2007 June 05 | Trend Squad

Leather iPod Case Doubles As Kickstand

kickstand ipod cases

By David Ponce

In an interesting bit of design ingenuity, the Brenthaven iPod flip case protects everyone’s favorite digital music player from the elements, while at the same time doubling as a kickstand. The suede-lined case made of Napa leather features a specially sized slot on the back, into which you insert your player so it stands upright. You’re then free to watch your videos comfortably, without having to carry around a separate stand for it, or trying to balance the player between paperweights.

Best of all, it’s only $25.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Popgadget ]

Written by Trend Spotter on June 5, 2007 | No Comments

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Hit Your DS With The Ugly Stick, Get 40 Hour Battery Life

There’s a bunch of people around the web knocking on this, the Triple Function Power Pack for the DS lite. It’s from some generic Japanese outfit, and happens to give your DS 40 hours of juice through the use of 4 AA batteries. A convenient switch located on the unit allows for the user to choose which power source they wish to utilize, even allowing the power to be cut off from the battery pack altogether and routed to the DS’ internal battery. Sure, once you’ve installed the thing, your previously sleek and pretty console now looks like a fugly brick, but dude, you’ve got 40 yours battery life. And yeah, people are saying “what’s the point?” “When are you away from an outlet for that long?” “Are you a hobo?”…

Guys, you ever been camping? Let me tell you, there are those of us who’d rather play a game or two, than spend the day identifying some freaking birds or trying to sound like a horny moose. Unfortunately, due to the Japanese nature of this product, we’re unable to obtain pricing or availability information. But it seems to be out there.

[ Possible Retailer ] VIA [ Ascii.jp ] VIA [ Joystiq ]

Written by Trend Spotter on June 5, 2007 | No Comments

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Icron USB Powerline Interface Piggybacks On Your Home’s Wires

By Evan Ackerman

HD-PLC USB

I absolutely adore the plug-n-playability of USB devices, but they can be a pain to share around the house or office, if for no other reason than the maximum USB cable length is 5 meters without a hub. That’s why we’re enjoying the fact that Icron has developed a USB interface that works over the existing powerlines in your home; just plug your USB device into a hub, plug the hub into the wall anywhere in your house, and then plug your computer into a dongle that also plugs into the wall and voila: you’ve got USB. It’s completely transparent and no additional drivers need to be installed. The only downsides are the transfer speed, which is under 200mbps, and the fact that it’s not available yet (it’ll debut at the Computex Show in Taipei this week). If you absolutely can’t wait, Icron also offers ethernet, fiber optic, and wireless USB extenders.

[ Ircon USB Products ] VIA [ eHomeUpgrade ]

Written by Trend Spotter on June 5, 2007 | No Comments

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Alien Abduction Lamp: The Truth is On Your Desk

Wow, I don’t even know where to start with this lamp. Its awesome factor is just out of this world. The Alien Abduction Lamp consists of a metal UFO containing the light (complete with an array of alien pilots) which is supported entirely on a frosted glass tractor beam. The cone shaped beam serves to diffuse the light and spread it around, and by turning the intergalactic communication antenna on top of the saucer (also the on/off switch), you can set the light inside the saucer to “pulse” the beam. Why would you want a pulsing beam? Well, how else would you propose to abduct the cow or human who are available as accessories?

Alien Abductors If you’ve ever wondered just what the heck those aliens are thinking, abducting cows and stuff, the lamp’s designer Lasse Klein explains it all:

“We know that martians abduct hundreds of cows each year. We also know that Elvis lives on Mars. Put these two facts together, and you’ll realize that the Martians are busy collecting Earth cows to keep Elvis with a steady supply of hamburgers… It is well known that Martians abduct humans. We also know that Martians have useless hands. Combine these facts with the previous conclusion, and it becomes clear that humans are abducted to serve as burger flippers to keep the King happy on Mars!”

The Alien Abduction Lamp is only a concept at this stage, but I don’t see how it could possibly fail to be produced for purchase. And if we never hear about it again, it will be for one reason and one reason only: a government conspiracy, man.

[ The Abduction Lamp ] VIA [ Crave ]

Written by Trend Spotter on June 5, 2007 | No Comments

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USB Flash Wristbands

Don’t these USB flash wristbands remind you of slap bracelets from the early nineties? I’m almost positive you can’t slap these geeky jewelry pieces against your wrist, but you can use them to store all your fave pics and important word files. Even if they don’t appeal to you as a jewelry accessory, they’re so outrageously bright that you’d never lose one no matter where it is! Pricing and storage capacity still unknown. What do you think? Something you could love or would you rather leave this one alone?

Written by Trend Spotter on June 5, 2007 | No Comments

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The IDesk Laptop Desktop Stand

The IDesk laptop stand is perfect for those of us who use an external keyboard with our laptops.

The ergonomic stand keeps your laptop in an upright position so that you can sit comfortably when using external peripherals. Plus it comes with six levels of adjustable inclination angles and an integrated USB hub with four to seven ports.

It also has a clean, sleek design so your desk stays clutter free and it will improve airflow so that your laptop won’t overheat.

Something else you could try using the IDesk for is viewing movies or television on your laptop. Mini flat screen TV, no?