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What Goofy USB Devices Have You Found?

Posted by Cliff on from the they-really-make-these-things dept.

pluckyduck asks: "What's the goofiest USB device out there? The links below are by no means an endorsement of the company, just links to goofy USB devices to illustrate my point. The first one is not really a USB device, but a wall adapter in case you want to power your USB Coffee Mug Warmer from a wall outlet (hey, there's a concept!). I believe they also have an auto adapter should you feel the need to run your USB air purifier in the car. The latest PC I bought only has 6 USB ports, I'll need to buy a hub soon!" Yes, they even have USB Massage Balls, as well. Although goofy, some of this stuff could be useful in the right situation. What off the wall USB devices have you found? How might you use some of the devices, that have been listed?

9 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. USB Reading Light by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Useful, but hilarious high-tech/low-tech juxtaposition (to me).

  2. I've Seen A Few by MBCook · · Score: 3, Informative
    I've seen a few, most of them links to images on Akiba. Here are what I can think of off the top of my head:

    • Coffee Warmer (mentioned)
    • Electric Toothbrush (for when you need to brush your teeth on the plane during long flights?)
    • Electric blanket, in 2 patterns! (incase you aren't running a fast enough processor to keep your room warm)
    • I'll post more if I can remember 'em
    --
    Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
  3. A USB Toothbrush by rf0 · · Score: 2, Informative

    An electric USB toothbrush JPG

    Rus

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    Cheap UK and US VPS
  4. Re:USB Power by bluelip · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you were a cs major, I'd have to lecture you on trying google first...... beings you're into E. Here's the link.

    Just for you.

    --

    Yep, I never spell check.
    More incorrect spellings can be found he
  5. Re:Meta-question by oojah · · Score: 2, Informative

    Yes! I have on my desk next to me a dinky little pcb with an ftdi usb chip on - the FT245BM. This chip has an 8 bit parallel data bus for IO and a number of control lines and is very easy to use.

    On the PC side, ftdi provide "virtual com port" drivers for windows, so the new device appears to the OS as a serial port making it very easy to interface to.

    Linux has appropriate driver support in the standard kernel as well (since 2.4 I think).

    Bill of materials for this PCB (caveat - one of my colleagues made it), ftdi chip, crystal osc, eprom (for holding device id and similar), 8 res, 8 cap, 1 transistor, 2x10 header, USB B socket. The whole thing is 3cm x 6cm.

    ftdi also make a similar chip which has a serial input and can be used as a drop in replacement for an RS232 transceiver.

    See http://www.ftdichip.com/

    I don't work for ftdi, I just really like their product :)

    Cheers,

    Roger

    --
    Do you have any better hostages?
  6. Crap stuff will kill your computer. by GoRK · · Score: 2, Informative

    All of this crap is just some electrial device that pulls power off of the USB bus. Most do not even let the host OS know they exist and if you use them you risk blowing your USB ports (usually on your motherboard) with excessive current draw. I'd imagine that coffee warmer thing is pulling at least 1A, double the maximum of a USB peripheral, but probably OK if the other USB device you've got plugged in is a mouse or something.. The point is, this stuff might as well plug into a PS2 port or parallel port since you can get just as much 5V current out of them!

    I wouldn't call it an interesting USB device unless it actually talks to software on the host computer.

  7. lights and buttons by dubl-u · · Score: 2, Informative

    Delcom Engineering makes some cool USB-controlled lights, buttons, and numeric LED displays.

    Thinkgeek also has a USB volume knob.

  8. USB-powered vibrator. Really. by technogamy2 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Blissbox has USB-powered vibrators. No "massage balls" etc... just down-and-dirty good ol' toys. All I can say is... yummy. :)

    --
    What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.
  9. Digital Herbal Vaporizer - For Medical Cannabis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    This stylish vaporizer, developed for medical use, has an optional USB-Interface. I'm not sure what it's for, but i assume you can use it to charge the batteries.

    http://www.xijix.com/