Continue reading iCade hits FCC, gets torn asunder

iCade hits FCC, gets torn asunder originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The coolest gadget ever to noodle out a jam. Dozens of instruments all controlled with a touch-pad mixed together into your own musical creation! thinkgeek.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

I’ll admit to being somewhat tempted by the Samurai Sword Handle Umbrella that ThinkGeek’s been selling. But when it’s raining I like to carry an umbrella that can be easily stashed in my bag, and that’s just not going to happen with one that’s 40 inches long. This miniature version however might just fit the bill. It’s got a faux samurai sword handle just like its bigger brother, but a compact, though historically inaccurate, design that I think I can live with. I just wish it wasn’t $50 (¥4,650) when the ThinkGeek version is just $29.99.

[ Mini Samurai Sword Handle Umbrella ]

If someone had a gun pointed at my head, demanding to know the time, and the only methods I had at my disposal were reading it off this Darth Vader Japanese Desk Clock, or somehow gauging it from the position of the sun and other stars in the sky, I’d definitely be reaching for my sextant. Because given the fact that Vader is 13-inches tall, reading that minuscule LCD display with the naked human eye is just not possible.

I don’t even know why they bothered adding a clock to the base anyways. If they had just left this is as a Darth Vader statuette, they could have easily charged way more than the $14.99 it’s currently on sale for at ThinkGeek. It’s definitely one of those instances where more is less. Oh and not surprisingly, it’s an officially licensed Lucasfilm collectible.

(And couldn’t they have just slightly adjusted the stance of Vader’s legs so the unsightly black support rod isn’t needed? I guess I’m just going to have to stop thinking about this… I’m choking on my own disgust here…)

[ Darth Vader Japanese Desk Clock ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Evan Ackerman

I’ll be honest… I usually carry around three (yes, three) different mobile charging apparatuses when I know I’m going to be out with my gadgets all day: one of these, one of these, and this. Is it overkill? Probably. But being a ::cough:: professional journalist, running out of batteries is simply not an option. Even I, however, would not wear a universal wrist charger. It’s just too dorky, and I’m really more of a geek. Or I like to think so, anyway.

If you just look at the numbers, this universal wrist charger is actually pretty decent: it has a 1500 mAh battery, weighs 82 grams, and will charge anything that only needs 5 volts (same as a USB port). Since most of your gadgets are probably hand-held, it’s a convenient way to be using something and charging it at the same time. Problem is, there’s really no getting around the utter dorkiness of this thing. If it also had a little LCD on it or something, you could at least pretend that it was some kind of ridiculously fancy watch, but as it is, it just has 4 little lights to indicate what level of charge it has. Wait a sec… Random lights? Weird design? I’ve got it! Just tell everyone that you’re sporting the latest and greatest from Tokyo Flash, and wear the universal wrist charger in anonymous pride. Problem solved!

The universal wrist charger is available now from ThinkGeek for $35.

[ ThinkGeek ] VIA [ Craziest Gadgets ]

There’s an endless supply of lustworthy concept gadgets on the web that will never come to fruition, but this is the first concept hoodie I’ve come across. deviantART member ‘bmansnuggles‘, aka Brendon Phillips, originally submitted his awesome and totally doable Mega Man hoodie concept to Fashionably Geek in the hopes of one day seeing it become a reality, so here’s another endorsement Brendon, hopefully one day you can put me down for a medium. (P.S. ThinkGeek, are you reading this?)

[ deviantART - mega hoodie ] VIA [ Fashionably Geek ]

While the iPad’s accelerometer and touchscreen give it some unique gaming options, game developers could certainly do more if the product supported some kind of external D-pad or joystick. This is actually not a completely new idea because two years ago a group of hackers created the iControlPad designed to turn a jailbroken iPhone into a more traditional portable gaming device. Since then, a few prototypes for the iControlPad were created and the product is now being manufactured in the UK in limited quantities.

The biggest problem right for these kinds of products is that can only work with a jailbroken iPhone. Otherwise, the API Apple added in iPhone OS 3.0 forces companies who want to make iPhone and iPod touch accessories to pay a potentially prohibitive licensing fee to join Apple’s “Made for iPod” program. At the same time, these companies would also need to get access to the necessary chips that will authorize their accessories to connect to the Apple devices.

While these roadblocks have limited the development of such products in the past, it is possible that with the increased gaming possibilities of the larger screen iPad there will be a greater demand for such accessories. In fact, Apple themselves may have been looking into this idea ever since they filed a patent for a gaming accessory in 2008.

Thing is, it costs $160. Personally… I’d rather buy myself a nice steak every night for a week. Or teriyaki every day for a month. Yeah, I’m going with that one. But if you can’t control your buying finger, go ahead and pick one up.

[via The Awesomer]

By Chris Scott Barr

When I first saw the Iron Man movie a couple years back, I thought it would be cool to have that original arc reactor sitting on my desk like Tony Stark did. I figured that in no time Marvel would cash in and start selling replicas. Apparently they decided to wait until the second movie was getting ready to come out, as they’ve finally decided to put one on the market.

For $150 you can have your own aluminum and stainless steel replica arc reactor. It’s even got a number of LED’s to give it that wonderful glow, if you’re into that. The full-size prop replica comes in the same plexi-glass case that you saw in the movie, though you can take it out if you wish. Sadly, it will not power your own homemade Iron Man suit.

[ ThinkGeek ] VIA [ Technabob ]

Out here in the fields
I fight for space meals
I get my back into my monkey
I don’t need to fight
To prove I’m right
I don’t need a carabiner.

The folks at ThinkGeek performed the intro to Baba O’Reilly (don’t call it “Teenage Wasteland,” dude) on gear from their store. They’re funny.

To be honest, it’s a damn good song.

via WHILL WHEATON