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Latest Gear Live Videos
StarCraft II Ghost messenger bag now available from Blizzard
Posted by Finnian Durkan Categories: Accessories, Wearables, Video Games,
For fans of WarCraft, StarCraft but not Arts ‘n Crafts, Blizzard Entertainment has now released their StarCraft II Ghost Messenger Bag. This way, not only can you spend hours and hours playing games online but when you do unplug you can rest assured that this bag will let everyone know that in the fake, make-believe world in your bedroom you are a man to be reckoned with, to be feared; nay, worshiped! There is a limit to two per person, so you can only get one for you and one for your girlfriend in Half-Life 2; them’s the breaks. Now where did I put my Skull and Crossbones footie pajamas?
Read More 
| Blizzard
Gallery: StarCraft II Ghost messenger bag now available from Blizzard
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Alpine partnering with Nokia to integrate smartphones into cars
Posted by Finnian Durkan Categories: Accessories, Smartphones, Corporate News, GPS, Transportation,
Need a reason to chuck your Garmin/Tom-Tom, etc. out of your car other than ‘has stupid name and labels me as a poor-driving tourist wherever I go’? Well wait no longer, avid reader: today Alpine announced a strategic partnership with the Finnish cel phone giant, Nokia, to fully integrate smartphones into car infotainment systems. While I was surprised that ‘infotainment’ was actually a word, I was more surprised that this type of alliance hasn’t been made sooner. Not only are these two electronics giants looking to elbow in to the lucrative GPS/Nav market, but they are also bringing a few bells and whistles of their own, namely widgets that can monitor fuel levels and direct you to the nearest and cheapest gas station. Might as well go ahead and chuck that gas gauge now, Chachi, ‘cause you’re not going to need it anymore; welcome to the future, only 48 years after your grandpa thought he’d have a flying car.
Read More | Alpine
Gallery: Alpine partnering with Nokia to integrate smartphones into cars
Fletch Creations Combo-sensing Super-Tips LED Inserts
Posted by Finnian Durkan Categories: Accessories, Design, Mods / Hacks,
While scrolling through tech websites earlier today I came across something pretty cool: a website called Fletch Creations. Fletch Creations is producing Combo-Sensing LED inserts for Super-Tips pens. For the uninitiated, Pen Spinning (or ‘pen mawashi’ in Japan where the pastime has been popular since the 1970’s) is a form of contact juggling involving the deft manipulation/spinning of a pen in various combinations.
What Fletch Creations has done is to create a neat little LED insert that fits into Super-Tips pens—the pens preferred in most Pen Spinning circles—that has 3 lights that can be lit up in succession increasingly complex patterns depending upon the speed and combinations that the spinner is able to achieve. Whereas I struggle to get more than one blinking LED to light up, highlighting my Lobster Boy-like manual dexterity, my high-school friend Chris is able to produce a better light-show than Timothy Leary ever saw on one of his best hallucinogen benders. Needless to say the color combos he was able to achieve were pretty impressive and emphasized the extent to which you can take pen spinning. Fletch Creations has come up with an original idea that can add enjoyment to an already entertaining medium. It may also allow me to appear a lot hipper when conversing with my Vampire Weekend-listening teenage relatives. “So, you kids dig this internets thing right? I really enjoy that Friendster…” Well, there may be no helping me but anyone else should see a definite up-tick in their street-cred. Check ‘em out.
Read More | Fletch Creations
Gallery: Fletch Creations Combo-sensing Super-Tips LED Inserts
Monster and Vivienne Tam collaborate on Butterfly in-ear headphones
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Design, Music,
Damn, Monster Cable is continuing to flood the headphone market, this time going outside of their Beats by Dr. Dre partnership, and instead doing a collabo with fashion designer Vivienne Tam of HP netbook fame. The product will be known at the Butterfly in-ear headphones, and each earbud will have colorful butterfly artwork on it, and it’s all finished up with a light gold-brushed finish. They are being positioned as both a music accessory and a fashion piece, which we guess kind of explains the $199.95 price point. So, who’s picking these up when they ship in April?
