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November 28th, 2009, 5:28PM in Technology by Marc LequimeView Comments

Still stuck on what to get for Christmas? Time running out? Here’s a collection of devices we feel are irreplaceably ingenious.

USBCELL Batteries In Action#6: USBCELL

Probably one of the most amazingly simple yet somewhat complicated and yet still easy-to-use devices I’ve seen this end of the decade. USBCELL is a USB-powered battery – that is, the battery recharges when it is connected to a computer or laptop, connected in the same way you shove memory sticks inside your machines.

I really feel these are probably some of the most amazing gifts you can get for someone who uses batteries a lot – XBOX/PS3 gamers, TV channel hoppers, etc. Or, they’re pretty awesome for the novelty of charging a battery through a computer. Yeah, that too.

Details

Price: £10.99 (Estimate $18)
Type:  Rechargeable AA Battery/USB Device
Retailer: USBCELL
Buy: http://www.usbcell.com/product/1

Mighty Mouse

#5: Apple’s Magic Mouse

Hell, this is probably the best mouse I’ve ever seen – ever. It’s actually something that’s impressive and easy to use, and it’s multi-touch. I’ll explain. You can click anywhere on the mouse to generate a click, and it has a right click button, too – it detects whether the click was on the right-hand side of the mouse. Moving one finger down anywhere on the mouse scrolls downward, and swiping two fingers goes back and forth in Firefox and Safari Mac, flicks through photos in iPhoto and does various other tasks in Windows and Mac, too.

Details

Price: $69/£55
Type: Multi-touch Wireless Tracking Device
Retailer: Apple
Buy: http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/

Brownies Pan#4: All Edges Brownie Pan

Scientifically perfect brownies can be created with this clever pan – it’s an ingenious way of making sure that nearly all the brownie is touching the edge of the pan. Each square of brownie is guaranteed 2 sides of edge and 2 of chewyness – perfect! No more burnt outsides and raw gooey centers. As ThinkGeek says, it conducts heat better than an average baking pan, resulting in even cooking and perfect brownies.

The world will be at rest with delicious brownies.

Details

Price: $34.99/~£30
Type: Baking Pan
Retailer: ThinkGeek
Buy: http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/kitchen/a1aa

bf46_the_power_shelf#3: The Power Shelf

A shelf to store devices, or even laptops – American outlets only, sorry others – is another one of the more ingenious things I’ve seen. Basically, it clips just above your plug, and you can wrap cables around it to store the cables – meaning that you have limited space wasted by thousands of cables that tangle with each other, much like the setup at my house, where everything is everywhere. Well, anyway. This is pretty amazing, and there’s a laptop case add-on – and it clips right around your plugs.

Here’s some promo pics:

Powershelf Ad 1 Powershelf Ad 2

Details

Price: Hook: $11.99 Laptop: $39.99
Type: Cable Holder
Retailer: ThinkGeek
Buy: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/bf46/

Pogo iPhone Stylus#2: The iPhone Stylus by Pogo

The iPhone has a remarkable feature that’s also a hindrance – it’s the fact that it requires a finger to activate the screen – and most people’s fingers are thick and clumsy, and can’t write well or click ultra-tiny items. That’s why an ingenious invention that mimics the electron transfer in digits – no idea how, but it’s still genius. Great for writing stuff on your iPhone, too – like signatures, I guess. Whatever.

Details

Price: $15/£11
Type: Stylus
Retailer: Pogo
Buy: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/a31f/

Optimus Maximus Keyboard#1: Optimus Maximus Keyboard

Okay, first things first: You probably can’t afford this or won’t buy this because it costs too much. Second thing – it’s amazing. I want it. Yet I can’t really have it. It’s a bloody expensive contraption – and it’s basically a keyboard with high-definition screens instead of keys – meaning you can change keyboard styles for different keyboard layouts, and have different keyboard styles for different functions – like a Photoshop key, or a Firefox key – and the icon changes automatically for each time you reassign the key – and you can have different layouts for different programs, which works very well for gamers.

Details

Price: $1700/£1050
Type: Keyboard
Retailer: Art Lebedev
Buy: http://store.artlebedev.com/computer_add-ons/optimus-maximus/

More soon.


Source:

About The Author

Marc Lequime is an aspiring tech blogger, web entrepreneur, web designer and student. He lives for his work and puts 100% effort into everything he can. Previously running the HashPixel forums network, he now runs and owns TekCube. He believes in the Zombie Apocalypse. Marc has been writing for blogs for over three years, and has been running TekCube for over a year.

View Comments to “Tech for Christmas 2: Ingenious Devices”

  1. magibod says:

    There is a USBCELL Christmas 15% discount offer: http://www.usbcell.com promo code: xmastwitt

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Site last updated September 4th, 2010; This content last updated November 28th, 2009