Katie Fehrenbacher
Articles by Katie Fehrenbacher
Secufone: The GPS security phone for grandparents
If only that 90's-era lovable old lady of "I've fallen and I can't get up," fame lived in the cellphone age. Then instead of that crappy Lifeline necklace, she could use Precisa's new Secufone which has a GPS/GSM, personal alarm system, and cellphone service. Pushing the bright red alarm button connects the user with a call-center (admittedly not unlike the Lifeline), and then the GPS enables the call-center to precisely locate the in-trouble user. The device also has big ol' easy-to-use buttons for universal design appeal and will be available in the US and Europe by the end of August.
Nest sofa
Sometimes we dream of having the perfect family unit, sigh, but instead of the white picket fence we're going to snuggle our happy family into a big nest - like this one in the middle of an abandoned lot. Its actually a sofa called Tak, made by the dutch team, Tjepkema Studios. The best part is as your family grows you can add more big rubber branches til you've got a house full of plush brown twigs for your Mormon-sized commune.
GameBike: Playstation controller
Like we've said before, the combo of gamer and fitness buff seems like it would be a rare breed, yet the products keep coming. And while we've looked at game companies that have begun tapping the fitness craze with their own workout/gaming devices (like the Kilowatt Game Controller), it seems like the new MO is tricking out your standard bike as game controller. CatEye makes the GameBike which allows the user to place his/her bike into the holster, use the handlebars as controller and pedals for speed, for any PlayStation 2 race game. A few MIT students have also had a similar idea with their CycleScore, but have connected the bike to a decidely unfun sounding game with a hotair balloon.
GameBike: Playstation controller
Like we've said before, the combo of gamer and fitness buff seems like it would be a rare breed, yet the products keep coming. And while we've looked at game companies that have begun tapping the fitness craze with their own workout/gaming devices (like the Kilowatt Game Controller), it seems like the new MO is tricking out your standard bike as game controller. CatEye makes the GameBike which allows the user to place his/her bike into the holster, use the handlebars as controller and pedals for speed, for any PlayStation 2 race game. A few MIT students have also had a similar idea with their CycleScore, but have connected the bike to a decidely unfun sounding game with a hotair balloon.
Cisco's video CallManager
You know the video call has become commonplace when it gets features like hold, transfer and voice mail, but do they really expect an influx of video-eager calls during our office virtual meeting? Yeah, we guess so. Cisco's CallManager series is releasing the Tandberg 1000 which sports a 12.2 inch LCD screen, built-in speakers and microphone, as well as all the must-have elements like call control and a built-in directory. Hopefully the work-at-home crowd won't be implementing these too soon, we're not quite ready to give up working in our sweats.
Horseriding exercise machine
Since we've all said to ourselves, "I wish there was some way to go horseback riding without the horse and actually inside my own livingroom watching TV" at some point (what you haven't, what's wrong with you?), we present the Joba Horseriding Exercise Machine. Yes, you can now feign exercise on a gyrating metal saddle designed by Japanese co. Matsushita. We're thinking Japanese customers have a slightly different response to the product than a customer in, say, Lubbock, Texas. When in use you must outstretch you're arms to look as awkward as possible and while staring forward with a grin. Come on, don't you want one? — It's even got cute little metal stirups. Chaps not included.
Razorba: Back hair beware
We know you were hoping the shirtless hair-sweater had gone 70's-retro hip, but we're sorry to say, your day has not yet come (and it might not since supposedly Eighties retroness is giving way to Ninteties nostalgia). Maybe the Razorba, a special handle so you can use your razor to shave your back, is a little much, but it beats Nair parties and high-priced waxing salons. It does look a tad tricky so a mirror might be the way to go. Maybe natural is the way to go… [Via Popgadget]
i-stepwalk: pedometer monitor
Walking is the new pilates—we'll, that's what we're telling ourselves since it's the only aerobic effort of our day. So we might be keen on trying out the i-stepwalk pedometer by Japanese company Tanita Corp, which is powered by NTT Docomo's i-mode cellphone service. The i-stepwalk monitors your activity and transmits the info to an online site so you can analyze your progress (or lack there of).
