Zooka works with tablets, smartphones, laptops and media players. It’s made out of silicone and will outdo the volume of built-in speakers by as much as five times. The good thing is that Zooka connected wirelessly via Bluetooth to your mobile device. Devices that don’t have Bluetooth connectivity can be manually plugged in via the 3.5mm audio jack. The silicone-covered speaker also has a convenient slot cut into it, which is the perfect size for sliding tablets into.

The speaker charges through a mini USB port and a full charge will give you 8 hours of media playback. It comes in seven different colors, with more on the way once it’s released.

The Zooka is currently raising funds over on Kickstarter and it’s aiming for an August release. You’ll need to pledge at least $89(USD) to get one, which is a discount off of the proposed retail price of $119.

[via designboom]

WASD Keyboards uses Cherry MX mechanical switches, so after creating your design you’ll choose the color and type of switch you want. You can also order a dampener if you don’t want the trademark clicking sound that mechanical keyboards make. You can also choose the font of the text on each key and whether the text will be engraved or lasered in. If you really want to get creative you can upload your own design or even send custom art for each of the keys.

Above is my design for a Technabob-themed keyboard; you can see more at WASD Keyboard’s website or have a look at the gallery below for more user-created designs.

Head to WASD Keyboards to design and order your own V1 Custom Mechanical Keyboard. Prices start at $140 (USD). The company also sells a Semi-Custom version of the keyboard, which is still brimming with tweakable specs.

[via Gamerfront via The Red Ferret Journal]

While Nooka haven’t said that this watch was specifically made for women and/or kids, I think they’ve been able to broaden the appeal of their line with these watches. Each one is wrapped in a bold polyurethane body, with an integrated watchband and a simple “button” clasp to cut down on mechanical parts. The LCD watch face is framed under a faceted gem-cut lens and the display shows the minutes surrounded by a circle with twelve partitions, each representing an hour.

It’s definitely not as hard to decipher as some of the other digital watches out there, so it should be no problem telling the time at a glance. Now saying its name… that’s another story altogether.

You can the Nooka Zub Zibi Zirc from Nooka for $80(USD) in four different colors.

[via designboom]

You could also take an old typewriter, replace the ink pads with colored paint pads, cover the letter keys over with labels drawn with corresponding colored markers, and come up with a typing art machine. And this is exactly what Washington-based artist Tyree Callahan did. Not only does it produce paintings, but the typewriter itself could be seen as a work of art itself.

Callahan calls his modded 1937 Underwood Standard typewriter the “Chromatic Typewriter.” He has submitted it to the 2012 West Prize competition, where top prize goes to the piece of artwork with the most votes.

[via Dark Silence in Suburbia via Colossal]

The Proton watch is quite unusual, especially if you choose the transparent band. Just like some of their other watches, the Proton doesn’t have any markings. You tell the time using two transparent gradient disks. Blue represents the hours and yellow indicates the minutes.

The Ion is more of a traditional analog watch, with two hands, and a brushed metal face. Both models are available in white, transparent, and transparent smoke wrist bands, and you can actually swap out the band later if you decide you’d rather go with one of the other colors.

You can get the Proton for €129 (~$170 USD) and the Ion for €105 (~$139 USD) over at Ziiiro’s online shop.

[via designboom]

First up is the Optimus Popularis, a compact keyboard with everything but numeric keys. The Popularis is one awesome looking keyboard, with each key offering full programmability, and a tiny, full color screen.

Each key is made up of a 64×64 pixel grid, which can support 262,144 unique colors, and a frame rate of 10fps. That’s right, you can display animation on these keys!  Each one can be set up with custom images for different languages, or special keys to launch specific applications or functions when switching applications. Lebedev says it’s “A million keyboards in one,” and he’s totally spot on. Here are just a few sample configurations:

One thing to note is that the keys this time are made using a backlit LCD screen instead of individual OLED screens, which seems like a better approach these days. Though it’s not clear if each key has it’s own individual LCD panel or if there’s just one large LCD behind the keyboard, and the area between the keys acts as a mask. Either way, it still looks awesome. I also love how the new keys are more like those rounded keys found on a Mac keyboard, which is more what I’m used to these days anyhow.

A quick glance reveals a fully customizable display bar between the function keys and the main keyboard, which can be used to display pertinent info like what track you’re listening to, or how many emails you have waiting.

Programming is accomplished with a sophisticated configuration app included with the keyboards – and it’s compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 8 and Mac OS 10.5.1 or higher too.

So now that you’ve wiped the drool off of your current keyboard… the pricetag. The Optimus Popularis isn’t cheap. The pre-order price is 31,500 rubles, which works out to be about $1086 (USD) or 747 (EUR) at today’s exchange rates. Pricey, but sexy as all get out. If that’s too rich for your blood, and you still love the concept, check out the Optimus Mini Six add-on keyboard instead:

The Mini Six is exactly what it sounds like – a small external keyboard with six programmable LCD keys on it. It supports the same programmability,  and animation capabilities of the full-size keyboard – though it only can handle 65,536 colors. The Mini Six is selling for for 10,900 Rubles, or about $376(USD) or $258 (EUR). Both the Popularis and Mini Six are built from aluminum and plastic components, and have a nice slim profile.

