They’re produced using a craft technique called decoupage using simple napkin paper, which gives them a colorful and durable finish. It’s hard to tell, but I’m guessing there’s a plastic base underneath the napkin layer, but I could be wrong. Either way, they look pretty nice.

The cases were created by NapPage and you can get them through their Etsy shop. They’ve got quite a few different designs that will please a lot of different styles. I have to say that the blue cloud cases are pretty cool.

Prices start at $19.90(USD). NapPage says that they’ll also make custom orders for any type of phone, so you can contact them over on Etsy for further details.

[via Swissmiss]

Touch-based controls steer and drive the vehicle, and the app shows you in real time what the car’s onboard camera sees. That means that you could send this car into a scary cave, the sewer system, anywhere you want to explore, but don’t actually want to enter physically.

Looks like a fun project that lets you create a spy car while using your tablet. Does this make you want to get a PlayBook? Looks like you can do more with it than we thought, plus remote-controlled cars are always fun.

[via BerryReview via Ubergizmo]

The idea for this design comes from ancient manuscripts from China, where before paper was invented, they used to carve their books into strips of bamboo held together by string. G.O.D. notes that in Chinese culture, people still hold printed books this way.

The Literati Roll Case uses the same approach, breaking the tablet’s cover down into individual strips which can be rolled up. The case can be used as a stand as well. While the prototypes were made out of bamboo, the production models will be made out of plastic, available in black or white. Since the case was designed specifically on behalf of Blackberry, it’s unlikely that the Literati will be available for the iPad or other popular tablets any time soon.

[via designboom]

In the US, prices have been slashed by $200 in some locations and in the UK the price has been hammered down by £150. Still consumers are saying “no thanks” to the tablet. Apparently, sales picked up a bit, but not enough to make a difference. I don’t blame consumers at all, even with discounts the PlayBook is a horrible tablet that lacks the basic features any tablet has today like email and the ability to send and receive IMs natively.

You have to connect the Playbook to a Blackberry smartphone to get access to email or contacts. RIM also recently announced the OS that will bring email natively to the tablet along with other features is delayed until next year. RIM, just liquidate this thing for $99 and stop trying to shine this turd up any more.

[via Register]

The phone has a lot of unusually sharp angles and comes from China, so there are no guarantees. It could definitely be a fake (especially considering it’s got the cryptic word ‘PROCEEDING’ engraved on the top).

The phone was even disassembled to check out what makes it tick, but I’m still a bit doubtful about its authenticity.

It’s definitely a departure from what BlackBerry smartphones are known for. It’s true that this could simply be a fake, or another device transplanted into a new case (though that looks unlikely from the interior photos).

Amidst all of the hoopla of RIM’s financial problems, I wonder if this phone will even sell. Especially if you can choose between the upcoming iPhone 5 and this one. Only time will tell.

[via Ubergizmo]

Pago Mobile works with establishments – coffee shops, restaurants, dry cleaners, you name it – to integrate the app into their point of sale system. So when you fire up Pago, you’ll see a list of shops. You can then browse their offerings, order and pay even if you’re not actually in the store, and without waiting for someone to notice that you’ve had your hand raised for 15 minutes, desperate for food, or that you’ve gone hoarse trying to get the bartender’s attention at the club.

Here’s an interview that TechCrunch did with Pago Mobile founder and CEO Leo Rocco. Skip to 4:10 if you want to see a demo of the app:

Check out Pago’s website for more info and for download links to the iPhone, Android and Blackberry apps. A Windows 7 version is coming soon. As of now, Pago only has ties with establishments in Mountain View, California and Las Vegas – prime spots to attract attention and investors. Frankly I’m surprised it’s taken this long for something like this to be invented, but on the other hand it can’t be easy to earn the support of hundreds, if not thousands of businesses. Overall I think Pago’s a really neat app and will make customer’s lives easier. The question is, what will happen when everyone is using Pago?

[via TechCrunch]

Hulu has already blocked all Android tablets and the iPad and iPad 2 from accessing the streaming videos online. You have to pay for Hulu Plus to get access to the content on those devices. It didn’t take long for Hulu to block the Playbook too.

As of now RIM is working to get a deal lined up for Playbook users that will allow them to stream Hulu Plus content with a paid membership. Right now Playbook owners have one less thing to be happy about. There is no indication of how long a Hulu Plus deal and Playbook app might take to complete.

