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TK-421 abandons his post, brings us this flip-out QWERTY case for iPhone
Nuu Mini Key didn't satisfy your desire for a physical keyboard on your iPhone? Try this TK-421 QWERTY case instead, which sexes up the formula with a swiveling package that hearkens back to the T-Mobile Sidekick. There's still no extra battery life to be had here, and yes, the keypad connects via Bluetooth, but we're willing to sacrifice a good bit for a totally awesome hinge and a dedicated number row. Invented, designed and sold by ThinkGeek, gadget stocking stuffer seller extraordinaire, the unit's priced at a very reasonable $50. Shame it's not slated to ship till "mid-November" and only then in limited quantities, else we'd snap up two right now. Watch that screen spin right round after the break.
iCade-like "Freekade" iPad arcade cabinet up for auction
Last April -- as is their recent tradition -- ThinkGeek put on its show of April Fool's Day items. Most of these fake items are of the "OMG I need to have that!" variety, like the Tauntaun sleeping bag from a past year. This past April's list included the "iCade" iPad gaming cabinet, which would have allowed you to slide your iPad into a wood-vaneer, classic-looking mini arcade cabinet. Just because it was a fake item doesn't mean someone else could take a stab at it, and that's just what happened. You can now bid on the pictured item -- dubbed the "Freekade" -- to have your very own iCade-like iPad mount. The controls work via Bluetooth and require a jailbroken iPad and emulated games provided via the Cydia store. Check out the video demo after the break (just turn your volume down -- the clackety-clack of the arcade buttons is annoying as hell). If you're not one to go bidding on something like this, it'll reportedly be available on an online store in the future. I half wish someone would just make a cheaper, non-functional version of this thing just to serve as an iPad dock.
iPad arcade cabinet built out of cardboard
ThinkGeek posted an iPad arcade cabinet as an April Fool's joke this past year, but gamer Hideyoshi Moriya actually did build just such a cabinet out of cardboard and hardware -- you plug the iPad into a dock, and then you can control software with the joystick and buttons via an Arduino board. You can see a full video of the device running (along with some cute puppies) after the jump below. ThinkGeek was only kidding, and Moriya is just joking around, but there is definitely a viable demand for something like this. Sure, the cabinet form built out of cardboard is totally a prototype, but a little stand that you could just plug the iPad into and then control arcade games with buttons and a joystick? That thing would sell like hotcakes.
Locked ON-Proximity Sensing Shirt alerts you to nearby nerds (video)
Hot on the heels of its Wi-Fi detecting t-shirt, the kids at Think Geek have unveiled their Locked ON proximity sensing garb. Powered by 3 AAA batteries, the shirt is constantly scanning for another just like it -- signaling when the two come in range (a few meters) and "locking in" once you make contact. If you're alone in the world (and, let's face it -- clothing like this just might ensure that remains the case), the radar screen on the shirt will be display a persistent "scanning" pattern. We sort of wish we had one of these when we went to raves. Retails for $20 -- hit the source link to order one up for yourself.
One quarter of "broadband households" have digital photo frames, we find one for the rest of you
Yeah, we know; next to pico projectors it's hard to find any bit of technology more boring than digital photo frames. These days they don't catch our eye unless they can print pictures of your pre-school beauty queen or integrate some unexpected combination of networking hardware. Still, they're selling like hotcakes, set to be in 25 percent of "broadband households" by the end of the year. Adoption in dial-up households has not been revealed but we're guessing it's... slower. For those folks we recommend the first ever analog digital frame that may not print anything or hit Flickr or even automatically cycle through those pictures in that hidden directory you forgot about, but it is at least made entirely of wood, which makes it better for the environment than CFL LCDs. And, at just $25 from ThinkGeek, it's a perfect holiday gift -- for yourself.
Some ThinkGeek Dreamcasts not so new
The fiction we'd established for ourselves around ThinkGeek's recently unleashed stash of new Dreamcasts was fairly elaborate. Let's just say it involved one of Bernie Stolar's forgotten summer homes and a tesseract. But now it seems that some of the supply was just plain old.One of ThinkGeek's customers complained to Destructoid yesterday, saying that their console (advertised as new-in-box) had fairly obvious signs of wear and tear. The company said that it would offer a refund to the customer, explaining that it had inspected some other consoles from the same batch and found them all to be brand new.It's nice that ThinkGeek's doing the right thing, but we can't help but be disappointed watching our "fold in space-time" theory go up in smoke.
It's ThinkGeeking: Online retailer selling new Dreamcasts
We thought ThinkGeek's coolest items were the fake ones the company made up for April Fools Day. It has finally outdone its staff's own imagination, with Sega Dreamcasts. For $99.99, you can purchase a brand new North American Dreamcast, complete with cables, controllers, a web browser disc (version 2.0, so it includes Sega Swirl) and a demo disc.You're on your own for games, which means you may have to resort to putting used games in your new console. Not that it's really a problem to spend the tiny amount of money required to equip your system with a bunch of great games -- Jet Set Radio, Shenmue, Bangai-O, Space Channel 5 and Typing of the Dead come to mind immediately.We're of the opinion that the gaming community would get along so much better if everybody just played some Dreamcast and remembered what fun was like. After the break, we remember Segata Sanshiro, and the noble sacrifice that granted the Dreamcast its life.
