These Indestructible Rubber Speakers Amplify Your Earbuds to 80dB

There are plenty of situations which warrant music but aren't exactly conducive to real speakers, vacations and day trips foremost among them. Tembo Trunks, a Kickstarter project conceived by two Australian brothers on holiday in Africa, looks to be the perfect acoustic compromise.

The Trunks are collapsible silicone cones that function as amplifiers for regular iPod earbuds. They fold and stack for easy travel, require no power, and can withstand being run over by a car. Basically you toss 'em in your pack and forget about them until you need 'em.

Flaps on the back of the cones secure earbuds in place—they're designed for Apple's stock buds but presumably work with others as well—and amplify the music the buds are emitting to 80 dB, somewhere between a regular conversation and the racket made by a lawnmower. Maybe not dance party-level boom, but certainly loud enough for a group of people to enjoy.

 

 

Official LEGO Minifigs Get the USB Legs They’ve Always Dreamed Of

USB sticks and LEGO minifigs have finally tied the knot, never to be separated again, til death do them part. They run a reasonable $25 for 2GB capacity, and you'll never have one of these two things without wanting both of them in one adorable keychain item ever again.

Whoa! Your New iPad Will Stick To Your Fridge

Provided your new iPad is attached to its magnetical Smart Cover, it'll cling on to your refrigerator like a spider monkey to a tree branch. Or like something magnetic to something metal. It's true! It seems like it's all being held up by the magnets on the flap of the Smart Cover—I could definitely use it as a reference while cooking (read: doing FaceTime with my Mom while she tells me how to cook) without being too worried about slippage. Disclaimer: don't do this at home, because maybe your refrigerator isn't as magnet-friendly.

 

 

Google Earth Showing New Satellite Images of Japan

You're probably going to want to polish up and open Google Earth. Google has been processing new updated satellite images of Japan and they're constantly trying to find more as fast as possible. They're on top of Kushiro, Tokyo, Kamaishi, Fukushima (before outer structure collapse) and Yokohama right now.

I Just Bought a Bottle of Ketchup on Facebook

While I was punching in my credit card details on Facebook for a bottle of Heinz ketchup with balsamic vinegar (I'm a sucker for anything limited edition...and ketchup), it occurred to me just how strange it was to be buying anything—let alone a condiment!—on Facebook. But that's the world we live in now.

Have you ever bought anything on Facebook? As more and more people are using sites like Groupon, and taking advantage of companies' offers after following them on Twitter, it makes a lot of sense for brands to take to Facebook to properly "own" their promotions. Everything about the sale of the bottle of ketchup (which is only available to UK fans of Heinz, I'm afraid) was done on Facebook—and crucially, they included the option to share the deal with my Facebook friends.

Spamming my friends' feeds is something I wouldn't normally do—but why do we (and I say "we," because I'm seeing it regularly in my webetiquette-savvy friends) feel that sharing details of a promotion is ok? We're literally falling for the trap. We're endorsing and advertising Heinz, one of the biggest companies around. A company that needs no help selling products. If this limited edition bottle of ketchup was being sold in a supermarket, it would inevitably sell just fine, without any promotion on the social media channels.

It's a clever move of Heinz's (and its PR/marketing team), and we're going to be seeing a lot more of it in the future, whether we like it or not. You'll have to literally hide under a rock (or disconnect your router) to not notice these well-targeted plays at our pursestrings. Please "fan" my product—and welcome to the digital supermarket.

 

 

Olympus’ TOUGH TG-810 Camera Feels the Brute Force of 100kg Blows

Could you withstand a force of 100kg? Olympus is claiming its TOUGH TG-810 camera can. Naturally, I'd like to see video evidence of that (wouldn't we all?), but all we have for now is Olympus' word. What we can probably take them on is the three-sensor GPS, electronic compass and inbuilt manometer (ladies, that's not what you think it is—it's actually a pressure-measuring tool).

In regards to optics, the camera has a 14MP sensor, with a 5x wide zoom on the lens. ISO rangeis 80 - 1600, and it can record video at 720p. Further pushing the envelope on its "all adventurer" schtick, it also has four underwater scene modes. "Capturing escapee genitals from bathing suits" probably isn't one of them.

You'll be able to pick it up sometime this month for €299 in Europe, or $400 in the US.

 

 

You’d Be Hard-Pressed to Find a Cheaper Ring-Flash Than This $40 One

Looking a whole heap more professional than a DIY ring-flash, Photojojo's $40 flash is light in two ways: it weighs just 700 grams, and uses the light from your existing flashgun to illuminate your photos evenly, and strongly.

It doesn't have its own lights like expensive ring-flashes, but if you're not willing to fork out double or even triple the price of Photojojo's F160, then it's a nice compromise. 

 

 

Walk to the Beat of These Sneaker Speakers

Shoes with speakers have been heard before, but not like this. This set of sneaker speakers uses the iconic Air Force One as the housing and comes complete with a full range speaker, tweeter, amp and volume controls. The wood base that the urrforce ones stand on actually makes the set look tasteful. It was handmade by Alex Nash  for the Havana Club as an art project.

