Next time you sit down to write your Great American Novel, perhaps you should consider tapping the opus out on your Wii with Logic 3's weird and somewhat awful -- though excellently named -- Wii Keyboard. There's not much meat on these bones -- it's simply an add-on for Nintendo's console that allows you to type on a QWERTY pad rather than light-sabering all over your apartment to name your new Mii "Death Bringer." The 'board is due out July 18th (in the UK at least) and will nab a tidy £14.99 (or about $30).

[Thanks, John]

Despite its shortcomings, we were pretty into the original Drobo when it was launched about a year ago. Not only is it crazy easy to set up and get running, but being able to swap out drives and continuously expand your storage pool without completely replacing your array is obviously advantageous compared to traditional RAID arrays. So it kind of goes without saying that we were stoked to hear Data Robotics was launching a new Drobo, which promised FireWire 800, and quieter, faster operation.

We were kind of hoping they'd get it over with and build in Ethernet (or at least WiFi) connectivity instead of continuing to charge an extra $200 for the DroboShare add-on -- that it comes without left us with some mixed feelings. But then again, this new model doesn't cost any more than the first-gen product ($500), so we can't hold it too much against 'em -- and as we found, it is a fair amount faster (and significantly quieter) than its predecessor. Read on for more.

For those whose major complaint about the Drobo was its lack of FireWire 800, today's your day. The new version of the virtualized-storage device features the much requested interface (and a second port for daisy-chaining), but despite the fact that it still lacks built-in Ethernet / WiFi, it does come equipped with an upgraded processor to better take advantage of FireWire 800's higher throughput, as well as a much larger, quieter case fan. Data Robotics claims their new model can achieve data transfer speeds of more than 2x over the original model, as well as outperform ReadyNAS and LaCie models (in RAID 1/5) when tested with identical drives.

The price stays the same at $500 for the device itself, and (as before) you can buy it bundled with two 1TB drives (for $900) or four 1TB drives (for $1,300). For those waiting for the price to dip even lower, Data Robotics is also clearing out inventory on its earlier model; until they sell out, first-gen Drobos will be going for $350, or $750 and $1,075 bundled with two and four 1TB drives, respectively.

Really, people? Are there not enough mouse choices out there to satisfy whatever your poor little palm craves? For those just dead set on bucking the trend and attempting to be more ergonomic, the newest iteration of the Finger Mouse won't disappoint. The unit arrives with a wireless USB dongle and completely engulfs whichever finger you choose to mount the mouse itself on; from there, the 1,000DPI device supposedly moves your cursor around as you wiggle your digit. We don't have to tell you how bizarre you'll look with this on, but if you couldn't care less, hand over your $41.99 and strap on your goofiest grin.

[Via CNET]

Be honest, you were terrified that Turtle Beach would leave the awesomely titled Ear Force series sitting in lurk at X3, weren't you? Thankfully, that's not the case at all, as the Ear Force X4 wireless headphones have just been revealed. Designed with Xbox 360 gamers in mind, this headset / headphone combo promises to provide Dolby 5.1 surround sound out of just two earcups (we're still checking on the velvet-lined part), and more importantly, the Chat Boost Dynamic Talkback Expander "automatically adjusts incoming XBOX Live chat levels during loud game moments" to keep you from going deaf when NewbX1337 gets all whiny on you. Can't say we're thrilled by the $199.95 price tag, but these are available now for those who are.

[Via IGN]

An external graphics card that's actually nearing release? Be still our hearts! Fujitsu Siemens' recently leaked external unit, which will be based on ATI XGP technology, is actually really, really close to hitting retail -- according to a piece over at Fudzilla, anyway. Slated to be titled Lasso, the RV670-based device should be more than enough to handle basic tasks, but unfortunately, benchmarks were off limits. On the upside, digital photography was not, so head on down to the read link for a few more snaps.

Oh, that's right -- the Wiimote! For the second time in as many months we've got ourselves a bona fide Wiimote wannabe, except for the PC. GoLive2's Stix collection (200 / 400) are wireless motion-sensing controllers designed to play PC and internet-based games, with Games for Windows titles and "thousands of free web-based games" called out in particular. According to Brian Zheng, the president of Plahut, Stix will "completely change the way people experience online and PC gaming," though we definitely have our reservations about that. The Stix 200 will supposedly be compatible with just 2D games, while the Stix 400 gets down with 3D titles; pricing has yet to be disclosed, but feel free to waste your time check these out in August.

