We all know that DSLRs are extremely expensive, which is why there are a fair bit of protective cases offered for such devices. What about your average consumer digital camera? I hardly see any rugged casing provided in the market, and those leather pouches don’t do nuts against a nasty drop onto the concrete floor. Unless you’re rocking to Olympus’ tough range of consumer level digital cameras, other brands do not fare too well when they say hello to knocks. The HSGi silicon cover is made from translucent, non-toxic, flexible, and durable silicone, featuring a petal-shaped lens cover that gives complete protection to the lens when not in use, just like a lens cap. It might not do too much against a nasty, fall, but at least it offers an anti-static finish that repels dust, moisture, scratches and dents. Choose from black, white and pink colors for $16 a pop. It is compatible with selected Canon and Panasonic models.

Source: Far East Gizmos

Popularity: 49% [?]

How many of us actually bother to pay attention to the humble bread toaster at home? As long as it spits out reasonably toasted bread, I’m happy with it. I guess younger folk these days want to streamline their home to themes, and digital is in. Hence, the need for Philips to reinvent themselves with this sleek looking digital toaster which features an anodized aluminum housing that is corrosion-resistant, scratch- and fingerprint-proof. You get an LCD display with a digital countdown timer, one-side toasting option for bagels and baguettes, as well as a removable crumb tray for easy cleaning and maintenance. The HD2618 Philips toaster will retail for approximately £60.

Product Page via Appliancist

Popularity: 41% [?]

Check out this automatic bread slicer that is guaranteed to make your task as a homemaker a whole lot easier. The Robot Coupe Bread Slicer will eat baguettes (or other similarly sized loaf of bread) for breakfast - pardon the pun. All you need to do is place the loaf into the vertical feeder, and the stainless steel action will cut anywhere from 180 to 360 slices in a minute with precision - much better than that two-bit chef in the movie Ratatouille. The thickness of the bread slices can also be varied, ranging from 8mm up to 80mm, depending on the type of dish you want to serve later. Retailing for $2,700, this is a pretty hefty investment to make for your home.

Source: OhGizmo!

Popularity: 51% [?]

Ever grew up wishing you could be a cover girl? That dream is now a reality with the Cover Babe Magazine Mirror. I wouldn’t really want to use this mirror in my bathroom though, as I know that looking one’s best upon waking up is a nigh impossible task, unless you’ve in a movie set where nary a strand of hair is left out of place. The Cover Babe Magazine Mirror doesn’t have anything negative to report on you even though you look haggard after a late night party, with complimentary stories such as ‘You Are Gorgeous’, ‘Dresscode: Fabulous!’ & ‘Look At You! You’re Brilliant.’ The Cover Babe Magazine Mirror measures 380mm x 280mm, retailing for £19.99.

Popularity: 52% [?]

Here is yet another iPod case to join a gazillion others that have already been released to date. I think this is one of the most profitable lines of accessories ever, and this time the MP3 Player Case fits your iPod (and other MP3/PMPs as long as they are small enough to fit in) snugly within, boasting a variety of bright shades for you to choose from. Constructed from stainless steel hardware, you get an external headphone jack to listen to your player which is protected within, although you do lose the ability to control which song you want to listen to without opening up the MP3 Player Case. The included earphones are water resistant, but I guess this works only in a drizzle and is not meant for you to take it on your diving expeditions. The MP3 Player Case retails for $45 each.

Source: Gizmodiva

Popularity: 55% [?]

There is quite a number of people who actually need to listen to some music before they can nod off, but as we all know, sleeping with a pair of headphones can be quite painful for the ears, while leaving the stereo or computer on will distract other inhabitants living under the same roof as you. The Sound Asleep pillow solves this problem, being a standard pillow that allows you to fit your very own pillow case to make it blend in with the rest of the bedroom setting. It also holds an MP3 player with a sleep feature, retailing for £20 each. There is no word of a Stateside release, but it would be nice to see this go global.

Product Page via Anything but iPod

Popularity: 47% [?]

