Candyland: Twisted Tarts Candy Factory

Go on...play with your food

I was watching the Food Network last night and they were covering the Candy Convention. This is a conference where candy makers come out and show the newest innovations in sugary sweets. A company called Creative Concepts have developed a machine called the Twisted Tarts Candy Factory. This machine, resembling an arcade style video game, allows you to combine powder in several flavors and color (mostly sour) and transforms them into solid tarts right before your eyes. The machine filters the flavored powder into the mold and using 1200 pounds of pressure turns it into a candy tart. [Watch it in action]. Creative Concepts also has a similar machine that allows you to mix your own (pixie stick basically) sour tube of sugar treat ( I guess that's what I can call it). The treat is called Pucker Powder. (The website is pretty interesting [Check it out]).

[Source: twistedtarts.com]

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Bling Bling: Electrolux Crystal Ergoripado

You can Bedazzle almost anything

Ok, I'm just going to be honest. Why on earth would you ever need a vacuum cleaner embellished with 3,730 Swarovoski crystals? With the help of Polish fashion designer Lukasz Jemiol, Electrolux has created the Crystal Ergoripado. Even though this vacuum is mainly made from recycled parts it is valued at $29,000. The crystals are from the CRYSTALLIZED - Swarovski Elements collection.

To be fair, this was not necessarily created for every day use. The vacuum made its debut during Jemoil's collection in a fashion show. The Good Housekeeping Institute in London showcased the vacuum on March 17 of this year. With this price this vacuum is quite possibly the most expensive vacuum ever. I doubt even those with the money to purchase it actually clean their houses themselves or would even trust their cleaning people to clean with it. I know I'd take some crystals. [Source: T3.com]




[Source: designyearbook.blogspot.com]

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Redefining Pitstop: Urine Powered Car?

A Powerful Pitstop

Picture it: You're taking one of your infamous road trips when suddenly the all familiar tune starts playing in your head "Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now". At the same time you notice you're a bit low on fuel. But there are no rest stops or gas stations around. No problem, you just pull over and fill your tank with your own 'special fuel'. Yes, you read it right. Power your vehicle with your own urine.

As we are all aware, scientist and automobile manufacturers across the globe are looking for a more sustainable source of fuel. They have been testing out a multitude of alternative fuel sources, one of them being hydrogen. Scientists have been developing ways to extract hydrogen from water. However a major hurdle in this development is the amount of energy needed to power the equipment to extract the hydrogen. Once extracted the next obstacle is how to distribute it.

Well, Garadine Bottle, a scientist at Ohio University, has developed a catalyst capable of extracting hydrogen from urine. How? Let's give you a minor flash back to high school science class, shall we? Extracting hydrogen from the water molecules is possible but it takes much more energy because the bond to oxygen is tighter. Bottle has found that the hydrogen in urea is not as tightly bonded to nitrogen. Therefore, using a nickel-based electrode, the device can extract the hydrogen with less energy. It only uses less than half the amount of energy in a AA battery (0.37 volts) and less than 1.23 volts used to extract hydrogen from water.


With the device using less energy, Bottle is able to make it small enough to integrate into an automobile. The current prototype is about the size of 2 CD jewel cases and can produce up to 500 milliwatts of power. According to wired.com, Bottle stated that "An electrolyzer built into a car would eliminate the need for a hydrogen storage tank, and with the right partnership, I believe we could have pee-powered cars capable of 60 miles per gallon on the road within a year.” Since the body produces 2-3 liters of urine a day, it becomes one of the most abundant fuel sources on the planet.

Though Bottle is working with the Department of Defense to develop electrolyzer technology for military use, she hasn't gotten much federal funding for the project. However, because the technology is so light, conventional car companies have a variety of ways they can incorporate it into their cars. Like all of the other green technology emerging, we'll just have to wait and see what becomes of this.

[Source: wired.com]

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Backyard BBQ sans The Yard: Plek 66

The Plek 66 Grill

Modern design, meet the grill. Rocal's Plek 66 is ideal for lofts, townhouses and other places where you may not have room for your traditional grill. I'd love to have this on my back porch right now. Very practical and designed to occupy little space, the Plek66 barbecue folds to a thin rectangle when not in use. Unfolded, the grill reveals a double grill, big container for storing charcoal and ashes, and two useful side shelves which allow to accommodate all necessary things for cooking. It can be placed on the floor or hanged on the wall.

