USB Chameleon

USB Chameleon is available from I Want One of Those

If the Culture Club worked in an office (now there’s a thought) then the place would be stuffed with tunes “Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon” and PCs would be decked-out with USB Chameleons (and possibly some rather dodgy wardrobes).

Technorati Tags: USB

USB Chameleon

USB Chameleon is available from I Want One of Those

If the Culture Club worked in an office (now there’s a thought) then the place would be stuffed with tunes “Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon” and PCs would be decked-out with USB Chameleons (and possibly some rather dodgy wardrobes). Yes we agree it would be quite Chameleon themed but still, we can’t see Boy George in a faceless cubicle just doing the accounts, can you? Ok we got a bit distracted there. The USB Chameleon is a bizarrely loveable desk buddy. Pop him on your computer screen, plug him into a spare USB port, and watch as he randomly rolls his eyeballs in opposite directions, and sticks his tongue out to catch passing flies. Utterly pointless, endlessly diverting.

USB Chameleon is available from I Want One of Those

Digital Photo Frames

Digital Photo Frames are available from Crazy About Gadgets

Photo frames are the sort of thing that you don’t really talk about, but you can guarantee you own loads of `em. With the advent of the digital age, photo albums have become electronic overnight with everybody storing images to disk rather than on obsolete space cluttering paper. Not deterred by this we can bring you lucky people the next generation of photo frame which actually isn’t a photo frame at all. It’s a 7inch 16:9 widescreen, full colour, feature packed LCD screen mounted, in either a perspex or brushed aluminium frame. A built in memory card slot for SD, MMC or memory stick enables you to view you’re your images, video MP3 or MP4 music files in full colour with mutable stereo sound. You can also forget about manually changing the photos when you fancy a change because they will automatically scroll for you.

Not just any old picture display unit, the luscious LCD picture frame will auto size your images to the full size of the screen and even allow you to set images to music. For the control freaks among you the LCD has a full array of buttons on its back panel, or (for those who demand the ultimate in control) there is a fully functional remote control. The remote gives you access to the card inserted into the memory slot and also gives you control over the brightness, contrast and colour of the LCD. There are also a pair of external connections including USB 2.0 and A/V out to allow you to view your digital files on a full size TV or PC.

Did you get all that? Well there’s more……. As well as all these features you get a power supply and a support foot with 12 different adjustments.

Digital Photo Frames are available from Crazy About Gadgets

Isis Adventure

Isis Adventure is available from Mankind

Welcome to the ISIS Adventure, possibly the most difficult puzzle in existence, (well according to it’s creators). Now it’s your turn to put their theory to the test.

The ISIS Ball is an alloy orb constructed in layers and covered in cryptic hieroglyphics. All you have to do is open it by cracking the combination. You’ve heard of the riddle of the sphinx, well this is bound to rival any ancient conundrum!

Once you’ve cracked the combination and opened the orb, a special key will be revealed which has a unique serial number stamped on it. This key will open one of the ISIS golden pyramids which are hidden in secret locations throughout the UK.

Each golden pyramid contains thousands of pounds – a gold coin worth £500 and a number of silver coins worth £20 each. The designers are so confident that the code cannot be cracked that they have put up money for anyone who can do it! Sounds irresistible? It is!

“The ISIS is the result of years of research and development and is completely original. There are literally millions of combinations and the game promises to challenge the most astute and intellectual of minds. Once you pick one of these things up, it becomes a real obsession and you just can’t put it down until you crack the code….but that may never happen!” Andrew Reeves (creator)

And Every ISIS is unique, and handmade in England by precision engineers. It also looks and feels beautiful, and comes in a solid wooden box with high polish!

So, let your Isis Adventure begin!

Isis Adventure is available from Mankind

USB Turntable

USB Turntable is available from Firebox

Digital music is great but isn’t it a pity you can’t transfer your old records on to your computer? Well guess what? You can! That’s right vinyl lovers, thanks to the ingenious USB Turntable you can put all your LPs, 12″s and singles straight into your digital library.

