Author Archive

Matt LeBoff

Kicking around in technology since 2002. I like to write about technology products and ideas, but at the consumer level understanding. Some tech, but not too techie.

USB Lego Monsters By Mindstroms

Matt LeBoff March 27, 2008 Tutorials & How-To Guides, USB Hardware & Gadgets, USB News & Press Releases

What could be better than working with USB, robots, legos and our imagination? Our beloved memories of childhood play with Legos has now turned into adult fun with the new robotic line of Mindstroms. The Mindstroms from Lego is based off their NXT Technology whereby a main NXT brain unit controls 5 different robotic functions for you to let the imagination run free. Build anything you want with the legos, intuitive robotic software or get extreme with Lego’s open source developers kit. So what are the 5 building blocks of the Mindstrom units?

Touch sensor
Sound sensor
Light sensor
Ultrasonic sensor
Servo motors

Through these sensors, some crafty lego design build your robot and communicate via USB for software download and development stages. The world’s next Frankenstein is only a lego or two away. So this is how it works. Build your lego monster with available parts kits.

mindstrom lego kit

Launch the intuitive robot software and use pre-defined commands to build motion, touch, light and other sensory functions.

mindstrom software

Last, connect and communicate via USB to test your functions and ultimately download the finished firmware version to the NXT Lego robot.

usb mindstrom

The USB monster Lego kits, or Mindstroms are available for $250 from Amazon. This is one excellent gift for the 9+ age who’s into computers, gadgets and tinkering.

Multi Media USB Mouse Sports 11 Buttons – Increasing Your Efficiency

Matt LeBoff March 27, 2008 USB Hardware & Gadgets

USB Fever is sporting their new 11 button multi-media USB mouse as the best ticket to enhance your work productivity, increase your efficiency and ultimately land you that promotion.Â Well, maybe not the last three, but chances are with an 11 button mouse things will be [a bit] more convenient.

11 button usb mouse

So for those armchair executives, consider the following 11 quick access features the USB Fever mouse offers:

Internet key
Speed switch
Volume down control
page forward
page backward
volume up control
left button
double click button with only single click
click wheel
right button
play and pause button control

Granted you’ll need a weeks worth of practice to flawlessly work the 11 button super mouse, but the payoff is huge. The multi media 11 button USB mouse is only $15 directly from USB Fever with an additional $3 for shipping anywhere in the world. Thanks for the tip Thomas! Continue Reading

Turnable USB Star Hub from Brando

Matt LeBoff March 27, 2008 USB Hardware & Gadgets

Yesterday we spoke about the asterisk USB hub which solved a basic problem of USB ports being too close together.Â Today, Brando announces a new turnable USB hub which also address tight layout of USB ports found on most hubs.Â The turnable USB hub not only offers the ability to rotate 180 degrees for each connector, but Brando spiced it up with some flashy color.Â Making it easy to find that hub in your pile of papers, coffee cups and other desk junk.

turnable usb hub

Running through the rainbow colors you have a 4 port hub with one up-stream port.Â From purple, to red, orange, yellow and finally green. It’s definitely a fun looking little hub which might double as a 1 year old twisty-turn toy.Â Price from Brando is $12.00 with a few more chips for shipping cost. Brando Turnable USB hub product page. Continue Reading

Asterisk USB Hub Looks Fancy But Doesn’t Work

Matt LeBoff March 26, 2008 USB Hardware & Gadgets, USB News & Press Releases

The Asterisk USB hub is one fancy looking device, too bad it doesn’t work. This is another design prototype from contempo designer Joel Escalona. What I like about this layout, besides the bright Ferrari red is the space between each USB port. Too often have I not been able to use all the ports of a USB hub, making it half as efficient as what it should be.

asterisk usb hub

The issue I see with Asterisco hub (Asterisk hub) is how wide it would be if directly connected to a USB port. It would clearly block other ports to the sides, so an extension cord would be needed to make this ideal. Give and take I suppose. If you are not familiar with Joel’s work, maybe you can jump over to view his USB bomb or USB furniture. Both are enjoyable to consider. Joel – if you’re out there – has anyone picked these up for production? Continue Reading

