Archive for ◊ 2011 ◊

As we mentioned before USB Cup Warmer with Hub is a device that doesn’t require any driver installation as it is a plug & play device. Hence we will skip the installation process since it doesn’t have one. First of all, we will test out its warmer/heater feature which is the main objective for purchasing this device. Before that user needs to look for a suitable cup; of course a good conductive cup likes aluminum or steel. We have a hard time to hunt for a suitable cup as the size that can be supported by this device is very limited but we still managed to get one at the end.
The heater will be start working once the USB cable is plugged and the switch is turned on; red LED will be lighted up. Around 2-3 minutes the surface of the USB Cup Warmer with Hub is starting to generate some heat and we have placed the aluminum cup on top of it with a cup of plain water (ambient temperature). The plain water became a bit warm after around 10 minutes and it was maintained at that level. It is a bit disappointing because it is not up to our expectation yet. However we believe that its performance will be better if it is used in non air-cond environment and use a cup with flat bottom base so that the heat will be transferred to the cup more effectively. 
Besides the heater feature, we have included some basic USB performance of this USB Cup Warmer with Hub although the USB hub is an additional feature of this device; green light will be lighted up.

warmer

Conclusion
USB Cup Warmer is a creative device which allows user to keep his/her coffee/tea/drink without having hard time to keep on refilling with hot/warm drink. The heater is a bit underpowered where it is just able to keep the water slightly warm; the room for improvement is still there. For those are interest to get this device, we will suggest you get a unit which comes along with the cup since the cup is validated to achieve the expected result and besides that it will save the time to look for a suitable cup.

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How to Make a USB LED Light
Thursday, July 28th, 2011 | Author: editor

Commercial USB LED desk lights can be fully-functional lighting devices for viewing your documents and lighting your workspace. Most do-it-yourself desk lights, on the other hand, are simple, hastily-constructed conversation pieces built on-the-fly. Building a USB desk light out of junk from around the office can be a relaxing break time diversion. Including a resistor in the design of your LED USB light is important to ensure its longevity and prevent overheating.

usblight

Things You’ll Need:Male USB cable ,LED ,Resistor ,Soldering iron and soldering wire ,Soda bottle plastic lid ,Foam cup ,CD ,Multitool with wire cutters, awl and knife attachments ,Electrical tape.

Instructions:

1.Cut the USB cable and expose the red and black copper wiring. Use the wire cutter on the multitool to strip away the wire insulation from ¾ inch from the end for both wires. Use the wire cutters gingerly to avoid damaging the copper cable inside.

2.Solder the resistor to one lead of the LED and the other end of the resistor to the black wire. To solder safely, use a soldering iron in your dominant hand and feed the soldering wire to the connection point slowly and evenly with your non-dominant hand. Solder the unattached end of the LED to the red wire.

3.Drill a hole with the awl attachment on the multitool in the soda bottle cap. Insert the LED light through the hole and tape it into place using electrical tape. Wrap exposed metal with electrical tape to insulate it and prevent electrical shock or short circuits.

4.Drill a hole with the awl attachment on the multitool in the foam cup and run the USB wire through the hole of the CD and cup, ensuring that the reflective side of the CD is facing upwards. Tape the CD , a soda bottle lid and a foam cup together to form a sturdy frame for the USB lamp with the electrical tape.

5.Using the knife attachment on the multitool, cut the drinking edge of the foam cup to allow the light to rest evenly on the table. Run the USB cable through the notch. Plug the USB cable into a free USB port on a computer to test the light.

Funny USB Fruit Shaped Web Cams
Monday, July 25th, 2011 | Author: editor

Looks like the gizmo geeks have really gone bizarre this time. We have just discovered USB fruit-shaped web cams, which have never been seen in the gizmo world. In fact, they look pretty cute, although the idea is still very wicked. These unprecedented USB web cams come in different fruit shapes. They are available in watermelon, apple and pear-shaped.

watermelon-usb-webcam-1

You can pick your choose from any of your favorite fruit shape . Each fruit webcam comes with an 8-megapixel camera (which is not too bad at all). It is also capable of capturing images at a frame rate of 30 frames per second. If the innovative design and its features serve your interests then, you can pick them from Uxsight.com.

They are available for $12.70 each . Just make sure that you do not start chewing the USB web cam thinking that it’s your favorite fruit. Although the design looks somewhat weird and funny, the web cam somehow looks very attractive. I am going for this one for sure! I wonder how these crazy and yet innovative ideas came up!

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High Heel USB Speakers
Thursday, July 21st, 2011 | Author: editor

Shoes lovers,would you buy them?

usb_shoe_speakers

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Small Battery-powered USB Charger
Wednesday, July 20th, 2011 | Author: editor

Portable USB power

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This project details a small & simple, but very powerful USB charger for your mp3 player, camera, cell phone, and just about any other gadget you can plug into a USB port to charge! 

The charger circuitry and 2 AA batteries fit into an Altoids gum tin, and will run your iPhone for hours! 2.5x more than you’d get from a 9V USB charger! (See Process for math/calculations) You can use rechargable batteries too.

