Archive for the ‘Peripherals’ Category

The innovative Swiftpoint Mouse made an appearance on the FCC today.  Small enough to be used on your laptop’s palm rest, the Swiftpoint Mouse fits between your thumb and middle finger, providing an attractive alternative to the tired track pad.

The Swiftpoint Mouse is held like a pen.  Left and right buttons are on the top of the device, and are accessible with a forefinger.  Interestingly, the mouse’s scrolling wheel is on the front of the device, allowing users to easily scroll by moving the device up and down on a surface.

With a 1000 dpi, the Swiftpoint Mouse works on small surfaces like the palm rest of a laptop.  This means you can use the mouse while your laptop is actually sitting in your lap – no desk or tray table is needed.

The device charges through a small USB dock, and a 30 second charge will power the mouse for 1 hour.  A full 90 minute charge will power the Swiftpoint Mouse for 2 to 4 weeks.  The device also features a small LED that shows battery life.

The Swiftpoint Mouse costs $70.  You can preorder the device here, and Swiftpoint expects the device to start shipping in mid August.

Check out the video below to see the Swiftpoint Mouse in action.

Here’s an interesting, if not especially useful product from Chinese manufacturer DynaPoint Inc.  The company’s H37 mouse, above, passed through the FCC today.  What sets this mouse apart from others is a tiny 1.5” TFT LCD display near the middle of the mouse.

The mouse supports bmp and jpg formats, and comes with software that resizes pictures for the 1.5” display.  The mouse has a variety of photo displaying modes, including a slide show mode, auto-off mode and backlight mode.

We’re not sure why you’d want a picture under your palm, but hey, no one ever complained about too many LCD displays, right?

Here’s a novel accessory for your HTPC.  The Lazy Pad combines a trackpad, numerical pad and quick launch toolbar into a paper-back sized tablet.

The Lazy Pad seems ideal for sofa surfing on an HTPC.  The large trackpad surface makes navigation painless.  The device can also launch a quick launch toolbar on screen that provides users with access to media controls, web browser controls, and desktop and computer folders.

We don’t have any word on availability or pricing, but you can check out the Lazy Pad website here.

We love dashcams.  They’ve provided us with countless hours of YouTube entertainment over the years.

The RoadScan DTW dashcam from Kolimat, pictured above, passed through the FCC today.  This device features front and rear motion-activated cameras, audio recording, as well as GPS that maps recorded video to the vehicle’s position on the road.  The device can also record vehicle speed and compass info.

Data recorded by the RoadScan DTW is stored on an SD card.  The device also has WiFi and USB 2.0 connectivity for downloading data.

Kolimat markets the RoadScan DTW to corporate vehicle fleets, although the device would be a good solution for paranoid parents, as well.  The device sells for $799, an you can purchase it directly from Kolimat’s website.

Kanex, pronounced ‘connects,’ unveiled their Kanex XD adapter at Macworld this year, walking away with a Best in Show award in the process.  This brushed aluminum box brings Blu Ray playback to the iMac – a feature many Mac owners have been clamoring for.

The Kanex XD sits between your media playback device and your iMac.  The Kanex XD accepts HDMI inputs from a variety of devices, including Blu Ray players, the PS3, the XBox 360 or set top boxes.  The Kanex XD then connects to your iMac via Mini DisplayPort, pumping out full screen HD video up to 720p.

Currently, the Kanex XD only supports 27” iMacs.  The device also requires users to toggle back and forth between HD video and OSX – you won’t be able to use your iMac and watch HD video through the Kanex XD at the same time.  Still, the Kanex XD is one of the few solutions that can bring Blu Ray to the iMac’s 27” display, so we can’t really complain.

The Kanex XD costs $150, and according to Kanex the device should start shipping today.  You can read more about the Kanex HD here.

