Issue v0.12 – WANT: Gadgets

Phorce – www.getphorce.com

We’ve got smartphones, smart cars and smart-ass tech geeks on our team at TheNextWeb. Now, a team of two – one a graduate of an Ivy League trifecta (Harvard, Stanford and MIT) and consumer electronics and nanotech expert, the other a designer, father and ultra-marathoner, wants to bring us (and you, too) a bag. Equal parts charging port, your Wifi connection, and the rest an actual awesome red pack with electronic- pockets measured to the exact one-tenth centimeter, we’re completely unsurprised this is a Kickstarter phenomenon with more than 600 backers (link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phorce/phorce-the- worlds-first-smart-bag). Sling it over your shoulder while your iPad charges, connect to any Internet provider while you hammer out emails in the airport, or tote it along to the office on a daily basis while you charge up. At $119, be a little bit GQ, a little bit tech extraordinaire and the envy of all of your friends, if those friends are also a little bit weird.

Karma – www.yourkarma.com

Forget Boingo Hotspot and all those other jerky WiFi connections that rarely work. Enter the ‘simple and honest’ Karma, a handheld device not dissimilarly to a Klondike bar’s shape that’s more than ready to keep you plugged in for up to eight hours, to as many devices. Powered by Clearwire, this white contraption runs on the same 4G network as your smartphone. Karma’s system allows you to pay as you go – no shelling out monthly fees for data usage levels you can’t hit. On the US-only Karma, 1GB of data is $14; the device itself retails for $79. You can’t get much more economical or user-friendly than this, folks.

Recon Instruments – www.reconinstruments.com/products/snow-heads-up-display

Skiers, brace yourselves for something a little bit more jarring than a quick stop on a Diamond slope. Recon Instruments newly-launched heads-up display for alpine goggles are the first of their kind. Set the standard for an earth-shattering and pristine experience while skiing with an incredible view, more than 80 degrees of visibility and a 5’ depth perception range. Even further, the GPS capabilities of the MOD live can track your exact location and your every move – perfect for cross-country skiers who want to take off on a lone venture. Now don’t worry about where you’re going. From here on out, it’s going to be a journey.

Helmet + Beats by Dre  – www.pocsports.com/en/product/1515/receptor-bug-communication

In case you thought Dr. Dre couldn’t get any cooler or more advanced (hello, Oscar de la Renta Beats headphones!), POC just partnered with him to create a helmet. From $220, this is a completely justifiable purchase. Yeah, get ready for some hat head. But with headphones built into the neck roll, a remote control compatible with a majority of smart phones, song and volume controls within the headset, we don’t know why any skater would dare to use headphones again. The ease of use and user experience is more than worth it.

Revolight  – http://revolights.com
For the classiest disco DJ – or just for the biggest badass daredevil you know, Revolight is going to change the way you ride for just $250. Disregard those auto-reflectors that barely ever work when they need to. Revolight’s ‘arcs of light’ double as reflectors for your bicycle at night. Just easily, attach an LED-comprised ring to each of your wheels using a series of clips and ring spacers. Once they’re mounted, a magnet and accelerometer give the lights more direction: when to light up, when to slow down and how much to illuminate; hence, the curved, almost iridescent angles toward the front and end of the bicycle. The Li-Ion battery powering the lights is also rechargeable via a USB, but at four hours of battery life, you shouldn’t need to power up too often. Now all that’s really left is simply to hop on and enjoy the extremely-visible ride. Don’t mind those other bikers’ stares, either.

Crossbow Snow Launcher  http://uncrate.com/stuff/crossbow-snow-launcher/
It doesn’t really matter whether you’re pushing 40 or just blew out your 10th birthday candle; the Crossbow Snow Launcher needs to be in your winter toolkit yesterday. Just load the snow in, pull a lever (in much the same way you’d shoot a spitball with a rubber band), and shoot far enough to hit that kid several peaks over. At $40, it also comes with a snowball press – whatever that means. We suggest DIY loading, though.