Throwaway NFC Keyboard Improves Productivity, Reduces Bank Balance

Japanese company Elecom is looking to change all that with a compact keyboard that exploits NFC for productivity. The silicon menace requires a companion app and is compatible with Android phones running Gingerbread (2.3.4) and up.

If the bundled case had you sold on the peripheral, you may want to reconsider. The retail price is a sizeable 18,690 yen (approximately $240), and what's worse, the battery is neither rechargeable nor replaceable, so you'll have to bin it after the stated six months to a year of life. Still interested? More here.

Tiny Toaster USB Hub Is So Adorable

There's seemingly an infinite supply of novelty USB flash drives and hubs for consumers to waste their money on, but none come close to the gag-inducing adorableness of this tiny toaster hub and accompanying anthropomorphized slices of toast.

The hub itself is $28, but if you want to complete the set with all four toasty 4GB flash drives, you'll need to cough up an extra $100. You can also buy them individually at $25 a pop, or forego the adorable slices altogether with your own drives. More here.

Apple Is Removing YouTube from iOS 6

Apple has removed the YouTube app from the latest beta of iOS 6 and has confirmed to the Verge that the native app will not exist at all when iOS 6 officially releases to the public. The YouTube app, if you'll remember, has been on the iPhone since the original iPhone first released.

Right now, the YouTube app has been removed in iOS 6 beta 4 for the iPhone and iPad but still exists for Apple TV. Apple's official statement:

Our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended, customers can use YouTube in the Safari browser and Google is working on a new YouTube app to be on the App Store.

Once a marquee feature of the iPhone and still widely used by many, the YouTube app had actually been long surpassed by its web app counterpart. That webapp was made by Google, the native app was made by Apple.

Of course, with the iPhone no longer offering an app for YouTube and YouTube being owned by Google, it's more evidence that the two companies want to kill one another but in all honesty, this is a good thing for users. If you've spent any time with the iOS YouTube app, you'd know how terrible it was. The 3G video quality was poor, the features were limited, the buffering times were slow. It was inconvenient and unpleasant, basically the opposite of what YouTube is. After highlighting the app as a key feature for the original iPhone, Apple was letting it rot.

Ultimately, this actually may be a case where everyone wins. By having Apple kill its native app, iOS users don't have to be saddled with a piss poor YouTube app. By not having to maintain a native YouTube app, Apple steps out of the awkward handshake licensing agreement it had with a company it wants to do nothing with. By making its own YouTube app, Google gets to control its own properties. And though Google doesn't exactly have the track record of building awesome iOS apps (ahem, Gmail), the excellent web app is proof that Google gets YouTube. More here.

Nokia to Announce Windows Phone 8 Handsets Early September

Bloomberg is reporting that Nokia will announce its new range of Windows Phone 8-powered devices at the start of September—with the intention of shipping them in time for the holidays.

The report cites "a person with knowledge of the matter", who explains that the company plans to announce the new devices—perhaps unsurprisingly—during a new roadshow-style Nokia World event which kicks off on September 5th. The report also explains that the same sources believes the devices will be on sale "before the year-end holiday shopping season".

It's not clear exactly when the announcements will be made, or what will be announced, but given the shake-up Nokia managed with the Lumia last year, we could be in for something exciting. More here.

BLU Products Intros Vivo 4.3, Says it's 'world's first' Dual-SIM Smartphone

With the recent revelation of its Vivo 4.3 handset; one the company's loudly dubbing as the "world's first dual-SIM smartphone with Super AMOLED Plus." Regardless of any global, self-induced titles, the 4.3-inch Vivo appears to offer some interesting features of its own, including that aforementioned Super AMOLED Plus screen, a 1GHz, dual-core Cortex A9 CPU, dual-SIM capabilities and a tweaked flavor of Android 4.0. What's best, however, is BLU plans on selling the Vivo 4.3 unlocked in the US next month for $250, while additional availability is "soon to follow" through Latin America and some parts of Asia. More here.

Counter Scrap Table Is Made Out of a Kitchen’s Leftovers

Everybody winds up with leftovers in the kitchen, but unlike the rest of us, DuPont tends to wind up with leftover counters. Designer Rabih Hage decided that these particular leftovers might make a good table.

Part of an exhibition at Milan Design Week titled "Corian® Colour Evolution," the Leftovers Collection is comprised entirely out of scrap counter material. The result is irregular, but striking furniture in flashy shades of green and yellow. Hage described the goal of his design experiment this way. More here.

"I have always been fascinated by unused material or discarded cuts of stone, wood or metal whether chea or expensive. Reusing these materials as a luxury product and treating the off-cuts as something precious is my real motivation."

