Around The Home
August 11, 2005 Oliso announced the release of its Touch&Glide iron earlier this week, claiming the new iron would redefine the experience of ironing. Well let's hope so, cos we're pretty sure there aren't many humans on the planet that are all that keen on ironing as a hobby or past-time. One of the aspects of the new iron which really caught our eye was the iron's touch-sensitive handle which activates its AutoLift system, automatically lifting the iron off of the fabric when the handle is released. It lowers itself onto the fabric or an ironing board whenever you touch its handle. Now that's clever, though it does beg the question as to why it has taken so long to think of this. General Electric introduced the electric iron as we know it in 1892, giving us 113 years to think about it. When Seimens introduced the company's shirt ironing machine, we calculated it would save people at least 40 minutes a week. We reckon the Touch&Glide is a winner, as it focusses on usability and performance, claiming users of the iron have reduced ironing time by one third. Read More
August 9, 2005 The trend towards multitasking in everything we do is continuing, with UK-based VisionMirror now offering a commercial TFT-LCD display within a mirror. The Mirror TV concept originated from Philips HomeLab and was the first commercial product to emanate from the R & D “Big Brother-like” house run by the Dutch giant but MiraVision isn’t available in some countries so it’s kinda fortunate that VisionMirror appears identical to MiraVision – it is operated via infra red control, is impervious to moisture and can hence be used in bathrooms and when switched off, it functions like a regular mirror. Indeed, we must comment on the extraordinary amount of innovation being focussed on the mirror at present. In recent times we’ve also reported on the BabyCam monitoring system which uses very similar technology, the SUCK LED Mirror with RSS feed and Accenture's intelligent mirror that analyses your behavioural patterns and can reflect an image of what you'll look like five or ten years from now. Read More
August 7, 2005 Somewhere between a miniature hovercraft and a traditional vacuum cleaner, the AIRIDER has been nine years in development. While we’re not sure why it took so long, it is nonetheless a very good idea because one of the most difficult aspects of cleaning is dragging the vacuum around behind you and with a cushion of air making the machine frictionless, there’s no effort required to drag it around. Apart from floating an eighth of an inch off the floor, the bag-less design also reduces clogging and increases performance, with a claimed suction speed of 200 miles per hour. Read More
August 3, 2005 Unique, beautiful and damned clever, the Satala is a one-tree hammock – which means you can have a hammock off a wall or any solid object. On top of that, there are no strings to tangle and no issues getting in and out – indeed, the manufacturer Aquagallery claims the Satala is just as comfy with two people. The Satala is the work of Israeli designer, Ayala Serfaty, a designer whose global renown is growing thanks to her brilliant development of shapes from nature into useful and incredibly beautiful objects. As can be seen from the variety of images here, the Satala can be adapted in many ways. The price is US$4000 via funfurde Read More
July 30, 2005 From the why-didn’t-we-think-of-this department, the Evatech lawnmower takes the lawn mower principle, adds a powerful motor and a remote-control unit and even adds in a hybrid power supply (well, sort of) so you don’t need to charge the battery. The result is an all-terrain lawnmower that makes mowing the lawn fun. The Florida-produced machine has found a lucrative and unexpected market with retiree and disabled customers though there’s apparently a whole bunch of able-bodied male suburban dwellers who have suddenly found a passion for mowing the lawn! Read More
July 25, 2005 Now we also found it hard to believe that a retractable oven door hadn’t been done before because some people have really tiny apartments and it’s just so darned logical to have a door that doesn’t take up all that kitchen real estate, particularly if there are kids around with it being so hot and burny-burny and all. But it’s true. Manufacturer Oven Elite claims it’s the latest innovation in traditional wall oven design and it is a good idea, so there you have it … the Door-a-way. Read More
July 16, 2005 With the trend towards exotic metals and composites in our consumer electronics products, JVC made an interesting move this week when it released its new HP-DX1000 wooden headphones onto the Japanese market. Priced at JPY 105,000 yen (US$1000 to you), the headphones reportedly produce exquisite rich sound thanks to their natural wooden housings and a special driver unit that is directly mounted onto the wood using the company’s proprietary "Direct Mount Construction." To complete the package, you can purchase a matching wooden stand for your headphones at JPY 26,000 yen (US$250). It’s all frightfully expensive we agree, but the headphones offer a frequency response from 4Hz to 30kHz which is probably better than your ears. Read More
July 15, 2005 Now this idea just might have some legs. The MovieTime Digital DVD projector by Optoma lets consumers instantly create a home theater environment anywhere there’s a flat wall and a power outlet. It’s a compact ultra bright, theater-quality digital projector with a built-in DVD player and integrated speakers. Originally shown at the CES earlier this year, the MovieTime DVD projector is designed for a wide range of home entertainment options, from watching the latest DVD movie releases to hooking it up to a gaming console so you can play on a large screen with friends and family. Because of MovieTime's integrated digital DVD player and two 5-watt speakers, as well as its short-throw lens, it is easy to turn any room in the house into an instant screening room - right out of the box. Read More
July 14, 2005 Blown filaments and broken globes aren’t the only casualties of traditional incandescent lighting compared to the coming solid state lighting, and that was never more evident than the recent relighting of Philadelphia's famed Boathouse Row. The new LED-based lighting system replaces the previous 30-year-old incandescent system, and is expected to save the Fairmount Park Commission approximately US$57,000 in annual operating costs. Read More
July 13, 2005 While the world seems focused on television and Personal Video recorders, the technological leaps associated with podcasting and timeshifting audio/radio from different sources are often overlooked. One of the leaders in the field is Griffin Technology Inc., which has released some significant functionality for Mac, PC, and iPod. Among the company’s offerings are RocketFM (a wireless solution for broadcasting PC audio applications to any FM radio), radio SHARK (which adds an AM/FM radio to any PC and can record any AM or FM radio broadcast i.e. TIVO for radio), AirClickUSB Remote (a non-line-of-sight wireless remote control for PCs that allows users to control their computers from 20 metres away), BlueTrip (a wireless transmitter/receiver for broadcasting CD-quality audio from an iPod to a home stereo), SmartDeck Intelligent Cassette Adapter for iPod (which allows users to control their iPod using the built in controls of their car or home cassette player) and a beta software program entitled iFill. IFill is exciting because it streams mp3 files from thousands of free radio stations directly to your iPod while it is charging. You can choose several stations at once and select from many different genres. And you can download a trial copy for free ... just follow the links >>>> Read More
