Eye-Fi is a new product that will add wifi connectivity to most digital cameras. Eye-Fi is a specially designed SD-card that contains both storage and a wifi module built in. The basic idea of wifi in cameras is to create an easier way to transfer pictures from the camera to the computer, eliminating the need for a USB cable or card adapter. The Eye-Fi carries this idea further by enabling the user to upload pictures to a web-base photo website (like Flikr) from any wireless hotspot. This benefits users because they can free up space on their memory card by dumping their pictures to the web anytime the find a hotspot. It should be available by the end of the year for around $100, and greatly increase the chance that one of your friends will "accidentally" upload more personal pictures of himself dressed in his "teddy bear bondage" costume to the Internet.
Scientists are working on a robotic shoe that detects and avoids landmines. The shoe contains six legs that each have a metal detecting base. As the wearer places a foot down, all six of the legs test the ground to determine if a mine is present. If a mine is detected, the leg over the mine will raise, applying no pressure to ground and preventing the wearer from triggering the mine. Since landmines kill tens of thousands of people every year, these shoes are welcome inventions. With this technology, you'll also be able to effortlessly walk over the homeless people that used to remind you just how cruel and unforgiving the world really is. Plus you'll be like a foot taller!
Designer Eric Klarenbeek has created new contact lenses that are guaranteed to increase the wearer's ability to frighten small children and animals. Dubbed "Eye Jewellery" [sic], these contact lenses apparently suspend tiny jewels from strands of wire. The jewelry hanging from these contacts supposedly does not affect vision, and it at least appears to make it easier to insert and remove the lenses. There's no word on testing or a release date, so until that day, you'll just have to stick to the standard jewel-encrusted eye patch.
If brewing your own bathtub rum has given you more alcohol burns than delicious hooch, you should consider taking a more civilized approach. Enter the WinePod, a product that might actually deserve to have "pod" in its name. The WinePod lets you make your own wine from the comfort of your "home or office," once again improving the outlook of casual fridays. It uses a wireless onboard computer to control the process, and the complete winery setup goes for about $1999. $1999 can buy you a lot of wine, sure, but that wine won't make you happy. Happiness only comes in a glass of wine made with M&M's and Cadbury Creme Eggs.
Appeal is a new battery charger concept that requires no energy source beyond the simple activity of swinging a rope. The concept charges batteries by tapping the centrifugal force created from swinging the charger around repeatedly in a motion similar to that of a lasso. I'm sure hikers will see this charger as a great way to keep camera batteries charged on long hikes, only to accidently swing the charger into their head, sending their batteries flying into the woods and leaving them as unconscious prey for foraging mountain lions. In the end, I guess that's the secret goal of most electronics, finally putting an end to the terrible scourge of hikers once and for all.
MobilRelay, a small midwestern technology company, has developed a technology that can transform your cell phone into a movie ticket. Using an internet-enabled cell phone, customers simply browse to the Mobile Box Office website, choose and purchase tickets for their selected movie and times, and then wait for a text message that contains a barcode relating to the purchase. The usher scans the barcode when the customer enters the theater, and the customer gracefully skips the lines and unmanageable stress usually involved with buying a ticket from an actual person. Also, when you purchase tickets on your phone, only you and the usher will know that you saw Big Momma's House 2 eight times, a secret shame you'll both carry to your death.