 Specifications:
Version 3 now works with iPhones and newer iGadgets!
5V output @ 500mA output
Fits in your pocket
Recharges just about any gadget with a USB cable
Uses any AA batteries!
Upgrade to C or D cells for a mega battery pack

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Sennheiser PC166 USB Headset
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 | Author: editor

sennerusb

Unpacking the set the first thing you’ll probably notice is how incredibly long the cable is. In total it measures three metres, and is long enough that you’re more likely to have problems with it being too long than too short. Thankfully, there’s a cable management system provided that allows you to wrap any superfluous cable around an oval shaped accessory that has slits for fastening the cables and a clip for attaching it to your clothing. It’s a pretty essential addition, especially since not using it can result in some annoying entanglements.

Other neat features include a small removable clip that’s useful for attaching the wire to your shoulder and away from your arms, while there’s also inline volume control and a mic on/off switch. At the end of the cable are two 3.5mm stereo jacks for both the headphones and microphone, while the USB adapter features sockets for each. As a result you can use the headset with or without the USB soundcard, which will please those who have splashed on expensive soundcards for their home PCs.

 The USB adapter is, however, a critical factor and one which makes this set ideal for LAN parties and other events where you’re not using your own equipment. This ensures consistency and eliminates the possibility of distortion and interference from lower quality on-board sound devices. Using the USB soundcard is certainly preferable to using on-board audio, providing a high level of clarity. It won’t, however, ever replace high quality dedicated hardware and the default volume of the USB adapter is noticeably lower than a standard soundcard.

The headset itself is binaural, with the cups sitting on your ears rather than around them.  Each of the cups is mounted on hinges so they adjust to your head, while the foam padded headband is suitably cushy. Both cups can also be adjusted vertically to match the size of your head, and the mechanism strikes a nice balance between being secure enough to not move involuntarily while not being too stiff to adjust either.

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Top 3 Weirdest USB Drives Ever
Monday, July 18th, 2011 | Author: editor

1.USB Fish Shrimp
Once again: why? Why on earth would you want to have a little fish shrimp sticking out of your USB port? If you want to make it REALLY weird, combine this one with the USB Spaghetti plate port and you have a truly wild combination.

usb-shrimp

2.USB Barbie
Yes, at last – the most weird USB drive ever – the USB Barbie. Rip the head off the cute Barbie doll, and plug it into your PC. This is as weird as it gets this time! Enjoy!

usb-babie

3.USB Sushi Dimsum
This is just another dimsum Sushi USB drive, but they look so authentic that they deserve a better position in this Top 10 list. They even looks sticky!

usb-sushi

Did You Use It Ever?
Friday, July 15th, 2011 | Author: editor

usbphone

USBphone looks like a traditional telephone, but it has a USB connector instead of an RJ-11. It may be used with most softphones and services like Skype, Sipnet, Sippoint Mini, Net2Phone, MSN Messenger, NetMeeting, Xlite.

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Welcome Our Snowbot Overlords
Thursday, July 14th, 2011 | Author: editor

Last December, as we were settling down for a long winter’s nap, we were visited by two robots from the future! They spoke to us and now it is time to share their message. There’s good news and bad news. The good news is there are tons of really cool robots in the future. The bad news is they are divided into two factions, are waging war against each other, and have “downgraded” humans to pretty much servants and food. We quickly smashed the robots with hammers, and swore to devise a way to save humanity.

snowbot

USB snowman robot desktop accessory.
Eyes glow with red and blue LEDs.
Rotating and articulating metal arms.

Before we destroyed the robots, however, we were able to learn two things. 1. Each army of robots uses a different color scanning light (red or blue); 2. We have no idea which side is in humanity’s best interest to win. So we built the Snowbot – a small, winter-themed beacon…and perhaps our only hope. Powered by a simple USB port, the Snowbot has a scanning light just like the robots from the future. You can change the speed of the scan, turn on/off the scanning noise, and (for future protection) change the scan color (red or blue). So no matter which robot army storms your home or office, a quick flick of a switch and you are rooting for the invader’s color. Hopefully then the robots will just make you a servant and not an appetizer. Good luck and happy holidays.

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USB Rocket Launcher
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 | Author: editor

Cubicle warfare just got an upgrade
The arms race is on. The workplace has become a dangerous place, but once upon a time, it was all a laugh. Back in the day, your workmates chased each other with squirt-guns, then disc-guns. Everybody laughed when somebody brought in the harmless Airzooka. Gleefully, somebody brought in a marshmallow blaster.

Then it went kinda nuts. Sonic Grenades, catapults, lightsabers, ninjas… Suddenly, it was less about harmless fun. Suddenly, things got serious. Deadly serious. The day that the guy down the hall brought in the USB Missile Launcher was the day the gauntlet was thrown down. 

usb_rocket_launcher2

Toy rocket launcher plugs into your computer .
Use included software to aim and fire missiles .
Can fire missiles at targets up to 6 meters away .

Today is the day it gets picked up, and slapped across the face of your office enemy. ThinkGeek’s new USB Rocket Launcher has more than twice the range of his missile launcher – yeah, I said twice the range. Now you can be the one your cube-neighbors fear, and fear leads to respect… or does fear lead to anger? I forget.

Anyway, this rocket launcher connects to your Windows 2000, XP, Vista machine or Windows 7 via USB. Install the included software, plug in the Rocket Launcher, and with 360 degree horizontal rotation and 45 degree vertical rotation, the USB Rocket Launcher can fire over six meters, giving you coverage for over 113 square meters of your workspace.

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