[via WSJ]

This cute little case fits the iPhone 4, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, Blackberrys, SonyEricsson phones, the iPod Touch, iPod, and many other mp3 players and cameras.

Splashing Koi’s customers even report that the hoodies can be used as wallets and coin pouches. Each case measures 3 inches by 4.5 inches and is made out of a soft fabric that will protect your device. They’re available in a bunch of different patterns and will set you back $17.

[Etsy via Leetlady]

You can now pay for your coffee if you use the iPhone or a Blackberry using the official Starbucks App. The app can be funded using your credit card or PayPal. Once you have money in your app account all you need to do is place your order and then hold your device with the barcode on the screen under the scanner at the counter.

The app deducts the money from your account automatically. This would be the perfect app for people who end up shocked at the end of the month that they spent hundreds of dollars on coffee alone. You can only put what you want to spend for the month in the app and when it’s gone, you drink the swill at the office. Starbucks claims the app is the fastest way to pay for drinks now.

If all BlackBerry users are going to get for gaming are text-based ones, I think they’d be better off with this one.

[via Imgur via Reddit]

The Playbook is described as a professional-grade tablet and promises power and performance for the web. The tablet has a 7-inch screen that is high resolution and uses a 1GHz dual-core processor. The thing runs BlackBerry’s proprietary Tablet OS and supports HTML5, Adobe Flash 10.1, Adobe AIR and Java apps.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The tablet can pair with Blackberry smartphones and is ready out of the box for Blackberry Enterprise Server use. The screen resolution is 1024 x 600 and it has 1GB of RAM. Other features include a 3MP front camera and 5MP rear with 1080p HD video recording. It also has an HDMI output, 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, and more.

Availability is set for early 2011 at an undisclosed price. Both 3G and 4G versions of the PlayBook will be offered at some point.

If you want to go wire-free, Energizer has a new inductive charger that is Qi enabled. Qi is the wireless charging standard developed by the Wireless Power Consortium, and should eventually make its way into more and more devices. For starters, the charger will work with the iPhone or the Blackberry Curve 8900. The battery door for the Blackberry and the sleeve case for the iPhone 3G/3GS are both sold separately. The device has enough room to charge three devices at the same time.

The charge plate measures 7.270″ wide x 0.93″ to 0.39″ thick x 7.918″ long so it won’t take up to much space on a crowded desk or counter. Once you install the battery door or sleeve onto your smartphone you just sit the thing on the charger to get powered up.

The charger base will sell for $89 (USD) and the sleeve or battery door are $34.99 – each with retail availability in October.

[via Energizer]

This gigantic LEGO BlackBerry was created by LEGO sculptor Nathan Sawaya for the BlackBerry Developer Conference. The five-foot tall smartphone is based on the BlackBerry Tour 9360, and not only incorporates thousands of LEGO blocks, but also has a flat-screen LCD television built into the middle of it.

While it won’t actually send and receive messages or make phone calls, the enormous BlackBerry could be used to surf the web – if only Nathan were to connect a computer to the display.

[via Gearfuse]

The Pong anti-radiation cases are mostly made of silicone, but the thing that really separates them from other cellphone cases is the “Pong gold PCB module” embedded in the case. As stated in a Wired article, the module has been proven to reduce the radiation from an iPhone into a users’ head to “a third of what it would be without the case.” Here’s a diagram of an ear farting the radiation being diverted/reflected/whisked away by the case:

The Pong case reduces the radiation going to into a users’ head with practically no signal loss; in fact Pong Research even says, “you may find that your communication efficiency actually improves with the use of the Pong case.” You can order the iPhone 3G/3GS-compatible Pong case for $60 (USD) at the Pong Research online store; the Blackberry Curve case (only compatible with models 8300, 8310, 8320 and 8330), also available at the store, sells for $50.

What do you guys think? Willing to drop $70 for something that might very well be unnecessary? And how about that “Pong Research” name eh? What’s up with that?

[via uncrate]

Here’s iDriver and Spirit of Berlin in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Praise Apple and the iPhone! Well, not really. Upon reading about iDriver at 8bitfix, commenter Solidsnake72 took time off from sneaking about and shared the video below. It starts small, but an insane turn of events comes about 2 minutes into the clip:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Blackberry FTW! Although RIM’s smartphone loses points for using Bluetooth, which of course has a limited range, I think we can all agree that controlling a real F1 car is infinitely more fun than controlling a station wagon, even if said station wagon has lasers onboard.

