Etch A Sketch: The geek way

Remember Etch A Sketch? Thumbs Up UK has just taken the drawing toy with erasable screen that was so popular when we were young and given it a geek spin. Now (well, soon anyway), you can wear it on your shirt, too.

The T-sketch shirt requires a battery pack (with two AAA batteries) that's sewn inside the garment to work, so that will add to your weight a little. But that's little sacrifice for the glowing backlight on your scribbles and customizable rhythmic flashing sequences.

So instead of flashing your number using your phone's LCD to that hot chick at the bar, you can beam it right across the room. Unwanted stares and giggles are complimentary.

Via Shiny Shiny

Alcatel handset gets the wrong number

It's hard to know where to begin in dismissing this telephonic atrocity. First, it's a prime example of the proliferating trend we refer to as luxury phones gone bad. As if that's not bad enough (and it is), this 24K "Signature Collection" handset from Alcatel is a special edition done for Sharper Image, which seems to be getting more tarnished all the time.

Making matters still worse, Luxurylaunches describes the specs as disappointing, with a "substandard 2-megapixel camera, flimsy keys, and small screen." Other than that, it's terrific. We were going to mention Alcatel's Playboy phone too, but now we're too depressed.

Via CNET Crave | Picture credit: Luxurylaunches

Nokia shows off "Tube" iPhone-lookalike

The world's largest handset maker is starting to talk about its response to Apple's iPhone, almost 10 months since the iPhone made its debut.

Nokia showed off the Nokia Tube in a presentation slide noticed by Infoworld at a software development conference in California Monday. The Tube, like the iPhone, is a touch-screen phone that can be manipulated using your fingers, and is Nokia's "first touch device," according to Tom Libretto of Forum Nokia.

It's fair to say the iPhone forced just about every handset maker to take a second look at their product development lineup. HTC and LG have shown off their iPhone-lookalikes already, and more will probably start to appear over the rest of the year.

Nokia didn't provide a time frame for the launch of the Tube. Several Web sites have put up a grainy picture of a phone that purports to be the Tube, but I can't figure out who took the original image, so I'm not putting it here until we figure out if it's real, or if proper credit can be assigned. I can, however, show you what all the fuss is about through the magic of hyperlinking.

Via CNET Crave

The world's smallest 8GB flash drive

We've always been curious about Super Talent's name, and finally its origins are slowly becoming clear to us: It must be some kind of allusion to Hollywood celebrities, because the company seems obsessed with the anorexic dimensions of its storage devices.

The latest example of this apparent fixation is what it calls the world's smallest 8GB drive, according to Fareastgizmos. Indeed, even with the countless flash drives on the market, the ultra-petite Pico-C would be hard to beat in the shrinkage department. It weighs less than a nickel and is only a little bigger than a quarter, as shown in the picture above.

The only potential problem, however, is that it may be too small. It's a good thing that the drive is water-resistant, because it's bound to be forgotten in somebody's pocket and end up in the wash.

Via Crave CNET

Tag Heuer phone may finally be near

Tag Heuer has been threatening for months to get into the mobile handset game, even hinting about a branded watch phone. (Actually make that years, not months--the company's timetable for such a product began in 2004.)

The watchmaker may finally be preparing to make good on its protracted promise, as purported images of its new phone were posted on Le Journal Du Geek and are making their way across the blog circuit. The handset is reportedly named the "Meridiist" and comes with optional crocodile skin, which may be the most noteworthy aspect of the phone other than its price range of US$5,300 to US$6,100, according to Gizmodo. At those prices, the rest of its specs--1.9-inch QVGA screen, 2-megapixel camera, audio and video playpack--are unremarkable at best, though it does supposedly have seven hours of talk time. We were holding out for the Dicky Tracy watch anyway.

Via CNET Crave

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