Here is this week’s list of cool gadgets. Did you see last week’s edition?

Samsung HZ15W Digital Camera

Available starting this month, the HZ15W digital camera has a 12 megapixel sensor and a 10x Schneider zoom lens that starts at an ultra-wide 24mm. The camera also has built-in optical and digital image stabilization, and it records HD video at 720p and H.264 compression. Users can utilize the zoom freely while shooting HD video, which is still a rare feature on digital cameras. The HDMI output allows it to be connected directly to an HDTV.

The HZ15W replaces the HZ10W, which was launched in January at CES and is pictured below.

2TB Hard Drive from Western Digital

WDC is the first company to have come out with a 2TB internal hard drive. It’s a 3.0GB/s SATA drive that will make a lot of Drobo owners very, very happy.

Sony Ericsson Idou mobile phone

A new touch screen mobile phone from Sony Ericsson with a 12 megapixel camera and a big 3.5 inch (16:9, 640×320 pixels) display. It has all the goodies you’d expect from a smartphone, and it’ll go on sale later this year.

[via LikeCool]

Canon PowerShot D10 digital camera

This little camera is waterproof (up to 10m depth), shockproof (up to 1.2m fall) and freezeproof (to -10°C). It’ll go on sale in May for $330 MSRP, street price will be lower. It has a 12 megapixel sensor, 3x zoom and it shoots SD 480p video.

[via Canon and LikeCool]

Studio FRST’s 16943 HDTV

The 16943 is a conceptual design for an HDTV that definitely grabbed my attention. It breaks out of the mold of the squarish TV design and allows one to view 4:3 or 16:9 movies at their intended aspect ratios, without letterboxing or pillarboxing them. The designers also want to include a built-in DVD player on the side, which is a nice touch but not really needed, since most people will play their content from other sources, not DVDs, in the future.

[via FRST and The Design Blog]

Interdepartment Mail laptop sleeve by Kena Kai

Made of white Italian leather, this is one beautiful laptop sleeve. Available for $70 directly from Kena Kai.

[via TrustyPony]

Modular office desk and bed by Florian Jouy

This neat desk can be unfolded and used as a bed at the day’s end. Great for small spaces.

[via The Design Blog]

Here are this week’s seven cool gadgets. Did you see last week’s edition?

Terrafugia Transition

I wrote about the Terrafugia vehicle back in March of 2006, three years ago. On March 5th of this year, a couple of weeks ago, their first working prototype, the Terrafugia Transition, made a successful runway-only flight. I’m really glad to see they managed to get their design built and working!

The Transition has foldable wings that extend and lock into place when it’s time to fly. It changes from a car into an airplane in less than 30 seconds. It has a top speed of 65 mph on the ground and 115 mph in the air. Its approximate fuel economy is 30 mpg, and it can fly about 450 miles on a full tank. Retail price is $194,000.

Videos (1st, 2nd, 3rd)

[via Terrafugia and Jalopnik]

KOZO Lamps by Design2009

These lamps from Design2009 are hand-made from old-style galvanized steel pipes and feature a faucet-like switch. They can be used with incandescent or halogen light bulbs.

[via LikeCool]

The Jenga Pistol

It’s a coil-action pistol that can be used to knock out Jenga blocks. Watch the video and see, my description is lamer than what this gadget does.

[via Look At This]

SwitchEasy ThumbTacks

They look like thumbtacks, but they’re microphones for your iPod. So cool! At only $13, I’d grab a couple in a heartbeat, except they won’t work with my 1st generation iPod Touch; they only work with the iPod Nano 4G and iPod Touch 2G.

[via SwitchEasy and LikeCool]

Collapsible Crutch

This may be one gadget I’d rather not use unless it was absolutely necessary, but let me tell you, if it were necessary, I’d rather be stuck with these. I was on crutches almost 10 years ago because of a knee operation, and I found it annoyingly difficult to get them in and out of the car. These collapsible crutches expand and contract very easily, which makes that task a snap.

[via The Design Blog]

D3O

This wonder gel is soft at first touch, but it turns into a solid upon hard impact. It’s already being used in sportswear, and now the British Army has signed a contract with Blue Divine Ltd, the maker of the gel, so it can be used in the helmets of British soldiers. Very cool!

[via Mail Online and Look At This]

Iglooplay Mod Rocker

Someone tell me why this cool rocker is only made for kids? It’s so nice I’d get one myself. It’s made by ModernNursery of molded plywood, and can take up to 450 lbs of weight.

[via The Design Blog]

Here are this week’s seven cool gadgets. Did you see last week’s edition?

