5 Days Left to Win a Lenovo W700ds
Digital CamerasDigital Photography School: 
This is just a quick reminder to readers that we’re currently running a competition where you can win a Lenovo W700ds Mobile Workstation (the biggest laptop I’ve ever seen).
Check out full details of the competition here but all you have to do to enter is be a subscriber to our weekly email newsletter which goes out on Thursdays with updates of new tips and tutorials here on DPS.
The competition ends this coming Thursday (the 9th July) so make sure you’re signed up and verified as a subscriber by then. To enter just check out this post where there’s a signup form to join the newsletter.
PS: Happy 4th July to our US readers. Don’t forget to check out our Photographing Fireworks tutorial for tonight!
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
5 Days Left to Win a Lenovo W700ds
ARKNAV offers R-35 GPS Tracker
Gadget NewsCoolest Gadgets: 
ARKNAV is slowly but surely making a name for itself in the GPS navigation market, and their latest device would be the R-35 GPS Tracker.
Our extremely compact GPS tracker features a built-in motion sensor and is ideal for movement detection or anti-theft applications with vehicles or other assets. It is so lightweight and compact that it can even be used as a stop-motion detection device for the elderly — with alerts when subjects are not moving. And our tracker can be housed in an optional magnetic waterproof box with either a large rechargeable battery or external I/O power cables for easy attachment to vehicles.
This brings to attention that motion detection is of utmost importance where the elderly or chronically ill are concerned, and with the R-35’s integrated motion sensor, it sounds and looks like the perfect solution for stop-motion detection. Of course, you can also utilize this motion sensor to be set for movement detection for asset or vehicle security.
Press Release
Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool 
[ ARKNAV offers R-35 GPS Tracker copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Sonos CR200 in the flesh
Gadget NewsCoolest Gadgets: 
Folks who have been looking forward to the Sonos CR200 controller for quite some time now will be pleased to know that the device will be made available to the masses very soon after going through rigorous tests proposed by the FCC suits. This portrait-oriented controller is tipped to come with a touchscreen display that supports an on-screen QWERTY keyboard for easy navigation and typing, making it a snap to look up songs by artist, album, or titles. This certainly does away with the need for a scroll-wheel of sorts. There is no word on pricing for the Sonos CR200 though, so hopefully it won’t make you burn a bigger hole in your wallet than it should.
Source: Engadget
Check out the Coolest Gadgets 2008 Gift Guides, Christmas shopping made easy.
[ Sonos CR200 in the flesh copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Sanyo unveils eneloop lamp
Gadget NewsCoolest Gadgets: 
When rechargeable batteries are mentioned, many of us will definitely think about Sanyo and their range of Eneloops that have garnered pretty high ratings from consumers over the years for its reliability and ability to live up to its own advertising in terms of performance. Well, this time round the Japanese electronics giant is back with a new Eneloop lamp - basically a rechargeable light that can function as both an interior lamp and a flashlight. According to Sanyo, “The Kobe earthquake is the starting point. We aimed at designing a shape that is really helpful in case of emergency.”
The lamp itself is weirdly shaped, looking like a bud vase while featuring a maximum diameter of 121mm and a height of 221mm. It comes with a built-in rechargeable battery and LEDs that cater for lighting applications, located at the bottom. Sanyo has decided that it is possible to merge both the functions of an interior lamp and a flashlight, letting you use the device as the former on an almost daily basis, but instantly turning into a vital piece of survival equipment in case of an emergency. Inside the lamp, you will find a couple of Eneloop nickel-metal-hydride batteries that can be fully charged within approximately a dozen hours when placed in a charging stand. Since the self discharge rate is extremely low and slow, chances are pretty good the lamp will still work great and not suffer from battery exhaustion during an emergency.
