Flexicord cables get bent... and stay that way

Ever have a cable you wanted to strangle? Well you're not alone, apparently. A company called E-Filliate issued a new series of USB, HDMI, Cat5, S-Video, and composite cables called Flexicord at CES this year which will bend -- and stay -- in any position you please, thus eliminating that frustration you must feel every time you plug in your camera or hook up your high fidelity sound system. The cables act like pipe cleaner or Gumby, so you can twist and shape them as you please, though apparently Pokey had to be killed and dissected so the technology could be obtained. Enjoy your new cable, murderers.

[Via Everything USB]

[tonyb @ Jan 13th 2009 6:55AM]

STOP KILLING MY CHILDHOOD
Pokey

[absinthe party @ Jan 13th 2009 7:19AM]

I heard that Gumby was arrested for heroin smuggling a few years ago.

[strider_mt2k @ Jan 13th 2009 8:24AM]

Seriously.

Is it too much to ask for a train that pulls it's own track underneath itself?

[Joe @ Jan 13th 2009 8:24AM]

I guess that makes Pokey a coke mule.

[Deuche ex Machina @ Jan 13th 2009 8:48AM]

Strider,

They already make such a thing, they call it a tank

[Bufsabre @ Jan 13th 2009 7:09AM]

this cord is pokey approved

[neodorian @ Jan 13th 2009 7:11AM]

Damn blockheads.

[Tom @ Jan 13th 2009 7:13AM]

This is incredible. Want now. In the UK

This is too much to ask isn't it? :)

[Carl @ Jan 13th 2009 8:08AM]

...or you could just spiral a pipe cleaner around the offending cable. Will work for any cable you already own with any known connector ;-) Since pipe cleaners come in various colors you can also color-code your cables this way.

Pipe cleaners also make great color-coded cable ties and are ideal for attaching cables (and other lightweight objects) to pegboard. And they are dirt cheap, available from craft stores. (You can usually find a craft store in the same mall as that Best Buy/Circuit City/Fry's you were going to visit anyway...)

I don't know why pipe cleaners don't get more love around here -- they are a cheap'n'cheerful solution to a lot of messy problems in my wiring closet.

[Brazen521 @ Jan 13th 2009 8:22AM]

You're a pipe cleaner salesman, aren't you?

[Tarnation @ Jan 13th 2009 8:26AM]

Nah. I think he is a Chewlie's gum representative. Cancer Merchant! Cancer Merchant!

[Julien Tregoat @ Jan 13th 2009 10:02AM]

I like this - the cord is always the perfect size.

[Steve @ Jan 13th 2009 7:31AM]

Wow... so now I can buy a cable that is 5 metres too long and twist, and twist, and twist it around itself so it finally ends up a usable 1 metre long, not to mention incurring the loss in quality that overly-long cables bring. I can't wait.

[Wwhat @ Jan 13th 2009 7:39AM]

5 meters?
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/19/0,1425,sz=1&i=198620,00.jpg

[stefan @ Jan 13th 2009 7:42AM]

lucky then this is hdmi and neither length nor material influence what your telly displays and squirts out of its speakers.

[PCIV @ Jan 13th 2009 7:49AM]

Stefan, I personally don't know, but here's what I once read.
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/how-long-can-hdmi-run.htm?hdmiinfo

[Stiv @ Jan 13th 2009 8:34AM]

Congratulations, Steve, on posting something that shows that not only don't you understand the nature of the product in any way, but also that you don't really understand technology.

[dervheid @ Jan 13th 2009 8:34AM]

Stefan.
You clearly know F**K ALL about cables.
I trust you are NOT involved in ANYTHING involving electricity.
It'd be for the best.

[Jorvay @ Jan 13th 2009 9:12AM]

Steve: digital signals will not degrade over such a short distance of cable as 5 metres, even if that cable is of mediocre quality.
Stefan: though for all reasonable applications you are correct, if you have to go a long way on an HDMI cable (about 15 metres), the signal can develop some self-induced interference, causing distortion. However, that distortion would be obvious, as it comes in the form of missing pixels or big, blocky, garbled squares on your screen.
Dervheid: maybe Stefan was technically incorrect, but for most intents and purposes, his understanding of digital signals was adequate to correctly recognize that the difference between a 1-metre and 5-metre HDMI cable would be non-existent.

[Brian! @ Jan 13th 2009 10:32AM]

Dervheid: It might be wise if you sold your own cables and anything attached to them and used that money for some good anger management therapy. Best not to give yourself a heart attack over some post on Endadget. Well, unless it is a post even slightly related to Apple vs. Anyone. And then, all bets are off.

Wait. Is this flexi-cable pro or anti-mac? My iPhone is better! Take that! (preemptive strike)

[Wwhat @ Jan 13th 2009 4:46PM]

Actually regular USB maxes at 5 meters does it not? and when using USB2 you might lose some speed or functionality depending on the quality of the cable, and HDMI and S-VHS doesn't like to go that long either, I think for both 10 meters is getting sketchy?
So his remark isn't THAT daft.
And to think digital signals are not affected by the length of the cable is rather naive I'd say.

