In this week’s episode of ‘I Can’t Believe They Invented It!’ we bring you the Pop-up Microlite which is really nothing more than an adhesive LED light designed to illuminate the keys on an old-timey TV remote that doesn’t have built-in backlighting. Now you might be shaking your head wondering who would want such a thing, but the company behind the product, Microlite Tech, has done their research and apparently there’s quite a market for the device. Taken from their press release:
There are an estimated 500 million remote controls in the U.S. with an estimated 450 million of those having no backlighting capabilities. However, surveys show that as many as 90% of people enjoy watching television or movies in the dark.
90%!! I had no idea, and quite frankly, I’m shocked! But there’s no need to be too alarmed because the problem is already solved. Now thankfully when I watch TV in the dark I actually have the TV on, so the glow is more than bright enough for me to see the buttons on my remote. But those of you who keep their brightness set at 1 will be happy to know the Microlite will be available from Amazon some time in October for a mere $9.99.
The new Xbox 360 is pretty cool. It’s not only slimmer but much quieter and comes with integrated Wifi. A bunch of you are going to get it, regardless, so why not save $30 in the process? That’s the deal, today Monday, and it comes with free shipping, and Halo Reach. The deal ends on September 9th and will start shipping September 14th.
If you do a lot of driving in the country at night, you can really appreciate the high-beams on your car. They illuminate a much larger area so you can keep an eye out for animals that might run out in front of you. Of course when another car passes by on the road, not only do you have to turn off the high-beams, but your vision is temporarily impaired by their lights shining in your eyes. Now one company thinks they have a solution to both problems.
Valeo SA has developed a new type of headlight that uses on-board cameras to detect other cars on the road, and then blocks the light in their direction. This allows you to keep using your brights, without the other driver getting blinded by your lights. Sounds like a win-win for everyone.
T-fal’s Actifry requires just a spoonful of oil to whip up a batch of delicious golden french fries, but Philips might have just one-upped them with their new Airfryer that uses “little or no oil” to cook traditionally fried items like fries and pastries. The appliance was just unveiled at IFA, so specific details about what foods will require a touch of oil and which can be ‘fried’ up oil-free haven’t quite been revealed, but a press release mentions the use of “Rapid Air technology to circulate hot air around a grill component, creating delicious meals with up to 80% less fat.” If it turns out that I can cook a decent french fry without the need for any oil it’s going to revolutionize how many meals I eat with fries. (Hint: All of them.)
It’s not the first ceiling fan with retractable blades I’ve written about. That honor goes to the Air Shadow from Fanimation. But if subtlety is what you’re after, and you don’t want people to actually know there’s a ceiling fan hanging above them, the Fanaway from Hunter is a much better solution. It sports a set of four clear plastic blades that automatically extend or retract when the fan is switched on or off via centrifugal ‘force’, and when fully retracted they’re mostly hidden by the hanging pendant light. On the downside, that clear plastic’s not going to do much to hide the fact you haven’t dusted the blades in several months. $559 though Del Mar Designs seems to be selling them for just $320.
It’s apparently been around since 1966 and is an official part of MoMA’s collection, but this modern minimalist chess set is new to me and I think it’s absolutely brilliant. The size of each piece represents its significance on the board and their individual designs reflect their range of mobility. The knights are ‘L’ shaped and the bishops feature a diagonal slope. And if that wasn’t enough to earn it some praise, the fact that all the parts assemble into a compact box like a puzzle certainly will. The pieces are made from maple or cherry wood to distinguish each side, and the whole set (minus board) is available from the MoMA store for $65.
Today we’re looking at the Dell Latitude E6510 laptop at an interesting 30% off, as long as your configuration is above $1,000. That’s a minimum of $303 in savings (on the cheapest eligible configuration), bringing the machine to a total of $707 with FREE shipping. Let’s look at some specs (for the $1,010 machine):
Sony’s Bloggie cameras were introduced at CES earlier this year, and while I wasn’t exactly blown away by the lowest-end PM5 model, I have to admit I was quite enamored with the slightly more capable CM5 with its optical zoom and flip out LCD. But here we are just 8 months later and Sony’s already introducing a third member to the Bloggie family with the Bloggie Touch.
The most obvious upgrade over the previous two models is a 3-inch LCD touchscreen display and a new UI allowing you to ‘touch and flick’ your way through photo galleries and video clips. It’s got 8GB of internal memory in lieu of an SD card slot which is kind of limiting, and according to the Sony Europe press release that’s enough for about 4 hours of 720P video, in 29 minute chunks. Obviously at full 1920x1080P that will be considerably less. It’s also got the requisite flip-out USB connector for offloading photos (12MP) and clips, a much appreciated HDMI port and should be available by early November with pricing TBA.
Even though my current commute has me barely rolling out of bed in the morning to get to work, were I required to leave my home I think this half-scale Porsche 356 would be the funnest way to get there. While it’s probably designed with kids in mind, the “6 and up” rating means there’s really no limit to who can drive it, and the seat and pedals are adjustable to accommodate us taller types. It’s got a composite chassis and body shell and a range of gas engine options starting at a 50cc motor and going up to high-performance go-kart engine. Your choice of manual or automatic of course, including reverse.
Each half-scale Porsche 356 also includes disc brakes, electric starter, working lights and horn and rack and peanut pinion steering. The Harrington Group website doesn’t appear to be too forthcoming with prices, but given you can even customize the color of the body, the interior and the leather, you can bet they’ll come at a premium. But I’m sure they’re far cheaper than a real Porsche 356, and from the looks of it you can probably squeeze this thing into the elevator and your office at work, saving you from having to pay for parking every day. Sold!
Related Tags: Lighting, Remotes, Unusual
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