Data Drive Thru, the makers of the Tornado USB peer-to-peer connection device for PC’s, have given it an upgrade this year and are launching the iTornado sometime in March of this year. The iTornado works much like its predecessor making a direct connection between computers via USB. The upgrade for this model allows users to not only connect two PC’s, but also allows them to connect a PC to an Intel based Mac to transfer files back and forth.

The device consists of two retractable USB cables and built-in software so there is nothing to install. Simply plug-in both computers and a list of files available on both computers will display, and it will display on both computers. From there users can simply drag and drop files between the two and transfer them via USB 2.0 at up to 25Mb/second. The iTornado can make upgrading or switching from a PC to a Mac a lot easier than trying to find the other computer via a common network or copying back and forth with a thumb drive.

The MacWorld 2008 week is just about to come to a close but the new product announcements aren’t quite over yet. XtremeMac, maker of Apple product accessories, has launched the InCharge Home and InCharge Travel as the latest addition to the companies lineup of chargers for the iPhone and iPod. The products bear the “Works with iPhone” and “Made for iPod” brands making them Apple approved, which is something we really like to see anytime we connect something between the wall outlet and our multi-hundred dollar gadgets.

The InCharge Home is basically a $30 wall outlet adapter that will charge your iPhone or iPod without the use of a computer and without the risk of burning it up. XtremeMac says that the InCharge Home will bring your iPod or iPhone to a full charge twice as fast as it will through your computer connection.

Here’s an interesting social network concept device. The handshake ring is like one of those James Bond gadgets, where you shake hands with your secret spy contact and instead of passing money or a secret note, you exchange digital contact details.

The rings exchange and store your information automatically for you to browse through later using the card. The power used to operate the ring is generated from the users body temperature so no plug or batteries are required.

Do you like to to save money? To qoute Sally Struthers, “Sure, we all do.” Do you like to save energy? To qoute my father when I was growing up, “Turn the damn light off. Were you born in a barn?”…Or something like that. The point is, with all of our Plasma TV’s and many gadgets, it’s nice to save money and energy when possible. But do you have any idea how many kilowatts your gadgets use?

Kill-A-Watt EZ Plug Power Meter measures just how much juice your gadgets and appliances are using, much like the Intelliworks Energy Saver. It will not only measure the power your gadgets are using, but it will tell you how much it is already costing you and what it will cost in the future.

According to Wired magazine, a insider to Apple who works at a third party vendor to the company got the “skinny” on the new super-thin ultraportable MacBook that we’ve been hearing rumors about. The MacWorld 2008 keynote speech is just hours away and according to his source Jobs will be announcing a very thin, wireless Apple notebook dubbed the MacBook Air due to it’s like of wires. Supposedly it will have no Ethernet port and rely solely on WiFi. It also will not come with any type of optical CD/DVD drive and could look something like the photoshopped design shown here. There were not details given on actual dimensions, price or real specs but more than likely we’ll get the real scoop later this morning.

With the beginning of a new year, we have several exciting new things in store for you, our valuable readers. This is one of them. We will be featuring several contests and giveaways, so tell your friends, alert the neighbors and most of all keep a close eye on the site and come back often. Whenever we can, we will be sending cool stuff your way. So don’t miss out! You might even want to comment and let us know what you think about getting free stuff.

This time around we have something for you from our friends at Baylis. We have 5 My Magic Torches w/ phone charger. And we have 2 LED Eco Lanterns. These are some very handy gadgets and the winners will be very happy campers.

This water-activated “portable power product” is fuel cell-based and through the use of $20 disposable cartridges, it will provide “enough energy to recharge an average notebook computer 8 to 10 times” or even “operate low power devices such as portable lights, notebook computers, portable televisions etc. for more than 14 continuous hours,”. It works via AC outlet or dual USB. The unit will cost about $400. A few of the nicer features on this one are that the HydroPak is quieter and lighter than other types of generators in it’s class, and as a bonus, it doesn’t spit out horrible emissions.

At CES 2008, they will also have a smaller version named the HydroPak Mini, which is a prototype designed to power gadgets like cellphones or your favorite game systems. They expect to have units available for sale in mid-2008.

This credit card sized digital voice recorder is not only anorexic, but white as a hospital. A splash of color wouldn’t have killed them, would it? Anyway, despite it’s ultra white sanitary look, it’s pretty easy on the eyes. In fact, it reminds me of why I love Nurses, all dressed in white, nice curves…

It measures just 6.5 millimeters thick and has 1GB of built-in storage, a handy flip-out USB connector, and flush-mounted controls. But it’s not just a Voice Recorder, it can also be used as an MP3 player and USB flash drive. The recording is in high quality WAV file format and files can be handled easily, just copy or delete like a typical USB storage device. Of course the advantage with this device is that you can take it just about anywhere. Pick one up for $69.99.

