Car and Xbox 360 aficionados, mark your calendars: January 9th, 2006 the North American International Auto Show in Detroit will unveil a concept car with a built-in Xbox 360. The Nissan Urge Roadster allows you to turn your car into a very expensive arcade where you can use the steering wheel and pedals to play PGR3 on a 7in screen that replaces your rear view mirror. Source: Pocket Lint (Muzik and Pics)
Nano Healthcore will be displaying this heated vest at CES 2006. As below zero weather approaches most parts of the country, people living in these areas are encouraged to stay warm using this antibacterial, magnetic, and negative ion heating vest. It is also recommended for those who have poor blood circulation, suffer from shoulder and backpain, and do lots of outside activities. The website doesn’t give much explanation as to how to use this vest, so we’ll have to pay them a visit to find out more about the functionality of this invention. They also offer the heating core belt.
What happens when you are just too broke to buy everyone in your house a Sonicare brush? Well you can: a) try to land a high paying job or b) get them this toothbrush vibrator that turns your $2.99 toothbrush into a high-tech automatic vibrating brush. The folks at iTouchless, who will be at CES this year, have this cool little gadget that fits your exsisitng toothbrush, is inexpensive, and is powered by AA batteries. You might want to check your local Walmart, Target or Costco to see if they already carry them.
The Consumers Electronics Association (CEA) has placed the Hitachi Microdrive in the list of "What Women Want" after surveying more than 1,600 (men/women) to determine the features and functions women prefer in their consumer electronic devices. The Microdrive will be featured at CEA’s "Technology Is a Girl’s Best Friend" Diamond Product Showcase at CES. So what’s so hot about this microdrive? According to the press release, great picture quality and the ability to share photos were must-have features, but overall the survey found ease-of-use, reliability and a lightweight design were important attributes in women’s selection of consumer electronics.
The Hitachi Microdrive 3K6 offers 6 gigabytes* of storage capacity in a one-inch drive. In other words, that’s 6,000 digital photos (1 MB each), 1,500-3,000 songs or eight hours of MPEG-4 video** — all in a device that’s smaller than the typical matchbook. Press Release
Can’t wait for the next baseball game so you can get a taste of those grilled hotdogs? Target has this hot dog rotisserie that grills the dogs, while it warms up the buns. The all-in-one gadget is perfect for the guy/gal who prefers to watch the game at home. Price: $49.99
Most of us are fascinated by robots, and the capabilities they now display. As androids become more common, they will assist us at lightning speed and without complaints, but don’t we also want them to be friendly? A team at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh created Marion "Tank" LeFleur, better known to them as Tank the roboreceptionist. Tank is part of an experiment that is seeking to make robots less boring, and more engaging. Their solution is to turn him into a robot with a personality, and a story. To enhance the experiment, Tank will eventually be able to recognize individuals using face recognition software. Heck, Tank even has his own blog. Source: NPR
The iPod was expected to be a popular gift this Christmas season, so if you are now the owner of an iPod nano, and love Hello Kitty, you might like the idea of these iPod protectors for your new toy. They are available at CyberGadget in Japan, and according to Akihabaranews, they are a DIY kit that will keep you entertained for a while
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Did you get an iPod nano for Christmas? Speck Products has a new toy for iPod nano owners, the iKitty case. Cat lovers will enjoy the rubberized case which hides the nano inside a black or white kitty shaped toy. It fits the 2 & 4 GB iPod Nano, has a dock connector and screen protector as well. This kitty stands on all fours, and when you turn it around, you’re able to access the click wheel. Price:$34.95
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This from the Wharton Tech Blog, an amusing cartoon by Derek Yu depicting the way Google saturates our internet news, and daily lives.
It’s almost like the color pink is saturating gadgets these days. Yuck! Anways, enjoy!
Techie Diva's Guide to Gadgets 
