Category: Misc gadgets
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PhotoFast EVO C – the first ever flash drive to combine a lightning port, USB type A and type C

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PhotoFast has built a solid reputation for delivering one of the first iOS flash drive solutions. Granted, it is sort of a weird niche, but they are still pretty good at what they do. The company’s latest creation is very in-tune with Apple’s new 12-inch MacBook, announced yesterday. That laptop is a pioneer in its adoption of the new USB type C standard and PhotoFast has wasted no time in offering what could well be your first accessory to go with the ultra-thin Mac.

The flash drive in question is essentially meant to be used with iOS devices, through the lightning port on one side, as well as more conventional USB hosts, like PCs, thanks to the type A connector on the other end. Upon first inspection, there is nothing really special about the device, but a closer inspection reveals, that the traditional USB houses the much smaller, reversible type C connector. It is concealed in the bottom plastic part of the type A connector and slides out when needed. Read more »

Huawei to launch a 13000 mAh power bank soon

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Xiaomi introduced the handy Mi power banks in select regions for the enthusiasts to charge their smartphones while on the move. Now Huawei is following its footsteps to introduce a 13000 mAh power bank to charge the smartphones.

Xiaomi had introduced a 10000 mAh power bank for mere $14.5 in India but has been discontinued for a while. Read more »

Apple CarPlay is coming to every major car brand

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Apple announced today the CarPlay service has received a warm welcome among car manufacturers and support for it will spread even wider through 2015.

Currently the CarPlay functionality has been integrated in lots of the popular car brands, but by the end of this year Apple promises we’ll see CarPlay integration on every major car brand. Read more »

Hackaball – a smart programmable ball that reimagines old-school games and empowers creativity

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Hackaball is the brain child of a group of entrepreneurs who long to revive more traditional social kid games by giving them a new tech twist. What seems like a simple rubber toy has been carefully designed so that it can compete with all the distraction and allure of modern-day tech.

The goal, of course, is to weave the young generation away from the screen and promote more social outdoor activities, but the toy seems to be equally appealing to adults as well.

The Hackaball is packed full of electronics, including – a set of LED’s, a speaker, gyroscope, accelerometer, vibration motor, rechargeable battery and, of course as small processor with a little bit of memory to make it come alive. Read more »

TP-Link announces new powerful Wi-Fi 802.11ac router with a touch screen

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Amidst all the commotion and announcements of mobile tech we often forget to mention some of the other tech innovation that debuts at the MWC. One item in particular grabbed our attention, mostly for its odd and interesting appearance.

TP-Link’s brand new Touch 5 router is the perfect combination of geeky awesomeness and useless over-accessorizing. It is a powerful, high-bandwidth wireless router, complete with its very own, built-in touchscreen. As you might have guessed, this screen is dedicated to settings and accessing various features, which sound convenient enough, but honestly, how often do you need to change your router setting to actually justify a separate screen control. Read more »

Microsoft launches a Bluetooth-powered Universal Foldable Keyboard

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Microsoft has launched a new Universal Foldable Keyboard powered by Bluetooth at the Mobile World Congress 2015 today. This lightweight keyboard is slim offers flat keys laid out in five rows but no function keys.

However, the multimedia control keys are placed on the top row. The software-giant has enabled this Universal Foldable Keybaord to work seamelessly with iOS, Android, and Windows platform based smartphones and tablets. Read more »

Xiaomi Mi Pro Action Camera is official with 16MP sensor, 1080p video

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Xiaomi has just announced its first action camera – the Xiaomi Mi Pro Action Camera. It has a Sony 16MP Exmor R BSI CMOS sensor in a tiny shell that weighs just 72 grams.

The Xiaomi Mi Pro Action Camera also features 16GB storage (a pre-installed 16GB microSD card class 10, which you can replace), Wi-Fi connectivity and 1,010 mAh battery. Read more »

IKEA plans to bring new Wireless charging furniture to the UK

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With the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge finally official, the tech world is buzzing with comments on the new devices and the new features they have to offer. And while beastly Exynos processors and futuristic build and design are on everybody’s minds the people over at IKEA ate definitely most excited about another new feature of the S flagship – wireless charging.

