Do you ever find yourself wishing that the act of telling time was as simple, and tactile, as flipping a light switch in your home?  If so, then the folks at Watchismo have got quite the surprise in store for you. Aptly named the “Click Wall Switch” watch, it resembles a squared-off interpretation of modern wall switches.  Rather than firing up an incandescent bulb, however, you’ll be lighting up LEDs on the face of the watch display the time or date.

The LEDs shine through the plastic on the face, adding a bit of geeky charm to the proceedings.

Practical?  Absolutely not – this is firmly in the whimsical camp.  But, it’s certain to grab some attention (this sucker is 45mm x 47mm), and it’ll give you something to fiddle with if boredom sets in.

Watchismo has the 4 colors (black, blue, red, white) on sale for a tad under $100.

If any household product deserves a spot in the Apple Store, it’s the Nest Thermostat. Never mind the common denominator of long-time Apple employee, Tony Fadell, the Nest Thermostat exemplifies Apple’s mantra of making technology accessible. The Nest isn’t just a pretty face. Behind the shiny exterior are enough disruptive bits to make thermostat giant, Honeywell, attempt to sue the company out of existence. Starting today, the Nest is now available in Apple’s retail stores and the website.

The Apple Store sells the Nest at its full, $249 MSRP — Lowes sells it for the same price. But as the company promises, homeowners should recoup that high price with monthly savings on their utility bill thanks to the Nest’s learning and motion sensing features. Owners can also control the settings from iOS and Android devices, arguably allowing for even more savings.

As The Verge points out, this comes just one day after the Nest headed to the Great White North. Just yesterday, Nest Labs announced Canadian availability of its learning thermostat because, you know, even Canadians deserve lower utility bills by way of a beautiful device.

[Image via 9to5mac]

Apple CEO Tim Cook talked about the company’s TV plans tonight at the D10 conference. His comments were all pretty vague, but if nothing else, he hinted strongly that Apple does in fact have plans for future TV products.

When interviewers Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher pressed Cook on whether he thinks the current Apple TV product is good enough, he said, “We’re going to keep pulling this string and see where it takes us.” Mossberg then suggested that the current version of Apple TV doesn’t solve all of the problems with TV watching, to which Cook replied, “I agree” — but he didn’t want to talk about it further. Of course, a full-fledged Apple TV (one that includes an actual TV) has been rumored for a long time now, and this isn’t the first time the company’s executives have suggested that big plans in this area — but if nothing else, Cook’s comments should chase any lingering doubts away.

So what might this future TV product look like? Not surprisingly, Cook had no details to offer on a product that he’s not quite ready to admit exists. He was willing to speak generally, saying that Apple is always looking for to control the “key technology” and “make a significant contribution beyond what others have done in this area.” He also said that Apple doesn’t have any plans to rethink its plans for acquiring content, because getting content hasn’t been an issue.

As for the current model of the Apple TV, Cook said sales are picking up — Apple sold 2.8 million last year, and has already sold 2.7 this year.

[I'm not the TechCrunch reporter at D this year, so thanks to AllThingsD, Engadget, and Twitter for keeping me up to speed.]

Although one could argue that Facetime and Skype are already nearly perfect telepresence systems, there’s definitely some value in having a jolly little robot sit on your shoulder and transmit, in real time, everything you see and hear to a friend far away. Right? Please say I’m right?

This experimental robot is called the Miniature Humanoid 2 or MH2 and was built in Japan by Yuichi Tsumaki, Fumiaki Ono, and Taisuke Tsukuda of Yamagata University in Japan. The robot requires a big honking backpack so it’s a little bit cumbersome but essentially the MH2 can move around on your shoulder as you move around the world, creating a sort of Master/Blaster relationship or, more likely, a Kuato/host human situation.

