IDAPT Universal Desktop Charger

So, it probably goes without saying that everyone here at Popgadget can safely be classified as a geek (though I think there may be a nerd or two among us, but a deliberation on the differences between the two is for another time). Anyway, as geeks go, there is a tendency to have significant charging needs to keep all of our gadgets up and running.

I've personally been a fan of the universal adapter for a long time. One in the house, one in the car, and only to buy a new tip on occasion to fit the latest mobile device. Only problem is the unsightliness of the cords. IDAPT provides an elegant, desktop solution to this dilemma. Easy-in device tips allow you to simultaneously charge up to three devices without all the clutter. Perfect for your nightstand, kitchen counter, desk, or wherever you charge.

The IDAPT comes with the six most common tips, including iPhone / iPod, Samsung, Nokia, and USB mini and micro. Additional tips can be purchased online. Available starting in May, the IDAPT has an MSRP of $59.99 and will come in black and white models.

Let it be your single cord solution.

Urbanears Plattan Headphones

Though I'm normally partial to in-ear headphones, I decided to give the Urbanears Plattan headphones a whirl and was very impressed.

I admit to being a sound snob. I usually go toting around in $600 professional headphone gear, so I was skeptical about anything with a $60 price tag. I'm pleased to report, however, that these stylish, full-sized headphones delivered great sound that was music [pun intended] to these audiophile ears. I plugged into my iPhone and cranked some thumping dance tunes. Clear, rich sound with no bass breakdown or muddiness. Their adjustability even made them start off comfortably on my fat head and their light weight made them stay comfortable.

The Plattans feature an in-line microphone and remote compatible with the iPhone and Nokia, HTC and Blackberry phones along with two extra cable extensions making the headphones compatible with a majority of all devices. Also featured is the “zound plug” which allows you to daisy-chain another set of headphones to let a friend listen in. This set also folds up to a neat, compact size for convenient transport. And, finally, the best part… 14 fashionable colors to choose from, with everything from basic black to ocean blue and salad green.

Great listening at a great price.

iSkin Solo FX iPhone Case

Oh the ubiquity of the black iPhone case! Leather, pleather, rubber, plastic… I want something more fantastic!

Leave it to the geniuses of iSkin to give me the exciting cover my 3GS deserves! The iSkin Solo FX builds on the original Solo case by adding a designer pattern and a mirrored screen protector to the glossy case that gives you the look of a hard shell while offering the protection and gripability of a rubber skin. There is also a special edition of the FX that adds even more excitement to the texture and pattern.

The glamorous FX is made with Microban antimicrobial protection that inhibits the growth of all the nasty bacteria that tends to collects on one's phone – another plus for me, the resident Popgadget germophobe. Color choices for the FX are Breeze (translucent blue), Lush (translucent green), Passion (translucent red), Sunset (translucent orange) and Vive (translucent purple). Like the perfect designer dress, the FX is low profile and cut out in all the right places (dock, camera, headphone jack, and ringer switch) while covering the essentials (volume and power controls). It's also compatible with the iSkin revoClip for those that want fashion and dare I say it… functionality… in one.

Show your iPhone style with the FX (and your fear of germs… oh, nevermind, that's my fear of germs).

Barbie Gets Geeked

A few weeks back, I reported that Mattel was holding open votes to decide Barbie's 126th career. Among the choices were News Anchor, Architect, and Computer Engineer. I'm happy to announce that the people have spoken and we now have Computer Engineer Barbie.

According to Mattel's site, the doll's designers worked side by side with the Society of Women Engineers and the National Academy of Engineering to design realistic clothing and accessories. Barbie will be decked out in a tee with a binary code pattern and some black knit skinny pants. She'll also be equipped with all the latest tech including a smartphone, Bluetooth headset, and even a travel bag for her laptop. Speaking of the laptop, Barbie's will of course, be a pink affair which will match her prerequisite glasses.

Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition

This variation of the popular Nokia 5800 Xpress Music edition makes the most of Nokia's Ovi Maps that was recently re-vamped into a free 'forever' app.