Art Lebedev Studio started to take pre-orders for both the Optimus Popularis and Optimus Mini Six today, with the Popularis shipping June 1, 2012, and the Mini Six not shipping until November 1, 2012. But there is an advantage to that long pre-order wait, as the retail prices will be more than 30% higher once released. Yeouch! Lebedev, does plan on showing off the prototypes at the 2012 CES show next month. I definitely plan on stopping by their booth to see these awesome looking things up close and personal.

Ladyada is showing off a new project called Adalight, which uses an Arduino board and a strip of RGB LEDs around the back of your display to create an ambient color backdrop for your computer monitor. The system automatically detects the average colors around the perimeter of your display, and immediately responds with the appropriate LED color in the proper section of the LED strip. Since it works as a high-speed screen capture utility in the background, it works with pretty much any application on your computer.

Open source software using the Processing library runs on your PC, Mac or Linux and interfaces with the Arduino over USB, and sends the correct light colors to each of the LEDs pixels. See the Adalight in action in the video below:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Pretty cool, no? I suppose it could get to be a little annoying after a while, but it still might be pretty cool for 3D games and action movies. While you can build the Adalight from scratch, you can also purchase a project kit over at the MakerSHED for $49.95 (USD) to help you get started. The kit includes a strand of 25 RGB LED pixels and a 5VDC power adapter, but you will still need to purchase the Arduino and USB cable, and follow the rest of the build instructions to finish the project.

These ridiculous cases look to me like the world’s most uncomfortable flip-flops, complete with that stupid strap that gets stuck between your toes. I hate that feeling. Of course, at the size of an iPhone 4, you’d have to have really small feet to fit them into these anyhow. And then you’d need to buy a second iPhone too. Oh yeah, then there’s the part where you step down and are now walking on two non-functional planks of broken glass under your feet. That said, you won’t actually wear the flip-flop case on your feet. Though I can’t imagine that toe strap would be comfortable in your pocket either.

If you’re a true beach bum (with an iPhone 4), then you can order up one of these flip-flop cases from Trait-Tech for just $1.99 (USD) each. They ship direct from China, so I imagine you’ll spend more on shipping than on the case itself.

Each stick contains a circuit inside which lets your select from 7 different colors, including blue, green, red, purple, lime, yellow and white. You can even set the left and right thumbsticks to different colors.

They’ll come in a two-pack and also include both concave and convex tops, and are “easy to install”. Having taken my Xbox 360 controller apart to install those shell casing thumbsticks and buttons, I can say that “easy” is a relative term. No word yet on pricing, but you can find more details and pics over on the XCM website.

I think it’s a bad idea to cultivate such wasteful attitudes in children, especially when they’re still growing up. Not only that, but it would also be quite taxing on the environment because a lot of resources actually go into the whole manufacturing and disposal process, even for something as small as a wristwatch.

So the next time your kid asks for a new watch, think about getting them Sprout’s Biodegradable Watch. It’s not for boys, that’s for sure, because it features some pretty soft girly tones in the watch face and dial. Splashes of blue, pink, and green decorate Sprout’s timepiece. Even I want it – and I’m already in my early twenties.

The strap on this thing is actually manufactured from organic cotton. The case and buckle? That’s biodegradable corn resin. The watch also features a dial that’s made from bamboo and a mineral crystal lens completes the entire eco-friendliness of this thing. At $34 (USD), I think it’s well worth the money.

The Sprout Biodegradable Watch is available from Fred Flare, if you’re interested.

[via Coolest Gadgets]

The Clear29 LT Longboard is a clear polycarbonate skateboard, accented with bright LED lights attached to its undercarriage. Because of the placement of the lights on the underside, it provides the illusion that the skate deck is literally floating above the ground – especially when viewed from the side.

The lighting is powered by a simple 9-volt battery, but they don’t mention how long the run-time should be. But since they’re power-thrifty LEDs, I’m betting you can get in a nice long ride. In addition to the LED illumination, these 29″ x 8.5″ longboards include translucent wheels with ABEC5 racing bearings, held on by 9″ Gullwing Mission trucks for a smooth ride.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

They’re available in five colors: blue, red, green, amber and white LED versions. I think they should offer a version where you can change colors yourself – or even do some sort of disco chase light sequence. But for now, you’ll have to settle for single colors. You can get your hands on the Clear29 LED skateboard over at Gadgets and Gear for $199.95 (USD).

Huey is a chameleon – and just like the real deal, he automagically changes colors to match his environment. More precisely, you place Huey on a colored surface, and his electronic guts will do their best to blend in with the color he’s placed on. If you don’t care for that color, you can put him in color-cycle mode and squeeze the lizard when you see a color you like.

