This might make a good last-minute stocking stuffer, although I’m not sure if it’ll get to you in time. It’s a little USB power plug with not one, but two (!!!) USB ports. → Read More
Short Version: A solidly-built iPhone car dock whose unique, no-batteries-required sound amplification system actually works fairly well provided you get your phone’s microphone and speaker lined up correctly. → Read More
The general idea behind most of Kensington’s products seems to be to perform one main task and then follow up with one or two secondary and thoughtful convergence features. In the case of the Travel Battery Pack and Charger for iPhone and iPod touch, you get a high-capacity backup battery that doubles as a horizontal stand for watching movies. → Read More
If you’ve ever spent an extended period of time outside during the late fall or winter watching some sort of parade, sporting event, or interpretive dance, you’ll have no doubt A) had plenty of time to re-examine your life and B) wished you’d brought a chair. Now add C) to that list: wished the chair you didn’t bring was heated. → Read More
Bluetooth headsets are great in a car but even more awesome on a motorcycle. It’s not like you can use your phone while cruising down the road on a bike. You might drop the phone and no one wants that. BlueAnt is the latest company to release a system that fully utilizes all the capabilities of Bluetooth for motorcycle riders. → Read More
Short Version: Equal parts backup battery and iPhone dock, Dexim’s $55 P-Flip Foldable Power Dock serves as a nice daily desk accessory and then easily pulls double duty as a portable travelling companion. → Read More
Finally an answer to the age-old question of what can be done to improve skateboards and/or make them more dangerous. Hammacher Schlemmer’s doozy, “The 19 MPH Skateboard” is the answer. → Read More
Using the Gas Cubby iPhone app to increase your fuel economy and keep your vehicle properly maintained can save you money and help the environment… but, if you’ve learned anything from CrunchGear, it’s that saving money isn’t much fun unless you can blow it on something cool and completely over the top. Well, one lucky CrunchGear reader gets to have their cake and eat it too. App Cubby, the developer of Gas Cubby, is giving away a Viper SmartStart kit to one lucky CrunchGear reader. If you own a car and an iPhone, surely you’ve heard about and have been lusting after Viper’s new technology that allows you to lock/unlock, open the trunk, and even start your car right from your iPhone. → Read More
Short Version: A universal notebook adapter with retractable cabling that extends to almost ten feet in length, comes with nine adapter tips, and features two USB charging ports. → Read More
You may recall that back in early September, we brought you news of this steering wheel table. Well, the customer reviews on Amazon’s product page are pouring in and it looks like this may be the sleeper hit of the season! → Read More
[tab:Intro][flagallery gid=8 name="CrunchGear Gift Guide 2009"] We’re only about five weeks away from Christmas, so now’s as good a time as any to talk about (drum roll, please) e-books. Amazon kick-started the e-book market (with apologies to earlier e-book readers) with the introduction of the Kindle in the fall of 2007. Two years later, Barnes and Noble, IREX, and Sony announced new or updated e-book readers of their own. The question becomes, which e-book reader is right for you? The truth is, they’re all very similar, so it should come down to what books their compatible book stores carry. Oh, and price, of course. [tab:Amazon Kindle] Amazon Kindle: Starting at $259 (Amazon.com) The elder statesman of the current crop of e-book readers, the Amazon Kindle is now in its second iteration (putting aside for a moment the Kindle DX, which isn’t exactly a “traditional” e-book reader, if such a thing even exists). As the name suggests, it has the full backing of Amazon—you may have heard of it—which should ensure that it’ll stick around for a while. You can find it on Amazon. Features: • Compatible with e-books (and magazines and newspaper) purchased from Amazon. There’s some 360,000 books available, so odds are you’ll find something you like. • 6-inch, non-touchscreen E Ink display. Very legible, believe me. • Free 3G wireless data access. That means you don’t have to be tethered to a computer to add new books to your device. • It now works in more than 100 countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Japan, Australia, and