These new cards from Samsung are built to last. Solid, waterproof for up to an hour, and armored against the elements, these could easily save your precious photos and videos while taking a ride in the bottom of a backpack or camera case. Sign me up for a pair of these bad boys!

(via Crunchgear)

USB has become the defacto standard for charging all sorts of gadets and gizmos, and each one come with a wall adapter or expects you to find one on your own, or plug it into a computer.

Now, there is another option! This seemingly normal AC wall outlet has two USB plugs as well for direct USB power. Genius.

They can be pre-ordered now, and will become available in early 2010, once approved by the UL.

Sign me up for a 12-pack!

(via Gizmodo)

The CrunchPad was a project to create a high powered Internet tablet device that would allow anyone to surf the net, check email, and watch online videos with ease where ever they were. Similar to netbooks, but in the form of a large, bright multitouch screen.

The project was the brainchild of bloggers from TechCrunch and other websites, and was the first example of how the consumers can influence and create a product for the masses, exactly how they wanted it.

Yet it all fell apart this past week due to disputes over manufacturing, intellectual property rights, and straight-forward greed.

Click here to read the full story of the demise.

I find this news to be very sad. The tech behind the CrunchPad was not extremely complex, but the idea was something entirely new and innovative. Somewhere between a netbook and an eReader, the CrunchPad had many people eagerly awaiting its arrival. In my opinion, this would have been an amazing gadget to have. Those who used prototypes at trade shows and conventions said that it was a joy to use, intuitive, and stable. But the sad fact remains, there is little hope of seeing this dream come to reality in the near future.

RIP CrunchPad.

The Dell Inspiron Zino HD is a new model from Dell that takes some cues from the very smartly designed Mac Mini. Sharing a similar miniscule footprint, the Zino HD does for PCs exactly what the Mac Mini did when it first launch. Gave a small, powerful computer in a small package, for a great price.

Now, recently I posted about the updated Mac Minis, and how I would love to have one for a centralized media center computer. However, I am starting to reconsider that. As much as I love Mac, the Zino HD has a couple features that beat the Mac Mini completely.

The Zino HD comes with an impressive video card, easily capable of outputting full 1080p video, and can do so over the included HDMI port. Meaning seamless integration with your flat panel TV or home theater receiver. Options include up to 1TB of hard drive space, 8 gigs of memory and, wait for it…. a Blu-Ray optical drive.

<rant> Yes, Blu-Ray, the HD format that so far Apple has completely snubbed. I think this is a careful choice. Blu-Ray is a good format, but the truth is, modern HD video is leaning more and more to Internet delivery. But the film industry is still leaning heavily on physical media for distrobution, so for now, a Blu-Ray drive is an option I would like to have. </rant>

The Zino HD is a great option for a home theater PC, and has made its way near the top of my Christmas wish list!

THe BeamBox MiLi Evolution iPod projector is an amazing new little gadget. One of the first commercially available pico projectors, this one is designed specifically to allow your iPod or iPhone to project images and movies onto any surface, with images up to 60 inches. The resolution seems low at only 640 x 480, but when you think about it, packing a projector into something that small, its pretty darn amazing!

There are lots of possibilities for this thing, impromptu presentations, photo slide shows, or just sharing that funny youtube video you found with the whole office. Just point it at the wall, and hit play!

The BeamBox is available for pre-order now for a rather reasonable price of $350, and supports AV and VGA inputs as well. Yay for versatility!

(via Slashgear)

This has to be one of the coolest things I have seen in a while. This is the new Subaru-based Trax STI, and has to be the coolest car I have ever seen, at least on snow. I want to try driving this so badly…

(via Gizmodo)

This is some rather cool tech that the military is working on. Similar to the BigDog robot that went around the tubes a year or so ago, this is a self-balancing robot, with only two legs this time. Using heel-toe walking like a human, it can walk rather quickly over uneven terrain. And I dig the shoes.

(via Crunchgear)

The Barnes & Noble nook eBook reader is the newest entry into the growing eReader market. A direct competitor to the Amazon Kindle, the nook offers similar free wireless service, 6-inch eInk display, and a large catalog of books direct from B&N.  It does have some advantages over the Kindle though. For example, the Kindle is limited to the wireless service offered by Amazon using Sprint CDMA cellular technology. The nook uses AT&T GSM service, in addition to built-in WiFi for faster use wherever an open network is available.

The biggest visual distinction is the nook’s second display. In addition to the eInk display, it also offers a multitouch LCD panel for browsing books, typing, browsing saved books, and other functions.

I liked the concept of the Kindle a lot, but it just didn’t seem quite right. The nook however pretty much fixes everything I didn’t like about the Kindle. I am excited for the possibilities, and would love to find one under the tree this Christmas.

This is a very interesting topic. Many people have strong feelings about this. My personal opinion is that Hulu should stay free. It seems to stand as a testimony that free, legal, online television works, and works well. They still have advertisements, and still have commercials, if limited in number compared to broadcast. But the basic idea is solid.

There is a place for paid content however I think. And if you think about it, it is the most logical place for it. When Hulu first launched, they started putting up entire seasons and back catalogs of shows. People loved this! But now, after a couple years of success, most shows on Hulu are now limited to the five most recent episodes aired. No more going back to watch whole seasons of shows, or catching up after a vacation. Once an episode is expired, its gone.

A nominal subscription fee to unlock the back catalog of episodes would be a very good idea, as long as they don’t remove the current functionality of the 5 most recent episodes available to free as they have always been. If Hulu does decide to go to a paid model, I sincerely hope that they adopt this kind of strategy. But I would much prefer they stay free like they started.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Weighing in at 85 pounds, these costumes use 42 inch LCD TV panels, a car battery, and some pretty impressive iPhone hacking to enable dual display output. These guys are my new heroes.

(via TUAW)