ION unveiled the iDISCOVER KEYBOARD at the Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. According to a press release “The iDISCOVER keyboard transforms your iPhone or iPod touch into a music creation studio. Virtually anyone can use it to easily create music [editor note: the same way, anyone with a hammer is a carpenter, your mileage may very.] . 25 piano-style keys and a custom sound app that includes more than two dozen world-class sounds give you everything you need to learn and create music with your iPhone or iPod touch.”

“iDISCOVER KEYBOARD consists of a 25-key, battery-powered piano keyboard workstation with dock and a custom iDISCOVER KEYBOARD app for iPhone and iPod Touch. iDISCOVER KEYBOARD gives users velocity-sensitive, synth-action keys, pitch and modulation wheels, and physical buttons for the most commonly used controls including octave up and down and sound-bank selections. It features stereo RCA outputs and a headphone jack for connection to playback and recording systems. iDISCOVER KEYBOARD also has a USB/MIDI output so musicians can use it as a controller for MIDI software on Mac.”

ION also demoed a product called iType (pictured below) which was a regular keyboard for the iPhone, but has since removed it from their product lineup.

[Via ION]

Sometimes the simplest solution is the best. Such is true with the iPhone SuctionClip from Brandra. The SuctionClip is a very easy to use mount for your iPhone, which can be placed almost anywhere. For example, use the suction clip to stick it on the seat back of an airplane or train seat so you can watch your iPhone hands free. It can be used as a desk stand to prop up the iPhone for a great viewing angle. You can also clip it without the suction cup to under an inch in thickness.

The unit is small enough for me to take it anywhere. I keep one in my travel kit and one in my MacBook case. Great for the gym, car or anywhere you need to be hands-free while watching media on your iPhone. It comes in Black & Pink, White & red, Black & Grey, Black & Red (pictured), White & Grey and White & Pink.

[Available from Brandra for $12.99]

Many years from now when Tricorders are common place, we just might look back on October 30th 2009 as the birth of the first real tricorder. While the iPhone currently has motion, sound, light, location, radio wave and distance sensors, Jing Li a physical scientist, along with several other researchers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California developed a working prototype of a harmful gas detector for the iPhone.

The team, working under the Cell-All program in the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, created a small stamp sized detector to be plugged in to an iPhone to “collect, process and transmit sensor data.” The sensor can detect and identify low concentrations of airborne ammonia, chlorine gas and methane.

[Via NASA]

The force runs strong with these chopsticks! While these have been available at the Panda Express in Mos Eisley for “a long time” now, they are now coming to earth. Available in Jedi Blue and Green as well as Sith Red. You can find them for approximately 10,000 credits [$10 US-Earth]. If you can read Japanese, you can order them now from Amazon.com.

[Via Japan Star Wars]

Kodachrome is gone forever, digital cameras are out numbering film cameras and good luck trying to find a FotoMat. Photographers can still have a little “old school” reminder on their desks with this Film Canister Clock. The clock is 208mm x 172mm x 96mm and includes an AC power adaptor.

[Via Gadget4all.com]