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Fabrice Gonet, Jorg Hysek, and Valerie Ursenbacher decided to team up to form the HD3 Complication, designing watches based on their imaginations. Now one of these has come to fruition, although only 11 of them will be created. The Vulcania, named after Captain Nemo’s home port and devised by Gonet, has a deep-set 3-dimensional display on an etched map back plate. Hours are counted from rotating cylinders on the left, while minutes are determined on a Chadburn Telegraph-like wheel. The watch also features a sextant power reserve indicator and porthole loop date window. In a case of titanium and platinum, the functions can be viewed underneath sapphire glass panels. It is too bad that Jules Verne couldn’t live to see his tale inspiring more than just “Under the Sea” readers.
Gallery: Vulcania Watch Unveiled
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Beer Fridge Moves Up From Metacafe to Letterman
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Smart Home, Misc. Tech, Science,
Last month we told you about the wonders of the beer-launching refrigerator that we discovered, and tonight its inventor, John Cornwell, will be making an appearance on David Letterman’s “Late Show.” Posted on Metacafe, the ingenious gadget that tosses you an icy cold brew on demand has received over a million hits and earned its creator over $6,000.00 in revenue. We believe that this is proof positive that you can claim your 15 minutes of fame just by posting your ideas on the Internet. Of course, John’s being an award-winning computer and robotics engineer at Duke University didn’t hurt his chances either.
Read More 
| John Cornwell
Gallery: Beer Fridge Moves Up From Metacafe to Letterman
YouTube to Award Best Videos of 2006
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Design, Internet, Videos,
YouTube just cannot stay out of our headlines today. We just discovered that it will be presenting awards for the top user-generated videos of 2006. Users of the service can vote for their favorite clips under the categories of “most creative, most inspirational, best series, best comedy, musician of the year, best commentary and ‘most adorable video ever.’”
“We wanted to call out some of the most popular videos and let the users choose which ones deserve some additional recognition,” said Jamie Byrne, head of product marketing.
Get your videography skills and your cat that flushes the toilet together, and you just might be a winner of the first annual Tubey award. The winners will be announced March 25th and will receive a trophy and a “prominent spot” on their site.
Read More | BBC
Gallery: YouTube to Award Best Videos of 2006
Women in Japan Go For Cute Cars
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Design, Transportation,
Marketing expert Ayano Sasao believes that women will select their next car based on its “cuteness” factor. The Pino mini-car is only 11 feet long and features a hook for a handbag, designer upholstery, and a “milk tea beige” exterior. During its launch, Nissan included such accessories as seat covers with hearts and pink bear-shaped cushions. Because of its shrewd packaging of the Pino, which was actually created by Suzuki, Nissan had 5,500 orders during its the first month on the market in Japan at a price beginning at $8,600, more than double of its projected sales of 2,500. We like the idea of the mini-car, but our taste leans towards other “cute” vehicles, such as BMW’s Mini Cooper.
Read More | CNN
Gallery: Women in Japan Go For Cute Cars
If you want to literally think outside the box, consider this odd-looking Ball PC System, which is a future product just waiting to be discovered. Open it up and you can directly access the drive. It features an EPIA Mini-ITX Motherboard, a 40GB hard drive and a power supply of 200W. Available in gross green or silver, it comes with its own little seat. We just can’t wait for this one to hatch. Check with Directron for price and impending availability.
Read More | Directron
Gallery: Ball PC System Opens Up
FlowPlay Rewards Good Gamers with Cybercash
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Design, Internet, Video Games,
Derrick Morton left his cushy job of Chief Technology Officer at RealNetwork last September to create FlowPlay, which he describes as a “virtual world platform powered by casual gaming.” After creating an avatar, you interact with others and play certain games. Do well in them and you receive virtual currency you can use to purchase virtual clothing, jewelry, furniture, pets, and even tattoos.
Morton says that he is basing FlowPlay on ClubPenguin, an online game devised for kids between the ages of 8 and 14, which currently houses more that 1 million subscribers. Aimed at slightly older teenagers, a private version of the site will be released next month. If Mr. Morton believes he can teach the value of a dollar by playing games within games, we would like to see him tackle our national deficit next.
Read More | FlowPlay via Seattle pi
Gallery: FlowPlay Rewards Good Gamers with Cybercash
If you thought the Pong Shirt was your type of garment, then you will surely appreciate the T-Equalizer. With an electroluminescent panel on its front, it reacts to music or any other loud noise. A mini-battery is hidden in the pocket of the t-shirt which lights up its LED. The T-Equalizer is so popular that Firebox is temporarily out of them, but if you want to shell out the $29.95 to have others see what they hear, they will be back in stock in next week.
Read More | Firebox
Gallery: T-Equalizer Displays Sound Visually
FIRST Gives Awards to Teenage Robotics Wizards
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Science,
This year’s Los Angeles regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competition has just convened, with teenage winners coming from Hope Chapel Academy in Hermosa Beach, Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, and L A’s High Tech High School. The victors will be competing in the FIRST Robotic Championship in Atlanta in April.
Contenders got the chance to participate in “Rack ‘N’ Roll” as their bots grabbed colored rings and put them on a 10 foot high circular rack located at the arena’s center. Although we would have preferred a bout of Rock’em Sock’em Robots, we think it’s great that students this young are getting an early start in robotics.
Read More | Space Daily
Gallery: FIRST Gives Awards to Teenage Robotics Wizards
Tom Bihn has long made Gear Live’s favorite bags, be it messenger, backpack, or briefcase. Today they have improved their line by adding the Ego, a mid sized messenger bag/brief case that offers the features of the Super Ego with a smaller size similar to the ID. The Super Ego has been a best of breed bag for quite some time offering tons of pockets, sturdy construction, and stylish looks - but it’s been too big for some people looking to carry just a laptop and a few essentials. The Ego fills that void by taking the Super Ego and shrinking it by about 30% into a more manageable size.
The Ego is priced at $130 (a steal considering the build quality and protection it affords), which is slightly cheaper than it’s big brother the $140 Super Ego. Our initial impressions from dropping by Tom Bihn factory are very positive and they were kind enough to provide us with a review unit so we will be posting one of our in depth reviews in the next couple of weeks.
Looking for other Tom Bihn bags we have reviewed? Check out the Imago, Id, Archetype, Brain Cell, Brain Bag, and Monolith.
Gallery: The Tom Bihn Ego Debuts
Voyager Flat Available to Affluent Trekkers
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Smart Home, Misc. Tech,
Tony Alleyne designed a Star Trek-themed apartment based on the Starship Enterprise. After spending more than £30,000 (~US $58,000.00) to build it in England, he decided to sell it for £1.25 million (~$2.5 million). With no interest from bidders, he then upgraded it to a Voyager and changed the price to £500,000 (~$969,000.00.) Apparently the poor guy is still having no luck in finding a buyer, so if you are an eBay master you might want to handle the sale for him. Then again, if you are an conniving Trekker, maybe you can just trade for your transporter credits.
Read More | 24th Century Design
