Champion Crowned in Global Socket Showdown

Forget the upcoming Winter Olympics, CNET UK has pitted the nations of the world against one another in a heated competition that is inspiring fevered displays of national pride. And, just like the real Olympics, the sporting spectacle has been marred by outraged participants and furious non-qualifiers, as well as caustic accusations of impartiality, ethnocentrism, and corruption.

The contest (if you can call it a contest) has been dubbed ‘Plug vs. Plug‘ (C’mon, Brits. Couldn’t you come up with something a little more creative and colourful colorful, like ‘The Plug Rumble?’), and seeks to anoint the most effective and formidable plug-and-socket combo in the world. It’s not too difficult to guess which national team the hoity-toity, high-and-mighty Redcoats crowned champion, but the hilarious and scathing comment section alone is undoubtedly worth a visit. [From: CNET UK]

Solid Alliance’s ‘Crazy Earphones’ Are Just That

A new line of earbuds from Solid Alliance has drawn attention for its, shall we say, less than palatable designs, and as a public service to our readers, we would like to agree with all the haters. Beauty may reside in the eye of the beholder, but so does ugly.

The increasingly derided and aptly named Crazy Earphones line consists of four truly dumbfounding designs: sushi roll, banana, cat paw, and Frankenstein bolt. (And they’re only $22, or ¥2,000, a pair!) The kitty paw and Frankenstein ‘buds may appeal to a certain consumer, but sushi? Ripened bananas? We have a sneaking suspicion that whatever niche market Solid Alliance was attempting to target is nonexistent. Or, at best, still too small to cover production costs.

Spooklight Gives Your Bike Wireless Brake Light, Turns Signals

Being that most of us here at Switched are based in New York City, and that we’re all poorly paid bloggers, it should come as no surprise that we often rely on pedal power to get around. Considering that, it goes without saying that we enjoy combining our love of gadgets with our two-wheeled transport.

So we’re jazzed about the Spooklight, a bicycle taillight that, at least on paper, sounds well worth its slightly absurd £55 ($88) asking price. First off, it has blinkers — no more raising your arms to signal that you’re turning, only to have motorists ignore you anyway. Even better, the blinkers are controlled by a wireless, touch-sensitive panel you can attach to your handlebars — no more wires to get in your way or unresponsive buttons to mash. The Spooklight even steals a little mojo from the world of smartphones with an accelerometer that can detect when your momentum slows and accordingly activate a brake light.

We’d be pretty impressed if it stopped there, but wait! There’s more… unlike most other bicycle lights, the Spooklight is powered by a rechargeable Lithium-Ion pack (instead of disposable alkalines). Plus, instead of relying on a bulky AC adapter, it can plug right into your computer’s USB port to charge. Even more amazingly (if you don’t mind shaving time off its supposed 60-hour battery life), you can plug the Spooklight into your gadgets (an iPhone, for instance) to keep them charged.

The package is pretty neat, but there are two problems. First, we’re not willing to pay almost $90 for a bike light. Also, we can’t help but think that drivers and other cyclists aren’t accustomed to looking for blinkers or brake lights on a bike. If those suspicions are right, the Spooklight wouldn’t actually make us any safer, and make us more like those annoying four-wheeled atrocities that hog the road (We mean cars, by the way). [From: Wired and 50cycles]