The USB Mini Cable Kit measures just about 5 inches-tall and takes up very little space in your bag. It covers all of the essentials, including a micro USB connector for smartphones and cameras, mini USB connector for cameras and other electronics, and an Apple Dock Connector for all of your iOS gear including iPhones, iPads and iPods. Each 4 inch-long cable has a standard USB connector on the other end.

The kit is available in the fluorescent colors shown here, or in grey, black and white. It sells from Incase for $24.95 (USD).

[via NOTCOT]

It’s times like these when you have to be thankful for sites like Nerdy Day Trips. It’s a site where geeky travelers like you and I can add places that rank high in terms of geek factor. For example, fans of Sherlock Holmes would obviously want to visit Reichenback Falls, where he supposedly lost his life.

The site is chockful of nerdy destinations around the globe, ranging from science shops, to planetariums to interactive artworks and a variety of odd and intriguing locales not usually visited by tour groups.

And if you’re curious about where Pontius Pilate lived, then you’re in luck, because someone’s placed a bookmark for that on the site as well.

The site was founded by Dr. Ben Goldacre back in 2010 when he was searching for more information about nerdy places he could visit in London. He got some help from a blogger, and that was when he decided to expand the project so that everyone in the world can help contribute to the compendium of geeky tourist attractions.

[via Geeksugar via Dvice]

If you encounter the same problem when trying to pack that usual bag of toiletries into your luggage, then it might be time to consider going Travelon. I don’t know why I always discover these things a tad too late, because it’s probably going to be a while before I go on another trip again.

These Toiletry Sheets by Travelon are perfect for the frequent traveler. I mean, they basically have sheets for everything: shaving, shampoo, conditioner, body wash and hand soap. They even have laundry soap sheets, for crying out loud.

Imagine replacing all those tiny bottles and tubes and boxes with these small plastic cases. Now imagine all of the additional space that you’ll have to cram more clothes and souvenirs in your suitcase. It’s a pretty picture, isn’t it?

If you want them, you can get them online from Travelon for $4.99(USD) for a pack of 50 biodegradable sheets.

[via Gear Patrol]

The sides on the bag can attached, to make a more box-like shape for your toiletries. Instead, if you want to use it as a gadget folio, just undo the sides, and it has enough space for your iPad or 11-inch MacBook Air. You might be able to fit a few more items in there along with it. Just don’t try and actually put your laptop and your hair gel in there at the same time – I can’t imagine that’d be a good idea.

The folio looks pretty handsome and comes in four different varieties. The canvas versions will cost you $149 while the leather ones will set you back $189.

[via Uncrate]

I doubt that this will become a common practice, but Martin Reisch managed to get into the US using his iPad. He had a scan of his passport on his iPad, and he had forgotten his real one at home, which was two hours away. He was delivering some gifts for the kids of a friend. After a few minutes of deliberation, the border officer gave him permission to enter the US. He was also allowed to leave the US with the same iPad passport.

I guess if the barcode is scannable, then it could be possible that this might become more a more frequent occurrence, but without the security measures built into a physical passport, it would be pretty easy to doctor a digital image of one. It makes you wonder what might happen if passports someday become entirely digital. Just swipe your phone or tablet, and go through.

[via Ubergizmo]

But did you know that with just your iPhone, you can travel the world for free? With Wander, you can virtually visit countless locations all over the world through the magic of pictures.

Wander will have you fill out your profile first. Then you choose where you want to “go,” and the app will hook you up with another user from that country.

For a week, you can correspond through instant messages and photos, and get a glimpse into the world of someone who lives in your destination country.

And when your week-long virtual tour is over, you can start over again at another destination. Pretty neat for something that’s available for free. It’s currently available over on the iTunes App Store, and is coming to Android soon.

