Hi-tech Frontier

Spy Camera Keychain - Why Do You Keep Sticking Your Keys In My Face? I doubt anyone will realize this innocuous-looking keychain is actually capable of recording 640×480, 29fps videos or 1280×960 stills while it’s hanging from your keys. But something tells me they might get suspicious when you’re constantly holding it at weird angles trying to get the lens pointed in the right direction. The keychain’s got 4GB of internal memory, which is enough to store 65 minutes of video or about 3,000 photos from the 1.3MP CMOS sensor, and it charges and syncs to your PC via a simple USB cable. However, I think the $177 price tag from is a bit steep.

i.Saw USB Chainsaw Looks Real, Probably Isn’t I’m sure the website for this USB-powered chainsaw known as the i.Saw is a parody, or some attempt to trick those gadget blogs who’ll post anything, but it’s convincing enough to warrant at least a mention. So there, I’ve mentioned it. $59.95 available for pre-order now with an estimated ship date of September. Now who’s clever enough to figure out what this is really about?

USB Light Bulb Is Actually A Light Bulb There are any number of potentially useful and/or incredibly stupid light-up USB accessories that owe their glowyness to various flavorings of LEDs. That’s cool, I’m down with that, I like the futuristic look as much as the next geek. But retro is rapidly becoming the new futuristic, and this USB light fits the bill neatly with a light bulb that is, in fact, a light bulb. You know, the old school vacuum + filament + heat + inefficiency + if it breaks you have to clean up really carefully or you’ll get shards of glass in your feet kind. Numerous disadvantages aside, the one redeeming factor if incandescent bulbs is present in this USB powered version… Namely, the ability to cast a warm and pleasing glow, which (I imagine) provides a nice counterpoint to the inevitably harsh and unyielding photons that are being pumped out by whatever device this little lamp is plugged into. For about $14, you get the lamp plus two spare bulbs, one of them frosted ...

Lenovo ThinkPad X200 12.1 Inch Core 2 Duo Laptop – $1,070 In the market for a 2.47 lb laptop? Try this Lenovo ThinkPad X200 for size. With a 12.1″ WXGA + LED widescreen it offers several options including up to 4GB DDR 3, a 64GB SSD and next generation ThinkPad Roll cage chassis. This GearSponsor deal is on sale now for $411 instant discount plus stack on a coupon code good for 15% savings and “out the door” configuration could cost as little as $1,070. Coupon expires on 7/13/09.

Feutrefon Feltphone Mobile Phone Concept Uses Felt and Leather as Its Body Feutrefon Feltphone is a concept foldable mobile handset fabricated with leather and felt. The white surface and inner black body of the phone is able to attract the attention of all range of users. When unfolded, the phone becomes flat, without any noticeable joint spot between the upper and lower part. The keypad is designed in an innovative way that gives the impression of touch buttons. The anatomy of the phone includes leather surface, velcro washer, display, electronic module keypad, SIM slot, battery and laser-cut felt. Finally this phone is available in three different colors, white, green and blue, to suit different types of user personality.

Metromorph Futuristic Concept Car with Balcony Mode Option To address the ever-growing metropolitan city problems associated with real estate and parking place, many innovative ideas are constantly coming up from various designers and Metromorph is one of the most functional concept cars in this regard. It has been designed with the ability to ride up just like an elevator and turn into a balcony, eliminating the harassment of parking and paying for additional space in the apartment. This vehicle is powered with two in-wheel motors placed in the back of the car along with two battery cases. Rotating arms have been used in order to keep the seats level for both vertical and horizontal drive. When the vehicle is in balcony mode, the seats are positioned on a rolling base which allows them to become lounge chair for lying down and relax. The exterior design of this car never seems like a car that is mounted vertically with a building but still it looks like a vehicle on the road. The whee...

