Category — Electronic Instruments

GPS systems are springing up just about everywhere, so why not get one for your bicycle? This GPS device attaches to any standard (1-inch) bicycle handle bar, and comes off easily if you want to use it as a handheld GPS. The bicycle GPS system allows you to program more than 100 waypoints and up to 20 of your favorite bicycling routes. This GPS gadget also has a speedometer, trip meter, and keeps track of your average speed.

The bicycle GPS system, made by Atech is accurate to 10 meters (approximately 33 feet) in pinpointing your location, and it’s made to withstand the elements with a waterproof cover. In case the GPS isn’t enough to keep you headed in the right direction on your mountain bike excursions, there’s also a compass for good old-fashioned navigation. You’ll find this bicycle GPS system at Hammacher Schlemmer.

Who needs an old-fashioned telescope when you’ve got this new gadget? The Celestron SkyScout is a personal planetarium that uses GPS technology to identify stars and constellations. To identify a specific star, users point the device at the star and click. To find a star, planet or constellation, users select the name of the star from the SkyScout menu, and the personal planetarium uses GPS to generate arrows pointing the user in the right direction.

The SkyScout has an SD slot for inserting the optional guided sky tours, and the GPS planetarium can tell users the best stars for viewing based on the date and their exact location. More info on the Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium.

Here’s a personal GPS tracking gadget that looks like interesting: the SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker Messenger. It has a built in GPS chip which monitors and reports the user’s location from anywhere on the planet, and it works with Google Earth to provide real-time location mapping. The SPOT GPS tracker has a built in help and emergency buttons which allow the user to immediately send location reports to select family members, friends, or emergency services.

Here are a few ideas for using the SPOT GPS tracker:

Track a Teenage Driver: This GPS tracker can be tossed in the glove box of a car to monitor your teenager’s location at all times.

Child Safety: Clip the SPOT GPS tracking system inside a child’s backpack for added peace of mind.

Hiking/Camping: Use for added safety when no cell phone service is available.

Photo by Cabela’s.

You know the feeling…being blasted out of a good dream by your screaming alarm clock. Here’s an alternative to that weekday morning sound blast- a silent alarm clock.

The silent alarm clock shown above is design by Johan Brengesjo. Users simply wear a ring on their finger which vibrates them awake at the set time. The vibrating alarm clock is designed with two rings allowing it to be used by two people. It also has a snooze feature which is activated by a simple wave of the hand.

Although the alarm clock shown above is only a concept model, there are other vibrating alarm clocks already on the market. Some models include a vibrating pad which shakes you awake by shaking your bed.

This alarm clock is a great idea for couples who rise at different times…no more being annoyed by your partner’s snooze button habit!

Do you suppose these electronic readers will ever catch on or are we never going to give up paper books and newspapers? I’m not sure if I could get used to one, but the Amazon Kindle wireless reading device seems to be convenient and easy to use.

Retailing for $359 at Amazon, the Amazon Kindle, is truly wireless with no cords or syncing required, and there are currently over 150,000 books and periodicals to choose from. When you want to purchase a new book, simply turn on the wireless access and, according to Amazon, it will be delivered to the electronic reader in less than one minute. The Amazon Kindle also includes access to popular blogs and Wikipedia.

Do you currently use an Amazon Kindle or another similar wireless reading device? Send us a message and let us know what you think!

Here’s a gadget for the repressed scientist in all of us…it’s a USB powered microscope. The hand held digital 1.3 megapixel microscope also comes with a stand for stationary viewing. With the USB microscope, you can examine all sorts of things that might be on or around your desk, or stuck in your laptop keyboard. It magnifies up to 200X and displays on your computer screen. It also has built-in LED lights for back lighting all the unusual things you might want to magnify.

This USB gadget is a bit pricey, especially if you aren’t working in a lab and want to use it just for fun. I found it at ThinkGeek for $349.99, and it is compatible with both MAC and Windows, including Vista. Does this thing remind anyone else of the animated desk lamp in all the Pixar films?

Scoot over, Nordic Track™. Step aside, Stair Master™. America’s living rooms are tied of boring old fitness equipment taking up space, seldom used except on Sunday morning TV infomercials. Drum kits are the new phenom for home workout machinery. There’s the upcoming 2Box Drumit from Sweden. Or the more affordable Roland V-Drum HD-1 made in Japan:

Get either one for that total upper AND lower body work-out combined with virtual rock-star training!

Lose weight while playing along to your favorite hits produced back when they used actual drummers. Tone those arms so that you can beat all your friends playing Rock Band™ on your Sony PS3 & Microsoft XBox 360. Or, if music is not your thing, use one as an avant-garde techno sculpture center-piece.

While not especially warm and fuzzy, these Thingamagoops from Bleep Labs in Austin, Texas are quite cute and make intriguing electronic noises. Each one is actually an analog synthesizer hooked up to a light sensor and a light, creating a feedback loop of crazy acoustic fun. I’ve heard there are bands that use these on stage (made easier by the fact that each Thingamagoop has a phono out jack for plugging into an FX box or an amplifier.) On their site, you can custom make your Thingamagoop for $100.

If you were Gary Numan back in 1979 or so (and who wasn’t?), you needed about six Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 synthesizers to play your mega-hit song Cars live. Now, Dave Smith, the Prophet’s inventor, has made a multi-timbral modern update to this classic musical gadget, the Prophet ‘08, shown here in table-top form.

“Here in my car…”