TakkTile Turns Digital Barometers Into Open-source Robot Touch Sensors

Freescale Semiconductor's MPL115A2 is a tiny thing that will sit quite comfortably on the tip of your finger. It's hard not to marvel at the engineering that went into the creation of something so small, yet so sensitive. The little metal square is minute enough to be plunked into a cell phone, offering up location pinpointing technologies that supplement GPS, gauging positions based on changes in atmospheric pressure.

Harvard's Biorobotics team was clearly impressed when it discovered the technology, devising a fascinating implementation that extends beyond the walls of the cell phone. The sensors would go on to form the core of the department's TakkTile open-source boards capable of bringing sensitive touch sensing to robot hands.

Also compelling is the price -- bought in bulk, the tiny barometers will run you $1 a piece, making the tactile array relatively inexpensive to assemble. Once you buy one, you can also get the most bang for your buck by snapping off the rows for individual use, a possibility given the symmetry of the design. Or you can just make one yourself, as the department has opted to open-source the technology, to help make it even more readily accessible to interested parties. More here.

Would You Want Airline-Inspired Seating In Your Living Room?

Airlines might claim the seats in their planes are designed to maximize passenger comfort, but that always plays second fiddle to capacity. If squeezing you in gives them enough room to add another body, you better believe they won't mind cramping passengers. So who would want to drop over $2,000 on a living room chair designed by someone responsible for those awful airline seats?

The Flight Recliner does possess a beautiful minimalist aesthetic and a simple reclining mechanism that minimizes the chair's footprint. But it was partly designed by Jeffrey Bernett, who was also responsible for the in-flight seating in Northwest Airlines' economy class. The recliner is obviously a bit larger than the seats you'll find on a plane, but their design will probably never be considered a comfy place to sit. More here.

Portable Pivoting Power Adapter Maximizes Your Hotel’s Outlets

Even fancy new hotel rooms with flat screen TVs and iPhone alarm clocks catering to our gadget-laden lifestyles never seem to have enough outlets for charging all your toys. So aportable power bar is the most important thing you can travel with, particularly this folding model which can handle even the bulkiest of wall warts.

It's actually a portable version of Quirky's popular Pivot Power Strip but its smaller form factor, which only doubles the capacity of a given outlet (plus a couple of USB ports), is easier to stash in a carry-on bag. More here.

This $200 Camera Turns Your TV Into a Skype Center

Using Skype on your TV is kinda neat: it opens the conversation right up and makes group chats more fun. Now Skype and Logitech have announced a new TV-mounted camera that lets you do that conveniently—for a price.

The TV Cam HD is compatible with any HDMI-equipped TV, and can use either Wi-Fi or ethernet to hook up to the internet. The device is pre-loaded with Skype—running on what we're not quite sure—so you can just use it to log in to your existing account and make video calls, or proper phone calls using credit.

The thing rings when your TV is on or off—which is either a curse or a blessing, depending on your view—and has a zoom feature which may be useful if you're sat on the sofa by yourself. It also claims to work well in low-light conditions, but some real-life experience is probably needed before that claim is believed. More here.

Even Bigger Galaxy Note Set to Launch August 29th

Samsung's updated Galaxy Note is on the way, with Samsung confirming that its Galaxy Note 2 is scheduled to be the star of its showing at this year's IFA trade show.

Samsung's not actually calling the phone the Galaxy Note 2 yet, instead referring to it as just the "next Galaxy Note". The news comes from Reuters, which quotes a Samsung employee saying: "We plan to unveil the next Galaxy Note at the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event in Berlin on August 29."

Specs are a little thin on the ground at the moment, with only some previous speculation regarding the screen size out there, which claims the new Note will be a little larger that the first one. Yes, you read that right. Larger. Rumors suggest it will come with a 5.5″ display running at an impressive 1680×1050 resolution. My arm feels tired just thinking about it.

Final copy of Windows 8 Just Leaked

The final build of Windows 8 has leaked to the internet, just a day after Microsoft confirmed it had finished the development cycle for the new operating system. Although MSDN and TechNet customers won't officially receive access to the final Windows 8 bits until August 15th, an Enterprise version of Windows 8 is available widely across various file sharing sites.

The version leaked is an "N" edition of Windows 8 which does not include a bundled copy of Windows Media Player. Microsoft was forced to create the special N editions of Windows after the European Commission ruled in 2004 that it needed to provide a copy of Windows without Windows Media Player tied in.

