Currently a mere concept, the geniuses behind Ions dream that their invention will have a magnetic base, a pivoting hinge and possibly a dimming function.

You can help make Ions a real product by going to Kickstarter Quirky and answering a short survey regarding its development.

[via Fancy]

The machine is relatively lightweight at 7kg (approx. 15lbs.) including its battery, which can power the machine for up to 300 uses per charge. The machine will of course be a boon in emergency situations and in remote areas.

But the best thing about this machine is that, as YouTuber rubbermuck noted, it looks like something that the Ghostbusters would use. When there’s something strange, in your right boob, who you gonna call? The doctor!

[via DigInfo]

From the looks of it, the Fold Chair squishes up when you’re done using it, so you can stow it away and carry it with you, wherever you go. It was inspired by Japanese origami folding, and is made from six sections of thin plywood for the base, along with a shell made from hard plastic covered with foam and upholstered with wool felt.

The Fold Chair was designed by Nina Bruun.

[via Chair Blog]

The Amplifear slides onto the top corner of the tablet, giving it an ear-like appendage. The lightweight and recyclable plastic ear was conceived by Evan Clabots. He created it because the back-facing speaker of the iPad has less than optimal sound.

It comes with a tension clip that will fit the 3rd generation iPad and iPad 2, and can easily be removed and tossed in your bag.

Amplifiear was launched as a Kickstarter project, and you’ll need to pledge at least $15(USD) to get yours.

[via Cool Hunting]

I like powered USB hubs, but that doesn’t mean that cute and portable ones can’t be useful too. Check out the Poodle USB Hub that looks like your favorite four-legged friend, but has enough USB ports to keep your gadgets connected when you’re on the go.

The Poodle USB Hub has enough room to plug in four USB devices into cables, which make up the dog’s “legs,” and its eyeball lights up when it’s in use. Assuming you like poodles, I can’t think of a better USB hub for you.

You can get your Poodle USB Hub online from Fred Flare for $16(USD).

[via Geek Alerts]

Designed by Mike Henry, the compact and minimal LIL KIKR also functions as stand and charging dock for your iPhone. It will blast music up to 10dB louder than the iPhone’s built-in speaker. There’s even a channel to amplify the sounds going into the microphone, so you can use it as a speakerphone or for Facetime calls. It’s made from machined anodized aluminum, along with a pair of rubber-covered stainless steel kickstands. For charging, there’s an integral slot which can hold on to the included 30-pin charging cable.

The LIL KICKR is designed to snugly fit the iPhone 4/4S, but another model, LIL KIKR+ will also be compatible with older iPhones and some iPods. You’ll need to pledge at least $50(USD) over on Kickstarter to get your own.

[via Ubergizmo]

AViiQ looked into the past and derived inspiration from an ancient device known as a “pen.” These pens usually had clips attached to their caps or bodies, so that they in turn may be easily attached to pockets, notebooks and ears. Before the clip was invented people would carry their pens by stabbing them into their arms or in their classmates’ heads. This caused a lot of pain and wasted ink. So thank goodness for the clip.

Ready Clips come in iOS, mini-USB and micro-USB versions. You can order them directly from AViiQ for $20-$30 (USD) per two cables, depending on the types of cable you order. By the way, don’t share the stabbing bit to anyone. It might catch on. Kids these days aren’t so bright.

Third Rail Mobility did cheat a bit though, because unlike other battery cases the company’s case is separate from the battery itself. The case has a slot in the back where you slide in its 1250 mAh Lithium-ion battery. As I mentioned above, the battery itself can be used to recharge other gadgets via USB, thanks to its integrated microUSB port.

This two-piece system has other advantages as well, not least of which is giving the user the option to have a slim protective case when the extra power from the battery is not needed. On the other hand, it also makes it easy to swap and use multiple batteries for more power. Also, even though the current case will only fit on the iPhone 4 & 4S, future updates to the iPhone won’t render the battery obsolete because Third Rail will make future cases compatible with new iPhones.

You can order the Third Rail Mobility battery case from the company’s website for $90 (USD). You can also order additional batteries for $60(USD) each. Or you know, Apple could just make their gadgets have swappable batteries.

