According to these—allegedly “leaked”—photos, the black and aluminum 2.5-pound HP Compaq 2133 UMPC laptop looks like the Asus Eee PC’s cooler cousin.
There are three important differences between this turtleneck and those his Steveness actually wears: First, it is slightly cheaper (we suspect). Second, it has the words “Hello my name is Fake Steve Jobs” printed in large, friendly letters on a fake name tag on its front.
The EyeClops Night Vision goggles let you see in total darkness using infrared lights, all while giving you that special Terminator look. Two attachments allow visibility 10 or 20 feet ahead—the 10-footers give off no light, the 20s show some small red dots. I tried them on in a pitch black room and saw every poster on the wall easily. They’re US$80, and they’ll be out sometime this fall. A giant game of Manhunt will follow shortly after. [EyeClops]
From the people who bought you the Wow-Pen Mouse, now get your hands around the Wow-Pen Joy Mouse. This shark fin-shaped mouse is F to the Ug to the Lee, but its ergonomics can only do good things to you (or something). It supports Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista, weighs 200g and has a resolution of 800 dpi. Expect it to hit around the middle of March, price will be around US$30. Gallery for those of you into ergo-porn below. [Aving USA]
The winter may bring with it romantic comedies featuring Hugh Grant, but the downside is the drop in temperature. Fortunately, the Webasto Thermo Top E Parking Heater allows users to send a text message to a car where it is installed, which then kicks it into action, ensuring your car is warm to the touch when you get in. The self-contained unit uses a tiny amount of fuel, and can also be activated by voice or remote control. The heater outputs 4.2kW for a maximum of 60 minutes at a time. Sure, that would keep you from hanging like a brass monkey, but the US$1,695 price tag seems a little on the hefty side to us. Remember; it’s not cold if it’s free cold, whatever that means. [Red Ferret]
Apple’s just dropped the price of the iPod shuffle to $65 from $89.
This desktop owl toy is the intellectual’s version of the USB humping dog: plug it in, perch it on your monitor and get lovely warm reassuring feelings as it looks around and blinks appreciatively at your typing. On the other hand, it may also evoke weird Harry Potter-esque waking nightmares—watch the short video to check how you’ll react.
Although it sounds like something you might find tucked away in Monica Lewinsky’s bedside table, the electronic cigar is a SMOKE. Give it its full title, “Natural Wood Effect Electronic Cigar” and you would think that it belonged in Bill’s bedroom, though. It works on the same principle as most electronic cigarettes—see how in the diagram below.
The best new Nerf toy out of the entire Toy Fair 2008 lineup is this fully automatic dart gun. The toy is US$40, and comes with 25 belt-fed darts, powered by six D-cell batteries (!). Paired with the Mission Kit Tactical Light, this is the kind of base unit a Nerf gun modder could really learn to love.
After years of talk, the Chumby information device is now on sale to all. The hackable, Linux-based gadget provides a touchscreen to navigate around a series of stored widgets, which are updated thanks to in-built Wi-Fi connectivity. Retailing at US$179, the Chumby is available in either pearl, latte or a basic black colour. It certainly has a homeware 2.0 feel about it, and given the not-too-steep pricing, I sure am tempted. [Chumby via Make]