Simply plug this chic little turntable into the nearest USB port, fire up the idiot-proof Audacity software and start converting your collection. Forget about clumsy adaptors, special drivers and mismatched software. It’s easier than, er…well, it’s easier than putting a record on!

USB Turntable Just think of all that lovely vinyl you’ve got languishing in the loft. Fair enough, some of it should probably stay hidden (no, we don’t know why we bought Bruce Willis’s Return of Bruno LP either), but even if it’s just for the sake of nostalgia, hearing all the records you grew up listening to makes for a fantastic trip down memory lane. And if you’re one of those trendy DJs (we’re talking Carl Cox, not Pat Sharpe) who likes mixing it on the decks with vinyl you can put all your bangin’ anthems on to your PC for transfer to CD or MP3.

USB Turntable Featuring adjustable gain, anti-skating control and high-speed vinyl recording function, the belt-driven USB Turntable can also be connected to any home stereo with CD or auxiliary inputs. This means you can spin your records through your regular system when you’re not converting them. You can even don a big pair of tinted glasses and pretend you’re Simon Bates. If you want.

Whether it’s Whitesnake, Wham, Spandau or some ancient disc belonging to your dad, the USB Turntable can convert it. And it doesn’t matter what speed the records in question are – this Turntable can handle both 33s and 45s. So why not forget about buying any new music for a while and rediscover your vinyl. All right? Not ‘arf!

USB Turntable is available from Firebox

Doctor Who Tardis 4-Way USB Hub

Doctor Who Tardis 4-Way USB Hub is available from Firebox

Today’s computers are triumphs of technology, but divvy designers always seem to scrimp on the USB ports. A shame because practically every electronic device on the market is now USB-friendly – from cameras and MP3 players to phones, lava lamps and drum kits. (If you don’t believe us, just type ‘USB’ in our keyword search box). And who can be bothered fiddling around the back of their computer looking for spare ports?

Not us. That’s why we use USB hubs. But we don’t use any old hubs to bolster our USB connectivity. Good grief, no! We use ones shaped liked Doctor Who’s Tardis. Why? Well, for starters we love Doctor Who. But more than that we love the Tardis. This ingenious product of Time Lord technology is surely one of the most iconic objects in sci-fi history.

What’s more, the good Doctor’s Tardis (yeah, yeah, we know it stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space) is an obsolete Type 40 model with a jammed chameleon circuit, giving it the shape of a 1950s London police box. And it just doesn’t get any more eccentric or quirkily British than that.

The Doctor Who Tardis USB Hub boasts four ports in which to plug your various gizmos. Simply plug in and you’re away. But here’s the good bit: every time you connect or disconnect a device, the blue light on the top of the Tardis flashes and that unmistakable de-materialisation ‘vworp, vworp’ sound starts sawing away at your lugholes. Thankfully it doesn’t actually vanish into the time vortex, so you can enjoy the classic grating din again and again by plugging in more devices or pressing the demo button.

Perfect for Doctor Who fans or those of you who want to increase your USB connectivity via a pretend Gallifreyan time/space machine, the Tardis USB Hub makes an eye-catching addition to any work surface. And with 4 metres of cable, you can easily slip it out of view when the boss, wife, or anyone else who might disapprove of PC peripherals disguised as dimensionally transcendental vehicles, is around. Vworp, vworp!

Doctor Who Tardis 4-Way USB Hub is available from Firebox

iKaraoke for iPod

iKaraoke for iPod available from firebox

Even those of us who can’t hold a note in a bucket enjoy a bit of a sing song. The X Factor proves that every week. But now thanks to Griffin’s brilliant iKaraoke you can sing along to your favourite tunes without being laughed at by an entire nation. You won’t even have to go to a karaoke bar or strut around the bedroom in your pants yelling into a hairbrush.

iKaraoke is a truly ingenious iPod accessory that sends the music from your iPod to your stereo minus the lead vocals, so you can step up to the mic and sing your favourite tunes without the likes of Beyonce and Bono cramping your style.

