Cute & Adorable Gadgets

This Pacman game by Namco and Bandai made quite a stir at the IREX 2005 festival this year. This game will probably never reach the consumer market, but it still is freakin’ awesome. Basically, you control the robot by playing a normal game of pacman on a tv screen (ie the robot does exactly what the little animated pacman is doing on the tv screen). Here are some pics (from Akihabara News), to give you a general idea.

The Maze:

The Robot Pacman (who travels through the maze to collect “dots” and avoid the ghosts):

The Screen (where the actual game is played that controls the robot):

For more information, visit Akihabara News or watch this little video.

A district judge has now ruled that the $450 million settlement fee that RIM (the makers of the Blackberry) paid to NTP for NTP’s patented software, which was used in Blackberry technology. District Judge James Spenser could issue an injunction that would suspend Blackberry use in the US. Jim Balsillie, RIM’s co-CEO, assures Blackberry users that RIM will implement new technology that will work around NTP’s patents.

However, if the judge does grant a permanent injunction, and RIM’s is unable to develop technology that will workaround this patent, RIM would have to pay a gargantous fee in order to make sure that U.S. BlackBerry are still operational. At this time, RIM has approximately $1.2 billion. Any such injunction would only cut off individuals- not governmental officials.

Well, if you missed the Black Friday sales, here’s a great, affordable Christmas gift- the ILO 1 Gb mp3 player from Walmart.

The ILO 1 gb mp3 player retails for only $99.62, and with 1 gb of memory, stores up to 480 songs. The ILO has a sporty design with a rubbery grip- useful for jogging or other sporting activities. The ILO also boasts of simple utilisation, an FM radio with 20 presets and recording capabilities (so you can record your favourite radio shows), voice recording, and an incredible battery life of 16 hours on one AAA battery. The ILO comes with 12 preloaded tracks, and 10 free Walmart Music Downloads. And did I mention that the ILO 1 gb mp3 player is available in 5 stunning colours?

Too cute for words- a hello kitty mp3 player!

With hello kitty earbuds:

Compared to a hand:

USB connection through the head:

We here at CGB have sifted through the seemingly endless mounds of ipod accessories to bring you the best and most useful accessories for your Ipod.

First up, the iBall. Oregon Scientific developed this little gadget so that you can share the music of your ipod. The iBall projects your Ipod’s music up to 100 feet, with guaranteed crystalline sound. The iBall also charges your iPod and synchronizes your Ipod and your computer. The iBall also has an innovative spherical design, with three speakers, and a battery life of 6-8 hours. The iBall runs around $299.99 from Oregon Scientific, or $223 from Amazon.

Secondly, we have the PodFreq, a wireless FM transmiter that broadcasts your ipod’s music to a nearby FM radio via an unused frequency. The PodFreq comes in classic white or sleek black, and requires no batteries, instead using a very small portion of your Ipod’s battery life. The PodFreq’s case also protects your delicate Ipod while transmitting smooth, high quality sound to the radio frequency of your choice. This PodFreq retails for an affordable price of $99.95.

Thirdly, another useful accessory is this Belkin Kickstand Case, for the Video Ipod. Before, you probably had to hold your Video Ipod for the duration of your video watching. The Belkin Kickstand Case conveniently solves this problem by flipping open to display your Video Ipod. The Belkin Kickstand Case retails for $25.99 and is available in black or white.

Brookstone also has some useful iPod accessories. Some of our favourites include the Soft Sounds Speaker Eyemask, which doubles as a soft, luxurious eyemask and headphones. The Soft Sounds Speaker Eyemask is only $35.00.

Also available from Brookstone is the iTopper Mp3 Speaker, which provides portable high quality sound for your iPod. The iTopper simply plugs into your 3.5mm jack, and then begins playing crisp sound. The iTopper is a useful, more affordable alternative to other speakers, and at a retail price of $35.00, the iTopper is surely going to be on many a holiday gift list this Christmas.