Global Pet Finder: GPS pet collar
We see a lot of pet gadgets come across our desk and most of the time all we can do is shake our heads and ask 'when does the pet-love just go too far?' Pet owners have been chipping their pets for years so that they can locate runaway Rovers turning tricks in the next town, but concerned animal lovers say that the chipping system is outdated and the domestic chips are incompatible with international standards so you're screwed if you lose kitty on a trip abroad. That's why the company GPS Tracks created the Global Pet Finder, which is a GPS collar that automatically sends escape alerts to the pet owner's cellphone when it's left a designated area, like your backward. We're hoping the next series gets a sleeping dart function, so when poochy is running all over the place you can just press # on your cellphone and send him into a nice long nap.
Moo-rific mod
A mental image of an udder meshed with mother board is something we would usually avoid, but we'll make an exception with this guy's hollow plastic cow PC case mod. Since he's got an uncomfortably intimate knowledge of cow anatomy, he neatly packaged his mini ITX-based computer into a purchased expansive cow body. Somehow the fact that German Wal-Marts sell large plastic cows doesn't seem so unusual, but the case's butcher-style precise incisions are a tad off-putting. [Via GadgetMadness]
AWOL: Alcohol Without Liquid vaporizer
We're not sure we want to inhale anything these three are selling, but AWOL, or Alcohol WithOut Liquid, debuted their liquid-free alcohol vapor machine in New York this past weekend. AWOL mixes an alcohol like vodka or whisky with pressurized oxygen which you basically suck down for 20 minutes for a hangover-free alcohol hit. The machine looks ultra shady and the mouth pieces look suspiciously like recycled asthma inhalers, but the AWOL site insists that it's all very legal and safe and so forth. Nevertheless a state senator is already introducing legislation to ban the thing and bars and night clubs are decidely uneasy about it. We sure wouldn't feel confident accepting a puff from this smoldering-stared ladies man.
Fish by phone
We hear that the Japanese take their fish very seriously, and when it comes to the issue of Japan's food safety, the Japanese consumer takes the more-info-the-better approach. They've already got a functioning beef tracking and data system by which the consumer can locate their steak's species, sex, stats, place-of-birth, farmer in charge, and location of the farm, all from a ID number on the beef packaging via any Internet connection. Now the fish business is the next food item to get the treatment and DoCoMo Sentsu (subsidiary of NTTDoCoMo) partnered with the Marine Fishery Systems Association to create a 2D barcode tracking system for all fish. Consumers can scan the barcode with their cellphones and determine even the name of the fisherman who caught the fish, the cooperative the fisherman belongs to and where the operations were conducted. Though we might like to know some info about our meal, we're thinking a full-on investigative background check on our grilled salmon plate is a bit much.
PIX: Korean LED fun
We're not sure why the girl second from the right is holding a gun, but we do smell a lame corporate attempt to create a youth trend. Companies have been hoping hip teens take to wearable LED displays like moths to a flame (see Nokia's 3220 camerphone with "Xpress-On" ), and the latest to take a stab is Korean-based Xenofreaks. They've just introduced PIX, a device they tout as an "ego visualiser" (which makes it sound way better than it really is) that lets users communicate through a 2-inch diameter, 15x 15 matrix, LED-display. PIX uses images and text that can be static, scrolled, or waved, and if a pair is in close enough range they can communicate with each other via infrared. It's sorta like text messaging, except way more clumsy and potentially embarrassing, not that we didn't bust out the Hypercolor or BK-1s during our salad days.
Subscribe-a-sock
Since this is the 5th-year anniversary of blacksocks, the Swiss black-sock subscription service which is like NetFlix for socks, except for the having to return stuff part, we thought we'd urge its inclusion into all companies' employee benefits packages, since everyone knows good-lookin' socks coordinate with employee morale. We would just suggest ordering from the domestic blacksocksusa but for some reason this American co-opt attempt of the Swiss-original turned out incredibly lame (we're thinking that its the 2001 birthdate had something to do with its unfunnily earnest dotcomness). If you're not a black socks fan, then there's also the toothbrush subscription service, Toothbrush Express, though as far as employee gifts we're thinking this might not settle too well.