How? Well, a clever button removes the frequency carrying the vocals, leaving the backing track for you to sing along to. Clever eh? You can hook iKaraoke up to your stereo via the line-in cable or use it wirelessly through your FM receiver, iTrip-styley. You can even pause, scan forward/backward, add reverb to your warbling or temporarily drop the original vocals back in.

Best of all iKaraoke lets you sing along to absolutely anything you fancy, not just hackneyed (but brilliant) classics like Summer of ‘69 and My Way. Whether you’re keeping it real rapping to Eminem, Cookie Monster-ing it along to some grindcore metal in your car, or vocally butchering a Rat Pack fave at an iKaraoke party, this idiot-proof gizmo is guaranteed to make you feel like a proper star. Or a proper plonker, depending on your vocal prowess.

Okay, so the slender microphone is a bit Nolan Sisters looking, but you won’t care about that when you’re singing the “and through it aaall” bit off Angels. Besides, I’m in the Mood for Dancing is quite a challenge. Especially if you’re doing it wearing a sequined boob tube and sprayed-on leggings. So we hear.

We reckon iKaraoke is going to sell faster than tickets to an Abba reunion so hurry up and hit Buy. All together now: “At first I was afraid, I was petrified…”

iKaraoke for iPod available from firebox

Beer Chill Dispenser

Available from Firebox

Mmm…draught beer. Don’t you just love it? The problem is you have to visit your local drinking emporium to enjoy the lovely stuff. Yes, you can buy cans from the offy but they’re simply not the same, are they? After all, a perfectly poured pint is the most beautifully crafted beverage known to mankind. Probably.

So wouldn’t it be good if you could pull your own ice-cold amber ambrosia whenever you fancy? With the Wunderbar Beer Chill Dispenser you can do exactly that, and you won’t even need to leave the house.

Simply hook up your bevy of choice (using a standard 5 litre keg) and prepare to be amazed as this sleek, self-cooling electric gizmo delivers your beer in genuine draught fashion, ice cold with just the right amount of fizz. It’s even got a proper tap and drip tray. Beer fest? Not half! Indeed the Wunderbar makes many a pub tap look decidedly old-fashioned – especially as it boasts a digital LED display to control its internal thermo cooling system.

Unless you live above a pub, ownership of a Beer Chill Dispenser is guaranteed to increase your popularity and improve your social life*. It’s also ideal for those moments when you fancy a genuine draught beer but can’t be bothered with all that frantic fiver-waving down the pub. And even though you still have to buy the beer, the dispenser will pay for itself in no time as the mark-up on lager in the pub is becoming increasingly ridiculous.

Still not convinced? Consider this: with the Wunderbar Beer Chill to hand you could be glugging ice-cold draught beer, right here, right now, and it wouldn’t even be your round when you’ve finished. Get ‘em in. Mmm…lager!

* This sentence is in no way legally binding. Or particularly true.

Available from Firebox

Plus Deck Cassette Converter

Available from Firebox

Audio cassettes were great in their day, weren’t they? Taping stuff off the radio, compiling party mixes, C60s, C90s, er, reeling in mangled tape using a pencil, forgetting what side you were supposed to be rewinding, accidentally recording over your favourites…actually, on second thoughts, tapes were a bit rubbish.

The trouble is you’ve probably got several boxfuls of cassettes filled with precious recordings languishing in the cupboard. And that’s why you need the ingenious Plus Deck.

This back to the future bit of kit is a full logic, front-loading cassette deck that can convert, edit and play tapes on your PC. Once you’ve hooked up the Plus Deck you can rediscover the music and sounds you grew up with in MP3 format, archive your collection, or simply use it to play tapes on your computer.

It really is amazing what you find on old cassettes – we’ve already discovered the top 40 countdown from 1984 (complete with Richard Skinner informing the nation that 99 Red Balloons is still number one), a 2Unlimited mix (interrupted by someone saying ‘testing, testing’ then belching) and a recording of Granny Firebox prattling on about the blitz. And that was just from one C90! Next up, we’re going to convert all our audiobooks and Learn German tapes that have been collecting dust for the past decade. Ooh, ja!

