Monthly Archives: August 2007

Gadgets August 29, 2007 posted by

CatEye Recumbent GameBike Pro – the ultimate laid back exercise

You could say that the CatEye Recumbent GameBike Pro recumbent exercise bike is the perfect combination of fitness machine and couch. No, you could, really. C’mon, which other piece of exercise equipment allows you to lay back and play computer games on your Playstation, PC, XBox et al, while pretending to push a pedal now and then? And gives you an on-board computer and steering wheel/gamepad to boot? None, that’s which. $1799.99 says you’re a fitness fraud, my friend, oh yes…

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Gadgets August 29, 2007 posted by

Step n’ Dine – dinner for one, done clever cats

Step n’ Dine Cat Bowl. Ingenious cat bowl uses kinetic motion to keep food fresh and cats fed on demand. Make sure your cat gets trained before you leave on that weekend break though, won’t you? £12.95.  A simple mechanical design keeps a lid on your cat’s food when he’s not hungry, but allows him simple access when he is. Numerous benefits including fresher food, less cat food smell indoors and protection of food from other animals and flies. Pedal…

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cool tech August 29, 2007 posted by

Network27 – bolt an online booking system onto your business fast

Network27 is a great idea. Need a booking system but can’t be bothered to create one yourself? Well fret no longer Mrs Busy Business Person, for help is at hand. Conferences, hotel rooms, lessons, hire, you name it. If you run a business which schedules customer services then this is one fast and easy way to replace your paper system or move it online. Priced from £9.99 per month for one business location.  Create your booking website by completing the signup form….

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Free Software August 29, 2007 posted by

Responding Heads – control your computer with your voice and his head

Responding Heads. Freeware voice command program lets you control your computer by speaking at it. Let’s face it, everyone at one time or another has wished they could control their computer this way. ‘WHY DON’T YOU *&@£&$ WELL DO WHAT I WANT YOU *£&()@£ PIECE OF….’ Or something like that.  Responding Heads enables you to launch programs, commands and actions via voice commands spoken into your PC microphone. The program uses the MS Speech recognition engine and is very easy…

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Gadgets August 28, 2007 posted by

Phonak Invisity – world’s first in-ear RF receiver

The Phonak Invisity is the world’s first in-ear RF receiver. Complete with multiple frequencies and a remote control for things like volume control. So we’re talking about an all but invisible earpiece which operates for 13 hours non-stop, to which you can send audio via a cell phone, walkie talkie or special transmitter from up to 250 metres away. Mmm…wonder who could possibly use one of these?  invisity is the smallest – and only – in-the-ear-receiver in the world. Discreet prompting…

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Gadgets August 28, 2007 posted by

Fly Pod – fly trap styles up for a better class of bug

The Fly Pod is an attempt to make fly traps look trendy. Does it work? Ask Venus. £49.99.  Unlike most electric fly traps, ours isn’t at all industrial looking, and instead, is silent, neat, hygienic and discreet – making it ideal for use in the home. The flies’ fascination with the light is their undoing; the soft glow lures them in, and they wing their way to a very sticky end. The glue board pulls out from the back, folding…

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opinion piece August 28, 2007 posted by

iPhone unlocking goes ballistic – what price Apple’s business strategy now?

Whoa, it’s an iPhone unlock fest out there. There are now apparently six ways to free the handset for any service provider already, plus one group offering $100K to anyone releasing an unlock via Open Source. Expect many more to pop up over the next few weeks. We’re not going to add huge amounts to the general wibble, except to say that this makes a mockery of any exclusive arrangements that Apple may have made with O2, T-Mobile  and the rest…

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Gadgets August 27, 2007 posted by

MicroLink Micro KVM Switch – control the world from your pocket

The NewLink Micro KVM Switch lets you control two PCs with one keyboard, mouse and monitor. Cute isn’t it? Of course when we say control, we don’t mean dominate. We’re talking more like a gentle and somewhat benevolent dictatorship. You give the orders, the two computers obey. All very PC, you might say. £39.99.  The two-port Micro KVM switch is a simple solution for those with more PC’s than hands. Use one keyboard, one mouse and one monitor to control two…

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Gadgets August 27, 2007 posted by

Scrolling LCD Watch – show the world your word

The Scrolling LCD Watch not only shows you the time but also lets you display one scrolling 5 letter word which you can show off to the world and his wife. Quite *why* you’d want to do this escapes us. Maybe the word is important to world peace? Maybe you’re the holder of The Word? Maybe you need to remind yourself that your name is Antho…? $75.00.  Clean contemporary design, with a scrolling display that offers the day and date…

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Gadgets August 27, 2007 posted by

Eco Media Player – this wind up and watch gizmo does it all

The Eco Media Player comes from the Trevor Baylis stable, and so you know it’s going to involve muscle power, don’t you? However unlike many other wind-up products, this one really does deliver the goods in return for your wrist pain. Not only is it a music and video player (1.8 inch screen), but also an FM radio, flashlight, sound recorder, photo viewer, mobile phone charger, e-book reader and data store. It comes with 2 GB of memory on-board and…

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Cool Web Apps & Sites August 27, 2007 posted by

20 Minute Nap – online power nap service refreshes the body and blows the mind

20 Minute Nap. Log on to the site, click the play button and lay back while soothing sounds from your computer help you drift off for a well deserved power snooze. OK, we’ll go with the flow here. Anyone seen the eye shades?   A power nap has many benefits for the mind and body and can provide many benefits to an individual’s life. The art behind the time constraint of “20 minutes” has been studied for many years and is…

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Bookmark This! August 27, 2007 posted by

Preezo – Powerpoint clone for the web

Preezo is a new presentation service on the Web. There’s nothing spectacular on offer here, but what’s interesting about this genre of web application is the fact that suddenly you don’t need to cart around your computer from place to place. Just find a local connected machine and off you go, present and profit. Or something.  Create professional quality presentations using an ultra-fast Ajax user interface… Access your presentations from any computer with an Internet connection and a modern browser….

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Awesome August 27, 2007 posted by

Broadband in the park – or how mobile broadband snuck up on us when we weren’t looking

It’s 2.00pm on a hot sunny afternoon and I’m blogging this from a deckchair in our local park using the new T-Mobile WebnWalk HSDPA USB Modem…and I’m gobsmacked. Long time readers of The Ferret will know that we’ve been looking forward to the arrival of mobile (i.e. cellular) broadband for ever, although we always figured it would need some fancy new techs to do it. Well we’ve got news for you….high speed mobile broadband is here, it’s affordable and it’s…

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