BBG supremo Joel Johnson is currently away, but I know our rainbow-loving leader would be enchanted by the bright colors of Crayola’s EZ Type keyboard.
A close inspection of the $30 USB model, however, reveals a somewhat cocked-up layout, with the keys arranged in a neat grid instead of the finely-evolved modern standard. Such things are sexy in cellphones, but in a training model for the real thing? Also, is that Comic Sans?
For $452, you can bag yourself a Noon Logan Solar Laptop case, which may seem a wee bit expensive but it will charge up your gadgets while you’re on the go.
The laptop bag features a flexible exterior solar panel, which charges an internal power bank.
You can then connect this bank up to your electrical kit.
Maybe someone could devise a bag that charges using rain drop power for the UK?
Brilliant color at an affordable priceThe Dell 2130cn Color Laser Printer offers professional-grade color printing along with a host of features designed to conserve resources. It offers fast output, simplified networking and the ability to continue printing in black with an empty color toner cartridge. And the 2130cn is easy on your bottom line with low cost-per-page color output. Compact and affordable, this printer is ideal for use in workgroups or satellite offices.
Dream Cheeky once again brings us yet another questionably useful USB gadget. The USB Webmail Notifier reportedly works in the background to inform you of new emails by illuminating in blue, red or green. It even tells you the capacity of unread emails by audible alerts. Supposedly, a soft red illumination means an incoming email arrived in Gmail, but you can associate each of the three colors with a different email client.
The bundled software will work with Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook Express and any POP3 programs. One thing to keep in mind is that Dream Cheeky does the email authentication for you so you may want to make sure your password isn’t sent out as clear text or it would be a huge security risk. We do wonder how the USB Webmail Notifier handles a sudden influx of emails.
LG Electronics announced over the weekend it will soon bring to market the first Network Attached Storage (NAS) device with an integrated Blu-ray drive to consumers. Meant for home and small business users, the four-bay NAS not only gives users support for hard drives with up to 4TB of storage but also the option of backing up data onto Blu-ray discs regardless of where they are at home.
The N4B1 includes a gigabit Ethernet jack along with three USB 2.0 connections in standard form. LG supports up to RAID 5 for joining the drives, but can also set them to RAID 0, 1, or 1+0 in addition to leaving each disk separate.
To reflect the intended consumer base for the N4B1, LG depends on a streamlined web-based graphic user interface meant to simplify managing the storage without depending on any one operating system. A version management system keeps track of what files have been downloaded and backed up, and will only transfer new files when performing routine back-up operations. The data written on each back-up CD, DVD or Blu-ray disc is cataloged to help the archiving process.
The N4B1 is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac computers and networks, allowing any combination of the various operating systems to access the NAS simultaneously.
LG’s N4B1 NAS will be available starting in December, although LG has not announced pricing information.
If you work in an office with lots of people or in a cubicle farm, odds are it does not always smell so good. It could be anything from the weird guy in the cubicle next door that doesn’t bathe as often as the others in the office would like, or maybe it’s the lady in the cubby next door that likes onions on everything. The Desktop USB Fragrance dispenser can mask the odor of your neighbors, but it can’t hide your geekiness.
This isn’t the first fragrance dispenser we have seen, but at least the one today doesn’t put oil right next to your computer. The desktop USB Diffuser is ultrasonic and works as a humidifier as well. The fragrance strength is adjustable and the device has a LED power indicator. Exactly what type of fragrance you put into the device is unknown. Since the device is ultrasonic, I doubt it would work with oils.
Lexar has announced a new version of its FireFly flash drive with 16GB of storage space. The drive is very small physically and still provides lots of storage space to carry large files and applications. The FireFly is also available in capacities of 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB.
The drive includes a keychain hole to make carrying easy. A removable cap keeps the USB connector safe when not in use. The drive also features a blue LED that blinks during data transfer. Windows users also get a 30-day trial of Dmailer V7 for synchronizing of email from Outlook and Outlook Express.
Darrell Hill, senior product marketing manager at Lexar Media, noted: “The new 16GB JumpDrive FireFly drive is a bold new step in storage for Lexar. Whether you’re a student with tons of notes, a blogger with a collection of video clips, or a mom with an online family album full of digital photos, our stylish new 16GB JumpDrive FireFly drive lets you keep your precious data and media files on hand while on the go.”
Today’s generations of gee-whiz graphics and analog controls have brought with them one unfortunate addition: beefy, expensive wireless controllers that we’re loathe to dash against the floor or to bash against an adjacent sibling. The creatively-termed “USB Metal Game Pad” from Dream Cheeky is just what it says on the box, doing your basic assortment of SNES-era joypad work with some USB pluggability and Mac / PC compatibility, but being conveniently built out of metal. Sure, it looks shoddy and uninspired, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. No word on price or where to nab one.
Another week, another eco-friendly flash drive this time the drive is called, the Woody Bamboo. As you might guess from the name, its case is made of carved bamboo wood. Bamboo is a popular material for eco-friendly computer gear because the wood grows quickly and is easy to replace. The [re]drive the talked about before uses bamboo wood on its case.
The Woody Bamboo flash drive is available in capacities starting at 128MB and going up to 8 GB. The color the drive will depend on the bamboo wood it was carved from, and the drive measures 67 x 20 x 12 mm. In addition to the wooden drive case, an optional carved bamboo gift box with a sliding lid is available. A hemp-like string is included to allow the drive to be carried around the neck. The drive must be ordered in quantities of 100 and can be customized with a corporate logo. I do like the looks of the Woody Bamboo flash drive much more than the corn-shaped so-called biodegradable flash drive we looked at a while back.
Logitech is now bundling its Cordless Desktop Wave Pro keyboard and MX 1100 mouse and the combo will be available for €119.99 from next month.
The Wave Pro is claimed to be designed for comfort with a U-shaped “constant curve” as well as a cushioned, contoured palm rest.
The main feature of the MX 1100 Mouse is its ability to self charge whilst you’re using it.
The onboard battery will last for a whole day after a 15 minute charge, or 6 weeks after 7 hours charging.
You can charge the mouse using the included USB plug, which fits into an AC adaptor, which is also included.
The stand-alone MX1100 offers up to 9 months of battery life using two AA batteries.
Also worth a mention is the mouse’s MicroGear Precision Scroll Wheel, which has two scrolling modes, including hyper-fast scrolling and its eight programmable buttons
If you load up the bundled software, you can also use a stealth thumb button with zoom controls which allow you to zoom in and out of documents.
The mouse also features adjustable dpi (up to 1600dpi), which can come in handy when editing an image.
The Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Pro keyboard-and-mouse combination will be available in September for €119.99.
You will also be able to buy the Logitech MX1100 Cordless Laser Mouse separately from mid-September for €69.99.
