Virtually Jamaica

My 2 Cents:  Now here is an amazing innovation that seems to have been around for a little while but I really like the idea “eco-friendly water-powered gadgets… 

(Credit: Solutions.com)

We really like the idea of eco-friendly water-powered gadgets. Exhibit A: the H20 desk calculator. Add a few drops of tap water to the removable battery and put it back in the product for up to three months of use. When the display begins to fade, just make another trip to the sink.

This isn’t the only water- or electrolytic-liquid-powered calculator around, but online seller Solutions notes that the battery in this one can be taken out, stored in a dry state indefinitely, and activated when needed. It can be “re-energized by the addition of water again and again,” supposedly lasting a lot longer than alkaline batteries.

The calculator has a standard 12-digit display and takes care of your basic adding machine functions. It sells for $24.95, which seems more than reasonable if promises of an Energizer Bunny-type battery persistence bear out.

Readers, have you used an agua-powered clock, calculator, or other gizmo? If so, how did it work? Are H20-powered cell phones and MP3 players next?

Benefits add up for water-powered calculator | Crave, the gadget blog – CNET

 My 2 Cents:  This thing looks too cool…with DisplayLinks USB to VGA technology you got to love how easy it is to display anything anywhere.  Can’t wait to get a hold of this one when it comes out….a simple way for me to display my laptop on my HD TV.   Also it will be too nice when this WirelessUSB comes built-in to most products.

The WUSB to VGA kit from Iogear includes two compact components.

(Credit: Iogear)

If you’ve always wished to connect an external display to your laptop without having to physically hook a cable between to the two, then I have good news for you.

Iogear introduced on Tuesday its Wireless USB to VGA Kit for streaming PC content to an alternate display. This is going to be one of the first implementations of Wireless USB (WUSB).

WUSB technology has been under development ever since 2004 and the first time I saw its demo was during WINHEC 2006. As the name suggests, it’s essentially the current USB 2.0 technology without USB cables. WUSB can operate at full USB 2.0 speed (480Mbps) within a 10 feet range — longer than the length of most standard USB cables — and up to 110Mbsp within a 30 feet range. For now, most computers and legacy peripherals has to be upgraded to WUSB with add-in cards and hubs. Going forward, most computers and devices will hopefully have this technology built in, just like USB 2.0.

The WUSB VGA kit from Iogear will allows for quickly displaying your laptop’s visual content on to an external display such as an LCD, a HDTV or a projector, just like you would currently do that by hooking the two with a VGA cable. The kit allows for displaying anything you see on the laptop’s screen including 720p HD video content on the alternate display up to 30 feet away. For non HD content, the kit supports resolutions up to UXGA (1600×1200) or WSXGA+ (1680×1050), which are higher than the native resolutions of most laptops. It can also take advantage of a television’s picture-in-picture function so that you can view the laptop’s content and watch TV at the same time.

The WUSB to VGA kit consists of a Wireless USB adapter that connects to a Windows PC and a wireless VGA adapter to plug into a VGA display. You will still need a VGA cable (not included) to connect the wireless VGA adapter to the display, however. Aside from the VGA cable, the set up is compact enough for you to easily carry on the go.

The kit is compatible with both Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems and will be available for the general market sometime in October for about $230.

Connect external displays without cables | Crave, the gadget blog – CNET