Brazil. • Holds up to 1,500 books simultaneously. Product Page [tab:Barnes & Noble nook] Barnes & Noble nook: $259 (BarnesandNoble.com) Yes, the nook is written in all lowercase letters, so accept no substitutes. It, along with the Kindle, is destined to become one of the two biggest e-book readers available. It’s backed by the enormity of Barnes & Noble, and all that that entails, has a color scroll bar at the bottom (color = huge when it comes to e-books), and seems to do just about everything right… It’ll be available in a few days (currently scheduled for a November 30 release) from the Barnes & Noble Web site and brick-and-mortar stores. • 6-inch E Ink display, with color touchscreen navigation bar along the bottom. Note that the screen itself isn’t in color, just that navigation bar. • Free 3G → Read More
Lowepro announced a handful of new camera bags at PMA in March and over the last couple months they’ve slowly trickled into the market. We were lucky enough to snag a Pro Roller x100 early and have spent quite a bit of time with it over the last few weeks including trips to Indianapolis for the Red Bull MotoGP. → Read More
If there is one thing I learned while testing this bag it was that there are better bags out there than a $60 Targus for sale at the airport electronic boutique. And so I’m pleased to introduce the Loopbag Vanguard 15-inch Backpack in brown. In my humble opinion this bag is immeasurably better than a heavy, cheap messenger bag style laptop carrier but it does have pros and cons. First the Pros. Visually this bag is nice. Its sales material states that it has a semi-rigid frame so it maintains its good looks full or empty. This is definitely true: from the outside you can hardly tell whether it’s stuffed or completely empty. → Read More
The $239 13-inch Muzetto bag by Waterfield Designs is a nice bag, that much is sure. It’s well built, nicely styled, and comfortable to wear. But friends I’m loathe to admit that I carry too much crap for this poor little bag and it deserves better than me. I’m too much man for this bag. That is not to say this isn’t a bag for a man. It’s a bag for a man who knows about the good things in life – a nice piece of leather, a smooth inner sanctum, enough space for a netbook and a bottle of Vitamin Water.
You see, the Muzetto is clad in smooth leather and an even smoother nylon lining. It has five pockets – one main area for the laptop, a zipper pocket, two front pockets lined with soft material, and a rear bag for glasses and the like. In all I should had more than enough room for all my crap. For example, last night I went into the city with a Kindle and some magazines. Then I bought three hardback books. And I had a bunch of other headphones and crap. And the bag was fit to burst. Or on Saturday I went to a Bachelor Party to a BYOB restaurant (sorry, Fu Suhsi! We were REALLY LOUD) and we went to the Turkish baths on 10th Street before that (don’t ask) and I had swim trunks and a bottle of Woodford Reserve (surprisingly smooth) in there and it was OK but if I had stuck a laptop in there it would have been too much. There’s a tipping point with this bag. If you put too much into it it becomes distended and wild and just too much. You have to care for it and feed it like a baby bird. → Read More
The 9.25- by 4- by 7-inch Speck GPS Flyer is a small-ish travel case meant for storing and displaying most standard-sized GPS systems thanks to a thoughtful pop-up outer compartment with a built-in protective device holder. The inside of the bag features more than enough room for accessories, cables, manuals, and mounting apparatuses. And with an MSRP of $40 and a street price of around $30, it makes a pretty good travel case for other gadgets as well. → Read More
Short Version: Nintendo DSi owners searching for a case that not only protects their handheld but also extends the play time will find Tekno Creations TekCase for the DSi well worth the $30 investment. → Read More
We jumped on the chance to take a look at two of Chrome’s newest bags: the Corsair and Vega. As Peter Ha told me, Chrome is one of the last true makers of messenger bags. He is rarely right about anything, but this time he was dead-on. These bags are rad. → Read More
Short Version: A thoughtful universal power adapter that can charge your laptop and a USB-powered device simultaneously, the Innergie mCube90 features a tiny secondary DC adapter that detaches from the main adapter for use in cars and airplanes. → Read More