Though it is used primarily as a charcoal grill, it can allows for wood grilling. Once you close the hood and the drawer the ashes are automatically dumped into an ash collection drawer. The drawer below, made of stainless steel, holds about 5.5 lbs (2.5 kg) of charcoal ashes and about 11 lbs (5 kg) of wood ashes. The lower most drawer serves as storage for any additional charcoal or wood as well as your cooking utensils. The grill, while sufficiently insulated to prevent your house from catching fire, can safely heat up to 1,112°F. The hood and the drawers prevent rainwater from flooding the grill and the paint is highly water resistant.

While there is no price listed, you can contact the company. But be prepared, the manufacturer is located in Spain.

[Source: digsdigs.com]

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Ride It: Google Wave

Google Wave Demo at I/O 2009

During this year's I/O convention, Google demonstrated the developer's versions of the Google Wave. This boasts to be a powerful open-source web based communication and collaboration tool. It allows users to communicate in real-time and share photos, videos, maps and more. Participants can reply to any part of conversations and begin from any part of an email thread. People can be added to the thread at any moment and see the entire conversation in the manner in which it unfolded. It works across browsers and mobile devices, can be embedded into blogs, edited, shared and more.

The innovations demonstrated in this video are quite impressive such as context aware spell checker, real-time typing view and drag and drop photo sharing. Viewers of the demo all received accounts to help with the development of the program. There are also game, rsvp gadgets, and many more options available for this api, all from the view of one browser window. Developed by the people who brought us Google Maps, it is expected to be released later this year.

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88 Keys: Bösendorfer Concert Grand Piano

Classic Tradition Meets Modern Design

I've played the piano for decades, but I've never played on anything like this. When someone says 'Grand Piano' we all have an idea of what it looks like. Bösendorfer, a Austrian piano manufacture, teamed up with Audi's German design studio and reinvented what most consumers would think is a Grand Piano.

This is a challenging task because a piano's shape is what determines the quality of sound that the instrument produces. Working together as a team they have managed to redesign the shape and keep the quality of sound. The Audi design features a closed bass side rim that allows it to project the mass more strongly. The lid reaches seamlessly to the floor and the pedal lyre is completed in a sleek and simple aluminum finish. There are no visible hinges anywhere on the piano, the hydraulically attenuated fall board is recessed and the music rack is covered with a net material for perfect sound permeability.

This would make a beautiful addition to any contemporary space at $140,000. (Yikes!)

[Source: gentlemansgadgets.com]

[Source: dezona.com]

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Picture Perfect? iPhone Gets Camera Lenses

Factron iPhone Case with Removable Lenses


So, I'm not sure I understand the total need for all of this. Factron out of Japan has created a case for the Apple iPhone SP that will allow users to attach several camera lenses to work with the built-in camera. According to the roughly translated website, they are working on modifications to make it compatible with the new 3GS. Apparently the resolution and performance upgrade wasn't enough. The lenses are called the Quattro and the package comes with a fisheye converter (185° and 170°), a super wide conversion lense (120°), and a close up lenses with a focal length of 25mm and 40mm. The lenses alone will range from about $11 - $50 dollars or so. The case to attach it to however is about $160. In my opinion, if you want to do all of that with your pictures, just go buy a real camera.

[Source: factron.net]

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Refined, not reinvented: OSX Snow Leopard

Snow Leopard proves to be one bad kitty

Anyone who follows Apple news knows of the release of their newest OSX Snow Leopard. This is to be an improvement on the current operating system by making minor tweaks and adjustments to the features currently offered. Scheduled to be released in September, Apple is offering this upgrade to Leopard users for only $29. Upgraders can expect to see enhancements to the finder including customizable Spotlight search options, and enhanced icon view that lets you look through multipaged pdfs and watch quicktime movies. Apple has also intergrated Expose with the Dock so you can move through applications and documents faster. For me the best improvment is the size. Snow Leopard will free up abot 6GB of space on your computer. If you ar designer like me you can use all the space you can get. It also is about 75% faster when shutting down and twice as fast when waking up from sleep. That removes my main reason for not shutting my computer down at night. They've also made a host of improvements to Quicktime, Safari, Preview, Mail and other applications. Read more about the enhancements on Apple's website. I'm sure once the OS is released, Apple will post an extensive video on their site on how to use it. Until then, c|net gives us a sneak peak at how this OS really works.

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Taking over the world: Google Chrome OS

Will Google Chrome live up to the hype?

Planning to be released to the public in late 2010, Google announced it's first attempt at designing an operating system Google Chrome OS. Building off of their work with Android, Google now wants to push the technology to the increasing population of netbook users. The goal is to create a product that is fast and light weight, sending most of the work to be done on the internet not the computer. This means users who spend most of their time on the web will no longer have to wait for background programs to launch before being able to begin their browsing.