[via Best Stuff]

Again, the picture above is just a mock-up of the headset, but if you’ve seen other augmented reality projects you can extrapolate what Google wants to do. The video below reveals the specifics – a heads-up display that overlays graphics over the user’s line of sight. It has location, communication, scheduling and note-taking apps, all of which are mostly activated via voice commands. It also has limited visual recognition, but mostly we’ll be talking to ourselves a whole lot.

Pretty neat, but again, it’s easy to see how weird or annoying it will be when this kind of technology goes mainstream. Voice control is nice, but imagine a world where everyone around you is using the same system and the same commands, mumbling to themselves, not to mention our eyes focused on something that’s not really there. I highly suggest we set up Project Mind Control first.

[Project Glass via Lifehacker]

The Handpresso Auto is a neat, single-serve portable espresso machine that will give you a perfect, steaming cup of espresso, anytime and anywhere you want one. It’s shaped like a tumbler so it can fit into your car’s cup holder and plugs into the car lighter socket for power.

All you need to get your coffee fix is water, an ESE espresso pod of your choice, and a few seconds of waiting before your cup of coffee is ready.

The Handpresso Auto Machine is available online for €149.00 (~$197.)

The calculators in these pictures were both made by Sharp and released during the late 70s. They were informally known as sorocal or soroban calculators, soroban being the Japanese variant of the abacus. Another alternative name for it would be sorotaku, for soroban dentaku, dentaku being the Japanese term for calculator. Another name for it would be redundalator. Or maybe not.

Partners & Spade is selling these Sorocals – the one with brown beads is the EL-8048, while the one with white beads is the EL-428 – for $80 (USD). That’s like, a lot of beads.

[via The World's Best Ever,  Retro Calculators & X Number]

This mini speaker definitely bears more than a passing resemblance to Iron Man’s red and gold Bleeding Edge armor – however, this version seems a bit more cute and rotund than the comic book or movie version of the superhero. The little speaker measures about 3 inches-tall and plugs into your media player with a standard 3.5mm jack – though I have to say the placement of the connector is, um… unfortunate:

I can’t imagine that would be comfortable – especially knowing there’s electricity flowing through Iron Man’s butt plug. I also wish that his arc reactor chest actually glowed blue – that’d be way cooler than the tiny red LED power indicator in his chest. Oh well, what do you want for a cheap knock-off gadget, perfection?

If you happen to live in Korea, you can find the Iron Man mini speaker over at the Early Adopter Shop[KR] for 19800 Korean Won (~$18 USD). A quick Google search turns up a number of places importing these for under $10 though.

The Kiddy Mini Speaker is just what it sounds like – a speaker for cats a tiny, brightly colored speaker you can take with you and fit in your pocket. The tiny speaker plugs into your mobile device’s 3.5mm audio jack, and outputs sound through a little bitty speaker. It measures just 1.61″ (W) x 0.98″(H) x 0.67″(D), and its little amplifier pumps out a whopping 0.8W of power.

I do like the idea of the 3.5mm plug which folds into the case when not in use. There’s also a MiniUSB port on its side for charging its built-in battery – which lasts for about 6 hours on a charge. While I’m not sure I completely buy the picture below, they do look a vaguely like miniature Tivoli PAL radios – minus the radio dial (and the price tag).

Like many fun gadgets, I don’t even know how readily you can get them outside of Asia. I stumbled onto these funky little speakers over at a Korean outfit called the Early Adopter Shop[KR], where they sell for 12,800 Korean Won (~$11 USD) each. I also found them available in wholesale quantities over at Alibaba, if you own a shop and want to see about ordering a whole mess of ‘em.

The Energy Stream Radio&TV 120 has built-in Wi-Fi and can stream music from over 15,000 internet radio stations and over 2,000 internet TV channels. In addition, it’s can play a wide variety of audio and video formats through its internal speaker (or headphones) and its 2.4-inch LCD screen. It’s got 4GB of on-board storage, and can be expanded up to 16GB extra using a MicroSDHC card.

Energy Sistem hasn’t posted its dimensions or weight, but the entire device is clearly small enough to carry around in your backpack or bag, though it looks like it might be a little big to fit in your pocket.

