High tech ski goggles incorporate GPS, LCD display, kitchen sink

by Kraig Becker on

There is a decidedly high tech movement afoot on the ski slopes this season. First, we saw stat tracking and social networking brought to the mountains courtesy of RFID tags embedded in lift tickets in Colorado and now we have a set of high tech goggles that incorporate GPS functionality, a tiny LCD display, and a multitude of other features that will keep you in the know while playing in the snow.

The new Transcend Goggles from Zeal Optics incorporate a GPS chip that keeps track of speed, distance traveled, vertical drop, direction and location. That data can be examined on the LCD screen, which is mounted in the lower right hand corner of the goggle frames. The screen also displays the current time, temperature, altitude, and so on. Data is stored in an on board memory chip and can be uploaded to your computer later in order to measure progress and performance gains. The GPS tracking can also plot your tracks on Google Maps as well.

The new goggles are available now and come in two flavors, with the style of lens being the only difference. The “basic” model includes polarized lenses and costs $399 while the $499 models offer polarized and photochromatic lens, which provide even more protection for your eyes on those sunny days on the slopes. Both models also include built in lithium batteries that are good for seven hours of use between charges.

While I haven’t had a chance to try these goggles personally, they do look like the would be a lot of fun to use. It is amazing how technology had pervaded so far into our favorite outdoor pursuits, but when it is used in a unique and interesting way, it can really be a useful enhancement to the experience. These goggles look like they fall solidly into that category.

Photo of the Day (11.21.10)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Ever seen your co-worker wearing a purple suit? Or an electric pink skirt? For whatever reasons, bright colors are not part of the fashion vocabulary of most Westerners. We tend to prefer the safety of muted colors like black and grey. Not so in Bhutan. Flickr user andreakw caught this colorful line-up of women in Bhutan celebrating at a local festival. They’re decked out in their kiras, a special style of fabric wrap worn for holidays. Check out the intricate patterns, bright colors and geometric shapes of the cloth. Equally interesting is the solitary woman with the child who stares directly at the camera, drawing the viewer into the scene.

Have any great photos from your recent travels? Why not share them with the world by adding them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Jawbone expands into portable speakers with the new Jambox

by Scott Carmichael on

Jawbone, one of the biggest names in Bluetooth headsets recently announced their newest addition – the Jambox. The Jambox takes all the best parts of a Jawbone headset, and adds it to a portable speaker. Inside the Jambox are two acoustic drivers and a “bass radiator”.

The device supports the Jawbone MyTALK application suite, and its built in microphone lets you hold conference calls when connected to a suitable Bluetooth device.

The Jambox is available in black, blue, red or silver, and retails for $199.99. While this may seem like an insane amount of money for “just a speaker”, according to Engadget, the technology inside the Jambox was developed in part by the brains behind the amazing Soundmatters foxL which we reviewed this summer.

Bottom line is simple – you pay a lot, and you get a lot in return. The reviews of the Jambox confirm this. We hope to have our own review here on Gadling as soon as we can.

To check out the other features of the Jambox, or to order your own, head on over to the Jambox site.

Hotel booking tip: Hotwire + upgrade = deal

by Alex Robertson Textor on

There are many strategies for successfully booking hotel rooms on “opaque” booking sites. “Opaque” booking sites, for those unfamiliar with the term if not the thing itself, sell brand-name hotel rooms, among other goods, for discounted prices. The catch is that these hotels are never named in advance. The “opaque” booking sites help hotels fill their rooms at rates often far below hotel rack rates.

Some frequent travelers have developed a science out of gaming opaque booking sites. Better Bidding is one essential tool in this endeavor. It offers bidding tips and other information designed to allow users to figure out which description matches up with which anonymous hotel, thereby allowing customers to pick and choose a favored hotel.

Here’s a less crafty tip, one that can nonetheless be very helpful for finding a mid-range hotel bargain.

Twice in the past two months I’ve booked hotels in London and San Francisco on Hotwire. In both instances the hotel reservation was relatively speaking quite inexpensive: $99 for the London room and $110 for the San Francisco room.

Unfortunately, both bookings resulted in hotel rooms that were far from ideal.

In London, the Hilton London Docklands Riverside room booked through Hotwire ($99) was very cramped and not particularly well maintained. The bed was tiny and the view was of the traffic circle in front of the hotel. A £20 ($32) upgrade option gave us a recently renovated and much larger Deluxe room with a view of the foggy Thames. Our Hotwire-plus-upgrade rate ($131) turned out to be much less expensive than the lowest rack rate I found during research ($217).

In San Francisco, the room we booked through Hotwire at the Intercontinental San Francisco ($110) had two separate beds. We didn’t even take a look at it, instead inquiring about an upgrade. $30 per night later and we had a 17th floor corner king with sweeping views north and west. By our calculations, we saved almost $40 off the least expensive rack rate in the process.

(Image: Flickr / hotelkursaal&ausonia)

Daily gear deals: $149 Nikon projector camera, $25 iPod TV and more

by Scott Carmichael on

Here are the hottest daily gear deals for today, Sunday November 21, 2010. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today’s first deal is for the Nikon S1000 12.1 megapixel digital camera. Inside this camera is a video projector, capable of displaying your photos and videos on a wall or projection screen. The camera luanched earlier this year for $399, but just dropped to $149. Click here for this deal.

Next up is the Kensington iPhone/iPod battery pack. This pack charges off MiniUSB (cable is included) and its battery can more than double the life of your device. On sale for $14.99. Click here for this deal.

Today’s third deal is for the Memorex iFlip portable video screen. This device is designed for the iPod, but you can plug anything into its video inputs – including the iPhone when used with its video cable. On sale for $24.99. Click here for this deal.

And finally in today’s lineup is the X-Mini II portable capsule speaker. This rechargeable speaker is perfect for traveling, and can charge off USB. On sale for $17.99. Click here for this deal.