GEAR4's BlackBox Bluetooth speaker is splendid for those with ample room in their abode, but where will you turn for lavish sound when space is an issue? Bose? Pish posh. The newly introduced BlackBox micro (sadly) ditches Bluetooth in exchange for a sole 3.5-millimeter auxiliary port, but it does include an integrated SFX gel base in order to use any flat surface to "provide rich bass sounds." Beyond all that fanciful stuff, you'll find another traditional driver kicking out mids and highs, and there's even a USB port for powering it with whatever computer you've got nearby. Look for this one to sneak into stores this August for £20 ($40).

[Via Pocket-lint]

Kingston's got a thing for über-secure flash drives, and its latest DataTraveler definitely keeps the trend alive. The waterproof BlackBox is the outfit's first Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)-validated drive, which means that it was given the seal of approval from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Communications Security Establishment of the Government of Canada. More specifically, you'll find "256-bit hardware-based AES encryption via a dedicated processor which automatically encrypts and decrypts data on the fly" and it'll also enter lock down mode if you happen to forget your password ten consecutive times. Of course, Kingston's pretty proud of this thing, so don't be shocked when you see the $165 (2GB), $242 (4GB) and $424 (8GB) price tags, alright? Alright.

[Via Electronista]

Nah, the Black Box Lightshow won't welcome you home, do your laundry or keep you updated on scores around the league, but it will keep your eyes fixated when connected to an audio source. The unit was reportedly based on a design conjured up while Rosendahl was still in college, and it basically emits a LED lightshow by "displaying the top half of the waveform of each channel with their zero levels in the center." The two knobs on the left control the amplitude and the sweep speed, and of course, the bass notes tend to have the most noticeable effect. Hypnotic, indeed.

[Via MAKE]

See that? That's glossy black sex in stereo. The BlackBox and BlackBox mini Bluetooth speaker systems from Gear4 pump 24W and 4W from 2x speakers, respectively, with a front-facing red LED panel and blue capacitive touch-panel controls up top. Gear4 assures compatibility with your cellphone via its firmware upgrade feature -- link back to your computer via USB to download the "right profile for your mobile." Odd, since the Bluetooth profiles are supposed to be standard, eh Bluetooth SIG? Priced at £100/£50 (about $202/$101) when released in the next few weeks.

[Via AudioJunkies]

It's been a tick since we've seen a new in-car accident recorder hit the market, but just in case none of the previous flavors caught your eye, Clarion's DRC-3 DriveEye can certainly do the trick. Per usual, this wee camera attaches to your windshield, and when an impact or sudden braking / acceleration is detected, it captures the 20 seconds before and after the event. Moreover, the built-in power backup system ensures that your recordings stay in tact regardless of electronic failures within the vehicle, and just in case you feel like logging a few frames of that Lambo ahead, the manual recording button allows you to indulge. ¥49,800 ($411) gets you the camera, a 128MB CF card, and all the sensors and switches needed to rig this up, but here's to hoping you never actually need it for legal proceedings.

[Via Switched]

Have you been hankering for a really tiny DVR with a wired, hidden camera attachment? Have you had trouble finding one for less than three large? Well fret no more, because Mini Gadgets Inc. has got you covered -- and by covered, we mean they make what you're looking for, buddy. The Black Box DVR is a personal video recorder which features a tethered camera, and can utilize a miniSD card up to 4GB. The company's website claims it's the world's smallest DVR under $3000, and we're inclined to agree -- at 2.28 square inches, it doesn't get much smaller. The device can record 640 x 480 video at 30fps, and includes a "long lasting" Li-Ion battery, for when you're on the go... shooting secret videos. Available right now for the shockingly low price of $499.95.

Although Sindan Electrical Trading (SET) prefers to draw similarities between its forthcoming RoadBOX Driving Recorder and the infamous black box contraptions that are finding their way into vehicles everywhere, this accident recorder actually relates more closely to the DREC1000 and TS-1L. Slated to hit the Dubai market in mid-March, this in-car recording device is mounted atop and inside the vehicle's windshield where it continuously captures video of whatever's happening in front of the car. If an impact is detected, or if the driver slams on brakes, the machine stores the video, as well as acceleration data, 14 seconds before the incident and 6 seconds after. As expected, the video file and speed data can be transferred to a computer via USB (if the box isn't too mangled, that is), and specialized software creates charts to match the acceleration / braking data and get closer to the "truth" behind an accident. Interestingly, it seems the company is actually marketing these to corporations who rely on employee-driven vehicles as a way to accurately place (or remove) blame on peon screw-ups while behind the wheel of a company car. Nevertheless, those of you interested in making any future traffic cases a bit easier on a lawyer (be it yours or the other guy's) can snap this up in about six weeks for Dh1,500, or around $176.

[Thanks, Paul S.]

Since the National Transportation Safety Board "recommended" that all new vehicles be equipped with some form of black box -- more appropriately known as an Event Data Recorder (EDR) -- manufacturers have slowly but surely been sneaking them in. Deliberately or otherwise, a vast majority of automakers have neglected to inform customers that their vehicle has such a device installed in it, and as you'd probably expect, it's driving privacy advocates up the wall. As these EDR boxes become more popular, some form of control and notification system apparently needed to be devised, thus the NTSB stepped in and threw down some uniform regulations. Beginning in 2011, all automakers must include "information in the owner's manual" about the specific data that the EDR collects. Fortunately for car companies, the mandate goes a step further by standardizing the data collected by each box, so everyone's privacy is invaded equally. We'll just have to wait and see if those newly disclosed deets include a step by step guide to de-activating the incriminating evidence data collection, but we don't have a good feeling about all that.

[Via Slashdot]