Gadgets Blog: Unusual Gift Ideas

Gadgets, gifts and novelties for all ages

	Get your post Euro 2008 Footy fix June 27, 2008 on 3:12 pm \| In News \| 1 Comment Euro 2008 is almost over, and the new season doesn’t kick off until 10th August, so just what are the football mad masses to do until then!? Why not entertain yourself with the just landed at Gadgets Towers mini Table Football. Yes, it’s not a full size Football table. Yes it’s not got full size teams either. But seriously, how many people have the space to store a full size table when it’s not in use? Not to mention the four-figure price knocking around spare, especially at the moment. The table needs a little bit of assembly, just putting the sides up really, and it’s easy enough to take apart again for easy storage. In action it works really well, and moving the players is smooth , if you wanted you could even partake in the dark art of ‘spinning’. Why not set-up your tournament, perfect as aparty game at a BBQ or similar, some basic Table Football rules can be found here. So, not full size or full price it’s perfect for those of us for whom both space and budget need to be considered. Bookmark at: StumbleUpon \| Digg \| Del.icio.us \| Dzone \| Newsvine \| Simpy \| Furl \| Reddit \| Yahoo! MyWeb 3D technical Readout of a Battlestation. Well, not quite….. June 27, 2008 on 12:42 pm \| In News \| No Comments Ok, I know it’s not exactly new, the video below having been posted 10 months ago, but it’s summer, and as such ground breaking exciting new gadgets are fairly few and far between, and I hadn’t seen it before Wired (presumably experiencing the same sort of summer hiatus) posted about it. This video shows the Interactive 360º Light Field Display in action, and it’s looking quite impressive I feel. The first image I saw was the one below of a wire frame 3D Tie Fighter, which immediately made me wonder two things: 1) Why not do the Death Star a la the scene towards the end of A New Hope rather than a TIE? Ok so a TIE could possibly be considered more impressive than the Death Star, with the latter being just a sphere with a dent in it really. 2) Seeing the wire frame TIE I couldn’t help but be reminded of the original Star Wars game (bottom image), and how cool it would be if they could do it in 3D using this means of image projection. There are some minor health and safety hazards with this as it is that would probably need to be addressed. For example, part of the intrigue with any holographic 3D image is being able to put your hand through it. Doing so with this would unfortunately result in your hand and arm being shredded somewhat by the rapidly rotating mirrors. Never the less it seems a good place to start. Bookmark at: StumbleUpon \| Digg \| Del.icio.us \| Dzone \| Newsvine \| Simpy \| Furl \| Reddit \| Yahoo! MyWeb Aliens get the best gadgets! June 20, 2008 on 3:56 pm \| In News \| No Comments Or so it would seem if reports in today’s papers are anything to go by. Apparently on June 7th a police helicopter, having been given permission to land at St Athen military base near Cardiff, had to take evasive manoeuvers after a U.F.O. came hurtling straight at them. The helicopter then gave chase as far as the North Devon border before running low on fuel and needing to return to base. Somewhat predictably the object was described as being “Saucer shaped”, and despite all the high tech recording equipment on board the helicopter including night vision cameras the object (apparently) managed to avoid being caught on tape. So basically although this craft could be seen easily enough by the naked eye, it could not be captured on film? Sounds like it could come in handy for raids on unmanned facilities with heavy surveillance to me! Could this be a new type of Stealth Technology currently being tested, or is it truly the work of little gray men from Reticulum in search of Liver? (It’s an X-Files reference I couldn’t quite resist and seemed appropriate, from ‘Squeeze’ in the first season) On the other hand and to take a rather paranoid point of view is it something the military aren’t quite sure about, and although they did actually catch it on film they aren’t willing to release information at this point? Whatever it is/was be it experimental aircraft, flying saucer, swamp gas, aurora borealis, or weather balloon I’m guessing we won’t know the truth for a long time, if ever. If this has piqued your curiosity why not start your own investigation by visiting the National Archives website and having a read of the newly unclassified documents? Bookmark at: StumbleUpon \| Digg \| Del.icio.us \| Dzone \| Newsvine \| Simpy \| Furl \| Reddit \| Yahoo! MyWeb The perfect woman is a razor…. apparently….. June 20, 2008 on 3:33 pm \| In News \| No Comments Upon returning from my break away at the Download Festival which was brilliant, but more on that later, I ventured over to Artificial Intelligence’s website to see what the latest development on Lisa the perfect woman was. I was very disappointed as not much at all seemed to have changed, until I visited the French version of the website that is. After inputting your details and email address (you don’t need a valid one), you are presented with a short video of Lisa demonstrating her ‘thang’ before it all goes a bit wrong and you are told the following - La femme parfaite existe deja. Pour savoir comment la seduire. Cliquer ici. This roughly translates as “The perfect