Sprint first to offer a 99-cent netbook, but is it worth it? We knew we'd see cheap / free subsidized netbooks eventually, and here we are: Best Buy and Sprint are offering up a Compaq-branded HP Mini 110c for just 99 cents when you sign a two-year data contract. Yeah, it looks good on paper, especially since AT&T and Verizon will ding you $199 for the same machine, but we just don't think it's worth it: at $60 a month for service, you'll be spending $1,440 for two years of pain with that 1.6GHz Atom, 1GB of RAM and three-cell battery. We'd say you're way better off grabbing a 3G USB stick you can use with multiple machines, or, if you're feeling particularly baller, throwing down for a MiFi and kicking it mobile hotspot style -- it'll cost the same $60 a month from Sprint, but you'll be able to get five machines online at once. But that's just us -- any of you particularly hot for this almost-free netbook?

Red Fox Wizbook N1020i netbook Red Fox's recently unveiled netbook -- the Wizbook N1020i -- has just gotten a hands-on treatment from the folks over at Electronic Pulp. The 10.2-incher is looking like pretty standard netbook fare -- a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, a 160GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, Wi-Fi, built-in webcam and card reader, plus 3 USB ports and a 6-cell battery -- all tell the same old tale. Rather interestingly, though, this model supports Bluetooth 3.0 and boasts an ExpressCard/34 slot... which may not be enough to make you run out in search of one, but is at least enough to keep it semi-interesting. We're really digging the neons, too. There's no word on pricing or availability yet.

Radiopaq's Sound Jacket improves nano sound quality, according to this handy chart Accessories aimed at the iPod nano 4G crowd are always a curious affair. Isn't the whole point to have your tunes on-the-go, with a minimal of fuss? And aren't costly (and bulky) add-ons the definition of "fuss?" We seriously doubted there was much of a market for the portable speaker attachment we saw a few weeks back, and now it's Radiopaq's turn to get us scratchin' our heads. The iPod Sound Jacket claims to do away with "the distortion that can sometimes result from a static EQ setting" and reveal the "hidden detail in the music that is lost during MP3 compression." In other words, it seems to be a graphic equalizer. One that you have no control over, to boot. Sound familiar? But then again, according to the product literature the device boosts sound quality "up to 60 percent." If only it were able to boost our self esteem by, say, 40 pe...

Medion rolls out AMD-based Akoya Mini E1312 netbook The AMD-based netbook train may have been a little slow to get out of the station, but it looks like it's finally starting to pick up a bit of steam, with Medion the latest to roll out an offering of its own. That comes in the form of the company's new Akoya Mini E1312, which opts for a low-power AMD Sempron 210U processor and ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 graphics instead of the usual Intel combo. Otherwise, you can expect to get a 16:9 11.6-inch display, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, HDMI out, and a six-cell or nine-cell battery. No word on a release 'round here just yet, but folks in the UK will apparently be able to pick this one up exclusively at Aldi stores starting July 12th for £339.99 (or just under $550).

Guitar Hero 5's drums getting a Rock Band makeover? Looks like that bulky Guitar Hero World Tour drumset might be getting itself an extreme makeover in time for the launch of Guitar Hero 5. According to our source, the blurred render above is the newest plastic percussion peripheral, and while functionality remains the same, it's moved the control console to the forefront, given the cymbals a more well-rounded existence, and done away with some of that body, particularly on the top and on the stand -- all in a all, a much more Rock Band look, if we do say so ourselves. The back of the unit contains three mini ports -- two for kick pedals, and one ever mysterious black mini jack. Yeah, Rock Band's drums have that mysterious unused port, too, and who knows what nefarious needs either will serve. What's suspicious is that it's two months before GH5's release and we still haven't seen this officially, whereas the previous set was ceremoniously unveiled almost si...

Flash drive bonanza: 36 crummy drives tested and compared! The wild array of flash drives you see above -- a veritable cornucopia of bad taste, if you will -- has been put through some rather exhaustive paces by the freaks over at Test Freaks. That's right, they rounded up the finger tip, the tiny skull, the truly disgusting chicken foot, as well as a wide variety of fake edibles -- and poked and prodded them en masse until they came up with the answer we expected: most of these are actually pretty shoddily made. As if you buy a foul-looking shrimp tail flash drive because you expect it to get the best transfer rate. Hit the read link to check out the full insanity of this undertaking.

