The Transformers are hitting the big screen this July 4, and that means a whole lot of merchandising going on. Among the hordes of Transformers toys are Hasbro's Real Gear Transformers, a series of toy electronics that turn into robots. Remember Soundwave, the Transformer that became a tape deck? This is the next generation. Click for a slide show of all six Real Gear Transformers, plus the real-life gadgets we think they most resemble.
The other day we were complaining (yes, again) that electronics manufacturers sometimes seem determined to disguise their products, making them look different devices altogether. Well, we're apparently not alone.
(Credit:
Broadband Media)
Mobile Magazine makes a similar observation about the "Neo 808i" phone, which it says looks more like a media player because of its landscape screen. Even more notable, though, is how many features it crams into its diminutive frame. Among those are a 1.3-megapixel camera, an MP3 and MP4 player, FM radio, 128MB of memory, 3D graphics and Bluetooth connectivity. All this in an almost-miniature case that measures 2.6 by 1.6 inches and barely half an inch thick, while weighing just over 3 ounces. At that size, it may be hard to tell what you're looking at anyway.
It's been noted repeatedly how difficult it is to tell what a lot of new gadgets do, based on appearance alone. But looking at various items that are coming to market these days, we have to wonder if some companies intentionally want to design products to look like something they're not. Check out the photos with this item to see what we're talking about.
(Credit:
Akihabara News)
This media player from Japan's Sunconnection at first looked just like a camera to us, at least on one side. But when turned around, as Akihabara News notes, the passionately named "SC-VP128SD" has a 2.5-inch screen for its MP3 info and video display. Oh, and it has a camera too. Go figure.
The most noticeable feature about this item is that, by looking at it, you can't tell what it is. When we first saw a photo of Microsoft's LifeCam NX-6000, we thought it was a USB drive. (On second thought, it's not gold or bejeweled, so it's obviously our mistake.) Then when we found out it was a camera, we thought it was one of those 007-vintage spy gadgets we always wanted as a kid.
But it's a Webcam, and one made for a notebook at that, so it doesn't look anything like its more traditional cousins. Best of all, the newest addition of the LifeCam line, which was announced a couple of months ago, is on sale now for considerably less than the original $100 tag. Which is why, of course, we must have one.
Mind you, it's not just that we crave every new thing we see (lying), but we do concede an addiction to laptop gear that's easily portable and at least somewhat resistant to the destructive ways of kids and clumsy dads (us). This LifeCam, for instance, has a safely retractable lens for its 2-megapixel video and 7-megapixel stills. We do have a quibble with Microsoft's marketing people, though, as is so often the case with any company we encounter: "LifeCam"? With a name like that, we would expect some kind of medical device.
(Photos: Microsoft, Akihabara News)
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