Travel Pillows With Inbuilt MP3 Player Pockets Will De-Tangle and Chill You Out

Travel pillows are one of those objects that always pisses you off when your partner packs it for a trip, but then 10 hours and a stiff neck later you end up being really jealous of.

Cabeau's $35 pillows have little pockets for MP3 players, which shoul avoid those mid-slumber accidents when you get tangled amongst the wires. You can get them here.

 

 

Ion Piano Apprentice Plays Nice With Your iPad

It's not enough anymore to simply cram a single-octave keyboard into the bottom of a Nintendo DS, effective piano instruction requires at least twice as many keys -- and an iPad. The Ion Piano Apprentice (when coupled with a compatible iDevice and companion app) offers aspiring Tchaikovskys octave-selectable free play, lessons on reading sheet music, and even a view of award-winning piano instructor Scott Houston's handsome hands.

 If those mitts are too distracting for you, just follow along with the light-up keys, you'll be fine. This mini keyboard / iPad dock will land this fall to the tune of $100 -- -- it's either that, a real instructor, or a pair of haptic robot gloves. Your choice, really.

 

 

Translating Ancient Egyptian Texts Just Went Social

You know you wanna be like Indiana Jones, unlocking the secrets of ancient manuscripts. Well, that is hard. But the Egypt Exploration Society and Oxford University are giving you the chance by uploading their ancient papyrus to the web.

By visiting Oxford's Ancient Lives website, you and your fellow archaeologists can sit down and attempt to decipher the cataloged papyri from Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus, discovered in the late 19th century. The find includes accounts of everyday life, an apocryphal gospel, and literature. You may want to go through the tutorial first, though. Or learn some Greek.

 

 

ASUS Confirms Eee Pad Transformer Will get Android 3.2

Eee Pad Transformer users don't have to wait much longer to get their Android 3.2 fix. ASUS has now confirmed that the update will be rolling out tomorrow, July 28th. UnlikeGalaxy Tab 10.1 owners, Transformer users shouldn't expect too many surprises in store here considering ASUS is sticking with stock Honeycomb, although there will hopefully be a few fixesincluded in addition to the more general Android updates.

BookBook iPhone 4 Case

So, you've finally accepted the reality that smartphones aren't a passing fad, but you're no less concerned that the special tech-hater in your life might get hip that you've abandoned reading books forflinging unhappy fowl. You're further concerned that you won't have space in your skinny jeans for both a wallet and an iPhone. Well, it sounds like Twelve South's BookBook iPhone 4 case has you and your ridiculous smartphone-conversion anxiety covered.

The little leather-bound sleeve not only masks your iPhone in what looks like a miniature Bible binding, but also acts as host to your wallet's contents. If you're looking to fool folks into thinking you're really reading a tiny tome titled BookBook, the case can be yours for $60 get it here.

 

 

Fujitsu Toshiba Announces au IS12T, The World's First Mango Phone

The IS12T: Japan's first Windows Phone 7 device, and according to Microsoft prez Yasuyuki Higuchi, the world's first Mango handset. The sexy and IPX5 waterproof (!) 3.7-inch WVGA slate is powered by Qualcomm's MSM8655 CPU of undisclosed clock speed (which is running at 1GHz in the Incredible 2 and Thunderbolt), and goes on sale in "September or beyond" on KDDI's au network. The phone packs a 13.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and has a plentiful 32GB of flash storage for housing whatever content you'd fancy toting around. The usual Bluetooth (2.1 + EDR) and WiFi (802.11b/g/n) suspects are also onboard. 

 

 

Mass Effect 3 N7 Replica Gets Real World Debut for Your Spacer Pleasure

If you're the type to stock your walls with Lord of the Rings-style elvish daggers (or, you know, buildfull-scale Portal gun replicas), then you'll love this official Mass Effect 3 mockup commissioned by the folks at Bioware. Arduously crafted by self-proclaimed graphic design dork Harrison Krix, the N7 assault rifle replica made its facsimile debut at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. 

With only a fortnight to work with, the DIY, prop-making hobbyist took the made-for-cosplay gun from a glued wood, styrene and PVC-detailed master concept to paint weathered, final collector's edition mold.

 

 

Spray Paint Behemoth Bag Packs 22 Cans of Vandalism Or Art!

