Man, talk about starting them young…extremely young. I’m talking about MP3 players here - remember the good old days where you did not purchase your very own radio until you were working? Or how about Sony’s Walkman that became all the rage in the 1980s, with teens lapping it up at any retail store? Fast forward to today, and you get even babies who aren’t old enough to decide what they want to listen to receive an MP3 player in the form of the SweetPea3. It somehow reminds me of Popeye’s little kid, but I digress. There are no headphones or headphone jack with this, since it uses an external speaker instead. Targeting babies, this is definitely more durable than your iPod. Songs are transferred via USB, and the volume can only be controlled using a special button combination. A single AA battery powers it, although you can choose to let it run on AC power as well. The 256MB SweetPea3 retails for $89.95 a pop.

Source: Gearlog

Popularity: 34% [?]

More often than not, mail order products often border on the unbelievable when it comes to authenticity, making you wonder whether it works as advertised. The Japanese seem to have no qualms about it, as evident by the MPION MP3 player. This unique portable audio device might not come with the big brand name backing of Toshiba or Sony, but what it offers is something special that no other MP3 player in the market can bring you at this moment - it has the ability to give you a facial while you’re listening to your favorite tunes.

Sounds totally crazy, right? Apparently, this 128MB flash based MP3 player comes with a negative ion generator located behind to help clean your skin pores when applied to the face. Apparently, the manufacturer claims that this works far better when compared to the traditional soap and water method. I seriously wonder how effective these claims are. If you’re in Japan and want to try it out, be prepared to part with approximately $170 for it.

Popularity: 33% [?]

Kids love playing, and so do adults but the latter tend to find less and less time due to a whole host of other commitments. The SmarteBear range of children’s playthings are capable of reading stories, playing games and keeping your little one entertained by even singing songs - all these can be accessed at the press of a paw. I guess this is one toy that you ought to bring during those long road trips in order to avoid the traditional kid question, “Are we there yet?”. The SmarteBear range is also multi-lingual, so it would be great to pick up some Francais as well for both parent and child. This nifty little toy retails for $80 and above, depending on the type of add-ons you choose (sounds like some fast food joint to me).

 Product Page via Red Ferret

Popularity: 31% [?]

 Bling is in, but just how far can you go before it decidedly becomes tacky? I think I’ve found the answer in the sugar range from Bluetrek. Available in Sugar Diamond, Black Diamond and Black Silver formats, all these three headsets come without an ear hook, snuggling into your ear comfortably thanks to a soft Ergobud adjustable earpiece instead. Other features include an integrated, pre-recorded voice alert, 7 hours’ worth of talk time and 10.5 days of standby time. If you fancy picking up one for yourself, be prepared to fork out £39.99. They’re compatible with any Bluetooth 1.2 device just in case you’d like to know.

Source: Pocket Lint

Popularity: 26% [?]

For a flashy yet useful GPS system you need to look at the Dash Express.  Utilizing neat plug-ins like MyDash, allows you to customize your experience with the GPS system so that you get what you need at your fingertips.

With two-way connectivity, Dash taps into Yahoo! Local search, among other choices, and allows you to find the location of almost anything.  Most GPS systems come pre-loaded with static locations marked up but you can customize what you are looking for with this setup.

Dash Express also will work to get all the information off the Dash Driver Network and match it up with other sources of data to give you the most up-to-date and accurate feel for what’s coming up ahead as you drive.  Traffic conditions can rapidly change and the Dash will let you know quickly so you can re-route.

This also has a neat feature called Send2Car that allows you or someone you contact to send an address straight to your Dash from any computer.  Two-way connectivity certainly makes this product stand out from the rest.

Technorati Tags: gps,gadget review,dash express

Popularity: 38% [?]

This week has been a very significant one in the format wars as news came from Toshiba that it will stop making HD-DVD players and devices. This means the format war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD is pretty much over, and Blu-ray has been declared the winner. Thank goodness because as you all know high-definition televisions and players will be big sellers this year as we get closer to the DTV transition and the last thing we need is a format war. Now we can focus on buying our Blu-ray discs and players without much worry. But what about those of you who already chose HD-DVD players and bought a bunch of $30 DVDs? Unfortunately, if you bought an HD-DVD player in the last week, you might be out of luck as Toshiba issued a statement saying they wouldn’t be giving any refunds or sweeteners to HD-DVD buyers according to  SMH Australia.“They [customers] understood that there were two competing formats and understood that one of them would probably prevail … so they made the decision to go with HD DVD.”

Hey but at least you can round out your movie collection by buying HD DVD movies for half the price over at  Amazon who’s trying to get rid of them for a low price. The question is would you want to. Prices of Blu-ray players have actually gone up as Ben Patterson notes on
  his post here. He says the Sony BDP-S300 has a $399 compared to the $299 price it had a few months ago, and the Samsung BD-P1400 is also $399 compared to the $270 price it had in December. Obviously, you’re in good shape if you have a Playstation 3, but if you don’t, you might want to hold off on buying that high-definition player until prices go down.  Do tell us where you stand?

Popularity: 43% [?]

Kids have it great these days with tons and tons of different toys to capture their imagination. All I had back then was some scraps of paper and a pencil, the rest was up to me. I know I would’ve died to own a KOTA - a soft walking triceratops dinosaur where tiny tots will be able to ride ala Turok. The manufacturer, Playskool, claim that the KOTA makes authentic dinosaur roars - no idea how they figured that out. KOTA will react to eleven areas on its body, and it ambles along while playing jungle songs and adventure-themed tunes at the flick of a button. Apparently the KOTA will snack on leafy greens as well if you give it, but don’t worry about its digestive system as the only waste it produces are half a dozen D batteries required to power it. The KOTA will be made available this fall for $300 a pop.

Source: Coolest Gadgets

Popularity: 26% [?]

Wooden furniture is always nice to look at, as it lends a sense of warmth to the surrounding environment. Unfortunately, most of our gadgets are made out of cold metal and plastic that pretty much sums up how society is like these days. For those who want to introduce some friendliness into their everyday gadgets, here’s a pretty interesting offering. This iPod touch case is handcrafted out of wood (cedar and mahogany to be exact) and it comes complete wiwth intricate details such as inlays, dovetails and mortised lids. Once you’re bored of your design, you can always use it as firewood, fertilizer, or even food for your pet termite colony.

Source: Technabob

Popularity: 25% [?]

I don’t know about you, but lamps are lamps are lamps, right? Apparently not. This Tiffany Snail Lamp blows all convention out of the water, featuring an escargot-y design with two large, bulging eyes. Funny, I do recall that most slugs and snails show in cartoons and comics are often depicted with their eyes at the tips of the antennas. But I digress - this high class snail lights up your room in a myriad of colors thanks to the multi-colored tiffany glass shell on the outside and a 15 watt candelabra bulb inside. Just like its real life counterpart, this snail’s shell is pretty fragile to the tune of $70.

Product Page via Nerd Approved

Popularity: 20% [?]

Now now, isn’t this one of the prettier notebooks that you’ve laid your eyes upon in a long while? Sure, it might not come with the super slim form factor that made everyone gush over the MacBook Air, but at least MSI’s efforts with the 12.1″ slim PR200 Beloved Edition comes with an optical drive. Developed by MSI for White Day in Korea, the PR200 Beloved Edition is no slouch when it comes to performance, featuring Intel’s 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor that is more than enough for your everyday office tasks. Other features include a built-in 1.3 megapixel camera and an HDMI port for those who want to watch high definition shows.

Source: AVing

Popularity: 26% [?]