Mimobot has set a new record, most presidential flash drives ever created.  Well to be fair they are the only ones that have done so thus far, but come on guys you have to see the obvious market for this!

Mimobot created cartoonish versions of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln with working flash drives.   Both USB 2.0 drives are available in 8, 16 and 128GB variations for $20, $30 and $130.  There is a limited number of the George Washington model, only 1000, so you better jump while they last!

These look like awesome gift ideas, or just something for yourself.  My only gripe is Lincoln doesn’t have a top hat, I mean come on, obvious oversight on that one.

Would you pick one or both of these up? Or do you feel that the extra “premium” on the price isn’t worth it?

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We love our smartphones, but we don’t really love the typical battery life that we get out of them. Between all those Facebook updates, Google Maps lookups, and Ustream video-streaming sessions, they just don’t last. This is why you need to have a backup battery for your smartphone and this universal unit from Motorola totally fits the bill, because it will charge just about anything via USB, including Apple, BlackBerry, Samsung, LG, Nokia and, yes, Motorola too.

The idea behind the Motorola P793 Universal Dual-Charging Portable Power Pack is quite simple. It’s about the size of a standard cell phone, but it has an integrated micro-USB cable that can swing out and charge your mobile device. If you use something other than micro-USB, as would be the case with an iPod, you can use the device’s charging cable with the USB output. Yes, you can charge two devices at the same time.

It has a total capacity of 1420mAh, which is roughly enough to provide one complete charge to most modern smartphones. They say it should provide about five hours of additional talk time. Motorola is also going green with the P793, using eco-friendly materials in this CarbonFree product.

Pick up the Motorola P793 universal backup battery for $25.47 on Amazon. That is just enough to qualify for the free super saver shipping too.

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The idea here is very simple and it’s very easy to implement. The Zorro Macsk is made by a Chinese comapny called TMDTouch and it hooks up to your iMac via a simple USB connection. They only have a version for the 21.5-inch iMac at the moment, but you do get to choose from a variety of colors and the 27-inch version is reportedly in the works. The whole thing can be set up in about 10 seconds.

Perhaps the more interesting thing here is that it’s not a touch panel in the traditional sense. Instead, the Zorro Macsk uses infrared technology to track your touch input. You can then do all the trackpad and touchscreen things on your iMac at will and the accessory only costs $199. Touch-enabled Windows 8 all-in-one PCs are coming down the pipeline, so this is one way your iMac can keep pace with the Windows world.

[Source]

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A new portable fuel cell developed by Lilliputian Systems Inc (LSI) is being dubbed the “plug-less charger,” it will allow you to recharge the battery of your electronic device no matter where you are, and all you need is Butane.

The device, which is about the size of a thick smartphone, is coming with a solid oxide fuel cell membrane deposited onto a silicon wafer. Recyclable butane cartridges will be used to produce power, and, according to the company, each cartridge promises “several weeks of ‘always available’ Personal Power”. The fuel cell can be used to charge any device via the USB port.

Reportedly, the fuel cell lasts five to ten times longer than similarly-sized batteries. According to CNET, it will allow you to recharge your iPhone 4 a total of 10 to 14 times on a single cartridge. And it has been approved as a carry-on luggage item by the UN International Civil Aviation Organization and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

There have been no hints regarding the price tag, but the company says that it will be less expensive compared to conventional spare batteries. If interested, you can get one via Brookstone sometime in the near future. More details on the device will be available soon, so stay tuned. In the meantime, check out a video about it courtesy of Mashable.

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At the supermarket, we look at the price/kg or price/l when comparing similar products. But we can’t really do that when it comes to getting an AA battery. For getting those, people usually go for names they are familiar with, such as Duracell or Panasonic, or go after attractive terms such as ‘PLUS’, ‘SUPER’ or ‘MAX’. But Denis Hennessy had other ideas. He bought a pack of every AA battery type he could find to do an experiment to see which brand provides the most bang for the buck.

Hennessy had an Arduino and an LCD panel, and he designed a circuit which allowed him to measure how much energy each battery produced. He also added a temperature sensor and USB logging capability. The circuit measured the voltage across a fixed load every second until the battery reached 0.2V, while the LCD displayed voltage and the amount of energy generated, in Joules and watt-hours. With the data collected, Hennessy compared each of the batteries in terms of the cost per Watt-Hour.

And the result revealed that super charged names such as ‘super’ and ‘max’ don’t really mean much. The best performance was from RS Power Ultra, and the worst from the Panasonic Evolta.

Head here to know more about the experiment and you can recreate Hennessy’s test as he has posted the source code on GitHub along with the design and result files.

The post How To Choose The Best AA Battery appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Brothers Randy and Michael Gregg have come out with a new product that will help hunters to shoot a deer even if the hunting season is over, well, sort of. Their Kill Shot is a proposed camera-equipped replica rifle which, as you might have guessed by now, will allow you to take photos instead of firing bullets.

The Kill Shot (name not yet finalised) is in the development phase at the moment and its main feature will be a digital camera built into the scope. When you pull the trigger, the camera will grab a time- and date-stamped snapshot of an animal in the crosshairs. You can zoom in on an animal and the camera also comes with video recording capablilties.

All the images and video will be saved onto a memory card mounted in the same location as an ammunition magazine on a real rifle. You will be able to access the data via a USB port.