 

 

Try and Solve This 17×17x17 Rubiks Cube if You Dare

Unofficially, this is theworld's largest cube puzzle. I get a headache just thinking about how one would go about solving this functioning 17x17x17 behemoth.

Comprised of 1539 pieces and roughly 5.5-inches-long in each direction, creator Oskar van Deventer fabricated each individual part using a 3D printer, then he dyed and sorted each piece before assembling it into what your see here. The dyeing and sorting took 10 hours, while the assembling took another five. Hello, tedium!

If you'd like to dye, sort and assemble one yourself, you can spend roughly $2000 in partshere. If you want a finished product, you can check it here.

 

 

Lady Gaga - Born This Way - I Love Her

This Fully Waterproof Headlamp Will Make an Adventurer Out of Anyone

Up 100 lumens of illumination, distance and strobe modes, red LEDs to preserve night vision, and a fully waterproof body. Yes, the Black DiamondStorm is an oddly appealing sounding headlight.

It's so appealing in fact, that I'm almost tempted to order one for $40 and find a cave to explore right now.

 

 

How to Piss People Off In One Easy Step

Step one: Alter benches in New Zealand so that they press advertising messages about short shorts into the back of a person's bare thighs. You're done. 

 

 

Bendable Graphene Batteries

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) may be on the cusp of creating something special: Bendable batteries that could have better performance than their stiff, inflexible cousins.

Made from graphene, these batteries would do well paired up with the flexible OLED displays.

In fact, coincidentally enough, the KAIST team is also attempting to apply their bendable graphene battery technique to OLED displays and solar cells. The future, how bendy it's become!

 

 

This Umbrella Gives You Goggles to Look Through It

Sure, it may look goofy to have a window pane cutout of goggles on your umbrella but think about the times when rain and neckbreaking wind hook up to create horizontal water bullets aimed for your face. With the Goggle Umbrellas, you have protection! And it's not as gossip girly as clear bubble umbrellas. $44 for a set of two.

 

 

This Daft Punk Coke Better Not Taste Funky

According to Hypebeast, Coke and Daft Punk are uniting in the form of these gold and silver Daft Coke bottles. The shiny sodas will be distributed at the kinds of clubs starting this March, and will also be distributed through colette in Paris.
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Man’s Gold Tooth Deflects Bullet

For those who believe that gold grills are purely decorative, I present to you the case of this unnamed man who was shot in the mouth by his brother, only to be saved by his expensive teeth:

These two began to struggle, and the gun went off, hitting the victim in the mouth. He ran to a friend's house for help, and the paramedics who treated him told investigators that the small-caliber bullet apparently bounced off the victim's gold tooth, leaving only some gum damage from the impact and a cut to his upper lip from the ricochet.

The defense rests, with a broad, glittering smile.

 

 

 

Touch-Sensitive Buttons Might Escape to the MacBook’s Exterior

The latest Apple patent indicates future MacBooks will have touch-sensitive technology on their external casing. Apple dreamed up some grand ideas as to how this might be used Media playback controls? On/off button? iPhone sync? Possibly, but judging from this diagram shown, it mostly just looks like an elegant battery indicator.

 

 

$200 Handheld Scanner Detects Cancer in Just One Hour

You can just imagine how agonizing the wait for cancer scan results must be. Scientists have shortened the time dramatically with this hugely-accurate bedside-scanner, which requires just a needle-full of tissue sample—and an iPhone app to read the results on.

The scientists, from Harvard University andMassachusetts Institute of Technology, developed the nuclear magnetic resonancescanner which uses antibodies and magnetic particles to identify cancerous cells. So far, the results have been impressively accurate at 96 per cent.

The usual method of diagnosing cancer only has an 84 per cent accuracy rate, which is mindbogglingly scary. Those poor people who get misdiagnosed—either with positive or negative readings! No-one can imagine the pain they must go through.

But suddenly, we're entering a period where cancer can be detected using a few components and an iPhone. An iPhone, which didn't even exist five years ago. Of course, in an ideal world cancer wouldn't exist—but if we can hammer the cost down and make this technology readily available to everyone, regular home-tests would save a lot of heartache for everyone involved.

 

 

Electric Bikes Are Now Wireless, and Can Charge Gadgets via USB

The Shadow Ebike is the first electric bike that houses its Daymak Drive controller in the front wheel, alongside a lithium-ion battery, motor, USB port, charging port and LED power display.

Why would you need a USB port, I hear you ask? Why, so you can charge gadgets. The wheel stores electricity, generated from activity. So, the more you cycle, the more you can charge your cellphone once you stop.

You can choose between a 250W motor, or something with a bit more grunt in it, at 350W. The battery, on the other hand, is a 36V 10AH lithium-ion one, which takes up to five hours to recharge, and is good for up to 25 miles.

The only problem I can see with Daymak's Shadow Ebike is the price: a rather steep $1,999. Not to mention the rather "safe" color.

Apple Patent Reveals iPhone 5 With NFC Icon

 Apple patent application is showing an e-wallet icon. The other icons may be in order, but that e-wallet icon could be a little joke at the tech-blogging world's expense—or a deft clue at what to expect come June.