Synology debuts compact DS409Slim four-bay NAS Not interested in a do-it-all NAS / router / photo frame like D-Link's DIR-685? Then you may want to consider Synology's just-announced DS409Slim NAS, which keeps things nice and simple and, as you can see above, compact. Despite that size, however, you'll still get four bays for some 2.5-inch drives of your choice (up to 2TB total), along with some standard issue NAS specs like a 1.2GHz Marvell processor, 128MB of RAM, a pair of USB ports, and a single eSATA port -- not to mention the usual DLNA certification and support for UPnP, among other media-friendly features. Look for this one to start shipping this month with a street price of about $400.

Factron iPhone case packs interchangeable camera lenses, built-in excess The Factron folks have been doing their custom case thing with various Apple products for some time now, but they've truly outdone themselves with their new iPhone case, which not only boasts some stylish, rangefinder camera-esque looks, but a complete set of interchangeable (presumably functional) lenses. Those include fish eye, wide-angle, and close-up lenses, which range in price from $15 to $55, while the case itself will set you back a full $200. Quite a bit to pay for a case, to be sure, but a veritable bargain compared to the $800 that some of the group's previous cases have fetched.

HTC Hero pre-release model taken for a spin, previewed in Russia It's been less than two weeks since we laid hands on HTC's latest Android masterpiece, the Hero, and so while we wait to see it again, the cats at Russian site Mobile-review have gotten some extensive time with a pre-release engineering sample, and give it some high marks for those in the "tech geek" demographic who are looking to pick one up. Some caveats to be had, including the use of pre-release Sense UI firmware and the curious case of calling the screen resistive, especially since the model we used was definitely the more finger-friendly capacitive, and all the promotional material we've seen show a capacitive model in use. Still, it's well worth a read, if for nothing else than a glimpse at the sample pictures / video we can expect to capture with the phone ourselves.

Pentax's K-7 DSLR now shipping via online retailers Resoundingly positive reviews can't be a bad way to start a product cycle, and that's just what the Pentax K-7 has, and now lo and behold, it's on sale via Amazon and JR We're not seeing any bundles at this point, just a body-only listing, but we can't imagine those are far off if you want to be patient.

Sony Vaio W netbook now official in US, coming August for $499 Not so much of a surprise now, but Sony's bringing its 10.1-inch Vaio W stateside as well, and yes, according to the Sony reps we talked to, this time they really do mean to call it a netbook, unlike its Vaio P brethren. Likewise, with that nomenclature comes none too surprising specs, including a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 160GB HDD, 1GB RAM, Windows XP, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n, VGA out, two USB ports, Ethernet, webcam, and MemoryStick / SD card readers. The three cell battery should last an estimated three hours, and like usual there's also an option for six cell. That isolated (read: chiclet) keyboard is said to be 86% the size of a normal typing surface, and the aforementioned bundled VAIO Media plus software enables content streaming across DLNA-enabled devices like the PC or PlayStation 3. Now for what's missing: the reps stressed this an "in-home" product for them, and as such there's no talk o...

Viliv S7 UMPC gets final pricing and specifications We've held onto our hats for quite awhile waiting for this day to come, but at long last, Viliv is dishing out the final specification lists and prices for its remarkably striking S7 UMPC. First shown way back at IDF 2008 as a prototype, this QWERTY-packin' machine has matured quite nicely over the months, with a trio of models on tap to showcase its mobile prowess. The entry-level I-LOG HX is equipped with a 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z520 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 60GB hard drive, a battery good for 9.5 hours of use and Windows XP, while the mid-range I-LOG 3X steps up to a 32GB SSD. The flagship D-LOG 3X even gets an internal DMB TV tuner, while WiBro (South Korea's WiMAX) is an option on all three. We expect the 7-inch device -- which is priced at ₩729,000 ($572), ₩799,000 ($628) and ₩849,000 ($666) in order of mention -- to ship in its homeland soon, though no official release date has been made public.