The Ovi Maps app features coverage for over 70 countries and combines with the 5800 to maximize its abilities to give you turn-by-turn, voice-guided navigation for both driving and walking. Ovi Maps also features free updates, more than 6,000 3D landmarks, free event guides, and free Lonely Planet and Michelin travel guides.

As for the hardware, the bright 360x640TFT touchscreen displays the excellent features of the easy-to-read Ovi Maps and features tactile feedback. The 5800 Navi also features 3.5G (3.6 Mbs); Wi-Fi; 3.2 MP camera with video recording, autofocus, and LED flash; 81MB of internal memory; hot-swappable MicroSD slot that can accommodate cards up to 16GB; very respectable battery life of 8.8 hours talk time and 16 days of standby time; and all the music features of the original 5800 Xpress Music edition including dedicated menu button and even respectable built-in stereo speakers.

The 5800 Navi includes an auto power adapter and a windshield mount right in the box, so it's ready to jump in the car and hit the open road with you. The windshield mount was a little tricky to put together and seemed rather large upon assembly, but actually is quite usable once installed in the car. It's very adjustable and was long enough to put the phone right at my fingertips, even in my huge (read: non P.C.) SUV.

Currently on sale at the Nokia Online Store for $299.

PSP Gets Fashion Forward

You seen fashion PCs, catwalk-worthy phones, and even haute couture-inspired cars. Now meet the fashion handheld console. A Japan-exclusive, Sony is releasing the “Jill Stuart Sweet Limited Package” a blossum pink PlayStation Portable. This special edition console was created in conjunction with designer Jill Stuart

The limited edition set includes the pastel-colored PSP a pouch with a beaded pearl strap along with a matching pink cleaning cloth. There is also a 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo all packaged in a cute pink box.

The “Jill Stuart Sweet Limited Package" becomes available on March 4 for $230. Interested gamers should start looking for a good import site.

Via TechCrunch

Cosmetic Mirror Lets You Try on Makeup Virtually

It's not a magic mirror, but it's still pretty cool. The Digital Cosmetic Mirror allows women to try on make up without having to go through the time consuming step of applying the makeup. Created by cosmetics company Shiseido, the interactive display allows users to check out new products using augmented reality.

Users simply stand in front of the computer's camera and let it scan your face. The image is then loaded into the computer and it gives you a number of colors to try out. Users then select a color via touchscreen and the computer applies the makeup to the virtual image. If you like what you see, you can print out the photo and pick up your new cosmetics.

The Digital Cosmetic Mirror can apply eyeshadow and lipstick as well as recommend different products and makeup techniques. So far this is a Japan-exclusive but I would love to see this in my favorite cosmetic store in the near future,

Via Japan Trends

iPhone App Makes Sure Your Date is Safe

Even though dating should be about having fun and meeting new people, it's also about finding out if this person is potential mate material. I mean you want to know if the person sitting across from you has had serious run-ins with the law or has picked their nose since age seven. Thanks to this new iPhone and Android app, you might not be able to check about the nose picking habit, but you can get the deets on just about everything else.

Created by information commerce company, Intelius, Date Check does what the company does best, dig up dirt.Date Check is an app that lets users pull up all those juicy secrets that you want to know, but might be too shy to ask on the first or second date. With a flick of the wrist you can find out if a person has a criminal history via the sleeze detector. You can also see if they own real estate, or if they're living with someone -- say a spouse they might have forgotten to mention.

The app is currently available for free on the Android Marketplace and the Apple App Store.

Via Gadgetwise

Is the Apple iPad "magical"?

Today was 2010's first iDay- the announcement of a new or updated Apple product, predictably following months, or in this case years of feverish speculation. Steve Jobs gave the gathered press the first glimpse of the super-tablet himself, proudly declaring the new iPad not just revolutionary, but magical. It is undeniably sleek, beautiful, and impressive to look at but is it necessary, especially for people already toting around iPhones or iPod Touches, along with a MacBook or a MacBook Air?