Should you find yourself preparing a massive spray paint project, you're probably going to need a massive amount of spray paint! Sure, you could juggle them, or throw them in a bag. Or carry this ginormous spray paint monster backpack.

The Black Ops Version 3, by Spraygrounds, has room for a staggering 22 cans of paint. That is a lot of paint. Perhaps you've been commissioned to redo the Sistine Chapel by a young new hip hop Pope. Perhaps you're venturing out into the desert, and are afraid of running out of spray paint, and are bringing 22 cans just in case.

At any rate, the padded bag not only offers ample room for paint, but a laptop sleeve, plenty of compartments, and is crafted from tough ballistic nylon. Alternately, you could only bring out one can of spray paint, and fill the rest with air freshener.Get it here.

New Sony Walkman Pops up on UK Retail Site

The portable cassette players once nearly universally identified as the Walkman may have seen better days, but their spirit is still alive, so far as Sony is concerned. The company is apparently set to release the latest entry in the line, the slick-looking NWZA865B, a 16GB portable media player with wireless file sharing and music streaming capabilities. 

The 16GB model is also likely one of a number of capacities to be offered, ranging from 8GB to 64GB. The device is available for viewing on UK retailer Buy.com with a £130 ($213) price tag and a July 31st release date.

 

 

Toilet 2.0 — The New King of Thrones

For as much time as people spend on the toilet, you'd think someone would have rectified the glaring design issues with them by now. What? The Toilet 2.0 by David Hakkens did?

The Toilet 2.0 has been redesigned from the bathroom floor up. It's constructed of Corian, a composite material created by DuPont, that's lighter, thinner, and stronger than traditional porcelain.

The master stroke is the design of the bowl itself. The shallow-bottom, wide-body, lipped design not only aids in self-cleaning but it keeps you from experiencing the dreaded "impromptu bidet" action of a seated flush. The system will even reuse grey water from your sinks and dishwasher to flush its lines behind the wall (fresh water is still used to clear the bowl). The Toilet 2.0 is still in the design stages, so you'll have to keep shelling out $6400 for your game-changing cans for now.

 

 

Virgin Media Testing 1.5Gbps Internet for Lucky Londonites

Jealous of Comcast customers with their 105Mbps cable hook ups or those lucky residents of the Kansas cities relishing in Google's 1Gbps service? Well add Londonites to the list of people that drive you to indulging in one of the seven deadly sins. Virgin Media has finally started testing its DOCSIS2-powered1.5Gbps network in the heart of merry ol' England. Right now it's being enjoyed by a group of test sites around Old Street that also get a 150Mbps upload connection.

Virgin claims it's the fastest broadband in the world, which may be true if you're not counting lab experiments. The really good news is that it's based on the same tech already delivering 100Mbps to residents across the country so, if the trial goes well, it should be trivial to deliver these mind numbing speeds to the rest of its customers.

 

 

Voomote One Universal Remote For Your iPhone

It's not the first universal remote adapter we've seen for the iPhone and, unlike the Surc IR case, you probably wouldn't want to leave this bulky add-on attached to your handset when not in use. But, the app does have some convenient features, like the ability to create custom layouts that can easily be switched based on the devices in a particular room. 

So you can setup a living room profile to control your big screen and cable box, and a separate bed room one for your more modest set and a stereo. You can also create command macros that fire up multiple devices with the tap of a single virtual button. The Voomote app is available for free in the app store, but the actual IR-blasting sleeve will set you back $99. 

 

 

Sony Cyber-Shot TX55 Packs 16.2-Megapixel Sensor

With point and shoot cameras apparently now up against a megapixel wall, manufacturers are focusing on adding quirky new features to keep you hooked on the upgrade cycle. Sony's new Cyber-shot TX55 includes several such additions, such as 'amazing' 3D image capture, 'extremely low' noise, and a new digital zoom technology, which promises to double the camera's 5x optical zoom range while still capturing 16.2-megapixel images at full quality.

