By Andrew Liszewski

You might think $600 is a lot to spend on a case designed to protect and transport only a single bike, but keep in mind that we’ve reported on professional racing bikes that can cost as much as $42,000, so spending $600 to protect one doesn’t actually seem so crazy.

The Helium bike case’s very special design allows it to be opened 360° making packing your bike’s frame (it’s compatible with road bikes up to 64cm size or a full-suspension freeride mountain bike), 2 sets of wheels and other accessories like a helmet, shoes, and pump particularly painless, and when empty it can be collapsed small enough to stow in the trunk of a automobile. But the most unique feature is a set of inflatable partitions positioned on either side of the frame which not only increases the protection of the various bike components packed inside, but the increased rigidity makes the whole thing easier to transport.

[ Biknd Helium Bike Case ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

Share This

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

By Andrew Liszewski

With a price tag of around $118,000 you probably won’t want to use the Phantom HD GOLD high-speed digital video camera for capturing your child’s first steps, but on the other hand, it could make for a baby video that your friends and family might actually want to watch. The camera has a max resolution of 2048

Share This

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

By Andrew Liszewski

Worried that your incredibly cheap new apartment that sits above a subway line and underneath another subway line might be seriously damaging your hearing? Well it might be a worthwhile investment to spend some of that money you’re saving on Etymotic’s ER-200 Personal Noise Dosimeter. It’s basically an audio screening device that tells you just how much damage you’re doing to your ears by staying in a noisy environment for prolonged periods.

It’s got two modes, a normal one which will measure and display your noise dose continuously for up to 16 hours, and a ‘Quick Check’ mode which measures the surrounding noise for two minutes and then calculates what the estimated dose would be were you to remain there for an hour. $99 available directly from Etymotic Research, Inc..

[ Etymotic Personal Noise Dosimeter ] VIA [ bookofjoe ]

Share This

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

By Evan Ackerman

When we posted our last update on the Martin Jetpack Ductedfanpack about a year ago, they were looking at producing around 10 units at $100,000 each. In that quantity and price, it didn’t seem like something that was particularly realistic. At the end of last month the Telegraph reported that Martin Aircraft Company had teamed up with an unnamed international aircraft company, and that the new partnership had secured enough capital to begin producing 500 jetpacks a year at a cost of around $75,000 each. Yes, it’s a lot, but come on, it’s a personal jetpack, and it might actually be a practical one too:

-No pilot’s license required
-Runs on premium gas from a gas station
-30 mile range at 60 mph, 8000 ft ceiling
-Includes low altitude ballistic parachute for safety

It’s certainly not the sexy sci-fi jetpack of the future yet, but I mean, it works, and you can actually purchase one (quite soon, anyway) for a not entirely crazy amount of money.

[ Martin Jetpack ] VIA [ Telegraph ]

Share This

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

By Chris Scott Barr

Backup batteries for your phone can be great to have when you’re away from an outlet for extended periods. However, when you’re going about your daily life, the charger generally just sits in your bag like a useless lump. This new charger from Richard Solo tries to at least make your spare charger a little more useful when it’s not needed for juicing up your phone.

Sure, a laser pointer and flashlight aren’t the most useful devices in the world, but I always tend to keep a flashlight in my bag. It’s like a towel, you never leave without one. The charger itself is small and sleek, with the capability to charge your iPhone (or Blackberry) one full time, with a bit of juice left over. They’ll include the connector to hook it up to your phone, plus a USB charger, USB vehicle charger and wall charger in the box. The $70 asking price seems reasonable for what you’ll get.

[ RichardSolo ]

Share This

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

By Andrew Liszewski

Last year we had a brief hands-on with Unisen’s wireless compact keyboard & touchpad device, and while it’s served its purpose well, we’ve already got the hankering to upgrade to this tiny beauty from Brando. The Rii mini wireless keyboard looks like a display-less cellphone, but it’s designed to control a Windows or Linux based PC via a wireless 2.4GHz RF connection with a decent range of about 30 meters.

All of the keys are backlit, making it particularly useful in a darkened home theater, and the rechargeable lithium-ion battery has a standby time of around 500 to 700 hours, though there’s no mention of how long it will last with regular use. The square shaped touchpad allows it to be used in either a horizontal or vertical orientation, but there’s also a miniature 4-way directional pad that most likely doubles as your standard arrow keys. And if you’re using it in a business or office environment to control a slideshow, there’s even a built-in laser pointer which is a plus for any gadget. Now the $92.00 price tag from Brando is a bit steep, so I imagine a lot of people who might be interested in the keyboard will be holding off until someone posts a review confirming it works as claimed.

[ Rii Mini Wireless Keyboard ] VIA [ The Gadgeteer ]

Share This

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

By Andrew Liszewski

As much a kinetic sculpture as it is a timepiece, the Oblique Clock reinterprets the hands of a traditional analog clock, adding extra geometry and structure that results in a constantly changing design as it ticks away the minutes throughout the day. And to make it as mysterious looking as possible, the custom engineered mechanical elements that drive the clock are hidden behind a rather massive frame, leaving no question that this is first and foremost an art piece.

Here’s a few examples of how you actually read the time using the clock, and from what I have the ability to tell you mostly want to pay attention to the darker brown hands since the lighter colored pieces will just confuse you. To fully appreciate the clock’s movements, I highly suggest taking a few seconds to watch the video below where you can see it in motion.

And there’s good news for those of you who feel you must have one of these for your home or office. The Oblique Clock is being produced in a very limited run of just 20 pieces, and one of them can be yours for just $3,900 CAD.

[ Science&Sons - Oblique Clock ] VIA [ I New Idea Homepage ]

Share This

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

By Andrew Liszewski

As SlashGear points out, due to recent court-related shenanigans pursued by Apple, many of us who love our iPhones may not be as in love with the house that Steve built. So over on Hack N Mod there’s a tutorial on how to restore a bruised and battered iPhone, but it has the lovely side effect of removing all the branding and verbage on the back of the phone. It will take some elbow grease and a combination of wet and dry sanding, but the results look totally worth the effort.

[ Hack N Mod - How to Restore an Abused iPhone (or any gadget) ] VIA [ SlashGear ]

Share This

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

By Andrew Liszewski

For those of us who missed the Olympic festivities in Vancouver, particularly members of the press, here’s another reason to be bummed. Apparently Canon was giving out these cool travel mugs that look like one of their 70-200mm L-series lenses at the Olympic Press Center, and Microsoft’s Josh Weisberg managed to score one. Sadly, since I don’t seem to see any of them listed on eBay, it seems the lucky few who got one aren’t willing to part with them, even for a profit.

[ PDNPulse - Swag Alert!: Canon White Lens Coffee Mug ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

Share This

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

By Chris Scott Barr

Back when I was still in high school, like any teenager, I had porn on my personal. I was smart enough even back then to cover my tracks in the browser and to hide my files where no one could find them. Any smart teenager these days would probably do well to hide their collection on an encrypted flash drive or something. Among many other reasons, it should help defeat this supposedly magic Porn Detection Stick from Paraben.

This flash drive is supposed to scan all of the images on a personal, and use a complex series of algorithms “analyze flesh tones, shapes and curvatures, face detection, body part separation, and more to alert you to images prone to contain pornographic material.” When you consider it, that’s actually some pretty cool technology (provided that it works). They state that it’s for protecting your kids or employees, but heck, it would be a great tool for finding more porn to add to your collection. Oh come on, you were thinking the same thing! The $100 price is probably going to be enough to make most parents and employers find a different way to sniff out porn.

[ ProofPronto ] VIA [ Gearlog ]

Share This

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This