Piezoelectric Nanowires could power your future iPod with blood

Posted in News by Conner Flynn on March 29th, 2009

Piezoelectric NanowiresA world where gadgets are powered by blood? It could happen sooner then you think. It won’t be long until our gadgets are full fledged living entities soon after that. Maybe. In a not too distant future Piezoelectric nanowires may reside in our blood vessels. They would use the energy created by blood flow to power gadgets. Stuff like pacemakers, iPods, anything designers can dream up really.

It sounds pretty amazing, but the reality is that it may cause some sort of new diseases in our bodies or make us more susceptible to them. These things never work out the way you think. If it happens at all, it won’t be for a long long time hopefully.

Hershey & Jazwares developing line of gadget treats

Posted in News by Conner Flynn on February 24th, 2009

Hershey & Jazwares developing line of gadget treatsChalk this one up as yet another thing that will be lying around your home, waiting for infants and those with Homer Simpson IQs to put in their mouths. Hershey’s is teaming up with Jazwares to develop a line of consumer electronics that will have you craving sugar and running out to get some chocolate.

Look for 1 to 4GB USB drives shaped like your favorite treats. It’s not just USB drives though. Expect some digital cameras, earphones and speakers too, whether they take the form of Hershey’s Kisses or Mr. Goodbar. Prices should be in the $15 to $30 range. No release date yet. Expect them to end up in Halloween bags in affluent neighborhoods…Or regular neighborhoods by mistake.

IDAPT Charging Station is heavy on pink

Posted in Chargers by Conner Flynn on January 19th, 2009

IDAPT Charging Station is heavy on pinkChances are you have many chargers on or around your desk, which wouldn’t be a problem if they weren’t all attached to wires. They have a tendency to get all tangled up. The IDAPT Charging Station aims to make your life just a bit neater, while powering up your gadgets.

It’s like a pink gadget orgy charging bed as it can handle three devices simultaneously, and the range of tips available should cover all the popular devices like BlackBerry, Nokia, iPod, PSP etc. You can purchase the tips online if you need one for a gadget. The IDAPT Charging Station will retail for £34.95.

SUPERBattery charges your gadgets with crank-power

Posted in Chargers by Conner Flynn on January 18th, 2009

SUPERBattery charges your gadgets with crank-powerJust 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.

Motorola PEBL Rose Bloom for Valentine’s Day

Posted in Motorola by Conner Flynn on January 15th, 2009

Motorola PEBL Rose Bloom for Valentine’s DayIt 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.

Brando’s 7-in-1 USB charging cable handles everything

Posted in USB by Conner Flynn on January 4th, 2009

Brando’s 7-in-1 USB charging cable handles everythingBrando’s ingenious 7-in-1 USB Charging Cable is like a gadget charging orgy. It provides power for your PSP, DS, DS Lite, DSi and Game Boy Advance handhelds, and all it costs is a USB port and $7. Sure, this cable is a Brando product, and could possibly fry all of your well loved game handhelds, due to it’s questionable craftsmanship, but what is life without some risk.

At $7, what the hell. If it explodes, you’ll have some new parts for a future DIY project. I’ll put it to you, valued readers of the ‘Brick, would you trust Brando’s latest charging gadget with your handhelds?

Energizer Solar Recharger charges batteries, USB gadgets

Posted in Chargers by Conner Flynn on December 23rd, 2008

Energizer Solar Recharger charges batteries, USB gadgetsEnergizer’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.

Pet Lawyer May be the Worst Pet Ever

Posted in Accessories by Shane McGlaun on December 9th, 2008

My Pet LawyerI can think of lots of pets that I wouldn’t want to own. Things like a big snake, that huge dog from Cujo, and a spider monkey that’s always whacking come to mind. Perhaps the worst pet you could ever own would be a lawyer.

If you feel differently, you can adopt a lawyer just in time for the holidays. The My Pet Lawyer doll thingy is a remote controlled gadget that will blurt out nine different saying like “You talkin’ to me, sharkbait?!” to “Pro Bono? Never heard of him!”

Greenpeace’s Green Scorecard

Posted in News by Conner Flynn on November 25th, 2008

Greenpeace’s Green ScorecardIt’s that time again. Greenpeace has released their new Guide to Greener Electronics. Compared to last year, there are many changes. Some you might expect, some you may not have foreseen.

Some manufacturers went up on the scale, while others went down. Nokia is the standout at the top, right at the 7 out of 10 mark, but poor Nintendo… The Big N is once again stuck at 1 out of 10. How did Apple fare? They fail once again and drop to the 14th position out of 18 companies.

