Image courtesy of Tokyoflash

Today we are presented with yet another Tokyoflash masterpiece pulled directly from their Concept Blog. Tokyoflash changed things up a little bit more this time when they announced the Kisai 3D Unlimited watch. This watch features a six-sided mirror finished watch face that displays the time and date in a 3 dimensional like display. The illusion of 3D is given by the angle and placement of the digits on the face which displays a cube like pattern giving off the effect of 3D time. This looks like it’s actually one of the less cryptic displays to read, but is still certainly one of their coolest designs yet. The watch is… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Image courtesy of Tokyoflash 

If you thought you were going to make it through the week without another new design from the watch design masters over at Tokyoflash, then you of course thought wrong. This new custom timepiece named the “Seikatsu Koujou Kyokusen” is a teamed effort between Better Living Industries, the rock band My Chemical Romance, and Tokyoflash themselves. The watch has some of the great features you came to know and love from Tokyoflash, but with some added features custom implemented by the MCR and BLI. The watch features a squared off stainless steel face, some  magical LED’s from the Tokyoflash workshop, and a white leather band with the BLI logo on… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

photos by Kevin

There is not much worse than being in an unfamiliar dark area with no idea where to find a light, or that feeling you get when you have dropped something vital into a dark crevice, but you aren’t sure if there is a “critter” down there that might bite or sting. Carrying a pocket flashlight (or penlight, as we’ve always called them) is an easy solution, and I’ve found one that you might like to consider.

The Maxxeon WorkStar 220 LED Pocket Floodlight is a slim penlight that uses three AAAA batteries, the first set of which is included… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I’m the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul

Who didn’t sing along with this song in 1990?  Thanks to Think Geek, now you can have the night-lite that They Might Be Giants were referring to. $12.99 gets you this 4″tall night light with its light-sensing white LED. I’m ordering one now.

Think Geek’s Blue Canary in the Outlet by the Light Switch (who watches over you)

And just in case you don’t already have… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Earlier this year I reviewed the “Beam N Read” light. It’s a great light for reading in the dark, knitting, camping, or tracking the dust bunnies under your couch. Overall, a very handy device.

Over the summer they updated their 6-LED light with several enhancements. From their announcement of the refreshed device:

The extra wide beam is designed for crafts, especially needlework such as quilting, knitting, and crochet. It lights up personal space anywhere including in a chair, car, plane, or even in bed without disturbing others. The extra bright light is also helpful for aging baby boomers, seniors, and others who benefit from brighter light for reading and other activities.

“Beam N Read’s

If you have significant other and you sleep in the same bed chances are it’s happened to you at least once. It’s nearing bedtime but one of you just isn’t ready to go to sleep yet. Do you like to read in bed? A lot of us do, it’s probably where I do most of my reading. But does your partner get frustrated when your bedtime reading because it means leaving lights on so you can see?

Enter the RadTech I-Sight. When I do early morning running in the winter/fall it’s sometimes still dark outside. What do I do to make sure not only I can see where I’m going but that others can see… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Reading, surfing, watching movies, listening to music — these are all activities that I enjoy doing on my iPhone; when I do them I usually have a rough idea of what type of battery life I should be able to expect, and it helps that I can watch the battery icon. However, I’ve recently discovered a game that has singlehandedly wiped out my iPhone’s battery more quickly than anything I have ever seen: Plants vs. Zombies (reviewed by Michael here).

You can’t watch the clock or the battery icon when playing PvZ, which usually means that you’ll play much longer than planned … and by the time you realize that an hour or so has gone by, you’ll also find that your battery is alarmingly low. Fortunately, I already had the TruePower iV Pro 3100mAh extended battery in my queue when I began playing PvZ, which gave me the perfect way to test the battery’s form and function.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

I’ve got no word yet on how they sound, or whether it’s even practical, but Klipsch has come out with a way to wirelessly stream music to a dimmable LED bulb which also functions as a speaker. Their aptly named LightSpeaker screws into an existing light fixture, and when you attach a digital music player to the included transmitter, sound ensues.

You can “connect two different music sources to the setup and separate the different music to play in two different zones.  For example, if you’re throwing a party, you can play certain playlist on your iPod in the kitchen and have a Pandora station on your laptop play in the living room.”

All right everyone; would you like to have music streaming from your light fixtures? Maybe? Read on…… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Looks like the Light Brite toy I played with as a kid has gotten a major hi-tech overhaul.

Sketch Art from Hi-Tech Art allows you to make your own art by sticking LEDs.  You use the included background to stick LEDs into and watch them light up.  The board has no circuitry, no soldering, no resistors.

It includes eight differently colored LEDs to choose from.  It runs on batteries, wall power or USB, so you can take it pretty much anywhere.

The Sketch Art is available here, at a price of $49.95… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

This orange stake looks like any other tent peg. Look closer and you’ll find that there’s a white LED lamp built into the side. Powered by 4 LR41 batteries (included) this peg will help you survive those hurried late night tent setups by illuminating the ground. The manufacturer claims the light will run for up to 5 hours on one set of batteries.

Lighted Tent Peg – $3.72

It’s every host’s worst nightmare. You set up your house just so, with bright candles in your favorite color (let’s say pink), and everything is going smoothly…when one of your guests shows up wearing orange (clashing terribly with your candles)! Now Bree Van De Kamp will never come to another one of your parties! And in your guests’ haste to flee your home of bad taste, one of them knocks over a candle, burning the entire abomination to the ground.

Of course, you could dodge this scenario and use a Mooncandle: a wax, flameless candle that changes color with remote control. Yes, even candles have remote controls these days. Helpful if you want to put a candle… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

These Battery Snaps Flex Lamps will convert plain old 9v batteries into a power source for a reading light. Perfect for using in your car to read maps or even for the kids to use to light up their games in the back seat. Twin LEDs power the brightness and each lamp is sold separately in either green or black.

Battery Snaps Flex Lamp – $10.99

The Sungale CD358LD Desk Lamp is a super energy efficient LED Desk Lamp sporting an ultra thin 3.5 Inch LCD Screen that not only displays and stores hundreds of photos of friends and family back home but it also doubles as a video and audio player with built in speakers, calendar, analogue clock and alarm functions with user friendly navigation buttons and shortcut keys to access content.

With internal memory storage of 512 MB with optional SD, MMC, and MS memory card support the Sungale CD358LD Desk Lamp can store up to 2 GB of JPEG, AVI and MP3 files so watching movies, video clips and listening to music while studying is easy and convenient.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

This EZYFlare boasts 8,000 foot (1.5 mile) visibility and a battery life of up to 12 hours. Naturally the problem with all battery life estimates is when you leave batteries in your device for months they tend to naturally decay – and when the moment of truth comes you’re left looking at a slowly dimming light. However if you’re one of those people who regularly replaces the battery in their smoke detectors and is otherwise is diligent about such power matters – this may be a good deal to buy for $6.99 and keep in the trunk of your car or to take on your small fishing boat. Rubber feet on the bottom prevent damage to surfaces and the LED… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Eternal LEDS announces their 4W LED Hydralux-4 LED bulb which they say lasts 35x as long as a traditional bulb while saving $157 over the life of the bulb. The base includes liquid cooling in place of more traditional metal or fan cooling. The resulting LED bulb is fully dimmable, can be used indoors or out – and is cool to the touch. Expect 8W, 12W and 16W versions by the end of 2009. Cost is $34.99 and includes a two year warranty.

Eternal LED Hydralux-4