woman already exists. To know how to entice it. Click here.” You are then informed - “Un Rasage doux et parfait pout etre sur de sa seduction”, which roughly translated means - A soft and perfect Shave , be sure of its seduction. So all this fuss was made over a French advert for a Phillips electric razor and Nivea shaving conditioner. I’m assuming most of you reading this are as let down as I am having been expecting something a bit more impressive for the punch-line. Maybe a new Hollywood blockbuster, or a clever advert for an online dating agency… Ho-hum. Bookmark at: StumbleUpon \| Digg \| Del.icio.us \| Dzone \| Newsvine \| Simpy \| Furl \| Reddit \| Yahoo! MyWeb Lisa, the perfect woman? June 10, 2008 on 1:36 pm \| In News \| No Comments What would any man give for the ‘prefect’ wife? In this instance ‘perfect’ is attractive, happy to cook, clean, do the shopping, and pretty much anything else you want them to all without moaning, or expecting to be bought that vastly over-priced pair of shoes they’ve been admiring. Well AI Robotics say they have the perfect woman available for purchase from June 13th in their new “Lisa - the Perfect Woman” robot. According to the two creators of Lisa her talents are numerous and varied. They are quoted as saying that: YY: Lisa can cook you a meal based on what is in the fridge (visual recognition). She can go shopping, do household work or give you a hydraulic massage, but she can also play chess and video games (over 390 are available) and even learn to do certain sports. EF: We have designed Lisa to be a true companion. She is there to serve you. She dresses herself and recharges herself automatically. You can talk to her about news, travelling, culture and music. Lisa has an IQ of 130. She is even able to satisfy your desires in the bedroom. For this we have cooperated with a renowned sexologist whose expertise has been integrated into Lisa’s configuration. I’ve had a look at the website and must say although it all looks well presented and put together that this is not what it appears. For a start take the ASIMO robot made by Honda and featured not too long ago in one of their TV ad’s. The approximate value of ASIMO is estimated at $1 million, and other than his mobility, which was questionable if you‘ve seen the videos of the out-takes the little fella, as far as I‘m aware, doesn‘t have any other amazing features. Now supposedly ‘Lisa’ has various sensors all over her skin, is able to visually recognise what is in your fridge, and got and do the shopping for you, thus giving it greater mobility than ASIMO, which was thought of as a giant leap forward with it’s ability to climb stairs. This gets me wondering, if it is genuine, just how much one of these is going to set you back? There is no pricing information on the website. Somewhat strange given it’s due to launch in a few days, and nothing similar or even stages between ASIMO and Lisa have been featured anywhere that I’ve seen. The online shop is due to be launched on 13th June, so maybe we’ll find out more, but until then why not take a look at the videos and judge for yourself? Bookmark at: StumbleUpon \| Digg \| Del.icio.us \| Dzone \| Newsvine \| Simpy \| Furl \| Reddit \| Yahoo! MyWeb Hype, hype, and yet more hype… June 10, 2008 on 12:03 pm \| In News \| No Comments Yes, it’s that time when the hype has built up to a crescendo. The rumours are flying around about the exact make-up. The coverage is pretty much blanketing everyone, possibly the only place you’d not have heard about it is the moon. No, believe it or not I’m not talking about the latest series of Big Brother (Or Big something else as I affectionately refer to it), but the release of the 3G iPhone. Yesterday was the Apple Keynote that everyone has been waiting for with bated breath (apparently). In fact, trawling through various blogs you’d be hard pushed to find anything else even mentioned let alone talked about. Apple appear to have succeeded once again in garnering almost unprecedented levels of excitement surrounding the release of the new iPhone. But just what did we learn? Well, not a huge amount that you wouldn’t have known already had you been even remotely curious about this particular little box of tricks. It was confirmed that the iPhone packs in UMTS, HSDPA, GSM, Wi-Fi, EDGE, GPS, and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR. Maybe more tellingly it was also confirmed (for the US at least) that the iPhone will require a 2 year contract with provider AT&T and still incur a handset cost of $199, or $299 depending on whether you get the 8 or 16 GB model. Despite the impressive array of acronym’s the iPhone will, at launch, still be lacking video capability, although this is expected to be available via a software update soon enough. The camera has not been upgraded at all from the original iPhone, and is still 2Mega Pixel. The spec list can be found here. O2 have confirmed they will still be the solitary UK supplier for the iPhone, and early tariff information can be found here. As you may have gathered by the general tone of this post I myself remain largely under whelmed by the iPhone, but judging by the blogs and forums mine is not the popular consensus. No doubt the new iPhone will be just as big a hit as the last version, and the model they release next year will do likewise, and the one the year after that, and the, well you get the idea. Bookmark at: StumbleUpon \| Digg \| Del.icio.us \| Dzone \| Newsvine \| Simpy \| Furl \| Reddit \| Yahoo! MyWeb Don’t let office stress cause you injury! June 6, 2008 on 12:34 pm \| In News \| No Comments Life in the modern office can be stressful. Just imagine the archetypal day when everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. If it happens to the wrong person the results could be somewhat akin to the video below: We all know that person in the office who gets a twitch in their eyebrow when their PC freezes, or the coffee machine is out of order and eats their money. As well as being bad for the individuals blood pressure and general health, this video also proves it can be hazardous to those around them as well! Although it is debateable whether this is genuine or staged, isn’t it convenient how just about everything takes place in the centre of the camera’s view and none of the spectators ever leave camera shot, it sends out a stark warning to office workers everywhere. Do your bit to reduce office fatalities, and injuries caused by hurled computer equipment, get the likely maniac in your office the Giant Stressball. Available soon at Gadgets.co.uk! Bookmark at: StumbleUpon \| Digg \| Del.icio.us \| Dzone \| Newsvine \| Simpy \| Furl \| Reddit \| Yahoo! MyWeb Gadgets Towers rocking to the V-Beat June 5, 2008 on 3:21 pm \| In News \| No Comments Gadgets Towers has been hit by a music frenzy with two new rocking additions, the V-Beat Air Drums and V-Beat Air Guitar. I had been looking forward to the release of Rock Band, which is obviously the next step along from Guitar Hero (At least until Guitar Hero 4). However, as EA have decided we all have far too much money over here in the UK they have upped the price by about 220%, and I have shelved my plans for this particular purchase. Enter the V-Beat instrument simulators and suddenly all those grand plans for forming a simulated rock band are seeming within reach again, and these are possibly an even better option as you aren’t restricted to the track lists EA deem worthy of release. Sure, they take a little more practise, but the end result is surely that bit more impressive and rewarding. Here’s an example of what can be achieved with one guitar and one set of drums. Add in another guitar for the bass, someone singing and the effect will be more than doubled! Of course the V-Beat Air Guitar, and V-Beat Air Drums are available from Gadgets.co.uk! Bookmark at: StumbleUpon \| Digg \| Del.icio.us \| Dzone \| Newsvine \| Simpy \| Furl \| Reddit \| Yahoo! MyWeb A Massive jump for TV Adverts! May 30, 2008 on 3:11 pm \| In News \| No Comments As you may (or may not have seen) Channel 4 last night made history as it featured the UK’s first live Television advert during Come Dine With Me. The advert featured a number of sky divers spelling out Honda as they plummeted from 12,000 metres (40,000ft). The advert (below) lasted a couple of minutes, cost around £500,000, and attracted around 2.2million viewers. Due to the lower production costs as there are no post production proceedures go through, and the added attraction for the viewer that something could go wrong, (really why else are you watching!?) could this be the start of a new trend in the advertising world? Bookmark at: StumbleUpon \| Digg \| Del.icio.us \| Dzone \| Newsvine \| Simpy \| Furl \| Reddit \| Yahoo! MyWeb Indiana Jones and the Search for the Useless Tat! May 23, 2008 on 11:50 am \| In News \| No Comments Yep, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull has only just been released in cinemas and already the flow of questionable licensed products has begun. First up is the Crystal Skull Adventure Projector. This advises you to “Watch as the Crystal Skull projects amazing images from its glowing eye. Professor Jones will be your tour guide as you visit exciting archaeological discoveries of the world and famous scenes from the Indiana Jones movies.”. From the price of the item I’m guessing it is less crystal, more clear plastic, and may well need an archaeological expedition to rediscover it after a couple of weeks (though hopefully without the Russians trying to get there first). Slated for an early June release is the upcoming LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. If this is even half as much fun as the Star Wars games I might have to go out and get this. From the trailer (below) things are looking promising. As well as the game there are of course the Lego sets, whip complete with sound effects, hats, and re-releases of the original trilogy on DVD, as well as the Young Indiana Jones TV Series. A word of warning however, obtain all this merchandise, and the rest of the tidal wave that is sure to follow and you could end up like this Indy superfan . Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with that, but your mum/significant other is probably not going to be best please by the amount of clutter taking over the house. Myself, I just hope the movie lives up to my memories of the original three! Bookmark at: StumbleUpon \| Digg \| Del.icio.us \| Dzone \| Newsvine \| Simpy \| Furl \| Reddit \| Yahoo! MyWeb	Pages: About us Categories: News (rss) (42) Archives: August 2008 (5) July 2008 (5) June 2008 (8) May 2008 (7) April 2008 (4) March 2008 (4) February 2008 (4) January 2008 (1) December 2007 (1) November 2007 (3) BlogRoll Gadgets.co.uk - Gifts & presents Meta: Login XFN WP RSS XML Feed
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