Samsung Starts Mass-Producing 4x Faster Mobile Flash Memory, Kickstarts our Phones and Tablets

Samsung isn't content to leave fast NAND flash memory to traditional solid-state drives. Its Pro Class 1500 promises a big jolt to the performance of frequently pokey smartphone and tablet storage. By how much? That name is a clue -- it reaches 1,500 IOPS (inputs/outputs per second) when writing data, which along with 3,500 IOPS data reads is about four times faster than any previous embedded flash chip Samsung has tested. In the real world, that leads to as much as 140MB/s when reading data and 50MB/s for writes.

The speed comes after Samsung has thrown virtually every trick in the book at its new chips, including a dense 20-nanometer manufacturing process, quick toggle DDR 2.0 memory with its own controller and a new JEDEC memory standard with 200MB/s of bandwidth to spare. More here.

The Ultimate Can and Bottle Opener

Two things you always seem to need but that always seem to grow legs and scuttle away: can openers and bottle openers. This handy well-made tool from Kuhn Rikon combines both of those into one. Problem solved!

This particular piece of kitchen/bar gear will remove your lids without you having to pry them off and risk cutting your fingers. Plus it comes from a Swedish company and we all know the Swedes do things well, more here.

Precision Partitioner Produces Perfectly Portioned Pastries

You just jam it into the center of a dessert, make an initial cut, and then line up the guides depending on if you want to divide it into 6, 8, 10, or 14 pieces. If you keep up that process all the way around, you should be left with a perfect number of evenly sized portions.

For $14 it's unfortunately kind of a uni-tasker that no one wants to fill their kitchen drawers with. But if it stops your guests from complaining about someone else getting a bigger portion, it's worth the extra clutter. More here.

These Super-Cheap SSDs Should Convince You to Switch Storage

If you feel like your computer needs a boost but are struggling for cash, here's something that might help: Crucial has just launched a range of value SSDs, and you can snag the cheapest one for just $50.

The new range of solid-state storage comes in the shape of the 2.5-inch v4 drives. While they're slightly slower than their more expensive sibling, the m4, they still offer read speeds of up to 230 MB/s and write speeds of up to 190 MB/s with SATA 2-capable computers. Being 2.5-inch they won't fit in an ultrabook, but they should fit in normal laptops.

And then there's the prices. While $50 will only get you a 32 GB v4 SSD, that may well be all you need if you're planning to run it as a boot disk for your OS to run off, or if you only use your laptop for light work. Either way, installing an SSD will give you a massive speed boost.

Of course, if that's not enough storage, you can pick up the v4 in 64GB ($70), 128GB ($100) and 256GB ($190) versions, too. More here.

Gmail for iOS Adds Option to Save Photos, Becomes a Smoother Operator

Google's Gmail app for iOS has been docked by some potential adopters for feeling like a poor cousin to other native apps. It may be worth revisiting: the 1.3 update has just arrived with a much-requested ability to save common image attachments to an iOS device's photo collection. Should that not be enough, Google has smoothed out animations and scrolling for iPhone and iPod touch owners. The new version has pushed live for everyone, leaving just a quick download between us and saving our parents' vacation photos for posterity. More here.

This Is as Close to Pocketable as High Speed Video Cameras Get

Everything in life is cooler and more epic in slow motion. So Fastec's new TS3 compact high-speed camera is easier to carry than traditional slo-mo gear allowing you to capture and study spontaneous moments—frame-by-frame. Remember, the best high-speed camera is the one you've got with you.

At nine inches in length and weighing almost five pounds you're probably not going to be carrying the TS3 in your pocket all day long. But for remote shoots or extreme adventures where carrying larger and heavier gear is problematic, this is the perfect solution. At its full resolution of a non-16:9 1280 x 1024 the camera is able to capture 500 frames every second. But at lower resolutions it's supposedly capable of running as fast as 20,000 fps.

The camera is compatible with C-mount or Nikon F-mount lenses, but keep in mind that while its size makes it easier to travel with, in many situations you'll probably need additional lighting gear to compensate for the fast shutter speeds. Because the TS3 tops out at an ISO of just 1,600 when shooting in color. As for storage options, a built-in SSD drive up to 256GB in size is optional, but professional-grade video I/O connectors let you send the signal to another recording device when more capacity is needed. But is an epic YouTube channel worth its $14,000 to $25,000 price tag depending on how you configure it? Most definitely. More here.

Olympus SP-800UZ Titanium 14MP Digital Camera Inside its slim, elegant body, the SP-800UZ hides something amazing: a 30x wide-angle optical zoom. Bringing you all the power of a 30x zoom in a camera that’s small enough to go wherever your travels take you. And with advanced features like Creative Art Filters, you can truly express yourself.