There is no official pricing details released yet, although some sources have bandied about a ¥15,000 (approximately $156) price point. Sanyo Electric has chosen September 11, 2009, as its release date - we wonder whether it had anything to do with the anniversary of the deadly attacks on the Twin Towers, where such…
Garmin enters into business with Motorcycle OEM
Gadget NewsCoolest Gadgets: 
Garmin is a well known name when it comes to GPS navigation systems, and their latest foray into the market includes expanding its relationship with BMW Motorrad, where both of them have joined forces to develop the next generation BMW Motorrad Navigator known as the Navigator IV. This is a motorcycle-friendly GPS navigator which will be based on Garmin’s zūmo 660, where it aims to bring out the level best of Garmin’s navigation technology, merging that with exclusive, BMW specific features including a customized mount, preloaded BMW dealer database, unique audio and Bluetooth handling capabilities, and more.
You can tell by the 4.3″ navigator’s screen size alone that this is one highly portable device, boasting a bright touchscreen display which works even when you’re wearing a pair of oh-so-cool leather gloves. Preloaded details include detailed street maps with millions of points of interest, comprising of various locations such as restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, hotels and specific street addresses. Once the rider selects a destination, the system will automatically calculate the best route and spews out turn-by-turn, voice-prompted directions in order to get you to the final destination within the fastest route. You can also listen to the navigator through a compatible Bluetooth enabled helmet or headset thanks to the BMW Motorrad Navigator IV’s stereo (A2DP) Bluetooth wireless technology.
While you’re zipping down the freeway on your favorite 2-wheel vehicle with this, you can easily access trip information straight from the BMW Motorrad Navigator IV’s trip information page, checking out a variety of information including speed, heading, altitude, and a customizable fuel gauge that can be modified to accommodate the motorcycle’s maximum fuel range. Other features include sophisticated routing capabilities that ensure you’re always on the right lane for added safety, alongside arrows that point to the appropriate lane…
Lotus USB Webcam with LED light
Gadget NewsCoolest Gadgets: 
This is definitely an overly female product, I’m pretty sure there aren’t many men that could stomach having this on their desk. For that matter it would take a special breed of female to handle this bright pink flower webcam. Likely the best candidates to have one of these are the girls that still play with Barbie dolls. Which for the most part, that bunch is far too young to have a webcam. However, if you are or know a female that would adore this webcam, it’s at an affordable price.
The webcam is hidden within the big pink flower and then in addition to that it has several LED lights, a total of 12 LED lights to be specific. Both the light and webcam are on a flexible neck, so you can get the angle just right. The light itself has a separate switch so you can turn it on and off. You can also make sure that it won’t easily be knocked over thanks to the suction cup on the bottom of the webcam’s base. You can purchase it for $24.69 from Uxsight.
Source: Gizmodiva
Tech Cult - We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ Lotus USB Webcam with LED light copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Surprisingly tasteful USB Necklaces
Gadget NewsCoolest Gadgets: 
If you’re on the lookout for a wearable USB drive, it wouldn’t be that hard to find one. The task is finding one that doesn’t look either overly tacky or just plain over the top geeky. Then of course there are the few that make an attempt to appear punk and fail miserably. Well for those that are tired of the USB jewelry that falls into those categories, there’s actually a seller on Etsy that you should check out.
Their drives vary in styles, but all are very tasteful. If you’re going to find a USB necklace anywhere, you’re probably going to have the best luck there. They all range in price and each one can be purchased in various sizes. When you go to purchase the necklace you can choose between 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB. The pair you see here can be purchased together or individually. If you purchase the pair with a 4GB drive, it’ll cost you $99.98. None of the drives are cheap, the cheapest you’ll find is $49.99 and about the most expensive is going to cost you $139.98.
Source: GeekyGadgets
Check out the Coolest Gadgets 2008 Gift Guides, Christmas shopping made easy.
[ Surprisingly tasteful USB Necklaces copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Self-Portrait Machine
Gadget NewsCoolest Gadgets: 
When I was a kid, I had to do a self-portrait in the third grade. It wasn’t a pretty good likeness of me. If I wanted to do a self-portrait now, I’m certain it would be as good.
Perhaps this is why Jen Hui Liao invented a self-portrait machine. This device is designed to take a snapshot of the user, and then it will draw a picture of you.
