Owner: Smart Stuff URL:http://www.smartstuff.se Join Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 10:30:12 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Ever growing archive of the world's smartest gadgets, inventions and ideas. Site statistics:Click here
Folding guitar. An airline pilot's contribution to music. 2007-05-06 23:28:21 Swedish airline pilot Fredrik Johansson had a problem bringing his guitar on trips. He tested different guitars, and he frequently asked for folding guitars in music stores. The answer was always that such a thing was impossible. This prompted Fredrik to spend a few years of his spare time designing his own folding travel guitar. And now it's in production and fore sale. It is not exactly cheap (EUR 2,600:- or USD 3,370:-) and it is not easy to get ones hands on, as luthier Leif Jakobsson will have time to finish no more than 300 of them this year. But it is quite unique. Read more:Folding
Q-drum. Smart water mover for the third world. 2007-05-09 15:23:24 With the persistence of fools, we keep arguing that water
, or rather the shortage of clean water, is one of the top health hazards in the world. We also think access to drinking water will be a major reason for war and conflict in the not-so-distant future. If more people could be given access to clean water, innumerable lives could be saved. We could present one idea for a simple transport system for water already in November of 2005; the Hippo-Roller water barrel. Here is another idea along the same lines, one that may be a little simpler to implement, but maybe harder to move. The Q-drum has been designed by P.J. and P.S. Hendrikse as a cylindrical barrel that can be rolled or pulled along the ground and has room for up to 75 liters (about 20 US gallons) of water. Q-drum is one of many smart ideas exhibited at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York as part of the "Design for the other 90%" exhibit. Read more:Smart
, third
Socket Pocket for charging cell, PDA or iPod. 2007-05-14 03:05:40 We have stumbled upon a n number of ideas for a holder for a charging mobile, PDA or iPod
lately. For example these charging cradles who both are supposed to be attached to the actual wall power outlet. Or the Mobil Pit that does the same thing, but takes up more space. Today's find looks to us to be a bit smarter still, since it lies flat to the wall. The SocketPocket
will replace the standard wall socket plate using the same screws. It is USD 15:- on Get Organized.
Hopefully non-lethal prison pen. 2007-05-12 21:27:29 Prisoners, at least in the US, seems to have a tendency of killing each other off for different reasons. The power of imagination when it comes to designing improvised weapons seems to have no limits, which has led prison authorities and designers to try to create everyday objects and tools that can not be transformed into weapons. One example is the no-shank toothbrush we have mentioned earlier, and here is another; the bending pen. The pen is supposed to be impossible to make into a weapon, and it is USD 10:- on the Spycatcher webshop.
Braked wheelbarrow. 2007-05-11 18:45:44 This wheelbarrow has to, as far as we can see, pretty unique characteristics and we have given the first one away in the headline. It has a hand brake. This is the first time we have ever seen a wheelbarrow with a brake, but we can see the benefits. The brake will help you keep the, possibly heavy, load under control in a downhill and it will also serve as a parking brake since it is lockable. The other, equally unique property, is the name. Those with keen eyesight have probably already spotted the little yellow sticker. For the rest of you; the barrows name is Jeep, which was news for us. On closer scrutiny, we find that the wheelbarrows are not actually manufactured by Jeep, but the name is used under license. But anyway, don't you agree that it would be kind of cool to park this wheelbarrow on the driveway next to the Wrangler?
Bicycle bag with built-in lights. 2007-05-17 17:34:43 We get quite a load of e-mail every day. Surprisingly many come from businesses in China, Korea or Taiwan. Firms that must have harvested the internet for addresses to sites they think will have an interest in their products. Mostly the mails are about stuff we have already written about (that is probably how they found us) but the other day was an exception, and we learned about a product we had never heard of before. A bike bag with an integrated light. The red parts seems to be something we in lack of a better term will venture to call flat LEDs. Batteries are kept inside the bag, of course. We do not know if, and where, these bags may be available for purchase, but we like the idea enough to post it anyway. The factory that makes the lighted bags (and a lot of other stuff) is apparently the Mustang Industrial Corp.
