gadgets

Gadgettes 169: The mommy tech dreck episode (podcast)

After nearly a whole month without a new episode, the Gadgettes are back and badder than ever! We devote today's episode to examining the category dubbed "mommy tech" from this year's CES. By the end of today's episode, the entire mommy tech category is practically crying to it's own mommy.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video)… Read more

The ultimate T-shirt-folding machine

Many years ago, my husband told me he didn't like the way I folded his shirts. "You sound like a man who wants to fold his own shirts," I told him, and ever since then, he has held the title of Official Laundry Folder in our home.

Now that we have five children, we generate the amount of laundry you might expect to see in a small country. And since our oldest children are 8 and 10, we'd like to put them to work. Their folding skills may be lacking, but I've already claimed that … Read more

Poll: Do you suffer from gadget-upgrade fatigue?

My cure for post-CES information overload is playing music. For me, that means a return to the basics: pop on a LP, sit down, close my eyes, and just listen. Man, that feels good.

Call me a Luddite, but I like well-designed products you don't have to replace every year or so. Unless you have money to burn, why be an early adopter? Why buy a first generation anything? You'll pay a big price for being first, and pay again when trading up for the next "improved" model. I've never heard of anyone who regretted … Read more

RCA creating Wi-Fi-powered gadget charger

Here's an energy source most of us haven't considered tapping: Wi-Fi wireless signals.

At CES 2010, RCA was showing a prototype of a handheld energy-harvesting battery designed to convert energy transmitted in a Wi-Fi signal into DC power, according to a report in OhGizmo.

The device, called the Airnergy, uses an antenna and circuitry to harvest the energy and an internal battery to store the electrical charge. A company representative told OhGizmo that they were able to charge a BlackBerry from 30 percent to full charge in about 90 minutes using the ambient Wi-Fi signal at CES, although … Read more

A chip clip that talks back

On occasion, I've given into a craving while shopping at the supermarket and buy a bag of tortilla chips. When I do, I mean to hoard them for myself and not share them with the rest of my beloved family. So when I open the pantry at the end of a long day to find the bag empty save for a few crumbs, I am unhappy.

And we all know what happens when Mama is unhappy.

The Record-O-Clip might help. It's a chip clip that lets you record a short message that plays each time the clip is … Read more

Eat more popcorn, fewer hulls

Ever wondered what would happen if a dentist invented a popcorn bowl? Well, wonder no more, and behold the Kernel Katcher, which neatly collects your unpopped kernels and excess hulls so that you can enjoy a net popcorn experience, with no worries of chipping a tooth on an unpopped kernel.

Pop your corn any way you like, then dump it into the Kernel Katcher. Snap on the lid, shake the bowl in a circular motion, and your popcorn waste falls into the catcher compartment at the bottom. You can fit about 13 cups of popped corn in there and still … Read more

New, terrifying, no-electronics U.S. flight security rules?

That failed terrorist attack Friday might make international flights a whole lot less enjoyable. Passengers are reporting that new restrictions are in place, and their severity varies flight to flight. Among the reports: No electronics allowed.

Update: According to a tweet from industry analyst Charlene Li, here's the situation:

Update 2: The Transportation Security Adminstration also released this statement, which seems to confirm that electronics usage policies will be on a case-by-case basis (emphasis added):

Passengers flying from international locations to U.S. destinations may notice additional security measures in place. These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same thing everywhere. Due to the busy holiday travel season, both domestic and international travelers should allot extra time for check-in."

Again, these are isolated incidents, and there's still no official word from TSA. But in certain instances, some passengers are reporting that electronics usage on inbound U.S. flights is restricted. We'll let you know if an official announcement comes.

The New York Times is reporting that no one will be able to move from their seats during the last hour of flight. That means no bathroom breaks, no accessing carry-on luggage, nothing. When that plane starts descending, you're planted.

Multiple sources, among them Xeni Jardin of Boing Boing, have also been told that no electronics are allowed on international flights. None. So you can't even play video games to distract yourself from how badly you have to pee. … Read more

Watch YouTube on your microwave

You know how, during the two minutes or so that you're waiting for your microwave popcorn to pop, you find yourself thinking, "If only I could be watching a video on YouTube right now"? No? Oh. Well, if you ever do find yourself wanting to take advatage of those few moments of forced waiting, you'll love the idea behind the CastOven.

From the developers' Web site: "Watching movies, playing video games, and browsing Web pages are fun, but all of them require a certain amount of time of us to spare." To solve this … Read more

Online laundry

My freshman year of college, I lived on the third floor of my dorm. The laundry room, of course, was in the basement. I definitely got a lot of exercise running up and down the stairs, checking for empty machines, checking if my machine was done, or checking if my clothes were still there.

Kids these days just don't know how good they have it, especially if they have eSuds, a new technology that is changing the entire experience of public laundry facilities. When a facility installs eSuds, users can then use any Internet-connected computer to check real-time machine … Read more