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Anyone remember that episode of The Simpsons when Homer buys an oven for his car so he can cook hot'n tasty snacks when he's on the go? We all chuckled and moved on with our lives, it's The Simpsons, right? It's supposed to be stupid. Unfortunately that particular episode seems to have had a lasting effect on some old Joe who has gone and taken things a bit too far. Maplin, of all people, has recently released a 12V microwave specifically designed for in-car use. It's made of steel and comes with all the leads needed to either wire it directly to your car's battery or hook it up via the cigarette lighter charger. It even goes so far as to tell you that you can warm up cold pizza in two minutes or heat up a cup of coffee in three. No joke, it's available now on Maplin's website for an introductory offer of £89.98 (so get it while it's hot) rising to £129.99 on September 2nd. We've seen some half-baked ideas in our time but whoever cooked up this particular monstrosity needs a good Beeton (sorry). - Paul Lester [Maplin] [CarKeys] microwave car gadget

from @ Gizmodo UK

When it comes to extravagant luxuries for the modern kitchen, most self-respecting bachelors would argue that a draught beer dispenser comes pretty high up the list. Sure, you could buy one of those half-arsed efforts that involve you tipping a few cans into a container before pouring them back out through a tap, or further up the list you'll find models with integrated kegs.The mac-daddy has got to be a fully integrated system like this one from CDA, which mounts into a standard kitchen cupboard and comes with all the fittings needed to get it looking all flush and professional. It's a 60cm tower unit that takes 10, 30 and 50-litre kegs and is finished in stainless steel with an illuminated stylish blue LED to add a bit of pizzazz. It also comes with a CO2 cylinder and temperature and pressure gauge so you can make sure you're pouring the perfect 'pub' pint every time. Of course it's not cheap, the whole thing will set you back over a grand (£1,159 to be precise, from the link below) but if you want one of those flats off the Carlsberg adverts this is the only way to go. - Paul Lester [CDA] [ApplianceConsultants] gadgets beer href="http://technorati.com/tag/kitchen" rel="tag">kitchen

from @ Gizmodo UK

Here's an interesting little gadget from Swann - its FlashlightDVR is a run of the mill torch with a digital video camera built in. The heavy duty design certainly isn't pocket sized but is particularly hard wearing and aimed at everyone from security guards to happy campers who want to document late night exploits/grab video footage of the Blair Witch. It features a weatherproof aluminium construction and takes microSD cards to expand the 128MB of built in memory. Video footage is recorded to MPEG4 format, you can snap photos as well and there are three levels of brightness to change the intensity of the bulb. Best of all, infrared sensors provide night vision up to 13ft! Faz Colhbie, Swann Security's UK Channel Manager says "This device will appeal to a wide range of users who need a discreet system that will allow them to record video and photos during the day or night such as security guards, club "bouncers", and night watchman. It is also ideal for leisure activities such as camping, fishing or even dog walkers where a flashlight and camera are both needed." Our first thought is to wonder how well images will appear in this sort of lighting, what with the bulb being so close to the camera. Provided they've done enough R&D though we can see this being extremely handy in some quarters, particularly if the footage is admissible as evidence against perps out on late-night crime sprees. It retails for a rather pricey £199.99 and should be available any day now from the link below. - Paul Lester [SwannSecurity] security torch video camera

from @ Gizmodo UK

Steve Jobs has on more than one occasion used phrases like 'world domination' in speeches to salivating crowds of Apple fanatics and to this end seems to be employing one of the oldest tricks in the book. Apple seems to be trying to patent just about every possible human interaction concept that could be used on a product such as a computer, portable player or mobile phone. A total of 34 patent applications were filed with and recently published by the US Patent & Trademark Office. The details of these are provided in the link below and are far too verbose to recreate here, but in summary they're focused on touch-sensitive technologies and input systems. Highlights include multi-event input systems capable of distinguishing between, for example, the flesh of a finger or the hard contact of a fingernail. There's also a proximity sensing module that could detect when a user moves away from, or is not using, a particular peripheral and switch it into standby mode to save power. Exactly how these will all be used is anyone's guess at present, but this shotgun approach could conceivably nail down a leading presence for Apple in these markets for many years to come. If successful in being granted even half of these it looks like the rest of the industry will have a fair old time trying to move forwards without running into legal battles. - Paul Lester [MacNN] Apple touch-sensitive input systems

from @ Gizmodo UK

Novelty items usually always have one thing in common: they're tacky. This is particularly the case with novelty telephones as highlighted by the assortment of designs you can see littered around Delboy's flat. In the case of this Budweiser beer bottle though... ok it's still tacky, but at least your mates will be intrigued for the first few seconds before quietly deciding to leave. It's a corded phone and highlights the fact that it's FCC approved, so totally legal to use. The hang-up/pick up call switch is actually mounted at the base, so to answer the phone you just lift the bottle from the surface it's on, accidentally try and take a swig, realise your error and then speak into the body of the bottle where the microphone and speaker are cleverly hidden away. To hang up you can just slam the thing back onto the table, covering the top with your hand and reaching for a towel to soak up the imminent spillage before, again, realising your error. Other than the obvious novelty there's nothing else much to it, aside from the fact that it's available for just over £6 (or just under £10 delivered to the UK) from the link below. - Paul Lester [SourcingMap] novelty telephone gadget

from @ Gizmodo UK