Clever-Stuff Limited, one of the leading digital consumer product specialists has teamed up with the Oxford University Press to launch the first U3 enabled flash memory drives that come pre-loaded with a digital version of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.

The U3 enabled disgo lite and disgo classic feature a multitude of second wave applications including Migo and SignupShield. The new U3 Smart Technology allows applications to be installed directly to the on board Launchpad. This means that personal email, desktop settings and preferences can be accessed anywhere on any computer. The Migo software allows any computer that is used to look and act the same as the primary computer. Outlook® can be transmitted, documents and files, windows settings, favorites and wallpaper, from computer to computer. Once the disgo is removed no trace of the work completed on the guest PC will be left behind. Migo will also synchronize any changes and updates when the flash drive is plugged back into the primary computer.

Disgo lite and Disgo classic also include SignupShield Passwords, an intelligent manager that tracks passwords and can automatically fill in web-based, network login and FTP login forms when needed. It also comes with the Oxford English Dictionary, though it is only a 30 day trial. If you want to purchase the full version, you have to dish out $14.99 at www.mydisgo.com.

“Clever-Stuff is delighted to be working with the Oxford University Press to help create a new market for smart drives containing valuable digital reference products. We both share the same long term vision for the application of this technology and expect this emerging market to be worth more than €40 million globally by 2010.” said Lorraine Hughes, Head of Business Development at Clever-Stuff.

These disgo products are available at Dixon’s and PC World for about $39.

Adesso showcased their new line of CyberPad Digital Notepads along with the all new widescreen Graphics Tablet earlier this month at CES Las Vegas. Though paper notbooks and notepads are still preferred over laptops and PDAs by certain people, the CyberPad combines ease of use and comfort along with the benefits of PC connectivity to lure those people away from their paper based notepads. This digital notepad is ideal for computer artists, graphic designers, photo editors, office and CAD/CAM applications because once it is connected to a PC, it becomes a fully functional PC tablet. Other future applications include Internet whiteboard graphics, signature verification for e-commerce along with handwriting/text conversion. CyberPad includes 32MB of memory, an A-Z directory with 99 pages available in each. This is further expandable with an integrated SD slot. It connects via USB and runs on four AAA batteries which provide 120 hours of use. This product will be available in February 2007.

The razor thin CyberTablet Z12 was also shown at CES. It has a 10″x6.25″ widescreen display and is ideal for drawing, hand writing, and editing. The Z12 is an ideal companion for mobile and business professionals. It features 16 pre-programmed keys designed for automated tasks. The tablet provides high resolution, supporting 4048 lines per inch and it’s wireless pen supports 1024 gradations of pressure sensitivity for accurate design, drawing, and writing. It is compatible with all popular graphics and image software including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, CorelDraw, and AutoCAD. Another cool feature is that the Z12 can be used in Office 2007. handwrite directly in all applications including Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and Outlook email. The CyberTablet will also be available in February 2007

Someone once mad the comment that: “I’ll be willing to look at thinking outside the box only after I’ve seen proof that there’s any thinking going on inside the box first.” This new product is definitely an example of thinking outside that box, and I mean, way outside.

The new product, Concierge, is actually quite simple. It’s an LCD screen built into a shopping cart. When a customer walks into their local supermarket and grabs a cart, the screen will come to life. It’ll tell its user about the store, provide them with a map so they don’t get lost. But it doesn’t stop there, oh no. Concierge will be able to provide shoppers with coupons, recipe ideas, and even keep an ongoing tally of your selected items.

It’s not only a tool to help shoppers; it’ll benefit storeowners as well. With built in GPS technology, managers will be able to see what isles are most visited, which ones aren’t visited at all, and what products are most often selected or just left alone on the shelf (hopefully for not too long.) Supermarkets and stores everywhere will be able take this info and tailor their establishments to consumers needs.

Rob Segal, Springboard’s CEO puts it this way. He said: “Every so often, you read about a device that just makes sense – so much so that you if find yourself thinking, ‘I can’t believe no one thought of that before.’ Concierge is just such a device.” Read the rest of this entry »

I’m sure that most of you reading this article at one point or another have had your cell phone battery run out on you right when you need to make that important call. Or had your notebook go clunk on you just as you receive that important email. Well, if you want to prevent that sort of thing from happening again, check out iGo powerXtender, another item on the very long list of new gadgets and gizmos displayed at CES last week.

iGo is a power solution that provides up to 10 hours of mobile phone power, 20 hours of portable gaming time, and up to 28 hours of juice for your MP3. All from 2 AA batteries, which are included! Wow, you don’t usually see that everyday. Available for purchase separately are the power technology tips. Use iGo to charge to power you iPod for a little while, then swap out the tip to add some juice to your cell phone.

iGo is pretty iCool, it works not only with mobile phones, but with Bluetooth headsets, smartphones and PDAs, digital cameras, gaming devices, and MP3 players. Once you have one, you’ll never have to replace the unit itself, just change the batteries. With dimensions at 3.6×1.9x.89 in., iGo is perfect for travelers and people on the go. Consumer and vendor Allen J Hobbs of Georgia said that: “Because of the flexibility of iGo, its the only power solution I recommend to my customers for wireless phones, computers, and other portable electronics - not to mention I use it myself.”

Also shown at CES was the iGo everywhere85. This sleek little guy is designed with notebooks in mind. It’s combination AC ad DC adapter plugs into any standard wall, auto, and/or airplane outlet. The everywhere 85 also comes with the iGo dual power accessory so you can charge your phone or MP3 player and your computer simultaneously. This one is also very small at just 4.83 inches long and .96 inches thick. If you need portable juice, then you should think about taking iGo wherever uGo.