Mysterious 10-inch BlackBerry PlayBook Appears in Vietnam

Looks-wise, the hardware's largely unchanged, aside from the bigger footprint and a screen ratio that appears closer to the iPad competition, rather than the widescreen shape that arrived on RIM's first tablet. According to the brief teardown shot, there's a potent 7,250 mAh battery housed in the still-slim 10-inch frame, while it's worth noting that the tablet also includes a SIM holder and cellular radio -- though there's not enough meat here to discern whether it deals in 4G or 3G (HSPA+) radio waves. More here.

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Transparent Open-Air Case Is Perfect for PC Hardware Voyeurs

When you sink a boatload of cash into new hardware for your PC, why lock it all up where it can't see the light of day? With this transparent, passive cooling rig, you can keep it on display for yourself and envious friends.

The upcoming ACB-type3, made by Scythe, is a step beyond just having a window built into your case. Made of 5mm thick acrylic, it's got all the bays you might need for your various drives. Pair this puppy up with a cooling tower and you'll have a system setup that's not only great to look at, but also handy if you like to fiddle with your PC's innards.

The case is due to release soon, and will run you around $85, a small price to pay for form andfunction. In the meanwhile, better dust off your SSD and get that sucker ready for its day in the sun. More here.

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Microsoft Confirms Surface Will Ship Alongside Windows 8 on October 26th

Supersite for Windows reveals that a Microsoft filing with the US Security and Exchange quietly reveals that the tablet will start shipping to customers on October 26th.That's the same day as Windows 8 is set to land, as we reported earlier in July. According to Supersite, the filing reads:

"The next version of our operating system, Windows 8, will be generally available on October 26, 2012... At that time, we will begin selling the Surface, a series of Microsoft-designed and manufactured hardware devices."

Since launch we've known that Intel-based Surface Pro will take longer to launch, so this October 26th launch date corresponds to the availability of the ARM-powered tablet.

There's still one big questions surrounding the Surface, though, and that's price. That really will be an announcement worth looking out for. More here.

Next-gen iPhone Parts Purportedly Leak Again

Ready for another supposed look at the next-gen Apple iPhone? Matching up with previous leaks, the elongated iPhone body with a miniaturized docking port and brushed metal back has appeared again, this time courtesy of iLab Factory.

While many of its parts look astoundingly similar to what we've already seen, this is the first time we've gotten a solid look at it fully assembled from all angles -- well, aside from the missing SIM card holder. While most of its all-important innards are clearly absent, this assembly does come complete with what appears to be the locking ribbons for the screen and home button. More here.

Aluminium Alloy Bumper Frame Case+Back Cover for iPhone 4 4S(Green) - Rugged, lightweight and versatile design - Quality aluminium alloy and plastic material - The Case is machined from a solid block of quality aluminum alloy - Blade has the SIM card slot opened so you don't have to dismantle the case every time you need to switch the SIM - Anodized to create a hard protective coating in brilliant colors - The styling also allows for easy use of the camera and flash

AT&T's Garnet Red Galaxy S III for Vampires

While AT&T's been flaunting a rather patriotic red, white and blue Galaxy S III lineup since launch, the carrier's exclusive Garnet Red handset's been rather elusive so far, with pre-orders starting July 15 and deliveries expected July 29.

The phone is identical to its siblings other than the burgundy screen bezel and back cover, and the gunmetal rim running along its edge. It's a pretty gorgeous color scheme that's sure to attract vampires everywhere. Still unsure? Peek at our hands-on gallery below, then sound off in the comments. More here.

ViewSonic Announces a Duo of Budget-Friendly LED Monitors

As gorgeous as huge, expensive monitors are, most situations just don't call for the inches or wallet-dents associated with today's luxury screens. With this in mind, and barely a breath after outing its $299, 27-inch LED offering, ViewSonic is back with two budget displays from the VA12 series. First up is the VA2212m-LED, which rocks a 1080p widescreen, 21.5-inch panel, 10,000,000:1 contrast Ratio, DVI and VGA inputs, as well as a pair of 2W integrated speakers.

Its little brother the VA1912m-LED shares most of the same genes, but with an 18.5-inch, 1,366 x 768 resolution screen. Running with ViewSonic'seco-friendly theme, both mercury-free LED monitors also boast the eco-mode feature for low power consumption and a longer life. If either of the new displays are grabbing your attention, you'll be able to pick up the $149 VA2212m-LED imminently, with the $125 VA1912m-LED hitting North American retailers in mid-August. More here.
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