Filed under ‘Computer accessories’
Watch HDTV on your Mac
If you want to watch HDTV on your Mac, it’s a simple as plugging in the uber tiny USB Elgato EyeTV Hybrid. It can receive HDTV signals and standard definition TV signals – plus it has inputs for your camcorder, VCR, and game console. Although it uses the Macs processor to ‘make the pictures’ – I’ve seen one of these running on a low spec Mac mini with absolutely no glitching or stuttering. It’s almost enough to warrant the purchase of a Mac mini to use solely as an HDTV recorder.
» Best price at Newegg.com
Ultra micro USB drive
Kingmax have released a new micro USB drive – the Kingmax Super Stick. It’s only 34 mm in length, and is available in a bunch of sizes: 512MB, 1GB, 2GB or 4GB. Best of all, it’s both dustproof and waterproof. This looks like the perfect candidate for running PortableApps or MojoPac.
RFID project kit
Want to tinker with RFID? This kit includes over a dozen types of RFID tags, a USB based RFID reader, various cards, a keychain, and instructions for many RFID projects including an RFID door lock, RFID login to Windows XP, and RFID enabled safe.
» Apx $99 from ThinkGeek.com
USB charger
If you’ve got a device that can be charged via USB, then this is a must have for travelling. These USB chargers enable you to charge your iPod, cell phone, PDA, or any other USB charged device – all from four AA or AAA batteries. They have a built in USB plug, so all you have to do is add batteries and plug in your USB device.
» Available from ThinkGeek.com
Swiss Tech Util Key
ThinkGeek have just got new stock of the Swiss Tech Util Key – it’s about the same size as a normal key, but features a nice bundles of essential tools:
* Semi-serrated knife blade
* Micro flat or Phillips screwdriver
* Eyeglass screwdriver
* Bottle opener
* Made from 420 stainless steel
* Lifetime warranty
» More info at ThinkGeek.com
USB Skype phone
We’ve tried a few ultra cheap USB Skype phones from eBay, and most of them were absolute garbage. Some of them barely worked, and the ones that did work sounded awful. So when we got the SYBA Sky Basic USB VoIP phone, we thought it would be just another cheap and useless product. It is incredibly cheap (apx $9.99), and it feels cheap too – but in use the sound quality is suprisingly good – infact good enought to forget you’re using a Skype phone at all. If you don’t mind cheap plastic, then the SYBA Sky Basic is easily the best ‘cheap’ USB Skype phone around.
» Available from Newegg.com
Affordable digital photo frame
Digital photo frames are nothing new, but they all seem to be a bit too expensive for what is pretty simple technology. We spotted this cheap little frame at newegg.com for only $39.99 – the CSIT GG-001 digital photo frame can display BMP, JPEG, TIF, GIF, and PNG images on the 1.4 inch LCD, has a built in flash memory that can hold up to 80 photos, and has a clock/thermometer display.
TrackStick GPS logger
I’ve been looking for something to track the altitude of my RC planes, and this looks like it just might do what I want. The TrackStick GPS Data Logger will keep a record of time, date, location, speed, direction and altitude – and then playback the data to your computer (via USB) using GoogleEarth or MapQuest. The TrackStick has 1mb of memory, and can record up to 4000 events – so it can even be used to plot cycling or driving routes. I’m getting one!
» Available on eBay for around $150.
DX1 keyboard
Build your own keyboard – then rip it up and start again. The Ergodex DX1 is a specialized keyboard that allows you to design and build your own custom key layout, you can even put your own backgrounds under the clear tray. Each key on the DX1 can be assigned a command or macro – which is excellent for games, as well as graphics and music applications such as Photoshop and Cubase.
» Available at ThinkGeek.com
Wi-Spy spectrum analyzer
The Wi-Spy is a tiny 2.4 GHz spectrum analyzer, designed to analyze and troubleshoot Wi-Fi networks. It analyzes the signal strength for Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth, microwaves, Zigbee and 2.4 GHz cordless phones – and displays an instant spectrogram view of amplitude, frequency, and time. The Wi-Spy is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.
» Available from ThinkGeek.com