Toys ‘R’ Us to sell iPods & Eee PCs

Posted in News by Conner Flynn on October 27th, 2008

Toys ‘R’ Us to sell iPods & Eee PCsToys ‘R’ Us long known as the place where a kid can be a kid, will now be offering iPods and Eee PCs. They aren’t new to electronics, but they’ve never been big on gadgetry in general, except for their Zune sales that began last year.

Now they will be offering iPods in an “iPod boutique,” where you can purchase shuffles, nanos, touches and accessories all in the hopes that they meet their bottom line. I can see it now. An “iPod boutique,” with no employee in sight. The Eee PC will be offered in black and white, with 7-inch Linux and XP versions available for $269 and $299.

iYo makes charging devices fun

Posted in Concepts by Conner Flynn on September 21st, 2008

iYo makes charging devices funThere’s always a solution for charging gadgets when your batteries crap out, but the problem is most of them aren’t any fun at all. Why can’t gadget charging be fun? In fact, I demand fun! Fun in the form of the iYo from Swedish designer Peter Thuvander. The iYo makes charging up your devices into a game, by way of a small induction generator to charge a battery inside the iYo. Just play with it for awhile and when you’ve given the battery a charge, then connect your gadget to the iYo’s USB port and the power will be transferred.

Play is fun and all, but can you imagine all of the Geico caveman types that will break it. The same people who broke wiimotes because they don’t have the cognitive capacity to hold something and apply pressure so it doesn’t leave one’s grip. This could be fun. I can’t wait until we get Kerbanger hard drives and ball/paddle chargers that put people’s eyes out. As far as I’m concerned the world just got more interesting, because it got more dangerous with this concept.

Vote for the ‘Brick in 2008

Posted in News by Conner Flynn on September 15th, 2008

Vote for the ‘Brick in 2008Looks like the folks over at Electronics Weekly have launched a search for the best Electronics blogs, with their first ever Electronics Blog Awards and they were kind enough to mention us by name. Now normally we don’t pay much attention to politics. For instance we won’t ask you to Rock The Vote, and we don’t care if you vote for the young hip guy whose face adorns the DS above or the old guy trying so hard to be hip with his corded phone. But when it comes to tech and assorted geekery, we want your vote.

So if you’re a fan of the ‘Brick just hit the link below and follow the instructions to get us nominated. We can’t say we stand for change and we have no Moose-shooting VP, we just really really love gadgets!

Ply phone is Swiss Army knife of phones

Posted in Concepts by Conner Flynn on August 21st, 2008

Ply phone is Swiss Army knife of phonesThe Ply phone concept packs so many gadgets inside of it’s wood exterior, you expect to see the Swiss Army logo on it. Like it’s namesake plywood, it has layers and in each layer there resides a gadget, like a phone, game controller, photo printer, projector and more. Designer Hideo Kanbara is obviously a big fan of all-in-one. A prototype actually exists and can be seen at the KDDI Studio in Harajuku. When in Tokyo check it out. I think most of us would love to see something like this become a reality and this is probably what future phones will be like.

Solar powered necktie combines business with geek

Posted in Apparel by Conner Flynn on August 17th, 2008

Solar powered necktie combines business with geek
We’ve seen our share of solar powered devices, but nothing so hideous and blatantly dorky as the solar powered necktie. It will not only collect solar power, but it also singles you out as a geek. You can thank a group of braniacs at Iowa State University for creating it. It’s made from newly developed solar fabrics. The solar panels are tiny and laid out in a grid that at least makes it look somewhat like any other tacky tie.

It even sports a pocket sewn into the back so your device can suck precious juice like a parasite that no one can see. This technology can only end with a living symbiote tie that strangles you dead, thereby making it look like you’ve committed suicide. Then they’ll take over the world. No one will know. It will just seem like unusually high suicides. Let’s just stop wearing them now, can we? They’re silly.

Duracell powers your USB gadgets

Posted in USB by Conner Flynn on July 31st, 2008

Duracell powers your USB gadgets
Chances are you’ve been out with your phone and it runs out of juice. It’s annoying. We put men on the moon for God’s sake.(That was a long time ago) Well, Duracell wants to make sure you always have plenty of power in your USB gadgets. If your device uses mini USB to charge, Duracell’s new PowerSource Mini has you covered.

You can get it in two different versions. One is designed to power your iPod and the other is for Blackberry. Both have a mini USB connector. The PowerSource Mini stores power with an internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack. Apparently it has a second USB port that lets you charge another device at the same time. It ships with an AC adapter and DC charger that each have a USB port, and the PowerSource Mini. Never be powerless again.