The Boardbug Baby and Child Monitor
We're thinking that if you're going to use one of those weird kid monitoring devices, then at least matching baby/parent hip space-age watches are the way to go. London-based Boardbug makes baby/parent paired watches (because really, what's cooler than matching with mom before you're old enough to know any better?) so the parents gets constant kid-updates like "Toddler OK", along with the ability to set feeding time alarms. And they tell time, to boot. The baby-model has sound and temperature monitoring and a toddler-model has the virtual electrified-fence-style playzone. Seriously, we're not even joking (yes we are). [Via Shiny Shiny]
Olympic security nightmare
Athens, we feel for you and your $1.5 billion record security budget. While the Olympics always equals security nightmare, this years games have the most expensive and sizable security apparatuses to date. AP is saying $312 mill is taken up by SAIC's (Science Applications International Corp) system which uses 1,000 high-res infrared cameras to gather images and sound, 4,000 vehicles, 12 patrol boats, 9 helicopters, 1 sensor-laden blimp and 4 central-command centers. The images and audio gathered are matched against speech-recognition and stored images, and also ranked in order of security (eg. sound of car backfiring lower than sound of suicide bomber). The system covers all of Athens, the airport, 9 ports and any other Greek city used in this year's Olympics. The Greek government also expanded surveillance to monitor landline and cellphone calls in all related areas. Though you might mourn the Olympics' Orwellian state, all we need is another 1972-type incident and we'll all be living under that damn perpetual red alert.
Keg Wrap: chilled beer blanky
We guess this is what happens when frat bros face their biggest fear: warm beer. To combat the growing plague of half-empty, tepid kegs, some grad students at Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University created the Keg Wrap.Powered by an electric socket or cigarette lighter (tailgate party!), the Keg Wrap acts like a portable chilling blanket, letting you get rid of that bulky acompanying ice bucket, thus making the keg more portable. You would think someone would have already invented this, but we guess it takes those in the know to develop the goods since the frat brothers are getting $20,000 to develop the idea.
Human-powered helicopter
The idea of a pedal-powered helicopter sounds about as air-worthy as attaching a bunch of helium balloons to a paddle-boat (not to mention bringing to mind weird images of that crappy Around the World in 80 Days movie). But on Tuesday a group of students and engineers from the University of British Columbia are going to test the "Thunderbird", an attempt to capture the $20,000 prize established by the American Helicopter Association in 1980 (which was way more money back then than it is now). The test is to use a human-powered helicopter to hover in a ten meter zone, at the height of three meters for one minute. Maybe it doesn't sound that hard, but over the past decade over twenty unsuccessful attempts have been made. We're hoping they grab their victory this year by using a device with two rotors (which rotate in opposite directions) in order to lift the 302 pound copter weight. We'll get back to you with the triumphant or utterly failed results.
Hip inhaler
Those with asthma know that pulling out that bulky inhaler during social situations doesn't always scream style, and most inhalers will easily brand you a dorky mama's boy no matter how hot your hair looks. That's why a graduate from Brunel University Industrial Design and Technology created Thinhaler, so that asthmatic sucking could be therapeutic and sexy. The 6mm thick inhaler can fit in the credit card slot of a standard wallet and costs the same as a traditional inhaler. It does carry smaller doses of the medication because of its size, but that's a small price to pay to achieve hip inhaling.
Old folks suit
Like we all don't already feel old enough — scientists at England's Loughborough University along with the building company Skanska, created The Third Age Suit which makes the user feel like an immobile old person. The suit isn't just to remind us of the onslaught of age, architects have been using the suit to help design better hospitals, retirement communities and aged-friendly environments. The suit has restrictors and splints that hinder movement, yellow goggles to create loss of vision, and gloves to create lack of tactile sense. Though we know the designers have the noblest of intentions, all of a sudden the future makes us want to crawl into the corner and cry.