[via Peta Pixel]

Ministar guitars were created by after extensive research by guitar builder Bob Wiley. He came to the conclusion that the body of an electric guitar can be removed without dramatically affecting the sound of the guitar. Hence, Ministar guitars only have a neck and head. Take a listen, and you be the judge:

In addition to the guitar, each one comes with portable, battery-powered headphone amp so you can practice on the road. They also offer a bass version of the Ministar, if that’s your instrument of choice. Most of the guitars are around 31 inches long, and weigh three pounds, while the basses average 41 inches long, and weigh five pounds. That’ll certainly shave off a bit of weight if you tend to travel a lot with your guitar.

Ministar Guitars sell for between $280 and $350 (USD), and the basses run $300 to $360.

[via designboom]

The Solar Ship is made by the Toronto-based company of the same name, and is wing-shaped airship that includes solar arrays on its roof. The balloons are still filled with helium, but can fly using only the power of the sun to extend flying time and conserve energy. While you might think this is just a concept, you’d be wrong as the vehicle pictured is actually a flying prototype called the Caracal.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Since airships don’t require much room to land or take off, they are perfect for delivering medical and relief supplies to disaster zones, without the need for a runway. Running on solar power, the Caracal can carry about 330 pounds while on hybrid power, it can lift as much as  1,653 pounds of cargo. Top speed is about 37mph on solar power, or 75mph on hybrid power.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[Toronto Star via DVice]

This lighter-than-air balloon vehicle is called the Bloon, and it was created by the Barcelona-based company Zero2infinity. It lifts off using a specially-crafted inflatable dome. There is a central pod with windows, that can house 4 passengers and 2 pilots. The ship is connected to a large helium balloon. That’s the only propellant this balloon uses.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

In order to land, the pod is decelerated using a parafoil. There are also eight inflatable landing struts that will absorb the shock upon touchdown. The prototype was tested successfully up to 20.5 miles. That’s in the Earth’s stratosphere.

The first human test flight is expected to happen in 2012, and they’re expecting passengers will be able to go up 36km by 2015. A 3-hour flight will cost €110,000 ($160,000 USD) per person if you want to ride in the Bloon.

[via designboom]

Designers Kukil Han, Daehyun Kim, Bojoong Kim and Jihwan Yun came up with this really neat design that they call the Bike Guide Concept. Basically, visitors and tourists can rent out one of the bicycles to a pre-selected destination that the bus will take them to.

Once dropped off, you can bike away in the woods or in the trail that you’ve chosen before going back to the designated bus stop to go back home. Each bike would be equipped with an advanced navigation system to make sure that you don’t get lost along the way.

Not only is it a unique and totally new way to discover a new city or place, but it’s also eco-friendly because of the bike factor, and the single vehicle to transport riders. Make the bike guide bus a hybrid or electric car and the whole concept could be executed with no emissions.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Yanko Design]

Its snap handle adds even more practicality. Use it to hang the pouch on your bag, or on yourself if you love your mouse that much. You can order the Mouse Pad Travel Pouch on Smartfish’ online shop for $15 (USD).

But honestly, even if I needed it I’d think long and hard before buying this. On one hand, it’s quite practical, but is it $15 practical? More importantly, I wonder if the mouse pad will stay flat and even over time despite being bent and curled while in pouch mode.

[via Ubergizmo]

The bags themselves come in two flavors, 13-inch and 15-inch, which means that they probably won’t fit my oversize laptop, but will fit most laptops out there. There is a removable smart strap (which can easily be removed) and the bags are designed with a double clamshell design.

The bags will be released in a few months, but no word on pricing as of yet.

[via NotCot]

The Truco is modular and sized to be a carry-on. The bag has three sections with the main section on wheels and two smaller sections that come off the top and front of the main base.

One of the sections is a laptop bag and the other is a bag for other stuff and valuables that can both be removed and stowed separately if needed. When all three parts are attached together, you get a single carry-on that is a standard 20-inches. The bag is available for $199 (USD). It’s certainly not cheap, but it is cool and will protect your gear.

If any of you have ever tried to use your laptop on the tray table of an airplane, you know how irritating it can be to get the screen angle to work where you can comfortably view it.

