Google Wave »

POCKETRAK W24 and C24 Portable Recorders »

After dominating the motorbike industry for years, giant company Yamaha are turning their heads to audio devices and sound systems.
While they have always dabbled in the market, this year they are after a full on assault and have done so with a bang, unveiling the Pocketrak W24 and C24 portable recorders to the public.

Heineken Beer Robot »

Now, this is he kind of gadget you would expect to hear about at Oktoberfest, or maybe even at the Australian Tennis Open, but not on a technology website!
The Heineken Root is a design by some beer enthusiast students at Middlesex University in the UK who hoped to make pouring beer that little bit easier [...]

TenYears: Single Most Innovative Product of the Decade »

It’s almost January 1st, 2010 and we’ve been mulling over our favorites of 2009 – and the previous decade. Here we present the first installment of our “Of the Decade” lists. Winner: The Trek Thumbdrive In 2000, something strange happened. Overnight, we changed the way we carried data. Those of us coming up in the 1990s first used floppy disks then CDs and then Zip drives and generally the transfer of large amounts of data was a Sisyphean task. I personally still remember sending our entire university newspaper paper to the printers on a Zip disk. That year marked the launch of the Trek ThumbDrive, the world’s first usable USB storage device. You could slip it into a computer, drag over a few files, and pop it back out. You could drop it into a bag or pocket and it was cheap enough to lose – at least in theory. Thumbdrives would max out at about 256MB in 2000, but that soon changed. Now we can carry 32GB in our pockets – more than the entire computer system running that selfsame student newspaper back in 1997. If you’re asking why this made our gadget of the decade, think about it: the same flash technology in these drives is now ubiquitous. We have MicroSD cards the size of a fingernail. We have MP3 players as thin as a few business cards. Flash memory is so popular that’s it’s become scarce, with manufacturers buying up huge stocks prior to launching new product. It has removed delicate moving parts from the design of almost all electronics. Few devices in our purview have changed the way we work, play, and communicate in the way flash memory and thumbdrives have. They made massive amounts of storage available and disposable. They, in a real sense, changed the world. Runners Up The Danger Sidekick Before 2002 you either had a feature phone – essentially a phone that you could make calls and maybe play some Java games – or a smartphone – a phone that could run applications. Danger introduced the T-Mobile Sidekick on October 1, 2002 and changed all that. The phone let you send email and instant message, all in a package far more accessible – feature-wise and price-wise – than any smartphone. It was, in a sense, the first mainstream smartphone for the masses and it became a longtime fan favorite for years. Even after some high-profile problems the Sidekick is still going strong. Gmail Free email was nothing new. Odd ways of organizing your email was nothing new. What was new was all of the storage space Google offered to the average Joe, forcing others to follow suit. Gone were the days of “premium” webmail accounts – you got 1GB. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about it: With an initial storage capacity offer of 1 GB per user, Gmail significantly increased the webmail standard for free storage from the 2 to 4MB its competitors offered at that time. 2MB? What did we do before Google? Sony Reader Before the Kindle, before the Nook, the Sony Reader was the only ereader in town. It didn’t do much of note nor was it particularly popular, but it paved the way for competitors and it showed Sony that they’d have to step up their game if they wanted to even be on the field. They were the first movers but they didn’t get the advantage, an parable for any and all manufacturers out there with something amazingly new. Our take Matt : Let’s not forget the Harmony Remote either. Before these Internet-connected remotes came along, you would have to spend hours programming a universal remote with codes printed in size 4 font. The innovative little company was eventually bought out by Logitech, but thankfully not much as changed. Doug : I have to agree with the T-Mobile Sidekick here. I can’t remember the last time I had a bigger tech boner about a particular product. The thing that made it so unbelievable was that it wasn’t priced outrageously at the time. If memory serves, the hardware was $250 and my monthly service was $30 for voice and $20 for unlimited data. I did a lot of web development back then and I still remember the first time I used my Sidekick to add a new user to one of my client’s e-mail systems while waiting for my luggage halfway across the country. Unreal. And never, ever, ever have regular people ogled a phone as much as they did the first Sidekick. There was nothing like it — that swiveling screen, especially. Devin : I just want to throw my weight behind Gmail and cloud apps here. I may not even use them, but I see them as being fuel for the next generation of computing. Flash memory has for sure enabled a huge amount of devices in the last decade, but cloud apps will power the next decade. Greg : As the resident mobile nut, it’s only appropriate for me to consider something from the mobile space to be the most innovative. I could cheat and default to the iPhone purely for the sake of stoking a flamewar in the comments below, but I won’t. Instead, I’ll go with SMS – otherwise known as text messaging; while technically a product of the 80s, SMS truly came to fruition in the naughts. In the past 9 years, we’ve gone from sending less than half a billion texts a year to over 80 billion – and that’s in the US alone. It paved the way for Facebook updates, tweets, and microblogs, killed the long form letter, and has completely overhauled how we, as a populace, communicate. Nicholas : I sincerely believe the word “innovative” has lost all meaning and should be eliminated from the English language. I have no time for it, and it seeing it instantly causes my renal glands to secrete exotic poisons. Call me when someone invents a simple water purifier that can treat water on the spot. That’d be helpful. Oh, and innovative.

