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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