Read More | Press Release
Gallery: Monster and Vivienne Tam collaborate on Butterfly in-ear headphones
Looks like Apple is realizing that if you are going to be building a larger-form factor device like the iPad, you’ve gotta realize that some of the people that use it are going to want a physical keyboard. With that knowledge, they’ve prepared a keyboard accessory for the iPad. It’s actually both a keyboard and a dock for charging the iPad as well, which can be used to plug in to a USB power adapter, sync with a computer, etc. It also has an audio jack that let’s you connect the keyboard dock to a stereo system or powered speakers. No word on price just yet.
Gallery: iPad keyboard accessory
Square’s iPhone credit card swiping device in action
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Smartphones, Handhelds, Videos,
Remember that awesome iPhone credit card processing device from Square that we told you about a few weeks ago? Well, Kevin Rose just put up a video showing the Square app and iPhone hardware in action. Give the video above a look, as it’s definitely pretty slick. However, we’d love to see them make that credit card dongle a bit more stable before launch. The product is still in beta, but we can’t wait to see this go mainstream.
Read More | Kevin Rose
Gallery: Square’s iPhone credit card swiping device in action
Diddy Beats packaging revealed
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, CES, CES 2010, Features, Music, Portable Audio / Video,
During CES 2010, Monster announced the Diddy Beats, an addition to the Beats by Dr. Dre headphone line. The Diddy Beats are leather-wrapped in-ears that sport a high-polished enamel end cap with the letters “db” on them. They should be available in March or April for $179, but for now, we’ve got a look at the packaging to hold you over.
Gallery: Diddy Beats packaging revealed
Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Aliph Jawbone Prime
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Techies, Under $100,
If you have someone if your life that is constantly on their mobile phone, chances are they’d highly benefit from a Bluetooth headset, and the Aliph Jawbone Prime is the best for the job. You get best-in-class call quality and a cool design (rare for Bluetooth headsets.) Just like previous Jawbones, it’s constructed of medical-grade plastic and has no visible buttons. The Jawbone Prime also brings it when it comes to noise cancellation, including wind noise reduction. Finally, it supports multipoint technology, which means this bad boy can be paired to several devices at one time, which is super convenient. The Jawbone Prime sells for $129, but Amazon has them for $92.74.
Read More | Jawbone Prime
Gallery: Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Aliph Jawbone Prime
2009 Holiday Gift Guide: iLuv iMM153 alarm clock with bed shaker
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Smart Home, Music, Teens, Under $50,
So peep this - the iMM153 alarm clock from iLuv features a bed shaker alarm that works in conjunction with an iPod, FM radio, or generic buzzer. It pretty much guarantees that the owner, no matter how deep they are into their slumber, will be woken up by the noise and vibration combo. The iLuv iMM153 is available in black, white, pink, and blue, and is compatible with iPod classic, mini, nano, and touch. The things retail for $59, but Amazon has them for $46.
Read More | iLuv iMM153
Gallery: 2009 Holiday Gift Guide: iLuv iMM153 alarm clock with bed shaker
Monoprice iPhone backup battery pack triples your power for $15
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Handhelds,
Okay guys, as much as we like our Mophie Juice Packs for keeping the iPhone juiced on the go, it’d be downright irresponsible of us not to bring this fantastic iPhone backup batery from Monoprice to your attention. The same company that brings you stupid-cheap HDMI cables is now selling a 2200mAh iPhone and iPod battery that’ll recharge your iPhone almost twice from near death, and the cost is only $15.23 - and it’s even less if you buy more than one. Sure, it’s fugly and nowhere near as sleek as a Mophie Juice Pack or Juice Pack Air, but it’s cheap! Sometimes that’s all that matters.
Read More | Monoprice
