Yesterday we spoke about Elcom introducing a USB power strip and today we have USB Fever with a  solar powered USB hub.  We where very excited to hear about this product -  as it seems to be a step up from the introduction from yesterday, and it’s got some great features, but unfortunately, the solar power charging system isn’t for the USB devices which are connected, but rather the built-in LED torch light [insert sad face here].

I understand it would take a fairly big solar panel to correctly power 4-5 devices connected to a USB hub, but it would be nice to see a trickle charge feature for anything connected.  Like I said yesterday, in our house we have 3 iPhones, a Flip Video camera, two blue-tooth headsets and some other stuff, so a solar powered trickle charging USB hub would be nice. (more…)

About three weeks ago I started the process to design a USB power strip where the device would be a dumb down version of a USB hub…it only gives power.  The reason why I wanted to design something like this was for the infinite number of USB items I have.  Just in my house alone, we have 3 iPhones, one Flip Video camera and two blue-tooth headsets…all powered and recharged by USB.

So enter, stage left, my thought of a USB power strip.  Well, Elcom was thinking the same thing, but only months earlier!  They have officially released the USB for port power strip and the 7 port USB power strip.  Clearly I think the idea is simply brilliant.

Elcom includes LED lights for each port to show if a device is active or not.  They include a switch to flip On or Off that particular port and last, Elcom gives you some clear labels [in English] to label what cable is going to which device.

The 4 port USB power strip is $40.  The 7 port USB power strip is $110.  Both are available at Geek Stuff 4 You.  Page.

I am a bit of USB steampunk enthusiast and today Etsy shopping put out a notice on a fine looking piece with a wood body and includes rotating dials.  Unfortunately I’m just an armchair enthusiast and have yet to build my very own, but one day - it will come.

Some say this USB steampunk drive looks like Rosie, the house robot, from the Jetsons.  I guess the gear piece around the neck reminds you of the tradition maid outfit for a house cleaner back in the 60s.

The designer mentions something about an old narrow bridge as his inspiration for the USB steampunk, but I think he’s referencing the piece of wood he probably lifted off the bridge which he used as the body.

The design incorporates a gauge of some sort [no it doesn’t work] along with turn dials along the (more…)

So here is my tutorial on making a great looking iPhone wallpaper design.

The concept is fairly easy, here is the high level over view:  We will set the proper size, create the pattern image, upload the image to a web space, download the image and set it as the wallpaper.  Sounds easy, right? Well it is.

First, the correct size for the iPhone screen is 320×480 pixels.  So get into your favorite photo editing program and get a blank file with the size of 320×480 pixels for you iPhone wallpaper.

Second, you’ll need to create an image.  Of course you can take a picture and set it that way, but I’m thinking more like a subtle pattern that isn’t obtrusive and is more complimentary to yourself while using the iPhone rather then having an ego trip by setting my kids best picture as my wallpaper.

For me, Photochop is my weapon of choice and I created this nice little pattern image which we’ll use for the wallpaper.

Note:  With the new iPhone 4.0+ firmware you have the ability to set the lock/unlock wallpaper and set a different picture as your background image for Home when using your iPhone.  I think the above pattern image is a very nice background image for the Home position.

Third, after you’ve created your pattern image, you will save it as a (more…)

Warpia is a wireless docking station for your laptop to easily connect your keyboard, mouse, monitor and just about anything else without using cables.  Using just a wireless USB dongle to your laptop it will then connect with the base dock station where you’ve connected the keyboard & mouse dongle, the monitor, hard drive and other peripherals.

The wireless connection of the Warpia supports resolution up to 1400 x 1050, 32-bit True Color Depth.  The dock station includes the following ports to support your peripherals - DVI connection, two USB ports and a 3.5mm audio jack.

The wireless USB dock station does support Mac and Windows operating systems and after a quick scan of some blogs/forums we cannot conclude if the Warpia supports Linux.

We found the Warpia as low as $140 here.

Marantz, a premium set-top audio manufacturer, introduces a new Network solution for home audio.  The M-CR603 is a combination of all good things. Featuring a built-in amplifier, a receiver, a CD player, an AM/FM radio and the ability to stream music from Rhapsody, Pandora or Napster.

In addition, the Marantz unit includes a USB port for iPod / MP3 docking, but what we really like about the unit is the ability to stuff a 64GB flash drive in there loading with MP3 files and you’ve now got one hot audio box!

No pricing yet, so I’m assuming the executives and sales guys are hammering out those details.  Check Marantz for more info on pricing / availability. (more…)

Earlier in the week I pointed out a great mini USB monitor for your Netbook which was under $100, and today I bring you a Blu-ray DVD player to imporve your netbook’s multimedia capabilities…and again for under $100.

Plextor announced it’s all new PX-B120U Blu-ray DVD player yesterday which is expected to hit retail stores any day for just $99.  Powered by USB 2.0 the player is just that, a player for Blu-ray…although you do have the ability to burn DVD-R and CD-R through the device.

Plextor did a nice job with design because this player will also dock with Plextor’s up-and-coming PlexMedia dock station which allows you to connect right to your HDTV in your family room.

To learn more about the USB Blu-ray drive visit Plextor here.