

If for some reason you’re not capable of reading numbers, this Grobag Egg shows you the temperature in easy to “read” colors. Blue if it’s cold, yellow and orange if it’s somewhere inbetween, and red if the roof is on fire. Of course, unless you suffer from congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis, or NAMBLA, you should be able to detect the temperature from your own thermometer known as your body.

However, this Grobag Egg is supposed to be placed inside nurseries, so that you can easily determine how hot or cold a baby’s bed is and adjust accordingly. But it’s still a pretty neat gadget to place on your nightstand so you can determine just how fast you need to run to put on a jacket when you get out of bed in the morning.

source [gizmodo]

Concierge – Shopping Carts Go High-Tech

Who said shopping carts had to be dull and gray? Not Springboard Networks. The folks at the Canadian-based company are looking to bring those rattling dinosaurs into the 21st century by pairing them with a touch screen LCD that will keep track of your purchases and also tell you what aisle to go to for your Doritos fix. The device is still in its early stages, so you may wanna stick with online grocery shopping in the meantime.

Concierge: Shopping Carts Go High-Tech [Sci Fi Tech]

source [gizmodo]

The Most Useful Pen Ever

The only time we use a pen nowadays is to write checks every month for our outlandishly overpriced apartment, but this five-function pen could be just the thing we need. The pen comes painted with a metric/imperial ruler on the side—great for when you want to measure your junk.

Not only that, the four switchable tips are a pencil, a ball-point pen, a highlighter, and a stylus. We had one of these switchy-pens when we were kids, but none with a stylus and none with a ruler painted on the side of it. This is nerd heaven. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Acme Studio via Boing Boing]

source [gizmodo]

Surf away with Osim uSurf

Osim is a health product manufacturer who has had their fair share of goods that often elicit a laugh whenever you think about it, and their latest outing is no different. The uSurf Wave-Action Exerciser targets those who love to hit the waves, offering an emulated surfboard experience that supposedly develops your sense of balance while working out your legs and core muscles via its rocking action. For $499, it is definitely a price not to be sneezed at, but its effectiveness at raising your overall health is questionable at best. For a cheaper and surefire method to get fun from games that let you exercise, we suggest you pick up a Wii instead.

source [ubergizmo]

「蘋果公司」正式推出 iPhone

本年度的蘋果新春開幕大活動 — 美國舊金山 Macworld Expo 由 Steve Jobs 所主持的開幕演說，在方才順利的結束了，蘋果此次也不負先前許多謠言，甚至是許多使用者多年來的的眾望，正式發表了能讓許多網友爽度直逼 200% 破表的 iPhone 。 iPhone 在外觀上一如許多人所猜測的，採用了全螢幕的外觀設計，整支裝置上只有一顆按鈕「Home」，所有功能皆在一個 3.5 吋大的觸碰式螢幕來完成所有的操作。蘋果並以 4 大類主題來介紹 iPhone：

• 寬螢幕 iPod — 切換到音樂或是影片功能，iPhone 馬上變身成一台 iPod 。 iPhone 能夠與 iTunes 資料庫連結，同步音樂與影片，並內建 CoverFlow 功能來選音樂，全新的使用界面以及特效更是相當令人驚艷。
• 革命性的行動電話 — 以好用的系統圖形界面聞名，而今將此項專長發揮到手機上的蘋果，在此領域也是令人讚嘆不已。在手機的通話、語音信箱、簡訊等功能上， iPhone 都有著不同於其他手機廠商的設計。簡訊聊天室看起來像是 iChat 的翻版，此外也能在 iPhone 上頭觀看 iPhoto 資料庫中的照片。
• 完整的網路裝置 — iPhone 內建了 OS X 上的 Safari 、 Mail 、 Widgets 等功能，當然，Safari 的書籤皆能與 PC 或是 Mac 主機端的資料同步，也有 Yahoo 以及 Google 的搜尋引擎能夠使用。除此之外甚至也內建了 Google Maps，在亞洲的網友們或許對此並不熟悉，不過若是在美國本地，Google Maps 的功能可是不輸 Go 阿姨的，在蘋果網站的示範影片上甚至能夠用 iPhone 的 Maps 功能找到某間 Starbucks，且直接撥電話給該店。
• 先進技術 — iPhone 除了系統以及功能強大，在硬體上也是不遑多讓：採用最新 Multi-Touch 技術的螢幕能夠同時多點觸碰，以符合打字使用需求。內建藍牙、無線網路、 EDGE 等無線傳輸功能。以動態感應器來判定螢幕界面的直立抑或橫放。而 iPhone 所使用的界面系統則是行動裝置版本的 OS X 。

