Virgin Mobile USA has confirmed the Helio Ocean 2 release and has seen fit to shower the world with further details like features, price and availability. It’s dual slide design is similar to it’s predecessor, but this time it’s slimmer. Like you couldn’t have guessed that. Gadgets and models are always getting slimmer.

Some specs: 2.6″ TFT display with 240 x 320 resolution, 3G connectivity, GPS with Google Maps, Easy access to Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Flickr, Stereo Bluetooth connectivity, Media player with background mode playback, 3.5mm headset jack, Opera Mini, Mail for Microsoft Exchange, File Viewer with document editing capabilities, 3D gaming, 2 megapixel camera with location tagging and video recording, microSD memory card slot.

It doesn’t matter if you use your printer a little or a lot, we all still hate paying ridiculous prices for ink. But what if you could use old coffee grounds instead? That would beat the price of ink. It may sound crazy, but one day, who knows? Starbucks could resell their grounds for you to take home and put in your printer.(At a high price just like their coffee I’m sure.)

It’s a just a dreamy concept right now, but with the RITI coffee printer, you could drink your coffee and print with it too. The spent grounds would be poured into a cartridge and the printing mechanism would be moved back and forth by hand to create the image. I like the idea, but could do without the manual labor part. On the plus side, your resume might be judged by the aromatic quality of your spent coffee.

Out of all of the gadgets that we own, alarm clocks are our least favorite. They are probably the most hated gadget period. Anything that wakes you from your peaceful slumber on a daily basis deserves to be smashed, if not thrown out the window to be run over by a dump truck.

That’s the idea behind the Smash Clock. To turn off the Smash Clock’s alarm, there’s no fumbling required to find the right button. Just punch it. The top is nice and soft. By punching it aggressively, you wake up more fully, not to mention the fact that you’ve gotten some aggression out of your system first thing.

Buffalo has launched a 7 inch USB LCD display dubbed the Buffalo FTD-W7, for use as a secondary screen for you notebook or PC.
This tiny LCD display will give you a resolution of 800 x 400 and a contrast ratio of 500:1, and it connects to your PC via your USB port.

The cool part is that the screen swivels, making it even more useful. I might look into getting one of these as I’m planning on buying several hundred displays in my bid to take over the world. I’m gonna need screens for email, world maps, radar, etc.

Just in case of an emergency, it’s good to have a way to charge up your gadgets. Sometimes there’s just no available power source available though. With this SUPERBattery device from Datexx you won’t have to worry. It has you covered.

All you have to do is plug your gadget into the handy hand crank charger and start cranking. 2 minutes of frantic crank churning should give you about 6 minutes of talk time. The kit includes a hand-cranked 600mA rechargeable battery pack, built-in flashlight and an AC adapter which supports over 1,200 different mobile devices. It’s a pretty handy device. Who knows, it might even save your life.

It really has to suck for you gals who are into technology. You deserve more than just pink gadgets. Because you are smarter then they give you credit for. You deserve high end specs and “pretty” that comes in a variety of colors with an elegant design. Sadly, this new Motorola basic phone fits the usual stereotype: pink with regular specs.

The design however is a little nicer then the usual offerings. It’s subtle and elegant. It still has pink, but it’s discreet with 3.5G. The Motorola PEBL Rose Bloom will be available in Korea from SK telecom. No word on price yet. We know that it features a touch sensitive external panel, a 2 MP camera, a 3.5 mm audio jack, Bluetooth and HSDPA.

Lego’s just announced that they will be teaming up with Digital Blue to bring out a line of digital cameras, PMPs, and walkie talkies for kids. Modders have been making gadgets out of Legos for awhile now, so I guess the company figured they would do the work for people. Kids at least.

The products feature the familiar “Lego” look, but they are not constructed out of actual bricks. We don’t have any specs yet, but these Lego gadgets are said to be arriving this summer, prices ranging from $19 – $60.

The hum of the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show is over but we still have plenty of gadgets announced during the show to write on – so hold on as we dump out the press release mail box and see what we have around. One such goodie announced earlier in the show last week was the inexpensive and stylish Inspiron 15.

