Philips MC108 Micro Hi-Fi System

Philips MC108 Micro Hi-Fi System isn’t exactly a piece of cutting edge technology, but we are totally digging its cubic design. The MC108 plays CD, CD-R, and CD-RWs, has an FM stereo, a sleep timer, CD or radio alarm, and an LCD display with a
white backlight. Unfortunately, so far the MC108 only seems to be available in the UK and we can’t find a price for it, but we’re guessing that it will be affordably priced and that it will show up state-side eventually.

Mathmos Aduki Neon Lights that Smile at You

Mathmos Aduki is a portable and rechargable lamp for indoors and outdoors use. Aside from its unusual shape, it also transforms into mood-setting neon colors, and it
has a tiny face on its underside. Who thinks these things up? The aduki retail for $49.99 at ThinkGeek.

ATC-1000 Action Helmet Camera

The ATC-1000 Action Helmet Camera is a must have if you enjoy video recording first person point-of-view as you tumble down a mountain on your bike. It’s both splash and shock resistant and perfect for recording all sorts of sports - from skateboarding to hang gliding. The ATC-1000 can record 15fps at a 640×480, 320×240, or 160×120 resolution. It comes with 32mb of on board memory which can be expanded via an SD card and it runs off of 4 AAA batteries. The ATC-1000 retails for $119.95.

ZicPlay 2GO DAP with Speakers

The ZicPlay 2GO looks a lot like a standard flip phone, or maybe even a music phone, but it’s actually just your run-of-the-mill flash based digital audo player that supports MP3, WMA and OGG files. It also has an FM tuner and built-in voice recorder. Fortunately, it does have a feature that makes it stand out amongst other DAPs - it has a 2 way speaker system built in to it, and a decent color display. It’s available in capacities of 256mb, 512mb, 1GB, it weighs just 44 grams, and is available in the color black, silver or red.

SwitchDiscs, the Legal Peer-to-Peer Trading Network

If you have a bunch of CDs, DVDs, or Video Games lying around collecting dust then you could probably just sell them - but have you ever considered trading them for other discs? SwitchDiscs allows you to communicate with other people who want to trade their stuff via a legal peer-to-peer trading network. There is no cash required trading, instead "SwitchBucs" are used for a credit system. However, you can optionally purchase SwitchBucs as well. Overall it’s an interesting system, but personally I would rather sell my media on eBay or Half.com, but I’m sure many people would prefer this method - especially becuase there are no fees involved.

Case Logic Neoprene Laptop Shuttles

Case Logic has some new neoprene laptop sleeves with padding that are available in a few colors besides black - blue and beige. The "Student laptop Shuttle" has an external Powerpocket that can hold accessories such as an AC adapter. However we’re a bit concerned that this pocket isn’t too secure and we’re guessing that items are likely to fall out of it. The case comes in 3 sizes that fit 13 inch, and 15.4 inches laptops. The sleeve for 17 inch laptops is curiously named the "iBook/Powerbook Shuttle" and it retails for $29.99

Tweed & Corduroy Macbook Covers

If you’re one of those peole that ran out and bought a Macbook already, then you know that the Macbook (like so many other Apple products) has a tendency to get dirty very easily. Unfortunately there aren’t that many cases for 13.3 inch widescreen notebooks available yet. However, Foof Shop already has a whole bunch of covers to protect your Macbook with. The covers are made of materials ranging from tweed to corduroy, ranging in price from $36 to $42. And they’re worth every penny if you want to keep your Macbook shiny, and scratch-less!

Fashionable Leather Band MP3 Watch

Here is yet another MP3 watch to throw in to the mix, fortunately this one was designed for women so it’s not as bulky as most other MP3 watches. It also has 256mb of memory, 8 to10 hours of battery life, a built-in voice recorder, and it comes with stereo earbuds. The watch is available for $104.95 at SewellDirect. Use promo code "chipchick" to get an additional 10% off.

Cascade Audio Receiver and DVD player

LifeStyleDesign’s Cascade Audio receiver and DVD player is so well designed and crafted, it could pass for something coming out of Cupertino. The goal of this piece of equipment is to have something so beautiful, you won’t want to tuck it away behind a cabinet. "Inspired by a waterfall, the Cascade’s Receiver and DVD player visually connect with one another in a harmonious way to form a single sculptural object."  As soon as we find out more technical specifications and pricing information, we’ll update this post.

Multifunctional iSoother Brings Environmental Sounds to your Ipod

Cross an alarm clock, an irritating sound machine, a stereo speaker system, an AM/FM radio, and you get the iSoother which does all of those things and it will also play music off of your iPod or MP3 player. The iSoother has 20 included environmental soundscapes ranging from wind chimes to song birds. Other features include 6 AM and 6 FM presets, a subwoofer and equalizer. And because this is a ZipConnect system, you can buy a special  Zipconnect module to connect an iPod shuffle to the system as well. The iSoother retails for $149.95 at the Sharper Image.

Cozy Tunes AKA the Affordable iPillow

A while back we posted about the iPillow which we concidered to be a pretty cool gadget. However, while the iPillow isn’t outrageously priced, at $75.00 it isn’t inexpensive either. Fortunately, we found a really cheap alternative - the Cozy Tunes Speaker Pillow which retails for $14.99 online at Linens N Things. It’s available in several different colors including pink, purple, lime green, black, and cyan, and it’s also made of the same soft material as the iPillow. We also spotted the Cozy Tunes pillows on sale at Bed Bath and Beyond for $9.99. At that price, it should make a great gift for insomniacs!

