gadgets

Gadget skin maker Wrapsol this week introduced a new version of its thin adhesive protectors called Wrapsol Ultra that promises to keep your gadgets safe from drops up to 6 feet. And like the Slinky, Silly Putty, and Post-It notes, the technology was created almost by accident.

In a call with CNET on Friday, Wrapsol President Lew Cohen explained that while experimenting with different manufacturing processes for the adhesive layer of the skin, they ended up creating a compound that could take a lot of abuse.

"With more flexibility, we get more impact resistance," Cohen said. "We … Read more

I certainly don't go out of my way to buy hand-washable clothing, but there are those items you don't want to just toss into the machine. For those special garments, the laundry room sink doesn't always get the job done properly: either you soak the item and don't get it thoroughly clean, or you scrub it by hand and risk damaging it.

The Jentle Jet sink from MTI Whirlpools provides a new solution: three micro-jets that let you properly clean delicate hand-washables. Only jetted water touches the garments, and you can regulate the speed from a … Read more

Ever try to balance food on a flimsy paper plate while standing around at a party? You wind up dropping your food, dripping on yourself, or concentrating way too hard on eating your little meatballs.

Designer Alissia Melka-Teichroew wanted to be able to eat and enjoy herself at the same time, so she did something about it. She set out to create a pr-folded plate made from a sturdy material. Ultimately, she determined that the plates could be made flat from ceramic, then placed over molds.

These dishes are not cheap; they'll run you $110 for a set of three plates … Read more

At some point, Sony became the Chicago Cubs of consumer electronics, that team stacked with talent that still finds a way to not make it to the World Series.

Twenty years ago, few would have made that analogy, of course. But that was before a long string of letdowns. The Walkman, once the king of portable music players, was unseated by the iPod. The Reader, which came out before the Kindle, was quickly surpassed by Amazon's e-reader. And the PlayStation 3, the follow-up to Sony's PS 2 gaming juggernaut, was slow out of the gate. Though it initially … Read more

Sometime this year, Sony will launch a new smartphone and a portable tablet-like device, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The smartphone will be able to play PlayStation games, and the tablet device will be some combination of a Netbook, e-reader, and PlayStation Portable, according to "people familiar with the matter" who spoke to the Journal. The reading/gaming/computer gadget is intended to better compete with the Apple iPad and an expected wave of similar devices from other gadget makers. Both products are supposed to hit store shelves this year, though there are not … Read more

So you've got the gang over for a backyard barbecue (hey, I live in Houston, and we don't do winter here), and the trash and recycling is piling up all over the deck. Grab a couple of Flings recycling and trash containers, and you're good to go.

Flings are portable, compact bins--when closed, they're about half the size of a pizza box--that snap open to hold 13 gallons of trash or recycling. You can avoid the classy trash-bag-hanging-from-a-nail look, and you can easily pop open two separate containers to keep your recyclables from being covered in … Read more

In my house, the kitchen is the heart of the home. It's where we gather, where we share meals, but also where we make memories. I feed my kids, I feed my soul. Corny? Maybe, but I'm OK with that.

Capturing those everyday moments is important to me. I'm constantly snapping pictures with my cell phone as well as with my digital camera. My husband's family lives overseas, and my own family is sprawled across the States, so it's hard to feel connected all the time. I don't always have the time or the … Read more

You know the problem: you pack your lunch, but by the time you go to eat it, your banana is bruised and yukky. That's why you need the Banana Guard--a "unique, patented device" that is "specially designed to fit the vast majority of bananas."

Yes, this product begs to be poked fun of, but if you frequently feed children, you may actually find it useful. Kids--at least my kids--often reject food based purely on aesthetics, and many a bruised banana has been deemed unworthy of my children's sensitive palates. The Banana Guard is … Read more

It seems all the talk of a product's environmental friendliness is falling on deaf ears for many gadget buyers, at least according to one new study.

According to the Gadgetology Report released Thursday by Retrevo, 42 percent of consumers don't care if the gadget they buy is green or not. And when asked if they felt guilty for not buying environmentally friendly gadgets, nearly 60 percent of respondents answered no. Sixteen percent of the respondents indicated that for them, price would trump the green factor in their buying decisions.

However, the report also shows that nearly 40 percent … Read more