Update: as nobbi points out in the comments, the Blackberry video is (almost) certainly a viral marketing stunt. Can anyone confirm this? At least no kids on balloons  were involved. And thanks to gusto for the tip!

Mentalfloss has the details on that as well as on 7 other hi-tech names, like Toyota’s Prius (whose plural is still Prius according to the Japanese automaker), and Wikipedia (“wiki” means “fast” in Hawaiian). It’s something you can use to strike up a conversation with that cute geek you’ve been eyeing. You just walk up to her and go, “Did you know that Hulu means “butt”?” Nevermind. It’s all useless information.

Also, as you can see I have once again leveled-up my Photoshop skillz. They’re now at a world class level -7.

[via Gizmodo]

Toronto artist Barb Feldman handcrafts these teeny tiny iPhone 3G and BlackBerry (Curve?) dangly earrings by precisely layering and slicing Fimo polymer clay.

If you have any doubt about how detailed these earrings are, check out this close-up shot of the iPhone interface, complete with all of the familiar application icons:

Of course, there’s no App Store support, so don’t plan on installing any new programs on these unless you plan on upgrading your earlobes.

The iPhone earrings run $22 a pair, while the BlackBerry earrings sell for $19 a set, and there is no telco demanding 2-year commitment required when you buy these phones, so that’s all you’ll be on the hook for with these (other than shipping).

You can find these and other fun miniature Fimo items over at Barb’s Etsy shop. Just one question for Barb – where’s my Palm Pre?

So why is the SPPS200 200 Wh Portable Power Station the BMW M6 of battery packs? Because its little brothers, the 118 Wh and 130 Wh models, are the BMW of battery packs, that’s why. So why are they the BMWs of battery packs? Because they’re expensive. So why are they expensive? Because they can power your laptop, for up to 30 hours. Vrooom.

The SPPS 200 can power PC laptops for 20-30 hours, while MacBooks owners can expect 16 hours of extra runtime. BMW of runtimes if you ask me.

And that’s not all: As you may have guessed from the picture, you can adjust the output voltage of the PPS so that aside from giving your laptop the BMW of battery lives, it can also power and recharge your cellphone, your PDA, your PSP, your iPhone, your iPod and other mp3 players.

And that’s not all: You don’t even need to bring the chargers for any of those devices because the PPS comes with adapters that will fit with your gadget. You can check out the link to Battery Geek below for the BMW of supported laptops and mobile devices. And that’s not all: while Macbooks are supported, Battery Geek charges an extra $20 for the Macbook/Macbook Pro adapter. G4 and Powerbook adapters are already included with the PPS.

And that’s not all: The PPS weighs only 4.4 lbs. and is just over an inch thick. What’s the catch? The BMW M6 of battery pack prices, of course. The list price of the SPPS 200 is $800 (USD). Fortunately, you can buy it straight from Battery Geek for the BMW of discounted prices of $500. And that’s not all: when you buy the SPPS 200, you’ll get the BMW of freebies, a free leather & canvas travel case.

And that’s not all: Here are the BMWs of introductory videos for battery packs:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Now you know the BMWs and the BMW M6s of the tech world. Next time we’ll take a look at the Scot Pollard of rap.

Update: a couple of commenters have pointed out that the spps200 may in fact be the Ford Edsel of battery packs. Apparently Battery Geek also has poor service. Caveat emptor.

BlackBerry (or as it’s commonly known, crackberry) addiction is actually getting to be somewhat passé, what with the iPhone mania. Still, look at every train, plane, and automobile, and you can generally find someone buried in their blackberry, furiously typing on those tiny keys and scrolling through their email.

These are handcrafted by picnicbybarbfeldman. They’re made of Fimo with all the details built in, not painted on. You can get them in dangly form, or studs (gents, that means you!) A pair can be yours for $19 from Etsy.

[via GeekSugar]

The theme installs on BlackBerry 8700, Pearl, Curve and 8800 models, assuming you have at least OS 4.2.1 installed.

While the icons and interface aren’t identical to those on the iPhone, they’re similar enough to give you the same general look and feel. Even the battery and signal strength indicators are stylized versions of the iPhone UI elements. For areas where there wasn’t a clear parallel between iPhone and BlackBerry Mac OS X design standards were used (like using a beachball for the “busy” indicator).

Sorry, no multi-touch display or motion sensor is included.

[via methodshop]