The sun's shining, everyone's packing up their manual phone-chargers, dongles, tent-lights and envisaging holidays filled with sun, grass, music and summer gadgets.
But - sorry to lower the tone - have you remembered your tick remover? And yes by ticks we mean those ugly little creatures that bite you. And by tick remover we mean a cunning device that extracts the afore-mentioned tick from your poor skin without it regurgitating its stomach into you.
More after the jump...
Yes, it's here at last, your wait is over: the LED squeezable vampire bat torch has finally arrived!
OK, so maybe you didn't actually realise what was missing from your life, but now you've seen this eco-friendly glowing rodent*, you're all going to sleep easier at night knowing it exists in the universe. According to Abi over on Hippyshopper, it's eco-friendly, using LEDs and the power of squeeze technology to set the bat aglow. Just the thing for Hallowe'en.
Yours for £4.99 from Ethical Superstore.
*Yes, I know it's not really a rodent, but "glowing Megachiroptera" didn't have quite the same ring to it.
I *so* almost filed this in naughty toys. And with a name like 'Handspresso'? Double filing (also not a euphemism).
Anyway, wash your minds out. This is merely a coffee machine. But, this is a coffee machine you can use camping! Or in the event of a powercut! Or when out and about! Just because you're away from civilisation, that's no reason to go without an espresso, right?
The key to a good espresso is the pressure you force the water through the coffee, so this one makes you pump up the pressure to 16 bars using the hand pump, before you pour in hot water and it filters (hello, naughty toys).
You Twitter, you 12 second, you have a constant need to let people know where you are and what you're up to. This is like an automated solution - a Fisher Price Twitter machine, if you will.
Pressing a button on the device will send an email and text to pre-defined numbers or addresses, containing a message you've previously set, as well as your GPS position on a Google map. You can also set it to send the same message every 10 minutes, with your updated location.
You're at one of the greatest festivals of the year, you're having the best time and naturally, you're going to get a bit pi**ed. The next thing you know, your mobile's no longer positioned in your pocket - arrrrggghh. That's all your festival pics and new festival phone numbers gone... forever. That's where the MSK (Mobile Survival Kit) comes in. It combines online content backup and a photo gallery, with group texting to help you organise group festival stuff, hassle free. It also throws in an SMS question-answering service to answer your silly or serious questions. That's all of this, packed into one nifty service dedicated to keeping you connected.
A little while back I gave you my top five festival gadgets and gizmos. Obviously time is a factor otherwise I would have done a top 20. So, every now and again something will pop up on the site that wasn't included, but will make a great festival accessory. We're gonna keep em' coming until festival season is officially over.
Stereotypically, whenever you go camping you're supposed to make a fire. Screw that. Second to a fire is always a battery operated light. When your batteries die out what are you meant to do? There's no chance of finding batteries in the midst of the night. The next option is a wind-up LED light complete with efficient winding mechanism.
Festival season is soon upon us. That means it's about time you start stocking up on those festival essentials (and no I'm not referring to drugs and copious amounts of booze). I'm talking about the essentials. OK I realise those items might be 'essentials' to some people, but I'm referring to items such as portable showers, chargers, peeing devices etc and other things that will make your festival adventure as pleasant as it can be.
Check out our top five festival essentials after the jump. You'll kick yourself if you get your ass to the place you've been looking forward to for months, after shelling out all that money on tickets and travel, only to realise you've forgotten something important.
We wish! But we like to encourage GEAR4's optimism, with the release of the new AirZone FM Dock. The "Made for iPod" unit is an FM transmitter designed to let your iPod play through a radio, iTrip style.
Small and sleek, it's handy for the car or a holiday; the teeny dock also features a back-lit LED screen, four adjustable presets and support for stereo sound with full bass. It draws power from the iPod itself so unlike a lot of in-car sets it doesn't require batteries or an external power supply.
Despite the gales and hail we saw over the weekend, it is technically just a couple of weeks from officially being springtime. It's March, damn it! That means we should all be thinking about holidays and days out.
In honour of that, here's a list of five useful mobile services, applications and sites for when you're on the go.
1. Map24Mobile
An alternative to Google or BlackBerry Maps, this site provides totally a totally free, downloadable mobile application covering not just the UK but Europe and the US as well. There are seven map regions in total and 15 languages to choose from, so providing you're not going too far off the beaten track in those areas, you're covered.
Pioneer has developed an enthusiastically multitasking navigation and entertainment system that will allow voice control of iPods and Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones.
The AVIC-F500BT aggregates all the things we take on the road and aims to control them all by modifying the existing in-car system rather than requiring a full changing out of the standard audio. It can be installed through an auxiliary audio input or using an installation module from Pioneer to become a hub for all personal audio and communication devices. The exciting bit is of course the voice control.
It seems green gadgets are definitely the new, erm, piano black finish (yes, yes, barrell scrape-y), because this definitely isn't the first wind-up lantern I've seen this year.
The Cyba-Lite Lantern gives 8-10 minutes of light per one minute of winding, but there is also an option to charge from a solar panel or cigarette lighter if your own kinetic energy isn't quite up to it. The brightness is from 15 LEDs. Just £29.99 for a handy green camping companion.
Cyba-Lite Lantern [via Hippyshopper]
Like that? Read this: Shiny Video Review: Freeplay Energy Indigo Lamp | Get ready for Live Earth: The eco-friendly way to enjoy your gadget addiction | Top 5 eco-friendly gadgets for Earth Day
Navman has had a software overhaul with a freshly redesigned NavDesk, complementing the geotagging functionality of Navpix in a more complete way by extending Flickr and Google Earth capabilities.