The original stash sandal. And a stash sneaker. 2007-05-15 11:35:40 At least that is what Matt Potts of Archport claims, and he does have a patent (US Patent 6,094,844) to back up his claim. Matt's e-mail was probably prompted by our previous post on the stash
sandals. If Matt's company was indeed the first to incorporate a hidden pocket in shoes, it seems that someone liked the idea so much they decided to make their own version. And if that is not the ultimate praise, we don't know what is. And besides, Archport makes stash sneaker
s, too. The Archport sandals and sneakers are available in different colors (tha sandals) from Archport or from Amazon at USD 42:45 (sandals-) and USD 79:95 (sneakers-).
Wine taster's glass with nose cut-out. 2007-05-18 23:37:41 At first we did not know what to think. Is this for real or not? But after some research it seems to be kosher. Hammacher-Schlemmer are selling these wine glasses with the novel nose cut-out. And if you read the picture the same way we did, it looks like you are supposed to poke your schnozzle through the cut-out to really inhale the delicate aroma of the wine. But that is not the case, at least it is not the way H-S believes we are supposed to go about it. Their idea is that you turn the cut-out away from you when you sip. We still think our first instinctive interpretation is better. The glasses are USD 50:- a pop on Hammacher-Schlemmer. Read more:taster
Chain free bike with electrical assist. 2007-05-21 11:23:05 American bicycle manufacturer Schwinn has released their 2007 line-up. Among the new bikes are two models with both chain-less shaft transmission and a small electrical
assistance motor. The motor and battery is pretty well integrated in the design; the batteries placed under the baggage holder. The batteries will be a lithium polymer variant that Schwinn claims to be the lightest and most durable yet. One charge will last 60 miles. The price for these bikes will range from USD 1,499:- to USD 1,999:-. Read more:Chain
Trash can with with solar powered compactor. 2007-05-23 18:11:41 As we drink more and more soft-drinks, beers and bottled water, eat more junk food and read more free dailies, the trash mounts up in our cities. And to add to the mess, at least the people of Stockholm seem to have increasing difficulties in finding a suitable waste bin. If you do not believe us, visit Hötorget (a central city square) on a saturday- or sunday morning. It looks a lot like the picture on the left. The Stockholm City Council are currently running a pretty lame campaign to teach people to find the city's trash cans, but this may be a better idea. This is BigBelly, the trash can with it's own solar powered compactor. Thanks to the compactor, it can hold four times as much trash, and thanks to solar power it does not need any external power. The result? Well, according to a list of American cities that have bought and used the BigBellies, they have saved on trash collection costs and their streets are significantly cleaner. In our neck of the woods, it may work only in t Read more:Trash
Sunlight everywhere. 2007-05-27 19:00:54 Using fiber optic wiring and specially developed solar panels and lighting fixtures, it is now possible to install sunlight even in some of the darkest rooms. Sunlight
has many advantages over electrical lighting. One of them of course being that sunlight is virtually free once the apparatus has been paid for. An other that the human organism reacts favorably to natural light. The Swedish company Parans Daylight has developed a system with which solar light can be transported up to 3 stories (about 15 meters or 50 feet) via fiber optic cable and distributed through special lighting fixtures, designed to mimic the way light filters through foliage.
Read more:everywhere
Non-sticky lemon squeezer. 2007-06-01 06:50:33 We had a similar invention on the site a few weeks back. It was the Lemon Ball. But now that we have found this version, we think it is a lot smarter, mostly because it is made in just one piece. This lemon squeezer ball is made in silicone and comes from American kitchen stuff shop Sur La Table where it is USD 5:95, which sounds a lot more reasonable than the USD 27:- the other guys were asking for the Lemon Ball.
The best on Smart Stuff in May. 2007-06-01 06:47:56 It is always hard to pick favorites, but in retrospect some gadgets, inventions and ideas almost always seem to be smarter or more fun. Here are our 5 favorites from May 2007:
The clay pot fridge.
How to apply basic physics to help give people a better life.
DeVillain folding electric guitar.
Not because we play the guitar, but because it was so improbable.
Q-drum.
Smart
water barrel for third world countries.
