Gadget Buzz

By Staff writers, CNET Asia on 02 August 2004
From MP3 sunglasses to floating pod homes, we show you the latest gadgets from around the globe.

Belkin TuneDok
 Belkin TuneDok For iPod Mini
That cup holder in your car is about to be put to better use by Belkin. Forgoing the inconvenient adhesives or screws, the TuneDok utilises a form factor that fits easily into most vehicle cup holders. Essentially a cradle to grip your iPod Mini while you're driving, you can easily retire the cup-like piece anytime by flipping it over, so it forms a stand that can used on any flat surface. iPod owners can check out the iPod version.

Price: About US$29.90 (AU$42.60)
Availability: Coming soon
Device: iPod in-car holder
Basic specs: AirGrip technology for secure placement, large and small rubber base, adapter cup for exact fit and stability in cup holder, cable-management clip, 3-year warranty


Toyota Porte
 Toyota Porte
More copycat styling from the Japanese, this time borrowing an idea from the Europeans (namely Peugeot), even down to the name (Porte in French means "door"). Toyota's Porte transplants the sliding door concept of passenger vans into a subcompact town car, making it possible for all occupants to enter and exit the vehicle through the same door. Unlike the two-sided Peugeot 1007 , the Japan-only Porte features a single door on the passenger side that's wirelessly controlled by remote. Now that there's only one entry, one wonders what the etiquette is on who gets to the door first. After you, my good fella. No, after you. No, no, I insist...

Price: ¥1,386,000 to ¥1,575,000 (AU$17,737 to AU$20,140)
Availability: Only in Japan
Device: Subcompact car with electric sliding doors
Basic specs: In 1.3-litre or 1.5-litre engine capacity, four-speed automatic, ionised climate control; silk-derived natural fabric seats, column-mounted transmission, flat-folding front seat, 99m long by 69m wide by 1.72m tall


Portable Pod Home
 Portable Pod Home
Imagine a whole population of pod homes bobbing up and down in Sydney Harbour, up for grabs. It'll no doubt solve the use price issue, but we're not quite sure if we'd want to share our backyard (or dockyard) so intimately with our nearest pod neighbor. Polish-born architect Marcin Panpuch envisions his floating pod fitted with solar panels and retractable screens for privacy, and split into three floors built around a core containing spiral staircase, kitchen, bathroom and toilets. The bottom lies beneath the river surface and can be utilised for storage, water tanks, heating and computer equipment. The spherical shape apparently minimises the surface area of the house, cutting down heat loss to the environment. Whether it'll prove seaworthy is quite something else.

Price: Est. to cost from £20,000 to £30,000 (AU$51,781 to AU$77,672) to build
Availability: N/A
Device: Concept portable home
Basic specs: Clear spherical pods that float, photovoltaic solar cells, water tank, amenities for a home


mp3blue Jacket
 mp3blue Jacket
From reel to real, tech firms are doing the most amazing things to fabric a la Jackie Chan's Tuxedo. Today's technology-driven garments make phone calls, play music and do just about anything short of microwave your food. And who knows when that'll happen. The latest performance threads by German chip firm Infineon follows along the same lines as the multi-versatile Scott eVest, but ups the ante with a built-in sleeve keyboard and Bluetooth unit. A music system in the Rosner mp3blue jacket's electrically conductive material doubles as a headset when a phone call is made or received. Even as we write, word is Infineon is now working on a smart carpet embedded with microchips and sensors.

Price: 600 euros (AU$1,028)
Availability: August 1
Device: Fabric with embedded electronic circuitry
Basic specs: Jacket with removable hood, built-in 128MB memory module Bluetooth gateway for phones, integrated Seinheiser headset, mic in collar, textile keyboard on the left sleeve, MP3 module holder, rechargeable 8-hour battery.


Pouch Speaker
 Pouch Speaker
JVC has a cool idea for audiophiles who crave more aural assault on their senses than their mini audio player can deliver. Called quite imaginatively Pouch Speaker, it's, well, a pouch featuring an internal active speaker for both the MD- and CD-playing crowd. The pouch looks ordinary enough to pass for a CD holder, but embedded inside is an active flat panel speaker capable of a fairly decent 500mW surround sound output, developed by British firm NXT, one of the leading developers of flat panel speaker technology.

Price: ¥2,700 (AU$35) for MD version, ¥3,000 (AU$39) for CD version
Availability: Japan, first part of August
Device: Portable speaker
Basic specs: Available in blue, pink or silver, internal amplifier of up to 500mW, stereo mini plug, monaural, shock-resistant EVA material. For the SP-A200MD: 128 x 128 x 47mm, 200g, 67dB output and 7 hours playtime on 2 AAA batteries. For the SP-A300CD: 170 x 170 x 54mm, 360g, 70dB output and 15 hours on 2 AA batteries.


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Topics: digital, mp3, sony, printer, ipod, mindball, speaker, gadgets, spec, pod

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