Hyundai Provia A7+ GPS unit adds multimedia playback, looks irresistible It's no secret that some of our US editors have been feeling a bit of tech-envy toward our cousins from the far East, who consider 7-inch PNDs commonplace. Doing nothing to allay those emotions, Hyundai has announced the Provia A7+, which is -- you guessed it -- a 7-inch GPS-slash-PMP soon to be available in South Korea. The device comes with an integrated TV tuner (DMB), 800 x 480 resolution, video and audio playback, Navi-in-Picture functionality, and USB and SD connectivity to expand its abilities to match your imagination. If this thing's routing abilities are even half decent, it should sell like hot cakes in the middle of a particularly cold winter.

Acer's 11.6-inch Aspire Timeline 1810T: a netbook we can finally embrace? We're doing our darnedest to keep our expectations in check, but it looks like the long, painful wait for a halfway potent netbook may be drawing to a close. With Windows 7 just months away, laptop makers are finally able to skirt around Microsoft's Windows XP-netbook limitations in preparation for a better, more refined OS. The just-leaked Aspire Timeline 1810T, for example, shares the same chassis as the underpowered Aspire One 751, though the innards are similar to those found in the Timeline series. We're talking an 11.6-inch display (1,366 x 768 resolution), Intel's 1.4GHz ULV SU3500 processor, GMA 4500MHD graphics, hardware accelerated decoding of HD video, up to 4GB of RAM, an HDMI socket, gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, optional 3G / Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and an 8-hour battery. Naturally, this one is slated to ship with Vista Home Premium, but that free upgrade to Win7 makes said pill entirely eas...

NC State gurus build remote control bats, freak out Dukies and Tar Holes Micro-aerial vehicles, or MAVs as they're called in the elusive underground, are far from new, but a team from NC State University is hoping to advance the field with an all new critter. The Robo-Bat is a remote controlled creature that relies on a super elastic shape-memory metal alloy for the joints, which is said to provide a full range of motion while enabling it to "always return to its original position -- a function performed by many tiny bones, cartilage and tendons in real bats." The crew is also utilizing other "smart materials" in the muscular system, giving it the ability to react in real time to environmental changes such as sudden wind gusts. Ideally, this bionic chiropteran would be used to chivvy those who dare step foot on Franklin Street or inside Cameron Indoor Stadium, but in less malicious situations, it could help well-meaning scientists get the bottom of that whole ...

LG GD910 watchphone to go on sale in UK this August We don't know about anyone else, but we've been waiting on LG's GD910 ever since we first heard about it way back around CES. We've already heard that the watch / phone-loving combo would hit shelves sometime in July (that's now) in Europe, but it looks like it's going to be more like August -- at least in the UK. T3 says they've confirmed this with Orange (the GD910's exclusive carrier), and though the price remains unspecified, we're expecting it to cost somewhere between $1,000 and way-more-than-you-should-spend. We're not going to bother with the requisite Dick Tracy comments this time (though we'll freely admit we're somehow fond of the Warren Beatty disaster), but hit the read link for fuller details.

Sony Ericsson "Bao" bows in lame spy shot form If you allows us to transport you back for a moment -- way back -- to the world of QVGA cameras and parachute pants, you'll be in the right mindset for these awfully low-res shots of an alleged Sony Ericsson "Bao" flip that seriously turns the geometry dial up to 11. Little is known about the phone -- it could be a long-canceled project, for all we know -- but it definitely diverges significantly from the usual SE industrial design cues. Whether that divergence is for the better for worse is a matter of personal taste -- but in terms of market success, maybe these guys should hit up Nokia for some pointers.

Motorola MING A1890 "Greatwall" approved, Bluetooth SIG-style It looks like most of the juicy details have been pulled, but thanks to the Bluetooth SIG, mobile-review seems to have gotten the inside line on Motorola's latest spec bump for its MING series, the A1890 (codenamed "Greatwall," though we're guessing this won't stick through to production -- many of Moto's handsets are listed by their codenames in the SIG's database). The model -- which, like its predecessors, will likely be confined to Asian retail -- apparently had both GSM and CDMA / EV-DO listed in its brief specs, suggesting it might be a good fit for China Mobile's 3G network with a little roaming capability thrown in for good measure. The screen's apparently still QVGA, but it's got a 3 megapixel camera with business card recognition (a feature that carries over from existing models), GPS (another carry-over), and a built-in PDF reader -- and actually, now that we...