Compacting waste bin.
Not just because it compacts the trash, but because it uses solar energy to power itself.
Sunlight in the basement.
A smart way of supplying sunlight (almost) everywhere you might want it.
How often do you change your toothbrush? 2007-05-29 17:00:44 We cannot know how often you pull a new brush from its wrapper, but statistics suggest that we in general do it way too seldom. The average Swede, for example, only changes brushes once or twice a year. The toothbrush manufacturers are of course hard at work to remedy this, and are spending millions of ad bucks in the process. So far, however, none of the big budgets (as far as we know) have produced an idea as simple and clever as Patrik Ström Widmark at Bytborste.se have done. He has set up a simple website where he sells tooth brush subscriptions. With such a subscription you get one or more new and fresh toothbrushes in the mail each month. The brushes are available in soft or medium, and they are SEK 24:90 (approx. USD 3:60) a piece plus postage. Now, so far Patrik sell his toothbrushes in Sweden only, but we thought the rest of the world might like the idea anyway.
Skoda Superb gets a sedan trunk AND a hatchback. 2008-03-10 07:13:50 It will not arrive in Sweden until September, but via Skoda
Auto's home page we have found pictures of Skoda's (we think) quite unique solution with double trunk doors. With the Skoda double door on the new Superb model (based on the VW Passat) you can either open the trunk like on an ordinary sedan
, OR choose to open it like on a large hatchback! why did not Saab come up with this? They could have used the publicity.
Make a flash diffusor from an old film canister. 2008-03-10 07:12:57 A stroke of genius, we dare say. After about five minutes' work with ruler, pencil and scalpel we have our own diffusor for the Lumix DMC-FZ20. The only little hitch was that the pop-up flash on the Lumix is so wide we had to cut the canister from opening all the way to the bottom. This meant that the lid would not stay on by it self, but a little superglue fixed that. The difference between using the "naked" flash and the diffused one is easy to see. Too bright parts and dark shadows are softened, and the pictures appear much more balanced. Now all we have to do is remember to bring the little thing.
The Knork revisited - here are two Swedish examples. 2008-03-10 07:11:59 After our post on the knork the other day, Smart Stuff reader Peter K mailed us to remind us that there are at least a couple of Swedish
takes on the knife/fork combo. There's the classic hot dog stand fork (left) that has been developed and manufactured by Merplast in Ängelholm since the 60s. The hot dog fork has a serrated edge, but as far as we know it only really works for right-handed people. Peter K also says that a Knork is pretty similar to a pastry fork. And he's got a point, there. We have not been able to find a representative pastry fork, but we have a picture of the Gense hors d'oeuvre fork that looks like it has knife edges on the sides. Thanks to Peter for the mails!
Micro mini bike tool. 2008-03-07 08:53:45 This very, very compact bike tool is probably the smallest we have ever heard of. It sports five different Allen wrenches and one Philips screwdriver bit and the whole thing can be folded to the size of a walnut. Since the tool is so small, it cannot do the toughest jobs, but it will handle most of the tinkering you will need to do on your bike.
Prize winning telephone designed for the elderly. 2008-03-07 08:52:46 Telephone manufacturer Doro has won a French design prize - The Janus Award - for their senior telephone
called MemoryPlus 319ph. The phone is specially designed
to be easy to use by elderly
people. Design by Ergonomidesign design firm.
Smart measuring jar. 2008-03-07 08:51:43 Sometimes measuring the exact right amount of a liquid can be a pretty messy affair. And this is especially annoying when handling oil or chemicals. Enter this pretty smart double compartment measuring bottle. First measure by letting some liquid into the smaller measuring compartment (1). Then check to see if you got it right (2) and adjust if need be (3). Finally pour the desired amount (4). USD 8:-. Read more:Smart
Braille marked beer cans. 2008-03-06 09:51:30 Japanese brewers have begun stamping Braille dots on top of their beer cans. In Braille, the dots read "alcohol" though some of Kirin Brewery's cans spell out "Kirin Beer". Alcohol Braille identifiers on beer cans are just one more way the visually impaired are given extra consideration in Japan. Braille raised dots can also be found on handrails leading to and from underground subway stations, where they state the name of the station.
