Gadget of the Week - Samsung Transparent BLU LCD

Time once more for some aspirational browsing, for some more cutting edge consumer electronics. Time, I think, for another Gadget of the Week! A mixed haul this week, but with some interesting results...

As always, let's get a few eye-catching-but-rather-frivolous non-contenders out of the way...

This time it is not so much rather-frivolous, as very frivolous. Such as the Chemistry Clock, where each number is represented by an element of the periodic table, based on its weight. Or a Cuthulu sausage roaster (not a sentence I expected to type at work today). Kind of "H. P. Lovecraft meets pork meat product". Or even the ADEL inflatable earbuds (which unfortunately are not actually being produced).

More seriously, but with as much chance of catching a purchase from me. How about paying for the privilege of a USB 3.0 dongle? The Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 will provide read speeds of 100MB/sec across 16GB of data for $77, no less (on computers with a suitably-geared USB 3.0 port, of course).

Much more like it are the KarasKustoms aluminium iPad and iPad 2 cases, which will set you back $89.

Or how about the high-end speakers from KEF. Slashgear reports:

KEF is known for their cutting edge design and engineering when it comes to sound equipment. And today, they've brought to life one of their most acclaimed high-end speaker concepts called the KEF Blade. The revolutionary prototype was first revealed back in 2009, but since then the company has continued refining the design, getting it ready now in time to mark KEF's 50th anniversary.

Pricing is expected to be around $30,000, however, so let's move on to the keyword-heavy Sony flexible colour e-paper, glasses-free 3D LCD display. You won't be able to buy this, note, as it was only presented at SID Week 2011 in LA, reports Engadget.

Or the Android-based tablet, the HTC Flyer, may catch your eye (left). It is due to be released at the end of the week (£599 from PC World). Reports Slashgear:

The HTC Flyer features a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen with 1024 x 700 resolution. However, it ships with Android 2.4 Gingerbread instead of the Honeycomb tablet OS, and it runs on a single-core 1.5GHz processor. The backside has a 5-megapixel camera, but lacks LED flash, and it supports WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and microSD. It comes in both a WiFi-only and 3G version.

Okay, getting serious now. Almost but not quite, how about the cool looking LED skateboards from Flexdex, highlighted by CraziestGadgets.com: "The Clear29 LT longboard LED skateboard is made of a clear polycarbonate and has 9V battery powered LED lights right on the board." They would set you back $195 online dollars.



Just missing out on the title GOTW is also the Grace One electric bicycle. Engadget describes it thus:

Since then the design has been thoroughly refined, the frame redesigned, but still the stacked projector headlamps remain in their aluminium housing in front of the bars. They're a hint at the high-tech nature of this bike, which features integrated Li-ion batteries that charge in about an hour and spin a hub-mounted motor in the rear wheel, giving you a top speed of 30MPH and a range of up to 31 miles -- all for a mere €4,199 ($6,000).

Lastly, this heavyweight had to be flagged, if only flagged.... "Sharp and partner NHK have announced that they have developed the world's first 85-inch Direct-View LCD compatible screen that is compatible with Super Hi-vision," Slashgear tells us.

Okay then. Gadget of the Week, of this week is...(the blog post title gave it away, rather)... Samsung's 22-inch Transparent BLU LCD TV, also highlighted at SID 2011 (due out in Q3).

Engadget writes from the show:

While our hands remained mostly at our sides during our little meeting, we did sneak them behind the display to see just how transparent these things are. Sure enough, we could see our phalanges wiggling quite clearly through the ghostly panel. When the backlight was flipped on, the screen became a touch more opaque, but didn't fully obstruct the view of the potted plants lurking in the background. For now, the screens are focused on the commercial market -- specifically advertising -- but we wouldn't mind adding one of these things to our living room.