Here’s a description from the IEEE:

That’s right: this thing simulates a little friend so you don’t feel so alone. Welcome to the 21st century.

via Giz via Ieee.org

Now look: these are probably fake as all get-out, but bear with me. These handsomely watermarked photos are purported to represent a brand new iPhone design with a sort of two-tone brushed and chromed casing. Whether they are real or not (they’re definitely going to get UBreakIFix plenty of SEO juice), there is still a bit more to this story than just some blurry-cam shots (and these nice shots on 9to5mac). The most important thing to note is the size of the dock connecter. That’s right: it’s a micro USB port (or, less likely, a Thunderbolt port).

Arguably most major manufacturers have settled on micro USB as the standard. This is, in short, one of the best things to happen to the industry in the past decade. That Apple still clings to their jolly 30-pin slot is quite odd, especially considering how much real estate these things take up in the casing. A lot of those pinouts may have seemed like a good idea a few years ago, things like a dedicated S-video connection are probably outmoded these days. Sure they’re great for backwards compatibility, but why not offer a teeny adapter and call it a day?

Whatever happens in the next few weeks before WWDC, rest assured we’ll see plenty more iPhone 5 mockups. The glut of cases we’ve seen in the past hour is pointing to something brewing in Cupertino. Here’s hoping there is a solution for the constellation of iPhone-compatible devices already set up for 30-pin connectivity.
Click to view slideshow.

Dell has sold various all-in-one computers for years. These systems were mostly insipid, humdrum computers not fit for anything other than being a family’s portal to Facebook. Even with touchscreens, Dell’s all-in-one systems failed to be serious contenders in the space.

Enter the XPS One 27. Announced today and detailed by Engadget, this all-in-one-system is a clone of the iMac. Even the 2560 x 1440 screen resolution is the same. To Dell’s credit, the XPS One 27 ships with Intel’s latest generation of processors while the Apple iMac is still stuck with the older chips — something Apple will no doubt address in the next revision. But it’s hard to ignore the similarities. Hell, even the computer’s support tower has a large hole for cable management a la iMac.

The XPS One 27 is powered by an Ivy Bridge Core i5 or i7 CPU with either an integrated Intel GPU or a 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GT640M dedicated graphics card. With prices starting at $1,399, systems can be configured with up to 16GB of memory and with a 1TB, 2TB or 32GB SSD hard drive. The backside houses four USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports along with HDMI, VGA, and a gigabit Ethernet connection. There’s a slot-loading Blu-ray drive and an optional TV tuner. In all, the XPS One 27 is a fine all-in-one computer with enough power to justify a spot on even an engineer’s desk — too bad Dell didn’t have the design know-how to make an original casing though.

Dell has seemingly given up. At this point in Dell’s anemic life they are just keeping up with Joneses. There was a time when Dell was one of the trusted consumer brands. The firm has never been a design leader with systems more utilitarian than beautiful, but that formula doesn’t work in today’s marketplace. But over the years Dell has managed to release systems like the Adamo XPS and to a less extent, the Dell Streak, that showed the computer company had a bit of life left in its corporate tubes. The XPS One 27 shows the opposite. Dell might be dead.

Lenovo gets it right time and time again. The Chinese PC company consistently releases computers with new designs in novel form factors. Look at the Lenovo all-in-one lineup: Not a single model looks like an iMac while still offering serious computing power. This design-first strategy seems to be working as Lenovo as profits are soaring — something Dell cannot brag about.

There have long been whispers that Dell is looking to exit the consumer business. That division is leading Dell’s losses anyway. And consumers will not miss Dell if the company turns to simply releasing clones of iconic products.

If you’ve been in the baby monitor racket as long as I have, you’ve seen it all: the good, the bad, and the unusable. Well here’s a monitor that just might win my heart. It’s called the BabyPing (there’s an N in there) and it allows you to view your child’s every squiggle and giggle on your iPhone or iPad. The app and monitor costs about $230 and is currently available in Europe only, although it’s expected to hit our shores shortly.

Arguably video monitors are mostly for first-time parents who are total freakouts about watching the baby at all times. The system notifies you if the baby is stirring and an infrared system ensures you can peep in on him or her at night.

As I noted before, video systems like this one usually used special hardware and/or wonky software so it’s nice to see something that just works.

