There’s plenty of strange gadgets out there. Here we share some oddities that still have the cool factor.
… but it’s listed on Firebox and it’s not April so it looks like the stuff really does exist. The finest food scientists mankind has to offer have finally come up with the condiment to end them all:
Vegetarian-friendly spreadable bacon.
Words fail me. I’d love to be dismissive but since I’ve just ordered a jar that would be kind of hypocritical!
[Edit: Having now tried it, I can say it tastes more "smokey" than "bacon" to me - reminds me of Frazzles!]
I’ve been following the fortunes of Quirky for a while now – it’s an interesting website that takes the idea of community websites and applies it to product development. The community (which is free to join) collectively suggests new ideas for products, inputs design ideas and votes on them. Ones that are selected to move forward make it into pre-production.
News of this neat gadget actually arrived as a footnote to the press release for the WX1 and TX1 cameras, but I thought it was too cool to get buried and deserved a post of its own.
The IPT-DS1 is an optional accessory for the aforementioned cameras. It’s a motorised base that automatically pans and tilts to cover the room. It controls the camera using the automatic face detection and smile detection features to take photos automatically – the idea is that it is constantly on the lookout for the sort of “happy smiling people” shots people love to take at parties, leaving you free to enjoy the evening.
The only downside is it may be a little disturbing to have a robot camera tracking you around the room…
I’m not even sure how to describe the Scubacraft. I guess “underwater recreational vehicle” comes as close as anything. It’s a high performance twin hulled sports boat designed to carry divers (the seats will accommodate people wearing scuba gear)
Once at a dive site site though there’s no leaping out of the boat like you normally would – you just press the “down” button and keep driving the boat underwater!
The whole thing is very 007 – we like! (no mention of price on the site though – I think it comes into the category of “if you need to ask…”)
This week’s issue of the “New Yorker” magazine features a cover illustration painted on an iPhone. Jorge Columbo is the artist responsible and how he managed to do anything useful at all – never mind a magazine cover – on a 3.5” screen speaks volumes for his talent.
The image was sketched in an hour using finger-painting app Brushes (yours for the princely sum of £2.39).
You can see more of Jorge’s work here, or check out the CNET story for a cool video showing how the image was built up.
Walking around the Ideal Home show yesterday I came across Message in a bottle tucked away in a quiet corner. They have a neat take on the recycling theme, by flattening glass bottles and turning them into clocks and cheeseboards.
All their products are made from recycled drinks bottles, heated in a furnace and melted just enough to be flattened while retaining the original texture and shape. The original labels (removed before the process, obviously) are then re-applied to make a unique clock or cheeseboard.
So it’s April 2nd, which means a roundup of yesterday’s April fools stories. To be sure there were some pretty inventive ones out there – IWOOT came up with some cracking new products. The IClamp was almost believable, but the ContaXt digital lenses were inspired.
Not to be outdone, Firebox retaliated with some lower-tech (but strangely believable) products like powdered beer – which if it doesn’t exist, should! The sat-nav shoes were a nice touch too – technologically possible, but wholly impractical. Which is why I almost fell for them, since an awful lot of what we cover comes into that category!
You really do have be wary about press releases that come out on April 1st – take this wonderfully inventive but sadly non-existent concept from IWOOT for example!
That said, Neutrano do see to have been making wrist bound gadgets for a while now so who knows, perhaps this one really exists!
Like the LG Watch phone we saw at MWC it has multimedia capability. Unlike the GD-910 though the face can be detached to use as a more conventional phone (surely the whole point of the watch phone is to make like a spy, whispering into your wrist?)
Is it just me or is this aeroplane shaped cake tin strangely reminiscent of an Airfix kit before you build it? OK so a cake tin isn’t exactly high tech but you have to admit it’s pretty cool if a little odd.
Someone over at I want one of those.com obviously agrees with me as they’ve just added this little marvel to their website. So with Easter just around the corner it just could be the perfect present for that aircraft obsessed friend of yours.
Shimano is a brand synonymous with high quality cycle components. Now the last time I got anywhere near a pushbike was when the Iron Lady was in power, but I have to admit to a strange fascination with these parts.
Why? Buttons of course! Shimano have taken the standard set of components used to create the drivetrain on a bicycle and computerised them. The Di2 range of components gives your bike pushbutton gearshifts so every change is spot on and seamless.
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