Although for cat5e it's of course a different story, that can do 300 meters (I think, from the top of my head)

[wilsonbilson @ Jan 13th 2009 7:32AM]

Why did this take so long to be invented?

[Lewis @ Jan 13th 2009 7:46AM]

who the hell's pokey?

[absinthe party @ Jan 13th 2009 7:52AM]

Thanks for making me feel old.

[Bufsabre @ Jan 13th 2009 8:01AM]

this is surely a sign of the downfall of society

[gonintendo @ Jan 13th 2009 8:24AM]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokey_(Gumby_character)

[bobblehead @ Jan 13th 2009 8:29AM]

For what a better, pokey free society

[Brook @ Jan 13th 2009 10:13AM]

what is this world coming to? this even makes me feel old and im nearly 22

[Wwhat @ Jan 13th 2009 7:40AM]

Seems a slightly weird name "Our cables are stiff, let's call them flexi-something"

[Marcela @ Jan 13th 2009 7:43AM]

Never heard ofthis little red ...horse? ...I feel young!hahaha! Too bad for you old man(woman)!

[Patriks7 @ Jan 13th 2009 7:43AM]

Wow, that horse is awesome! xD

[JPN @ Jan 13th 2009 7:53AM]

I'm sorry, it's called E-Fillate?

Oh...E-Filliate. Missed that i, that's important.

[Roncore @ Jan 13th 2009 7:58AM]

definitely one of those "why didn't somebody think of this sooner" ideas. Would buy!

[Murphy Mac @ Jan 13th 2009 8:05AM]

I need a 4" flexicord 3.5mm to 3.5mm that will hold a nano up behind a Tivoli radio. Will someone make it for me?

[jabber @ Jan 13th 2009 10:33AM]

Just get your 4" cord and lay it down and (Electrical) tape some pipe cleaners onto the appropriate length of the cable... Should do the trick.

Or, for a nominal fee, if you want the optimal true to life acoustic reproduction, spiral weave some extra-thin copper-hydrogen infused wire around the around the cable, keeping the apex of each successive loop in centimeters in concordance with the appropriate fibonacci sequence to ensure that sound waves can be propogated in the harmonious way that nature intended.

Noel Lee

[shawn @ Jan 13th 2009 8:51AM]

a few years ago.

[Falls Road Animal Hospital @ Jan 13th 2009 8:54AM]

A step in the right direction. ....did Pokey donate himself to science? He's been dead a while.

[shawn @ Jan 13th 2009 9:01AM]

test

[Shinigami @ Jan 13th 2009 9:17AM]

Your test was a success. Are you happy now?

[nxp3 @ Jan 13th 2009 9:21AM]

They have yet to invent ANY cable that plugs in easily, holds securely and slim and flexible. Look at the ends on that HDMI cable...it's huge. If I was to put that cable into something horizontally, it would probably break off eventually, that thing is huge.

[Stevoh @ Jan 13th 2009 10:09AM]

Ever heard of BNC and coax? Great stuff.

[Dave @ Jan 13th 2009 9:18AM]

I would love them for some of the cables inside my box. It would be so nice to have SATA or power cables I could route through my box so that when I have to work inside, I wouldn't have to hold the cables aside while trying to do something.

[Rob @ Jan 13th 2009 9:36AM]

I never understood the real benefit of this cords. Sure they make a long cord look shorter. However, I'm sure you lose some length in all those coils. Plus, the strain this puts on both ends connectors has to be greater than the straight cables. Pass.

[kellogs908 @ Jan 13th 2009 9:55AM]

this isnt the type of cord your thinking about, it doesnt pull back into its original shape (the coil) instead you bend it how you want it and it stays in that position so you would not be losing any length if you bent it straight and there would be now strain on both ends if you bend it to the right length

[Vjeszczi @ Jan 13th 2009 9:46AM]

Does that cable in the photo have HDWI stamped on it to anyone else?

[Mr. Vage @ Jul 15th 2009 1:36PM]

Yeah it does. It looks like someone flipped the image horizontally.

[Xenoterranos @ Jan 13th 2009 10:10AM]

It looks like they mirrored the image at some point in time...OR THESE AREN"T HDMI APPROVED AT ALL!

(I support the use of a double quote in place of an apostrophe when putting a contraction into a statement that is typed in a screaming voice. Nuts to you, MLA)

[Sam @ Jan 13th 2009 9:51AM]

cables... pffff

how 21st century

[Austin @ Jan 13th 2009 10:01AM]

I think its a good idea, but honestly, why hasn't this been out longer?

[IanH @ Jan 13th 2009 10:14AM]

I don't think it's that great of an idea when you have lots of cables running from your system.