Here’s a surefire way to add some Dr. Seuss-esque whimsy to a child’s room. The Glo Nightlight, from Boon Inc., looks like a concept design pulled from the pages of The Cat In The Hat, but it’s an actual product scheduled to hit the market sometime in the Spring of 2011.
The three tower structures each feature a removable ball that glows in one of six different colors, or they can be set to to continuously cycle through the available palette. The balls, which each charge on their respective towers and glow for about 30 minutes when removed, are apparently rugged enough to be played with, and are BpA, Phthalate and PVC-free so they’re particularly child-friendly. No pricing info has been announced yet, but I don’t see any bleeding-edge tech here, so hopefully it won’t be outrageously expensive.
They might be cheap and reliable, but the name brand digital clocks you can get at your local big box electronics store aren’t really designed for tinkering. Now obviously that’s probably not a feature at the top of everybody’s wish-list, but those who prefer to do-it-themselves, and like to be able to customize their gear, will find the DOTKLOK an appealing option.
Designed by Andrew O’Malley, the motivation behind the DOTKLOK was to create a clock that could tell time in a variety of different ways, whether through standard numbers, words and even animations. It’s powered by an ATmega328 microprocessor running the Arduino bootloader which allows it to be easily updated and/or customized, and the 24×16 LED display allows for a high-degree of creativity, while still having a bit of retro charm. The DOTKLOK kit is available from Andrew via Etsy for $150 with either red or green LEDs used for the display, and an experienced builder can put it together in about 90 minutes. However, if soldering and wiring isn’t your thing, there are also pre-built DOTKLOKs available, but they’ll set you back $200.
Another new year is upon us, and now’s the time to strike when you’re gung-ho about tackling all those new year’s resolutions before they’re completely forgotten by Martin Luther King Day. Of course shedding those Christmas pounds is always at the top of most people’s lists, and Escali’s Track & Target scale is a nice option for keeping your eyes on the lean and trim prize.
For the most part it’s your standard, stylish glass panel bathroom scale, but it lets up to 4 users input a target weight, and it will keep track of their progress every time they step on it. The LCD display not only shows your current weight, but also reminds you of your target and tells you how much you’ve gained or lost since you last stepped on, and how far you’ve still got to go. It’s $64.95 which isn’t terribly expensive for a somewhat high-tech scale, and if the simple motivation it provides keeps you working towards your goal well into the new year, then it’s definitely worth it.
This small plastic sphere is designed to sit in the bottom of a woman’s handbag and light-up whenever they start rummaging around inside, making it easier to find things. But I’m pretty sure it would work just as well in a messenger bag, glove compartment or even that notorious bottom desk drawer that ends up being a black hole for chargers and sync cables. It’s smart enough to only turn on when touched, or when your hand is near it, so it should remain off even while being jostled around in a bag, and it’s powered by 2x3V batteries which should keep it running for a while since it uses an LED inside. ~$40 (€29.95) from design3000.
College Humor reminds us that not every single game available for the NES back in the day was a runaway hit like The Legend of Zelda or Mario Brothers. I never really got into the Rain Main or Dirty Dancing games, but playing the Dig-Dug clone Baby Jessica Well Rescue was always a good time.
Cleaning the toilet, and the area around the toilet, isn’t exactly the most exciting way to spend your free time. But up until today, pawning that task off on automatons hasn’t been possible because none of them are small enough to squeeze into those tight spaces. But the new Scooba 230 from iRobot, which is downright adorable, should have no problem making its way into every crevice of even the tiniest of bathrooms.
It’s just 3.5 inches tall and 6.5 inches in diameter, but it still features a three-stage cleaning system that washes, scrubs and squeegees the floors as it does its thing, and it will even vacuum up the excess liquid so floors dry even faster. And in order to remain compact it’s got a clever active reservoir system, where the clean water reservoir shrinks as it’s being used, freeing up space to store the dirty water that’s been sucked up. It also seems to pack all of the features of its larger vacuuming brethren we’ve come to rely on, like smart navigation and Virtual Walls to keep it where you want to it to clean.
It’s expected to be available sometime this Spring for $299, which is about $50 more than the Mint Sweeper revealed at last year’s CES, but the 230′s advanced features seem to make up for the difference in price.
It can’t be easy to make your product stand out in the vast ocean of iPod & iPhone accessories. But Breffo manages to do just that with their rather unique Spiderpodium, so named because of its 8 flexible notched legs which allow it to grip any compact device. It won’t do much for your laptop or iPad, but it can be used to prop up or hang smartphones, MP3 players and even compact P&S digital cameras. If you ever had one of those wire & rubber Gumby characters as a kid you won’t need to peruse the instruction manual to figure out how to use it, and at $19.99 I’d say it’s about $10 above being an impulse buy.
If you’ve ever shared a bed with someone who has to get out of bed hours before you, then you probably hate the sound of an alarm more than most. Not only do you have to hear it when it’s time for you to get your day started, but you get to hear it when someone else is getting up as well. The best part is when the other person likes to hit the snooze button a few times. Not that I’ve experienced this and am bitter or anything.
Anywho, back to the matter at hand. One way you can wake yourself in the morning without disturbing the other person in bed is with a vibrating watch like this Analarm Watch. This timepiece is rather simple, with just a very basic face and no frills. The only thing out of the ordinary is the alarm feature, which instead of beeping, vibrates. Well, the $450 price tag is pretty out of the ordinary too. I think I’ll find a better way to quietly get myself up in the morning.
With their new DC35 model, Dyson has made their hand vacs infinitely more usable and flexible with the addition of a detachable long reach wand and a motorized cleaning head. What you end up with is a fairly capable compact vacuum boasting Dyson’s innovative suction technology, and the only reason I’d still suggest going with a full-sized model is the DC35′s limited battery life. While it may suck in a good way, you can only expect to get about 15 minutes of cleaning done before it needs a recharge, or as little as 6 minutes if you kick in the turbo setting. Availability in the U.S. is still a little vague, though Best Buy does list it available for pre-order for $299.99.
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