Caliper Radio

I'd be surprised if the sound quality produced by this radio is anywhere north of mediocre, but I just love the design.

Moving the body of the radio itself to tune in a station is seriously cute.

It's called simply "08 Radio" and is the creation of Finnish designer Mikael Silvanto.

Nice Backpack

I've always been a briefcase ... or, more often, used plastic bag ... person, rather than one to wear a backpack.

However, this incarnation could almost tempt me to change my ways.

My biggest complaint about all previous backpacks I've seen is that they're too large and/or insufficiently protective.

This one is made from neoprene and is designed specifically for carrying a laptop, with a couple of pockets included, for accessories.

It definitely looks streamlined and light. At $US80, it's not expensive, either.

Thanks to Engadget for the heads up.

Clever Cogs

Bruce Shapiro makes some amazing, elaborate computer-controlled artworks.


Thanks to Gizmodo for the link.

A Cool Gadget

Nike's PreCool Vest is designed to drop the core body temperature of athletes, prior to their events, so it takes longer for them to overheat.

However, I reckon I could make good use of one 24/7 during the summer. Damn, I hate the heat!

Thanks to New Launches for the link.

HTC Touch Diamond

If any phone could lure me away from the iPhone ... which Vodafone have just announced they will be (not necessarily exclusively) carrying in Australia sometime this year ... it would be the HTC Touch Diamond.

While I'm still seriously put off by that little logo in the top left of the screen, the user interface looks pretty damned good in this video ... although, it seems to me that they're quite often wasting a lot of the screen real estate by maintaining soft button images at the top and bottom of the screen.

Amazing ePaper Wrist Display

Ticketime is a concept design by Jacky Wu, Neo Chen & Eric Liu.

It's intended for use by airlines, to provide travellers with a wristband containing information about their flights, and would be returned once the customer's trip was completed.

The band is held on your wrist by two magnets, one on each end. In a clever twist, when the two magnets meet, they create a circuit that powers the display.

I would pay real money if I could get a watch like this for normal use, so let's hope someone takes this design into production sometime soon!

Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Grass

Chopping up herbs isn't a particularly onerous task, but the fact that something's easy shouldn't stop you from throwing some gadgetry into the mix!

So, here are some clever herb snips I found over at Cool Hunting. They're only $US13, which seems pretty reasonable to me.

What's more, you could even grab a second pair to use as a cheap personal shredder for your home office!

Sensual Coffee

I have to say, this has to be the most bizarre coffee grinder that's ever been created.

The huge device is made from mahogany. You snuggle up to it and a sensor measures your heartbeat and grinds the beans in time with it, to "induce an experience of intimacy with the process of making coffee".

That makes me really thirsty for ... a beer!


Thanks to Gizmodo for the link.

Disappearing Ink

I don't know about you, but these days I tend to print out very little content. I consume the vast majority of it on computer screens.

However, that's not because I prefer to read from a screen; it's related more to the ephemeral value of such printouts. It just seems so damned wasteful to print something, only to throw it into the recycling bin within a short period.

So, I was interested to read this article over at the Times Online.

It talks about new printer technology being developed by Xerox PARC (the research establishment that brought us many innovations, like the mouse and windowed environments).

As opposed to using plain paper to which toner particles are attracted, or onto which ink is sprayed, it utilises paper that is coated with photo-sensitive particles.

Basically, the way it works is that the printer causes these particles to change colour, hence producing a readable printout. The particles, when exposed to light, revert to their clear state over the course of a couple of days.

At that point, the paper can be directly reused, rather than going through a complex industrial process to effect the recycling. Further, if the content becomes redundant prior to the normal regeneration interval, the paper can be cleared on demand as part of the printing process.

All up, this sounds like something I would find very useful, indeed!

The NeoCube

I'm not sure how this gadget works, but I want one!

Unfortunately, I get an error when going to the website referenced in the video, but I will definitely keep trying.

Gorgeous Teapot

Thanks to Gizmodo for pointing out this wonderful teapot.

I'm feeling thirsty; be back in a minute ...

Cheap(ish) SSD

This adapter allows you to turn up to three compact flash cards into a SATA disk drive.

Given the ever-descending cost of flash drives, you could use this to build a much larger, or cheaper, solid state disk than the current crop.

Thanks to Engadget for the link.

New Etymotic Earphones

When the iPhone eventually makes it to the antipodes, I'll need to update my current Etymotic ER6i earphones, since they obviously don't have a microphone.

Fortunately, Etymotic now have these hf2 earphones, which are designed specifically for the iPhone.

As one would expect, they're dirt cheap at $US179 a pair!

PC Magazine has a full review, giving them high marks for musical fidelity ... although not so much for the clarity of calls ... rating the product at 4.5 out of 5.

Sip Lamp

Here's another interesting lamp, thanks to Cool Hunting, this time.

It's shaped like a flexible straw, which can be mounted in any readily available cup or mug. Clever idea.

It was created by a designer named Sung-kyu Nam. Sadly, it's currently only a prototype.

Hanging Lamp

Thanks to Oh Gizmo! for pointing out this wonderful lamp.

My only complaint is that it doesn't look like it provides much light.

Be Still, My Heart

After my heart sinking when reading Walt Mossberg's retraction earlier today, it was just buoyed again when I read this story over at the Australian Mac Talk forums.

Hopefully, they're not just a week late publishing their April Fool's posts, because this sounds very promising:

Today however, Apple have been informing resellers of their iPhone strategy for Australia.

Resellers have been informed of the following things:

• Last week of June release
  
• More than 1 carrier
  
• No contract lock in
  
• Current resellers will be able to sell iPhones

Of course, I would recommend throwing this down with a small bag of sodium chloride crystals, but I still live in hope.

If nothing else, this is the most palatable rumour I've heard so far!

iPhone News

Well, it turns out Uncle Walt was basing his comment regarding the iPhone being 3G in sixty days on the same information the rest of us have. In other words, he was guessing ... you got my hopes up, you bastard!

Fortunately, this video review of the iPhone (and a fake Chinese knock-off) lifted my spirits. I think I'll be watching more of this crazy woman's videos :-).

Oh, the audio content is possibly NSFW, depending on where you W.



Thanks to Gizmodo.

Art Imitates Life

I think this Simpsons remote control holder is just gorgeous.

Who better to keep track of your remotes than the ultimate couch potato?

Thanks to Nerd Approved for the link.

I Want One!

Seekway has created this cube, containing thousands of LEDs, each of which can emit a number of different colours, which can be changed individually up to thirty times per second, allowing some amazing animation.

The current cube has 16 LEDs in each dimension, but they plan to scale this up by a factor of 27 in a future model. That's over a hundred thousand points of light!



Thanks to Gizmodo.

Lenovo Ideapad U8

If this video is anything to go by, the Lenovo Ideapad U8 is an awesome MID.

However, since it's not been released yet, and having heard Walt Mossberg say (on video!) that the iPhone will be 3G in sixty days, I'll stick my Visa card in the freezer for the time being.



Thanks to Gadgetell.