Ben’s simple, yet clever design lets you float the screen above the keyboard so you can view the display at a more comfortable angle, while still being able to type. Check it out in action in the video below…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Of course, you need to be able to touch-type in order to use the thing, but overall, I think it’s a design that deserves to be incorporated into a production laptop PC.

[via Ben Heck]

The company has announced that it is booking flights that will launch in 2012 on its Lynx reusable space vehicle. The Lynx looks like a banana with wings to me. The design does give me the chance to say this:“Is that your space ship, or are you just happy to see me?”

A trip on the Lynx will cost you $95,000 (USD), which is a bargain compared to the $102,000 Space Adventures wants and the $200,000 Virgin Galactic needs. You’ll have to give a $20,000 deposit to book your flight and that money gets you a four-day training period and a two-day brief before the flight. I suspect most of that training is to teach you how to avoid vomit in zero g and how to kiss your ass goodbye while weightless.

The thing appears to be a trench coat length jacket festooned with an unbelievable number of pockets (33 to be exact). If they ever do a geek parody of the scene in the Matrix where Neo and company come in wearing jackets packed with weapons, this would be the wardrobe.

The thing has pockets for the iPad, iPhone, MP3 player, glasses, cameras, personal care items like tooth brushes and those tiny shampoos you can get on the plane with and more. The weirdest pockets are so big, they can even hold your extra clothes and shoes. I wonder if you can even walk in this thing – and I can only imagine what fun it will be to get through airport security with one of these fully loaded.

The Trinvo can cross-translate between 12 languages, including Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), and Turkish. English isn’t supported. I’m kidding, of course it is. The Trinvo (supposedly) speaks using a native human voice, and it’s dictionary holds over 2,500 words as well as over 750 commonly used travel-related sentences for each of the included languages. I hope it can say “I have to urinate”, “I missed my flight”, and “Mommy”. You can also plug in a pair of headphones and listen to the built-in words and sentences via the 3.5 mm jack. You can buy a Trinvo for only £35 (approx. $58 (USD) at Gadgetshop. Hangman and Quiz games included.

[via Gadget Blog]

This ridiculously expensive polycarbonate hardshell suitcase features electric motors in the wheels that can pull the bag along the floor at up to 3 miles per hour. Now don’t get any funny ideas about loading this thing up with 70 pounds of cargo and sending it hurtling through airport security to clear the way. That’s because the suitcase will only engage when you’ve started to set it in motion, it’s got at least 15 pounds of load, the handle is pulled out, and the case is tilted at just the right angle. Of course, you could always hack one to do your bidding without any of those checks and balances enforced. Me, I’d like to connect a remote control to one and see what sort of havoc I could wreak.

If you’ve got $1300 (USD) burning a hole in your pocket, give it to me. You can use next $1300 to buy one of these completely unnecessary bags over at Hammacher Schlemmer.

What’s more, the handle also has a window so you can see how much toothpaste is inside. When you run out, just plug your toothpaste’s tube into the handle to refill it. An adapter is included to make sure that all toothpaste tubes are compatible with the handle.

The OHSO pocket toothbrush can be yours for $17.99 over on ThinkGeek. I wonder which would be better: a toothbrush that also carries toothpaste, or toothpaste that also carries a toothbrush? Hmm.

While I applaud this concept, I have two concerns which I must raise. The first concern is for those people whose travel lives are not so banally predictable as to include only these five cities. Hello, DUBAI anyone? I mean, that’s where all the serious ballers hang out now. Bangalore? Shanghai? Reykjavik, even? Luckily Diesel is offering a smaller watch of the same ilk that forgoes the pre-ordained time zones in favor of making you memorize which face corresponds to which town. (I suggest you come up with a mnemonic device.)

The second concern is that this watch is either ridiculously large or that the faces are ridiculously small, just because of the fact that there are so damn many of ‘em. But if you’re a big burly dude with 20/20 vision, it might work for you.

You can buy them for a mere $550 (for the big silver one) or $495 (for the daintier, more adventurous black one.)