If you used one of these back in the day, then it’s time to take a step back through time because CB transceivers are back – not for your old radios, but for your iPhones.

Apparently, some folks thought it would be fun to create a microphone in the form of a bulky transceiver so you can use high-tech communications technology with a low-tech device. The Tomko Transceiver for iPhone works just like an old CB radio, with a “push-to-talk” capability during phone calls that mutes the person on the other end of the line. It’s also got a volume control dial on the side, and can be used to control iTunes as well.

Personally, I’m not very fond of phone accessories that have been made almost a hundred times larger than they need to be just for aesthetics or novelty purposes. But if the Tomko Transceiver for iPhone is up your alley, then don’t let me stop you. It’s available from Strapya World for 1,540 JPY (~$19 USD).

[via Oh Gizmo!]

These office supplies were created by the Spalvieri/Del Ciotto studio for Lexon. All of these creations are sustainable and are powered by photovoltaic cells. When that’s not enough, they include rechargeable batteries. They are made out of corn plastic, which is eco-friendly and has a unique feel. Even the color scheme is geared to sustainability, as it’s white with green accents.

The Maizy collection includes a radio, LED flashlight, analog and digital alarm clocks and two calculators. Lexon doesn’t advertise retail prices on their wholesale website, but I imagine they’ll be reasonably priced when they hit stores.

[via Moco LoCo]

This radio-like device, dubbed the “Dymaxion Auto-Matic Buckminster Fuller” was made by Autuin from Free Geek Vancouver. The case is from an old dead radio. He bought an old Coleman multifunctional TV lantern and ripped the CRT out and put it in the case, then hooked it up to an Arduino board and programmed it to display images.

It is using a Markov algorithm to project theoretical and garbled quotes from R. Buckminster Fuller of geodesic dome fame. It doesn’t play anything, but it looks awesome and would totally be at home in the Fallout universe.

You can check out Autuin’s full build log and a little video snippet of the Dymaxion radio in action here.

[Hack a Day via Geekosystem via Neatorama]

Joe Doucet, who’s known for his work with geometric shapes, recently collaborated with the French manufacturer LEXON to create these cube-shaped clocks and speakers.

They come in a few different models, and the speakers are rechargeable. The clock comes as a clock radio or a simple LCD clock. They’re available in either aluminum to match your Mac, white or black. All of them featured touch-based controls.

You’ll have to contact LEXON to find out how much they cost and when they’ll be available.

[via MoCo Loco]

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.

So while things are all good and there are no emergencies or calamities looming, I think it’s time you put together an emergency kit for good measure. Stock up on canned stuff, pack together some sheets, and put together a first aid kit. And throw in the Eton FRX3 radio if you’ve got still got some space left over.

Basically, the Eton FRX3 is a crank radio that will keep you connected to the rest of the world in case you find yourself trapped somewhere or far away from the rest of civilization. It’s powered by the crank, so no external power sources needed. If it’s bright out, the FRX3′s internal battery charges up via solar energy, since it’s got solar panels lined up at the top, too.

Aside from being a radio, the FRX3 is also a LED flashlight and USB charger for your gadgets. The multi-purpose radio also has a glow-in-the-dark outline to make sure you can still use it and spot it, even in the dark.

The Eton FRX3 was unveiled at CES 2012 and will be available for sale soon for $60.

[via Oh Gizmo!]

I first spied this thing back in February, and now you can finally buy it just in time for nobody to listen to CDs anymore. Still, Darth would look cool sitting there on your desk, staring down people, as you watch the spinning platter behind his red eyes.

In terms of features, this thing does have an equally low-tech AM/FM radio, and an old-school telescoping antenna sticking out of the back. It also lets you program the sequence of the tracks on your CDs, which is sort of like a poor-man’s digital shuffle. I suppose you could just skip the whole CD thing, and just plug your MP3 player into Lord Vader’s 3.5mm jack if you so desire.

The Darth Vader CD player is available now over at Hammacher Schlemmer for $69.95 (USD). I think I’ll wait until they come out with a Luke Skywalker 8-track player, or maybe a Chewbacca cassette player.

It was designed by Christopher McNicholl for SUCK UK. The internals of the radio are housed in a simple cardboard structure, which can easily be recycled at the end of the product’s life. The device itself is also pretty minimal, which is somewhat appealing from a design standpoint. It’s powered by 4 AA batteries or DC power (power adapter not included). It comes with two nice retro dials and an audio jack to allow you to play some tunes off your media player or smartphone.

The Cardboard Radio sells over at Suck UK’s store for £25 (~$40 USD).

[via NotCot]

Fans of the shiny pirate explosive school of design will have more reason to love this device. It plays MP3 and WMA files from microSD & microSDHC cards as well as from USB drives, although without a monitor it’ll be quite hard to navigate through your files and folders. It also has a built-in radio, and if you already have an MP3 player you can use this as a speaker since it has a 3.5mm audio connector. It does have a rechargeable Lithium battery, so you can lob it and cue an explosive sound effect if you want.

You can get the USB Bombshell MP3 Player from Brando for $43 (USD). It’s quite the conversation piece. Especially with the TSA.

Engadget has gone hands on with that AppRadio and it looks even cooler now than it did before. The AppRadio mirrors your iPhone interface on the radio’s larger touchscreen. I see a few downsides to this though. Apparently, all of the controls are touchscreen. I hate touch controls on things that you will likely be using without taking your eyes off the road.

You will have to look away from the road to change channels and to interact with things on the screen. Another downside is that there are only a few apps that will run on the device right now it seems. You can get Rdio, Pandora, INRIX, and MotionX-GPS Drive. Here I thought it would just show you any app you wanted on the larger screen. The AppRadio screen does support gestures like pinch to zoom. See more of the hands-on in the video clip below:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Engadget]

This SPH-DA01 AppRadio has a large touchscreen on the front and what looks like iOS icons on it. I really hope the screen is touch sensitive too and when you press those icons it launches the content you want on the larger screen of the radio. It would rock to be able to shoot video out to that screen and to surf the web on it too. I would like to use the GPS navigation and mapping apps I have on the AppRadio too.