Samsung Galaxy predictably coming to O2 UK It's already being stocked by its German cousins, so it stands to reason that O2's British outpost would be looking to carry the mighty i7500 Galaxy from Samsung as well. Indeed, TechRadar is reporting that O2 UK has confirmed that the Android-powered OLED beast is on the way in August, though pricing is yet to be reported in any official capacity; for comparison's sake, O2 Germany is offering it for €69.99 (about $98) on contract, so we can certainly imagine the new launch coming somewhere in the same range. Then again, we can also imagine it being completely free on the right plan, in which case we're packing our bags and filing for our visas.

Palm Pre official on O2 and Movistar in Europe, launch "in time for holidays" It's official, Palm just kicked out a press release saying that the UK, Ireland, and Germany will have access to the Palm Pre exclusively on O2 while Spain's Pre will be offered exclusively on Movistar -- so it's all Telefonica, all the time. Unfortunately, launch timing was only narrowed down to "in time for the holidays" which is just another way of repeating Palm's European-launch mantra of before the end of the year. Palm also doesn't provide any prices and chose not to list the radio frequencies for the HSDPA/UMTS with EDGE/GSM version of the Pre. See the 1,260 word press release posted after the break that says almost nothing.

LG teases next-generation Chocolate for August unveiling To say that the Chocolate was a hit for LG would be similar to saying the PlayStation 2 went over well for Sony. Indeed, the outfit's best selling handset ever (21 million units worldwide) holds a special place in the hearts of suits and shareholders alike, so it's hardly a shock to see the company issuing a next-generation version of the device. Slated to fall into LG's Black Label series, the phone -- which is simply dubbed the 'second generation LG Chocolate' for now -- will be fully unveiled in August, with bits and pieces to be strategically dropped during the run-up. The only real hint at features that we're given is the following: "The new LG Chocolate will be a disruptive force in conventional mobile screens in an effort to maximize usability while inheriting the original minimalist-inspired style and iconic design of its predecessor." Haptics? OLED? A portal into the future? Only time wi...

NTT DoCoMo boosts its femtocell with HSPA support for fall launch In these United States, honest, hard-working Americans aren't asking for much -- all they really want out of life is the right to bear 7.62mm tracer ammunition, the right to patronize 24-hour burger joints, and the inalienable, immutable right to a 3G femtocell in every home. Unfortunately, T-Mobile's gone its own way with the whole UMA thing and AT&T's dragging its feet, but over in Japan, NTT DoCoMo has just announced its second-generation device, the simply (but accurately) named Enhanced Femtocell Base Station. While the outgoing model topped out at 3.6Mbps on the downlink and a measly UMTS-capped 384kbps on the uplink, the enhanced station supports full HSPA -- 14Mbps down, 5.76Mbps up (though the carrier warns that HSUPA isn't deployed just yet). It's not just about speed, though -- the new gear also supports interesting new services, including the ability to notify users when other users (f...

Yamaha intros RX-V1065 receiver As we saw in February, Yamaha looks like it's stressing the "feature per dollar" theme for its receivers. But if your ego (or setup) can't stomach the thought of anything less than 100-Watts per channel, today's release of the RX-V1065 will set you right. The new 7.2-channel model cranks out 105-Watts through Yamaha's Digital Top ART circuitry and more codec support, YPAO room EQ, and Cinema DSP gadgetry than you can shake a stick at. The RX-V1065 also adds in support for HD radio and audio files on USB memory devices (WAV, MP3 and WMA). There's something for everyone -- even the haters will find something to like in the 29-pound weight that's the same as the lower RX-V765 model. At just under $1000 mark, we would have traded out the HD Radio and USB support for a second HDMI output, but we're greedy like that.

OPPO's long-awaited BDP-83 universal Blu-ray player now shipping It's been a long (long!) time coming, but we're thrilled to finally be able to say that OPPO's multifaceted BDP-83 is shipping en masse to those willing to part with five bills (or $500, for those working without conversion tables). During our time with the player, we were duly impressed with most every aspect, and if you're still on the hunt for a Blu-ray player that can spin DVD-Audio and SACD on the side, you'll be hard pressed to find a better option than this. So, who's taking the plunge?