Jun 22 2007 Quartz Telephone
From the designer's site:
The number keys are like pieces of pretty quartz crystal (with LED light at the bottom). Once pressed, the key will shine like brilliant jewel. The super large screen, the perfect display of incoming call, and such functions as calendar, phone book and super luxurious speaker phone all add up to the great enjoyment of the home phone luxury.
I believe it's just a concept, but that's one of the most stunning phones I've ever seen. It looks like it'd break at the touch, but the two hours you get to spend looking at it before it does would be totally worth it.
Jun 22 2007 The Pool Treadmill
The Pool Treadmill allows you to swim in your pool as if it were a full-sized lap pool. Turn it on and it creates a downstream current of up to 6 mph. Sadly, the thing costs $3,999.95. For that price I could probably just buy a river. Or Australia. I have no idea how much things cost...
Jun 22 2007 Catapult Watch
The catapult watch is exactly what it sounds like, a watch that's also a catapult. It shoots BBs, dried peas, basically anything you can fit into the little launcher on the face. It's made out of stainless steel and claims to be able to shoot the projectiles up to 8 feet across the room. You can get them for $49, although it might be a better idea to keep your money and stick to just throwing things with your arm. Because, well, look at it. I'm not stylish by any sense of the word, but I'd rather tape a wall clock to my wrist.
Jun 22 2007 HRP-3 Promet Mk-II blue-collar robot
The HRP-3 Promet Mk-II is a robot designed to take over blue-collar jobs. It stands 5' 3", weighs 150 pounds, and is part of a 5-year joint effort by Kawada Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) to develop a humanoid robot with sufficient skills to enter the workforce. Pink Tentacle writes:
[It's] tough enough to trudge through heavy rains, carry out disaster relief operations and work in environments hazardous to humans, demonstrated its skills at a June 21 press conference at Kawada Industries headquarters in Tochigi prefecture. In addition to flaunting its ability to walk on slippery surfaces, the robot showed off its electric screwdriver wielding talents by taking the opportunity to tighten up some loose screws.
I don't see this thing actually replacing any employees considering it costs $3.3 million. Maybe I'm just out of touch with society, but that seems slightly higher than the average blue-collar worker's salary. Slightly.
Jun 22 2007 Pleo the Robotic Dinosaur
Pleo is a dinosaur robot similar to an AIBO. Each one is unique, in that they start off as a newly-hatched baby Camarasaurus but then develop their own personality, mood, and habits. It's created by the same guy who created the Furby and was introduced awhile ago, but now they're finally taking pre-orders. The units cost $349 and won't ship until October, but they look cool as hell. I defy you to check one out in action and not want to buy one. I also defy you to look into my eyes and not fall in love.
Jun 21 2007 Human Tetris
Ever wondered why Japanese television is better than anything else in the entire world? It's because they come up with ridiculous game shows like this. And by ridiculous I mean super genius.
Jun 21 2007 Life Bank One Bottle Top
The Life Bank One is a little coin counter that you can screw onto the top of bottles, turning any empty bottle into a piggy bank. Or, uh, change bank. Unless it happens to be a pig bottle, in which case, yeah, piggy bank. Unfortunately, the thing only counts 1 yen coins, which means it's completely useless unless you live in Japan and only get 1 yen coins in change. And really, who doesn't?
Jun 21 2007 Cell Phone Handcuff Strap
Strap-Ya is selling this cell phone strap that looks like a set of tiny metallic handcuffs. The handcuffs actually lock with the included keys, so you can use them to attach your phone to your belt strap. Or do whatever else it is you'd want to do with tiny functional handcuffs. I guess you could, I dunno, arrest some fingers or something.
Jun 21 2007 Star Wars AT-AT Imperial Walker Baby Stroller
This is a baby stroller that's been modded into a Star Wars AT-AT Imperial Walker. There's not much info available about the stroller except that it was photographed by multiple attendees of the Star Wars Celebration IV convention held in Los Angeles. And I think it's safe to say this qualifies as one of the greatest baby strollers ever. Second only to the one I built out of rusty nails. Stylish and safe!
Jun 20 2007 Solid State Musical Tesla Coil
Ever seen a Tesla coil make music before? You have now. This is a solid state musical Tesla coil. Tesla coils normally operate at a frequency inaudible to human ears, but the musical Tesla coil produces sound by rapidly turning on and off at audible frequencies. Similar to how a fart works, only not similar at all and completely different.
Jun 20 2007 Froggetmee Combines Spoon And Chopsticks
Froggetmee is a combination utensil similar to the Chork which combines a soup spoon and pair of chopsticks. It costs $8 off shopmodi, though I don't understand how they named it. I know it's tough to combine 'soup spoon' and 'chopsticks' into one word, but 'froggetmee' isn't even close. It's like they just dropped something on their keyboard and went, "Yeah, that's a good name for this."
Jun 20 2007 Greatest USB Drive Ever
Thanks to this commenter for sharing the greatest USB drive ever created. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy electronics off the streets of China, but don't be surprised if your new computer turns out to be a stack of bricks glued to a lamp.