Whale fins inspire more efficient fans. 2008-03-06 09:44:18 Toronto-based Whale
Power Corp. is using the fins of humpback whales to help design a better fan (and, hopefully, wind turbine). US scientists discovered some time ago that the little bumps on the Humpback whale's fins result in less drag and better lift when compared to a smooth fin. A fan blade with similar bumps makes the fan quieter, more efficient
, and better at pushing down air, according to Envira-North, the company that has licensed the WhalePower design. Fans using WhalePower's design could use 20 percent less energy, and now that fans are incorporating the design, WhalePower will continue to work to apply the idea to wind turbines.
Knife + fork = Knork. 2008-03-06 09:42:38 We have previously posted on a couple of of fork/spoon/knife combinations, but for some reason we have missed the Knork. The idea came to Knork inventor Mike Miller while eating pizza with a group of friends. Trying to cut and eat pizza with just a fork, he realized he had a better idea. After several years he pursued a patent by researching and developing a prototype. He took a regular fork and covered it in auto putty with the hopes of creating a multi-functional utensil. After taking pictures of people of all ages using a regular fork, Miller combined all this into one utensil that was suitable for all ages and right or left handed users. Read more:Knife
When you need an extra hand. 2008-03-04 07:15:59 The extra hand has an 18-inch long, flexible, stay-in-place goose neck. The rubber-tipped steel clamps at both ends can grasp most anything, letting you use both hands to get the job done. Good for holding instructions, work lights, flashlights, tools, etc. USD 24:95.
Portable water purifier. 2008-03-04 07:14:47 With the BottomsUp water
purifier, all you have to do is fill any PET type bottle with water, screw on the BottomsUp top, turn it upside down, and the water what comes out will be a whole lot better. Design by Samgmin Bae. Read more:Portable
Weight loss pill in the works? 2008-03-04 07:13:18 The amount of fat that your body stores is regulated by a complex chemical network. We won't go into much detail here, but researchers have thought that interfering with these chemical pathways could perhaps reduce fat build-up. One promising substance, according to a group of researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA, is a signaling molecule called neuropeptide Y (NPY) known to regulate feeding habits. The team at Johns Hopkins says a chemical belonging to a family of chemicals called butyrolactones reduces the amount of NPY produced by the brain, thereby reducing the appetite. The team has tested the idea in mice and says it can precisely control the amount of food mice eat by varying their dosage of C75. Extensive clinical trials will of course be needed before the effic Read more:Weight
A second life for old jars. 2008-03-03 09:19:31 Industrial designer Jorre van Ast (remember his Clampology we posted on a couple of years ago?) has come up with a way of re-using old glass jars. He has made new lids for them. The lids are made to fit a number of different purposes, like sugar dispenser, oil and vinegar, spice containers, etc. Check them out on Jorre's own site...
A lock for the deadbolt lock. 2008-03-03 09:18:39 It appears that the bad guys have advanced to a point where they can open deadbolt locks using a method called lock-bumping. It's fairly simple and straight forward; you insert some sort of tool into the lock and hammer it stuck. Then you can turn the deadbolt with the tool. The solution is just as simple. It's preventing the deadbolt to turn. The Lock-Jaw is available for USD 19:95 on Amazon.
Office in a trunk. 2008-03-03 09:17:26 Everybody who works at home, or maybe just needs a workspace every once in a while should have a look here. If you're looking for unconventional office furniture, you might also find it suitable. The office box called Trunk Station can be folded up and rolled away when you don't need it. Available in several different colors on Japanese design shop Caina for JPY 198,000:- (about USD 2,000:-).
Eraser with 28 corners. 2008-02-29 04:16:16 It's called Kado-Keshi and it's an unusually smart eraser. It has an abundance of what is most often lacking in ordinary erasers. Sharp corners. The Kado-Keshi has no less than 28 corners, which should be enough for most applications. The eraser won the Kokuyo Design Award in 2002. (BTW, Kado means corner and eraser is keshigomu in Japanese). It's USD 2:50 on J-list. Read more:Eraser
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