Issue v0.10 – WANT: Gadgets

Impossible Instant Lab
Yeah, Instagram is all well and good, but why have a Polaroid-like photo on your phone when you can have the real thing in your hands? Enter the Impossible Lab’s mind-boggling Impossible Instant Lab — a gadget that automagically transfers your most beloved smartphone photos onto real instant photographs. Simply snap your smartphone onto the camera interface and try not to gasp when a gorgeous analog photo comes pouring out. While preorders have ended in the wake of the gadget’s wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, latecomers can get their hands on the device once product begins moving in February of next year.

Nike+ Fuelband v2
Embrace the inner fitness junkie within you with Nike’s new FuelBand, version 2. MacRumors is all over it; one user even admits: “Speaking of goals, this device does one thing really well: it stops you from cheating.” (Cheating indeed.) Plug in everything from your weight to your precise BMI and Nike will allot you Nike units called Fuel points to use up for the day. Color LEDs notify you if you’re approaching your daily goal or far from it, in addition to giving you a clear idea of whether you’re actually working out as much as you tell yourself you are. Pass certain milemarkers and get a congratulatory message from the device’s emoticons. Moderate couch potatoes will love this device, but at $149, serious athletes need not apply – although its battery life rocks (you’ll get at least four days of juice per charge), the FuelBand doesn’t have a GPS and there’s no simple way to track time and distance of your workouts.

Either way, there’s no denying the FuelBand is going to motivate you. So stop reading and get buying; and ultimately, moving.

Lowdi
Tired of your earbuds sputtering out while you’re blasting music, or just plain want a new tech device to obsess over? Meet your music match with Lowdi, the greatest portable speaker since your car radio started sucking – and also blasting music that’s years behind the times. Now you can control what you hear even more clearly with a device meant to bring sound to life. Lowdi’s rechargeable battery (!!) gives you 8 hours of constant music with a seamless, modern design that will almost make you forget it’s a speaker. Stack it on your bookshelf, toss it (not really) in your bag to amp up any networking party, or simply plug it into your iPhone, iPad or Android – it’s compatible with nearly every device – for a full-fledged music rave.

Pre-order Lowdi for 99 Euros now: https://lowdi.com/. You won’t regret it.

LiFX
And just when you thought your life couldn’t get any more connected, wouldn’t it be fun to make lightbulbs controllable via smartphone app? LIFX Labs has sold out all of its Kickstarter pledges and raked in a cool $1.3 million for its new smart lightbulb, which can be controlled via smartphone. Simply screw the high-efficiency LED bulb into a power source and control the brightness, timing, color and use through a handy smartphone interface. In addition to including the option to turn all lights on and off with one click and sync the mood lighting with your music of choice, the bulbs are also long-lasting and function, well, like actual lightbulbs with a flick of the standard switch. While every pre-sale option is no longer, keep your eyes open for a commercial launch in March of 2013.

Evernote Moleskine Smart Notebook
Speaking of the analog/digital divide, the line is going to get even more blurry thanks to this partnership with notebook crafter Moleskine and notebook app Evernote. Sure, the latter has been a critical mainstay of a savvy user’s digital productivity arsenal, but it can lack the professional and creative feel that comes with carrying around the former. If you tend to toggle between scribbling notes on paper and typing memos into the cloud, then this partnership is for you. This notebook is specifically designed to work with Evernote’s Page Camera feature, and with a quick snap, every word becomes searchable and sortable. The notebook also comes with “Smart Tag” stickers to keep every page as organized as it looks in the cloud. But, keep in mind: the notebook requires a maintained Evernote Premium account (at an extra $45 per year) to keep its symbiotic capabilities.