If you’re interested in the Energy Stream Radio&TV 120, it sells for €89.90 (~$119 USD) over at Energy Sistem’s website.

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]

The compact and versatile Steady tool has a dozen tools built in, including fine-edge and serrated blades, four screwdrivers, wire cutters, a bottle opener and needlenose pliers. But the best part has got to be the addition of a tripod mount, which works with either camera screw mounts or with smartphones, via a suction cup attachment. To use it as a tripod, simply pop open the front legs, open up the tripod “blade” and attach your camera.

The overall tool measures about 4″ long when closed, and weighs 5.8 ounces, making it a somewhat largish thing to keep in your pocket, but a totally awesome thing to keep in your backpack or book bag. And I can’t imagine going on an outdoor trip without this in my travel kit.

If you’re in the market for a multi-functional tool, and you like to take photos, you’ll definitely want to check out the Steady. It lists for $64(USD) but you can find it over on Amazon for as little as $44 (USD).

Unlike the Apple and Microsoft mice, the M600 does not support multi-touch gestures. Think of it as a basic trackpad in a mouse’s body – you can point, click, scroll and swipe anywhere on its surface. Nothing more, nothing less. The M600 does make up for its simplicity with a practical feature. The M600 can run on either one or two AA batteries. Put one battery in and you’ll be able to mouse around for three months; add a spare one and you’ll get twice the amount. You can think of it as either having the ability to run at half the power or store extra power. Both sound good in my book of good sounding thoughts. One other thing to keep in mind is that Logitech currently lists the M600 as Windows 7 only, so Mac users will need to stick with the Magic Mouse for now.

Point and click to Logitech’s website to pre-order the Touch Mouse M600 for $70 (USD). Yes, batteries are included.

[via SlashGear]

The Power Box measures 4.5″×4.5″×8.75″ and weighs less than 2lbs., so it’s a very portable charger. Generally speaking, our legs are more powerful than our arms, so it should be easier to produce power on the Power Box than on a hand-powered generator. Add that to the fact that it has two pedals while most hand-powered generators only have one crank and you have a more useful and practical gadget. Its only weak point is that it doesn’t have a USB port. Instead, it’s just got an (ungrounded) outlet on top. Also you can’t use it while you’re running away from zombies. Hand-powered generators win that one.

The Power Box isn’t available for order yet, but K-TOR did say on their Facebook page that they’ve already “ordered production parts and tooling” for the device. The company’s hand-powered generator sells for $50 (USD), so I’m guessing the Power Box will be significantly pricier than that.

[K-TOR via The Gadgeteer]

But just like our increasingly powerful mobile devices, the Erascan doesn’t just have two functions. It can also recognize the information it scans, such as handwriting, URLs or email addresses. You can also share and delete – for a second time! – the stored data from the Erascan itself.

There are already whiteboards that can save what’s scrawled on them (among other things), but a device like the Erascan is a bit more useful simply because it’s portable. Although if we’re going to make stuff up anyway why don’t we go wild and imagine an eraser that can un-erase – i.e. re-write or re-draw – whatever it erases?

[via Yanko Design]

Logitech’s Mini Boombox is a great way to fill a room with sound, and it’s available in a nifty candy-like red color scheme, perfect for Valentines Day – but great long beyond February 14th. This compact sound system fits in the palm of your hand, but offers substantial sound when paired up with your Bluetooth-enabled gadgets. It’s also got backlit touch-based controls for playback, volume and pairing with your phone.

It’s definitely small enough to carry in a backpack or large purse too. Battery life is rated at about 10 hours, and it even will work as a speakerphone for your A2DP-enabled Bluetooth devices, thanks to a built-in mic. It’s also got a 3.5mm input jack if you need to go old-school. And if for some reason red isn’t the right thing for you, it’s available in black too – but that would sort of defeat the whole Valentines Day theme.

The Logitech Mini Boombox retails for $99.99(USD) and you can grab one over on Logitech’s website now. If you move quick, you can still get one in time for Valentines Day, so you don’t end up in the doghouse. Oh yeah, spring for some candy and flowers too.