Tuxtops

Geeks.com sent us over another bundle of some great gadgets to test for you: the Sport Kit for Wii, the Remote Charging Dock/Rechargeable Battery Pack for Wii and a Boom Microphone headset. Check in for more.

* Remote Charging Dock + Rechargeable Battery Pack for Wii

We are Nintendo Wii addicts in our home and so having the Wiimote running out of battery every few days is an expected behavior. Here is a great PC part product that will save you from removing/installing/recharging or buying new batteries for your Wiimote: the charging dock and included rechargeable battery pack for the Wii. The device consists from a USB dock, a pack of batteries, and a custom Wiimote battery cover. You connect this beautifully designed dock on the back of your Wii to one of its two USB slots, you use the included batteries on your Wiimote and you close back the Wiimote using the custom battery cover. The custom battery cover is needed so it can charge your Wiimote without having to take out the batteries all the time! We were able to play daily for over a week before we needed to put the batteries back to recharge and even when we had to do so, was as easy as simply placing the Wiimote to the dock.

Rating: 10/10

* Sport Kit for Wii (Racquet Grip/Golf Club Grip/Racing Grip)

One cool thing about Wii's Wiimote is the fact that it can be used with joystick accessories and change its look and function. For example, by using this sport kit you can accessorize your Wiimote to look like a tennis racket, a golf grip and a racing wheel! The Sport Kit comes with a placeholder for the Wiimote where you put it in it and then you lock it via an available switch. Then, you screw on one of the three grips and you play your game! We found that the best accessory was the Golf club, because it added some weight to the experience, which helps being more precise when hitting the ball. The racing wheel grip was also as good, where it helped our hands feel comfortable even after an hour after playing a driving game. The tennis racket was the low point of the three grips, because you usually put so much strength in your tennis shots that the added weight tires you faster than usual. Overall though, this is a cool kit. If only it also included a Jedi Knight sword too...

Rating: 8/10

* Hawk Boom Microphone Headset 885 (Blue)

VoIP has really taken off the last 1-2 years, and so a boom microphone is a much-needed computer part and accessory for every computer user these days. This beautiful blue retractable headset has a mic and a headphones connector that both connect to your sound card. This way, you can both listen and talk at the same time. The headset also features a mute/volume control and a flexible hook that fits either ear. Audio quality on both ends was top notch when we tested via Skype and the GizmoProject VoIP projects. At $2.50 this is not only a headset that works well and is practical, but it's also good looking.

Rating: 10/10

Hearing that Intel now has a relatively fond view of Linux is far from surprising, especially considering that the chipmaker already has quite a few open-source projects out in the open. Here is Intel's Linux initiative.

A project to build an open, user-extensible Linux-based mobile phone has opened its online store for business. About 1,000 OpenMoko Neo1973 phones are available initially, primarily targeting hackers and developers, with general availability of a "mass market" phone expected in October. More here.

Open Kernel Labs (OK Labs) says its open source real-time virtualizing microkernel was used by Toshiba in a mobile phone widely available in Japan and Australia. Toshiba's W47T phone runs OK's OKL4 microkernel, and is distributed by KDDI, Japan's second-largest wireless carrier. More here.

Here is a nice review of the Archos 605 WiFi PMP device. Translated by automatic translation tools.

"And of course, to do something simultaneously predictable and shocking, the company called the device by its long-rumored, but never-quite-accepted nickname, the "iPhone.". More here.

Geeks.com sent us over some very useful gadgets and computer parts for all us geeks. From bluetooth stereo headphones to camera bags, voice recorders to mp3/CD players.

* Logitech Freeplus Bluetooth Wireless Headphones for iPod/MP3

This is a very stylish pair of stereo Bluetooth 2.0, Class-2 headphones. They go behind the ear, while they clip on the top of the ear so they are safe to use with sports. The product comes with a Bluetooth gateway, a charger and a charger splitter that allows you to charge both the gateway and the headphones at the same time. The pairing is done by keep pressing the on/off button, while there are two more buttons for volume up and down. Charging took about 2 hours to complete, while battery life measured at around 6 hours. The package also comes with iPod converters, helping the gateway can be mounted to all known iPod models. Regarding sound quality, we found it to be pretty good, but unfortunately when used with the gateway there was a lot of static involved. When using the headphones directly with an A2DP-capable cellphone quality was much better, but there were more dropouts. Overall, this is a solid product, missing only HSP/HFP functionality.