You know how you thought Swarovski covered gadgets were dead? Well, turns out they’re not, and the crazy kids over at Crystal Icing can’t seem to put down the glue gun around those Apple products. To defeat the purpose of making a super light MacBook Air, the gang decided to cover the slim notebook with 1/2 pound of Swarovski Crystals which added 1/8th of an inch to the thickness of the notebook. I doubt the fat S.O.B will ever fit in a manila folder ever again in all it’s crystallized glory, but that’s the price you pay when you go all Liberace. What do you think of the new hot mess?

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Popularity: 43% [?]

I’m all about the options, but no matter how colorful all these computers gets you still have to select between one or the other.  But what if you like the pattern one computer, and the color of another? Sony is moving towards a new direction with its new Expression Collection notebooks. The new VAIO FZ series will allow the user the option of choosing the color, pattern, and even keyboard fonts on their limited edition notebook. You’ll be able to choose from a pink,blue, or black surface with a Victorian lace, flora, or leaf design. To spice things up, you can also choose the font on the keyboard, which are all very elegant.  You can see a preview of all the combinations over at SonyStyle.com, so head over there if you think this is something you’ll love.

The notebook will retail for $1,300 and will feature Intel Core 2 Duo Processors, DVD-RW/Blue-ray Disc drives, built-in wireless capabilities, and a 15.4-inch widescreen LCD display with XBRITE technology.

Popularity: 43% [?]

Meeting a good man is hard.  I’m married, but I can sympathize with all you single ladies.  I remember the days when meeting guys at the club wasn’t cutting it, so I joined the Marines (ok not exactly).  I’ve had a long successful marriage with a geeky man, but when my friends ask me for dating advice,  all they get is a blank stare.  I mean, come on ladies, I’ve been married for a decade, do you think I remember how to pick up a guy? Thank goodness for the superficial, slutty advice on Cosmo. I don’t know how many of us now married women got through dating without our bedside Cosmo guide. Really!  Dirty sex positions, beauty advice on where to get those smooth brazilian waxes, and let’s not forget the section where men tell us their dirtiest fantasies! Where would we be without all that inside scoop? Well the sex starved vixens over at Cosmo have put together a list of the best places to meet men. Not just any man, mind you, but a hot sexy geek! The number one spot to meet guys is apparently, THE APPLE STORE! Steve Jobs is going to love that one. 

This is what Cosmo says:

“Most guys are natural gadget lovers, and with sales of iPods and MacBooks skyrocketing, more men than ever are stopping by Apple boutiques. The vibe at the stores is conducive to man meeting too: You can check your email among cuties, take a free workshop on anything from Photoshop to podcasting (a great opportunity to strike up a conversation), or just survey the, ahem, good-looking merchandise.”

So there you have it. Instead of heading to the local bar during Happy Hour, just stop by the Apple Store. There are 142 Apple stores in 31 states, with plenty of Genius bars to go around. Go ahead, go find yourself a good man. Here are the locations: http://www.apple.com/retail/

No  Apple store in your city? Don’t fret.

 Another place to meet men is a Fortune 500 or Tech company (because that’s where the boys are) and a grad-school coffee shops.

What do you think? Is Cosmo right on the money? 
 

Popularity: 43% [?]

This DVD player was quite an experience for me as it’s completely feature-packed and with so much to offer, I wanted to test out the many different ways this player can work.  The OPPO 1080p offers extremely good image quality when outputting movies that I had on hand.  It has DivX/Xvid support, too, so you won’t find yourself having to convert movies in order to view them on your TV.

The player utilizes the 7.1 Channel audio with Dolby Digital Surround EX decoding, which means you will feel like you are in the middle of the movie and your speakers will bring you each delicate sound as it was meant to be heard.  You can also use the USB 2.0 for external gadgets that you store photos or videos on, and a slide show that uses the resolution of your HDTV to show your photos off to others.

And, to deliver you the best quality, the player uses HDMI for a crisp look and sound.  Delivering high-quality video and audio without the hassle of multiple cables, this is one feature I was quite impressed with.  I certainly recommend you look at the features on the OPPO site, I could only outline my favorites here, and the pricing of the OPPO is incredibly competitive, in fact I feel that it performs on the higher range and is priced with the lower ranged products, which makes it really shine!

OPPO also features a product comparison chart so that you know which player would best suit YOUR needs.

Popularity: 49% [?]