The AppRadio from Pioneer surfaced on CrunchGear this morning and someone that is familiar with the project claims that the radio feels “exactly like the iOS experience.” That means either one of two things Pioneer is courting a lawsuit or they have Apple’s permission to integrate iOS so tightly with the device. Either way if the double-din radio doesn’t cost a fortune when it finally hits stores, I am interested.

[via CrunchGear]

This retro radio is called the XDR-S16DBP and it looks pretty funky thanks to its nicely rounded and wooden corners. It hasn’t got much power, at 0.8W/channel, but it will get the job done at the cabin or in the yard. If I still needed a radio, I’d probably opt for something like this or a Logitech Squeezebox. Keep in mind that it’s a DAB/DAB+ radio, so digital broadcasts only work in some countries. It does tune FM as well, though. There’s no word on whether or not Sony is working on a version for the U.S. or other markets.

Design isn’t the only retro thing about this radio – it’s a one-trick pony. It can’t be used as a dock, and has no auxiliary inputs. It’s just a radio, which is a bit limiting in this day and age. But if you like to listen to over-the-air broadcasts only, then you’ve been served.

[via Sony Europe]

A new shower radio has surfaced that is called the H2O Shower Powered Radio and the device actually gathers its power from the force of running water in the shower. It uses a little H2O micro-turbine to drive a generator that creates the power needed to run the radio. The power doesn’t run the radio directly, but is used to charge an internal battery.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The device connects to a shower hose and the designer says it will fit 99% of showers. I would assume that showers in Europe are different from what we have in the states as I have never had a shower that had a hose that could connect to this thing in my life. You can pick it up in Europe for £34.99 from one of these retailers.

[via TechDigest]

The overall design is pretty funky – especially the leather surround and handle on the case. Using battery-power, the little boombox can play your tunes for up to 15 hours. There is a small LCD screen to serve as an interface. The speakers are only 2×2W, so it won’t generate any noise complaints. With its dock, i guess that it could double as a clock radio via your iPhone or iPod too. The View Quest Retro1 is currently available for £99.99 (appx. $161 USD) from Play.com.

[via GeekAlerts]

Since I did just about everything you are not supposed to do behind the wheel as a teen, I know what to watch out for in the future when my kids are able to drive. Ford has a new feature for its MyKey system that already takes some of the ability for a teen to break the law out of the equation; I really needed this as a kid.

The system can now block explicit content on the satellite radio service when the programmed key is installed. MyKey already has the ability to mute the radio until seat belts are fastened, limit the radio volume, and speed limit the vehicle as well.

The top of the radio is white glass and inside that dome is some lights that project colors into the room to make you feel sleepy and more at ease according to the company. The light changes from white, blue, green, purple, red, and orange.

In addition to the light that is supposed to help you wake and fall asleep, the thing can play FM radio for you and has an input for your MP3 player or iPhone. An optional iPhone dock is also offered as well. It even has built-in lullabies to get your baby to sleep, and nature sounds to help you catch some Zs.

While the colorful mood lights can help you relax, they can also be used as a “dawn simulation” to gently wake you from your slumber as alarm sounds play in the background.

No word on pricing yet, but you can find more info over at PURE’s website.

The Naked Radio is the creation of Simon Hasan and it’s a sort of radio/art piece that he put together. It’s made from unusual materials such as porcelain, walnut, stainless steel, brass, and yes, that’s a speaker grill made from lace. You control the volume by turning the speaker. The frequency is selected by rotating the antenna. It’s too bad that Hasan has only made one of these, because I’m sure that they’d sell to those with an eye for unusual design. Ultimately though, I have to say that I don’t ever listen to the radio anymore. How about you? Do you listen to the radio? On your computer, or via an AM/FM radio, or satellite?

[via NotCot]

Radio Man was created by a Swiss engineer named August Huber. Ah, now the yodeling makes sense! He’s 7 feet tall and took 10 years to complete. It supposedly could walk, talk, sing, or yodel at his master’s command.It was supposedly powered by batteries hidden in the legs, but honestly, this makes me wonder if this was a work of fiction. Batteries in the legs? I thought that back in the 1930s it would have needed something like a truck filled with batteries to power it.

[Modern Mechanix via DVice]

The dock can be set to sleep or wake with your iPad, iPhone or iPod, and of course you can listen to music through its stereo speakers too. It’s also got Bluetooth so you can play your music wirelessly from across the room. The dock lets you use the screen of your iPad for custom alarms, and alerts for weather, news, stocks, etc. There’s also a handy (and free) iHome+Sleep app which lets you view social network updates, and track your sleep patterns.

I suppose that’s all fine and good – until the display turns on and wakes up everyone in the room. After all, turning on the screen of the iPad is like turning on a lightbulb in a fully-darkened room. But I suppose as long as it’s used as an alarm, that’s probably okay. But if you get email updates or meeting reminders in the middle of the night, that could suck.

If you’re into the idea of a bedside iPad dock, you can find out more about the iA100ZE over at iHome.

[via Chip Chick]

Designed by Elium Studio, the Lexon SAFE line of home goods come encased in environmentally-friendly corn bio-plastic and trimmed off with bamboo.  I think best item in the collection is the little wind-up radio.

In addition to the wind-up radio, the collection includes a solar-powered calculator, alarm clock, and a LED flashlight.

All of these gadgets are made from renewable materials, which makes them good for the planet and great for us, since they look pretty cool.

[via Core77]