Here are the specs:

-9.7" LED backlit, fully multi-touch display, with IPS technology (IPS provides wide viewing angles and good color reproduction, important for a tablet that you may use both laptop-style, and as a media player). There's also a special fingerprint-resistant coating, obviously good for a screen with a touch interface.

-Up to 10 hour battery life for video, music, and wifi surfing.

-Half an inch thick, weighs 1.5 lbs, 9.5" high, 7.5" wide.

-Wifi, Bluetooth, and optional 3G through AT&T (yay, not). Assisted GPS on 3G models only.

-On-screen keyboard only- but wide enough, apparently for something approaching touch-typing. Jobs typed with all his fingers, not just thumbs during the demo. There's also an optional hardware keyboard which also charges the iPad.

-The iPad will run all current iPhone/iPod Touch applications, plus have its own iPad-only apps.

-The iPad is an advanced e-book reader, using the iBooks app for reading and the iBookstore app for browsing and buying books. iBookstore has licensing deals with some of the biggest publishers so book selection should quickly get competitive with the Amazon Kindle's, plus iBook supports the EPUB standard, which offers thousands of free books. The best part? The Amazon Kindle and BN Nook use low-powered e-ink displays which are easy on the eyes and give great battery life, but they are not backlit or in color. The iPad is both, and while battery life is sure to be less than the Kindle's, 10 hours is still really, really good.

-iWork, Apple's answer to MS Office will be available for the iPad. Pages, Numbers, and Keynote (Apple's versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) will be $9.99 each, a great price for a full featured app.

What are the advantages of the iPad over the iPhone or iPod Touch? The screen, obviously is almost three times the size, a huge improvement for web surfing, watching videos and viewing photos, email, and working on documents. The on-screen keyboard, which will surely elicit much discussion, won't please everybody, but will surely be more comfortable for typing longer docs and emails, and there is the optional hardware keyboard.

LG's Lotus Gets Elite

LG and Sprint are continuing their partnership with the release of the successor to the stylish Lotus phone. The LG Lotus Elite has all the looks of the original Lotus, but has stepped it up a notch with a few exclusive features.

One of the new features on the Elite is the 2.4-inch external touchscreen that allows users to easily navigate all their pertinent information without having to open the phone. The screen has a 320x240 resolution which makes for a vibrant phone experience. Other features include the new three dedicated shortcut keys for social networking, email, and text. The social networking button, dubbed Social can be mapped to a person's favorite social network.

Sony Wants You! $10,000 Scholarship up for Grabs

Contrary to popular belief, there are more than a few girl gamers out there, serving up their own brand of pwnage with a smile. When it comes to game development, women continue to be an underrepresented segment of the industry. Sony Online Entertainment is doing their part to remedy the situation with the G.I.R.L. scholarship.

The G.I.R.L. (Gamers In Real Life) program was created to affect how women are portrayed in video games. And there's no better way to change the machine than to work from within. In conjunction with the program there is also a scholarship was created with the express purpose of recruiting into the fields of video game production and design.

Cast Your Vote for Computer Engineer Barbie

Now that geeks are considered sexy, we techies are finally being appreciated for our sparkling intellect, and almost obsessional love of tech. In my mind, we were always sexy, but it just took mainstream society awhile to catch on. Now one of our most treasured mainstream childhood icons might be getting in on the geek sexy angle.

Mattel creator of the iconic Barbie doll is asking people to vote on the dolls next career. Since her debut in 1959, Barbie has had over 120 careers. She's been an astronaut, a rock star, and a veterinarian. Hey, she has to pay off the mortgage for that dream house and Ferrari somehow.

Listed among the possible careers is computer engineer. I can think of no better way to show the next generation the coolness of tech than presenting some lucky youngster with a shiny ne "Computer Engineer" Barbie. Please lend your vote and let's initiate Barbie into our ultra-cool society of tech.

The results on the voting will be available on February 12. So vote and keep your fingers crossed.

Via CrunchGear

Ritmo Advanced Pregnancy Sound System

Any expectant mother can tell you, it's never to early to start communicating with your child. Besides having extended conversations while baby is in-utero, music has been proven to assist with positive fetal development including displaying "advanced intelligence, coordination, and learning abilities."