NavDesk enables some unique features among GPS systems including location searching through Flickr and Google Earth upload, and the ease of use is now massively improved as well. Features that appear on the new S Series sat nav systems such as the mileage reporter and safety camera information also appear in NavDesk and of course the recent partnership with Flickr means access to 25 million geotagged images and counting. And once you've snapped your own tagged photos with Navpix, you can overlay them onto Google Earth and get a visual record of your trip.
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It’s probably still debatable whether you can replace a standard digital compact camera with a phone, but if you can I'd place bets that either Sony Ericsson’s Cyber-shot range or the Nokia N Series would contain the winner. Nokia is declaring itself king of the cameraphones with the N82, a multimedia mobile.
The camera packs five megapixels, a xenon flash and Carl Zeiss optics. It also has autofocus supported by a dedicated lamp, and good quality 30fps video capture. Of course, it’s not the only thing the N82 is about. Nokia is calling it and its cousin, the N95, “computers” for a reason. The voice-guided GPS is a major feature, with access to over 15 million points of interest, provided you take up a subscription service after the free trial. You’ll be able to send map excerpts by picture message to help your friends find you, too.
The family of phones that started with the popular HTC Touch is still growing. The Touch Cruise - once known by the working name Polaris - is the first of the clan to feature integrated GPS and TomTom mapping in the 3G-HSDPA handset.
Combined with the "TouchFLO" assisted fingertip navigation of the phone, the GPS is a handy feature to help you find your way on the move. When reviewing some Apple gadget I'm sure no-one's heard about, Susi was very impressed by the built in maps, and HTC does not, I'm sure, want to fall behind on something like this. The smartphone also has an ample 2.8" screen and runs Windows Mobile 6. It will be available this month on contract but also unlocked and SIM-free from HTC directly.
Like that? Read this: HTC Launch: HTC Touch Dual | HTC Launch: HTC Shift Windows Vista HSDPA UMPC
Alex dons a bikini and leaps into the Dutchtub... no, not really. Of course not really. And for this you should be grateful. Instead I merely trail my fingers into the steamy water as it is heated by an open wood fire lacking only the requisite Christmas chestnuts. Enjoy.
Bladerunner has moved the GPS child tracker on by working with Asset Monitoring Solutions on a rechargeable unit designed to fit snugly in a pouch sewn into its jackets. The device has a 15 hour battery, and tracks wearers to within 43 square feet. Alerts on your child's wearabouts are delivered by email or SMS according to your customisation, with GPS data updated every 10 seconds.
You can choose whether to create a virtual boundary and receive alerts when your child crosses it, or you can set an alarm for a particular time to ensure your child heads home (if for no other reason than because his friends will be laughing). There are also adult versions of the jackets presumably designed for potentially perilous camping trips or, you know, stalking. $500 (£250) for children, $700 (£350) for adults, with a $20 a month subscription to the tracking service.
Bladerunner [via Crave]
Like that? Read this: Buddi "Brat Nav" GPS tracking - you know, for kids | Spy gadget KoolTrax turns your GPS mobile into a tracker | Personal Tracker PT33 from StarsNav
I'm not sure why I'm giving this particular gadget a write-up; possibly because it's so unspeakably grim that it's car crash fascinating. The Bumper Dumper is a camping portaloo (or "potty" if you're North American) that is designed to hook on to the back of your car and help you, erm, evacuate in comfort.
It was probably the sentence "no more trying to balance while squatting" that put the alarmed wince on my face; this was was fixed there by "a portable toilet sturdy enough to hold 500 lbs". Please, please, please tell me they mean the weight of the user. I need a shower.
Bumper Dumper at Vacation Gadgets
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KoolTrax is a downloadable, relatively cheap service that can turn any GPS phone into a tracker. The company behind in, Blue Tree Services, claims that what makes KoolTrax special is that, unlike other GPS tracking services that give a broad location, they use real time tracking that can pinpoint the target to within four metres, which in an average house could mean telling which room you're in.
The service is being touted as useful for keeping safe when on remote camping trips, keeping tabs of roaming employees and also for tracking kids, although the last will only be handy if you trust your kids with a smartphone as you need Windows Mobile 5 + installed for it to work. There's a Java version in development at the moment. There's also a panic button alert, although unlike the company's £299 Blue Ranger device no alert for non-movement or low battery. A download is £39.95.
Like that? Read this: Buddi "Brat Nav" GPS tracking - you know, for kids | Personal Tracker PT33 from StarsNav
This GPS system from Binatone packs a lot into a light, portable body and carries a relatively low price tag for the kind of features it's offering.
Like that? Read this: Shiny Preview: LG LAN 9700R GPS and media player for the car | Merian Scout Navigator GPS: sat nav and audio guide in one | New Navman S-Series makes GPS worth talking about
You know, as much as I don't agree with parents leaving young children unattended there comes a time to let go. I was one of those nice (okay, dull) children who pretty much told my parents where I'd be and when I'd get back and more or less stuck to it, so maybe that's why I'm not fussed about gluing tracers to the kids I might one day have.
Still, if your bundles of joy aren't being quite so honest with you, then Buddi will help you trace them. The GPS trackers can be traced on Buddi's website to within 3m accuracy, and also have an emergency services panic button built in. But... if they're not telling you where they are in the first place, what makes you think they'll carry this around? I'd just strap it to the cat - oh, wait, there's a PetBuddi for that anyway. £299 for the gadget, £240/year for the subscription.
[via WebTwitcher]
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