除了功能展示之外，蘋果也釋出了 iPhone 的技術規格如下：

• 3.5 吋多點式觸碰螢幕，320 x 480，160 ppi 解析度。
• 內建 OS X 作業系統。
• 4GB 或是 8GB 容量。
• GSM 850、900、1800、1900 共 4 種手機用頻率。
• 內建 802.11b/g、EDGE 以及 Bluetooth 藍芽 2.0。
• 內建 200 萬畫素數位相機。
• 5 小時的影片播放、通話或是網頁瀏覽時間。音樂播放能使用 16 個小時。
• 外觀尺寸為長 11.5 x 寬 6.1 x 厚 1.16 公分， 135 公克重
  （目前 iPod 尺寸為 長 10.4 x 寬 6.1 x 厚 1.1 公分；重 136 公克）。

蘋果網站在演講結束後也已經更新，提供了最新的 iPhone 頁籤，有興趣的朋友可點選連結以前往觀看 iPhone 的使用界面以及功能操作影片。 4GB 的 iPhone 定價美金 499 元，8GB 則是定價美金 599 元；但使用者必須與 Cingular 綁約兩年。不過冰果室眾多的亞洲地區網友可能要失望了，iPhone 雖然即將在今年 6 月正式上市，不過只會先在美國地區販售，歐洲地區則是要到今年第四季，亞洲地區最遲，將會到 2008 年與奧運一同登陸。

source [frostyplace.com]

World’s Shocking Knife Gun

So you’ve seen the .22-caliber cell phone gun, now check out G.R.A.D., a .22-caliber knife gun.

source [techeblog]

trioBike – a bicycle, a stroller, or a combination of the two

Here’s a versatile conveyance called the trioBike that can function as either a bicycle alone, a stroller, or a combination of the two. You can drop your kids off at day care, leave the stroller there and ride your bicycle away.We were completely sold on this idea until we discovered that the complete system with bike and stroller together costs €2587, or a jaw-gaping $3318.57. Ouch. – Charlie White

Product Page [trioBike A/S]

source [gizmodo]

WidgetStation picks up CES award

Korea’s emTrace looks to be branching out from its smartphone-centered niche, jumping on the widget bandwagon with its beefed-up alarm clock, the WidgetStation. Packing dual LCD screens (one color, one monochrome), the device will give you at-a-glance access to all the usual information that can be widgetized, including stocks, weather, and RSS feeds, as well as integration with a desktop PIM and the ability to browse photos (but apparently not videos) stored on a desktop PC. Interestingly, while the device will let you listen to Internet radio stations, there’s no mention of support for plain old AM or FM radio — one step forward, two steps back we suppose. From the looks of it, you’ll also have to plan on stringing some ethernet cable if you’re thinking of using the WidgetStation very far from your router, with the device sporting an RJ-45 port but no built-in WiFi — something others don’t seem to have had any trouble doing. Still no word on price, though emTrace should be announcing that at CES if the product is launching in early 2007 as planned.

[Via Akihabara News]

source [engadget]

Street Mouse VOIP – A Real Car Phone

Finally, a mouse for the generic Volkswagen look-alike car enthusiasts! Not only does this boring gray car move your pointer, but it also features a VOIP-ready internet phone, integrated mic, headphone plug and working LED headlights.

That’s it? Where are the add-on spoilers? Custom body kits? Huge spinning rims? Under lighting kits? If I’m going to put a car-shaped mouse on my desk and actually bring myself to talk into it, I had better be able to make it look completely ridiculous awesome. I guess you can choose between red or gray…for $40, that’s not bad.

source [gizmodo]

Monitor Color Corrector optimizes color

Most people are ignorant of the fact that you can calibrate the color on your LCD and CRTs in order to get the best possible result, and even if they do, they couldn’t give two hoots about it unless they’re in the DTP business. For those who are fussy about their contrast and color levels will definitely see the Monitor Color Corrector as a savior of sorts. Using it is pretty simple really – you first got to measure the ambient light within the room, attach the unit to a PC via USB, and let the device to it’s thang. When the initial calibration is done, just leave the Monitor Color Corrector there and the settings will remain perpetually. This USB-powered device can be picked up for $79.95 at Hammacher. What happens to those who work in a room with plenty of natural light? The sun’s constant movement will certainly require you to recalibrate every 15 minutes or so.

source [ubergizmo]