Tag: HGG500

João Sabino a Portuguese designer has finally found a use for all those computer keyboards that land in the trash. He has repurposed 393 discarded keys to cover interesting-looking, though impractical, handbags. The tote style bags are described as fashionable, though we can't really imagine anyone carrying one of these around. That doesn't mean we can't sit back and admire the geeky ...

Two Sumo Omni Bean Bags (Gamer, Under $500) There's just something about playing games right in front of the TV. Games are meant to be immersive, and being up in the grill of your 50-inch widescreen display certainly helps matters, but you need something to keep you there in comfort. Enter the glorious beanbag: Sumo makes the best we've found, available in an array of different sizes and ...

If it's a 5-megapixel cameraphone you're looking for, there are decidedly cheaper entries on the market -- but if only a 5-megapixel WinMo Professional set will do, the Omnia's just about the best (read: only) deal you'll find on an American carrier these days. The CDMA translation of the smartphone that Samsung's been selling in other parts of the world for much of 2008 in GSM form carries over ...

We've heard that it's been showing up on doorsteps and in stores for a few days now, but T-Mobile has just officially given the word that the G1 is now available in white to complement bronze and the especially personality-free black (not to say there's anything wrong with that, black G1 owners). The price, hardware, and software are all the same, so if you thought this release might somehow ...

OLPC XO-1 Laptop (Kids, Under $500) The OLPC foundation?short for One Laptop Per Child?was founded with the goal of developing and then sending out a low-power, low-cost but fully functional computer to as many kids in developing countries as possible. It's a pretty great idea. But they're now available to us first-world types as well, so you can let your kiddies in on the fun with what is ...

Sonos with iPod/iPhone app (Domestic God/Goddess, Under $500) Sonos, the multi-room wireless music system that lets you stream music from the Web and your PC, can now be controlled with that device we all know and love: the iPhone (and iPod Touch). The new iPhone app (free for any Sonos user) is big news for several reasons. First, the touch-based interface is a huge improvement over Sonos' ...

Drobo (Creative, Under $500) Anyone who uses their computer to make music or movies has run into the problem of dwindling disk space. So rather than giving them another hard drive to clutter their desktop, how about the gift of Drobo? This all-in-one storage solution holds up to four drives, and it's a gift that keeps on giving: when the time comes, they just pop out one of the old drives and ...

LiteOn IT Skyla Memoir Photo Frame (Domestic Goddess/God, Under $500) We love it when something so obvious and so useful that no one ever bothered to think of it suddenly appears. The first entry in LiteOn's new Skyla line of products is the Memoir, a digital photo frame. Big whoop, right? Well this one also brings photo-scanning magic to the game?pop a 4 x 6 print in the slot at the base and ...

Optoma PK-101 PICO Pocket Projector (Traveler, Under $500) For gadget lovers, the PICO is the equivalent of a biologist seeing an entirely new species for the first time: It's a revolutionary new breed of portable gadgetry. About the size of a point-and-shoot camera, the PICO is able to project video, still images and graphics onto a wall-or anything else put in front of it?from 6 inches ...

Olympus Stylus 1030 SW (Jock, Under $500) Point-and-shoot cameras are designed for maximum convenience, but that all usually ends once you get out of the house and into the great outdoors: they just aren't built for spills. Olympus's 1030 SW is pound-for-pound the most rugged camera on the planet, able to snap photos in extreme cold and heat, on land and sea?down to a scuba-worthy 33-feet ...

WowWee Rovio (Man/Woman Who Has Everything, Under $500) To the torment of otherwise rational gadget -buyers, robot maestros WowWee have unleashed their insanely covet-worthy automated home sentry, Rovio. Beyond his battlebot-ish good looks, Rovio allows you to snoop on whatever he sees or hears via any web-connected PC, and even communicate to people nearby over a built-in microphone and ...

Beats By Dr. Dre headphones (Music Lover, Under $500) Noise-canceling cans have become the rage among frequent-traveler types, due to their ability to preserve one's sanity by blocking out the cacophony of the real world, at least for a little while. But they're also a great way to enjoy tunes in the best way possible by knocking out the interference of outside sound. High-end cable company ...

Parrot SPECCHIO Photo Frame (Style Maven, Under $500) The one failing the vast majority of digital photo frames share is that they look and feel cheap. Parrot's new SPECCHIO model is a stylee exception, and includes a bevy of clever tech features as well. When the 8"x 8" frame is turned off, it's a silver mirror; turn it on and photos magically appear (in 5" x 3" area). Besides using a USB port ...

Netflix.com (Video Junkie, Under $100) The premiere DVD rental-by-mail service has gotten so tempting it's bordering on the criminally insanely awesome. Netflix fans?and they are legion?already love that they can create a wish-list queue of movies and TV shows online, and then have them arrive a day or two later in the mailbox to watch (or horde, as the case may be) at their leisure with no ...

Best Buy Insignia Internet GPS (Traveler, Under $500) As GPS devices have gone mainstream, so have most of their once-exclusive features?automatic rerouting, local points of interest, voice prompts, and so-on. What sets the Insignia apart is that it does all that, but it's also Internet-connected, bringing access to Google Local Search and Google Maps on-the-fly, up-to-the-minute gas prices, ...