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| 00:10 Mon 12 May 2008 |
Tag: Gadgets
These items have all been tagged with the tag "Gadgets", You can see other tags in the Tag Cloud| MiShare - Share Your Music |
| 2008-04-21 15:50:56 |
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Here at The Cool Hunter we are always on the look out for innovative gadgets that as well as being aesthetically pleasing, are also practical and can be used in real world situations. miShare is such a product. One of the biggest problems that people have with iPods is that unless you have a diploma in hacking, it is extremely difficult to share your tunes, especially without getting a computer involved. That is of course until now. Want the latest album from your friends' iPod? Simply connect both iPods to the miShare unit, press the button and away you go. It's kind of like swapping football cards in the playground, although much cooler. Providing that your files are not DRM protected (that's digital rights management to you technophobes), everything from movies to photos to songs can be transferred. Even entire playlists. Nice. There is however one downside – for now the unit does not work with the iPhone or iPod touch, although we are told that a firmware update is being looked in to. Developed in Brooklyn and currently being shipped to all corners of the world for $100, may the sharing epidemic begin. By Brendan McKnight. |
| Horological Star, Urwerk 201 |
| 2008-04-01 20:35:06 |
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For some, a watch is just a watch and a needless thing to boot as our mobile devices tell the time. For others, it is an accessory, a piece of serious bling, a reflection of status. And for the owners of an Urwek, their timepiece is an example of “traditional haute horologie for the 21st century.” Urwerk partners, Swiss watchmaker Felix Baumgartner and designer Martin Frei, draw inspiration from far and near — from NASA spaceships and the father of English watchmaking, Thomas Tompion (1639–1713) — and many things in between. The result is an astonishing collection of timepieces starring Urwerk 201 with its Revolving Satellite Complication (what’s that? you ask) and its Control Board inspired by the gauges of a sport car. The Board alerts the wearer to Oil Change (service), 100 Year Plus (the world's first horological odometer) and Fine Tuning that lets you adjust the timepiece “for your specific lifestyle.” Does it tell the time? Yes. That’s what the Revolving Satellite Complication does, but you need to read the instructions to figure out how. By Tuija Seipell. |
| Emotibles & Budclicks |
| 2008-02-26 17:29:19 |
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A year ago, we featured a prototype for Emotibles in our 'hot pick' section and boy, were they ever a hot pick! Following the buzz, husband and wife team Jonathan and Kate Hall - the brains behind the product - decided to roll with the project. They have not looked back since. Even the New York Times featured them based on the impact we created. So what is the hype all about? Huge with the teenage market, Emotibles are essentially accessories for accessories. We all love to customize so think of these as the Spokey Dokes for the screenager generation. Emotibles are marketed as "expressive charms to snazz up those boring, white, everywhere-ad-nauseam iPod earbuds." The Halls based their emotive characters fittingly on emoticons and have expanded the line by featuring them on baby tees and post-its. As with all popular ideas, other players quickly pop up. So, now we introduce to you Budclicks. It is essentially the same concept, this time aimed at a slightly broader demographic. The team at Budclicks has thought of everything from cutesy flowers, to indie-kid skulls, to representing your candidate with 'polito-clicks', because campaign buttons are soo last year, baby. By Brendan McKnight |
| Mad Sounds - Duncan Wilson |
| 2008-01-31 14:39:55 |
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Ohm, the measured frequency of the elliptical orbit of the Earth as it travels around the sun, as well as our musical center of gravity. Ohm is said to be the purest of sounds – the vibration and resonance created first and foremost by our place in the universe. But how many of us have actually heard the subtle tone created by our planet? And what about the possibly millions of other undetected sounds that surround us each day? Duncan Wilson knows that sound resonates from every surface in our environment – if even in the form of the must subtle whisper. Wilson wondered how many of these undetected sounds could be identified, combined and amplified to create a new sonic experience in the form of ambient music. OTTO (meaning ‘ear’ in Greek), created by Wilson, along with Manolis Kelaidis at the Royal College of the Art, is a device that uncovers diminutive vibrations by placing magnets and suction mechanisms on various surfaces and magnifies them through an integrated speaker. By placing several units on your window, a glass of melting ice water, a goldfish bowl, or any other unassuming item in your surroundings, OTTO devises a multidirectional audio atmosphere. By Andrew J Wiener. |
| Macbook Air - The world's thinnest notebook |
| 2008-01-16 08:59:25 |
