Forget your fancy webcams with their high-end consumer features (and their need for separate speakers); a company called Giz Fever has a plug and play USB webcam that looks like it’s got the bare necessities necessary to video chat and maybe record a low-fi video or two. As an added bonus, the camera comes with its own USB speaker, which we can only hope has some sort of block separating it from the microphone (perhaps that’s the “Hi-Fi Baffle Box” Giz Fever mentions in the specifications?) to prevent the horrible screech of feedback.
To be honest, we’re not sure why you’d need a speaker on your webcam; these days, how many computers come without some sort of speaker (external or built-in) such that you’d need another speaker on your webcam? We guess the price is right, internal speaker or not, but it strikes us as a bit of an odd indulgence.
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Controlling the media on your computer can be a big hassle. AMEX’s little RM-mp1 Wireless USB remote packs in a USB remote control, laser pointer and touchpad to allow you to control most every aspect of your digital media on your computer from afar. The touchpad area allows you to navigate menus by controlling the mouse pointer just like you do with the track pad on your notebook.
The laser pointer allows you to… ummm… point to things not to mention the cat harassment possibilities presented in the home. The device connects to your computer via a wireless USB receiver and uses 2.4 GHz connectivity for range. Compatibility is with Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP and Vista. From just looking at the device the
Logitech MX Air is a much sexier method of controlling the same media and if portability is your main concern the tiny little PCMCIA slot hiding
Outel USB remote is infinitely more portable.
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We’re all for a computer as a utilitarian work of art, but this concept seems a little ridiculous: a company called NISHI-KI has released a set of handmade keyboards, with each key done up as a part of a larger design. Sure, they look really pretty, and they’re certainly priced to match ($156 per 86 key instrument), but looking at them, we can’t help but think two things.
First, any keyboard, no matter
how functional or
how revolutionary, will take some time to learn properly. While you’re learning where to put your fingers so you don’t hit a Q instead of a W, for example, you’re going to need to look at the keyboard from time to time and reorient yourself, which brings us to our second point: these keyboards are quite soft on the eye, but most of them are almost impossible to read, particularly in low light. Your fancy new keyboard won’t look so pretty if you’ve tossed it against a wall in frustration because you can’t see what you’re doing.
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At $350, the Dunhill Bulldog USB Key – made by the well-known luxury company Alfred Dunhill – may not match the price point of the Adam & Eve flash drives, and the Bulldog’s stainless steel construction is but a pale shadow to the gaudiness of the 14k Gold DiskOnKey U3 drive, but that doesn’t mean the Bulldog is anywhere near reasonably priced, particularly for a drive with such a small capacity (and a no-name manufacturer, although we suppose the product page means “SanDisk,” not “Scandisk”).
Of course, since these drives are a case (so to speak) of form over function, we’re supposed to admire the exterior, not concern ourselves with the innards (or the price), and taken from that perspective we can see the appeal: the drive’s steel sheen makes for a much more sophisticated look than something covered with gold or diamonds, and the bulldog makes for a smart-looking cap. If we had the money, we’d probably buy one.
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Posted by admin in Computers
With its small size, modern styling, audiophile focus, and that oh-so-important USB connector, you’d expect the NuForce Icon to find a home next to a laptop on a glass topped desk in a high-rise office building with full length window views. You might be right – that’s definitely one of the roles the Icon can play – but this amplifier displays a surprising amount of versatility for its size: in addition to a USB input that turns it into an external sound card like the Asus Xonar U1, the Icon includes a headphone jack for connection to a portable music player (iPod, Zune, CD player, etc.), a discrete headphone amplifier, a line out port for connection to a powered subwoofer, RCA inputs for connection to stereo components, and two Ethernet ports for use with CAT-5-enabled speakers (or standard speakers through special cabling).
All together, the Icon makes for an interesting package, but given the number of possible applications, we’re surprised that NuForce doesn’t make a higher-end version of the amplifier with tube amplification. After all, why can’t we have our premium sound and miniaturization all in one package?
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If you are tired of the anemic sound your notebook came with but don’t want a full size set of speakers crowding your desk, the B-Flex 2 Hi-Fi Stereo USB Speaker is the ticket. The B-flex 2 is available in both black and white colors. The speakers are attached to a flexible neck that allows you to position the speakers to your liking. For some reason it reminds me of the head from the Wall-E robot from the Disney movie.
The B-Flex 2 is powered completely by the USB bus so no external power adapter is needed. The system consists of two 36mm paper cone drivers with an output of 1W per channel. The frequency range for the system is 200 – 20,000 Hz and the resonant frequency is 200Hz. Weight for the system in only 2.8 ounces making it very portable and the dimensions are 3.25″ x 7″ x 1.25″. The B-Flex 2 system is much more compact than say the
Yamaha NX-U02 or
Logitech V20, but I have to wonder if the B-flex sounds as good.
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If you only have $15 to burn for your DJ friend’s upcoming birthday, the USB DJ Plasma Tube is the way to go. The 8.5″ high plasma tube powered by none other than a USB port is the latest gizmo from Brando whose light will sync to music or ambient noise. Obviously, there wouldn’t be much fun with just one tube so you will need at least three, each one for a different color. There’s also a knob that adjusts the lamp lighting strength; supposedly, the max. setting is the one where the Plasma Tube will just glow like a lightsaber. At just $15, Brando surely has a gadget that Star Wars fans will dig.
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