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Europeans have been cruising around on Kalkhoff e-bikes for millenniums now, but ye old Americans have been forced to either walk, pedal similar two-wheeled machines with our own energy, or fire up the HEMI-based Charger while throwing a finger up at Ma Earth. Thankfully, Portland’s own Greenlight Bikes is doing what no one else would: importing these beauts for enjoyment here on US soil. What’s most interesting is that the company’s range of pedal-assist electric bicycles (or pedelecs, for those “in the know”) don’t look much different than the Schwinn Windwood Cruiser that your dad still uses to fetch the mail with, but believe it or not, an electric motor is included in order to “supplement the power a rider applies to the pedals, providing a smooth, predictable boost.” Too bad that extra oomph won’t be yours without spending between $2,499 and $3,399.

Source: Endgadget

Quirky’s new Weigh to Go takes two boring, tedious luggage tasks and combines them into one almost fun product. The Weigh to Go is both luggage tag and weighing scale, and sits on the handle of your suitcase quietly displaying your name and address. When you need to know just how much crap you have to remove from the case to get through check-in, the little label leaps into action.

The tag comprises an ABS plastic body with a rubber rim, a steel carabiner with combination lock (to stop the tag itself from being stolen — the contents of your bag will still have to take their chances) a pair of Velcro straps to keep the tag from swinging, and a digital scale.

To use it, you just un-stick the Velcro, hit the on-switch and pick up the bag by the tag. After five seconds you get a readout, and you can decide whether you really need to take that fifth pair of shoes with you.

Quirky, if you remember, takes pre-orders for its community-designed products and only starts the factory lines a-rolling once the minimum number is reached (Quirky doesn’t charge your credit card until the products are done). This time the number is 775, and the price is $33, which you’ll save on overweight baggage charges on your first trip.

Source: Wired.com

I like my Swiss knife, but I like the Guppie better. Any multi-tool that makes me look like a Real Man, ready to go back to the Jurassic and kill a dinosaur, is a winner.

Made by Columbia River Knife & Tools, the Guppie includes an adjustable wrench, screw driver with multiple magnetic heads, menacing knife, LED flashlight, and a beer bottle opener—it can open other bottles and jars, but I am a Real Man. According to designers Launce Barber and Tom Stokes, the design is made so everything is ready to use in the shorter time possible, right out of the pocket.

For absolute Real Man effect, hang it from your belt using the built-in carabiner, and allow your butt crack to show a bit over your pants

Source: Gizmodo

Netflix has really outdone themselves on this one. Now you can watch movies on demand with this little lovely device.  No more trips to the movie store to pick or return.  You don’t have to wait for one in the mail either.  You simply pick any one of their mail plans as low as $8.99 a month and get 1 DVD at a time through the mail and have access to thousands of movies to watch on your computer instantly or if you buy the box you can watch them on your TV.  The box is only $99.00.  They are also coming up with a blue-ray DVD player that will allow you to do this this fall.  The Xbox 360 will also have this same capability this fall as well.  The nice thing is that it still cost only $8.99 a month for this service.  Their selection for instant movies on this box is over 12,000 movies and television series.  They do not have the new releases available though so you will have to rely on the mail service for that.  There is enough to make you happy.  I personally love it because I usually always watch movies instead of having to rely on what is on TV.  You can pause, rewind, fast forward, scene select and have it remember where you left off at.  All you have to do is add all the movies you want to the instant viewing list and it will appear on your TV screen.  You have to have a wireless connection in your house or a access to a lan cable to make it work.  The setup is very easy too.  It simply walks you through the process and only takes a few minutes.  The box also has HDMI connections in the back in case you have a LCD or Plasma instead of of a standard TV.  It will work on any TV.  The quality is really good and it doesn’t have a hard drive so you don’t need to worry about storage.  I never understood why anyone would want to buy these movies and store them when you have unlimited access to any of them instantly on your TV.  The quality varies upon the internet connection you have.  It will automatically adjust it based on your connnection.  Most of them hav been pretty clear ranging from Standard to DVD quality.  I am sure they are working on improving that as well.  I also like the fact that the box is very small and comes with a simple remote instead of one of those complicated ones we are so used to dealing with.  Overall, this is definately worth it if you like to watch a lot of movies or want to catch up on some old series from the original Incredible hulk to The office or Dr. Who.  There are so many movies too!  I would definately recommend it as a “Gadget to Get”!  Goto http://www.netflix.com/NetflixReadyDevices?lnkctr=mfNFRD&lnkce=nrdfm&trkid=438224 to find out more.  Thanks! 

This is awesome!  I only wish I would have tried the HD box to see if the quality was any better.   It may also be that because I have the middle grade high speed internet that it is not as good as it could be.  The quality is decent enough to watch though.  The controls are a little slow and annoying but for the most part…it does what its says it will do.  It is really cool to be able to watch and control your own TV including DVR recorded shows from any computer with high speed internet.  Let’s say you are on a trip somewhere and your kids are bored in the hotel.  Flip open your laptop and have them watch your programming from home or a recorded “Hannah Montana” show.   Maybe you are a business traveler and you want to watch the superbowl in China.  You can with this little nifty device and the cool thing is that there is no monthly fee. You can also purchase “slingplayer mobile” and watch it on your phone or pocket PC.  I recently discovered that Echostar purchased slingmedia so I am a little afraid they might try charging for the service soon…Let’s hope not. 

GadgetToGet:  Yes!  I have seen these going for as low as $99.00.  It is definately worth it.  Go to Slingmedia.com to find out more for sample videos…

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