Aliens have arrived on earth! And they love TV just as much as us. Oh wait, no, that's just a prototype helmet from Toshiba that gives you a 360 degree panorama when watching TV or playing games! Sweet technology, but oh so dorkalicious-looking. I mean, who would wear this thing? It looks like it could break your neck! (It weighs 5.95 pounds) Never mind the claustrophic aspect. This futuristic gadget will be released within two to three years; pricing not yet available. I think it makes sense for arcades and amusement parks, rather than individual use. Even something this cool--technology wise--would wear off its welcome after awhile.--Blogging Molly
Hop in a car that's been baking in the sun for hours, and you'll wish you'd opted for cloth upholstery instead of the luxurious leather seats that also added $1,200 to the sticker price. If you're wearing shorts, you'll think you suffered second-degree burns. Now there's an alternative: leather that is treated to absorb the sun's rays and stay cooler in summer.
Called Sun Reflective leather, it undergoes a process that embeds a special pigment in the leather during production. The pigment reflects infrared radiation (like the red heat lamps over the French fries in a fast-food restaurant), which causes warming in the spectrum above 720 nanometers. The first application of Sun Reflective leather comes in the 2007 3 Series convertible from BMW, which is slated to be announced at the North American International Auto show January 7 in Detroit, where warm seats would likely be a hit.
Sun Reflective leather can be applied on seats, seat backs, and armrests, and has no affect on the look, feel, or smell of the leather, BMW says. On dark seats made with Sun Reflective leather, surface temperatures will be as much as 68 degrees cooler. There's a noticeable but lesser impact on lighter upholstery, where the solar effect is less severe. The benefits are greatest on surfaces directly in the sun's path, which especially affects convertibles with the tops down. For hardtop cars and convertibles with the top up, the heat buildup on seats is often indirect, as the entire interior gets warmer.
The BMW 328i and 335i convertible are expected to ship in spring 2007. Pricing hasn't been set yet.
As an avid fan of man-purses, my joy in carrying my iPod, laptop, and PSP is hampered only by the idea of lugging around all the accompanying power cables. Enter the Cord Organizer Case by Mogo. This simple design answers the age-old question, "Is that a power cord in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" by neatly organizing loose cables into a three-pocketed-pouch. Measuring about 6 by 7 inches, the Cord Case Organizer would fit nicely into a variety of other bags, especially my usually well-stuffed man-bag.
Ann Manubay and Dabney Frake, the creative minds behind Mogo, are not content to just sit back and create substance without style. The Organizer sports the design of a simple, yet inviting power plug on the front, and reveals a wall outlet on the inside. The organizer is priced just right at $20 and comes in either blue or red.
Remember black-and-white television, no air conditioning, and a boy band called the Beatles? I don't, and frankly, it all sounds kind of lame to me. But unlike me, the ThinkGeek geeks want to bring back those days with the Bluetooth Retro Handset.
It's a replica of the Western Electric 500-series model phone, modified to work with your favorite Bluetooth-enabled phone. The curly cord that added that classy look to the handset has been chopped off for wireless functionality. And the unit runs on battery power. (Whatever happened to cranking it?) The handset works with Bluetooth versions 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2 and has a blue LED that tells you when the phone is transmitting and receiving from up to 30 feet away.
Nostalgia buffs can surf on over to ThinkGeek's Web site and buy one for $39.99 (the price isn't retro!).
For those of you counting down the days until the Nintendo Wii arrives (and I'm included), here's a reason to run to your nearest Target store. In a promotional effort, Target is now offering a gift card that resembles our longed-for gaming console. The cute little Wii card even gives off a blue glow!
Sure it's a little thicker than your average gift card, but with such cool-looking money, who would even want to spend it? Wii-mania is so prevalent that some people are already hawking these babies on eBay.
For all us Wii fans, it's a little something to hold us over until November 19. And to Target, thank you, Wii like!
