When Should You Buy Your Next Gadget? 
Aussie IT Pricing Inquiry Now Taking Submissions 
What Are The Most Stylish Laptops And Ultrabooks? 
Laptop Buying Guide 2012: How To Find The Right Laptop For You 
Spotify Finally Makes Its Australian Debut 
Top 10 Pervasive Tech Myths That Are Only Wasting Your Time There was no need to perform a Voight-Kampff test on this skin job. It came from the folks who introduced the world to the Robosapien—and besides, it had infrared vision sensors and no arms or legs. Since we showed you the first glimpse of robot Elvis at CES, we realized that now that it’s out, the only direction to go was a full-on skinning in the name of technical appreciation. That’s right, lest ye think we’re dissing the King, I want to state, for the record, that we have the utmost respect for the estate of Elvis Aaron (or was that Aron?) Presley, not to mention a positively drooly reaction to anything coming from the WowWee magic shop. Consider this ringing endorsement of one totally crazy product (yours for only $349.99). [WowWee Alive] galleryPost('WowWeeAliveElvis', 8, 'WowWee Alive Elvis');
It’s not a dog toy, My wrist rests on it, it’s cute! I am so lonely. [Product Page via Slashgear]
Howdy Gizmodians! As you know, our fearless leader Shay has been off living the high life in various European cities for the last few weeks (punk!), and at the moment he’s in Ireland with only a dial-up connection to call his own. Oh the horror!
I’ve been entrusted to captain this good ship until he gets back (in a week, relax!), so in the mean time I’ll be delivering your regular fix of gadgetus maximus as per usual.
But enough with the small talk. On with the show! -Jenneth Orantia
Rather than have a cellphone strap that looks cute and does nothing, this Tiger Paw cellphone strap actually lets you clean your screen—albeit a small cellphone screen. Just put the tiger (or sheep) paw on your finger and start wiping away. The strap clings conveniently to your phone, and also comes with a tail for some reason. This is the greatest cellphone strap ever. [Strapya via Plastic Bamboo]
After dumping “needy customers” because they take too many support resources, Sprint is also dumping 200 US soldiers after returning from a Tour of Duty in Iraq. The reason according to the veteran who denounced the situation: “excessive roaming.” And not even Iraq-related. The story is so absurd that it’s hard to believe.
We knew you could build your own marshmallow blaster gun out of a used Pringles can, tape and a two by four, but what about those of us who are too lazy to build stuff? Well, now you can buy your own pre-made pump action marshmallow gun that shoots those soft confectionaries up to 50 feet. Fifty! That’s further than any coworker can throw most office supplies. $39 gets you sweet shooting goodness. [Hammacher via i4u]
We had an interesting mix of Apple rumors, laboratory innovations and thrill-seeking inventors make news yesterday. Here’s what you may have missed… •The father of the camera phone is sailing across the pacific, but he took the time to answer a few questions. •iPhone nano rumors are back. •Colorware will make your already fresh iPhone even fresher. •Your plants will now call and remind you when they’re being neglected. •Apple files a patent for a wireless iPod…what next? •Ooma launches, wants free VoIP for all. •Robotic fly actually flies for the first time. •Samsung lets you edit video on your cellphone. •We like the new Sony Ericsson smartphone. •Trips to space, starting at $100 million.
This Super Mario Bros. subwoofer combines two good things to make an even better thing. If it was for sale and I didn’t care about my apartment looking like a virgintorium, I’d buy one. Unfortunately, it’s a homemade project and I’m not living above my parent’s garage. But if I was! What adventures I would have, believe you me! [Flickr via Geekologie]
Kanguru claims that by reducing power consumption by up to 75%, it can both extend the life of your hard drive and be eco-conscious at the same time. The Eco Drive works by going into an idle mode after three seconds of inactivity, which has 80% of normal power consumption, and standby mode after three minutes of inactivity, which works at 10-20% of normal power consumption. And when you don’t touch it for five minutes, it goes into power-down mode and uses 5-10% of the normal power. Even if you don’t care about the environment (who does?), this is a good way to preserve your laptop’s battery while you’re on the go. [Kanguru via Bios Mag]
