Bluetooth Sports Helmet

From a gadget meant for the lazy, let’s move on to a gadget made for the extreme athlete. Do you play any type of winter sports? Snowboard, perhaps? Ever wished you could listen to your jams while sliding down the snowy slope? Or if you use your iPod, ever wished the wires don’t distract you as much as they do? Well, here’s the answer to your prayers. This is the Bluetooth Sports Helmet by Hammacher Schlemmer. Yep, a Bluetooth HELMET, you read that right. Because geeks come in all forms and sizes, we can’t ignore the sports-minded, right?

Now, this Bluetooth Helmet is designed for the winter sports. What’s better than skiing down the slope banging your head to your jam, not hearing everyone shouting for you to move over because an avalanche is right behind your back?

Frantic Friend: Dude! Hurry up! You’re going to get crushed by a raging avalanche!
You: Huh? Sorry! I can’t hear you, I’m listening to Thriller in full volume!

The outer part of the helmet is made of a durable material called injection-molded ABS. The inner part is foam-lined polycarbonate. There are removable ear pads, vent plugs and an adjustable strap. And of course, there’s the remote transmitter. The remote transmitter could be plugged to your MP3 player, whether it’s an iPod or a lower-end alternative (which is, sadly, the only kind I can afford), and there you have it! Said device could transmit the songs to your helmet via Bluetooth streaming. Can’t get any better than that. At least for now. Makes me wonder what would be invented in the next years to come. I think the user base for this product would be extremely limited, as not everyone’s fond of winter sports. And with a price tag of $299.95 — I don’t think the casual snowboarder or skier would bother.

The Titanic DNA Watch and The Color-changing Shower Head

I could only think of two types of people who can be interested in the timepiece we’re currently featuring — die-hard fans of Titanic, that ship touted as the unsinkable which sunk on its maiden voyage and die-hard fans of Titanic, the movie. So what do we have here? Why, the Titanic DNA watch, of course. The Titanic DNA watch is, apparently, made from parts of the sunken Titanic. Uhu. So a submarine braved the depths of the ocean to collect scrap metals from the deep blue seas to be made into a watch.

As if that’s not enough, the black dial of the watch is supposedly made from the coals lifted from the Titanic. Um, okay. I guess asking how we could know if the materials were really from the Titanic is out of the question? I don’t suppose you can show us a video of the process from the excavation to the manufacturing, can you? All I can say is, count me out of buying this one.

From deep waters, let’s shift to waters in your bathroom. Since it’s winter in many parts of the globe today, some people would, of course, taking a bath with warm water. If you’re the quintessential example of someone who doesn’t know how to properly gauge water temperature, these shower heads were made for you. These shower heads from KZLIDEA change color when the water reaches a certain threshold in temperature. Lukewarm water (32 degrees Celsius and below), get the normal white lighting. When the water becomes 33 to 41 degrees Celsius, the shower head turns blue. A warm 42 to 45 degrees Celsius gets a purple while anything above that understandably gets a red. Tweaking the cold/hot water knobs has never been as fun before. Just imagine having your own bathroom disco. As of now, there are no reports of where you can buy these shower heads and for how much. Too bad.

The Volvo Crash-Proof Family Car

Are car crashes something you’re scared of? Do you fear for your life every time you slink into a car? Is this the reason why you haven’t learned to drive and haven’t gotten around on your own in your car? If you watch science fiction often, you should have seen cars which could prevent accidents from happening. This time around, it’s fiction no more. The subject of speculations and wonders has become a reality. Still not in the market as of current, but pretty soon, it would be a staple for family cars.

Volvo is the company which came up with a crash-proof family car. The technology, called the CitySafety system, entails having a laser-guidance system that’s able to identify vehicles in front of your own and slow down or brake as needed. The laser-sensor of the technology is built onto the windshield. The laser-sensors have the ability to scan up to six yards from the nose of your car to determine the condition of the traffic before you. If it determines collision, it makes 50 simultaneous calculations on what braking speed is necessary to avoid crashing.

When running between 10mph to 20mph, the technology only determines whether to slow down or not. However, at higher than 20mph, a mode called “adaptive cruise control” kicks in. This mode or setting accelerates or decelerates your car depending upon the existing traffic conditions. Every year, 125,000 injuries are attributed to car crashes, and Volvo is proud to bring this technology out. The technology will first be released in XC60 cars starting Autumn of 2008. These cars are priced around £25,000. Although highly useful, one has to think what will happen during miscalculations, as things like that happen. Just imagine if the mistakenly hit the brakes and you’re driving at high speeds. I guess we can only leave our misgivings for now until the time we actually see it in action.

