This Heart Lamp design by Lígia Carteiro is not the heart shape we would normally expect to see, but uses a more realistic and a little less appealing likeness of the human heart. According to Carteiro, the lamp was inspired by the proverb “cold hand, warm heart” and the lamp is warm to the touch due to a 15w light bulb. It doesn’t look like it would do a great job as a lamp, however. By looking at it I think the concept would do just as well as a mouse, or a maybe a USB powered lamp?

Personal storage product manufacturer Apricorn is bringing to computer users a new external hard drive solution which is secured via hardware encryption. The new Aegis Vault line is available in sizes ranging from 80GB to 250GB and is priced at around $140 to $270 respectively.

The Aegis Vault from Apricorn uses AES-128 bit hardware encryption with password protection to secure data. It can be configured into multiple partitions for public data sharing and features an administrator password option for corporate applications. It connects through USB, making it bus-powered, and works with Windows operating systems.

I never use labels. I’m in the habit of using a sharpie when I burn CDs. The problem is that my writing is terrible. Lucky for me I understand my chicken-scratch most of the time, but sometimes even I’m at a loss. Printing out labels is a hassle. So the Casio CW-E60 Title Printer looks perfect for me. We all want more professional looking CDs.

It features a 200 dpi print resolution and uses a thermal transfer ribbon to print the label on your disc. Plus it comes with easy to use software to design your labels. It will also let you choose from 8 different colored ribbons for your prints. The price isn’t too bad either at $60. Sure beats trying to decipher bad writing.

These speakers/moodlight/FM radio are simply way too cool to behold. They remind me of the Easter Island stone heads, you know, if aliens had mated with robots and then made art. For a dock, it really does do quite alot.

Raise and lower the volume by simply waving your hand across the infrared sensor. You can tune the radio by the same means. No need to press any buttons. Of course you can plug your mp3 player into it, or turn on the radio. If you get really bored you watch the pretty mood light glow.

Maybe this company just likes making speakers shaped like fruit or maybe they’re taking a more welcome route of latching onto the Apple popularity as apposed to throwing the letter “i” in front of their product name, but either way these speakers look kinda’ cool.

When put together the two channel, 1W speakers are held in place by magnets and they are in fact shaped like an Apple and have no affiliation to Apple the company. The speakers are powered by a USB connection from your computer and connect sound through a standard 3.5mm audio jack from your computer or just about any mp3 player. They come on colors of red or green and measure, well, about the size of an apple at 112×104x56mm each. The Apple Design speaker set runs about 25 Euros, (~$36 USD) on Ebay.de.

Take a look at this Visuals analog USB gauge used to monitor the power supply unit on your computer. The gauge has a dial and looks like something you’d find in an automotive shop but can be a very handy tool for anyone building and/or overclocking their computer.

The Visuals USB gauge has three buttons, one of which needs to be pressed in order to see one of three monitoring parameters. The gauge will monitor the wattage, temperature and fan speed of your power supply and is as simple as plugging it into your USB port. Unfortunately you can’t use it to monitor just any power supply unit, though. The analog gauge is only compatible with GIGAYBTE’s ODIN GT series of power supplies. The gauges retail for a little over $60, that is if you can find one.

We’re often surprised here at the ‘Brick by the different types of things that companies come up with which are powered by a USB connection. Most do seem to make a lot of sense though; people are spending more and more time at their computers and most of these devices don’t require a lot of juice to power them. This far infrared heating pad is a good example, offering the benefits of infrared heat through the convenience of a USB connection.

G-Technology, a developer of external hard drives for computers, announced today a new triple rear interface design for its G-DRIVE mini portable hard drives. The new G-DRIVE mini Triple starts at around $180, depending upon the drive’s storage capacity.

The G-DRIVE mini Triple is available in sizes ranging from 120GB to 250GB. It offers for connectivity to a PC or Mac a choice of FireWire 400, FireWire 800 or USB 2.0. The drive is housed in an all aluminum enclosure with built-in heat sink and weighs under nine ounces. It’s bus powered and requires to external power source to operate.