Rating: 7/10

* Oregon Scientific VR399 Digital Voice Recorder

This is a compact voice recorder that can be used by professional journalists and enthusiasts alike. It has a rather big microphone which allows for great recording quality (up to 234 minutes) and then allows you to transfer the recording audio to your PC for further editing if required. Because of that, it makes it a great tool for high-quality podcasts. The device operates via 2 AAA batteries, it comes with headphones, a USB cable and a user's manual in several languages. We found the learning curve of the device a bit steep with its rather unconventional interface and buttons, but after a while it pays off. Usage becomes natural and you are able to use the device really fast, without missing a beat. Overall, a very satisfactory product, that couples as an... alarm too.

Rating: 9/10

* Splash Proof Shower MP3/CD/CDR/RW Player w/AM/FM Radio

A splash proof radio for your shower! The jWin JX-M95 Splash Proof Shower MP3/CD/CD-RW Player also doubles as an AM/FM stereo radio. It features a large LCD display, 5 equalizer modes, 3.5mm headphone jack, 64 track programmable memory and you can set it up to 20 of your favorite stations. It operates on 4 "C" batteries or it can be plugged to the appopriate AC power plug. We tested with a number of CDs and mp3-burned CDs and it worked great. Quality out of its small speakers is not fantastic, but it's not a disaster either. In fact, we were more unhappy with the lack of a radio antenna and the subsequent low reception we experienced, rather than the audio quality. The device is really small that makes it ideal as a portable boom box.

Rating: 8/10

* SanDisk 2.0GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) w/Adapter

This is an amazingly low price for such a small card, the M2. 2 GBs of flash for less than $40 in that size just shows how far the market and technology has come. This version of M2 comes with a Pro Duo reader, which means that you can use that M2 in your PSP. If you want to connect it to your PC you will have to get a Memory Stick Pro adapter instead. In our tests with the Sony Ericsson phones m600i and P990i, the M2 maxed out at 9 MB/sec of read, and about 2.5 MB on write. If you have either an M2 device or another Sony device, this is a sure investment.

Rating: 10/10

* A-Power 2.5" USB 2.0 Aluminum Ext HDD Case w/Power Adapter

So you have an old dead laptop and you want access to your data? All you have to do is open your laptop, remove the hardrive and mount it to this stylish 2.5" HDD case. Installation is very easy and within seconds you should be up and running. You can connect the case via USB to another PC, mount the partition and copy over your data. We averaged a copy speed of about 20 MB/sec with an old 2.5" drive we had over in our lab, which is not bad at all for a 2.5" drive.

Rating: 10/10

* Ambico BC53GA Camcorder/Digital Camera Bag (Black & Gray)

This Ambico BC53GA is a Camcorder and digital camera bag. It has a padded interior and provides good protection for your devices and gadgets. The bag is made of black and grey nylon construction, it has a soft grip handle and an adjustable padded shoulder pad. The main compartment is a large mesh pocket while it also has elastic holder and a small zippered pocket on inner roof of bag for storing accessories such as flash memory, batteries, mini DVDs etc. Overall, a great, no frills bag for your travels.

Rating: 9/10

Greetings irrational fanboys and Apple haters! Ten days and 12,000 words later, our stone-cold look at what it means to own an iPhone is done. Before we get to the in depth hands-on, here's the verdict I'd give any good friend: Wait to buy the iPhone.

If there is a must-have collection of iMovie plugins, these are Stupendous Software's effects & titles plugins. We had a look at these plugins and here is what we thought about them:

They are easy to use. The UI is standard on most of the plugins and so they are very easily understood. Most of the effects are color plugins, but there are a lot of other kinds of effects, like smoke, dirt, burn, and a number of titles.

We tested the filters and we found them to be very stable and fast to render. The only problem we had was with the titles not centering in our widescreen HDV footage. They were always a bit off.

You can view below our video using Stupendous Software plugins.

"Nokia has just announced an update to the Internet Tablet OS 2007 edition, feature upgrade release is now available for download. The update (version 4.2007.26-8) includes Skype client support, Adobe Flash 9 browser plug-in, improvements in online use times and single memory card support up to 8 GB."