Product Page

Nintendo unveiled the tablet-centric Wii U at last year’s E3. At the time the company was clear that it was a working name. A report earlier this year stated that Nintendo was exploring other options. E3 kicks off next week and it seems increasingly likely that Nintendo is sticking with the unusual moniker.

First off, Nintendo just launched a Wii U Facebook campaign complete with an intro video with Reggie Fils-Aime welcoming guests to the Wii U page. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the Wii U logo is now on Nintendo’s press site.

The Wii U name is a tad strange, but in retrospect, so is Wii. The next-gen system itself is still a bit of a mystery. Nintendo had highly scripted demos available for playing at its introduction at last year’s E3. It was the best thing at the show last year. But Nintendo no doubt hit the fast-forward button on the system’s evolutionary growth cycle; expect the Wii U shown at this year’s E3 to be a mature device.

Even with a better name, and with that, a better brand, the Wii U will still have an uphill battle to fight. Microsoft and Sony are clearly racing to a future where a home entertainment system is defined by its media streaming capability more so than its games. Nintendo on the other hand seems to be building just a gaming system. With E3 kicking off next Monday Nintendo better bring the goods. They need a good showing to kick off the Wii U — or whatever it’s called.

According to a very short, very rumor-filled VG24/7 piece, Sony is looking at adding cloud-enabled gaming to the PlayStation line, presumably in the form of an Onlive or Gaikai partnership.

Given that we won’t see much new this year at E3 – aside for official Wii U availability and perhaps (just perhaps) whispers of next gen Sony and Microsoft consoles, this bit of news could carry the show. The Vita is powerful, to be sure, but it’s hardly nailing it in terms of game availability and to be able to play a game on the handheld and then pop over to the console is pretty compelling. Presumably the console can also act as a conduit for a definitively more interesting gaming experience.

Whatever Sony chooses to do, I’m actually not expecting anything in the way of blockbuster news this year, which is, in the end, just fine. The next generation consoles have to make a huge splash next year and the more fully baked the concepts the better.

Every gadget that graces our shelves goes through plenty of tweaks and changes during its design phase, but it isn’t too often that we get an actual glimpse of those scrapped iterations. It can be tremendously cool to see what our stuff could have looked like in some alternate timeline, and a new eBay listing reveals a peculiar iPad that may have been.

The listing is for an early first-generation iPad prototype, and unlike the final model it sports two dock connectors, allowing the iPad to be docked in either portrait or landscape mode.

Astute readers may recall that some of Apple’s earlier iPad-related patents pointed to a dual-docking device, and nearly three years later, we’re finally getting our first real look at one. Long story short, it looks just as dumb as you would expect it to. While the ability to dock the iPad in either orientation is arguably useful, it makes for a design that isn’t as clean or as thoughtful as Apple is (usually) known for.

It probably goes without saying that this early 16GB iPad is more of a conversation piece than a fully functional gadget, though. The seller notes that the touchscreen doesn’t work properly thanks to some funky digitizer issues, though it’s possible that someone with enough gumption (and the right tools) may be able to get it running again.

The prototype also runs an early build of iOS 3.2 along with Apple’s Switchboard hardware testing suite. It’s nothing that will make its eventual owner’s life any easier, but it certainly lends a bit of credence to the notion that it is actually some in-house Apple hardware instead of a carefully crafted hoax.

Between this and that Atari-era Steve Jobs memo, Apple aficionados have plenty of Cupertino memorabilia to lust after. Of course, it’ll cost you a pretty penny should you try to score this piece of iPad history — the prototype currently sits with a $4,800 bid, but it could be yours for a cool $10,000 if the whole bidding-on-things bit isn’t your style.

[via MacRumors]

If you’re an older gamer, you will remember the holy trinity of Sierra RPGs – King’s Quest, Space Quest, and Police Quest. All three of these games used something called “imagination” and “storytelling” to immerse early gamers in an Ad Lib sound card-induced gaming coma.

Now you can re-live those heady days with a new game by the makers of Space Quest, Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe (aka “The Two Guys from Andromeda”). Their new game, called SpaceVenture, is a refresh of the old Sierra series and promises spills, chills, and horrible jokes. It’s getting funded on Kickstarter as we speak.

