Designed by Korean students, Jin-Sun Park and Seon-keun Park, Maptor is a portable combination map/projector. By downloading a map to the device, a user can project maps onto various surface such as the wall, ground, or a hand.

Maptor has integrated GPS so your position on the map is marked and tracked with a big red arrow making navigating easier. It’s also made from environmentally friendly biodegradable plastic PLA (polylactic acid). Thumbs up to the Parks for making this cool device green!

Maptor is a concept device, so I’m not sure when/if it will become available for purchase, what the battery life is like, or the price. I also don’t know how clear the maps appear in daylight.

The Maptor certainly has nerd potential…and this travel geek wants one.

Time Switch [2009] is a concept LED switch plate clock by New York’s Harc Lee. The concept arose from working with tight deadlines and the notion of being “on the clock.” When you turn on the light, the time is displayed.

Click here to view more details about the artist and project.

Blogging has been a cinch lately thanks to readers sending me tips for all kinds of art and design to write about. A big THANKS to all those who’ve been pointing me in interesting directions!

One recommendation I received recently was to check out thinkgeek.com. While browsing nerd inventions (some too nerdy even for this geekette), I came across The Freeloader Portable Solar Charger.

The Freeloader powers up from its solar panels or a charging cable that plugs into a computer USB port. Once charged, the internal Li-Ion battery can power any number of different hand held devices such as an iPod for 18hours, a cell phone for 44 hours . . . etc. Once charged, it can store a battery life for up to 3 months! This awesome gadget can be yours for the very reasonable price of $49.99 USD.

Meet the Beanzawave. This prototype is the world’s smallest microwave measuring 7.4 inches tall by 2.6 inches wide and 5.9 inches deep.

The Beanzawave works by using mobile phone radio frequencies to create heat enough to cook food products in under a minute! (It certainly brings up issues of what phone frequencies must be doing to our brains.)

How did this project all start? Heinz asked microwave expert Gordon Andrews and industrial design authority Stephen Frazer to develop this portable USB powered microwave to promote their Snap Pots. Andrews, the managing director of GAMA Microwave Technology, stated that users can ‘tune’ the radio-frequencies to provide best results.

‘It is possible to heat a pie, a burger, a cup of soup or tea in quick time,’ Andrews said.

There is talk of making it usable with lithium batteries, meaning the Beanzawave would become a microwave on the go.

Want one? Hold onto your spoons for now fellow nerds, Heinz hasn’t released it yet. They might for around $160 if consumer feedback is positive.

This product isn’t new on the gadget market, but with everyone switching to Bluetooth devices I figured it was worth mentioning.

When I showed my dad my ipod touch a few months back, he said “I would need to sharpen my fingers into points to type on that thing!” A folding Bluetooth keyboard is ideal for those with pudgy fingers or not from the generation of touch screens. It may not be the slickest looking electronic, but it is practical for those on the road typing long emails.

This one is the Freedom Universal Keyboard which was released in Oct. 06′ and is compatible with over 200 devices that have Bluetooth connectivity (the ipod not being one of them). You can pick it up online from Mobile City for about $90.