Nabaztag's Violet RFID-readin' USB Mirror now available
Looking for a brighter, cuter way to search for those RFID implants the government has hidden somewhere in your body? The Violet RFID Mirror is your gadget, and it's now shipping. Those not running from the NWO will find the $59.99 gadget has a myriad of other uses as well, letting you tag all sorts of things and have them trigger various applications. You could set your keys on it and have it launch a traffic report, or put your wallet on there to bring up your bank statement. You know, useless but still interesting stuff -- a lot like the company's multi-colored bunnies that seem to love to sit upon them.[Via I4U]
When your finger just won't cut it, the iPhone Touch Stylus
Although the iPhone and iPod touch were designed with your finger in mind, for those who have trouble controlling the screen (or who have long, styled fingernails), there is the iPhone Japanese Touch Stylus. The stylus has a flexible tip that mimics your finger's capacitive ability to control the objects on the screen. The tip is flexible, allowing for easy dragging without gouging your screen. It also includes a handy SIM eject tool. The stylus is imported from Japan, and is available in silver or black. Both colors are $14.99 from ThinkGeek. [Via iPhoneIndia]
Behind the Curtain: Don't be ashamed
Picture the scene – you're at a family gathering, or maybe you're meeting your significant other's friends and family for the first time, and the conversation turns interrogative. Questions are asked about your hobbies; what you do to relax and how you spend your spare time. What do you do? When put on the spot like that, it's natural for gamers to feel trapped, to feel like admitting to playing MMOs would be tantamount to admitting to a rather kinky fetish or confessing that you've got a rather embarrassing disease – it might not be catching, but there's a chance that you'll get some funny looks, and you may just lose some credibility points. What about job interviews and applications? These invariably have a point where questions are asked about you hobbies and leisure time. While there are good arguments that putting down strong examples of guild leadership might work in your favour – owning up to the fact that you play an MMO upwards of 15 hours a week might not be the smartest thing career-wise. Don't get me wrong – I am proud and happy to be a geek and a gamer, and I've never wanted to be anything else; the wall above my desk sports a rare Akira poster I picked up on holiday France a while back; I own the complete boxed set of the original Transformers series; and much of my wardrobe consists of t-shirts from ThinkGeek and the Penny Arcade store. People ask me what I do in my spare time, and I look them straight in the eye and tell them that I'm a gamer, and while I'm not ashamed of it, I can't help but wince a little when I see most people's reaction to it.
April Fools' Alert #10: Wii Sports on iPhone and utter obsolescence
ThinkGeek is certainly on a roll today with the April Fools hijinks. Not only do we have Super Pii Pii Brothers (and its bizarre peripheral), but now we have Wii Sports on the iPhone, as well as a conduit for shuffling between dead video formats.The Wii Sports on iPhone gag is nothing more than an unclickable banner ad, making us wish the joke was taken a bit further. The Betamax to HD-DVD converter, on the other hand, is quite the stroke of genius. The idea alone is brilliant, made even more so by the "promotional" video, viewable after the break.
April Fools' Alert #5: Super Pii Pii Brothers
ThinkGeek has a proud history with April Fools' Day gags, even going so far as to make one of its jokes into reality after it snowballed in popularity. This year, the gang is pretty much guaranteeing that won't be the case with its super-exclusive Wii title ... Super Pii Pii Brothers. And yes, as you've probably already guessed, it's a game about peeing on cats. They have a ton of other great gags you can check out here.We've put the video for it after the break. We're not sure if it's NSFW, but we hope you work in a place where this sort of thing isn't acceptable. Unless you're that "Two Girls One Cup" guy, then this is the height of érotique.
ThinkGeek is selling Mana Energy Potion if you want it
Just in case you couldn't wait to get your hands on one of those extremely gross real-life Mana Energy Potions we posted about a while back, now's your chance: ThinkGeek is selling them at a reasonable price (even though actually drinking them probably isn't reasonable at all). As mephron points out on WoW LJ, the nutritional stats are atrocious: B12 is definitely good for you, but putting 6667% of anything's daily allowance in your system just doesn't seem right. And Robin was right -- these have a ton of caffeine in them. ThinkGeek says there's 160mg of caffeine in each bottle. That's not exactly lethal, of course (the lethal dose is about 150mg per kg of body mass), but finishing off a six pack of these over a weekend of gaming will not be good for us. Still, if you want them after all that, there you go.