Here’s one of those gadgets that seems to take advantage of new mothers. Or maybe it just takes advantage of those who need a little too much information. kickTrak can automatically count your baby’s kicks starting at 24 weeks and apparently give you a reliable way to track the movement pattern, and reduce the risk of stillbirth.

One other use is that it can be used at the onset of pregnancy as a rough countdown timer for your due date and can time your contractions when labor begins. Plus it has little tiny feet on the display screen. I’m not sure that this would really help prevent a stillbirth, but I’m just a dumb guy blog writer. More likely, this would be used by the overbearing sports father wanting to gauge the kid’s field-goal kicking abilities from day zero.

Maxian E900T is a new PMP from Korea. Some of the features are a 4.3″ TFT touch screen, interface buttons on both sides, comes in a 30GB and 60GB version. Has the usual memory slot for SD cards, and a Li-Ion battery that has 4000mAh capacity. It has both music and video playback, a DMB receiver, GPS navigation, even a dictionary.

The Windows CE-based system boasts an 800 x 480 4.3-inch touchscreen, support for WMV, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DiVX / XviD, H.264, WMA, AAC, MP3, and OGG formats. The E900T is capable of outputting 720p HD video, sports Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound, and Burr-Brown audio circuitry which outputs via S/PDIF. In it’s car mount it turns into a full featured GPS navigator. Basically, this is an all in one PMP that looks pretty promising.

Here’s another device you can give the finger too. For security reasons of course. Much like the Master Lock smartTOUCH garage door opener we covered earlier. The Sequiam Biometrics BioVault 2.0 is a safe that needs your finger to open it and get to the valuables inside. It recognizes your fingerprint and opens at your command. You can program it to open for others too, if you grant them access. The safe can accommodate up to 50 users.

You can store your gold inside, jewelry, even your precious and expensive gadgets, but it’s really designed to store guns safely and is endorsed by the NRA. It makes sense to store guns in a safe like this as it would apparently open quickly, but keep them safely locked away from kids. The price is $399.95.

Like moths to a flame, the circuit board face and LED lights on this binary circuit board watch are sure to attract other geeks, who will surely compliment you on it and then quickly order one themselves. I don’t blame them. This is one cool watch. It displays time in binary format, using LED lights. The watch face contains 10 red LEDs that are used to indicate the numbers of the binary sequence (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32) and the values of the lighted LEDs are added to determine what time it is.

The top row of LEDs is for the hour and the bottom row for the minutes. It shouldn’t take long to master the art of telling time in this fashion. Aside from it’s cool circuit board face and flashing lights,(They had me at circuit board) it also has a stainless steel back and casing. Did I mention that it’s water resistant to 3 atmospheres and comes with batteries. So you could probably take this thing to another planet and it would be ok. Great looking watch.

I’m not proficient at any musical instruments myself, but if I was I would be into this cool roll-up synthesizer. It’s completely flexible with a super compact design for storage and for moving. Which is probably why it looks like a Fax Machine spitting out Piano keys. With 61 standard layout piano keys, 128 different synthesized tones, 100 different rhythms to play with, you won’t get bored. It also has MIDI and Speaker OUT as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack.

It might look like just a gadget, but it’s not. All of these features make the portable piano synthesizer comparable to many high end digital pianos. But at a fraction of the price. The fact that it will save you some valuable space, makes it practical, since many of us don’t have room for a large Piano.

You know that little pixellated figure that pops up on screen every time a contact logs on? Kinda cute right? And you feel safe and warm, knowing that human contact is on the way. After all, it gets lonely on the computer. Well, set your engines for creep factor 10. Engage.

This rather ominous and somewhat tubby i-Buddy wants to be your new friend. Just sit i-Buddy on your monitor or desktop and it will respond to incoming MSN messages. His head will glow and his wings will flap. You can almost feel the tension as this thing seems to be looking at you, no matter where you are in the room, like some velvet Jesus painting, but twice as sinister. You aren’t sure what he wants from you, but you are positive he can rip thoughts from your mind if he so wishes. The i-buddy manages to be even stranger then the Availabot we showed you in October. And he was a tiny man who went flaccid when the IM contact leaves.

The never-ending flow of gadgets which use USB for power can sometimes cause my head to hurt. Especially when I see ones which promise to warm parts of your body. One of the most recent to journey down this road is the USB Hand Warmer, priced at around $11.

The USB Hand Warmer, as the name implies, warms your hand. You plug this little device into your computer’s USB port to draw the 5v necessary to power it. You wait it appears close to half an hour for it to heat up to 50 degrees. You can then unplug it if you so desire and you have a heater to wrap your cold hands around.