A solar powered Bonsai tree, who would have thought?  Vivien Muller did.  Her design takes each end-point of the Bonsai tree and turns it into a small photocell.

Methodshop coined this as photovoltaic panels, but I like the term photogalactic a little better.  The unit recharges a hidden battery beneath the tray – which happens to be the same place as the wires for your gadgets – so even re-charging can take place during the night.  Of course USB support for those USB gadgets we all love.

As you can see, one could make a nice solor tree for their kitchen table or large office desk, but what if your space was a little more cramped?  Well, the USB solar Bonsai can be redesigned and shaped to any dimension of your liking.  It can spin, detach and rotate through small connectors.

So how much is this ingenious device cost?  Not much right now, it’s just a prototype.  Since this looks like such a great product, lets hope someone picks up the production rights.  Wouldn’t you say Vivien?

I’m not much of a retro styled bloak, but that doesn’t stop me from admitting this is one cool looking USB microphone.  The Brando wireless retro USB microphone is a great addition to the desktop for on-line chat without sacraficing personal style.

The wireless mic spans up to 3 meters without fail and is simple plug-n-play technology.

Since the USB microphone is wireless, the the mic is powered by 9V battary.  Priced at just $29 bucks.

Brando retro style wireless USB microphone product page.

If you can’t tell from the picture, this is a DIY project on taking a regular USB hub and turning it into the ideal Halloween desk monster.

Using stiff wire, USB cables, USB hub and some LED you can build the inner structure of the USB monster.  Then sharpen your sowing skills and make a fabric body.  The fun part about this project is turning those clawed USB feet into working USB connectors.

Albeit not the most space conscience hub you could find, but it’s definitely a fun project for the upcoming Halloween season.

Source:  SlipperyBrick via Instructables.

For the limited number of you who visit GetUSB.info and work in a large, corporate environment, the Nortel virtual office USB stick might be your answer to working from home.  The Nortel virtual office is a plug-n-play stick to provide any remote user instant access to the company server via VPN.

Access privileges can be set according to user IP address or authentication strength from data input.  Nortel’s VPN Gateway will authenticate the remote connection request and approve connection based on the information provided.

This is a great solution for remote users who are looking for top level security over a Virtual Private Network.  A Nortel customer gives one good example of use:

Dr Zafar Chaudry, director of IT for Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Community-based midwives … will be using Nortel Secure Portable Office with hospital-provided laptops, 3G wireless data cards and Nortel Mobile Client Accelerator to securely access, review and update server-based medical records from patient homes.

Is Digg.com founder and Diggnation star Kevin Rose abusing his Apple contacts? This past weekend Kevin blogged about some new stuff being released by Apple next month including new iPods and an iTunes update.

According to Kevin, Apple will announce the following within the next few weeks:

• the iPod nano will take on a slimmer, more rounded look
• the iPod Touch will get an update with a new 2.1 operating system
• Prices of the iPod line will drop to differentiate the product from the iPhone
• iTunes 8.0 will be a major new release with several additional features
• Further out Apple is planning to add Blu-ray support to Mac OS X

methodshop

Here is a simple USB tutorial on taking a typical phone cord and splicing it so USB connectors sit on each end.  The concept being a cheap and easy way to make a short cable expand out for long distance connection during use.

The only fear is that phone cords are not well shielded and that might slow down the data transfers or possible drop packets.  But at the length shown here, we feel you’re alright.

If anything, making the USB coil cable would be a nice little project for a DIY starter.  Great to sharp those soldering skills and steady hand.  The full USB tutorial can be found at Instructables.

NEC has long had the best performing USB PCI card with their USB host controller chip (uPD720170) and today they are expanding the portfolio to includes wireless USB.  The new wireless USB host controller will allow high speed communication between PCs and peripherals with wireless USB technology such as USB hubs, printers and external storage devices.

The NEC wireless USB host controller received approval from the USB Implementors Forum and uses the WHCI protocol developed by Microsoft, NEC, Philips and Texas Intstruments.  The Wireless Host Controller Interface specifications supports data transfer rates of up to 480 megabits per second (Mbps) of data, comparable to wired USB 2.0 connections at close range.

The NEC wireless USB host controller starts at $10 for sample and development use with prices dropping at higher quantities.

Source:  NEC America.