The Dell Inspiron 15, with a starting price of around $600, features a 15.6-inch LCD display with a 16:9 aspect ratio. It can be configured with a variety of highlighted features, including up to 4GB of RAM, up to 320GB of hard drive storage, a Web cam and a Blu-ray drive.

iPod accessory maker Maxell is all set to release some music player earbuds that look like kid’s candy. Hmmm. I wonder if some young and dumb kids will try to eat them. I’m guessing yes. Even the packaging makes them look delicious. Plus, just like the candy, these earbuds come in many colors: Red, pink, blue, orange, and white.

You’ll note that the packaging proclaims “Sweet sounds”, which to a toddler who can’t read, simply says “Look at the funny candy people who want me to eat them.” It does say “Not candy!” but anyone old enough to read that probably knows better anyway. At $10, it’s a bargain choking hazard for the home with a curious toddler.

If there’s one certainty in life, it’s that gadgets get smaller and smaller while storage size goes up. Thin is in. And it’s not just TVs and display screens that are shedding pounds, but even the portables. Now there’s Samsung’s slimmest Blu-ray player. The player is only 1.5-inches thick.

With the BDP4600, other manufacturers are sure to follow and scale down their Blu-ray players as well. Because let’s face it, most look like crap. No other specs at the moment, but we’ll let you know if anything is sacrificed to gain that trim exterior. It sure looks pretty.

Looks like Vuzix will introduce their latest head-mounted display at CES this year. It’s dubbed the Wrap 920AV. This wearable gadget has improved optics and will offer a better viewing experience. The most important aspect however, is the style change. The older models of the VR system looked like Geordi LaForge’s visor from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

This new design is cool enough that people might actually wear them. Vuzix promises the optics are much improved and that you will actually feel like you’re watching a real screen. Previous versions had a poor POV that didn’t live up to its goal of immersive-style entertainment.

Laptops are great for viewing various youtube videos and the like, but when you get a few people huddled around the screen you are forced to deal with awkward viewing angles on said laptop. If you want to watch Youtube videos as a family, the VuNow Pod is another option.

It’s a palm sized set top box that is also the first solution to allow consumers to watch content from the web directly on their television, without having to connect a computer. It lets users experience the content together on the big screen TV. Best of all, no awkward viewing angles etc.

CES 2009 is only days away now and the hoards of new gadgets and HDTVs that will be shown are probably showing up at the convention center in Vegas right now. Each year there are a myriad of world’s first launched at the show, and often they can only claim that title for a day, if not mere hours because of all the product introductions.

LG has laid claim to the title of world’s first TruMotion 480Hz LCD TV panel. The typical HDTV has a 60Hz refresh rate, though some are on the market now sporting 120Hz. I expect that we will see many 240Hz sets at the show and LG may not be the only maker showing off a 480Hz set.

Sometimes solutions are so simple and elegant, you wonder why no one figured it out until now. That’s the case with the Flexicord HDMI cable featuring a patented Memory Cord Technology. It will debut at CES 2009 and help consumers to always have the right cable length to hook up their gadgets.

Pretty novel idea. And simple too. Sometimes coiled cable can be a problem with too much slack, but the company says that it can bend anywhere along its length and hold the angle indefinitely. It’s like those bendy action figures. You know the ones you pose, that stay in whatever position you leave them in.

Energizer’s Solar Recharger looks like an odd device. It looks like it could be an iPod battery extender, a AA charger or even a Solar adapter. And it actually is all of the above. Mainly, it’s a battery charger for standard rechargeable AA and AAA batteries and is primarily powered by an AC jack that’s assisted by a flip-out solar panel. The USB port can power your connected gadget and the Solar Charger will act as an extended battery for almost any USB-powered device, like your iPod for instance.

The beauty of this device is that through the use of cheap rechargeable batteries, Energizer sell it for just $50, with 2 AAs included. Some other features include weatherproofing and a rotating solar panel.