Nuvo Group's new device helps deliver soothing sound to your baby with the Ritmo Advanced Pregnancy Sound System. Kind of like a speaker system for your unborn bundle of joy, Ritmo is a lightweight belt that fits comfortably around mommy-to-be's tummy. The belt has four built-in speakers that utilized patented Safe&Sound Technology to make sure that the sound level is perfectly safe for baby's ears. The belt also comes with a controller used to plug in an mp3 player.

Reebok's new Easytone shoe: Does it really tone muscles?

Reebok recently started selling a walking shoe, called Easytone, that is supposed to tone your leg and butt muscles while you walk.

And the buzz machine swung into action. The Easytone shoe has made a huge splash--TV appearances, newspaper and magazine articles, buzz, buzz, buzz.

If the shoe fits, does it really firm up those muscles? Does the Easytone shoe work?

Dan Ariely is James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University is skeptical. He points out that the scientific evidence is thin. Reports of Easytone effectiveness may, he speculates, may be due to the placebo effect. (Placebos are inert pills or any item that can't possibly be of direct medical benefit, but still makes people get better.)

The placebo effect is enormously important in medicine. When a new drug is tested on people and turns out to be effective, a notable number of people in the control group, who received a sham pill rather than the real thing, always get better too.

As it turns out, the placebo effect contributes heavily to the positive effects of exercise too. When people are told (falsely) that a particular activity is good exercise, many of them believe it so strongly that they lose weight and body fat and their blood pressure even goes down. Which has me wondering how I can convince myself that reading in bed, sleeping late, and taking long hot showers will make me thinner.

Denim jeans protect you from snakebite

You've always loved your jeans, and now here's another reason: denim protects you from snakebite.

Of course, to be fully protected, you may need to give up those skinny jeans that show off your, um assets. Go shopping instead for something like the technology breakthrough fabric invented in the 18th century but still beloved in the 21st: Armor-like heavyweight denim fashioned into Mom jeans.

Moshi Clock is a Gadget that Does What It's Told

You know how you hate the sound of the alarm clock in the morning? Maybe you sullenly get out of bed and begin you morning routine, maybe you mumble things so foul it would make Lisa Lampanelli blush. if you're the owner of the Moshi Voice Control Travel Clock, you might want to watch what you say, you might just hurt its feelings.

Okay, it's only a machine so it doesn't have feelings, but it does understand what you're saying to a certain degree. Instead of fumbling to set the alarm or engaging in a knock out, drag out fight to turn it off in the morning, you simply utter a key phrase and the Mochi clock hears and obeys thanks to the advanced voice recognition technology. Through the combination of "Neural Net and Hidden Markov Modeling (HMM) Phonetic Speaker Independent (SI) Recognition Software", the clock can understand over 1,000 different recorded voices. I wonder how this works when you have laryngitis? Commands include:Time, Set Time, Set Alarm, Turn off the Alarm, and Snooze.

Even though it's marketed as a travel clock, I see no reason why this couldn't be your main clock. It's got a cute rounded body and at 3.75" x 2.75" x 1" it doesn't take up much space. There are three alarm sounds to choose from and is powered by three AAA batteries. And for $24.99, it's a steal.

Interested in owning a Moshi? You can purchase one on their site or just check out the video for more information.

Via Gearlog

Jenny McCarthy and Ubisoft Team Up For New Fitness Game

First Jillian Michaels, now Jenny McCarthy, it seems like everyone is trying to get in on the fitness gaming craze. Started by the highly successful Wii Fit, fitness games appeal to people that may not have the time to get to the gym or don't want to spend their hard-earned dollars on a gym membership.

Your Shape
, Ubisoft's addition to the fitness genre hopes to surpass Wii Fit's impressive sales numbers with more precise exercise movements, a little innovation, and a little help from funny woman Jenny McCarthy filling the spot of your in-game workout buddy. The Nintendo exclusive game features over 400 exercises including strength training, toning, and cardio. Unlike other fitness games, Your Shape is totally Wiimote free. So how does the game make sure your doing the exercise? Simple. Your Shape will be debuting the first ever camera for the Nintendo Wii.