We told you about Westinghouse’s Digital LCD Photo frame early this week and now we’ve seen it in the flesh. I must say, when I first glanced at it, my eyes almost seemed to be deceived as the picture was too bright, too vibrant, too hardcopy like. I picked up the frame, gave it a close look to see if pixels in fact where being displayed and not ink. Then I found the NEXT button on the rear. I pushed it and sure enough a new image appeared. ‘Wow,’ I thought, ‘This really is the display!’

It’s incredible kids and if you’re looking for an easy way to display your pictures but would like to add pizazz to the frame with frequent changes to the art being displayed, this I think may be your ticket. In fact, this is the first time that I would even recommend a digital frame. I was impressed!

Now that all the game consoles play DVD or Bluray discs, it seems funny that there isn’t a stream of universal remotes out there that support the PlayStations, Xboxs, and Media Center. Well there is at least one that does and its name makes sure you understand its intention: GAMER.

UR7-G2 Universal GAMER is the first universal remote control that not only works with many audio and video components in your home but also comes with keys specific to game consoles such as Xbox 360, PlayStation, PS2 & media center PCs. To be announced tomorrow in Las Vegas at CES, Universal Remote Control, Inc. will finally give gamers and audiophiles alike to use one remote. Isn’t that what a universal remote is for anyway? The GAMER will let you play, pause, and commit other movie functions as well as play a video game. Since the remote is well thought out, both lefties and righties will be able to use the remote without issue.

The Universal GAMER also packs two new features, MacroPower and SimpleSound. MacroPower ignites (or extinguish) your A/V components with a single button along with switching sources and inputs. SimpleSound gives you the “one-touch” control over volume including devices that do not have volume control natively such as TiVos, DVD players, and VCRs.

For just $49.95, this universal remote with 64 KB of non-volatile Flash memory, that’ll give you 9 dedicated macro buttons (supporting 20 commands each) that will work from 30 to 50 feet away seems mighty nice. Game on.

So that 1x lens built into your camera just can’t seem to get close enough to your subject, huh? You wished you had a telephoto option like on your point-and-shoot since the digital zoom just really sucks? Well, for $20 you can snap on this lens that gives your camera up to 6x zoom! You’ll have to zoom and focus yourself, but for $20, dude what a deal! Just look at XXXX site to see the improvement on those camera phone pix. Think of the better rubber-necking moments you’ll now get!

The clip is compatible with Nokia N72, 6230, 6230i, 6680, 6600, 6630, 7610 and 6681 phones and Sony Ericsson K750i, W800i, W810i and W550i/W600i models.

[Via gizmag]

Taking its cue in name from the auto industry, Magellan is bringing the first crossover GPS to the market with its new 2500T that will guide you through the busy city streets as well as the flowing water ways that, um, float your boat. Magellan now allows the extreme wander the ability to go where he, or she, has never gone before with comfort knowing they can find there way back. The possibilities are endless now from,”Driving, off-roading, hiking, geocaching, boating, fishing and more, all with one GPS device!”

Magellan CrossoverGPS highlights:

• A 3.5 inch color touch-screen display
• Dimensions are 12.5 x 8.5 x 2.6 centimeters and weight is 235 grams.
• Voice-and text-prompted turn-by-turn driving directions
• IPX-4 water proof
• Up to 8 hours battery life
• Multiple outdoor navigation screens and fields: compass, altimeter, distance to destination, cross track error (XTE), estimated time of arrival.
• A Sports Guard(tm) sleeve, for easy gripping and extra protection

SvenOnTech was told this will cost ya less than £300. That equates to a bit more in green backs but we’re sure you can expect Stateside prices to be around the $300 figure as well.

UPDATE: Our Magellan contact has informed us that US pricing is $549.99. Follow the link for more details.

Now that the U.S. is catching onto this thing called Bluetooth that all the kiddies in the EU have enjoyed with an emense appetite for the last five years, we’re starting to get more and more fun and useful accessories. One such gadget is hands-free kits with built-in speakers and mics. Parrot has received a lot of attention here in the States for its devices, but I think Roadmaster has the right idea with the VR3.

The Roadmaster VR3 LCD Wireless Hands-Free Car Kit slips onto your cars sun visor instead of plugging into your cigerette lighter outlet like so many other hands-free kits do. To me, this seems a better spot for such a device as it allows the mic to be right in front of you as well as having the speaker closer to your ear. Further, it keeps your eyes looking up instead of down when making or receiving calls.

The VR3 comes packed. Along with the speaker phone and mic, this baby syncs with your Bluetooth phones phone book with a touch of a button. You’ll be able to view caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding and last number dialed all from its cool blue lit display. No worries on chucking out batteries when it dies as you simply plug in the charger to your cigarette lighter to juice up the lithium ion battery. All this for about $69. Oh ya, it also supports ringtones.

We’re told you can pretty much find this anywhere from superstores to car stores to retailers. We’ll see about getting a review unit and let you know our thoughts on it if we do.

DynaFlex is a company who wants to keep us geeks healthy. It knows how hard it is to play 10 hours of video games a night, code PHP web sites the next day, and then come home all tense and your wrists hurting. That’s why it has a great line of products to loosen you up. Starting with the Gyro. This thing helps your wrist get some, well, real exercise. And you can even turn it into a game to see how fast you can get that ball spinning. Heck, DynaFlex even offers one with an LCD meter (watch video) to tell you how fast it’s going!

All you hard working geeks, this may be a great stocking stuffer for you this Christmas. Make sure you tell mom!