Hong Kong-based Sengital Limited passed this unique controller called the VRMS i-too through the FCC today.  The device gives users a ton of control options, including a analog stick, d-pad, trackball and QWERTY keypad.  The device connects to your PC via USB 2.4GHz dongle.

We’re impressed that Sengital packed so many control devices into such a compact package.  Still, the green marble colored trackball and use of AAA batteries seems a bit out of date.  We’d love an optical trackpad and some rechargeable goodness.

We don’t normally cover monitors, but this unique LCD from LG called the E2280VV really piqued our interest.  The E2280VV, aka E2280VXY, passed through the FCC today and test setup photos reveal a futuristic design that seems befitting of a space craft.

The E2280VV is covered with glossy black plastic that warps reflections like a carnival funhouse mirror.  Ports are exposed in a small oval space near the bottom of the monitor’s back, maximizing the surface area of the monitor’s reflective surface.

Under the monitor is a sphere that appears to be a ball joint, although this sphere could just be there for looks – who would want a ball joint under a large LCD anyway?  The sphere, like the rest of the E2280VV, is highly reflective and kind of reminds me of a large ball bearing.

As for specs, the E2280VV measures 21.5” inches in diameter with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution at 60 Hz.  The device has VGA, DVI and HDMI inputs.

The E2280VV seems like a nice change of pace from your typical black boxy LCD.  However, We don’t have any pricing or availability info at this point, but we’ll keep you updated as we learn more.

Believe it or not, the bizarre device pictured above can actually read your mind.  Known as the EPOC and developed by Emotiv Systems, this intriguing device allows users to control a computer with their thoughts.

So how does it work?  The EPOC consists of the EPOC headset, a wireless dongle and EPOC Control Center software, which is available for PCS.  The EPOC headset uses 14 signals to sense electric signals produced by the brain.  These signals are sent wirelessly to the EPOC Control Panel software, which can then use these signals to control your PC.

The EPOC recognizes facial expressions, emotional responses and deliberative intent, and these thoughts can be translated in the EPOC Control Panel to a wide variety of data.  For example, users can program the EPOC to type “:-)” if the device senses that the user is happy.

EPOC users can also control objects on a screen with their thoughts.  So far Emotiv has designed a couple games that allow users to navigate and control objects solely with the EPOC headset.

Emotiv offers SDKs for developers, researchers, schools and businesses that will allow customers to develop custom software for the EPOC.  Emotiv also sells a Brain Activity Map application that shows brain activity in real time.

You can preorder the EPOC on Emotiv’s website for $299.  The company expects to ship preorders in May, and yesterday the device passed through the FCC signaling that a launch is approaching.

Ever wonder what a Braille keyboard looks like?  These two peripherals from Technologies HumanWare Inc., above, are Braille ‘displays’.  As you’ll notice above, both devices have a series of 32 Braille rectangles near the bottom, each of which can display either 6 or 8 dot Braille.

The bottom device has a typical QWERTY keyboard, while the top device has a Braille keyboard, which features eight keys and a space bar.  Each of these keys represent a number, while letters are represented by series of 3 numbers.

I can’t imagine how tough it is to interface with a computer without the benefit of sight.  And, it’s remarkable that these devices are able to convert a page of visual data into Braille on the fly.

Wacom passed the DTF-720C Interactive Pen Display, pictured above, through the FCC yesterday.  If you’re not familiar with Wacom’s interactive pen displays, you should definitely check one out.  These devices are essentially a large tablet monitor that acts as a digital canvas.  Users can ‘draw’ on the DTF-720C with a stylus, and the display measures up to 512 levels of pressure sensitivity to accurately reproduce your sketches with digital ink.

The DTF-720 has a 17”, 1280 x 1024 SXGA screen and connects to your computer with an analog RGB cable.  The device also has VGA pass through connector and USB ports.

Pricing for the DTF-720 costs a still $1,999, making it more of a professional product rather than a hobbyist’s toy.  The device is available now directly from Wacom.