The included camera will scans your body and detects your movements. After the initial scan, it projects your image onto the TV screen so you can watch your movements. As you exercise, the camera will be monitoring your motion to ensure you're not phoning it in and have the correct form. If you're slacking, or just not getting the movement down, Jenny will help you correct your form in real time.

Get Couture on the Cheap

If you're a lover of haute couture but don't have the finances for that killer Dior gown, you're in luck. According to NYTimes.com, your fantasy frock is tantalizingly within your grasp. Thanks to the enterprising smarts of two women named Jennifer you can rent the your favorite designer's clothing for pennies of the cost of purchasing it outright.

Using a system similar to Gamefly or Netflix, Harvard Business School graduates, Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Carter Fleiss have created Rent the Runway. The site allows users to rent that showstopping outfit for four days. The dress is delivered directly to your doorstep, just like a Netflix movie. And just like the movie site, when the four day rental period is over, simply place the dress in the included prepaid envelope and send it back. No muss or fuss.

Featuring a tagline of "love. wear. return.", rentals run from $50-200, which includes dry cleaning fees. There's an additional $5 for outfit insurance -- just in case there's staining or structural damage to the clothing. If you totally wreck the dress, however, you will be charged the full retail cost so you'll have to be sure to handle the piece with serious kid gloves.

Flare Dress Has Techie Flair

After the gorgeous Galaxy Dress, I've been keeping my eyes open for more awesomely fabulous fashionable tech. Lo and behold, there's the Flare Dress from Dutch designer Stijn Ossevoort. The dress in itself is lovely, a light and breezy number perfect for a spring day. What makes this frock a talking point is the dandelion detailing.

When a breeze hits the dress, the dandelions come to life, glowing in all their gentle LED glory. That's right the Flair dress is a wind-activated number that lights up in a pattern of lights when the wind or a human blows on it. A whimsical affair, I can't wait to see what other innovative designs will come from this talented designer.

Via Born Rich

The Complete Guide to Google Wave, information that really wants to be free

What is Google Wave? The latest from Google Labs, for now available only as a limited-distribution preview, Google Wave is---what? The ultimate collaboration tool? Really superior e-mail? The most ambitious (and confusing) web application ever created? These things and more, according to The Complete Guide to Google Wave.

The Guide itself is a free, ever-changing experiment in publishing that seeks to explain one of the most elaborate and bewildering Google inventions of all. Sample:

"Google Wave treats an email conversation with multiple recipients and senders as a document with multiple editors and writers. If you can make the conversations-as-documents and documents-as-conversations leap along with Wave, the system makes 100% more sense. "

The Guide is written by Gina Trapani with Adam Pash, both of Lifehacker fame. And it's also written by you, if you care to join.

The online version of the Guide will remain free and be updated continuously. The Guide will also be available eventually as a DRM-free PDF and an independently published softcover print book, due out early next year. (These will presumably not be free, but no details about specifics yet.)

Are you--or someone you care about--addicted to the Internet?

Rehab is now available for addiction to social networking and online gaming. For only $14,500, Internet addicts can spend 45 days kicking the habit at the first US Internet addiction rehab center.

If you don't happen to have $14,500 handy to help you swear off Facebook and/or World of Warcraft permanently, maybe you could just move to an obscure corner of the US where wi-fi has not yet arrived.

The new Internet addiction rehab center is located in aptly named Fall City, Washington, oddly close to headquarters for one of the Internet's chief pushers, Microsoft. Still, the rehab center is a start at closing the yawning Internet addiction rehab gap with China, which is said to have declared Internet addiction its number one health problem and opened 400 Internet addiction rehab centers to combat it.

The sole US rehab center's founders claim that as many as one in 10 of us is an Internet addict. I'm wondering if that isn't an underestimate. If you consult a list of Signs and Symptoms of Internet/Gaming Addiction, you'll see that "Being dishonest with others" is one of them. Since nearly everybody lies to somebody sometime about something, does that mean nearly everybody is an Internet addict?