Tokidoki For Mimobot Is Coming

Matt LeBoff March 26, 2008 USB Hardware & Gadgets

Mimobot, the company which makes those lovable, fun and sometimes crazy looking USB drives is now coming out with Tokidoki Branded UFDs.Â Renowned Italian artist Simone Legno and his popular Tokidoki brand is crossing over to the fashion tech world with the introduction of the Tokidoki Mimobot. Legno, the artistic genius behind the wildly successful, super-kawaii Tokidoki lifestyle brand, joins creative forces with Mimoco to bring you monkey adorned Meletta, Italian devil chef Pastaio and treasure hunting Pirate Nero.

tokidoki mimobot

Meaning “sometimes” in Japanese, Tokidoki was named because of Simon’s love for Japanese culture and because he believes “everyone waits for moments that change one’s destiny” The Mimobot series will be released April 18th where Simone wil be in New York at the Comic Con store.Â You can pre order now, and if you’re into Tokidoki you should as only 2,000 of each Mimobot Pirate Nero, Pastaio and Meletta will be made. Continue Reading

Quality, Portable, Personal Wifi Wherever You Go

Matt LeBoff March 26, 2008 USB Security & Compliance

The world is quickly moving to a wireless environment. Earlier in the year I talked about how to boost your Wifi signal, and today we talk about making your own, portable, personal Wifi for wherever you go. Granted this isn’t a hack or tutorial, but with the use of the PHS300 Personal Hotspot, creating an island of connectivity has never been easier.

portable wifi

CradlePoint manufactures the PHS300 and with their technology and any broadband-enabled mobile phone or modem, simply plug in the phone or USB modem to the CradlePoint router then connect your computer, get access and share. I guess you could add in a few extra steps if WEP/WPA security options are required.

“The personal hotspot includes a built-in lithium-ion battery that will keep it running for several hours and can be recharged via USB when connected to your computer. It can even be used to recharge a phone thatâ€™s connected to the USB port, though that will no doubt reduce its own battery life.”

So lets take a look at some applications the CradlePoint PHS300 would be valuable for: Continue Reading

Canned Card Reader & USB Hub

Matt LeBoff March 25, 2008 USB Hardware & Gadgets

I’ve often thought of what shape [~~not~~] would make the perfect card reader and USB hub, and I must admit the idea of fitting all this into a can never crossed my mind.Â However, our friends at Brando did think outside the box, with this canned shaped card reader and USB hub.Â The 3 port hub supports SD, SDHC, MMC, XD, CF and microSD flash memory cards.

canned card reader

Granted the design is unique and different but not designed for travel or someone looking for a card reader in a compact size.Â The canned card reader does not include a power adapter and is USB powered, thus not the ideal unit for large or long data file transfers.Â Read to know why. As for a marketing product, the card reader seems to be the ideal promotional product for a company like Coke or Pepsi or any other canned food or drink manufacturer. Continue Reading

Personal Pocket Safe Is Pin Pad USB Stick

Matt LeBoff March 24, 2008 Flash Storage & Memory

Here is the Personal Pocket Safe UFD which is the first of it’s kind that is an “encrypted, epoxy coated, pin-protected smart drive.”Â Not the first pin-pad USB stick we’ve seen.Â But with military grade encryption and a mysterious “track-covering” feature to insure no one can trace it’s where-a-bouts after removing from the host.

pin pad usb drive

Lets say you did find the Personal Pocket Safe, well you still need the pin number.Â This guy features a 10 digit touch-pad pin code using between 4 and 10 digits to lock down your passwords, documents etc.Â Get the pin number wrong and the Personal Pocket Safe goes in complete lock-down.

“The Personal Pocket Safeâ„¢ is powered by proprietary software embedded within a pin protected pocket safe that features a host of security-rich options that lock in all of the confidential and critical information that powers the lives of today’s consumers.”

