Argentina’s Sinapsis design studio has come up with this “After Office Tie” that’ll seamlessly take you from your nine-to-five to your five-’til-last-call. Nothing too fancy here, nor is the bottle opener even hidden. It’s right at the tip of the tie — your coworkers will know you’re ready to party.

The “After Office Tie” is one of 100 shortlisted entries in a contest by Designboom and will be displayed in the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.

Designboom, via Crunch Gear

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Nixie clocks already embrace tubes that are plenty old, but this Steampunk Nixie Clock blends the antique and the ancient in a unique configuration that’s bookended by what looks like submarine hatches from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. This one’s complete with an alarm, and shows you your choice of the time or date.

Don’t think you’re going to be just ordering one of these on the web, though — this exquisite creation as part of a limited run of only 10 pieces, and pricing is undoubtedly going to be steep.

Each one of these handbuilt works of art is “polished to a high lustre” in solid copper and brass, but if that’s not going to be expensive enough, you can order it in gold. Order one now, and it’ll be ready in four months. Beautiful.

Unobtanium, via Geeky Gadgets

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Last week was full of rants and raves about the iPod Nano’s on-board camcorder, but now we found a comparison of its video side-by-side with its targeted competitor, the standard-definition version of the Flip camcorder.

The verdict of the New TeeVee shooters who created this excellent real-time side-by-side comparison? The Flip wins, offering better video in both bright and low light, more detail, and better sound, even in a crowd. And we think the Flip’s color looks better, too. Keep in mind, though, the cheapest Flip camcorder, the standard-definition Flip Ultra SD, has no music player on board like the iPod Nano’s.

So take your pick, the cheapest iPod Nano for $150, or the lowest-end Flip Ultra camcorder, a bulkier unit that shoots better video for the same retail price (but you can find them for $127).

NewTeeVee, via CrunchGear

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We recently reported that the second generation of the iPod Classic had a lower screen resolution than the 1G. Looks like we got our streams crossed: both the 1G and the 2G iPod Classic resolutions are the same. There was no step down from the previous generation to the current product line.

We’ve gone back and corrected our tables for the new iPod Classic.

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Dotting the CEDIA exhibit halls — amid the bleeding-edge audio and video technology, mounting brackets and hydraulic projector lifts — are bizarre-looking and head-shakingly expensive speakers. I can’t snarkily scoff about the people with too much money (who haven’t already had it stolen by Bernie Madoff) who could buy and sell me and still have plenty of dough left over for a mansion and a yacht who buy this wacky-looking stuff at these insane prices, because that would make me sound jealous (which I am). So I direct my envious sarcasm at the speakers themselves.

Hit the jump for pictures of the most outrageous speakers seen in the halls of CEDIA this past weekend.

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Interested in the new PlayStation 3 Slim, but turned off by its boring old black color scheme? Well, if I were you, I’d suck it up, because it’s a video game console, not an article of clothing. But if you’ve got the scratch and the desire, Colorware will sell you a PS3 with whatever color you want for a $150 premium. Yep, $450 for a pea-green PS3. So worth it!

ColorWare, via Gizmodo

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People use webcams to check up on all sorts of things, but it’s usually a passive activity. With a prototype that we can only hope becomes a reality, not only can you watch your pets while you’re away, but you can play with them too. The PetCare Robot combines a webcam, robotic ball, and an internet remote control, so you can see what your dog is doing, and then use the remote to control the ball. The cameras are infrared to see even when the lights are out, and they’re fitted with “eyelids” to protect against doggy slobber. A speaker can play sounds or even the pet-owner’s voice to call the dog to play.

The balls can be set for automatic or controlled via the remote control. You can set it to release the play ball at set intervals for a certain period of time, ensuring that your pup gets exercise daily. When playtime is over, the ball returns to the robot to recharge. Taking the concept one step further, you can put a locator on your dog’s collar, and the Petcare Robot will move to that location, so you can continue watching or harrass play with your pooch.

Sure beats leaving your Rhoomba running for your pets’ entertainment. Hmmm. Or maybe they can combine it with a Rhoomba — as it follows Fluffy around, it cleans up the pet hair.

Mintpass via GeekyGadgets

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Is it possible to make Bluetooth headsets cool? They’re generally seen as something that somewhat douchey business types wear, so it seems like it’d be a stretch to bring them into the world of fashion. But dammit, Fandi Meng is going to try.

Fandi’s Volution Bluetooth Headset is just a concept as of right now, but who knows? Maybe we’re looking at the design that makes Bluetooth headsets cool. Then again, maybe not.

Fandi Meng via The Design Blog via Gizmodo

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These Brick Lights take that staple construction material and add a star-shaped light into them, allowing you to build a wall that lights itself from the inside out. And it looks pretty awesome.

Of course, hollowing out a brick to fill it with a light might not make it the most stable construction material around, so maybe these things are best suited to ornamental garden walls and things of that ilk. But even still, cool stuff.

Vidafine via NotCot.org

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A British company has come up with a universal TV remote that looks like a magic wand. With 13 gestures to master, the glorified stick changes channels, works the volume control and is compatible with most RC-enabled gadgets.

The Kymera Magic Wand remote is available from October 1 and will set you back $83. Cheap at the price for something so multi-talented: I’d add back scratching, boyfriend poking and nose picking to its abilities.

The Wand Company Via UberGizmo

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Having a PC in your home theater gives you terrific advantages, particularly when there’s a Blu-ray player inside. The Puget Systems Echo 1 shows that a fast PC in your home theater doesn’t have to be noisy, bulky or expensive. Running an Intel Atom N330 processor featuring the video-friendly Ion platform, would this small package be a worthy addition to our home theater? We’ve been testing it for a month, playing discs and downloaded movies, and watching Flash videos from the Web. The results were astonishing.

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Check out this interview I did with Teamdustrial while at OFFF 2009.




By: ewilhelm

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Molly is a 10 year old collie and would love to learn the delights of living indoors as a pet dog. She’s a lovely girl, very fit for her age and with a gentle nature. She’d do best living with another dog who can show her the ropes.

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In recent months Google Japan has been the target of numerous complaints from privacy-minded Japanese citizens concerned about the pervasive roving eye of Google Street View. To address those concerns Google Japan updated its Street View policy with a focus on notifying residents of upcoming photo shoots.

But in Japan when you really want people to take your business seriously, you’ve got to add a healthy dose of cute, which Google Japan does quite well in this short animated video. The video, starring a deceptively cute camera-robot, even takes the time to show viewers how easy it is for a car license plate number or mailbox street address to be erased on Street View after a mailed in request is received. The Orwellian face of ever-present cameras and granular data collection has never looked this cute!

Via Google Japan

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Members of the STS-128 mission crew line up behind Space Shuttle Discovery and the Mate DeMate Device at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center prior to their departure. From left are Jose Hernandez, Kevin Ford, Christer Fuglesang, Rick Sturckow, Danny Olivas and Patrick Forrester. Discovery landed Sept. 11, 2009, at Edwards Air Force Base after an almost 14-day mission to the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA/Jim Ross

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