Dotz cord organizers clear cable confusion with color and tact

We have all been there and suffered that - the asinine need to peer around devices, trying to identify and classify loops of anonymous cable so that we can get the required ones to perform. Along comes somebody who gives us this elegant solution with the cool mantra "The best ideas are always simple" and we cannot help but pinch ourselves for having forgotten. Ofcourse, the best ideas have to be simple and the Dotz Cord Identifiers are perfect proof. These colorful little plastic identifiers snap around your cables and carry a picture of the device that the cable belongs to. You can even reuse the same identifier with another device - just change the device icon within the case and you are ready to go. There are different categories of identifiers for your office, home, or even gaming needs. Is that brilliant or what.

Dotz also offers a couple of more solutions for cable organization, again pretty elegant and worth giving a try - the Cord Straps (set of 8 at $9.99) which help tie up cables in a neat bundle, and the Cord Wrap ($9.99 each) which can help hide all the unwanted lengths of cable within its case. The Cord Identifiers are available in sets of 10 at $9.99. Plus there are 24 ready-to-go punch out icons and 12 do-it-yourself punch out icons included with every kit.

Via The Gadgeteer.

Gravida Nurse Puts Prenatal Education in the Palm of Your Hand

The Gravida Nurse Prenatal Education Device is a great gift for first time mothers. Instead of spending a small fortune on parenting books, expectant mothers can turn to this handy gadget. The device is a small handheld device that features helpful articles focused on providing good prenatal care for both baby and mom.

There are also voices recordings and pictures to help reinforce the information. Everything can be accessed via the large touchscreen. There's also a slot for a memory card and it can be hooked up to a computer via USB. No word on if additional information can be added to the Gravida using these means.

The Gravida Nurse is small, cute, helpful and going for $22.65

Via UberGizmo

Diamond Weather Station

So, it's officially winter and, therefore, as important as ever to keep a close eye on the forecast. Now you can do it with style!

Sparkling away with dozens of Swarovski Crystals™, the Diamond Weather Station from Oregon Scientific adds a bit of glamour to the world of otherwise… shall we say… 'conservative' electronic weather forecasters. The crystals light up brightly in one of three different patterns / colors – red sun, blue cloud, or green rain – to clue you in to what to expect from the sky in the coming hours.

This beautiful unit Features a remote sensor to transmit outdoor temperature to the display and a digital clock that auto-syncs with the Naval atomic clock for precision time. A quick wave of your hand over the top of the unit switches the display between time, indoor temperature, and outdoor temperature, or you can put it in an automatic mode.

But wait! We've saved the best feature for last… If you utter the enclosed incantation while waving your hand over the unit, you can change the weather to… well… okay… not really on this one. You can still be prepared and be stylish, though.

Tiny LaCie Rikiki Lives up to Its Name

LaCie's newest hard drive is tiny, cute, and functional just how I like it. At 4.3 x 2.9 x .5 in.the LaCie Rikiki portable hard drive is one of the smallest hard drives around. The name Rikiki is French for tiny. The diminutive drive is big on storage space however, with storage capabilities starting out at 250GB and maxing out at 640GB. Being that this is a newly released product, I wouldn't be surprised to see terabyte versions of the Rikiki in upcoming months.

The USB 2.0 device is decked out in brushed aluminum and has a transfer speed of 60MB/s. According to the website, the included USB Boost software enhances speed and performance up to 33%. Unfortunately, this is software is a Windows-only deal. Other software includes the LaCie Backup Assistant and the LaCie Setup Assistant.

The Windows and Mac-friendly Rikiki is on sale on LaCie's site starting at $74.99 for the 250GB version, $109.99 for 500GB, and $149.99 for 640GB. I wonder if they're throwing in that cute little monkey with the deal?

AViiQ's laptop stand is the most portable ever--and gorgeous too

The AViiQ laptop stand is the most portable I've ever seen--and also the most gorgeous. At 12 3/4" long, unfolded and supporting your laptop, the AViiQ laptop stand is only a little bigger than a sheet of paper. Folded, it's not much bigger than a No.10 envelope and weighs just 5.5 oz, so it fits easily into your laptop bag or even just a laptop sleeve.