One of my fondest memories of the old analog cassette-tape format is of the Sony Sports Walkman: a bright-yellow brick of a player that could actually endure a trip to the beach. The Apple iPod has never been a water-friendly device, which has been a downside of going digital. But for those who want to soak in the rays on the beach without worrying about their electronics, Ultra Products has introduced an affordable line of water-resistant music players, which will be available for the holidays. The Hydra line has 1GB and 2GB models (just $39.99 and $59.99 list, respectively), and both support playback of MP3, WAV, ACT, and WMA files.
They're powered by one AAA battery, so you don't have to worry about recharging the player while you're on the go. The compact Hydra also features an FM tuner and voice recorder. Music files can be transferred to the device through drag-and-drop functionality, via USB; no software is needed. Ultra has also announced its own music download site, aptly named NepTUNES. With each purchase, Hydra owners can earn points that can be applied to future music downloads. It's too late this year for northeasterners like me to enjoy the Ultra Hydra at the beach, but it would make a great stocking stuffer.
Tired of taking pictures of your friends with your camera phone, only to find you've captured a dark blob of nothing? No longer just reserved for digital still cameras, face-detection technology has arrived for cell phones. Yesterday, FotoNation unveiled Face Tracker, the world's first face-detection and tracking technology for camera phones.
Face Tracker "detects the presence and position of a subject's face at up to 30 frames per second during image capture, enabling the optimal setting of exposure, focus and color balance," according to the press release. An online demo shows many of the aforementioned attributes, and also the simultaneous tracking of two faces at once. It would be interesting to see the phone track the eight faces that FotoNation says the technology is capable of.
FotoNation Face Tracker is platform-independent and scales in performance according to the power of the processor used in the device. It can run on both Symbian Series 60 3rd edition OS and Windows Mobile 5.0.
The technology is available now for licensing; it's only a matter of time before poorly exposed camera-phone images of people are a thing of the past.
The LED Pumpkin Flame Light ($18.49) creates a flickering glow to light the inside of any pumpkin. It's much safer to use than an actual candle, but is recommended for indoor use. The LED Pumpkin Flame Light is powered by 4 AA batteries and measures 8.50- by 8.25- by 9.25-inches.
Don't want to get your fingers covered in pumpkin seeds or spend your time carving? The LED Halloween Pumpkin Kit ($9.95) is a pumpkin on a PC board. It features 25 LEDs that glow and flicker. You can place the LEDs wherever you want on the board, similar to that popular kids game, Nite Brite. It operates via a 9-volt battery located on the back, which unfortunately is not included. Measures 4.0- by 3.2- by 1.3-inches.
Here are some interesting pumpkin facts (courtesy of Pumpkin-Patch.com):
*The largest pumpkin pie ever made was over five feet in diameter and weighed over 350 pounds. It used 80 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, 12 dozen eggs and took six hours to bake. *Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites. *The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds.
Aliens have arrived on earth! And they love TV just as much as us. Oh wait, no, that's just a prototype helmet from 
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As an avid fan of man-purses, my joy in carrying my iPod, laptop, and PSP is hampered only by the idea of lugging around all the accompanying power cables. Enter the Cord Organizer Case by Mogo. This simple design answers the age-old question, "Is that a power cord in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" by neatly organizing loose cables into a three-pocketed-pouch. Measuring about 6 by 7 inches, the Cord Case Organizer would fit nicely into a variety of other bags, especially my usually well-stuffed man-bag.
Remember black-and-white television, no air conditioning, and a boy band called the Beatles? I don't, and frankly, it all sounds kind of lame to me. But unlike me, the ThinkGeek geeks want to bring back those days with the 
For those of you counting down the days until the 
One of my fondest memories of the old analog cassette-tape format is of the Sony Sports Walkman: a bright-yellow brick of a player that could actually endure a trip to the beach. The Apple iPod has never been a water-friendly device, which has been a downside of going digital. But for those who want to soak in the rays on the beach without worrying about their electronics, Ultra Products has introduced an affordable line of water-resistant music players, which will be available for the holidays. The Hydra line has 1GB and 2GB models (just $39.99 and $59.99 list, respectively), and both support playback of MP3, WAV, ACT, and WMA files.
Tired of taking pictures of your friends with your camera phone, only to find you've captured a dark blob of nothing? No longer just reserved for digital still cameras, face-detection technology has arrived for cell phones. Yesterday, 
