Passwords at your Fingertips

June 18th
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Post by Meghan Scott

How many online passwords do you wrangle with on any given day? You’ve got Gmail, MySpace, Facebook, your credit cards and banking accounts, utilities, Flickr, Blogger… and they’re all different, so remembering just one password and username combo is out the window as password requirements get more specific. So how often do you have to click the “password reminder” to recapture account access?

upek-digital-password.jpgSupporting Firefox and IE, the Upek Digital Privacy Manager USB Fingerprint Reader helps to keep your passwords in check on your Windows-based computer (sorry, Mac nuts). Accessing your personal accounts is now as simple as swiping your finger. Now that you don’t have to remember or enter passwords, you can create “strong” passwords (long and complex) that are replayed when you swipe your finger, making your personal accounts more secure. You can even set up multiple users and lock folders and programs on your computer for ultimate digital control. For $40, save yourself the headache of password juggling and swipe away!

How Fast Can You Type?

June 15th
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Post by Glenn Wolsey

usb-typing-speed.jpgI’m not too proud of my typing speed, but those who are will find this unique product a great desktop gadget to show off their impressive typing skills to passerby’s.

The USB Speed Typing Mouse plugs into any USB port on your computer and displays your current typing speed in words per minute on its 4 digit LED display. What’s more, the mouse actually pedals while typing, and stops when you aren’t.

For a cool RRP of £19.99 you can show off your natural talent to friends and colleagues. Not too proud of those skills? Then get your practice here.

Keyboard That Proves You Are The Biggest Geek

June 15th
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Post by Charles

das-keyboard.jpgIf there has ever been a doubt who is the smartest geek between you and your fellow geek opposition the Das Keyboard II will provide you with the ultimate proof. Show your friends and co-workers just how smart you are when you are typing away at 100 words per minute while flying totally blind.

The Das II is just like any other USB plug and play keyboard except for the fact that it sports 104 completely blank keys. Just incase you are not a total typing whiz, the F and J keys have been specially shaped with an increased curvature to help you cheat and find home base.

I love this product and its great prank potential but, I would probably just have to grab myself a $20 bargain board and either sand the keys down or spray paint it black since at just under 80 bucks it isn’t exactly the cheapest keyboard around.

Ora-Ito’s The Hub

May 20th
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Post by Meghan Scott

It’s hard to not fall in love with The Hub if you’re a design junky. Ora-Ito set out to tackle the frustrating problem of peripheral wire tangles in a clean, sleek (albeit slightly alien) product that’s as curious as it is functional. It’s like a racquetball got a glassy white finish and then exploded with purpose.

Created to work with both PCs and Macs, The Hub’s flexible cables provide you with 4 USB and 2 FireWire ports, a USB fan, a USB light, USB and FireWire extension cables, and an external power supply (what, you thought they’d try to power it all via USB?). And sure, you can get a lot of the same features and bundles in some cheap black-box product at Best Buy this weekend, but would it look as cool as this?

The Hub is available at A+R Store for $90.

Super Fast Video Encoding With The Elgato Turbo.264

May 18th
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Post by Glenn Wolsey

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Are you sick and tired of how long it takes to encode video on your Mac? Elgato has come to the rescue with the new Turbo.264, a simple device which connects to your machine via USB and helps boost video encoding speed.

The Turbo.264 acts like an additional processor that removes the encoding load from the Mac’s actual processor. This means video encoding can be done much quicker, and your Mac’s processor is free to complete other tasks. On an Intel Mac, videos encode 2 to 4 times as faster, whereas on the PowerPC platform, the speed increases even more.

The Turbo.264 will set you back $99.95, not too shabby for such a nifty piece of hardware. I look forward to picking one up when they start shipping.

JumpDrive Secure II, Gauge Your Thumb-Drive Capacity

May 14th
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Post by Glenn Wolsey

viewmedia.jpgLexar Media’s latest JumpDrive Secure II Plus is not your ordinary thumb-drive. Instead of having to plug the drive into your computer, the drive conveniently displays how much space is currently used, and how much is free on its capacity meter.

Whether you’re moving small files from machine to machine or storing large projects, Lexar has you covered with their 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB models. A spokesperson from the company also dropped a hint that they are currently working on an even larger 8GB version.

In addition to the capacity meter, JumpDrive Secure II Plus comes preloaded with Lexar Secure II security software which lets users protect data quickly and easily.

Pricing starts at a very reasonable $20 for the 512 MB version.

Media Card Reader To Beat Them All

May 10th
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Post by Glenn Wolsey

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Media enthusiasts and photographers will be overjoyed with this 55-in-1 Bluetooth-enabled Card Reader which also doubles as a USB 2.0 hub.

The glossy white reader features a USB dongle that connects to your computer, providing the device with Bluetooth functionality. It has a USB 2.0 transfer rate of up to 480 Mbps and is plug and play, meaning you don’t need to install any software prior to plugging it in.

The card reader retails for a meager $29, great value for such a stunning looking product. I’ll likely be placing an order for one to streamline my photography workflow post shoot.

Product - Via [Uneasysilence]

Wireless USB Is Finally Coming

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Post by Glenn Wolsey

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Wireless USB has been a talking point for many over the past few years, is it now possible? Technology and gadget company Gefen have proven us all right (or wrong) and shown wireless USB in-fact can be done.

Their Wireless USB Hub will retail for $399.00, and promises a 60 foot operating range along with data transfer speeds of us to 70Mbps. You will be able to connect 4 USB devices at once to the hub.

This is something many, including myself, have been wanting for a while now. I’m not too sure how well this will stand up under daily use, though the technology itself is exciting and very innovative.

Product [Gefen]

New Microsoft WED 8000

February 24th
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Post by Charles

microsoft wed 800The new Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse is a true example of art and functionality. The sleek and ultra thin curved keyboard is accented with brushed aluminum and backlighting that comes on automatically when you approach it and turns off when you’re away. The high definition laser mouse features four way scrolling and the same brushed aluminum featured on the keyboard.

It is simple to connect wirelessly right out of the box with 2.4 GHz Bluetooth® Technology for up to 30 feet with virtually no interference. The charging station also doubles as a pretty sweet USB hub with four ports for all of your USB gadgets. The keyboard is also chalked full of buttons that make your Vista experience a pleasurable one from its on board start, live call, and gadgets buttons interacting with Vista is as simple as pressing a button.

The Microsoft website still offers no clue as to when the new WED 8000 will be released or what the price tag will be but, I will be sure to let you know when I find out more. More photos after the jump…

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Belkin Laptop Cooling Stand

January 18th
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Post by Charles

belkin laptop cooling standWe all know that laptops can get smoking hot, which can be dangerous for your most sensitive areas. So it’s a good thing that Belkin has come up with a good looking and functional product to keep your hard working laptop cool.

I think there is something to be said about good looking, modern, dare I say Apple like designs and Belkin hit the nail on the head with this one. Now a days people care more about good looks than actual functionality but, don’t get it twisted as this stand really does its job.

The new laptop stand is said to run on USB power so there will be no need for batteries. Although Belkin still isn’t saying much about this hot new gadget but, what they do say is that the cooler will be available in the U.S. come February with a dirt cheap sticker price of $29.99.