Well, that’s about it. We have to admit that the idea of a gun which can take photos is totally silly. But they are talking about some possible uses for the new product. It could be useful for people who love to track down wild animals but do not want to kill them. But for that, we just need a good quality camera (which also looks like a camera).

But novice hunters can use it to train themselves so that there won’t be any dangers of using live ammunition. But with just a camera with you, what will you do about the charging Leopard?

We are against violence and hunting and all, and therefore recommend hunters to get a Kill Shot and stay away from the killing ways. You all could still boast about your adventures by sharing the pictures on the internet and saying look what you “shot.”  A much nicer and pleasant way of gaming animals.  Kind of like a cigarette vaporizer to ween you off your hunting addiction.

The Gregg brothers and their other brother, Daniel, are trying to raise funds for seeing their product enter the production phase. Head to kickstarter if you are interested in showing your support and a pledge of $150 will get you a Kill Shot (or whatever it will be called, you can suggest good names below just for fun) when it’s released.

The post The Camera Rifle That Lets You Shoot, But Not Kill appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

USB flash drives, as you know, are useful for storing your favorite songs, videos, important documents and more. And it’s certainly interesting when folks come out with new designs for their flash drives, especially when the design is inspired by war gear. The USB AK-47 Assault Rifle flash drive lets you save your data on the go and will also remind you that your boss will kill you if the work isn’t finished on time.

But the folks over at Brando appear to have done little research before naming the new product after Avtomat Kalashnikova. It definitely does not look like an AK-47 as it’s shorter (well, nobody would want to carry around a flash drive the size of an actual AK-47) and it also doesn’t come with the signature wooden color.

But take the AK-47 part out, and it’s your usual flash drive.  Unfortunately it’s coming with the now ancient USB 2.0, probably to show respect to the aged rifle. You can choose from four different capacities including 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB, and will retail for $16, $18, $22 and $28, respectively.

But if guns are not your area of interest, you can also check out the USB Sword flash drive or the USB Hand Grenade flash drive.

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Although Detroit’s NAIAS is thought of as the first big auto event of the year, the presence of automobile giants at CES suggests that the Las Vegas event is fast becoming the kick-off of the year’s major auto events in regards to in-vehicle computing. We saw some interesting stuff at the automotive area of CES 2012 this year, one among which is the RoadRover Android-powered dashboard.

As you might know, the company already provides its service via a number of vehicle models such as Audi A3, Nissan Altima, Peugeot 407/408, Toyota Tundra, Chevrolet Captiva and others.

With the RoadRover Android system, you will be able to synchronize data among Android-powered devices such as smartphones and tablets.  You will have access to Android Market for playing with a lot apps from the comfort of your car and get access to Facebook updates and tweets via your connected smartphone.

They are also providing external USB camera support which lets you take pictures while traveling and you will be able to upload everything right away onto your Facebook profile. But for that also, you just need your handset. Let’s not forget about its navigation capabilities too.

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Most pocket projectors out there are not at all impressive, but it’s certainly a good thing that some picos are being brought out with improvements such as better picture quality. The latest micro-projector from Velocity Micro, the Shine Projector, is claimed by its makers to be the smallest HD-capable projector.

The new projector is definitely small. It will fit in a pocket, a large one though. The Shine comes with a native resolution of 1,280×768 pixels (WXGA). Although that is far from full 1080p resolution, Velocity Micro is promising that it will accept a 1080p signal.

The Shine, which measures in at 4 inches on its longest side and weighs 9 ounces, makes use of Texas Instruments’ DLP technology with LED illumination. And you will have to plug it into a wall outlet as it does not come with a built-in rechargeable battery like many other picos.

Other strengths include a 2,000:1 contrast ratio and a throw ratio of 1.4:1, and 300 lumens of brightness suggests that it is significantly brighter than the earlier, smaller pico projectors.

It can be easily connected to any compatible media device such as PCs, smartphones, and tablets via a mini-HDMI connector. You will also get full USB connectivity, and an audio-out jack, and it uses just 23 watts of power.

The Shine Projector will be shown off at the upcoming CES. No word yet on when it will be available on sale or exact pricing, but we do know that it will have a price tag less than $400.

The post Velocity Micro Shine Is The ‘Smallest HD-Capable’ Projector appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Although there are many different stylus designs out there to choose from for the Apple iPad, we encourage you to check this one out. The jaja is the first ever pressure sensitive stylus for the iPad and it appears to be pretty impressive.

As you might agree, all the current iPad stylus designs are nothing much more than sticks and there aren’t any compelling reasons to use one instead of your finger. That is where the jaja comes in.

The jaja stylus comes with a new system developed by Silicon Spark called the “ii” system. This new system allows jaja to communicate the pressure that a user applies on the display. And you won’t need wires, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

The two customisable buttons on the stylus will allow you to select menus, and you will be able to change brushes, colors, fonts or tools and all that can be done without moving far from the drawing space.

For communicating with the iPad, the jaja uses high frequency sounds that are above human hearing but can be detected by the iPad microphone. The makers are promising 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, and the stylus has a transparent tip and a USB plug for quick recharging.

The jaja will retail for $69.95 once it gets funding from Kickstarter, and at present is available in black. Check out the video and head here to know more about it.

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