Let’s face it: the internal “speaker” on the iPhone isn’t much of a speaker at all, more like a distant vibration that emulates sound… Griffin however produced a “sort-of dock” for the iPhone classic and 3G that amplifies the sound coming from the iPod. The best part: it requires no batteries to run. Much like the technology you see in high end Bose systems, the AirCurve uses wave guide technology to amplify the sound from the internal speaker of the iPhone by 10 decibels. This acoustic amplifier doesn’t warp the sound in any way, just amplifies it. It’s also a very stylish and clear, which adds to the wow factor you get when opnening the packaging. The dock doesn’t function as a dock itself, but has a pass-through for your sync cable so you can listen while you sync or charge.

I personally have been playing with mine for a few weeks now, and it does definitely amplify the tones coming out of the iPhone. It doesn’t exactly make it sound a whole lot better, but it at least does a tiny bit, and the best part of it is the fact that it doesn’t require any external power, and definitely doesn’t draw anything from the iPhone. It’s quite useful for when I’m showing something to people, just slap this baby in my laptop bag and when I have an audience, whip it out. It does make a difference, and for its convenience it was definitely worth the $17.99 I paid for it.

Takeup was originally designed Henk Kowalski from Germany for a Greener Gadgets competition which has an ultimate prize of $5000 dollars. The theory behind the design is this: all the tons and tons of old computer hardware that is thrown out is becoming a burden on our mother earth. However, the Takeup uses a textile and environmentally friendly material for the majority of the case. The backbone of the case is made from an aluminum frame which by concept is adjustable.

The exterior cloth is swappable which means you can change the look of your case whenever you want! But as some are pointing out, the case isn’t all about the green effect. It provides much more than just an eco-friendly design. PC performance enthusiasts will be intrigued on our take of the Takeup case.

…click here to read more

How many times have you tried to keep a beverage in the freezer for the exact right amount of time so that you have the perfect slush-textured frozen drink? Well the Perfect Slushee Mug gives you a slushee made from virtually anything such as Mountain Dew, Orange Soda, or even delicious Root Beer with ice cream .

The mug consists of two parts, the outer mug shell, and the inner Glaciercore. The glaciercore is sealed shut with a 100% non-toxic refrigerant that enables your drink to stay that perfect slushee texture for two hours or more! Unfortunately you can only turn naturally sweetened beverages into slushee, as artificially sweetened beverages aren’t compatible, such as diet sodas. Also, the mug, from room temperature, takes a slow 6 hours to fully freeze, but it only takes a few minutes to turn a room temperature drink into a delicious frozen treat. If you are worried that the mug takes too long to freeze then buy two! Or once your drink is prepared, transfer it into another container and throw the mug back into the freezer to prepare it for the next one! Get yours from Vat19 for $9.95 in Blue or Red.

Named after the combination of the words Blinds and Light, Blight is a mesh of some of the latest technology to create a visually appealing Venetian style blinds. So far just a design concept, the Blight is already turning quite a few heads at the Greener Gadgets design competition.

These stylish Venetian blinds use the large surface area on each panel to collect light energy through the flexible solar cells on the back side. When night falls, the energy stored throughout the day is expelled through electroluminescent foil. The foil requires very little energy to illuminate, which enables it to run well into the early morning, should there be a need. Check out the other genius designs, and vote for your favorite at Greener Gadgets.

Design by Vincent Gerkens from Belgium.

St. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and as a result many guys and gals are struggeling to get their better half a V-Day gift. Well, Gadget Hoard is here to help the geek lovers out there get something that will surely knock their socks off (or maybe a more interesting piece of the wardrobe? ) So sit tight and listen up for Geek’s V-Day 101:

Gadget4All is always finding new and exciting things to sell. So of course they’ve come up with a few love-themed items for their catalog and up first is the USB Plasma Heart. One of the few USB devices in this compilation, the USB Plasma heart will set itself apart from any other gadget on his/her desk. Much like the USB plasma ball, the USB Plasma heart uses the low power current from USB and converts it to very high voltage which creates the lightning like bolts within the heart shaped plastic dome. Don’t have an available powered USB port or would like to use it without a computer? Not a problem! Just pick up an Eforcity USB Travel Adapter ($0.49) and plug it in anywhere! You can get the USB Plasma Heart at Gadget4All for $17.

More ideas after the jump!

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Why settle for just a boring old block of wood to hold your knives when you can have this litle guy? (Literally, little guy…) This 14″ tall human figure comes with an 8″ Chef Knife, 8″ Bread Knife, 8″ Carver, 5″ Utility Knife and a 3.5″ Paring Knife, all protected by a 25 year manufacturer’s warranty. Knives are all held in place by a neat little magnet in each hole. Have a little fun when putting your knives away, for once! Get it from Wowzzers.

Today’s Around the World Gadget is from Japan. It’s called the Kinniku Mouse, cute huh? Well, not so cute when you see what this thing does! It apparently uses 4 little electrode pads to shock and stimulate your muscles as you work on the computer.

Translated to English, the name of the gadget is “Muscle Mouse.” It uses EMS technology (Electrical Muscle Stiumlation) to relax you for the long hard workday. From the translation it’s hard to see exactly how it’s powered, but it appears to either be from the movement of the mouse, or actually powered by the USB port. (Or a combination of both - the movement of the mouse activated the current which is powered by the USB port). The Japanese come up with some cool stuff!

Read on for more pictures of the Muscle Mouse. …click here to read more

Digital picture frames are actually very practical, one frame to display unlimited pictures, instead of just one. Plus, most can play video, support expandable memory, and have RF remote controls. Until recently, you’d be setting up your 7 inch digital frame on a mantel or table, but now you can mount a 32 inch high resolution LCD on your wall dedicated to displaying your home pictures and videos at 1366×768.The frame can also playback video with sound, including MPEG, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, WMA and AVI files, at their native resolutions with sound on it’s built in speakers..

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Now, I’m not sure who really needs support for 80 different storage mediums, but if you are, here’s your solution. iMONO’s 80-in-1 card reader not only supports like… every memory card known to man, but also has the ability to connect 3 other USB devices. Heck, if you wanted, you could buy a whole slue of these things and daisey chain them for a ridiculous amount of memory cards. It wouldn’t be all that expensive either since they’re cheap as dirt.

…click here to read more