SwissBike XO

A foldable mountain bike with 26″ standard wheels. It can be folded or unfolded within 30 seconds, and even fits inside the trunk of a MINI (a definite plus for me). It’s got a front suspension fork, 27 speeds and disk brakes to boot. Total weight is 27 lbs, but the price stings at just under $2,300.

[via LikeCool and SwissBike]

Novanta Workstation by Luke Riggall

This well-designed aluminum and steel work desk has a bevy of features that set it apart from others. It has, among other things, cable channels, a built-in all-in-one computer or display stand, a built-in iPod dock, USB and audio hub, speaker grilles with integrated speakers, and a built-in power strip. Very nice indeed!

[via Yanko Design]

Promotional: Play your favorite tunes with an iPod alarm clock CD player.

Hangchair by Studio Niels & Sven

It’s a chair and hanger in one. Now you can hang your coat and shirt on the back, and even hang the chair away in a closet if you need the floorspace.

[via LikeCool and Studio Niels en Sven]

Beetle Cycle Helmet

Finally, a bike helmet that folds so it’s easy to carry around!

[via The Design Blog]

Ice Invaders ice cubes

Simple, retro and cool. A pure silicone ice cube tray that makes cubes in the shape of the little Space Invaders critters from the video game.

[via LikeCool and Fred&Friends]

Sylvania ECOlight

A water-power LED light for your shower. It’s powered by the water flow itself, so it needs no batteries. It has a built-in temperature sensor, so it turns blue if the water is cold, or red if the water is hot. Cool stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFnk25K84qQ%5D

[via The Design Blog and Osram Sylvania]

My Paper Bag by Ramon Middelkoop

It looks like a paper bag, but it’s made out of leather. The design is very nice and useful too, but I worry about the suede finish, which could get stained as you start carrying stuff around in the bag.

[via LikeCool]

Here are this week’s seven cool gadgets. Did you see last week’s edition?

The new Mac Pro

Apple released an updated Mac Pro recently. The specs make it the most powerful Mac Pro ever — possibly the best desktop on the market — while the Apple design cinches the deal. It uses the new Intel Nehalem series quad-core processors. You can put two quad-core chips in the Mac Pro, each capable of speeds at up to 2.93GHz, and that gives you eight processors in all. It’ll take up to 32GB of RAM, and it comes with two fast graphics cards that each have a built-in Mini DisplayPort connector. There are finally more connectors on the front panel, which is something users have wanted for a long time.

Images used courtesy of Apple.

Toshiba TG01

Toshiba has released a touchscreen smartphone that is thinner than the iPhone, has a larger display, more memory, usable Bluetooth (not just for headsets) and a better camera. The specs are as follows:

• 4.1 inch WVGA display (800 x 480 pixels)
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• Bluetooth
• GSM and 3G HSDPA
• WiFi
• GPS and A-GPS
• 1GHz mobile CPU
• 512 MB RAM
• Up to 32 GB of storage space via microSDHC card

Interestingly enough, the device uses Windows Mobile 6.1. I’d like to know how it stacks up with the iPhone in terms of ease of use and reliability. From my experience, previous versions of Windows Mobile were terrible, slow, and prone to crash or lock up. Perhaps Microsoft have managed to improve the OS — we’ll see.

[via LikeCool]

Calypso Chair

It’s a multi-purpose sofa designed for laptop users. The armrests fold inward and turn into laptop shelves, while the back rests can be folded and configured to face the same way, in the traditional sofa configuration, or in opposite directions, like a love seat. The back rests can even be folded down, turning the sofa into a coffee table. There’s storage space underneath the seats as well.

[via The Design Blog]

Ecobank: desk, table and lectern

Another wonderfully designed multi-purpose furniture piece comes from Germany and was made by Marius Goetze. It can be turned over and used as a desk and chair piece, like the kind found in classrooms, or as a standalone table, or even as a lectern.

[via The Design Blog]

Bookshelf Lamp

Self-explanatory design: this lamp includes a built-in book shelf, eliminating clutter.

[via LikeCool and Get Organized!]

Reader’s Nest

Another clever bookshelf design. This one mounts on the wall and resembles a bird’s nest. Instead of using a booksign, you place the book you’re reading upside down on its top. You can store more books in its base.

[via LikeCool and Wis Design]

Voice Draw

A Flash app from ZeFrank that lets you draw on the screen using your voice to move the brush. Change the pitch of your voice to change the direction of the brush.

[via Look At This]

Here are this week’s seven cool gadgets. Did you miss last week’s edition?

