Brando has a new portable solar powered charger in their catalog that appears to be a fairly handy device. It measures only 137mm long and weighs a mere 240 grams which makes for a nice and compact fold-out package.

The charger uses solar power to charge up an internal battery that then can be used to power or charge your gadgets. It has a number of adapters from the standard USB output port to fit different types of gadgets, but what’s probably most notable is the fact that you can vary the …

The Boy Genius Report is showing off a couple new possible versions to the popular Sidekick mobile device offered through T-Mobile. The images are merely renderings of what the devices might look like, but they are interesting nonetheless.

One is a slightly thinner looking model simply labeled ‘Sidekick’ which could possibly turn out to be a successor to the Sidekick 3 aptly named the Sidekick 4. The other is labeled the ‘Sidekick Slide’ and has a distinctive Motorola logo next to the screen, referred to as …

This Ci70 wireless desktop set from Kensington has got to be the sleekest and thinest we’ve seen, and definitely had the minimalist in mind when designed.

The footprint on the keyboard is 40% smaller than standard multimedia keyboards and even the mouse runs anorexic at 35% of the average size. When not in use the mouse docks neatly in the keyboard to save space and conserve power. An automatic sleep timer also helps conserve energy and saves on wear of the optical sensor.

The wireless desktop works with Windows and …

Gadget firms are having to dig deep to come up with more gadgets that they can latch onto the mobile phone market but this may be the most extreme that we’ve seen to date: a Japanese company is selling a pocket lighter that looks like a mobile phone. With a press of a button the “phone” will blurt out a small jet of open flame so you can light up and puff away. Trying to conceal your habit just got a little bit easier since you won’t have any lighters lying around the house, …

The Financial Times has just reported that Apple has been in talks with major movie studios about launching an online movie rental service. Currently Apple allows users to download movies through iTunes to own, but only has agreements with Disney and Paramount as most studios have been reluctant due to the hit the service could have on regular DVD sales.

Studios may be less hesitant with an online download rental service since it’s less likely that it would affect the sale of DVDs. The rental term …

Yesterday the Morning Paper posted a grainy black and white photo of a new product to be coming from Palm called the Palm Gandolf, showing features of an integrated camera, Bluetooth, EVDO and a Micro SD slot.

Today the have another smaller photo, this time in color (looks photoshop to us) along with some more details about the device, stating a price point of under $200 and an availability date of sometime in Q4 of this year. Also it has a full QWERTY keyboard and runs Palm OS.

About the time we …

This small Disney Mplayer MP3 player inspired by Mickey Mouse features the shape of Mickey’s head and ears in a spherical design. The ears look to be actually functional controlling the volume with one and moving ahead or back in tracks with the other, possibly by twisting them.

The features here are pretty simple but the design is sure to catch on. There is no screen interface on this little device and by additional photos it appears to be quite small, maybe just 2-3 inches in diameter. There also doesn’t appear to be …

You like to be cool and hip with fashionable gadgets. Do us a favor though please – avoid the Hummer HT1 slider phone like the plague.

Why? Well, for starts, it isn’t what I say is the most pretty phone out there for $400 (especially the camo design - please!). You’re also showing off by owning this phone you drive one of the most controversial gas guzzling, money sucking vehicles on the planet. May a pack of Priuses chase you down on the freeway like a hunted animal!

(off of soapbox) Now if, for some reason, …

This looks like one handy gadget to have in your car. It’s a one-piece 4-port power inverter that plugs into your car’s cigarette lighter socket and provides a 110 volt AC outlet, two USB ports and a cigarette lighter socket.

The USB ports would be incredible convenient in order to power devices such as an iPod or a PDA, and of course you can plug in your laptop or any other device to charge in the 110 volt …

USB flash drives come in all shapes and sized these days, and not even a lego brick can escape it.

A Australian company called Zip Zip has created a 1GB USB flash memory thumb drive out of small Lego bricks just to add a little fun to you data storage needs.

This design makes me wonder if you could stack these bricks together, and something that would be really cool is if by stacking them you could expand the memory. But for now I think they are just regular Lego bricks with a …

Pulse oximetry is definitely not a new technology, and even small, finger-sized portable pulse oximeters have been around for a while. But few have had such a clear display and been as reasonably priced as a the Oxicheck.

This device, like any oximeter shines red and infrared light into your finger to noninvasively check your blood oxygen level and heart rate. It has a nice large LCD display that shows and continuously monitors (not records) your heart rate and blood oxygen saturation in real time. This works off the same principals of larger pulse …

This tiny desktop refrigerator is a definite step up from the USB Beverage cooler “cold plate” we wrote about last fall. With the ability to cool your drink down with a running temperature of just over 8 degrees C, this USB Mini Fridge can hold and cool exactly one standard 12 ounce can. It’s powered solely by USB via your computer which makes it a fairly portable personal fridge that can sit on your desk and keep your drinks …

Recently we wrote an article about Nokia phone chargers and how they are adding features prompt owners to unplug the cord from the wall when not in use to conserve electricity. Imagine how much energy would be saved if your printer, speakers and any other plugged-in peripherals automatically were powered up and down by your computer.

This Smart Strip power strip has a one main control outlet, six switched outlets and three “always on” outlets. A device such as your computer that’s …

While doing projects around the house, grilling outside and even at social events I’ll often find myself asking where I put my beer, but my problem ends with this beer holster.

Made of the same type of rugged leather of tool belts, pliers and gun holsters, this will snap onto your belt and has a strap to go around your leg to keep the holster upright at all times and is the perfect size for a 12 ounce can or bottle. Imagine the convenience of never losing track of your beer while having both hands free to …

Usually when you or your doctor take your pulse you would use a blood pressure cuff, a clip on one of your fingers or even just counting the beats on your neck the old fashioned way. Taylor Gifts is bringing the pulse counting business into the 21st century with its heart rate monitor ring so you can always tell what your rate is with just a quick glance.

While its bright red design won’t win any style awards it does get our approval for displaying your pulse in large enough numbers (between a range of …