 If the $350 camera really can deliver on its promise, then we may just have a winner. Sony says there's also high-speed autofocus that can lock onto subjects in 0.1 seconds, optical image stabilization, a 3.3-inch OLED touch-screen, and 1080i AVCHD video. It also includes some features found on the higher-end NEX-C3, such as Picture Effects, and a Panorama mode. Sony has yet to completely nix the Memory Stick slot, including one with the TX55, though there's also MicroSD support for those who prefer to take advantage of that more affordable memory card standard.

iCam Bypasses Clunky Factory-Installed Camera Interfaces with an iPhone

Zeki Ozek wants to complement your current camera with an iPhone and eliminate SD cards, clunky factory-installed interfaces and whatever else attaching Apple's smartphone to the back of your rig might accomplish.

He proposes we do it with iCam, a camera with a dock in the back that syncs up with an iPhone courtesy the 22 pin connector. The concept won a Red Dot Design Concept award this year, based on the design's incredibly broad potential. Strapping a powerful, portable touchscreen computer to the back of a custom-built camera can do that for you. Plus, wireless connectivity. Cannot understimate the convenience of that.

Cameras will be wireless, hyper-connected, uber-customizable devices in the near future anyway, but there's no denying the iPhone's potential in this early, specific case.

 

 

AT&T Google Nexus S on Sale Today, Exclusive to Best Buy

If you shelled out 600 clams for an unlocked Nexus S, buyer's remorse starts now: the subsidized AT&T version is out today. 

Available exclusively from Best Buy (and exclusively in black), the AT&T Nexus S will set you back only a paltry $99 with a two-year contract. Is the loss of color choice (and that whole "SIM-locked to AT&T" thing) worth the savings? We'll leave that up to you and your (Google) wallet.

 

 

MP3 Players That Look Like Bullet Shells

These cylindrical, bullet shell looking like device is actually an mp3 player that can double as a speaker. It's about 3 inches tall, 1.3 inches in diameter, supports microSD and plays MP3, WMA, APE, etc.

The speakers that come in the Singbox SV-606 are just mono, so you're not going to get any real punch behind it (which is not unexpected given the size, I guess) so you'll probably have to plug in some headphones. I wish it looked more like a bullet shell though. Get them here.

Oh No, Instagram Has Just Been Bieberized

Yep, that's right. Justin Bieber has joined Instagram and tweeted his first image. Yay? Within minutes, Bieber started gaining 50 followers a second and six comments a minute. And yeah, this first photo already accrued 300 likes.

One piece of good news for the geek crowd — Instagram is holding up under the strain of thousands of pre-teen girls flooding the service. That's something worthy of a good ole pat on the back.

Space Invaders Have Infiltrated Our Tools

While using the Space Invaders multi-tool you may think you are the master, bending it to your will, but think again. The Space Invader is crafty and patient. Methodical. It is gathering intel. It is only a matter of time.

In the meantime, though, this is a pretty geektastic way to screw things in (or up, depending on skill level). Just remember it is you who will be screwed in the end. Perhaps literally. These are aliens we're talking about. LINK HERE: You can get it here for $24. 

Google Acquires PittPatt, Wants to Know You on a Face-to-Face Basis

Google's quietly pitter-pattering its acquisitive ways back into the controversial realm of facial recognition technology. To do that, the company busted out its oversized wallet to fold Pittsburgh-based PittPatt into the Mountain View borg. Founded by a trio of PhD's from Carnegie Mellon University, this three-man strong outfit specializes in the sort of object recognition software you've come to know as "tagging." Is this a reversal of the Do No Evil tech giant's prior waffling on the dubious visioning tech, or just another massive weapon in its social networking crusade against Facebook? 

The company's new employees aren't exactly playing their cards for us to see. A brief statement on the triumvirate's site makes vague mention of "computer vision technology" being core to Google's products and points to the tech's planned integration in photo, video and mobile applications. So, basically, expect to see Picasa, Goggles, YouTube and Google+ watch you as you flaunt your internet celebrity ways to that front-facing camera.

 

 

Porsche’s Compass Watch

The compass-in-a-watch concept isn't exactly a breakthrough in functionality, but my goodness is Porsche Design's P'6520 compass watch pretty. Its black titanium case splits in two, with the Swiss movement timepiece on the top half and a removable liquid compass on the bottom.

The compass is viewed through mirrors on the compass face and the bottom of the watch half, and it works in both hemispheres. It's also waterproof to 50 feet. No word on the pricing just yet, but expect it to cost about what you paid for your car.