Here on Technology Bytes we always take great joy in reporting the various April Fools jokes perpetrated by the various tech sites around the Internet. One of the more popular was an item advertised at ThinkGeek as the iCade. A device that would turn your iPad into a retro Atari gaming console. This was April Fools Day 2010.

The fake device received a LOT of attention, even from other tech sites. SlashGear called the iCade a “fake with real promise.” Engadget editor-in-chief Joshua Toplovsky tweeted out “man, I SO want the iCade to be real!” Waxy said it was “particularly cruel, because it’s an awesome idea that needs to exist.”

Fast forward to, well…now. ThinkGeek has actually made the iCade a reality.

The iCade is a really clever device. It doesn’t actually plug into you iPad. It connects as a bluetooth device that is paired with your iPad.

Once you assemble the iCade (comes with necessary tools, much like a piece of Ikea furniture) you simply follow the instructions to pair it with your iPad.

You will need to download the Atari Greatest Hits from the Apple app store. The free version contains Missile Command. For an additional fee you can purchase additional games. There’s everything from Asteroids (and Asteroids Deluxe) to Swordquest. 18 classic Atari arcade games and 92 Atari 2600 games. 100 in all.

The iCade is pretty solid and the controls work well enough. It does take a little getting used to being so small. But it is a real hoot and quite a trip down memory lane.

About a year ago I broke down and purchased a backpack that has compartments for my camera gear as well as a laptop. Overall this works pretty well and makes it easier to lug my equipment from one location to another. But it’s still cumbersome and doesn’t take long before I am feeling the strain.

That’s why I was very interested and excited to check out one of the backpacks from Airbak.

Airbak has developed backpacks that feature a unique system known as Air Bladder technology which causes the majority of weight in the backpack to be lifted off the upper back/shoulders and spread it across the entirety of the back.

It’s a very clever design, and one that work quite well. I picked up the Airbak Focus which has enough room for my camera and several weighty lenses along with a compartment for my laptop. When I put the backpack on my back I immediately noticed that the weight was much more evenly distributed than my previous backpack. The air bladder system actually seems to make the backpack full of gear weigh less, which is due to how it distributes the weight. I even reloaded my old backpack with the same gear put it on for comparison.

And the backpack is very well made. The stitching is strong and the materials are the same you would find in any of the other name brand bags you find in stores today.

Airback offers a wide variety of sizes and styles on their Web site and each bag comes with limited lifetime warranty, so it would appear they’re serious in their commitment to quality.

We all have to come to our own decisions when it comes to protecting our data. Many of us tend to be rather lax about making backups and when we do, we only make the one copy. And for those situations it might be worth considering the ioSafe Fireproof Waterproof Solo External Hard Drive.

Guaranteed to be Fireproof to 1550° F for ½ hour
Guaranteed to be Waterproof to 10 feet of fresh water or salt water for 3 full days

The drive comes with a 3 Year Warranty and a $1,000 Data Recovery Service in the event that the company cannot retrieve your data in the event of a disaster.

The ioSafe is not an inexpensive, lightweight desktop external storage device, it’s a hefty data protection system weighing in at 15 lbs and costing from $199 for the 500 gigabyte model all the way up to $449 for the two terabyte version. And there are additional fees for additional warranty coverage

This thing is a black box for your data. Your house may burn to the ground or be submerged under several feet of water, but you will have some peace of mind knowing your data has been given a fighting chance.

You can learn more by clicking here.

We get a lot of e-mail and phone calls from people who are buying new computers with Windows 7 and the most common question we’re asked is “How do I transfer my files and data from the old compute to the new one?”

If you are not connected to a network or you find setting file sharing and so forth just a little too intimidating, Startech has an easy to use and very affordable option called the USB Easy Transfer Cable.

Simply connect one computer to the other using your USB ports and transfer files easily from one computer to the other at speeds up to 480Mbps.

The device is exactly the same size and configuration as the previous version but the on-board storage was raised to 4GB to enable it to store 60 minutes of H.264 video footage in HD (720p 9Mbps VBR).

Flip is now offering to customize the device and is offering a special line-up of Valentine’s Day themes as well as others and also allows you to upload your own image to be added to the device via their design center.

The Flip Mino was fun, the Flip Mino HD is the same kind of fun with added video quality in the form of 720p High Definition video which looks VERY good.

Here is a test video I shot of Peter Hughes during the Infoshot segment of the show last night.

Flim Mino Test – Technology Bytes Infoshot from baldheretic on Vimeo.

Lightweight and easy to use, with the Flip Mino HD you have a powerful and handy tool for capturing the moment while on the go. Once you have the video you want, you just connect the device to your PC and run the software contained on the Flip to edit and share your videos.