The best part? They hired the original voice actors to spice up the game including Gary Owens, the voice of Space Ghost, and Ellen McLain who plays GlaDOS in Portal 1 and 2. Talk about your crossovers.

The game will cost $15 for early pledgers and runs on Macs, PCs, iOS, and Android. The $30 tier gets you beta access to the game and a soundtrack download.

The game is halfway to its goal with 15 days to go, so get pledging, space cadet.

Project Page

Diversification is the key to longevity. With that likely in mind, GameStop just announced widespread availability of Android tablets throughout its chain of retail stores. This comes after a 200 store trial that started last October.

These aren’t ordinary Android tablets, though. GameStop is pre-loading the Samsung, Asus, Acer, and Toshiba with extra gaming titles such as Sonic CD, Riptide, the Kongregate Arcade app and a free issue of GameStop’s gaming mag, Game Informer. Thanks to these extras and with prices that are inline with other stores, GameStop actually has a chance to capture a bit of the tablet market.

GameStop has recently been bulking up its non-game retail stock in a likely attempt to stop the bleeding. While brick and mortar locations still focus mainly on video games, the website offers headphones, tablet accessories, even refurbished iPods and iPads. The company started testing selling Android tablets last October. Today’s announcement states loud and clear that GameStop sees a future in Android tablets even if no one else does.

California-based watch maker Devon made a name for themselves a few years ago when they released the Tread 1. The modern looking electro-mechanical timepiece dazzled people with its tread-based system to indicate the time. It was large, highly unorthodox for a high-end timepieces, and a little crazy. A full review of the Devon Tread 1 is here.

Now Devon has released images of an upcoming Steampunk version of the Tread 1. It started as a concept but due to customer demand they will build them. The Steampunk Tread 1 is the retro-futuristic rethink of the standard Tread 1. The case will likely be made with pieces of bronze and oxidized steel. Rivets and lots of exposed screws complete the steampunk look.

No word on price but expect to pay over $20,000 for this bauble.

The auction house Sotheby’s is selling an official memo from Steve Jobs to Atari about improving the World Cup Football game. The pages – stamped and signed by Jobs himself – describe circuit diagrams and paddle layouts. Delightfully, the stamp says “All-One Farm Design” and features a Buddhist mantra, “gate gate paragate parasangate bodhi svahdl.” As you do.

If you’re thinking of picking this up you’d best have about $10,000 to $15,000 handy – although bidding could get fierce. Quoth MacWorld:

If you’re really feeling spendy, you can plop down $180,000 on an original Apple I circuit board, presumably in mint condition. Get cracking and don’t forget: Sabbe satta sukhi hontu.

There are plenty of ways to get your flight school kicks with your smartphone or tablet — this missile shooting Griffin chopper comes to mind — but few manage to ooze as much style (or cost as much money) as Parrot’s AR.Drone 2.0.

Getting the thing ready to fly is surprisingly simple. Once you’ve popped the battery into place, and turned the thing on, the Drone creates its own Wi-Fi network that the control device connects to. From there, just fire up the FreeFlight app on your iOS or Android device and you’re off to the races.

The big draw for some will be the ability to record the Drone’s aerial journeys. In addition to providing the pilot with an idea of where the drone is going, the small camera pod mounted on the drone’s nose is capable of capturing photos as well as 720p video. The camera’s small sensor means that quality tends to take a hit in low light, but the bigger issue for some is the tendency to see a wiggling effect in recorded video because of the four rotors whirring away.

Let’s be honest here — it’s not the most useful thing to have in your gadget closet (doesn’t everyone have one of those?) unless you’ve got a thing for aerial photography or not-so-covertly spying on people. What it lacks in pure utilitarian functionality it makes up for in sheer fun. There’s something terribly fun about tilting your smartphone around and watching this little quad-rotor aircraft dart around in response to it.

