Gadgetry Finds Novelty
Searching for a stocking stuffer? Before you absent-mindedly grab a chain-store gift card off the rack, why not consider an actual gift? The digital age has brought to the marketplace a wide range of relatively inexpensive gadgets. Odds are that they will be much more appreciated than a blinking Santa or a bottle opener that plays the Notre Dame fight song. Here are some of the more interesting products we’ve seen this season.
Kena Kai has created a line of DataSafe wallets that are designed to prevent identity thieves from picking up personal or financial information with wireless scanners.
The GrooveTooth Talk is a hands-free Bluetooth device for your car that clips to your sun visor.
The $40 Pet’s Eye View Cam takes still images from your pet's collar.
The U.S.B. Beverage Chiller from CoolIT Systems will keep a cup or can at a refreshing 45 degrees
When the Eco-Button is pushed, your computer hibernates to a point where it is drawing only 1.8 watts of juice.
A NO-SPYING ZONE FOR YOUR WALLET With the increasing use of radio-frequency identification, or RFID, tags in credit cards and drivers’ licenses, Kena Kai (kenakai.com) has created a line of DataSafe wallets, leather billfolds lined with layers of a material that blocks RFID signals. The wallets are designed to prevent identity thieves from picking up personal or financial information with wireless scanners. The wallets, which cost $40 to $250, have been approved by the General Services Administration as “electromagnetically opaque sleeves.”
DON’T STICK IT IN YOUR EAR If driving around with a Bluetooth headset in your ear is not for you, consider a Bluetooth hands-free unit that clips to your sun visor. Several models from different manufacturers are available, including the svelte $80 GrooveTooth Talk from Cygnett (cygnett.com). The device, which is two and a half inches long, can be recharged through its car adapter or a U.S.B. port. Cygnett says the device is good for 460 hours of standby and seven hours of talk on a single charge. It pairs quickly and easily with a Bluetooth-compatible phone. In tests, voice quality was excellent in the car; noise and echo cancellation cut out all extraneous and overlapping voices. But several callers reported muffled speech, even though they were using landlines.
IT’S A DOG’S WORLD — STEP INSIDE More than 20 years ago, scientists thought of attaching video cameras to animals to see the world from another creature’s point of view. Now Uncle Milton Industries (unclemilton.com) is offering a home version, perfect for your dog or cat. The $40 Pet’s Eye View Cam (sold by speedydog.net) takes still images only, at 1-, 5- or 15-minute intervals, that can be downloaded through a U.S.B. link to a computer, giving you the opportunity not only to see where your pet went, but how it got there as well.
CHILLING WHILE YOU’RE SURFING Who wants to sit in front of a computer with a rapidly warming can of soda? Thanks to American ingenuity, that’s no longer a problem. The U.S.B. Beverage Chiller from CoolIT Systems (coolitsystems.com) will keep a cup or can at a refreshing 45 degrees. The $25 accessory uses 5.75 watts of power, minimizing its effect on a laptop’s battery life. The unit must be plugged into a computer’s U.S.B. port; it may not work if plugged into a U.S.B. hub. It’s designed to keep a cold drink cool, not bring a can down from room temperature.
PUTTING YOUR PC TO SLEEP When you walk away from your computer to stick your head in the fridge, your PC continues to consume power. The Eco-Button ($25, from ecobutton-usa.com) can help save energy. You connect the device (PC only; a Mac version is in the works) to a desktop with a U.S.B. port. When the button is pushed, the computer hibernates to a point where it is drawing only 1.8 watts of juice. Pressing any key on the keyboard restores the computer to life. The company says that the device, which will be available early next year, can save up to $50 a year; a calculator on its Web site allows users to figure more precise savings based on local electricity costs.