[Via I4U News]

Nyko's got a knack for delivering some of the ugliest, most preposterous third-party peripherals on the planet, yet -- for whatever reason -- we can't help but love 'em. The latest abomination from the outfit that begins to grow on you almost immediately is the Media Hub for PlayStation 3. For those that went cheap on the 40GB PS3 and missed out on a multicard reader and the full array of USB ports, this here adornment presumably connects to one of those USB sockets and adds three more while tossing in the card reader you've so dearly missed. Thankfully, Nyko's only charging $19.99 for this, so you should be okay even if your ship has yet to come in.

[Via Joystiq]

Not exactly a huge upgrade, but that MicroU2E from last year has been revved to support 1.5v ExpressCards -- and with more volts comes more supported devices. It's still about fifty bones, should you need one for your MacBook (Air) or whatever other ExpressCardless machine you've got kicking around.

[Via Macsimum News]

It's time to take a long, hard look at where we're headed as a society. No, really -- we've got office chairs coming to kill comradeship, specially designed lapboards made to keep you sedentary for as long as humanly possible, and now we're looking at the perfect device for keeping Earthlings in bed for days on end. The EasyChair WorkStation line of products essentially puts your laptop on wheels, and the adjustable boom arm ensures that you can reach the keys / trackpad regardless of which side you wake up on. We're hearing a bedpan attachment is in the works as well, but we're feeling entirely too lazy to actually check.

[Via TechDigest]

Put down that Lego nerd, it's time to give your (only?) other interest a poke. Meet the $68 animatronic Darth Vader and R2D2 USB hubs. Just stuff a USB Princess Leia into Darth's neck and watch the dark lord's eyes glow red as he scans side-to-side for the pretentious scowls of your contemptuous co-workers. Sounds effects? Oh you betcha, listen in after the break.

[Via Oh Gizmo!]

Just five days after ATI fessed up with an official release of its Radeon HD 4850, along comes a similar announcement for the just-leaked Radeon HD 4870. This dual-slot beast is finally being outed on the record, and at the very least, Diamond Multimedia's version will come stocked with 512MB of DDR5 memory, a clock speed of 725 MHz, 900MHz memory speed and 800 stream processors. The unit also provides CrossFireX upgradeability and should be available here soon from your favorite online retailer.

If you've been hankering for a good dose of snake oil, we've found something sure to satisfy. The HIS iClear card is marketed as a device that rides shotgun with your graphics card and "provides up to a 10-percent increase in signal-to-noise ratio performance." From what we can gather, this mostly barren piece of kit is supposed to reduce noise generated by your graphics card (or something to that effect), but considering that NewEgg gives this thing away for free with GPU purchases, we feel our doubts about its effectiveness as justified.

[Via BoingBoing]

Oh, brother. Let the onslaught begin. Now that games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero have proven to be huge money makers, not to mention how profitable those ridiculous shells for the Wiimote are, we're betting that EA Games is just the next of many that will soon bundle peripherals with games. According to EA's David McCarthy, his firm will be "using a peripheral strategy to some extent, even over the course of the next 12 months." Thankfully, he did note that extras would only be bundled "if it really does enrich the experience of gameplay and doesn't create a barrier to entry for consumers." We can see it now: $80 sports titles that create all sorts of relationship problems with the partner who actually values a kempt living room.

[Via Joystiq, image courtesy of HouseOfNintendo]

Read - McCarthy speaks
Read - McCarthy elaborates

As tnkgrl mentions at the outset of this hack, the MacBook Air SuperDrive is a nice little slice of hotness, retailing for a mere $99, and doing the whole external drive thing with Apple's sense of style. Unfortunately, it only works with the MacBook Air due to a proprietary IDE to USB bridge, as tnkgrl discovered. For a mere $9 she was able to find a replacement part, and after pushing some internals around she had her self a Mac mini and HP Mini-Note-friendly USB disc drive. We've all been laboring under the assumption that Apple needed more than the standard USB power draw, so it comes as a bit of a surprise that she was able to pull this off with a regular part, and we demand Apple start selling $108 SuperDrives-for-all immediately. Er, please?