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Apple releases the new Macbook Air - The world's thinnest notebook. The new year – the time for change – the time for resolutions – the time for the latest announcements from MacWorld in San Francisco. We oohed when Steve Jobs pulled the first iPod Nano out of the small pocket in his jeans. We counted the days until we could feel the new iPhone in our own hands. And just this morning, we marvelled when the world’s thinnest laptop was pulled out of an envelope. Weighing just 3 pounds, a remarkable 0.16 inches at its thinnest point and merely 0.76 inches at its maximum height, the MacBook Air was born. Typically as laptop computers have become smaller, sacrifices to the size of the screen as well as the size of the keyboard had to be made. Miraculously the new MacBook Air did not suffer on account of its weight loss. The design includes a 13.3 inch widescreen display using LEDs that consume less power and still provide a sharp picture. And forget about cramming your fingers while you’re typing, the MacBook Air has a fullsize, backlit keyboard as well. But naturally size alone is usually not enough to impress us. Along with the features and programs we would expect to find on any new Apple computer, the coolest new addition is the multifunctional trackpad. Of course we’re used to Mac’s two-finger tap and two-finger scroll trackpad features. What excites us here is that multi-touch innovations created for the iPhone have been adapted for MacBook Air. The new and improved trackpack allows users to pinch (increase or decrease text/photo size), swipe (three finger gesture to scroll through multiple pages) and rotate (photos). For this new year, if one of your resolutions, like always, includes getting thinner, the new MacBook Air could have you covered. The world’s thinnest notebook has arrived – and check out apple.com/hotnews for the complete list of MacWorld 2008 announcements. By Andrew J Wiener |
| Energizer - Energi To Go | ||
| 2007-12-18 16:56:29 | ||
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| YUBZ - USB Skype Phones |
| 2007-10-01 20:03:14 |
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If you’re like us, you sometimes get that nostalgic feeling for picking up the phone your mom had in your kitchen growing up. But in the constant struggle to find a phone small enough so you can’t see it in your pocket when you leave the house, you probably forgot how comforting it was to cradle a phone between your ear and shoulder and talk for hours. Now YUBZ has designed a USB Skype phone for computers and cell phones. YUBZ TALK ONLINE works with most PC’s and Mac’s (US$44.95) because it comes with VOIP plug-and-play technology in black, red, white and yellow. For the same price you can also get the YUBZ TALK MOBILE in 10 different colors. It’s designed to attach to most mobile phones. By Andrew J Weiner |
| Cut The Cord - Charging Station |
| 2007-07-31 14:16:06 |
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Even though the word wireless gets used as often as 'I love you', our lives still seem inundated with cords at just about every turn. From the cell phone and iPod charger through to the vibrator and epilady, its cords, cords, cords. This new wall-mountable charging station does not eliminate the hordes of wiring that surround these devices, it simply disguises them. The slim line station stores all the wires inside it, revealing just a few simple docking slots where your lifeless devices slip in for a full re-charge. At $35, its the best 'swept under the carpet' routine on the market. By Andy G |
| PHOTON Portable Solar |
| 2007-07-23 14:22:18 |
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PHOTON portable solar panel system comes none too early for those who on the crest of their mountain hike have discovered that the batteries of their phone and camera are dead. No charger, no plug, no photos, no bragging to friends. The designer of PHOTON is architect Kari Sivonen, one of the partners in the Helsinki-based Valvomo. The prototype has been manufactured by Clothing+, a Finnish company specializing in intelligent clothing, or as they call it, wearable technology. PHOTON is also part of SAUMA [Design as Cultural Interface], a travelling exhibition produced by the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York. SAUMA (Finnish for “seam”) presents 20 works of innovative contemporary design from Finland. SAUMA is at the Los Angeles Architecture and Design Museum till August 28, 2007, and will then move to Helsinki and Paris for 2008. By Tuija Seipell. |
| The $6000 MP3 Player |
| 2007-03-22 14:33:45 |
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Techno craftsman Gresso are better known for their African Blackwood mobile phones. The collection of phones are beautifully constructed out of 200 year old wood and have placed Gresso in a unique market where wooden craftsmanship meets technology. Now, Gresso have developed their own line of MP3 players called, The Symphonia Collection. The model is again crafted from African Black wood, whilst the front panel is made of a scratch resistant 18 carat gold surface. The idea behind it's conception is for the Symphonia to be worn as a piece of jewelry rather than an MP3 on a lanyard. With this exceptional finish, this is easily achieved. The Symphonia Collection holds 1 GB of memory and when it debuts later this year will be priced between US$4000 - $6500. At that price, I'll take six and an extra one for the maid. By Andy G |
