COOL HUNTING

 

NanoNuno Umbrella - Using nanotechnology based on the Lotus flower's nanostructures that slough off water and dirt, the NanoNuno umbrella (€50) wicks away water and dries with little more than a simple shake. Though you may have seen this little example of practical hi-tech elsewhere, for city-dwellers who think a mud room is a bar or for those of us who have a general prejudice against the...

 

LED Calculator Watches: A Brief History - Before the Hamilton Pulsar (once thought to be the first calculator watch), a gift giving advertisement in the June 1975 issue of Playboy magazine included the Calcron LED Wrist Calculator (pictured left). One of the most collectible, only 50,000 of Hewlett Packard's 1977 HP-100 (pictured center) were made, of which about half were purchased by a Saudi prince. That same year, Sinclair introduced their...

 

Blackberry Pearl - If you've been reading CH for a while you know I'm rather fickle when it comes to mobile phones. I'm always looking for the right combination of form, features and usability. Well, there's a new phone du jour—the Blackberry Pearl. While the previous Blackberry form factors are destined to be tomorrow's kitsch (check out the slideshow), the Pearl follows a more classic, "candy bar"...

 

Chewbacca Mimobot - The latest from Mimobot takes on everybody's favorite wookie, Chewbacca. Second in their series of characters from Star Wars (the first was Darth Vader), the limited-edition of 2,500 comes pre-loaded with exclusive content from the films in 1G, 2G and 4G sizes and starts at $80. Pre-order (it won't ship until January 2007) from Mimoco....

 

Art-O-Meter - A project of Brazilian MIT programmer/designer Marcelo Coelho from 2003 that is starting to see some buzz, the Art-O-Meter is a device that scores works of art based on the ratio of the length of time people spend in front of art work to the duration of the exhibition. It operates as a clock until someone stands in front of it, activating its motion...

 

Dyson Root 6 - Using the same patented "cyclone" technology that made Dyson upright vacuums famous, the new Dyson Root 6 ($150) is a handheld tool that never looses suction, cleaning better and more hygienically by trapping dirt more effectively. With its molded plastic body—looking something like a creature-trapping gun from the prop department of Alien—it's ergonomic and easy to use, successfully negotiating the narrowest of nooks and...

 

First Look at the Treo 680 - Earlier today at Digitallife Palm announced the much anticipated Treo 680. We got our hands on one and are happy to report it's a great improvement over the 650. The device is smaller in all dimensions. The screen is brighter and more crisp, the SD card slot is moved to a better location and the antenna is now internal so there's not annoying nub....