[Source: www.techradar.com]

Why is this even possible? People have begun to use online tools increasingly over the past few years to do what you would traditionally do on the desktop. Things such as webmail, calendars, chat, document management, etc. Google is seeing an opportunity to remove the need of desktop operating systems and create one that only uses the web. It is expected to be able to run on most PC platforms, on both x86 and ARM chips and they are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to the market next year.

With it being so web centered, there is concern out there about the integrity of the security. They plan to incorporate the strategy they used when creating the Chrome browser and redesign the underlying security architecture of the OS protecting its users from viruses, malware and security updates. Telling users not to worry "it should just work".

The developers at Google are not in at alone. They plan to release the open source code to the community later this year and are encouraging the community to develop for the project. How much will this OS cost? Sources are estimating a whopping $0. Yes free. Why? Because it's Linux based and it's open-sourced. I guess we'll see in 2010.

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Form and Function: Bulthaup Modular Kitchen

Where architecture creates quality of life.

In my dream world I'd live in a two story loft overlooking in the city. And this just may be the company that I would want to design my kitchen. Bulthaup was founded in 1949 and specializes in individual custom kitchens. They are located in approximately 50 countries world wide exporting about 70% of their kitchen systems, furniture and accessories. These systems are comprehensive solutions offering perfect functionality and ergonomics, created to satisfy even the toughest architectural and design demands. Each individual kitchen is planned and produced on a custom-build basis.

Their modular kitchen systems are broken down into three series. The bulthaup b1, 2 and 3. Made for challenging floor plans and limited spaces these systems also have matching seating, accesories and special technical solutions to complete your perfect space.

The b1 series is what they call the essential kitchen. This series is all about simplicity and focuses on form. It is pared down to the essentials and features cabinets, drawers and compartments sans the clutter of handles. Because of the lack of pulls, the company focused on ergonomics and made sure that each compartment has finger-friendly edges. The design is comprised of striking horizontal and vertical lines and incorporates aluminum frames for a sculpted look.

[Source: www.bulthaup.com]

The next tier in the system is the b2 series. They are completely defining the way a kitchen is set up. They have broken it down into three elements: a workbench, a hob and water point and cabinets for appliances, tools and food. For this series they collaborated with the Vienna-based EOOS design house. They really took time to identify the amount of storage space actually required in kitchen cabinets, the quantity of cooking implements, and appliances really needed to properly function. Because if it's set up it can be changed easily, re-combined moved and added to.

[Source: www.bulthaup.com]

The third is the premium b3 kitchen. It focuses on architectural independence and fully lends itself to your own personal style. It features a diversity in options from a minimalist design to filigree shapes, floating and floor-standing elements, aluminum to wood yielding endless choices that allow you to create your dream kitchen. Just going through the kitchen's photos you get the sense of the range of what this kitchen can be. Truly amazing.

[Source: www.bulthaup.com]

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Mobile Lo-Jack: BluAlert Bluetooth Bracelet

Never miss a call again

Ladies, how many times have you found yourself feavoursly digging in your purse for your cell phone. It seems like no matter how small the bag is, the phone is always ending up M.I.A. Men don't typically share in the same problem but everyone at some point has been looking for phone that has managed to pull a temporary disappearing act. Well the makers of the BluAlert Bluetooth Bracelet have put the bluetooth technology to good use.

This bracelet serves two man functions. First, once paired with your phone, the bracelet will alert the wearer every time the phone rings. This way if you are in a lound environment, you'll never miss a call because you couldn't hear your phone ringing. It would be nice though if the bracelet could also display your caller id so you would know in advance if you wanted to answer it. An added bonus, due to the fact that bluetooth objects have to be within a resonable proximity of eachother to continue the link, one your phone leaves that range it will alert you with a buzz. Once you are more than about 15 feet away from your phone, the bracelet will alert you. No more leaving it in the resturant bathroom.

The bracelet is compatible with most handsfree devices and has about a 3 hour charge time, 100 hour stand-by time. The bracelet is made of a resizable neoprene band and it fits wrists from 7.5" - 9.5". It's available from thinkgeek.com for $39.99.

[Source: thinkgeek.com]

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Measuring Up: Wooden Digital Ruler

Not your mama's ruler

You read it right. This concept is a spin on your traditional wooden ruler. The ruler would start counting from zero wherever you start creating your mark. It appears to feature sensors along the edge that would track the position of your object from your start point and display the measurement digitally. With no lines on the ruler at all I'd be concerned about the accuracy, but the idea is great. You wouldn't be getting any spankings with this ruler.

