Imagine NOT running out of juice the next time you’re on a call, listening to your iPod on the train, or about to hit the final level on your PSP. Nice, right? For $39.99, here’s the solution — the Just Mobile Gum pack, a portable universal USB power pack to re-charge all of your portable devices for extra hours of electronic service. With 2200mAh of juice tucked away, the charger can re-up your cell phone to full capacity — twice. Small enough at 70mm long to tuck away in your laptop bag, the case comes with LED indicators to let you know how much power you have left, and when it’s time to recharge the Li-ion batter pack. As long as your device has a USB type A port, this charger can be used on any electronic device.

Not sure why they’re calling it Gum, but whatever, the product’s still helpful.

The mix tape is making a comeback… sort of. Though the term is widely familiar, there’s certainly a whole walking segment of people born late in the 80s that may not appreciate the history of the mix tape, having grown up with CDs/digital audio files and living without boxes full of old loved tapes crammed with music from friends that serve as a soundtrack to your best memories. And it wasn’t just the music that made the tape, it was the hours spent creating cover designs that really nailed home the theme of the mix that you probably spent hours carefully selecting. It’s been a dead craft for awhile, but maybe now some of the art of the mix tape is making a return.

The folks over at Suck UK are set to start selling their own mix tape kit starting in September, a simple gray case with a folding track listing liner and a small USB flash disk where once a reel-to-reel cassette sat. It’s cute, it’s clever, it’s nostalgic and would make for a great gift for any audiophile who still drives a car with a tape deck and has a collection of records carefully stacked in their living room.

Nothing makes me crankier in the morning than a lukewarm cup of coffee, when I get to the office I want my coffee smoking hot and I want it to stay that way. With the new USB hot plate warmer from Apex you can keep that AM eye opener at the perfect temperature down to the last drop.

Not only will the hot plate reach temperatures of 140 degrees, but with a flip of the switch this USB gadget transforms into a cool plate that drops to a chilly 45 degrees. Whether you want your tasty beverage hot or cold the USB Drink Chiller & Warmer has you covered.

There’s something soothing about a jog wheel, effortlessly scrolling through switches with a flick of the wrist, and now that satisfying control is being brought to your computer. This is a definite must have for anyone who spends a fair amount of time editing timelined projects, like movie and audio files, and is ready to break out of the touchpad/mouse control game.

The PowerMate is a Mac AND PC friendly USB programmable jog/shuttle wheel that can be assigned to control your program to do anything you want — use it to crank up your iTunes, edit movie files on the fly by scrolling and trimming with a twist and a button push, or scroll through ridiculously long documents without having to find the slider bar. The knob even has a cool blue light that helps monitor what you’re up to, increasing brightness when you turn up the volume, switching off when you’re on mute, and silently pulsing when in sleep mode.

For $45, the 2.1″ diameter PowerMate makes for a great USB addition to your control station, available directly from Griffin Technology.

If you want to capture your favorite TV program right to your computer without any kind of fancy video card, usbfever has the answer. The EasyCap USB2.0 audio/video adapter captures high-quality video and audio directly through your USB port all while allowing you to record in your favorite DVD formats.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of these truly useful little gadgets and it did not disappoint. The EasyCap came with its own drivers and Ulead video capturing software that had me recording tonight’s Red Sox game in about 5 minutes. All I had to do was install the driver/software, plug in the EasyCap to my digital cable box, tweak a few recording options and to my delight I was recording in no time flat.

Nothing is better when something just works the way it is supposed to and the EasyCap is no exception. For those of you who don’t have a fancy video card with all kinds of inputs or like me have your computer in a place where you just can’t hook it up to your digital cable line the EasyCap, at only $39, is a great alternative to grabbing high quality audio and video for your desk or laptop.

If you do as much work at your computer as I do, you know just how dirty and grimy your keyboard can get. We all know that you can grab yourself a can of air and blast the dust and dirt away, but that just doesn’t make it “clean.” With the Washable Keyboard from Unotron all you have to do is unplug your board, walk over to the sink, give it a good scrubbing with some soap, and dry it off…it’s just that simple. No more dingy keys, just a clean keyboard that is free of germs and bacteria.

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on one of the Unotron Washable keyboard and mouse set and I was pleasantly surprised. I used the product for a couple of weeks in an effort to get it good and dirty, unplugged it and moved to the kitchen. I must say that I was a little hesitant to run it under the water at first as common sense kept telling me you’re not supposed to run your keyboard under the water. After clearing my mind of the doubt I plunged the keyboard into the sink, gave it a good scrubbing and took some pictures for you guys in the process.

The keyboard was super easy to clean and after I toweled it off and shook out the excess water it was good to go. It should also be noted that the mouse had a cool feature that allowed me to remove the wheel and clean the places that one normally just can’t get to on a standard mouse.

The Spill Seal technology is recommended for use in places like hospitals, schools, and workplaces where keyboards can have multiple users but, there is nothing wrong with just wanting to have a clean workspace at home. The Washable keyboard would also make a great gift for any college bound student as I can attest to the fact that you just never know when it comes to college. I have seen the occasional drunken stupor lead to the shorting out of a computer on more than one occasion. The Spill Seal technology will save that expensive graduation present but it should be noted that it is not substitute for a good old AA meeting.

This is one of the best additions to an every day use product I have seen in a long time. The people over at Unotron have taken the computer keyboard to new heights by adding this Spill Seal technology. The whole idea is so simple it’s a real wonder why every single keyboard isn’t manufactured this way.

I’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.

If 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.

This is almost as good as the red Tasco miscroscope kit I got from “Santa” in 3rd grade. Check out the Dino-Mite USB Digital Microscope, ready to jack into your computer and coax your curiosity for a cool $200. “Yeah, but my camera has a MACRO setting, I can take super close-up photos if I need that sort of detail.” Sure you can, but humor me on this one — have your super megapixel camera take a macro shot of the lower left-hand corner on a twenty dollar bill. Now zoom in on the line between the “0″ and Jackson’s lapel to see if you can read it this well. No? What about this? Those were 200x and 50x zoom (respectively) microscope captures — and that was just a silly banknote, think of all the other cool stuff you can get up close and personal with… a pet fish, the tupperware container in the back of the fridge, your (friend’s) nostril, whatever!

The microscope comes with DinoCapture Software (Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP, Vista, Mac OS9, OSX) that promises plug-and-play functionality, letting you create standard and time-lapse movies, or magnify objects up to 200x for single photos. The microscope unclips from its molded stand for more tricky angles, and built in LEDs throw light on objects that may need a little illumination. The drawback? The included software only captures zoomed images at 640×480px, a big disappointment if you’re looking to create your own desktop backgrounds. Head over to ThinkGeek for more sample photos or to pick up your own microscope.

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.