Easily installed in any spare 5.25″ bay of your computer, the idiot-proof Plus Deck is packed with user-friendly features and the conversion software is a doddle to suss. It even boasts auto reverse so you can play both sides of the tape without ejecting it.

Once you start converting you’ll be totally hooked. And when you eventually run out of tapes to digitize, you can bet your wonky spools that friends and relatives will come a knocking with their collections. So hurry up and get ordering – you won’t have to stretch your fingers to press ‘rec’ and ‘play’ simultaneously, just hit the Buy button. Sound!

Available from Firebox

Solio Charger

Solio Charger from Firebox

Isn’t the sun great? Because as well as being big, bright and orangey (a bit like this website) its rays can be harnessed to power things. Sadly, unless you’re a Bond villain, solar energy is normally associated with dreary things like calculators and central heating systems. But not for much longer, because the ingenious Solio Solar Charger is a brilliant take-anywhere gizmo that will charge your iPod using the power of the sun.

Solio Charger Armed with a Solio you’ll never run out of juice again, even if you’re miles from the nearest power socket. All the rage amongst polar explorers (no, really) the award-winning Solio features a fan-blade design that allows it to soak up lots of lovely rays. Just spread out the blades and expose them to direct sunlight (either outside or affixed to a window).

Solio Charger The chic Solio’s high capacity internal battery stores energy and then releases it when the unit is plugged into your iPod. And it doesn’t just release a wimpy trickle; a fully charged Solio delivers enough energy to extend iPod playtimes by up to 9 hours. And if you’re ever stranded on a desert island you won’t need to leave the Solio in the sun for days on end just to listen to one Shakin’ Stevens track, because one hour of sun can provide an hour’s worth of play time.

Solio Charger All you treehuggers out there will be thrilled to learn that the Solio is environmentally friendly – the more you use it, the less carbon dioxide you emit into the atmosphere. There really isn’t a downside to owning this pocket-sized miracle. It might seem a bit daft but you can even plug the Solio into a regular wall socket to charge up its battery for instant power anywhere. Not a bad idea as the Solio can store energy for more than a year!

Solio Charger We’ve seen some bright ideas in our time but the Solio Solar Charger is surely one of the brightest. Whether you’re backpacking, skiing or trekking across the Antarctic, the Solio is an essential travelling companion for anyone who loves music on the move. Get in there, sun!

Solio Charger from Firebox

USB Drum Kit

USB Drum Kit available from Firebox

To the purist, drums and electronics go together like liver and custard. But we’re not purists. And we quite like liver and custard. Besides, the days when the only sounds electronic drumkits could muster were pathetic, disco-ey ‘poos’ and EastEnders-style ‘dums’ are definitely over.

Unfortunately most of today’s electronic drumkits cost a small fortune. Not so the USB Drum Kit. Coming in at less than the price of a decent cymbal, this ingenious set up plugs directly into your nearest USB port and plays through your computer’s soundcard and speakers. Clever, eh!

Hear the drummer get wicked
Whether you’re a total novice or a seasoned skinbasher, the USB Drum Kit is an ideal practice kit as it can be played through headphones for virtually silent practice. The only noise housemates will hear is the tippity-tap of sticks on the kit’s rubber trigger pads.

And what about all those thwacktastic drum and cymbal sounds? Well, the USB Drum Kit’s ‘brain’ contains 233 realistic drum sounds and 50 preset rhythm patters, so you can have a bombastic rock kit one minute and a crisp funk kit the next. You can even compose complete arrangements and create and save your own customised patterns and songs.

Easily mounted on a compact rack system, the USB Drum Kit’s six playing pads are velocity-sensitive so you can create Dave Grohl-levels of percussive pandemonium or give it a little less wallop, Charlie Watts-styley. The pads can also be ‘choked’, which, for all you non-drummers out there, means they can be caught with one hand in order to instantly kill any sustain. (Think opening bars of Eye of the Tiger).