[Source: gizmodo.com]

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Go-Go-Gadget Car: Audi Exo Concept Car

A kinetic driving experience

The great people over at Yanko are showcasing a concept car for my all time favorite car companies: Audi. The Exo Audi concept was created by Andrea Mocellin. The concept would use nanotechnology as an energy source and make the car human powered. The drivers own kinetic energy would power the car. Just to be clear kinetic energy is created by a body's movement. How your body would move to keep the car moving is uncertain. The whole point of taking a car is so that you don't have to walk or bike your way to your location. Perhaps the technology would pick up on the movement of object in our body such as your heart or lungs (or maybe a not so vital organ). Or maybe it would be powered by small movements such as a wave of your hand. Not really sure how that would work but the concept is beautiful. You can find more pictures at Yanko Design.

[Source: yankodesign.com]

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Let's Play: Sony PSP Go

From concept to reality

A few posts ago I posted some concepts of the redesign of Sony's PSP. It's only right that I show the actual product. The new PSP: Go is the fastest PSP system yet coming in at about 44% faster than the previous models. It features a 16gb hard drive that allows you to save movies, tv shows, etc. directly to the drive. The PSP: Go comes in either black and white and is packaged with a USB cable and AC adaptor. This model is much smaller and thiner than it's predicessors neatly tucking the game controls underneath these screen. Ubergizmo has photos of the new PSP: Go in the hands of the reviewer so you can see the scale of the new game system very well. I know the reasoning behind making it smaller. However I'm curious as to how someone's giant man hands wil be able to play a game comfortably.

[Source: playstation.com]

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It's Just That Easy: Snap Capp

Late Night TV wooed me


So it's the middle of the night (or the beginning of the morning, which ever way you want to look at it) and I flipped past a product that made me say 'I Want That'. It's called a Snap Capp. It basically allows you to turn your can into a bottle. It claims to work with almost all 12 to 16 oz aluminum cans and keeps your fizzy beverages fizzy. Not sure how true the fizzy part is considering most of your standard bottles don't keep the fiz in once you've opened them. I'm sure like most late night infomercial products it works within limitations. I also read that sometimes hotter settings in the dishwasher so it's probably best to hand wash them. However, they were running a pretty decent special for 6 or so on the infomercial I saw but you can get one for $3.99 from here.

[Source: ampco20.powweb.com]

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Jabra Go: 6400

Can you hear me now?

This week, a good friend of mine Mr. Stark introduced me to a phone called the Jabra Go: 6400. Taking the technology that has already been incorporated into mobile phone devices everywhere, Jabra has launched a line of phones called the Jabra Go. This phone features a bluetooth headset that is compatible not only with your standard landline phones, but also with your computer.

The base features a charging station and a LCD touch screen that is about 2.4 inches in size. All of your controls are accessible via the touch screen such as volume, caller id, etc. For a mere $199 this phone can be yours......

[Source: gentlemansgadgets.com]

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The Way You Move: Xbox 360 'Natal'

Microsoft Xbox 360 Motion Sensor Controller Demo

At this year's E3 conference, Microsoft unveiled it's much rumored motion sensor technology code named "Natal". Gamers would be able to play titles on the console using no controllers, no wires, basically no limits. Not only will it pick up large gestures, but it's even supposed to be able to detect minor movements such as wiggling of fingers. What makes this possible is a peripheral motion sensing camera that allows the device to detect pixel distance. In other words, it can detect not only the color of the objects in front of it, but how close they are to one another.


With Sony releasing demos of their own motion sensor technology, many are wondering what the delay was in releasing this and competing with the Wii. Remember a little gadget called the "Eye Toy"? The ability to track motion sans controller has been in development for a while. Consider the games that are typically offered on the two consoles. I would imagine games in the relm of Halo and Grand Theft Auto become difficult due to the currently established mental model of how those games are played. Moving your controller to walk around walls, pressing buttons to shoot make more sense than trying to do that in the real world around imaginary object. It's not to say that it's not possible, but in the initial phases it probably wasn't very practical. However the games demoed in the video would, in theory, work really well with controller-less game play. The gestures used to play these games would make enough sense that you wouldn't have to actually have a physical object in front of you.

The additional features such as teleconferencing and the navigation through the video and menus also seem very possible. There are many applications already using the technology. The only thing that seems a bit far fecthed is when the girl puts on a virtual outfit and models it on the screen. I would be interested to see how that worked in person. All in all what Microsoft has managed to do with this technology is a huge step into the future of game play. At the very least it begins to nip at the problem with obesity and America's sedentary lifestyle by making us get up and move.

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