toilet
Latest
Toto's Apricot toilet seat plays tunes from SD cards
Sure, talking about toilet seats can be somewhat awkward, but we're fairly certain you'd rather have a seat that sung to you while occupying the restroom than one that, well, didn't. Regardless of whether you're creeped out by a speaker-infused toilet seat or not, Toto is back and better than ever with its new Apricot. The seat maintains the SD slot and MP3 playback abilities of its predecessor, but this rendition also features a few "self-cleaning" abilities, a fragrance emitter, and an automatic light that turns on when it knows you're approaching. Furthermore, it looks to interface with a wall-mounted control unit that can queue up a playlist just as soon as it senses your presence, and as a good steward of the environment, shuts down when not needed to conserve electricity. So if you're strangely curious about sitting on an ultra-clean, sound streaming seat when visiting the bathroom, you can pick up Toto's Apricot next week for a staggering ¥109,200 ($900).[Via Impress]
Play Xbox 360 on a pimped out toilet
What do you take with you when you go to the bathroom? A book? A newspaper? A portable game system? How about an eight-pound Xbox 360? Yes, as NBC news reports, the "pimped out john" you see to the right includes an Xbox 360, as well as a flat-screen HDTV, a laptop, DVD player, Tivo, iPod dock and more. The one-of-a-kind super-toilet will be given away by plumbing company Roto Rooter to "re-introduce itself to a new generation." Not a bad start, but if you really want the new generation to pay attention, you really should get Christina Aguilera or Britney Spears involved somehow. [Via Xbox360Fanboy]
Roto-Rooter pimps out a toilet to spruce up its youth image
We weren't aware Roto-Rooter was so set on capturing that key 20-somethings male market of toilet users, but it looks they've really put some though into this pimped out toilet of theirs. Roto-Rooter, which spends more than $30 million a year on yellow page ads, decided to throw a good bit of that cash into this thing, and managed to toss in a HDTV, iPod with dock, TiVo, Xbox 360, DVD player, laptop, bullhorn, bike pedals (we've been looking for a good bathroom set for a while now), beer tap and fridge with this john of theirs. Even the crapper is ultra fancy: it's a Kohler with a super-strength 1.4 gallon flush. The icing on the cake is an On-Star-esque button for emergency Roto-Rooter calls. "I think you're not gonna see your man for a long time if he wins this thing." Ain't it the truth. The contest on Roto's website begins on the 24th of this month.[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Today's weirdest game video: Gears of War secret man on toilet
Gamers will find anything, and we mean anything inside a game. Take this video for instance. Apparently in the Rooftops multiplayer level of Gears of War, there's a dead man sitting on a toilet inside one of the nearby buildings and you can see him through the window. You can follow the links to instructions on how to find it, but you'd do just as well to watch the video and see it in super slow motion.How do people find stuff like this? If they're anything like us, then they get tired of being pwned and start exploring the scenery. Our money's on that. Check the video out after the jump if you can stand the annoying music.
Urilift: the disappearing public urinal (and we do mean public)
While there's no shortage of bathroom-based oddities floating around out there, the Urilift system definitely takes top honors. Since the presumably alcoholics anonymous-approved Wizmark urinals can't keep everyone from getting a little tipsy, officials in Victoria, British Columbia are taking a note from European countries to keep urine off the streets. Rather than leaving inebriated party-going males nowhere to relieve themselves on the streets, the government is considering installing hydraulic toilets in the roadways, which are remotely triggered at night to appear from their subterranean dwelling place. While there's no doors or privacy factor involved, those who were previously choosing to take it to the sidewalks probably won't mind all that much, and designers say the open design discouraged loitering and criminal activity anyway. Priced at $75,000 a pop, Victoria plans to become the first North American locale to try these newfangled restrooms out -- and hey, at least we know where to head for a clean(er) Spring Break now, right?
The Bottoms Up intros Hygienic Automatic Toilet Seat
Storming into the oh-so-competitive world of highly advanced toilet seats is The Bottoms Up company, which has just unveiled its first (and only) product -- the Hygienic Automatic Toilet Seat. Unlike some snazzy editions which sport automatic jets, this version's claim to fame is its fully automatic, battery-powered lifting functionality that enables mysophobic individuals to use the restroom without laying a finger on the seat. Apparently, a sensor detects your "intentions" when approaching, and instinctively lifts the appropriate seat(s) to keep your hands away from the potentially germ-ridden area. The company is primarily marketing the product to women "suffering with dirty and open toilet seats" around the house, as well as public businesses who'd like to maintain a clean (ahem) reputation. Unfortunately, there's no promised release date or estimated price, so you're stuck using the tried and true "manual method" for the time being.
The self replenishing doggie toilet bowl
It's probably way old and maybe even a little gauche for some, but c'mon, look at how happy that damned dog is licking the water from his toilet bowl. Don't all dogs deserve to be that overjoyed? We'd recommend you don't leave the seat cover down but it looks like it doesn't have one, so instead you'll just have to fret about whether this will teach your dog that it's cool to lap from the dirty ponds in your home.[Thanks, Jason]
Need a wee during the World Cup final? Just bring your PSP
I'm not exactly what you'd call football's number one fan (that's soccer to Americans), but a lot of my friends are close. That's why I'm slightly depressed to bring you news of a World Cup themed feature for the PSP that I know a lot of my footie-loving friends would love to get their hands on. The aptly named (at least for this post) P-TV, the portable TV service for PSPs, is offering all 64 World Cup matches for viewing on the PSP for around a dollar per game. A visit to the "jardin" during a match will no longer be a problem: if you live in Japan. Yep, the deal's exclusive to the land of the steel phallus.In all seriousness, Sony could sell a bucketload of PSPs in the UK if they combined a "don't miss a single shot" marketing line with this promotion. There's no problem with access either: a lot of pubs now serve up wifi with their pints. Unfortunately, unless Sony ends up bringing this deal out of Japan, then footie fans will have to resort to that other boring, but tried-and-tested method for minimizing water breaks: not drinking so much damned beer!
