PowerFilm Foldable Solar Battery Charger
This weatherproof solar charger was created for the military and is now available to the public. Going camping? A day at the beach? When you're off the grid and can't bear not reading the latest on Cool Hunting? Throw this baby in your backpack (along with your GPS, satellite phone, PSP, etc.) because it is small and portable and cranks out enough power to charge all your gear (check out the link below for all of the specs). $299 from Sundance Solar.



Tetran
While wandering through Macworld (and after viewing a zillion iPod accessories later), I stumbled upon these little fellas, known as TETRAN, in the back corner of the exhibit hall. There's something vaguely satisfying about seeing that cute spikey thing all wrapped up in those white iPod headphone wires with the earbuds shoved in its mouth. Although the website claims that they're for storing your earbud headphones and as a by product of design, serve as a tool for stress relief, they're really just iPod consumerist criticism all wrapped up in yummy cute goodness. Perfect! They're about $13 each and come in Pink, Green, Yellow, and Orange. However, I did see a prototype for a glow in the dark one at the booth, so check their website for those in the future.




Bottle Cap Tripod
Well, it's more of a monopod than a tripod, but you get the point. This handy little thing screws on to the mouth of common-sized bottles to offer a stable base for your digital camera. Obviously it works best with smaller, lighter cameras and shorter, fatter bottlesÑregardless, it's better than the balancing act I've resorted to on numerous occasions.



Forecasting Umbrella
During CES last week Ambient Devicesannounced a few new items in their line-up. Most exciting is the Forecasting Umbrella, which has a handle that pulses blue light when there's a good chance of rain. The device is connected to Ambient's proprietary network which allows it to know where it is and then download the local weather report. Next time you head out the door just glance at the umbrella and it will let you know if your should bring it along. Brilliant simplicity.

Ambient also announced a new Magic Mirror that looks like a plain mirror until you approach itÑtime, weather, traffic, stock or other information appear behind the glass and around the perimeter. Lastly, their series of information displays (weather, traffic stocks, etc) will be updated to use eInk for greater legibility.



Hands on: My Beating Heart

My Beating Heart, the pillow with a beat, made it's way around various web sites last week when it was first announced. We got our hands on one to take a closer look...

The heart shaped pillow, invented by artist Yury Gitman, has a small motor in it that is programmed to give a life-like pulse when turned on. The pillow itself is about a foot wide and my particular sample was covered in synthetic lambskin with ultra-suede details. It's soft and comfy. Despite my skepticism, I found the heart beat to be quite soothing. It was more pronounced than that of any pet or person, but the effect was still quite good and the beat was surprisingly life-like. Their site talks about using the pillow for meditating, daydreaming or napping, but I'm finding myself using it at my desk to counter the caffeinated frenzy of my recent days.



Stanley Wristwatch Tools
Stanley has launched a line of wristwatches with built-in tools in Japan. While we think these are an interesting advancement in portable tools, it seems likely that if you have a need for any of these, you probably have a need for all of them. If so, do you buy all of them? And if you have all of them, how do you know which one to wear on any given day? We'd love to see more of a Swiss Army knife concept, where all of the tools can be housed in a single watch.



Nokia N92
In 1999 I wrote a graduate thesis (NYU, ITP) on form defining function in mobile devices. My collaborator Kent Hollrah and I even went so far as to mock-up a prototype we called The Stack. It was made of multiple display panels that were hinged in a manner that allowed it to be folded into four different shapes; each used for a different purposeÑphone, pda, map and media player. We loved our little concept and dreamed of the day that it could be real. That day isn't quite here yet, but it's getting a lot closer.

I had the chance this afternoon to play with the Nokia N92 which was just announced yesterday. The media-focused device has the same conceptual intent as The Stackdid. Opened vertically it functions as a phone; twisted around it's a still and video camera; and opened horizontally it's a little TV. Yes, TV. With up to 50 channels the Nokia N92 is the first mobile device to use a new standard called DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast on Handheld).

The pieces of the technology puzzle won't fit together for DVB-H to become a reality until the middle of next year in Europe (in the U.S. it will take twice as long at best), but today's demo was promising. The screen on the Nokia N92 is fantastic and the video quality was seamless. Another notable item is the dedicated Media button which goes to a menu just for the music, web, TV and photo/video content on the device. This is a new feature in the Nokia N92's software platform (Series 60 v3.0). I was hoping to preview the new Mini Map web browser but it wasn't yet implemented on the engineering sample I looked at.

Publisher: coolhunting
Since February 2003 Josh Rubin's Cool Hunting has been a daily update on stuff from the intersection of design, culture and technology. Josh started the site as a way to catalog things that inspire him in his practice as a designer and strategist. Today Cool Hunting has grown beyond a personal reference tool-- designers, consumers and marketers from around the world visit every day to get their dose. As the site became increasingly fueled by contributions from readers, Josh realized Cool Hunting should be a collective. He now serves as Editor of the site and wrangles contributions from a small gaggle of hand picked writers who are out finding great things and looking at all the stuff readers are feeding us.
Web: www.coolhunting.com
Published: march 2005
Market: mens womens
Region: usa

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