Two equally responsive pedals take care of all your bass drum/hi-hat action and we’ll even throw in a full tutorial system/CD video to get all you wannabe Keith Moons on the road to superstardom. For those about to rock, we salute you!

USB Drum Kit available from Firebox

Wireless Outdoor Solar Speaker

Wireless Outdoor Solar Speaker from Firebox

Not so long ago the only way to share your music with the great outdoors was to lug a ghetto blaster around the garden or buy a really long cable for your stereo speakers and pray for dry weather. But not any more, because the nifty Wireless Solar Speaker renders the aforementioned practices obsolete.

Simply plonk this discreet device on the grass or hide it in the hedge and its 5w speaker will pump out up to 70dbs of punchy music al fresco. How? Easy, because the speaker itself contains an eco-friendly solar panel to charge the onboard battery directly from the sun’s rays and an accompanying mains-powered transmitter plugs into your MP3/CD player/radio and beams the music to the speaker from up to 150ft away. Brilliant!

Whether you’re chillin’ in the garden, partying on the patio or boogie-ing round the barbecue, the Wireless Solar Speaker is bound to become an indispensable outdoor accessory. Yes, you can listen to your MP3s outside via headphones but that’s no good when friends come a visiting. With the small but effective Wireless Solar Speaker you and your pals can listen to whatever playlist/CD you fancy without having to crank up the stereo in the kitchen and fling open all the doors.

As you’ve probably guessed from its name this smart device is wireless, so you won’t keep tripping into the tulips when you’re raving around the lawn. It even comes with a handy remote control so you can adjust the volume without having to put down your pina colada and get off the sun lounger.

Just think, with a Wireless Solar Speaker lurking in the backyard you can prune to Pink, dig to Dizzee Rascal and sunbathe to System of a Down. You can even barbecue to Billy Ray Cyrus. If you want. Musical preferences (and rubbish alliteration) aside, this smart little speaker system is guaranteed to add ambience to any garden soiree. Who says there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues?

Wireless Outdoor Solar Speaker from Firebox

Vase™ PC Speaker

Vase™ PC Speaker available from Feeling Chilled

The Vase is a uniquely designed computer speaker and is the first computer speaker that combines the USB power solution with an Acoustic Lens to diversify the direction of the sound to give a surround sound experience to the user. Okay so that’s a little bit techy, but trust us – this is a good piece of equipment!

Within the sleek stylish design of the Vase, specialised sound engineers have calculated and designed the sound chambers to create the best possible sound for a computer speaker of its stature – now doesn’t that sound impressive? Even we were impressed by that bit!

The Vase comes with two separate leads, the USB lead provides power to the speakers and hub and the 3.5mm stereo jack provides the sound, this increases flexibility, for example, it’s very easy to have a computer powering the speakers and a mp3 player supplying the sound.

A glow that gives the speaker a truly amazing appearance and the swivel button technology is really unique. For anyone who is into their gadgets, music and/or computer this has got to be the ultimate must have!

Vase™ PC Speaker available from Feeling Chilled

Shooting Gallery

Pick up a proper, traditional-style gun and shoot them stupid ducks!

You don’t get long to hit as many as possible and the silly things start moving faster and faster in time with the music.

Authentic sound effects fuel your adrenalin and LCD displays your score for all to see.

Available from Mankind

Undersea Volcano Lava Light

Undersea Volcano Lava Light is available From Feeling Chillled

The Undersea Volcano brings together the dynamics of earth, fire and water in an amazing lamp! The Undersea Volcano Lamp makes a fantastic addition to any room, and is a superb conversation piece. Lava and magma balls continuously erupt from the volcano, creating an astonishing visual display. The Undersea Volcano Lamp features LED lights, so the bulbs will never need to be replaced.

This makes a great gift, for children for their bedrooms, as a house warming present, or for birthdays or Christmas, Undersea Volcano Lamp looks great anywhere!

Undersea Volcano Lava Light is available From Feeling Chillled