Build your own Death Star from the blueprints »

Now you can get the Death Star plans without having to depending on those Bothan spies. Some enterprising publishing company has licensed and released the penultimate Star Wars geek accessory: poster sized blueprints. Not content with providing the blueprints for the Death Star, you can also get the design documents for Darth Vader’s mask, C-3PO & R2-D2, the Millennium Falcon, and lightsabers & blasters. All are printed on a poster sized page, and double sided. Obviously it’s too late for Christmas, but you can order the plans online for $19.99. [via Geekologie ]

Bag Week: Crumpler King Single »

The Crumpler King Single is a laptop backpack with a low profile. That’s not to say it won’t draw attention; the color and styling is hard to miss, but the design holds your laptop and your stuff close to your center mass. Features: Holds up to a 15-inch laptop Fully padded internal laptop sleeve Well designed carrying system Pros: Laptop slot is very well padded Enough pockets to keep everything seperated Great zipper pulls Cons: Interior lining is a bit bright Some pockets are a bit small Lacks a carrying strap at the top Crumpler bags are extremely well-designed, and the King Single is a fine example of this. It’s a backpack yes, but the way the weight is carried and the straps are set up really improve the way that the bag fits. This is not a standard day-pack, the strapping system is more what you would expect to see on an actual hiking pack. In addition to the standard shoulder straps, the King Single also has a chest strap (to keep the shoulder straps from sliding off) and a waist strap (to help you carry the bulk of the load on your hips, instead of the your shoulders). This is somewhat unusual in the realm of laptop/cargo bags, they normally just put some shoulder straps on there and call it good. I was disappointed by the lack of a carrying handle on the top however – it seems like that would be a logical addition to the design. Both shoulder straps are equipped with d-rings, which made a really convenient place to clip my multi-tool . Crumpler also has a mobile phone case on their site that would be ideal to clip onto this particular location – I didn’t have one, but it’s worth mentioning. Moving into the bag, the first thing you notice is the color. The bag sent to me to review has a tangerine interior. While it’s not the color I would have chosen, it’s normally zipped up anyway, so not a huge issue. Just be aware if you order the green/brown bag you’re going to need sunglasses when you open it. The cloth has an excellent texture to it, almost plush to the touch; I’d have no issue trusting my delicate electronics to the inside of this bag. There are several large zip pockets on the inside of the bag, and one extremely well padded laptop slot against the back with an organizer on the front of it. The laptop slot closes with a massive velcro patch, which will definitely keep your computer secure while you’re move about. The laptop slot is not removable as it was in previous versions of the bag, and it’s held firmly against the back of the bag. This keeps the bag from pulling you backwards as you’re wearing it, and improves that balance mentioned earlier. The interior pocket are (in general) a generous size, and all of them have a high quality zippers and metal pulls. One thing that I noticed was the rather small size of the pockets on the interior organizer. There was the standard size pen holders, but the other pockets seemed to be rather small and scale, almost to the point of not being usable. Compared to the size of the other pockets on the inside of the bag, they were practically lilliputian. I like the King Single. It’s not perfect, the organizer pocket size is definitely a problem, but other then that it’s a perfectly usable product and I wouldn’t have any issue recommending it to someone looking for a decent laptop backpack that will last pretty much forever. In fact, it’s worth mentioning that Crumpler warranties their bags for life. While the King Single is not cheap at $155, I feel that it is worth the price. Just make sure you don’t get that tangerine interior. Product Page PS – The Crumpler site is worth a visit just to check it out, it is pretty damn cool in its own right.