It’s even surprisingly easy to fly, provided you start out slow and put in a few minutes of fiddling first. Sadly, our Mobile Editor Matt Burns didn’t take that rule to heart, as he quickly crashed our own Drone at Disrupt. C’est la vie, but be prepared to do your due diligence if you don’t want to screw up a pricy piece of machinery. That said, Parrot has made it terribly easy to wow your friends with some neat aerial tricks — just double tap a button from within the app to make the Drone flip, and take in the applause.

The Drone is a hell of a lot of fun to play with, but there’s always that price tag to consider — it’ll run you a considerable $299. The responsible thing may be to take that money and use it to buy a rock-solid juicer instead, but I think your mental well-being is better served by the ability to explore the skies (or annoy your neighbors).

Sure, UberConference took home the Disrupt Cup and its accompanying $50,000 (giant) check. But it could be argued that Incident, makers of the gTar, had already won. The company’s Kickstarter project skyrocketed from $10,000 in funding before stepping on the Disrupt stage, to a current $220,000.

This is big, considering that Disrupt is a web/software conference and a hardware startup went all the way to the very end. Even Michael Arrington was impressed, which says quite a bit. But none were more impressed or intrigued than myself, which is why I wrangled the Incident guys together backstage and begged and pleaded to play the gTar.

Kindly, they obliged. I have no experience playing the guitar whatsoever, and my greatest claim to musical fame would be completing Free Bird on expert in Guitar Hero. Now, I won’t say my rendition of Blackbird a la gTar is the best in the world, but for having absolutely no practice or experience, my few moments with the hardware should be a testament to the gTar’s potential.

I also spoke with the founders about the difficulties of distribution, and more importantly, music licensing. Eventually the gTar app will come with a content store, from which you can buy different songs. For now however, this is a bare bones iteration that is sure to improve over time.

If you move now, you can get the gTar on Kickstarter for $50 off the expected retail price, at just $399.

You no doubt are familiar with the Xetum brand, based out of California.  If not, just have a look over at to the side of the page. In the past, we’ve reviewed their Tyndall model; today, we’ll be taking a look at the Stinson.

The Stinson presents as a very minimalistic three-hander, and it does it with style.  I say that for two reasons – first, it’s an extremely clean dial.  Second, the lugless design (well, to be honest, they’re hidden in the case) helps for a cleaner appearance.

But let’s get back to the dial.  The numerals and indicators are varied and easy to ready, especially with the slightly longer-than-usual hands (maybe they’re not, but it seemed that way to me) and super-luminova usage.

While some might prefer the white dial as summer approaches,  I think the black dial works great as a year-round option.  I’d be remiss if I didn’t complement them on having the date wheel color match the dial – such a small detail, but just great when they complement.

As you can see from the pictures, our review model was on a steel bracelet, which is a $100 option.  I can’t say how it compares to the leather strap, but as a bracelet itself, it’s a nice one.  I especially like how the latching mechanism kind of tucked away, giving a clean, smooth surface under your wrist.

What’s ticking away inside that 40mm case (11mm thick)?  Glad you asked!  It’s an ETA 2824-2 automatic movement, which is a well known quantity.  You’ve also got a sapphire crystal up front (mineral glass for the exhibition caseback), and a screw-down crown, all resulting in a package that’s water tight to 100 meters.

Should you want to pick one up for yourself be ready to bring $995 for the model on the leather strap, or $1095 for the steel bracelet.

Product Page

Bre Pettis of MakerBot stopped by our little show today and spent some time on the stage with John Biggs and other notables in the manufacturing space. But afterwards Pettis, co-founder and CEO of MakerBot, joined me on the TCTV couch to geek out a bit over the fantastic MakerBot Replicator. The company also has two MakerBot Replicators printing out random doodads and toys in our first ever Hardware Alley.

As Bre explained, the original MakerBot buyers were geeks and hackers but now it’s moms and dads (like me). With the MakerBot, kids and parents can create and manufacture toys together. The Replicator can make nearly anything. It is essentially a desktop toy factory — or, for anyone else, a prototype printer allowing for rapid manufacturing.