12V Spotlight

The Spotlight is a small, rechargeable flashlight that plugs right into your car’s 12V outlet, and stays there, ready when you need it. I got a chance to use these little flashlights first hand, and I love them. They come pre-charged, so they’re ready right out of the package. They’re small, lightweight, easy to carry in your pocket, and they pack a mighty light in their tiny package.

They come with accessories as well, like a two outlet splitter that lets you share the 12V plug with some other gadget, or to charge a second spotlight. There’s also a lanyard with a rubber cap that snaps right onto the end of the flashlight. There’s also a small adapter that clips onto the end of the flashlights, just in case your car’s 12V socket is a bit different than usual.

The Spotlight costs $19.95, and the 12V socket splitter, called the Super Socket, is $12.95.

Shure X2u XLR-to-USB Microphone Adapter

The X2u adapter from Shure, which will become available in Spring 2009, will let you use any XLR microphone with your computer, via USB. Until now, we had either USB-connected microphones — whose gamut ranged from the very cheap to those made by Blue — or regular XLR microphones, which needed to be connected through mixing boards.

Shure has made it possible to bypass the mixing board and connect the XLR microphone directly to a computer, allowing us to have much greater choice when it comes to the microphone we want to use for podcasts or other audio recordings. And who’s to stop you from using a professional microphone for audio or video chats via Skype or iChat? I’m sure the sound would be much better than if you used your computer’s built-in microphone.

What’s also cool is that they’ve come up with a couple of USB microphones that connect directly to a computer, the PG27 and PG42 models. These are both cardioid condenser microphones with large diaphragm capsules. The PG27 is geared for voice and instruments, and the PG42 is for voice recordings. The PG42 comes with an additional shock mount along with carrying case. The PG27 comes with a stand and zippered carrying pouch.

[via Gizmag and Shure]

Owl 100% recycled backpack

This backpack is made from Cyclotex100, a material made 100% recycled matter. It will not only fit your books and other gear, but will also fit most laptops up to 17″ in size. You can order it blank for $47.80, or you can put a logo or some other design on it, which will bring the price up to $57.36 per item. The price is right for a backpack with such green credentials.

[via LikeCool and Leed’s]

ThisWay Bicycle by Torkel Döhmers

This is one cool bicycle! It’s made of carbon and flax fiber composites and hydroformed aluminum, so it’s very light for its size: only 11-12 kg, or under 24 lbs. It has built-in LED lights for the front and rear, powered by a roof-top solar panel, and built-in rearview mirrors. All of the cables and the chain are hidden inside the frame, which means you won’t snag your clothes onto anything as you ride it. For simplicity, there’s a single brake lever that operates both front and rear disc brakes. The gears shift automatically into high and low settings, allowing you to tackle most roads.

It has a luggage connector in the back. The same connector can be used to plug in a battery pack for a planned hybrid version, which can assist you as you pedal uphill.

[via LikeCool and Torkel Döhmers]

Colim Concept Car by Christian Susana

This car design made the rounds very quickly after it was first published, and I figured so many people knew about it already that it didn’t need to be covered here. However, I couldn’t resist it. It’s so beautiful and functional that I really do hope it becomes a reality in the very near future.

It’s a detachable motor home that can sleep a family of four. The cockpit, which also seats four, can be fully detached from the caravan and driven around town. The back can be configured to have a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and seating area, and can be re-configured on the fly through foldable and pull-out shelves and units to fit your daily needs.

I should stress that this is just a design. All we’ve seen so far are computer-generated images. Not even a prototype exists. But if a working prototype were to be built, I’m sure the demand would be great for such a wonderful design.

[via LikeCool and Tuvie]

Samsung Show Projector-Phone

The Samsung Show (W7900) cellphone includes a built-in projector that displays bright, colorful 10-lumen video at up to 50 inches in diagonal. (Yes, you read that right.) The video resolution is 480 x 320 pixels. It also has a 320 x 240 pixel OLED display, a 5-megapixel camera, a digital TV tuner, and works on 3G HSDPA networks at up to 7.2 megabits bandwidth. There’s a demo video of the phone on the Pop-Sci website.

Unfortunately, it’s only going to be available in Korea for now, as is to be expected with all the cool new cellphones…

[via The Raw Feed, Pop-Sci and Samsung]

Mosaic Folding Chair

This neat chair doubles up as a room divider when folded. The mesh is made from mosaic tiles embedded in silicon, the frame is aluminum, and it’s designed to fold into a thin vertical surface.I love multi-purpose furniture. It means less clutter, particularly in smaller spaces.

[via The Design Blog and ODA – Architecture]