Beats and Monster did come together for a few years, and their partnership has been financially fruitful to say the least. Unfortunately, all good things do come to an end eventually, and the Beats Headphones partnership is no more as the 5-year deal has reached its expiry date. Theirs was a formidable “marriage”, having dominated 53% of the $1 billion a year headphone market in 2011 alone, and Businessweek says that they see the potential of such a cash cow and want the bigger portion for themselves, and since no amicable solution can be reached concerning which party should be on the receiving end of more credit for the range’s success, a trip down Splitsville is inevitable.
Synergy is always better in my opinion, and this split might just leave both for the poorer. Of course, those who want to stick to the analogy of a marriage would say not all marriages are successful no matter how happy everything looks on the surface. Which would you side with in the new landscape?
“Buyer beware” applies in most things, even more so if you are about to drop a huge chunk of dough on a major purchase. When it comes to electric vehicles (EV), your driving habits might prove to be too taxing for the EV and its advertised mileage and range, so better to be safe than sorry with this EV Profiler driving data recorder. Just what does this device do? Well, you would first install it in your current ride, letting it observe your driving habits followed by analyzing the collected data before informing you on just which EV is most suitable for your driving habits.
You can also opt to rent one of these EV Profilers from the company itself instead of purchasing one, unless you and your clique of mates don’t mind pooling your money together to share one among you.
The EV Profiler is mounted on the inside of the windshield via a suction cup, where a bunch of internal sensors will log on the distance driven, your acceleration and cruising habits, how much time you spend driving uphill and attacking death-defying corners, alongside the amount of stop-and-go driving you go through each day. Seems like a nifty enough device, the EV Profiler can be rented for $25 per week, or $82 if you want it to check on you for the entire month. I wonder if there’s a Boyfriend/Girlfriend profiler in the market that would save you plenty of heartache in the process – oh wait, that’s called “mother”.
Until Delorme’s inReach two-way GPS Communicator, sending text messages over satellite signals was mostly a one-way affair. This 4.78 by 2.85 by 1.73-inch battery-powered minibeast pairs with either the company’s PN-60w or an Android OS device to send and receive 160-character text messages and real-time GPS data to those tracking you.
It can also beam an SOS message at timed intervals then receive confirmation that help is on the way when you ultimately realize that being at home with a fast connection is really all the adventure you needed anyway. Delorme tells us that the inReach will be available in October for $250 and monthly plans start at $9.95 with a one-year contract.
Powermat is releasing a windshield-mounted, wireless car charger later this year, according to CNET. The charger can adjust to fit any of the phone types that Powermat supports, so it could be great for cars with multiple drivers, or drivers with multiple phones, since people will not need to keep multiple car chargers in the car.
It does plug into the cigarette lighter, so it doesn’ t look all that different from a standard car charging system, but since the charger mounts on the windshield, it puts the phone more at eye level for easier access to navigation apps. For every smartphone you want to charge, you will need to purchase a Powermat Battery Door separately ($19-$29).
Powermat will be releasing other wireless charging products for the home and office in 2011, such as a rechargeable backup battery and a rechargeable travel mat. They are also marketing a line of Powermat integrated furniture, like tables, that we may see in airports or cafes (Starbucks?). The wireless car charger is expected to be released in the third quarter of 2011, and will sell for $59.
All of the adults have tablets, so obviously kids are going to want one for themselves. VTech is here to help, with the InnoPad.
This kid friendly tablet features a 5” color touchscreen LCD, a tilt-sensor for game control, a microphone, a USB port, SD card slot and a headphone jack. It is housed inside of a rugged kid friendly design.
Kids can unlock the interactive and animated reading, educational gaming and creative magic of the InnoPad in different ways since they have a ton of cartridges in the works, or they can download interactive e-books and learning games from VTech’s Learning Lodge Navigator. It also has an integrated MP3 player for listening to songs and a video player. Over 100 titles will be available for download by the end of this year.
The Japanese like some odd gadgets that some of us look at and wonder what sort of crack pot thought them up. The gadget here is one of those. It’s called the Beauty Lift High Nose and is made by Omni.
Apparently, the claim is that it can raise the bridge of your nose by vibrating the nose and stimulating the bone. Why you would want to raise the bridge of your nose is beyond me as is why someone would think that vibrating would make bone grow or change shape.
There is a reason plastic surgeons use a hammer and a chisel along with a really sharp knife when they change the shape of a nose. That is the only way changing a nose works. To make the thing even more ridiculous, it sells for about $144.
That is, if you have a managerial position in a company and regularly send instructions to the rank and file, then the SMS Printer pictured below comes real handy. Anyone else using an SMS printer these days must either be a senior citizen or work in a restaurant. It really is quite out of place with everyday use. After all, there’s plain old SMS, right?
The SMS Printer is the baby of SMS2Printers, a company that specializes in marketing these small devices for the elderly, who may need to read notes, and certain businesses, likely involving warehouses. In fact, you might have seen this used in some government office these past couple of years.
Unfortunately, SMS Printers are totally bizarre considering the prevalence of plain SMS and other messaging functions. Still, for the gadget inclined, the SMS Printer must be a cool accessory to have—and a total waste of paper.
Designers have caught our attention again with another simple and elegant concept.
Dubbed the Giving Tree, this cute multi-connector charging station in the abstract form of a tree bears fruits of iPhones ready to be plucked once batteries fully ripen.
The design as it is offers three branches from where green charging cables extend to juice up your devices. Three may not be enough for most folks, but this design concept is just a starting point. I imagine this could evolve into many different forms with possibly even modular add-on branches.
Perhaps a mini Christmas tree version bedecked with ornaments of iPhones?
GoPro announced the availability of the LCD BacPac, a detachable LCD screen for its HD HERO video camera. The screen attaches to the camera via a small expansion port located on the back of the camera. The screen can be attached to the waterproof housing of the camera, as well as the wrist housing.
Since the screen is detachable, it allows the camera to be small and light, and still have and LCD screen for easier shooting. According to Nicholas Woodman, GoPro’s CEO: “At the core, we’ve kept the HD HERO camera as small and light as possible, cutting out everything that isn’t required for capturing incredible HD content. Our wide angle lens allows for the omission of an LCD screen for most uses, but of course there are times when an LCD screen comes in handy.”
The detachable screen sells for $79.99.
The Pentel Airpen Mini which was released back in 2009 has now been updated to support Android devices and a few month back the note taking application Evernote.
The Pental Airpen allows you to record anything you write on any paper and then transfer that to your computer or tablet. Its compatible with Windows 2000 SP4, XP, Vista 32 and 64Bit, Android and only on OS X V10.5 and has a built in 2MB storage which is capable or storing up to 100 A5 pages.
Back in December 2010Pental release a an Evernote-coloured limited edition Airpen Mini, to mark the start of its compatibility with the note taking application Evernote.