You can get your hands on Huey over at ThinkGeek for $29.99 (USD). The light-up reptiles are currently backordered, but they expect another batch in the next day or so. Keep in mind that he’s available in limited quantities, so you’ll want to get your order in sooner rather than later.

The iGloLEDset is a special color-changing LED light set which can be remotely operated using your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. The kit includes a 16.4 foot-long strip with 120 colorful LEDs, along with a Wi-fi controller unit. Once you install the iGloLED app on your Apple gadget, you’ll be able to choose from hundreds of color pattern sequences, or create your own.

You can even use your gadget’s accelerometer and motion controls to create an ad-hoc light show. See the iGloLEDset system in action in the videos below:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Cool, no. The biggest problem I see is that the set is quite expensive, starting at $299(USD) for the basic kit. You can grab the full set over at Amazon. Additional 16.4 foot light strips will set you back an additional $199, and for another $39 you can grab a 12-volt inverter which will let you use the whole rig inside your car.

The new STORM Cosmo is a special edition, with a multi-color LED time display that works as follows: the left column tells hours and months, and the right shows the minutes and day of the month. I’ve stared at the display a few times, and so far am still a little confused, but isn’t that the whole reason you buy a watch like this – so your friends can say: “Cool watch. How the hell do you tell time with it?” and you can reply: “It’s my little secret.”

The COSMO is built from a stainless steel case, is water-resistant to 50-meters, and comes in silver, white or black enameled styles. You can pre-order one from the next production batch (hopefully in time for the holidays) over at STORM’s website for $250 (USD).

This new collection of watches are most definitely stylish and come in a variety of splashy Spring colors. They also come with a bunch of features, including 5 daily alarms, a timer, stopwatch, and more.

To top things off, each one comes with a 25 page databank and EL backlight. The Baby-G will be available at Macy’s for $79 this spring.

[via Fareastgizmos]

A company called chicBuds has some appropriately girly headphones that come in colors that would make Stevie Wonder say man that’s bright. You can get the things in a pink color that is typically only seen in an emo girl’s hair. If the pink isn’t obnoxious enough for you, a multi-color set is also available.

I wonder if the multi-color set was painted at a Blue Man Group concert. Either color headphones are available for $29.95 (USD) and will work with any gadget using a 3.5mm headphone jack. The headphones have 44mm drivers and a frequency response of 5Hz to 20KHz, not that the specs matter, they are (debatably) cute after all.

These new DESK FX cables will glow when connected to your USB ports, making a bold statement on any desktop. While the cable in the photo above is the green one, ION assures us that there will be a full range of colors available when these ship later this year. While I was thinking the different colors would just look cool, they actually will be handy for uniquely identifying what devices are plugged into each port.

Current ETA is Q2 2010, and no pricing has been announced yet. I look forward to lots of glowy things on my desk when these come out.

The curvaceous lamp is loaded up with bright RGB LEDs that can change to any of 16 million unique colors and brightness levels through the use of a unique touch-panel interface. It actually works sort of like the color palette control you might find in photo-editing and painting software. Check out how it works in the video below:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

In addition to fixed-colors, you can set the Jellyfish to a color flow mode with a variable fade speed between the colors of your choice. And you can switch off the front side illumination, leaving only the Jellyfish’s clear “tentacle” structure which provides a cool backlighting.

When powered off, the Jellyfish maintains a stealthy look, with a sleek black top and white bottom.

While I haven’t found any U.S. retailers for the Yantouch yet, the have numerous Taiwanese and Japanese retailers as well as an French retailer listed up on their website. Pricing in Japan is set at ¥14,800 (appx. $160 USD).

[Yantouch Jellyfish via Impress Watch (translated)]

Created by UK designers Aether & Hemera, the Mood Chair is like a Mood Ring for your ass. The chair is designed to change colors based on the user’s mood as well as the environment around them. Now how this hocus-pocus works, I dunno. A&H say it’s something to do with “LEDs, embedded micro-chips, and appropriate sensors”. Natch.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

No word on if or when you’ll be able to buy a Mood Chair for your own living room, but I’ll be the first to let you know when you can. While you wait, I’m gonna get to work on my Pet Rock chair.

[via Generate Pipeline]

And geeks like me.

Unfortunately, the Tetris Chair remains Gabriel’s baby for the moment, and is not readily available for purchase. According to the description on his Coroflot portfolio, the chair is comprised of five of the seven tetrominoes pieces from Tetris. Each three-dimensional block is a fiber glass unit that, loosely translated, “results in a light, showy, and resistant product.”

As I type this post, my arse is firmly planted on an exceedingly comfortable (and equally expensive) desk chair that I’ve grown quite accustomed to. I’m not sure I could go back to slummin’ it on hard surfaces, which is what blocks of fiber glass sound like, to me. Still, there would be a certain appropriateness to having my designated gaming chair be made up of Tetris blocks. It would be almost poetic.

[via Geeky Gadgets]