Top 5 articles regarding gadgets and toys in 2009

Gadgets are all around us, some made to help us in our daily routine, some to entertain us and some are completely useless. Since we cover more than one niche, unlike gadget specialized sites, we wrote only about gadgets that impressed us by their functionality and implementation for an affordable price, or by their uniqueness and potential on the market. We covered a wide variety of gadgets, ranging from medical and police gadgets to to toys and home entertainment systems.

Here are the 5 most popular articles according to our visitors:

5. Inovation First HEXBUG robots – Ant, Original, Inchworm and Crab

After releasing their Original HEXBUG robot the Texas based manufacturer Innovation First introduced their, by then, latest HEXBUG Ant at the NY International Toy Fair 2009. A 6cm long micro robotic insect has front and rear touch sensors that allow it to maneuver around objects in its path and wheel-legs that propel it ten times faster than any previous HEXBUG robot.

The robots are still pretty affordable and simple. In that article we described all the HEXBUG robots available up till then, after that they released one new robot named Nano and it will be described in one of our future articles.

4. Samsung SyncMaster XL2370 – a good 23-inch LED display

The Samsung XL2370 is Samsung’s highest performance display and their first display that incorporates LED technology, giving the model a super-slim profile and significant energy-saving benefits. Although it doesn’t offer any additional equipment as its rivals, and it isn’t the cheapest display with LED technology, Samsung SyncMaster XL2370 is our favorite price-performance display on the current market.

The bezel measures 4cm on the sides and 5cm on the. On the edge of the bezel is a plastic transparent overlay. According to Samsung, this overlay changes color based on the color of the light in the room, yet, this isn’t entirely accurate. As different colored light passes through the overlay, it only gives the impression that the display is changing color. The screen has a matte finish and the neck is made of transparent glass with bluish crystals at the bottom. The glass reflects the crystals, which creates a blue hue within the neck. The effect is subtle, but it makes the XL2370 stand out among other monitors.

3. A toy robotic arm or a teaching aid? Both.

The award winning Robotic Arm Trainer made by OWI is a robotic arm technology which can be bought assembled or in parts, leaving the joy of robot buildup to you. It has a lifting capacity of 100g so you shouldn’t expect the great usability industrial versions of robotic arms have. You can control the arm with the standard manual remote control provided. The robotic arm is relatively cheap and the price rises with the usage of add-ons.

The manual manipulation is done with usage of the five switch wired controller, five motors, and five joints. Night time play is possible and extended life on the gearbox to prolong your control and predictions of the robot’s behavior. Another way toOr control the robotic arm is the usage of Images Serial PC Windows Controller.

2. Mini FPV Camera – an affordable mini cam

The Mini FPV Camera has relatively small dimensions (73mm x 20mm x 11mm) and it resembles the look of older MP3 players or dictaphones more than a camera. We used the term relatively because there are many smaller mini cams available, but their image quality in a bit higher price range is much worse or their price gets much higher if video quality gets close to decent.

It is able to record in AVI video format and WAV audio format. The AVI video format resolution is in 640×480 pixels and it is able to record until the memory is full or when it is manually stopped. It uses SD or T-Flash cards for storing memory. Depending on the memory size which can be 128MB to 4GB you can record up to 6 hours of video since the video file size is a bit larger than 500kb per minute.

1. AccuVein AV300 makes IV possible even in the dark

AccuVein AV300 is the world’s first hand-held, non-contact vein illumination device that helps healthcare professionals locate hard-to-find veins. IV starts and blood draws (venipuncture) can be a source of patient anxiety and discomfort, and accessing veins in difficult patients can take up to 10 minutes and require multiple needle sticks. The AV300 can help reduce the need for multiple needle sticks, with the goal of improving patient care and the time to access veins. Hemoglobin in the blood absorbs infrared light.

When the AccuVein AV300 is held about 25cm above the skin, veins appear noticeably different than the surrounding tissue. The vasculature shows up clearly on the skin’s surface, aiding in vein location to collect a blood sample or administer IV medications.