Awesome Tech

GoPlug bags are backpacks and roller cases with a built-in high power battery, a 115v AC, 80 watt outlet and USB ports. They also have a waterproof power button and a retractable extension cord for charging their battery.

The tiny laptop charger we saw earlier this year is now on Kickstarter. Dart is up to 4x smaller and 6x lighter than ordinary laptop chargers. It also has a 2.1A USB charging port. Laptop compatibility list here.

The Restart Page is an interactive archive that lets you sample the restart sequences of old desktop operating systems, including QNX, Rhapsody and the officially obsolete Windows XP. Created by Soon in Tokyo and Rehab Studio.

Dust off those old boxes of mixtapes and turn them into digital files with this handy portable gadget which converts your old analog cassettes into files you can play on your computer, smartphone or media player.

Professional snowboarder Jamie Barrow went up to about 50mph using a handheld thruster currently being developed by Dreamscience. The device has four electric carbon fiber ducted fans, an aluminum frame and a 35kW battery.

Google Glass is still in beta, but on 4/15/14, any US resident over 18 years old will be able to purchase the wearable device. Sign up on the Glass website to get an email reminder and be back there on Tuesday to place your order.

Created Hiroshi Ishii, Daniel Leithinger, Sean Follmer, Amit Zoran, and Philipp Schoessler from MIT’s Tangible Media Group, TRANSFORM is an interactive display of moving pixels which can dynamically rearrange themselves. More here.

Here’s one of the best reasons to use Google Chrome. Steven Frank’s Cloud to Butt is a Chrome extension that looks for the phrase “the cloud” in webpages and changes them into “my butt.” Check out more examples here.

Streamz headphones have a built-in music player and storage for audio files. It can stream from cloud services like Spotify, Rdio, Pandora and Google Drive. It also has a 3.5mm input. We’re not sure about its battery life though.

A tiny inkjet printer driven by a robot. PocketPrinter prints grayscale documents at about one page per minute. Its cartridge carries enough black ink for 1,000 printed pages while its battery lasts up to an hour per charge.

Rocki lets you stream music from a mobile device or desktop computer to speakers. If your speaker has a 3.5mm or RCA input, then you can stream to it with Rocki. There’s also a model with HDMI and optical audio ports. More here.

Currently in development, Tabify is a mobile app that will automatically transcribe guitars – and possibly other string instruments – as you play. You can also go over created tabs and edit them. Note that the UI hasn’t been finalized.

RazorPod contains reusable silica beads that suck the moisture out of razor blades, making them last longer by preventing rust. We suggest skipping to 1:50 in the video unless you can endure a barrage of embarrassing dad humor.

Land Rover’s Transparent Bonnet concept is an augmented reality display that enables the driver to see through the vehicle’s hood, letting him or her see the terrain underneath as well as the placement of his front wheels.

Each of TwistVolt’s six outlets is mounted on a pyramid with joints that can rotate up to 270º in 90º increments. This way even the bulkiest plugs won’t get in the way of the others. Also available with USB ports and LED lighting.

A compact 3.5W Bluetooth audio player, FM radio and alarm clock. Sound Rise can wake you up with a chime or with music from the radio or your mobile device. It also has a USB charging port and 3.5mm input. Also available in black.

PackPoint is a free Android app that generates a list of clothes and other items to pack based on your destination, activities and the weather forecast. You can also add to and remove items from the list. Also on Blackberry.

Character creation in MMORPGs has become a mini-game of sorts. The upcoming Korean game Black Desert takes it to the next level with a dizzying array of options. The developer might as well spin this off as a standalone program.

This gadget works with most smartphones to turn them into a portable microscope, capturing still or video images of tiny organisms or other objects. It provides up to 800x magnification and requires no slides or other supplies.

The Micro is an affordable 3D printer that promises to have an intuitive and user-friendly software. It’s also quiet, not power hungry and easy to maintain. It prints with ABS and PLA and has a base print area of 4.4″ x 4.3″.

Made for home theater and video gaming, the Sony MDR-HW700DS headphones system can stream over the 5GHz band for less interference and better sound quality. It can also emulate an immersive 9.1 surround sound system.

Developed with SportIQ, Wilson’s new sensor-enabled Smart Basketball will be able to track real-time statistics on shot distances and percentages without any hardware mounted on the court or rim. It’s all in the ball. Out late 2014.

A complementary device for members of AmazonFresh, Amazon’s regional grocery delivery service. Dash lets you order items just by scanning their bar codes or using voice search. Sign up for a free Dash on Amazon.