Archive for May, 2008
Useful or Not?
Cast doubts on the usefulness and practicality of these USB gadgets if you will, but these might just make your soda cooler and your workspace a bit more colorful and literally full of life. The USB Mini Fridge comes in red and black and holds one soda can. Its cooling pad becomes 8.5 degrees cold after only five minutes. The USB Fantastic LED Fan cools you down and lights up your area with 5 colors and 32 light patterns. Since it’s LED, the lights themselves don’t generate so much heat and defeat the purpose. The USB greenhouse provides artificial lighting for your marigold and reminds you when your plant needs watering. But seriously now, how dark can your workplace be?
Images from usb.brando.com.hk
USB Toys for the Boys Who Refuse to Grow Up
In the office, there’s time for work and time for play. But some boys never grow up and want to do both. These USB-powered toys from thinkgeek.com were made just for them.
A 3-port motorcycle engine or a 4-port Doomsday switch? You press them and they make noise. Roar. Boom. What difference does it make? They both drive your cubicle neighbor insane.
Still obsessed with Matchboxes, eh? Blow your horn and park your little remote control car into the USB garage for charging.
Taking the office as a battlefield quite literally. Choose between the webcam, wireless, laser-guided and plain three-missile launcher.
When Bling Becomes Boring
In the first of their series on the excessively luxurious, Trend Hunter named 26 gadgets that are “bling bling boring”, among them, miiSTOR’s platinum £15,500 USB drive encrusted with 456 white diamonds and a SanDisk memory core, and Philips’ heart-shaped Active Crystals 1 GB drive with Silver Shade crystals in Ceralun and polished stainless steel. There is no need to answer the question of practicality here. That much is already clear. These products are fashion accessories that happen to be useful jewelry for the tech-savvy elite, not for moneyed nerds who would be better off with Atari merch. Expect more of these boring bling to come until we can all yawn collectively.
Star Wars and HALO USB Drives
Pop culture is always a great source of inspiration. For the geek/fan in you, there are memory sticks in Star Wars and Halo designs to add to your film and games collectibles. HALO players can get 1GB USB drives in Red and Blue Spartan, and Master Chief in Olive. These retail for $69 each, or $169 for a set of three. There are two sets in the Star Wars series, made up of Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Stormtrooper, R2D2 in 4GB, and Luke Skywalker, Boba Fett, Princess Leia, Han Solo in 1GB, 2GB or 4GB. Prices range from $59 to $139, with special prices for purchases by set.
Image and info from dynamism.com
Lego Shaped USB Drives – Update
With so many Lego-shaped USB memory sticks out in the market today, does it still make sense to make your own? Absolutely. Lego still has not released an official version of the device, and geeks all over the world have taken to their tool shed to craft their own useful toy using easy-to-find materials. On instructables.com alone, there are three step-by-step instructions on how to encase your tiny storage plaything in a colorful brick reminiscent of your toddler years. That ought to be enough guidance and inspiration to get your started. Just keep away from the kids!
Image by evilelka