I can’t imagine the $US30,000 Superplexus puzzle as a real product. All I see is a boy who’s trapped some sort of ligneous, sapient life form in a sphere. And he’s spinning it, slowly.
This isn’t just for the laydees of Gizmodo. Men make sauces, too! And with a name like “Autonomous Saucier”, it’s practically using robot technology, right? The little sauce-stirrer has stainless steel legs and with speeds for perpetual standing-upright whizzing.
Digital photo frames, schmigital schmoto frames. I wouldn’t give this model a second look if it weren’t for the fact that it’s packing a FRICKIN’ INTEGRATED PHOTO SCANNER.
Hammacher Schlemmer’s digital pinball machine crams a 720p, 32-inch display into a full-sized cabinet, and offers by way of emulation 17 classic boards. But I’m not sure pinball freaks are that interested in digitised flippers.
Here’s a fantastic idea for a product: A coffee maker that responds to voice commands…just not a voice command to “make me some freaking coffee!”
Traditional sound machines tend to use white noise or repetitive nature sounds to compete with the cacophony of the outside, but that only works to a certain extent. Ecotones, by Silicon Valley start up ASTI, is hoping to one-up them by actually being able to adapt to the user’s environment. You can choose from 12 different SoundStories–including settings, I bet, like ocean or rainforest–that play at 18-bit quality, better than standard CDs. Audio backgrounds react to cues in the listening space and combine them with hundreds of “natural” sounds to make a soundscape that’s supposedly a lot more relaxing. It’s available through Hammacher Schlemmer for $US299. Wow, anything for a good night’s rest, I guess? [Hammacher]
It turns out the wet t-shirt-wearing girls riding those mechanical bulls at the local bar were actually exercising. No lie, as you can see with this Five Axis Core Muscle Trainer, ripped from the everlasting kitsch-ridden pages of Hammacher Schlemmer. The saddle tilts left and right, up and down, and throws in a few twists for good measure. All the while the motions target your “core muscles,” which are worked as your body attempts to regain equilibrium. The whole idea of a rocking, jocking mechanical exercise bull for the home actually sounds kind of exciting, until you realise this piece of equipment was designed with the senior bull rider in mind. And yes, those are stirrups.
We gave the Nahamer T450 toaster concept design a big thumbs-up for its simplicity… but it turns out that there’s actually a real toast-dropping versus toast-popping machine. The Trapdoor Toaster does exactly what it sounds like it does. It’s a 1400W device, with auto-adjusting guide racks so it can do toast, bagels or pop-tart-style food. You simply slide in your food, and when it’s done it slips out the bottom, and elegantly onto your plate. Out now for US$79.95. [Hammacher Schlemmer]
The swimming pool was really the only place left on Earth where extreme pogo stick users couldn’t rip mad tricks. Until now. “The Only Underwater Pogo Stick” was designed for use in the pool, and allows you to easily “perform a variety of waterborne stunts as you bounce off walls or bottoms.” Instead of a traditional spring (which is for landlubbing amateurs), a rigid ball filled with water fits into the footrest, and lets you bounce about in shallow water or “bound powerfully” in the deep end. Works with in-ground pools only for US$60. [Hammacher Schlemmer]