You might wonder how this works. I’m not certain either, but if you thought that this device comes with some robot arm to draw for you, you’re half right. There is a robot arm, but the user actually handcuffs his or her wrist to it. You might want to check out the YouTube video after the jump to see it in action.
From there, the user just sits and watches as his or her likeness as it is made on paper. My source is somewhat negative on this device, saying that it is a robot who is making us to the work. I suppose this is bringing about our dystopian visions of a machine-dominated future, but let me put a positive spin on this.
I don’t know how to draw myself, much less anything else. If I could have a machine do it for me, I suppose that works. After all, we have machines do a lot of hard work for us these days.
So, why not have a machine do it for us? I suppose that passing a machine’s work off as ours, calling it a self-portrait, is nigh cheating. I wonder if I’m the first tech blogger to bring that up.
Source
Tech Cult - We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ Self-Portrait Machine copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Gamers: Time to score big – specials galore on Steam
LaptopsThe Inquisitr » Tech: 
If you are a gamer and you want to score yourself some great games over the next week, and holiday weekend, then you need to head over to Valve’s game store and start prepping your download folder for incoming.
Starting of the specials we have the complete 2K Huge Game Pack which includes the following
Bioshock
CivCity: Rome
Civilization IV: Warlords
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
Freedom Force
Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich
Prey
Railroad Tycoon 3
Railroad Tycoon II Platinum
Shattered Union
Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization
Sid Meier’s Pirates
Sid Meier’s Railroads
X-COM: Apocalypse
X-COM: Enforcer
X-COM: Interceptor
X-COM: Terror from the Deep
X-COM: UFO Defense
Now if you were to buy all those games separately you’d be looking at forking over $229 but if you buy the complete pack you can get them all for $59.99. Not only that but if you really hurry their giving another 10% off until July 7th.
On top of all of that goodness there is an even better deal that is only on for the weekend. For those of you that really like the good old FPS type games (with maybe a bit of RPG thrown in) the Steam store has Fallout 3 on a half-price special. So instead of forking over $49.99 you only need to dip into your wallet for $24.99
For those of you that are maybe a little more sports oriented there’s a special running until July 10th that will let you pick up Virtua Tennis 2009 and save yourself 10% on the store price.
So what are you still doing here .. git … it’s the weekend … it’s gamer time .. git.
Fire at authorize.net grinds e-commerce to a halt
LaptopsThe Inquisitr » Tech: 
Score one for bricks and mortar shopping.
Seattle based authorize.net was offline for hours this morning following a fire at a data center at Seattle’s Fisher’s Plaza. Reportedly many companies were affected, but authorize.net is the only one responsible for millions of online transactions daily. The fire apparently triggered sprinkler systems, as fires often do, and brought down many machines that haven’t been offline “in years.”
To keep customers informed of the status of repairs and accessibility, the company wisely set up a Twitter account. A series of dramatic tweets were ushered in by this first one at 11AM EST:
#authorizenet We are down due to a fire at our primary data center in Seattle. We are working to restore services, but no ETA at this time.
Around noon, the company updated:
#authorizenet I understand transaction processing is back up with the exception of Global processing. We are working to bring that up ASAP.
Although the company has provided information about the current status of transaction processing, questions remain about transactions posted during the outage:
#authorizenet Lots of questions re: post downtime e.g. transactions without auth code. Will post comm with answers once I have them.
Teams hope to restore power to the building by 1:30PM PST. This is the second major epic fail outage at Fisher Plaza in the past year.
Some really cool laptops, too bad they’re just concepts
LaptopsThe Inquisitr » Tech: 
The only real extended use of a laptop that I have had is with the one I bought for my wife recently so they have never been high on my priority list of things to get. However some of these concept laptops would be really cool to own if they ever made it past the rendering stage.
