Odd Gadgets - SlashGear

‘odd gadgets’ Stories

LiteLocker lets you leave those Christmas lights up all year

Shane McGlaun, Dec 23rd 2010 Discuss [2]

There are a few asshats in my neighborhood that put up Christmas lights last year and just left them up. One of the guys even left his wreath and garland around the door all year. I guess it was a short cut to decorating for this year, but its' dumb to drive by in May and see holiday decorations up already. Read The Full Story

Most Terrifying iPhone Cover EVER Released

Chris Burns, Dec 21st 2010 Discuss [4]

I don't really know what to say about this, what they're calling the world's first sex toy for mobile phones. It goes by the name MobileRyder and its... well... can you guess? I had to pixelate the picture, but... that dark part on the left is your iPhone, and that pink part coming up from it is... a male... member. This toy is meant by the creators to be both a fashionable cover for your iPhone and to be used in combination with FaceTime, sexting, or video chatting. Read The Full Story

Thing-O-Matic is Inexpensive Star Trek Replicator

Chris Burns, Dec 10th 2010 Discuss [1]

Sort of! This is MakerBot Industries' Thing-O-Matic, a home 3D printer for just over a thousand dollars ($1,225.00). Holy crap that's awesome. It's approximately 12 inches by 12 inches by 16 inches and can print 3D objects that you design on your desktop "continuously for hours at a time." This is the same sort of machine we had (probably still have) at my alma mater the Minneapolis College of Art and Design - last I checked they were using it to carve 3D replicas of human heads. All this stuff gets cut down from MakerBot ABS Plastic, which you get 1 pound of to work with for starters when you buy the Thing-O-Matic kit. Make a thousand rabbits! Read The Full Story

Screwpop keychain tool can slip through airport security

Shane McGlaun, Oct 18th 2010 Discuss [0]

At my house, it seems like I can’t get away from screwdrivers. Every drawer I open has a couple of the tools crammed inside and I keep them in my desk too because it always seems that I need them constantly for one thing or another. It seems like every toy my kids own uses a screw to keep the battery door closed and any geek will tell you a screw driver is needed if you work on your computer to install hardware frequently. Read The Full Story

USB Desktop Aquarium holds a real fish and your stuff

Shane McGlaun, Oct 1st 2010 Discuss [5]

The number of weird USB gadgets that you can guy never ceases to amaze me. I have seen all manner of strange stuff like a microscope for your ears, a camera for taking pictures of zits, and even lights to pimp your cubicle. A new USB gadget has surfaced that has an aquarium powered by USB along with some other stuff. Read The Full Story

Sharpie evolves pencil tech

Shane McGlaun, Aug 10th 2010 Discuss [0]

Back when I was a kid and used pencils a lot there were the normal number two pencils, the fat pencils, and a few mechanical pencils. They all used hard pieces of lead than always seemed to break during a test. Read The Full Story

chumby one coming November: cheaper, more serious

Chris Davies, Sep 30th 2009 Discuss [0]

The original chumby - a hacky sack with a WiFi-enabled touchscreen widget engine stuffed inside - perhaps confused more people than it converted, but the company isn't giving up. Details on the chumby one have emerged, keeping the 3-inch 320 x 240 display but boosting the processor to a 454MHz chip and packing all that into a hard-shelled plastic casing. There's also a built-in FM radio along with stereo speakers. chumby's widget catalog now amounts to over 1,500 apps, including social networking integration, news and weather apps, Pandora and other streaming radio receivers and more. Read The Full Story

BlueBerry, about as blatant a rip-off as you’ll ever find

Shawn Farner, Jan 12th 2009 Discuss [1]

A quick glance at this device and you might think, "Hey, no big deal. That's a BlackBerry Bold." Upon closer inspection, you'll discover that this is not at all a Research In Motion built phone, but instead, a convincing rip-off. Behold - the BlueBerry. Read The Full Story

Scare off burglars with a TV simulator

Shawn Farner, Jan 12th 2009 Discuss [0]

Looking for a home security device but don't want to spend a bundle on an alarm system, cameras or guards? The Home Security Television Simulator might be just what you need to secure your home on the cheap. Read The Full Story

Sonic Nausea gadget makes people queasy

Brenda Stokes, Dec 3rd 2008 Discuss [0]

Pardon my ignorance, but I'm just not seeing the practical purpose of this gizmo. The Sonic Nausea device is an electronic gadget that can actually make people around it feel sick to their stomachs out of the blue. The device is meant to be placed in a specific location and then it will send out high-frequency signals of all sorts, which can apparently make people that get within range feel nauseous. All of the varied soundwaves this thing outputs makes it difficult for a person to process directional source information, resulting in sweating, nausea, vomiting, headaches and irritability. Well, that's just lovely. I mean, is it supposed to be a gag (pardon the pun) device, or what? We're thinking crowd control or something like that. Perhaps a Tazer alternative? Regardless of this thing's purpose, the Sonic Nausea device will cost $29 and runs on a single 9-volt battery. [via The Red Ferret Journal]

Bottle Cap Tripod is McGuiver-ish solution to shaky pictures

Brenda Stokes, Nov 19th 2008 Discuss [0]

I think just about everyone has found themselves out and about somewhere looking to take a picture, only to realize that they need a tripod. But since most of us don't tote around tripods, we end up with shaky, out of focus and generally crappy pictures. But the Bottle Cap Tripod makes the best of a bad situation. Read The Full Story

Bioshock Big Daddy costume is perfect for Halloween

Brenda Stokes, Sep 30th 2008 Discuss [3]

Oh, there's nothing like what's produced when people have too much time on their hands. Take this Big Daddy costume based on the bulky characters from the Bioshock video game. On the one hand, it's nerdy but on the other, completely awesome! Read The Full Story