Check out these wonderful widgets that are part decoration, part communications, and full-time fun. Read the whole article to see what’s on my wish list!
Stanley
iPod, iSchmod. How about a full size player piano that takes requests via Twitter? You won’t get that kind of fidelity from any set of headphones. “Hey, it sounds like a real piano!”, the kids will say. You, in your wisdom, will reply, “Yes, children, because it IS a real piano.”t
There’s no mention of just how large Stanley’s repertoire is, or where he’ll be next. Maybe if you drop by Digital Kitchen, the site of his creators, and say ‘hi’ we might see more Stanleys out there. Couldn’t we use a little more real music? You can’t exactly buy Stanley, but you might be able to book him for a charity fund raiser.
Nikon Coolpix P600 - $429.95 USD
You already take pictures on your smartphone and instantly upload them to flickr, Instagram, or wherever. But how about a 16.1MP camera with 60x lens zoom that also shoots HD video with stereo sound? You can also upload the pictures quickly to the same sites because it can connect to your tablet or smartphone via WiFi.
Not only is it functional, but it’s fashionable. Your choice of classic hipster black and upscale burgundy.
Don’t just fill the Web with pictures, but fill your social networks with high quality photographs. Look at you go, Ansel Adams.
iBabi HD- $199.99 USD
On the go with work? Wish you could pop in and see how your little one is doing? That’s what the iBabi HD promises. It’s the first video baby monitor featuring Plugged Into Skype technology. You just log on to your Skype account, choose your iBabi contact and you can watch your baby dream of what the world holds while you dream of being home to hold them.
The camera features HD recording with a 100 degree field of view lens. Put that together with the ability to pan, tilt and zoom the camera and you can see your toddler toddling just about anywhere in the room. The night vision feature can give you images with focus up to 5 meters away, so you can see your little one all tucked in for the night. Awww.
reaDIYmates - $19.00 – $129.00 USD
Just as you can add features, games, apps to your social media networks you can build a real world representation of it. ReaDIYmates is a system, virtually a computer, that you can dress up, program, modify, listen to, and remote control. It’s Arduino based. Don’t be scared, we’ve got a guide to make you an Arduino ace. Amongst other things. You can have it notify you in your own special way when something happens on Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, RSS, Foursquare and probably some others.
If that’s not enough for you, your reaDIYmate can also post to all those social accounts. Remember the bit about remotely control? Yeah, from your iPhone with gestures from the other side of the world. Not sure why you’d want to, but it’s nice to have the option.
Webmail Notifier - $9.99 USD
DreamCheeky brings you a trio of social media related gadgets. You may have seen this one before, but it bears being mentioned again. The Webmail Notifier connects to your computer via USB and can alert you to the status of up to 10 different e-mail accounts! It can be customized so that the colour it changes and the sound it makes is unique for each account. If you are using a web application like IFTTT, it’s possible that you could use this to alert you to new posts in Facebook, or tweets from important people. Don’t know IFTTT? Read this guide to IFTTT and become a pro.
If you’re using a mail server that has a limit to its size, the Webmail Notifier can also be set up to notify of that with a colour effect, different for each mail account that you have. That’s pretty cool, don’t you think?
Mailbox Friends Alert - $7.99 USD
Second up from DreamCheeky is the Mailbox Friends Alert. Yes, it sure does seem to do the same thing as the Webmail Notifier. You’re right about that. However the size of it is much, much, smaller. This would be a good gadget for use at work since it doesn’t advertise loudly top the world when you get an e-mail.
Sure, it’s not the newest gadget either, but like with the Webmail Notifier, using it with IFTTT really opens a new world of possibilities.
Star Trek Communicator - $19.99 USD
Last, but not least, DreamCheeky presents to you the Star Trek – The Original Series (TOS) exact replica communicator! So what’s so social about that? Plug it in to your USB port, pop open the top and marvel at the lovely chirpy sound it makes, and then use it as a microphone and speaker on Skype, MSN, AIM, iChat, etc…
The Communicator also plays another 21 authentic TOS sound effects on both ends of the line when you need to mute it. Much better than hold music, don’t you think? Or you can get some other genuine Star Trek sounds from our round up of sites.
laMetric - $149.00 USD
Not the harcore DIY type? Want something a little more substantial than a USB notifier? That’s where laMetric comes in. laMetric is to your social news feed what the ticker-tape was to the early stock market. Plug it in, configure it, and check on it for news about e-mails, Facebook posts, tasks, and of course the stock market.
Eight inches of instant info not enough for you? Buy a few more and put them together like a choo-choo train of txt msg goodness. Not quite in stores yet, but full-funded and ready for pre-order. I want three.
The Takeaway
Just like you and your friends, there are a bunch of different social media knick-knacks out there. Some are serious, some are a little silly, but all of them are fun!
Do you have any of these gadgets? What to you think of them? Seen any other cool ones out there? Share with the class! And if you’re feeling really generous, did I mention that I really like the laMetric?
Image Credits: Nan Palmero Via Flickr, Webmail Notifier, Mailbox Friends Alert, Star Trek Communicator via DreamCheeky. Source: www.makeuseof.com
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