Canvas Laptop Concept - designed by Kyle Cherry
Vaio Zoom
Compenion Laptop concept
HP Concept Laptop
Frog Concept Design
top graphic is the Fujitisu Turn Table Concept Laptop – hat tip to Technology.am
BREAKING: Shots fired at Apple store in Virgina – one wounded [VIDEO]
LaptopsThe Inquisitr » Tech: 
The details are still sketchy but an unidentified man has fired at least one shot at the Apple Store in Clarendon, Arlington Virginia, just shortly after the store open this morning. Witness at the scene report hearing a loud bang coming from the back room which was followed by a woman’s screams. A thin-framed, black male believed to be in his twenties and wearing a fake beard was seen fleeing from the rear of the store.
ABC and FOX news are confirming the story and the woman was the victim of a botched robbery.
hat tip to AppleInsider
Flash Purse
Gadget NewsCoolest Gadgets: 
Thanks to tabloids, we know more than we really should about celebrities. I mean, do I really need to know that Hugh Jackman is in Hawaii? If I went to some tropical place, the only ones who would see fit to report about it is me.
I’m sure it is harder to be a celebrity than the tabloids make it look. You’ve seen the video footage with the barrage of flashing cameras by the paparazzi. For those celebrities who are sick of all the flashing, they can now flash back! I’m not talking about Britney Spears when she forgot her underwear.
The Flash Purse is a concept gadget that works by sensing the activation of other flashes. I’m not certain how it does that, but somehow the device senses the flashes and gives its own flash. So when the paparazzi guy goes to get his pictures developed, all he will see is one large spot where his subject’s face will be. So much for his million dollar paycheck.
It sounds like something that celebrities would be buying in droves, doesn’t it? I suppose that this is something that the inventors of the Flash purse are counting on. This way the flash purse will sell at a high price, and the rich celebrities will pay for it.
Believe it or not, the flash purse can work at 1/125 shutter speed, which should be enough to make those shots that you see in the picture. It reminds me of those shots of ghosts or angels that people say they catch on camera. Maybe that’s how the paparazzi guy can make some money off of his work.
Source
Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ Flash Purse copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
The USB powered light bulb is the first of its kind
Gadget NewsCoolest Gadgets: 
Seeing a USB powered light is nothing new, you could easily find one in pretty much any shape or size. What’s odd about this one is that it uses an actual light bulb. It actually claims to be the world’s first USB powered light that utilizes a light bulb. Typically a USB light has an LED light, which works just as well. However, if you’re tired of everything being LED, this would be a refreshing change.
The overall appearance of the light is pretty minimal and it definitely puts on display that it’s using a real light bulb. It’s on a cable that allows you to bend and shape exactly how you want the light to sit. Unfortunately it is a Japan product from the company JTT. Which means it will be hard to get your hands on if you’re outside of Japan. Which if you’re reading this, it’s highly likely that you aren’t in Japan. Within Japan the light is priced at 1280 Yen, which converts into about $15.
Source: Newlaunches
Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ The USB powered light bulb is the first of its kind copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Let your Fingers Need the Waking
Gadget NewsCoolest Gadgets: 
I’m sure anyone reading this blog has played Dance Dance Revolution (DDR). I’m sure that anyone who has played this game has discovered that it is not as easy as it looks, and moving feet to the beat can wear you out. No wonder why the arcade version of the game has guardrails!
I’ve seen a finger-sized version of DDR before, and generally designed as a USB-powered excuse for fidgeting. This would be the first time I have ever seen a finger-sized DDR attached to an alarm clock.
This is the type of alarm clock that gets your mind in “wake” mode by letting your fingers do the dancing. Yes, that alarm clock will simply not shut up unless your fingers touch the right lights.
Yeah, I would probably prefer something with a snooze button myself, but that is just me. I actually have a version of Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party for the Wii, and I don’t play it very often. I certainly wouldn’t play it with my fingers, even if it was tiny.
Well, if nothing else, this Finger Dance Alarm Clock is yet another way to wake up. Considering all the alarm clocks we have covered such as the Simon Alarm Clock, this one is just another one of our unique ones. It causes about £9.99 or $16.
Source
Check out the Coolest Gadgets 2008 Gift Guides, Christmas shopping made easy.
[ Let your Fingers Need the Waking copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]