By Andrew Liszewski

We love us some new product announcements from Dyson, and while their latest creation is really just an updated version of a prior product, that’s fine by us. The Dyson Hot, a name clearly derived after months of voting and testing on HOTorNOT.com, is, for all intents and purposes, just a new version of the Dyson Air Multiplier fans with a heating element added. But given their Air Multipliers are pretty much the slickest, sexiest fans you can buy, that’s not a bad thing.

The Dyson Hot can be set between 1 to 37 degrees celsius and constantly monitors the room, automatically turning the heating element on or off to maintain the set temperature. And because all of the magic is hidden away inside the heater’s unique and bladeless housing, there’s no exposed heating elements that can lead to a burning smell when random particles land on it. For added safety, the Dyson Hot’s housing remains minimally warm during operation, and will even turn itself off if it gets tipped over. Available nationwide in the UK come October for ~$430 (£269.99) and presumably all over the world in a similar timeframe.

[ PR - Goodbye cold corners. Hello Hot. ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Most people’s fascination with paper craft ends at pterodactyls or ninja stars in grade school. Not Jonathan Brand. After restoring three vintage cars with his father, he decided to build his own from scratch. A 1969 Ford Mustang to be exact. But instead of steel or fiberglass or all the other ingredients that usually go into building a car, Jonathan’s making his from paper. Using 3D software he’s able to flatten out a model of the car into printable sections that can then be painstakingly folded and glued together.

And when I saw every component of the car, I mean every, single, component. From sparkplugs no bigger than your finger, to the doors complete with handles and window rolls. The tires and the rims are even separate components, with perfect attention being paid to even the tread. It’s a monumental undertaking for a piece of art, and if you happen to live in New York you’ll be lucky enough to see it in person. The exhibit, entitled ‘One Piece At A Time’, will be on display from September 20th to October 29th at the Hosfelt Gallery.

[ Jonathan Brand - One Piece At A Time ] VIA [ Colossal ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m hesitant to say anything about this commercial lest I spoil the ending. But it’s definitely worth your time. It’s beautifully shot, does a great job at what it’s intended to do (ie sell a product and playing up its brand) and it’s certainly memorable. It even won a well-deserved Red Dot Design Award.

VIA [ Fazed ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While they’re probably designed for x-treme sports types who want to enjoy their music while careening down a mountain on their snowboards, I actually think they’d be just as useful in the dead of winter when walking to work. I just wish these new Mix Master gloves from Burton weren’t $159.95 a pair. On the back of the left glove is a rudimentary set of playback controls which I assume lets you skip tracks, adjust the volume and pause the music coming from your iPhone or iPod Touch. So that you don’t have to take your gloves off and remove the device from your pocket when it’s cold outside.

It wirelessly connects to either device (and probably even the iPad) using a small receiver that attaches to their dock connector, and an even smaller transmitter that’s stashed somewhere inside the glove. They’ve even got an impressive 100-foot radius, and the remote can be removed from the glove and used to control your music in your car, or at home. The gloves themselves feature a waterproof ‘DRYRIDE Insane Membrane’, genuine leather exterior and a quick-drying microfiber lining. So I have no doubts they’ll work just as well when it comes to keeping your hands warm and dry.

[ Burton Mix Master Gloves ] VIA [ Trendhunter ]

By Andrew Liszewski

In-flight personal entertainment systems have made increasingly cramped air travel slightly more tolerable. You don’t have to strain your neck to see an inconveniently located overhead screen, nor do you have to watch what everyone else is. But they’re usually only found on newer planes flying long-haul routes, because it’s expensive to retrofit an older plane with the integrated systems, which basically require new seats. So SkyCast has created the TrayVu system. Instead of requiring brand new seats with LCD displays popping out the back, the TrayVu simply replaces an existing seat’s fold-down tray.

Thanks to a clever design, which basically amounts to a hole cut in the tray, the display is still viewable and accessible during takeoffs, landings and turbulence. Which is important, since besides providing calming, in-flight entertainment, the TrayVu system is also a great source of revenue for the airline. Displaying ads and running commercials obviously accounts for a good chunk of change, but each tray also has its own credit card reader. So passengers can shop via online stores, and make in-cabin food and drink purchases. They can even start a per-flight tab if they so choose. The cost of each TrayVu unit is about $2,000, compared to $4-8,000 for an entire IFE-equipped seat. And broken or damaged units are easily swapped out by just removing a couple of screws.