The small table top jukebox reproduction stands 36cm high and has a real wood cabinet (veneer) and illuminated tubing that changes colors making it look and act like the real old time jukeboxes.

Instead of being packed with tiny records this jukebox houses electronics to play your favorite old-time music on CD’s through a retractable tray in the front. It also has an FM radio tuner and a USB 2.0 connection to connect and play MP3’s, although the jukebox itself does not have any internal memory or an MP3 player.

Do you have a green thumb? Or are you a homicidal gardener? It won’t matter anymore, thanks to Brando’s USB greenhouse. You will never have to feel bad again as you watch plants grow before your eyes.

Combining nature with technology, Brando’s greenhouse has a USB-powered (And egg shaped) case that uses a growth light to stimulate plants. Since it is a mostly hands-off process, you’ll soon forget about your previous plant track record. The device will monitor moisture and remind you when you need to water your thriving plant friend. Comes with software, Marigold seeds, and artificial soil.

As far as USB gadgets go the iSharpener USB pencil sharpener could be considered one of the more practical ones. It actually has a practical use although I can’t remember the last time that I actually wrote anything with a pencil. The device of course is powered by your computers USB connection but if you’re all your ports happen to be occupied at the time your lead breaks it can be backed up by 4 AA batteries.

The iSharpener seems simple enough and personally I think it should have been called the iSharpen, but they did add a nice little “spin” to the device. Instead of just a boring old grinding noise while watching wooden shavings fall into the plastic bin, the makers added 3 colorful LED lights inside the light up when you’re sharpening! How’s that for adding excitement to your day?

Gone are the days of having your USB devices tethered within the standard 5 meter limit of a USB cable. The Gefen USB 400FO USB extender kit uses fiber optics with full USB 2.0 standard compatibility to stretch the reach of not just one but four USB connections up to 1,650 feet or 500 meters.

The kit comes with two externally powered boxes, the send unit (USB 400FOS) and the receive unit (USB 400FOR). Your computer connects up to four USB cables to the sender unit which sends the signal as far as 500 meters to the receiver unit where it gets converted back to a USB connection to power your RC Car or Missile Launcher from almost a third of a mile away.

It looks like that USB Mini Fridge we saw earlier this year, not unlike Spiderman, has had it’s suit changed from red to black and has come up with some advanced powers. Now this little fridge that snugly fits a single 12 ounce can will not only cool it down, but can also heat it up.

The USB Mini Fridge and Heater appears to carry the same shape and always-on blue LED lighting, but now with the flick of the inline switch on the cord can heat up its contents by by 34°F or cool it down by 28°F. The little refrigerator/heater can achieve these temp changes in a matter of 5 minutes and is powered by a standard USB connection to just about any computer.

Deluo, the same company that recently brought us the Bluetooth GPS for smartphones, also has available the Deluo GPSMouse. As the name implies the GPSMouse combines a GPS receiver and a travel mouse into one product.

This 2 in1 gadget first works as a normal, USB-powered optical travel mouse with a lightweight design for taking with you on the go. It even has a retractable USB cord built-in to help keep it compact. In addition, through a flick of a switch on the bottom it instantly transforms into a GPS receiver connected to your computer through the same USB cable and offering positional assistance without having to have a separate device. The MouseGPS can also optionally come packaged with Microsoft Streets & Trips giving you both pointer and street navigation in one device. What we’d really love to see is the next version of this MouseGPS to be wireless Bluetooth as well.

For notebook or PC users that want to improve their quality of sound emanating from their machine Asus is pleased to bring to you the Xonar U1. This USB audio device looks like it should belong on the head of a member of Devo but in fact it clears up the electromagnetic interference and removes any residue static created by your computer’s circuitry using a digital to analog converter (DAC).