Jun 20 2007 Bulgari Assioma Multicomplication Squelette $155k Watch
The Bulgari Assioma Tourbillon Multicomplication Squelette is a watch which features a perpetual calendar as well as a tourbillon. The case is made from platinum and has double sapphire cyrstals, and the tourbillon movement employs the Caliber BVL 416 which has a 64 hour power reserve. The watch is limited edition and only twenty will be made, with each costing $155,000. Which sounds like a totally reasonable price. Because, you know, it makes sense for your watch to cost more than your car. Although I drive a cardboard box on wheels, so a Burger King watch would probably cost more than my car.
Jun 20 2007 Gold Disk On Key $2000 USB Drive
The Gold Disk On Key is a USB drive made out of 14K gold with three diamonds inset that are backlit and light up when the drive is working. The drive also has a 4GB capacity, which means it's totally worth the $2,000 price tag. And by worth it I mean totally not worth it. Although it's still cheaper than this $3,500 USB drive. Which means if you show up to your annual rich person's meeting with the Gold Disk On Key you'll be laughed out of the room.
Jun 19 2007 Super Deformed Star Wars Plush
Entertainment Earth has Super Deformed Star Wars Plush dolls for $12.99 each, which are expected to go on sale sometime this month. They stand 7 inches tall and look absolutely great. I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up buying all of them and re-enacting a super cute version of Star Wars in my bedroom. I mean, wait, no. I meant doing manly stuff. In my bedroom. And everywhere. Always manly stuff. *flexes*
Jun 19 2007 Wear Your Seat
The Wear Your Seat is basically a semi-rigid padded cushion that you wear on your back so you can sit down comfortably no matter where you are. It actually looks pretty comfortable, but they can't actually expect to sell any of these can they? I mean, look at it. The only people that would actually wear this in public are neon TMNT fans and people who hate themselves.
Jun 19 2007 The Carpet Alarm Clock
Designers Sofie Collin and Gustav Lanber have developed The Carpet Alarm Clock, which forces you to get up and step on it in order to turn it off. Which sounds pretty good in theory, but you'd just end up walking back to your bed and falling asleep. What they really need to do is develop an alarm clock that just lights you on fire in the morning.
Jun 19 2007 Sheila's Heels convertible stiletto
Sheila's Wheels, a spinoff division of UK insurance company eSure, has created a pair of convertible stilettos. The company markets insurance to women and found that British women regularly wear inappropriate footwear when driving, so they developed Sheila's Heels, which is a regular stiletto that folds down flat for driving. It even has a grip pattern on the sole for better pedal control. Although I can't imagine a single woman actually buying these. You might as well turn in your vagina and call it quits as a female.
Jun 19 2007 Bomba Flip Clock
Dutch designer Will Vanden Vos has reinvented the classic flip clock from the seventies and called it the Bomba Alarm Clock. He removed the casing to expose the inner-workings, and the clock is illuminated by two LEDs. They're currently only available in Japan for about $80. And me? Well I'm available for free. Call me, ladies.
Jun 18 2007 Pistol Clock
You know what's a good idea? Having a desk clock in the shape of a metal revolver. The pistol clock costs $20 and is perfect to keep in your pocket so you can whip it out whenever you need to know the time. Especially around police officers. Don't even wait for them to ask the time, just pull it out and tell them. You'll be doing them a favor. Just make sure to get their attention first by yelling something like, "Hey, cop!" And then yank it out of your pocket quickly. For extra fun you should also probably yell "Bang bang bang!" Because, you know, people really like hearing that right before the time.
Jun 18 2007 Epoq EMP-CVWD-2 video watch
The Epoq EMP-CVWD-2 is a watch which plays MP4 video on a 1.8 inch screen. The watch also serves as a photo viewer and MP3 player, and is disguised as a regular dress watch. The 2GB model costs $199.95, although a 4GB model will be available as well. Because, really, the world needs more ways to look at porn on your wrist. I'm assuming this is less conspicuous than my current method: taping issues of Playboy to my arm.
Jun 18 2007 Best Arcade Basketball Guy Ever
Man, I hate it when people tape me playing those arcade basketball games.
Jun 18 2007 Nintendo DS Pencil Stylus
If a regular stylus just isn't gimmicky enough for your Nintendo DS, you can get one of these pencil-shaped ones. They're only available in Japan and are like a regular DS stylus except thicker. Although personally I just use a regular pencil on my DS. It doesn't work at all and only scratches the screen, but that's a small price to pay for looking cool.
Jun 18 2007 Customizable LOL Shirts
From the online store:
Although the "im in ur" meme started off with virtual death and destruction (I'm in your base killing your d00dz), it was quickly overtaken by the legions of cute, fluffy, and irresistible. (And by that we mean cats.) Reclaim the phrase for the humans by captioning yourself. This shirt is full of write-on, wash-off goodness. Tell everyone you're in their noun verbing their noun! Bored with what you wrote this morning? Throw the shirt in the wash and think up a new saying. It's like Mad Libs meets Photoshop in a head-to-head deathmatch on your chest.Imagine the possibilities! Visiting in-laws? We recommend, "im in ur offspring sproutin' ur family tree." Stuck at the office? May we suggest, "im in ur meeting eatin' ur donuts." Out for some wardriving? How about "im in ur unsecured network downloadin' ur pr0n." Techs could proudly wear their own "im in ur computer upgradin' ur RAM" shirts. Or for a more recursive bent, how about "im in ur lolbots crashin' ur server"?
If you have no idea what this shirt is referring to, congratulations, there may be hope for you yet.
