Alarm clock that does a spider act

If you never grew up with the childhood song Eensy Weensy Spider, it's about the peekaboo adventures of a spider as it ascends, descends, and ascends yet again along the watersprout. Well, the Hanging Alarm Clock (US$29.10) seems to have spun a Web around the same nursery rhyme, only with more ominous overtures that recall the monster spider Shelob which almost made a meal of Frodo in Fellowship of the Ring.

The cunning orb is suspended from the ceiling on a 30cm cable which immediately starts to retract the clock upward once the alarm goes off. The only way to shut it up is, well, hop out of bed and yank the alarm all the way down. Even if you do give it a wallop to put it into Snooze, just be warned that it's a short reprieve. The orb will start wailing and climbing again until you hit the Stop button. Deviously annoying enough to make you hit the roof. Literally.

Via New Launches

Creative readies the Vado HD: Is it better than the Flip Video Mino HD?

Things are heating up in the HD mini camcorder space as Creative gets set to release its new Vado HD in the US next week. The camcorder retains many of the design traits of the original Vado but it doesn't share the exact same body. However, it does have something that neither the Kodak Zi6 nor the Flip Video Mino HD has: An HDMI connection (plus an included cable) for outputting 1080i video to your HDTV. And it comes with 8GB of built-in memory--all for around US$200.

In our review of the Vado, we knocked it a bit for being pretty no frills, and Creative seems to have taken that to heart. Along with the HDMI cable, it's throwing in a protective case and a real software package for tweaking your videos after you shoot them. Like the Mino HD, it captures H.264 AVI videos at 30fps with a 1280 x 720 CMOS sensor and gives you about two hours of battery life from its removable rechargeable battery. You can also shoot 640 x 480 VGA video if you want.

On paper, the Vado HD looks good, but the big question is, how will its video quality compare to that of the Mino HD and Zi6? We'll be getting a review sample shortly, so we'll hopefully have a full review up by early next week. The Vado HD lists for US$229, but Amazon US is taking preorders at US$200 and we expect the price to stay there.

Comments anyone?

Via CNET Crave

Magnetic headphone organizer prevents accidental death

The Magneat headphone organizer provides a solution to the most annoying accessory attached to your music player: The headphone cord.

The industry is a few years away from offering high-quality, inexpensive Bluetooth earbuds, so for the time being we're left untangling and tripping over long wires. As a matter of fact, just today I was walking into the bathroom (keep reading, it's OK) and my headphones got caught in the door handle. My headphones nearly pulled me to the floor and strangled me to death. Granted, Kimmy Gibler and I share a similar center of gravity, but my to-do list is long enough; I don't need to add "wired asphyxia" to the end.

Save me, Magneat! It's actually very simple, as all great ideas tend to be: You clip the device to your shirt, coat, or jacket via magnetic fastening and simply wind your headphone cord around the cylinder until it runs taut, eliminating excess cordage and preventing tangles. And that's it!

Rest assured that the Magneat isn't nearly powerful enough to erase your player and certainly won't leave any marks on your garments. The device is available now in a variety of colors and designs for US$10 each.

Via Crave CNET

Hands on: Oregon Scientific ATC3K Extreme hands-free camera

Like sliding down snowy slopes while standing on thin planks of wood? How about throwing yourself out of planes, or shouting "Gnarly!" at the top of your voice? If so, you might want to check out the Oregon Scientific ATC3K Extreme hands-free camcorder--the successor to the ATC2K.

It's probably the toughest camera we've ever tested. Last weekend we took it to the Italian Alps for a hardcore snowboarding expedition, where over the course of our five-day adventure, it really proved its sturdiness. It's waterproof to 5 meters so we never had to worry about it getting wet, plus it's resistant to snow, dust and shocks, which is just as well seeing as we spent more time wiped out than slaloming down the mountains.

The ATC3K Extreme has a 48-degree, 640x480-pixel lens, and can store up to 4 hours of footage at 30fps on to an optional 4GB SD card. It's not all peaches and cream, though. Picture quality is relatively poor and it's extremely fiddly to attach to a helmet (or anything else for that matter). The tiny non-backlit LCD screen is nigh-on impossible to see, let alone use.

Have a look at this video of CBS Interactive's own Kate Macefield and Rory Reid snowboarding (badly) down a mountain, and this footage of us running excitedly through the CBS Interactive offices. When you're done watching and have recovered from motion sickness, hop over to iwantoneofthose.com to buy one for US$148.

Via CNET UK Crave

A map to light lost hikers' way

You're lost in the woods and it's getting darker. Wouldn't it be nice if the two items most essential to you finding your way out before night falls (not counting a GPS unit) were rolled into one convenient little package? Boston-based designer Owen Song has come up with just such a contraption. The Light is a map that can double as a flashlight.

The concept device consists of two sheets of paper, one with a map printed on it, the other a cover sheet with two electrodes on the back. Between the papers is a thin battery and LEDs. Roll the map up so the two electrodes touch and the LEDs turn on. Voila--map becomes flashlight! (Of course, our keen-eyed readers pointed out one minor flaw; you can't actually use the flashlight to illuminate the map. Picky, picky...)

We'll be watching to see if this device makes it past the concept stage. Oh, and please don't make me tell the story of that afternoon-turned-evening last fall when I really could have used one of these. Not my proudest outdoorsy moment. (Thanks designzen, for showing us the light on this one.)

Via Crave CNET

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