In short MakerBot is changing the world.

Earlier this morning, our own John Biggs was joined on stage by a handful of New York-based makers who have made a name for themselves by building physical things (or in one case, building something that builds other things). Biggs kicked off the panel with a simple question: — can we bring manufacturing back?

Bre Pettis, CEO of Makerbot Industries, has two shifts of workers putting together all of his Makerbots in Brooklyn, and had a bit of advice for hardware creators looking to shift production to China. He recommended that until makers need to produce runs of 50,000-100,000 units, they’re much better off keeping the production process in the United States. It helps to keep makers intimate with their tech, not to mention makes it easier for them to handle any unexpected issues faster.

The process of launching a product was tackled too — interestingly enough, Amol Sarva of Peek fame revealed that if he had to take his email gadget to market now instead of a few years ago, he would’ve gone a completely different route. Instead of going big and pushing to get his devices on store shelves around the country, he instead would have gone with the grassroots approach — making a few devices and trying to build buzz around them.

Another recurring theme of the panel was the notion that makers should embrace niches.

“There may not be mass market ideas, and that’s OK,” said Peter Semmelhack of Bug Labs. He noted that people can put hardware and devices together that aren’t meant to reach millions and millions of people (they could even use a Makerbot if the production run size was modest enough), and these small markets were still worth going after.

Plus, you can never really tell just how niche some niches are. Duncan Frazier of Bit Banger Labs knows that all too well — he and his team developed a sleep mask that aims to help its users lucid dream, and put together a Kickstarter campaign for it. They expected they would have to make a few hundred units at most, but the niche was much bigger than they thought. By the time their campaign was over, they had exceeded their $35,000 funding request by orders of magnitude.

The discussion then turned to the question of whether or not we could build something akin to a sprawling Foxconn campus in somewhere like Iowa.

“Here in the U.S., as a culture, we’re not really focused on [manufacturing],” Pettis noted. “Our children are the only priority lower than manufacturing.”

There was little question that using Chinese facilities for manufacturing has its advantages — namely sheer output — but some were curious as to how long that would remain the case. Pettis pointed out that wages in China have doubled over the last year, a trend that (if continued) may eventually lead to a shift away from relying on China.

The panel ended on a slightly more inspirational note, with each of makers chiming in with advice for young upstarts who want to start making things. On this, everyone seemed to agree — the best approach is to just go out there and start going it. Ayah Bdeir, CEO of littleBits, specifically pointed out that a young person who had $50 and an Internet connection had no shortage of places to turn for inspiration — Instructables and Hack A Day, for instance.

“You learn by making,” she said. Pettis recommended that wannabe makers should just “jump in” to the process, and if they eventually decide to go the Kickstarter route, Frazier emphasized the importance of a solid video because that’s the only place the product exists as far as the users are concerned.

A Wiimote turned on its side makes for a perfectly serviceable controller when plowing through retro games from the Wii Shop Channel, and the Classic Controller isn’t bad either, but I wouldn’t call either of them an ideal solution.

On the other hand, ThinkGeek’s new Super Famicom controller for the Wii manages to come pretty damned close, especially if you’re a gamer who spends your time steeped in the past.

Thankfully, unlike the controller this thing was modeled on, there’s no need to plug it directly into the Wii. Instead, the $20 add-on plugs into the bottom of a Wiimote so it’s simple enough lean back in a beanbag across the room and blow through some Actraiser.

It probably goes without saying that not everyone will appreciate this thing’s sheer lack of ergonomics, but remember — the original Super Famicom/Nintendo controller was crafted back in the early 90s, and still manages to put its boxy predecessor to shame. Nevertheless, you had best look elsewhere if you’re looking to play some more recent games, as using a D-Pad to control movement in three dimensions rarely ends well.

My only regret? That ThinkGeek doesn’t have a version emblazoned with the purple and lavender hues of the Super Nintendo. Now that Nintendo fanatics have another bit of hardware to add to their collections, maybe ThinkGeek will finally get around to building that NES-esque Bluetooth mobile gaming controller they promised us earlier this year.