2011 meets 1981 in the iCADE, device that will turn your iPad into a miniaturized version of a classic arcade gaming machine.
The iCADE was first conceived as an April Fool’s joke by the vondrous folks of ThinkGeek. Turned out, the joke was on them. Demand for a real iCADE proved so great that ThinkGeek felt compelled to make it a real iCADE.
After designing the iCADE arcade casing, ThinkGeek partnered with ION to create iPad versions of Atari arcade classics. There are currently 100 games available, including Battlezone, Lunar Lander Tempest, Breakout, Asteroids and Missile Command. There’re sold in 3-pack sets for $1. Or get them all for a mere $15. see more
Vondrous Junior was recently using our iPad and tried playing Pac Man for the first time ever. The verdict came back a few minutes later: “This game isn’t so fun.”
And, really, it isn’t fun when you have to maneuver safely through the maze by tilting the iPad in the direction of travel—the controls were simply too unresponsive. But the game could have been fun were it played with an IT iPad Joystick.
The person with the most Apple gadgets at the end wins. But what to do when you are limited to syncing your Apple MacBook Pro with only one iWhatever at a time? Get an iDoodad and sync (and also charge) two at once. Works with any combination of iPods, iPhones and iPads. $26
For charging multiple portable electronic devises with one unit, the iHome iB9678 is most vondrous. It’s useful too, because, really, these days most people have multiple electronic devises.
At the top of the iHome charging station are two universal iPod/iPhone docks that can not only change your Apple devises but sync them as well. The base of the iB9678 is a padded area to rest an eBook reader while it is charging. The area is expandable, so it can accommodate various models of the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook or Sony Digital Reader. There are also two USB ports to charge a BlackBerry or camera or whatever. $30 (with the Amazon.com discount)
If you’ve tried to use a touchscreen (eg. on a tablet or smartphone) while wearing gloves then you already know—it doesn’t work. The screen won’t respond to finger touches when said finger is inside cloth.
One solution is to buy gloves that are especially made for touchscreens, like the Aglove or the Wizglove. But such gloves aren’t very warm. So here’s another solution that will work with the gloves you already have: Digits. see more
Among its many benefits, an iPad can make a long car trip appear to zoom by quickly. Toward that end vondrous gadget maker Griffin offers the CinemaSeat for the iPad, which keeps Apple’s movie-showing, video-streaming, TV-displaying tablet computer securely attached to the back of a car or airline seat. The CinemaSeat can be especially useful in preempting disputes among rival children as to who hogging the iPad for themselves.
The CinemaSeat includes a padded frame, stretchy accessory pockets and adjustable seat straps.