Here are some key bullet points from the press release: Continue Reading

DIY: Customized Neon Sign Kit

Matt LeBoff March 24, 2008 USB Hardware & Gadgets

I believe we have all thought of…or wanted a…customized neon sign over the years. Whether it be making your kegg’r party that much better, or let the world know you are open for business, a customized neon sign would have fit the bill. Well, wait no longer.

customized neon sign

ThinkGeek is offering up a customized neon sign kit and it will not only fit the bill, but make a damn big one. The customized neon sign is $30 to start, then add $7 for each letter, or $5 for each number.

The snap-together letters are 2″ x 3″ which connect to a single power source. There is low heat and power consumption so it’s ultra safe for the front office or the kids bedroom.

Sealed blue neon letter blocks
Low heat generation
Choose from letters, numbers, and special characters
Push button control for blinking or steady-on
Up to 22 neon letters can be connected to a single Power Supply unit

Even though the customized neon sign for “free beer” would run you $86, it pails in comparison to buying a REAL customized neon sign. Let your communication juices begin the free flowing.

Available from ThinkGeek starting at $29.99.

Cellink Swivel USB Stick Is Charger, Reader & UFD

Matt LeBoff March 21, 2008 Flash Storage & Memory

Lets just raddle off the use of the Cellink USB swivel gadget.Â Of course you have the shape, look and feel of a typical UFD.Â With flash memory for…well you know.Â Next, swivel the Cellink and you’ve got a microSD card reader.Â Swivel the other direction and you’ve got a direct connected to your USB port and cell phone for some wireless charging.Â Of course you’ll block all the other ports in the process, but that’s the cost of cool gadgetry.

cellink swivel usb

If these become readily available it would be a great item to have.Â It seems like down-sizing your basket full of gadgets is a continual process.Â So here we streamline to a single UFD, forget another reader and the power cord to your cell phone. That’s progress.

cellink

Source:Â Aving. Continue Reading

SiteHoppin – Such a Social Viral Web Thaang

Matt LeBoff March 20, 2008 USB News & Press Releases

It’s like bar-hoppin, but on the web. I was doing some Social Marketing today and was tipped off on the great affect SiteHoppin can give a webmaster.Â I checked it out, and sure enough the site is a brilliant twist on social bookmarking and networking. In a nut:Â SiteHoppin is a way to view other website without clicking your mouse – EVER, kinda like watching a movie of websites flash across your monitor. How SiteHoppin works:Â Think of a browser within a browser.Â As shown below, you have a sidebar and top nav area.Â Everything else is the real-live-web.Â In the sidebar, just click the play button and start watching website slide-show across your desktop – you don’t do a thing!Â Use the top navigation area to zero in on your specific topic of interest.

sitehoppin page layout

Hit the pause button to dig in deep into something of interest…use the Tag or Talk button to make things social.Â (arrows) Check it out and try it.Â SiteHoppin – GO. So this is where it gets interesting for webmasters.Â SiteHoppin offers Beer Credits.Â These are credits you can earn to send traffic to your site.Â Beer Credits are given by you simply using/viewing your own topics of interest via SiteHoppin.Â The more you use, the more you get.Â Sounds fair. I’ve started using SiteHoppin and have already seen my web hits increase.Â I’ve even requested Max (owner/developer) to include a USB category for all the lovely USB thaangs. SiteHoppin has a host more of features and benefits and the only way to truly see and benefit from this tweak of a social media idea is to view their testimonial page. Continue Reading

Off Topic: Mr. Pitiful Official Music Video

Matt LeBoff March 20, 2008 USB Hardware & Gadgets

Taking things off topic for a moment, GetUSB’s blogging buddy, Zedomax, has a friend of a friend who just released their first official music video. I’m working hard to convince them of using USB music albums rather than vinyl or CD. Below is the official video. The song is called Mr. Pitiful. I must say…it’s good and the guy has a great voice. If this single doesn’t help him break into the music industry, than he sure as hell should try American Idol next season. Take a listen:

As for my buddy at Zedomax (Max) he’s also the founder/developer for the viral and ever popular website SiteHoppin. If you like Stumble or Digg or any other social network than SiteHoppin is the next big thing and an absolute must. If you can’t view the video go to the YouTube channel. Continue Reading