GDC08: Thinking outside the virtual world
Tuesday afternoon, Michael Acton Smith, CEO of Mind Candy, presented attendees at the GDC's Worlds in Motion summit with an interesting look at the confluence between real goods and virtual worlds. For some background on where Smith is coming from, Mind Candy "creates games and puzzles that span multiple media.... [they] use all forms of technology to tell stories and interact with... [their] audiences." They run Perplex City, an alternate reality game that uses clues puzzles in the real world combined with web-based resources to create a unique type of gameplay. Their upcoming game Moshi Monsters is an adoptable pet game geared towards kids. Smith says it's a "new type of virtual pet experience." The pets will be very alive with their own emotions (driven by a behavior engine which will cause your pet to act different ways depending on how you treat it) that will be reflected in the pet's animations. The game will also incorporate a number of social tools, so both you and your pet monster can hang out with friends. And, of course, there will be toys, oh glorious toys. (Some already available, though the game itself is still in beta and closed to the public.)%Gallery-16441%
April Fool's 8-bit tie now available
Back in the April of '07, we spent one long weekend dealing with the multitude of April Fool's tips we received -- one of those tips is now real. Although ThinkGeek created the WiiHelm as their big joke, it was their subtle 8-bit tie that got people upset who tried to purchase the item and ThinkGeek said they'd actually start making it. Now the 8-bit tie is available in all its glory for purchase.The ThinkGeek site says the item is made of a "very silk-like microfiber." Due to the item being handmade there will be slight variations on the edges, but for a $20 tie we're really not going to complain. So go out and rock the 8-bit tie.[Thanks Pedro]
Gigantor 15-inch digital photo frame brings the value
We've seen a lot of digital photo frames try to make an impression, tacking on every possible feature from WiFi to 20GB hard drives to SideShow in a bid to capture the public's imagination, but really the only feature that ever stands out is a big-ass screen -- which is exactly why the Gigantor 15-inch frame caught our eye. With a decent 1024 x 768 resolution, expansive memory card support, IR remote and the ability to hook up a USB hard drive for even more storage, the Gigantor has a pretty middle-of-the-road feature set -- until you factor in that huge display and $249 pricetag. Looks like the age-old debate of features vs. size isn't getting settled anytime soon, eh?
April Fool's Alert #5: WiiHelm and the WoW tinfoil cap
The WiiHelm by ThinkGeek is a great April Fool's Day joke in so many ways. The item even fooled Dave Rudden, an editor at Games.net, who was ready to put down $25 for the accessory when he was greeted by a "Fooled you!" Although the production values on this item are great, with the video just knocking it out of the park, the best detail is the "4 frontal LEDs illuminate your surroundings while gaming in the basement at 3 am." There is a lot to love here.Rudden writes, "Well, they knew their audience and their product and picked something that was slightly insane, but within reason. Just about every site and mag that's tried that this year hasn't. Sadly, I would've paid good money for that wonderful, wonderful helmet. Wouldn't you?"Blizzard brought it again this year with double duty. First, for World of Warcraft players, there's the tinfoil hat with the tag line: "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you." The hat protects the wearer from various forms of inspection in the land of Azeroth. The other goof is Blizzard selling Warcraft III with a completely different title. Warcraft: Heroes of Azeroth ... or "WHoA," is the prequel to the World of Warcraft. The whole page is written in a style of lame marketing class 101. The joke being that those who jumped on the WoW bandwagon never played Warcraft III, so it's new to them, why not cash in? Even the pictures of the boxes just have a sticker over the Warcraft III logo with the new name. One of the best lines being, "WHoA comes in *four* different box covers (that's TWICE as many as WoW!)" ZOMG! Rush out and get yours today! Update: ThinkGeek snuck in a subtle one with the 8-bit tie, we were actually hoping to wear this at our next power lunch. Blizzard also has the Black Temple Attunement, which looking at the flow chart looks perfectly reasonable for the average hardcore WoW player.[Thanks Dave]
Cuddle up to your iPod Pillow--and listen
ThinkGeek.com, vendor of things freaky, strange and just cool, has a huggable, squeezable, squishy iPod-shaped pillow for sale for twenty bucks--or at least it will as soon as they restock. Before you run away, saying to yourself that you have enough huggable squeezable squishy iPod-shaped pillows in your life, consider the fact that this pillow can actually play music from its internal speaker. Hook it up to your iPod (or other portable media player) or play back the built-in FM radio. (FM Radio!? It's like having your own Zune!!) What's more, the large, plush buttons on the pillow actually work. Which brings the pillow to a new level of just plain weird. If there exists a subtribe of the infamous Furries that specialize in technology, this would make the perfect holiday present. As for me, I'm trying to convince myself to pick one up because I know my three-year-old would just go wild about it.
USB fan for DIY 360 cooling
Xbox 360 Fanboy o0 Spartan 0o sent us in a shot of his solution for cooling off a steamy 360: a simple USB fan. He explains:"Buy an inexpensive USB fan, plug it into the rear USB port of the 360, and aim it near the 360's exhaust. I've done a quick test and it really keeps the air moving and the 360 a lot cooler (the air it takes in is not warm, therefore the whole system is cooler). Also, if you are using the USB port for the WiFi adapter, you can plug the fan into an outlet with a USB iPod charger."Not a bad idea if you have your 360 jammed into a stuffy entertainment cabinet in need of some circulation. We found a similar fan at ThinkGeek for $11, or you might have one lying around.See also:Use iPod charger to refuel your 360 controllerStill skeptical of Pelican's 360 stand360 cooling stand; but what about the PSU?[Thanks, o0 Spartan 0o]