Review: Leatherman Skeletool CX »

Short version : The Leatherman Skeletool is a lightweight, high quality multi-tool that combines striking industrial design with excellent functionality. Full review : I love multi-tools. I had an original Leatherman tool back in the day, and used to carry a Leatherman Wave will me all the time until it was stolen. I’ve carried other brands from time to time, but I also end up going back to a Leatherman. When Leatherman sent me the Skeletool, I was a little hesitant about it. Honestly, I wasn’t overly fond of the styling, as I usually prefer the ergonomics of the “old school” multi-tool. I will admit however, that I like the curved handle and carbon fiber feel of the Skeletool. Putting the “multi” in multi-tool : So what does the Skeletool include as far as accessories? Pliers, a knife blade that locks open, bottle opener, and two sizes of standard and Philips screwdrivers. The screwdriver bits are interchangeable, and the one that is not in use is stored in the handle. The Skeletool doesn’t come with a nylon sheath, but it does have a carabiner style clip to attach it to your gear. The carabiner clip doubles as a bottle opener for emergencies. There are a few optional accessories available from Leatherman’s website – you can add a “Bit Kit” which contains 42 additonal bits, or a bit driver extension. Final thoughts : The Skeletool CX is a nice piece of kit. While I was somewhat dubious about the design, I’ve grown to appreciate the light weight and carbon fiber look. I do have a minor concern; with the Wave, the screwdriver parts were permanently attached to the tool. I’m worried about the possibility of losing the bits over the long term, or the possibility of wear on the slot that holds the additional bit causing said bit to fall out. Leatherman’s latest multi-tool is available at most major retailers and their website . MSRP is about $100, but I was able to find them for almost half that by shopping around a bit.

Review and giveaway: Thirsty Light Snowflake »

Short Version : Much like the original Thirsty Light , the Thirsty Light Snowflake is a single purpose gadget designed to tell you when your Christmas tree is thirsty. Drop the dongle into your tree’s water, and hang the ornament somewhere on the tree. It blends in nicely with your other ornaments, and blinks when there’s no more water. It runs on two AA batteries, and has an on/off button should you decide to try to kill your tree. Review: Unlike a lot of single-purpose gadgets we review here at CrunchGear, the Thirsty Light Snowflake is surprisingly useful. It doesn’t take up much space, it’s easy to store with your other Christmas ornaments throughout the year, and it saves you a lot of time and energy when it comes to keeping your tree watered. Of course, if you’re one of those Scrooges with an artificial tree then you won’t need this. The Thirsty Light Snowflake a fine looking ornament — not at all chintzy or cheap — and won’t attract any undue attention to itself when the tree is fully watered. The blinking is not overly bright, nor rapid, so it’s not going to cause seizures when the tree is dry. At $9, this is a terrific stocking stuffer. Heck, grab two, and use one for yourself! Product Page: Thirsty Light Snowflake Trident Design , creator of the Thirsty Light Snowflake has given us five to give away to loyal CrunchGear readers! Leave a comment here, and we’ll randomly select five winners at 5 PM tonight. Be sure to include your email address, so we can contact you!

The Chevy Volt will of course support Blackberry and iPhone apps »

GM has a lot riding on the Chevy Volt . It’s not the vehicle that will save the company from failure, (the Chevy Cruze will do that) but it’s huge PR halo car. It will be the car that draws everyone’s attention back to the auto maker and having the car work with a flashy iPhone and Blackberry app should help with that. Not much is known about the apps right now. In fact, the image above was flashed on the screen during the Volt’s presentation at the L.A. Auto Show. It’s probably a good guess that the meter is referring to the Volt’s batter life and the button might even be able to start up the gasoline engine remotely to charge the battery. But of course apps like these can do so much more. Mercedes-Benz recently announced its iPhone and Blackberry app that can unlock doors, call for roadside assistance, and even locate the vehicle. No doubt the Volt’s app will be similar, but hopefully doesn’t cost $280 like the MB option. Don’t expect anything too crazy though. It’s not like GM has the know-how to install a system like the one in James Bond’s BMW 750i. GM-Volt via Jalopnik

Ruler Pen: wish I’d thought of that »

Yeah… that’s definitely useful. I’ve got shaky hands because I drink too much coffee, so a pen with integrated ruler would be handy for all those… lines I draw. I expect I’ll be seeing these at Muji in a few months.