GPS Location Tracker

This small GPS gadget can easily be placed in a car, boat, land speeder, or just about any moving object and will record its own time, date, location, speed, direction and altitude. The recorded information can then be downloaded to your computer through the USB port and optionally integrated with Google Earth or Mapquest. This feature allows you to "playback" the location points and see a visual mapped history of its travels. It records up to 4000 records allowing for months of travel. Records date,location, speed, direction and altitude. When it is not moving, memory is not used. The record interval is adjustable to anything between 1 and 15 minutes (to save memory). There are no special software applications to buy and the data can be exported in RTF, XLS, HTML, or Google Earth KML formats. Low Power Operation 16 Channel GPS Receiver Integrated USB Port Weight: 1.5 oz Capacity: 1.0 Mb Max # of Satellites: 12; Receiving Signal: L1 Power: 2 AAA Batteries. Comes with lanyard and software CD

Brand: Portable
Model: A-1
Dimensions: 1.00" h x 1.00" w x 4.00" l, .9 pounds
Memory: 1MB

This small GPS gadget can easily be placed in a car, boat, or just about any moving object and will record its own time, date, location, speed, direction and altitude.
Records up to 4000 records for months of travel.
Allows you to "playback" the location points and see a visual mapped history of its travels
No special software applications to buy
Data can be exported in RTF, XLS, HTML, or Google Earth KML formats

Wireless Nightvision Video Monitoring System

2.5" TFT LCD displayAlarm sounds when the adjusted noise level is reached 2.4GHz wireless technology has a range of 300' 8 IR LEDs for night operationReceiver connects to TV VCR DVR or computer for viewing and recordingIncludes mounting bracket and hardware AC adapters and cables

-2.5-inch TFT-LCD screen provides crisp images
-Range up to 300 feet (ideal range 100 feet)
-Eight infrared LEDs let you see in the dark
-Alarm sounds when the adjusted noise level is reached
-Easily connects to a TV, VCR, computer or DVR for recording

Customer Reviews
I love this item
I have an older version of the SVAT monitor system for my twins, and we love it. It's black and white, but it does a great job. My husband and I bought the new Color monitor system for my sister and her husband for their new baby. WOW! What a difference. It has a great picture and so many new features. We wish we had one for ourselves. I highly recommend the system.

Good product but could be much much better
I was hesitant to purchase this after reading the last review. But my experience has been delightful.

I have no issues with power interference or power filter problem. Power supplies for camera and receiver are perfectly fine. I can connect the units to any outlets around my house and they work fine.

I originally had some WiFi interference with my wireless router because the receiver was right next to the router in my office when I was testing it. But, once I moved it away from the router, it worked perfectly fine with no interference.

**UPDATE** There is some interference but not drastic enough to distort the image. It depends where the receiver is around the house.

Positives:
* Color picture quality is excellent compared to the black and white Summer Infant monitor product (which had terrible interference problem).

* Also, I like the auto enable feature. Basically, the unit stays on standby (the receiver screen in shutoff until a sound from the camera activates it automatically). The input audio level can be adjusted on each individual camera.

* The unit supports up to three cameras

* The receiver color screen brightness is adjustable (so late at night, you can make it a bit darker)

* Lens has a nice wide-angle view. From 6 feet away, it can almost cover the length of a twin mattress

Negatives:
* The receiver uses four AAA batteries. I would have preferred a slightly thicker unit if it accommodated AA batteries. I have plenty of high capacity rechargeable AA batteries that I use for all our digital toys, but no AAAs. AA batteries are generally cheaper too.

* The power plug connects inside the battery compartment. The batteries have to be removed in order to use the power adapter. BAD DESIGN. This is incompetent design.

* Night vision is weak past 2 feet away. I can barely see anything past 4 feet.

* Camera lens does not zoom in or out. A manual zoom lens 2x or 3x would be a great feature to add in the future.

Garmin GPS 72 Handheld GPS

Ok, but wouldn't recommend this one to anyone else
I got this mainly for boating and fishing. I wanted cheap and didn't have my heart set on a lot of features. That said, I was a little disappointed to see that I couldn't even upload basic geographical data, like lake outlines or major roads. Also, if the batteries get even slightly low, it locks up regularly. It can be very frustrating. Also, I would much rather have a USB or some other interface for transferring data because it can be difficult finding a computer that has a 15-pin serial port on it. I was aware of this when I bought it, but am regretting it now.

On the good side, it works, it's very solid and has a nice interface. For what I use it for it does the job. If you're looking to buy a new one, I would recommend spending a little more and getting the next model up.
Garmin GPS
The GPS 72 is a low-cost solution for land or marine navigation designed to provide precise GPS positioning using correction data obtained from the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). The GPS 72 can provide position accuracy to less than three meters when receiving WAAS corrections. This rugged, waterproof, unsinkable GPS receiver offers a large, 4-level grayscale screen. It's designed as the next generation in basic, entry-level Garmin GPS.

SmartShopper Grocery List Organizer

Grocery List Organizer
The instructions for adding a product could be clearer - which is probably why some give up on the product. Instead of having to move the arrow to each letter to spell in a new product you can just speak the letter. When spelling, you don't have to press Record. You also have to be aware that each added product needs to go in its own group so the printout will put it in the correct category.

A couple of places I have had problems:
1. have to find the word again to pronounce the word more than once (e.g. glucosamine is not recognized with just one training).
2. Adding a word (by spelling) is very easy if the unit is on the refrigerator but is close to impossible if you are trying to set it up on your desk before you put it on the refrigerator
3. Instructions for adding multiple units are OK but haven't gotten them to work. Haven't tried coupons. It's easier to just mark on the list by pen.

