sweex
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Sweex Blizzard portable media player introduced, copied
Even if you've never heard of Sweex, it's fairly safe to assume that someone in China most certainly has -- at least judging by the eerily familiar copycat that just happened to surface alongside its release. The fairly well equipped Blizzard was built to play back AVI, MP3, WMA, and WAV files as well as tune into FM radio, but it also touts an image viewer, eBook reader, and a 1.3-megapixel camera. Additionally, it sports a 2.4-inch QVGA display, voice recording abilities, a T-Flash card slot, 1GB or 2GB of internal capacity, rechargeable battery, and USB connectivity. Interestingly, Sweex ditched the idea of tossing in a typically ho hum set of earbuds in favor of Seinnheiser's MX300, but just in case you strangely appreciate the lower-end, the Chinese-produced BENSS PMP (shown after the jump) has knocked this thing off already and probably won't cost you nearly as much. Decisions, decisions.Read - Sweex Blizzard, via PMPTodayRead - BENSS knockoff, via PMPToday
Add USB to a cheap Linux based router
Most of the routers that lie on stores shelves are really little PCs: most of them contain small amounts of RAM, CPUs, and a small amount of storage. That means it's possible to run whole operating systems on them, bringing the possibilities of Linux to the little box that used to mindlessly serve data around your network. A hack that adds a USB port to a router is now getting the attention it deserves: using a Sweex LB000021 (a dead cheap router that goes for around $40) with flashed firmware, it's possible to solder on a USB port and hook up USB devices like portable flash drives, and potentially printers. Those kind of features tend to be exclusive to relatively high priced consumer routers, so it's nice to see that those competent with a soldering iron can cut a few corners and get similar features for much less. Just make sure you check and see that smoke doesn't come out of anything when you switch it on: "that's not what it's supposed to do," apparently.[Via Hackaday]
