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Million dollar bed floats on magnets
Sure we all like to sleep in comfort, but how many of you would be willing to pay $1.5 million for a one-of-a-kind bed? Anyone? Anyone at all? Well Dutch architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars is hoping that someone will shell out big bucks for that floating slab you see pictured above, as he's apparently spent six years of his life in the noble pursuit of a sleeping surface that can be suspended entirely by magnets. Do you actually get a better night's sleep on a bed that's only attached to a solid surface with a few narrow tethers? Probably not, but it seems that anyone spending a million bucks on something like this is more concerned with impressing potential overnight guests than waking up refreshed in the morning, anyway. If you just have to get your hands on one of these, but you'd prefer to remain below the seven-figure price point, Ruijssenaars was also showing off a smaller version at the Miljonaire fair in Kortrijk that goes for a more affordable $146,000; at 1/5th the size of the regular model, it's much too small for you to sleep in, but it would sure make a great perch for your already-spoiled dog or cat.[Via OhGizmo]
Philips declares civil war on TomTom
As if the kids over at TomTom weren't already smartin' a bit from that Garmin lawsuit, now cross-town rivals in The Dam, Philips, are getting back in the navigation game. Hey, why not? You can't swing a cat in Europe without dustin' some type of Philips consumer electronics device -- so why not personal navigation? Philips will introduce a line of three new products from September and October starting at about €400 ($500). Targetting Germany, France, and the Benelux countries initially, the devices will feature Navteq map data (a former Philips subsidiary), weigh 160-grams, and measure-in at only 20-millimeters thin. And with the European and US markets expected to double this year alone, this sandbox is big enough to play. See? Now pass 'round those left-handed cigarettes and make nice.[Via Mobile Analyst Watch]
Philips tech enables wearable light therapy device
When Philips was looking for medical applications for their flexible Ledfoil disks, they were probably hoping to find a market of more than 200 people, but luckily for sufferers of the rare Crigler-Najjar syndrome, they happened to come across Dutch student Philomeen Engels. Engels, a recent graduate of the Delft University of Technology, had the idea of creating a wearable light therapy device using the Philips tech, which would free Crigler-Najjar patients -- whose bodies cannot break down the potentially lethal red blood cell by-product called bilirubine -- from the 12 hours they must spend inside converted sunbeds each day. The device, known as the Ledwrap, contains twelve Ledfoils between two layers of cloth and can act as either a sleeping bag or a rather bulky bodysuit for more freedom of movement -- well, as much movement as an extension cord allows, since the LEDs require too much juice to run on batteries. Engels hopes to have the first Ledwraps on the market within a year, although that may be a bit optimistic, as the prototype has yet to undergo the rather non-trivial task of actual medical testing.
Varibel glasses sport eight conversation-enhancing mics
Any gadget that enhances two of your senses at once is worth at least a mention in these pages, so we hereby present you with the not-completely-unattractive-looking Varibel hearing aid eyeglasses. The manufacturers would take issue with calling it a hearing aid, however, as regular in-ear models pick up conversations as well as ambient noise, while the four mics on each arm of Varibel's glasses supposedly separate the two types of sound, enhancing the former while dampening the latter. Developed by the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, these devices will initially be limited to a Dutch release, but because of Varibel's partnership with Phillips and Frame Holland, they may end up seeing a wider release. Integrate these with a pair of those bifocal-eliminating LCD glasses, and you've got something that actually makes us look forward to old age (well, kinda). [Warning: foreign language link, may be confusing to some.][Via Roland Piquepaille]
HDTV over IP hits Denmark, drives away without leaving a note
Our European brethren continue to play catch up on HDTV, with Danish telephone company TDC announcing a new broadband network for what is commonly called the "triple play" services (TV/phone/internet), featuring broadband at 50Mbps as well as HDTV and VOD. And they're rolling it out quickly, apparently they will be able to cover 80 percent of the country's homes with the network in just two years.No word on pricing, compression or programming but who needs details anyway?