Full specs:

Flip MinoHD Features:
Weight: 3.3 oz.
Resolution: HD 720p
4 GB of internal memory to record up to 60 minutes of HD video
1.5 inch anti-glare LCD display
Internal, lithium ion battery recharges when USB arm is connected to computer
One-touch recording with 2x digital zoom
Touch-sensitive buttons for recording, playback, fast forward, rewind, pause and delete
FlipShare software:
On-board application installs directly when connected to any PC or Mac
Drag-and-drop interface for easy browsing, playback, organizing and video archiving
Integrated online video publishing to YouTube, MySpace, and AOL Video
Free, unlimited private emailing of videos and video greeting cards
Custom movie editing, with the option to use your own music and add titles/credits
Capture still photos from any standard or high definition video
Order DVDs online and have them shipped anywhere in the world
TV connection for instant viewing (cable included)
Tripod Mount
Available in black at Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, WalMart.com, TheFlip.com and leading retailers
“Designable” at TheFlip.com

If you’re a fan of Internet radio broadcast, the Aluratek USB Internet Radio Jukebox is just the thing for you. Just plug it into your USB port and it does the rest by installing it’s own driver and applications software. What you end up with is access to thousands of Internet streamed radio stations.

The software breaks it down into easy to sort categories so you can quickly choose the music you want to listen to.

Features:

Very strightforward and easy to use.
Makes a GREAT stocking stuffer!

One of the downsides to mobile computing is the limitation of device connectivity with your laptop. Too few USB ports, inability to connect an external or even second monitor easily and so forth.

Typically this is handled by a clunky and space consuming, not to mention EXPENSIVE docking station that will only connect a specific make and model laptop.

Enter the StarTech USB VGA Dock. Weighing in at just at 7 1/2 ounces and measuring 8″x2.8″x0.8″ this small footprint, lightweight connection enhancer features four USB 2.0 ports, One 10/100 Ethernet jack along with stereo out and microphone jacks, all connected to your computer via USB 2.0.

Not only that, but the StarTech USB VGA Dock also features a VGA port to connect an external or secondary monitor via the USB port of your laptop. Supporting resolutions of 1600×1200 @ 32 bits and 1920×1200 @ 16 bits it’s more than useful when you need that extra desktop real estate.

I was able to set this up in no time flat. And using the included software was able to easily connect and configure a second monitor as an extended or even mirrored display. The addtional USB ports are very handy for connecting addtional devices and the audio jacks performed well for connecting my external speakers easily.

Additional product and pricing information can be found at the Startech site.

Last May I told you about The PRESSlite VerteX™, a unique light modifier that has the ability to give you a greater level of control over the light flow from your swivel-head flash.

Well, today I have an actual sample of the device in hand.

It’s pretty slick. It basically fits on the end of a swivel flash and by adjusting two versatile little panels you can easily and quickly diffuse or redirect light in a variety of ways.

These are some sample shots that my co-worker Luis was kind enough to let me take.

This is full flash

As expected, the subject is brightly illuminated, perhaps even harshly so. But check out what happens when I move the VereX into place and use the white panels to diffuse and bounce the light onto the subject

Far less harsh but maybe no bright enough. One quick flip and I diffuse 50% of the flash and project the other 50 using the mirror side

You start to see the possibilities. The VerteX lets you use your flash in a number of ways that can really let you fine tune how you light your subject. By taking the above and just fine tuning the angles a bit more this was the final result

I don’t claim to be a skilled user of flash in my photography, but I like the results.

Check out the Presslite Web site for 3D demos of all of the devices capabilities. They offer some really interesting demos and some real life applications for the VerteX.

I hooked up one of the new Aluratek Internet Radio Alarm Clocks with Built-in WiFi last week and have been reaping the benefits ever since!

This device connects up to your home network via built in wireless and has the ability to access over 11,000 radio stations worldwide via built-in vTuner and best of all, they’re free!

The device is amazingly simple to configure and comes with it’s own remote control. The menus are also very well laid out for easy access to the stations by genre or geographical location.

While it is marketed as a clock radio, it also has the ability to connect to your home stereo and act as a media server. That means you can use it to connect back to your Windows Media Player or iTunes library to stream your own digital music. You can even connect it to your USB storage device and have it serve as your MP3 player.

You can learn more about this device at aluratek.com

Ever since then I have been nothing more than a spectator as video production has become more and more accessible to the common man via video tape recorder, mini disk and now digital cameras.

On our last vacation I considered taking a small handheld video DV camera with us just to have, but even the newest palm sized devices were going to be too unwieldy and I opted to forgo the video in favor of my preferred medium of digital still photography.

Now it appears that Pure Digital Technologies has come up with a device to lure me to the dark side. Meet my new friend, the Flip Mino.

Very impressive specs. It runs about 4 hours on a charge and records up to 60 minutes of video.

Internal Memory: 2GB (60 minutes)
Screen Size: 1.46” (transflective TFT)
Screen Resolution: 528 x 132 pixels
Video Resolution: 640 x 480

And the size is right. 3.94” x 1.97” x 0.63” (H x W x D) it fits easily into your pocket making it as readily available as a small camera phone.

It’s also very easy to use. Out of the box all I had to do was charge it up and go.

The software for managing and editing your videos installs right from the device and it make sharing and uploading of your videos quite simple.