Online Observations

A step in the right direction

Here’s something real cool. But before I tell you what it is, let me ask you: how many devices do you have that get charged through a USB port? I thought so. Almost everyone today has one device or more which use USB to charge. And yet, we don’t have the ability to charge directly from the wall without using a special adapter.

Well, that is changing. Take a look at the following picture:

Yup, it’s a wall socket with two USB ports built-in. And this device is a near reality and is currently pre-ordering for less than $20.00. Here’s the link to the manufacturer’s site which explains the specifications and gives some more information about the socket: http://store.fastmac.com/product_info.php?products_id=458. I love it when technology moves in the right direction.

Connect your camera to the Internet

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Eye-Fi. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have always been a fan of the Eye-Fi product. Let me first describe what this gadget is all about. We all have digital cameras these days, and each of these cameras uses a memory card. The Eye-Fi card is a wireless enabled memory card. It basically converts your camera into a wifi device, which can connect to your computer or to the Internet wirelessly through a wifi Internet connection. I could go on and on, but probably the best way to explain what this card does is to show you a video of how it works. Take a look at the video below:

 

Now that you understand, imagine how useful this can be. I am always misplacing my USB card reader, and looking around for it whenever I need to transfer photos. With an Eye-Fi, you don’t need a card reader anymore. Actually, there are a lot more advantages than this. One of the biggest advantages of modern camera phones (such as the iPhone) is the ability to take a photo and upload it seamlessly to the Internet for instant sharing. The biggest drawback is that a camera phone usually takes poor photos. With an Eye-Fi card, you can take your photos from your camera which is good at taking photos, and then upload the photo to the Internet seamlessly from your camera itself.

The card comes with a software which you can install on your computer to configure how you want the card to work. It allows you to setup automatic backups and organization of your photos.

With the Eye-Fi card you should be able to avoid all the nagging reminders from friends and family for sharing your photos, simply because it becomes so effortless to do it. The Eye-Fi is only available in the SD/SDHC format, and that is probably the only bad thing about it.

Here’s a new way to play Guitar Hero

I love the folks behind Microsoft Research as they are always doing something super cool. Take for instance this new interface that they are developing called the “Muscle-Computer Interface”. This allows them to detect control input by sensing the movement of your muscles in your arm when you do something with your hands. I could never explain it well, so you better watch this demo video. Essentially, you will be able to play Guitar Hero without the Guitar.

Finally, the rest of the world can access the awesome Kindle

The Amazon Kindle book reader has always been in my sights as a must have gadgets. I buy over 50 novels or books each year, and that alone will easily pay off the price of the device in less than a year. Not only that, it will help me because I will reduce the use of paper further in my life (which is being environmentally conscious).

The one thing that has kept me from buying it so far is the fact that it works only inside the United States… or it used to. But that is no longer true. Amazon has now launched an international version of the Kindle – here’s the product page for Kindle International. This is perfect for me. It guarantees connectivity in almost all the places I visit in the world, although the only thing that is free (when it comes to downloading content over the air) is the download of purchased books. That suits me just fine.

I can use the USB connection for translating documents and other reading material by hooking it up to my laptop. I am definitely buying this baby within the next couple of months. This is going to be such a lot of fun.

The only downside is that I will have to give up my love of the physical form of the books. I love books as much for their content as for their feel. For example, I prefer to buy hard cover copies because they are usually printed in better font and on better paper. It makes a noticeable difference in the comfort of reading if you have a nicely printed book. Still, I can’t wait to get my hands on the Kindle.

The most awesome fan ever?

What do you say when you become a fan of a fan? But this is no ordinary fan. Take a look at the picture below; are you expecting bladed to come out all of a sudden from somewhere? But no, this not an ordinary fan. This is a bladeless fan designed by Dyson. The fan uses aerodynamics principles to create an airflow inducing air from behind the fan into a continuous flow towards the front.

It basically takes in air from a small vent hole from the bottom, and then throws it out along the sides of the ring which causes air from behind the fan to get sucked into the fan as well. To see how that works, go to the page here: http://www.dyson.com/technology/airmultiplier.asp. They explain how the air multiplies technology works on this thing.

Sadly though this is not retailing yet, but it will pretty soon. Its expensive alright – $300 and up. But, I think something like this should be bought no matter the price (if you can afford it, i.e.)

Love it.

One flaw in the newest iPod Shuffle

Apple has released the latest version of the Shuffle. Take a look at the picture:

Yes, it really is that small. Less than 2 inches tall and about 0.3 inches thin. With no buttons on it. So how do you get it to change volume or song. Well, Apple has moved those controls to the headphone cable, along with the controls for the new multilingual voice over system (complete feature list here). And here lies the flaw with this iPod.

The Flaw:

I have owned a number of iPods over the last few years. Not on a single iPod that I have owned have I continued to use the original head phones supplied by Apple. I always replace them with my own headphones or earphones. With this guy, that will not be possible anymore. And I am sure I am not alone in this.

3 wheeled beauties

Its not just big engine bikes which look good and sexy. I just came across two different 3 wheeled vehicles which look absolutely gorgeous. Here’s the smaller one first: a 3 wheeled Scooter.

Its called the Piaggio MP3. Yes, that’s right MP3. Its a 3 wheeled scooter which looks prettier than any 2 wheeled scooter I have ever seen. You can see and read more about this beauty at its home page.

And here’s the next pretty thing on 3 wheels: a 3 wheeled motorbike.

This one is called the Spyder Can-am. And it looks even better than the MP3 above. If you like this one, then here’s the link to it’s home page.

Both of these pretty vehicles offer the thrill of riding a two-wheeler in a much safer manner.