I'm a veteran laptop traveler and for years carried a (relatively) lightweight plastic laptop stand that kept the thing from sliding off my lap and folded to provide a decent typing angle. But the fold didn't change its outer dimensions--bigger than my laptop's footprint, which dictated which bags I could carry. The AViiQ laptop stand, said to fit laptops up to 17", is a dream by comparison.

The AViiQ folks, like other laptop stand makers, claim their laptop stand will dissipate heat and prolong battery life. I can't evaluate that claim, but I can tell you that the 12% slope the AViiQ laptop stand achieves is, as they claim, the perfect typing angle. I was actually kinda startled by how much it improved typing ease. All of a sudden I can race along almost as quickly on my less-than-optimum laptop keyboard as I can on the classic IBM keyboard I use with my desktop.

And did I mention gorgeous? The AViiQ laptop stand is a tech beauty worthy of Apple. The stand is four lightweight plates made of Hylite, a composite of aluminum sheets bonded to a polypropylene core. The material is milled to be both flexible and rigid. AViiQ says that in testing the stand was folded more than 5000 times and showed no wear.

With all that perfection, you knew there was some bad news coming, right? Here it is: the price. $80.

Smart Umbrella Tells the Weather

Ever missed the weather report and got caught in a torrential downpour? With this handy gadget you'll never have to worry about the rain again. The Ambient Umbrella is an intelligent accessory from Ambient Devices. A series of flashes in the handle indicates whether it's preparing to rain or snow and whether it will be a light drizzle or a heavy thunderstorm.

The umbrella receives local updates from Accuweather.com. Not sure how the umbrella itself will hold up in rough weather. The website says that it was constructed with a "top-quality "gust-buster" umbrella canopy design." If you're interested in owning a smart umbrella, you can pick one up for $129.

Via Technabob

iPhone Wall Dock is minimalistc, fits right into power socket

Forget those complicated iPhone docks and marvel at this totally amazing invention - the iPhone Wall Dock, which is pretty simply, a dock that neatly plugs into your existing power socket on the wall, and charges your iPhone in the most unobtrusive manner ever. And that also means no cable clutter, and faster charging because of its higher power output compared to other charging units. The Wall Dock also rotates around a pivot to hide the connector when not in use and provides a cushioned top to secure your iPhone or iPod when charging. Totally worth the $24.99 that it quotes.

Via Gadget Lab.

Sony Vaio P is Pocket Friendly

Though netbooks couldn't get any smaller? Guess again. Sony just released the Sony Vaio P in Korea. The 1.3 lbs. netbook has an eight inch display and is small enough to fit in your pocket. There are currently two models, the VGN-P35LK and VGN-P33LK.

The VGN-P35LK is available in Gold, Green, Black, White, and Red. It features a 64GB SSD and an Intel Atom Processor. The VGN-P33LK has a 80GB HDD and 2GB of DDR2 memory and is available in black or white. Both models will have an integrated webcam, Windows 7, and Bluetooth capability.

No word on whether or not these minis will make it stateside.

Via AVING USA

BodyGuard Pro helps you shield your camera even with the lens on

The situation is this. You are not completely done with your shots, but you just want to set down your camera for a while, and still not worry about getting it scratched or even detaching the lens. The solution comes in the form of this handy accessory called the LensCoat BodyGuard Pro - a smart body cover that protects your camera so that you get quick storage when you want to stow it temporarily, and hassle free removal when you want to use the camera again.

The BodyGuard Pro is made from soft shock-absorbing neoprene and slides over the camera body even with the lens left in place. It fits almost all the major pro SLR and semi-pro SLR cameras - even those with extended power winders or with L-brackets mounted. For an extra $5 on the base price, the cover is also available as a variant with grips attached - which means you can slide your fingers through the grips and use the camera without removing the cover.

The BodyGuard Pro is available in five different designs at a price range between $28.95 and $44.99.

