Dec 3, 2009

When designer Sebastian Errazuriz lived in Scotland, he played a lot of golf in the rain, and he and his fellow golfers found the umbrella just as ubiquitous as the club. So what's a good designer do? An umbrella/golf club mash-up.

There is one sad note, though: "This product is an umbrella and should not be used as a golf club," but maybe that's because it was made for the MoMA. Well, that and it's a $65 umbrella — about $63 more than we pay for our disposable rain shields here in NYC.

perpetual kid, via Design Milk

Dec 3, 2009

Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen accepting the Green Car of the Year Award for the Audi A3 TDI

At last year’s LA Auto Show, the Volkswagen Jetta TDI rather surprisingly beat out many non-diesel contenders to win the title of 2009 Green Car of the Year. And, if I were a betting man, I would have never guessed that the Green Car Journal would choose another diesel to win the 2010 title. But they have. The Audi A3 TDI was just named the 2010 Green Car of the Year.

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Dec 3, 2009

For a company that was founded just a little bit more than two years ago, Fisker has come a long way. Today, at the 2009 LA Auto Show, the company’s co-founder and CEO, Henrik Fisker, announced that the luxury Karma plug-in hybrid supercar will begin showing up at retail locations worldwide in the early part of third quarter 2010.

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Dec 3, 2009

Thanks to smart geometry and engineering comes this collapsible lampshade, going from flat latticework to squared-off cube in an instant. Place it over a lighting fixture and you have a soothing, glowing shape that doesn't seem to be from this world. Even more impressive than the final product is the way this unusual lampshade was created:

"The process works by sweeping a laser across a pan of powdered nylon; when the lasers hit the nylon, it fuses ("sinters"). The process repeats in layers, until the final product emerges. Thus, you can create interlocking shapes all at once--for example, a chain whose links are completely closed."

Take a look at this video and you'll see how it unfurls:

Dec 3, 2009

Military types must be as fascinated with Jetman as we are. But Jetman's jet-powered wingsuit is still ahead of SPELCO (Special Parachute and Logistics Consortium), because this Gryphon Next Generation Parachute System has no engines — it's a glider, but that doesn't make it any less thrilling.

The company says its stealth-optimized getup has a glide ratio of 5:1, meaning that a 30,000 foot jump will let its pilot accurately steer himself to any point within 30 miles. It's said the average speed of such a flight would be about 60 miles an hour, but we're thinking you could go a lot faster than that by pointing this wingsuit straight down.

At first, the wings will be parachute-assisted, lowering the pilot gently to the ground at the end of the thrill-a-minute flight. Eventually, the company plans to develop a version that can be landed without the help of a parachute. Looks like even more fun than a jet pack. Take a look at another pic of this daredevil pilot, just after launch from an aircraft:

Via Danger Room

Dec 3, 2009

We're big fans of tiny PCs, and this CompuLab fit-PC2i is the smallest one yet. Even though it's just 4 inches wide and slightly over an inch tall, it can still run Windows 7 and blast 1080p video all day long. It's made out of aluminum, so it's super light at 13 ounces, just right for hanging on the back of a flat panel display for complete Web freedom in the home theater.

The superlight (13oz) PC runs your choice of an Intel Atom Z530 1.6GHz, or Atom Z510 1.1GHz processor, and it's nice and quiet because this 8-watt PC is so efficient it doesn't even need a fan blowing inside. Pair this up with a tricky home theater mouse, a wireless mini-keyboard, or a cellphone-like controller, and you're all set. Next month, you can pick up the loaded model with Windows 7 Professional on board for $499, or get the cheapest one for $245.

Take a closer look at all the inputs in the back of this baby including a quartet of USB ports, a couple of gigabit Ethernet ports... alas, there's DVI instead of HDMI (update: weird, looks like HDMI to us, too):

Fit PC, via Engadget

Dec 3, 2009

Do your hands get cold in the wintertime? Well, you could get a pair of gloves. Or you could get Sanyo's Eneloop Kairo hand warmer, load it up with batteries and hold onto it tightly.

Basically, these things are like those heating pads designed to go in your boots and gloves, only battery-powered. It's kind of like taking the bottom of your laptop and putting it in the form of an egg. for $45, I'll stick to mittens, thanks.

Sanyo via Engadget

Dec 3, 2009

We want to watch video sites like Hulu on our TVs. But the corporations that own the shows that go on that and other video websites want to deliver those programs via a different business model: advertising-based broadcast TV, and ad- and subscription-supported cable TV. The result? A clash of technologies where Big Media struggles to protect an old-fashioned business model by holding back the tide of new technology.

In the middle are we, the humble TV watchers. How much longer can this Internet video tsunami be held at bay? Why is there resistance to providing shows over the Internet, instead of broadcast or cable? And why is it so hard to cross that divide between old-fashioned TV and newfangled Internet TV? Find out on the next page.