All in all it's very useful even if you don't have the time or energy to figure out all of the features. And it's readable - unlike our prior grocery list!

This nifty organizer from SmartShopper eliminates the need to dig up a pad of paper and a pencil and try to remember what you need when you want to make a shopping list. Keep this handy device stuck to your fridge magnetically, or mount it on the kitchen wall with the included kit, and you're set to go. At breakfast when the milk runs out, simply push the Record button and say "milk." At lunch when you realize you're out of bread, push and speak again. Kids will love helping out. You can also add errands, such as going to the bank or post office. Entries are automatically alphabetized. When you push the Print button, the list is printed with errands at the top and food items by category, to make your shopping expeditions more efficient.

Easy and intuitive to use, the SmartShopper is already loaded with state-of-the-art voice recognition software, a thermal printer that doesn't require ink, and 2,500 item names, for everything from brand-name cereals to antacids to paper towels. Three rolls of thermal paper are included as well. All you need to add are four AA batteries. Arrow buttons allow you to scroll through your list, delete an item if you wish, or add a customized item to the pre-loaded list. With its brushed metal exterior, large LCD window, and front-loading door for paper, the SmartShopper makes a great gift, especially for those who may have trouble writing due to arthritis and other health conditions. --Ann Bieri

Apple Introduces MacBook Air - The World’s Thinnest Notebook

Apple® today unveiled MacBook® Air, the world’s thinnest notebook. MacBook Air measures an unprecedented 0.16-inches at its thinnest point, while its maximum height of 0.76-inches is less than the thinnest point on competing notebooks. MacBook Air has a stunning 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, a full-size and backlit keyboard, a built-in iSight® video camera for video conferencing, and a spacious trackpad with multi-touch gesture support so users can pinch, rotate and swipe. MacBook Air is powered by a 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache, and includes as standard features 2GB of memory, an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive, and the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi technology and Bluetooth 2.1. They built the world’s thinnest notebook - without sacrificing a full-size keyboard or a full-size 13-inch display. When you first see MacBook Air, it’s hard to believe it’s a high-performance notebook with a full-size keyboard and display. But it is. MacBook Air has a vibrant 13।3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display that is energy efficient, and its spacious trackpad offers multi-touch gesture support for pinch, rotate and swipe, making it more intuitive than ever to browse and rotate photos or zoom into web pages in Safari™. MacBook Air features a full-size keyboard design in a sleek and durable aluminum enclosure. The backlit keyboard makes it ideal for dimly lit environments such as airplanes, studios or conference halls, and a built-in ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the brightness of the keys as well as the display brightness for optimal visibility. MacBook Air delivers up to five hours of battery life for wireless productivity and includes AirPort Extreme® 802.11n Wi-Fi networking, which delivers up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g*. Apple’s Migration Assistant software now enables users to quickly transfer files, applications and preferences from your old Mac® to MacBook Air right over your wireless network. MacBook Air users can buy the companion MacBook Air SuperDrive, a compact external drive designed for MacBook Air, for just $99. The MacBook Air SuperDrive® is powered by MacBook Air’s USB port, eliminating the need to carry a separate power adapter. Many MacBook Air users will not find a need for an optical drive now that they can wirelessly rent movies from the iTunes® Store, wirelessly backup files with Time Capsule and access the optical drives on remote PCs or Macs to wirelessly install software applications on MacBook Air. MacBook Air is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processors running at 1।6 GHz or 1.8 GHz, and includes as standard 2GB of memory and an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive. An optional 64GB solid state drive contains no moving parts for added durability. Every MacBook Air includes a micro-DVI port so users can connect to Apple’s gorgeous 20-inch or 23-inch Cinema Displays to extend their desktop or connect to projectors and other displays via DVI, VGA, Composite and S-video adapters. MacBook Air includes USB 2.0 for plugging in peripherals or charging an iPod® or iPhone™, a headphone jack and Apple’s acclaimed MagSafe® Power Adapter designed especially for mobile users. Every MacBook Air comes with iLife® ‘08, the most significant update ever to Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications, featuring a major new version of iPhoto® and a completely reinvented iMovie®, both seamlessly integrated with the new .Mac Web Gallery for online photo and video sharing. The new MacBook Air also comes with Leopard™, the sixth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system. Leopard introduces Time Machine™, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac; a redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock; and major enhancements to Mail and iChat®. .Mac members can use the new Back to My Mac feature to browse and access files on their home computer from a MacBook Air over the Internet while out on the road. The new MacBook Air embodies Apple’s continuing environmental progress with its aluminum enclosure, a material highly desired by recyclers; Apple’s first mercury-free LCD display with arsenic-free glass; and brominated flame retardant-free material for the majority of circuit boards as well as PVC-free internal cables. In addition, MacBook Air consumes the least amount of power of any Mac, and itsretail box, made primarily from 100 percent post-consumer recycled material, is 56 percent smaller by volume than the previously smallest MacBook packaging. Apple Inc.