Via The Red Ferret.

Kind Reminder Gives Comfort to Alzheimer's Patients

It's never easy caring for someone with Alzheimer's. It can be a devastating experiences watching a loved one slip in and out of lucidity. One can only imagine the confusion, anger, and fear a person affected by the disease experiences during these moments. A daughter of an Alzheimer's sufferer wanted to lend some comfort to her parent and created this ingenious device.

The Kind Reminder is a recorder that can be worn around the neck as a necklace or just kept close by. When the patient has a moment of disorientation, they can press the button on the recorder and the voice of their caretaker will play. The website says the product is designed for people with early to mid-stage Alzheimer's or memory loss related to age.

Top Ten--er, Nine--Best Tech Ideas for 2009

Yet another year-end Top Ten list, this time a Top Ten list--Top Nine list, actually--of 2009 tech ideas that get a gold star from David Pogue, technology columnist for the New York Times.

I have experience with a couple of his choices and think they are indeed worth recommending.

One is the cute trick found only on WebOS phones, at the moment the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi. The phones can collect. consolidate, and color-code data from various calendars and Facebook events, all on a single calendar, plus also data from your contact and messaging lists. At last a way to bring together much of your data, online and off, into something like a genuine personal information manager for your phone. And you hardly have to exert yourself at all; the process is mostly automagic.

The other fine tool is Readability, a marvel of a bookmarklet for your browser toolbar that nearly always can figure out what text you want from any old Web page and make it simple, handsome, and free of surrounding clutter. You don't have to use the Select command, and the result is readable--and easy to copy, mail, and/or save to your hard drive. The Readability folks are calling it an experiment, so don't expect perfection. But they are attentive to your needs. I had a problem using Readability on particular pages, dropped them a note, and in their update they fixed the problem. The only response to that is: Wow.

The Times site is free, but requires registration. Happy New Year! We certainly need one.

Turn A Window Into a Garden

The Windowfarms project turns your window into an urban farm, using inexpensive and recyclable parts. The results are a "curtain" for any window that is also a year-round, high-yield, vertical, hydroponic, modular, low-energy, edible garden. The open designs are free to download and easy to implement. The project also encourages the community to innovate and share improvements.

Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray started this project in February, 2009 during their artist's residency in New York's Eyebeam Art and Technology Center. Their mission is to encourage sustainable solutions that can be implemented today by anyone. Recently, Riley presented developments of Windowfarms at the New York chapter of http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotnyc/04.nov.2009/Dorkbot.

A great free source for H1N1 (Swine flu) updates in your choice of languages

H1N1 (swine) flu activity has gone down a bit in the US, which is good news for Thanksgiving travelers this week. Some are even predicting that the disease may have peaked in the US. But even if that's true (which nobody knows), a great many people still are going to get sick. Meantime, there's lots of flu sufferers, and some deaths, everywhere else.

Here's a terrific free site for keeping up with the flu everywhere: HealthMap, the global disease alert map. This is the link to the English version. But from this link you can also get the flu map in Portuguese, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic.

You can also download HealthMap's iPhone app that will bring your mobile a map and news of disease outbreaks near you, including swine flu. The app is interactive, so you can also report local outbreaks that are not yet in the HealthMap database.

Greenhouse's New Camera Puts Ladies First

Japanese electronics company Greenhouse recently unveiled a camcorder designed with the ladies in mind. The GHV-DV30HDLXW/P comes with 128MB of internal memory that can be expanded to 32GB with a SD/SDHC memory card. It also features ports for miniHDMI and USB. The camera also has a 3-inch TFT LCD screen and can record video at 30fps in 1,280×720 resolution.

The device is currently a Japan only product, but if you're interested in importing one, it's selling for $190. As a result of the collaboration between Greenhouse and fashion brand GAUDI (ah, so many jokes, so little time) the camera is available in pink and white. A matching bag comes with the camera to complete the ensemble.

I'm personally not a fan of pink tech on principle, but I wouldn't mind owning the white version. What are your thoughts on these cameras and pink tech?

Via CrunchGear