Belkin XM Boombox Audio System F5X007

For all of you XM junies out there, there is a new Satelite Radio Jukebox on the block. The Belkin XM Boombox Audio System F5X007 comes with a wireless remote control, has an integrated handle, a water-resistant cover and somewhat ipod’esque styling. It is designed to be compatible with the Delphi Roady XT or Audiovox Xpress XM Satellite Radio receivers and it runs off eight C-cell batterries or an AC adapter. The F5X007 retails for $99.99. White really is the new silver.

Memorex FlashDisc Modelled after a CD

It’s ok to try and be different, as long as you don’t fall flat on your face in the process. Memorex FlashDiscs are USB flash disks designed to emulate traditional CD-ROM discs. See what we mean? The FlashDiscs are 2.3 inches in diameter and 0.3 inches high. They have a package that includes 3 FlashDiscs, each one with 16MB of storage. That is quite overpriced considering you can get a 1GB usb stick for about $30 after rebate, or get about 50 CD-ROMS for $19.99 which each can hold 650mb. Yeh, we don’t know what they were thinking.

Burton Solar Amp Pack Laptop Bag with iPod Control System

The Burton Solar Amp Pack is designed to compliment your iPod. It has an integrated Apple iPod control system with a SOFTswitch control pad on the shoulder strap. It also has a molded iPod storage pocket, a shoulder strap headphone port, padded and ergonomic shoulder straps, and it even has a side-entry compartment to store your laptop. The Burton Solar Amp pack retails for $299.95. We would almost consider getting this if it was available in other colors besides "natural hemp," which looks like it will pick up plenty of natural dirt.

Skype Flash Phone Doubles as a Personal Media Player

Skype Flash Phones are those kind of gadgets that claim to have everything but the kitchen sink, but unfortunately come from a company you’ve never heard of. Both of these Personal media players have a 65k color dispay, they play MP3, WMA, WAV and ASF audio files, and they support video playback of WMV, MPG, MPEG 1 & 2, Quicktime, and AVI files that are converted to MTV format. They also have a photo viewer, a built-in FM radio, an E-book function, and voice recording features. On top of that, if you plug the Skype Flash Phone into a PC, Skype Software will run automatically off of the "phone", and obtain the gateway and user’s configuration - so that there is no need to have Skype installed on your PC. If you are a Skype addict, you just might be crazy enough to try one of these.
Unfortunately, we can’t figure out why the two versions look so different from one another when they seem to have such similar features. There is a 256MB version that retails for $84.99, and a 128MB version available for $74.99 from EchoStore.

Face Recognition Technology Discovers Which Celebrity you Resemble

Curious as to which celebrity you resemble? Upload your photo to MyHeritage’s website and their Face Recognition Technology’s algorithms will match you to a celebrity that looks most similar to you. It takes mere seconds and is surprisingly addictive. And if they match you up with Kevin Federline, remember it’s just a web site.  -Leah Cheng

New Macbook Pricing and Spec Information

We generally don’t bother ourselves when it comes to Apple rumors, but these pictures of the new Macbook look like the real thing. CoreDuoInfo got the scoop on the new redesigned Macbooks. There will be a $999 model with a 1.5 GHZ Core solo processor, a 60 gig hard drive, a combo optical drive, integrated graphics, and a 13.3 inch widescreen LCD. There will also be a $1299 Model which will have the same 13.3 inch screen, but will have a 1.67 Core Duo processor, a super drive, an 80 gig hard drive, and a somewhat unbelievable 128MB Ati X1300 video card. Both laptops will come with 512mb DDR2 SDRAM, Bluetooth, WiFi, Front Row, and a Built-in iSight Camera. We certainly hope this info is legit, because we are already falling for these two.

Update: So close, but so far. Turns out that CoreDuoInfo was half way there. For the real scoop on the new Macbooks, check out Apple. This is exactly why we should stay away from Apple rumors!

How to Get Out of Your Cell Phone Contract for Free

Cell Phone contracts are almost as dependable as death and taxes. If you have ever wanted to get out of your cell phone contract with out having to pay an early terminiation fee, then you know that the easiest way to do that (and one of the only ways) is by transferring your contract’s responcibility to someone else. CellSwapper and CellTradeUSA are services that help you find people to transfer your contract over too, or conversely, they assist you in finding someone’s contract to take over.
Just wait till the carriers get a hold of this one… (Source: Cnet)

Pink Headset for use with Skype and other VOIP Software

What better day to discover a pink headset for Skype, then the day after Skype announces free outgoing calls to Phone numbers in the U.S. and Canada? If you didn’t have a reason to splurge on something like this, now you certainly do.
However, just from looking at the pictures, we’re a bit hesitant about the quality of this product, but where else can you find something pink for skyping?  It can also be used as a standard stereo headset for listening to music and it supports all instant messengers including MSN. It’s available on eBay (where else) for a starting bid of 2 cents.

Using Sprint’s Samsung MM-A920 as a USB Modem for EVDO Access

After having been invited to join the Sprint Ambassador Program, for the past few months I have been using the Samsung MM-A920 from Sprint. Till recently I had only taken advantage of their voice calls, their great online music store, and their Sprint TV service. Since Sprint offers super fast EV-DO service, I decided that it was time to try it out by using the Samsung MM-A920 as a USB modem.
The phone came with a USB cord to connect to it. I downloaded Sprint’s PCS Connection Manager and installed the software on to my laptop, along with the drivers for the phone. Windows XP picked up the phone immediately and the whole installation process went really smoothly. That impressed me a lot. Not to long ago I tried using one of my phones as a USB modem, and I can’t tell you how many hours of troubleshooting it took to get it to work - and in the end, it didn’t work, so I ended up buying a PC Card for cellular internet access. Many carriers don’t want you to use your phone as a USB modem (for obvious reasons), or they just don’t make it this easy to do. Kudos to Sprint for making the process very seamless.

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