[ SkyCast TrayVu ] VIA [ designboom ]

By Andrew Liszewski

We still think it’s one of the best things we saw at CES earlier this year, and today Orbotix officially unveiled what the final prototype of their Sphero remote control ball will look like. And it’s not that far off from what we got to play with at the show. The polycarbonate shell hasn’t changed much, it’s still stark white and slightly opaque, letting the RGB LEDs inside glow through. Though it now sports the Sphero logo on the side. The company also revealed the ball’s charger, which uses induction so you just have to plop it in to top off the battery.

But if you’re still not convinced that a remote control ball could have lots of replay value, I encourage you to check out this video of Orbotix’s developers playing the Sphero Golf game. Like the original personal computer, the real appeal of Sphero will be the accompanying smartphone applications people create for it. And unlike VisiCalc which made the PC a must-have device, so far the apps for the Sphero look far more entertaining.

The Sphero is still on track for a late 2011 release, and will sell for $129.99, including a collection of free downloadable apps. And they’re still taking reservations if, like us, you think it’s a must-have smartphone accessory.

[ Orbotix Sphero ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s one thing to say your hardware is iOS compatible, but it’s another thing to actually make hooking them up easy to do. So while the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch can technically be used with a lot of projectors as long as you have the right cabling, Epson has made it dead-easy by including a pop-out dock on their new Megaplex MG-850HD model. Using 3LCD technology it projects a 720P image with 2800 lumens of brightness, more than adequate for home or office use. It’s also got a pair of 10-watt speakers, with a mic input if you’re making a presentation to a large room. Plus all the video hookups you’ll need for modern gear and laptops including HDMI.

Projecting content from your iDevice is as easy as sticking it in the MG-850HD’s pop-out dock, where it will also charge while connected. But it’s just as easy for other devices as well. You can of course connect your laptop using a VGA hookup, but USB is supported as well. That is, as long as you’re sticking with slideshows and PowerPoint presentations. You can even skip the laptop and run a slide show off of a USB flash drive, since I’m assuming the projector can natively read and display PP files. All-in-all it looks like a pretty great solution for work or home use, and will be available sometime in September for a reasonable $799.

[ Epson Megaplex MG-850HD Projector ] VIA [ Ubergizmo ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Do you know the one thing a techno savvy business traveler, who’d actually be inclined to scan a business card, probably already has? A smartphone! And do you know the one thing every smartphone has? A digital camera! So I’m not entirely sure who this fold-out business card scanner is actually targeted at. On the plus side it’s… um… compact when folded up. And the convenient card holder means it’s almost a hands-free operation. The downside? Where do I begin? It’s got a crappy 2MP CMOS sensor, uses USB so you have to have your laptop running to use it and doesn’t even come with OCR software. That’s left up to you to supply. Plus, it’s like $40. So you’re far better off just finding a card scanning app for your smartphone, or do what I do, never contact anybody.

[ 2MP Mini Business Card Scanner (Fold Out Design) ] VIA [ Random Good Stuff ]

By Andrew Liszewski

To get your name in the Guinness Book of World Records you usually have to do something pretty over-the-top. Tightrope walk across Niagara Falls, wear a beard made out of bees, grow your fingernails to some asinine length or built a model car with over $2.7million dollars worth of precious stones and metals. And given I can’t see Robert Gülpen’s fingernails in this photo, I’m assuming he’s making his Guinness attempt with that last one.

This 1:8 scale replica of the Lamborghini Aventador took Robert 500 hours to create, and besides a body made from carbon fiber, it also features pointless details like diamonds in the rims, seats, steering wheel and headlights. Interestingly enough, the real Aventador, which went on sale this Summer, will cost you $379,700. Robert’s version, which lacks a working engine and most certainly doesn’t come with a stereo or air conditioning, will go on the auction block at Sotheby’s with a starting price of €3.5 million, or $4,789,000+. And while it’s not confirmed, Robert’s next effort will be a Hot Wheels-sized model of the McLaren MP4-12C that will sell for just over $1 billion.

[ Oddity Central - World’s Most Expensive Model Car Costs 12 Times More than the Original ] VIA [ ChiemgauOnline ]