What started out as a rather clunky, inefficient and even rather dangerous charging method, has really picked up recently, with major standards, such as Qi really pushing the technology along. Everything seems to be pointing toward a cleaner and wire-free future and the Swedish furniture giant is quick to capitalize on the new trend. The retailer has announced a new line of furniture, with built-in wireless charging components. Read more »

Samsung unveils a refined Gear VR Innovator Edition for Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge

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Samsung introduced a new version of the Oculus-powered Gear VR Innovator Edition headset. The new Gear VR is compatible with the newly announced Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge and is 15% smaller.

The Galaxy VR Innovator Edition with Oculus technology is already available for purchase globally for $199. The headset is compatible only with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 phablet, but Samsung and Oculus will be launching a Galaxy S6-compatible edition as well. Read more »

Motrr Galileo flash review

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The Motrr Galileo is an interesting little device that doesn’t divulge much about its purpose by its looks alone. At first glance you might take it for a Bluetooth speaker or something similar. But you would be wrong. Indeed, it’s meant to connect to with your iPhone via Bluetooth but it has nothing to do with music.

The Galileo is a motorized stand that can be used to capture beautiful panoramas or timelapse videos. By mounting an iPhone or GoPro camera on the Galileo, you can capture video and photo footage with seamless motion that could even be remotely controlled. Read more »

Samsung Gear VR takes people in the desert on a shark dive

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Samsung’s latest PR stunt / ad / promotional material for the Gear VR headset comes from Australia. Through a media agency over there, the Korean company set up a diving gear shop in the Australian outback, 1,200 km from the nearest ocean.

Naturally curious people enter and wonder where the water is. The key to everything is obviously the Gear VR, used in conjunction with the Galaxy Note 4 to give people in the middle of the desert the feeling that they’re in the ocean at that very moment, more than a thousand kilometers away, surrounded by sharks no less. Read more »

Sony’s next SmartBand will monitor your heart rate

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Sony is apparently getting ready to launch a new SmartBand, to either complement or succeed the SWR10 in its lineup of wearable accessories. A Sony SmartBand with the model number SWR12 has recently passed through the FCC’s rigorous testing, which is how we know about it.

Compared to the original SWR10, the new SWR12 seems to add just one feature, though it may be a very important one. The new SmartBand will have a built-in heart rate sensor, it turns out. Read more »

Google Chromecast scored 10 million sales in 2014

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It’s not surprising that Google’s Chromecast HDMI streaming stick has been quite successful. After all it’s cheap and relatively easy to use, and it can instantly make your TV smarter than it was. Today though we get the first glimpse of just how successful the Chromecast was, at least during last year.

That’s because for the first time ever Google has shared some sales numbers with the media. According to a report out of South Korea, the search giant’s arm in that country has revealed that 10 million Chromecasts were sold globally in 2014. Read more »

Apple patents a gaming controller receptacle for the iPhone

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The smartphone is already so far removed from its phone legacy, packing an infinite number of functions and replacing a multitude of standalone devices. Samsung went ahead and fitted the Galaxy Note 4 within a headset, offering a virtual reality experience with the Gear VR. Sony capitalized on its PlayStation traditions enabling the pairing of a DualShock controller to some of its Xperia smartphones.

Apple is also set on exploiting the mobile gaming niche, it appears, as recent findings show that the Cupertino company has been granted patents for a number of controller-type holders, presumably for the iPhone. Read more »

Walmart launches VUDU Smart video streaming dongle

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Walmart has launched its own HDMI media streaming dongle for televisions. Called the VUDU Spark, the device connects you to VUDU network and lets you stream movies to your television.

The major draw here is the price, which at $25 is about $10 cheaper than the Chromecast. Unfortunately, that’s also the only advantage, as the VUDU Spark can only be used to stream content from VUDU, unlike the Chromecast, which can be used for a lot of things. Read more »