Not all of us have room for surround sound setups in our tiny studio apartments, which we’re thinking about moving out of because they’re going to raise the rent again. And some of us just don’t want the tangle of wires to deal with. Enter the growing market of surround-sound headsets, of which it appears the first bargain bin sets are hitting the streets.
Zalman is a well-known brand, but I question the wisdom of buying a $60 headset promising six-channel analog but not mentioning any qualifications from Dolby, THX, or what have you. That and it’s gigantic. → Read More
Brando’s got a humdinger of a whatsit in this cubic card reader. Do you have room for it on your desk and enough cards of various formats to make use of it? Oh, you’ll also need $12. → Read More
Want cool fun? Need a robot? Get this AI robot. That can be controlled via artificial intelligence and can detect-and-escape barriers and detect-and-trace objects in its surroundings. Cool! Fun! Team them up and they cost $42 with 4 extra batteries! What fun! You can also get full set for $168 including four AI robots!
What great robot fun you can have with this! → Read More
If you’ve always dreamed of a tablet PC but you don’t want to pay those outrageous department store prices, Brando has a $99 USB kit that’s sure to tickle your giggle bone. → Read More
Your friends, family, and coworkers may have laughed at you in the past but nobody, and I mean NOBODY, will be laughing when you walk into the room with your PSP mounted around your waist, ready for some serious portable gaming. → Read More
Exhibit: Ritual Skull Circa 2009
Marked “Brandu” [?-2010]
Materials: Plastic and electronic parts (pre-Quantum)
This example of early 21st century religious accoutrement points to an odd sect of skull worshippers based both in modern Australasia/Japanese Republic and in the former United States of America. The skull contains a small light and a “sensor” without 3D vision that can “see” motion. Modern sci-bots still do not understand the purpose of the item but believe it could have been involved in a solstice ritual. → Read More
Please observe this USB speaker from Brando. It’s called the “USB Buffalo Speaker” yet it looks like a bull yet it’s described as a “cute cow design” on the product page. It’s a blunder of epic proportions, to be sure, and could mean complete and “udder” devastation for Brando.
So where did the train go off the tracks? → Read More
File this one in the “good ideas” folder (if you use the tickler system, file it in the “February” folder). Brando is selling a mini-USB cable with an inline SD card reader sitting smack-dab between point A and point B. It allows you to transfer files from an SD card while at the same time charging your cell phone or other portable device. → Read More
If there’s anything missing from the standard stress ball, it’s a USB connection and a weird phallic shape. Luckily, Brando has us all covered with the $30 USB Stress Ball that, along with the obligatory squeezing motion, adds pulling, squashing, and twisting to the mix. → Read More
Aside from the recent surge in digital picture frames, there hasn’t been too much innovation in the picture frame market. Until now! The Rhombus Turning Photo Frame from Brando has room for six photos. Stick the frame on a level surface and it’ll rotate! → Read More
Nothing says “I love you” like a USB powered heart! Your sweetheart is sure to swoon when you reveal the depths of your passion with this lovely, thoughtful gift. Hurry, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. → Read More
Ten-key enthusiasts, prepare for Brando to rock… your… world. For $37, you can get a wireless (wireless!!!) numeric keypad, effectively allowing you to ten-key on uneven terrain, underground, or from over thirty feet away from your computer — like while skydiving, for instance, except your computer is skydiving near you but far enough away that hooking up a USB-connected number pad would be way too dangerous. Extreme! → Read More
Another day, another kind of sweet product from Brando. This time is a wireless, backlit, keyboard. And it’s tiny. Actually, this might be the ideal item for a HTPC solution. Find out at the end of December when it ships out for the low low price of $47.00. Get it for someone else. Then, if they don’t like it, you’ll know it would have been a poor investment for yourself. That’s the holiday spirit in action. → Read More
http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&file=http%3A//blip.tv/rss/flash/1470581&feedurl=http%3A//crunchgear.blip.tv/rss/&autostart=false&brandname=CrunchGear&brandlink=http%3A//crunchgear.blip.tv/ Hey funtime boys! Want to dance? Ok! Let’s have a good time with Brando’s new USB-powered LED projector. Plug it in, watch the lights move, feel the Drano moving through your veins to your heart, hear the final chuckles of glee as your Mafiya captors riffle through your jacket looking for valuables before they dump you into the Volga. Don’t ever cross the Mafiya. $19.00 on, guess where?, Brando. → Read More
I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before whoever gave to to Brando to sell. Stick this bubble level on your flash shoe and you’re lined up like a champ. It’s genius! I have a pretty good (one might say freakish) sense of my scene’s verticality, symmetry, and fatality, but this doodad would allow me to indulge my obsession with straight lines even further. It’s genius, it’s cool-looking, it’s tiny so it should fit in your kit no problem, and it only costs $11! Give me a break! → Read More
In the distant future, I envision a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Cannibalism and harsh justice are present in equal amounts, and the only thing more prized than bullets… is batteries. In this blasted landscape, the only relief afforded the dwindling survivors — hungry, tired, and irradiated — is found in a small shack hidden between the painted cliffs of the former Dakotas. There, the weary travelers queue for hours as the lone masseuse attends to each of them in turn. No one cuts, no one complains of the wait. How can the massager the masseuse wields can continue to buzz this many years after the fall of mankind, no one knows. It must be a miracle. Sound like fun? Get your own! → Read More
If the constant deluge of e-mail makes you agitated, your right eye twitching every time a new message hits your inbox, then you will probably NOT like this gigantic envelope box-type doodad that lights up every time someone tries to get your attention. I’d likely develop some sort of negative Pavlovian response to such stimuli. But if you’re popular, have friends, and like to know when those friends have e-mailed you, it might be time to scrounge up $17 for the USB Webmail Notifier from Brando. The envelope box turns shades of green, blue, and red depending upon how many unread e-mails you have and you can even set it to flash on and off until you check your mail (my eye just twitched involuntarily). USB Webmail Notifier [Brando] → Read More
San Francisco, CA
