360 DEGREES Weblog

The iLuv iHD171 brings HD radio to the clock radio with iPod dock.  The  iLuv iHD171 works with the iPhone and iPods with the docking connector, and it has a 3.5 mm audio input for use with other sources.  In addition to allowing you to charge and play your iPod, this iLuv unit receives HD radio signals and displays the HD station, song title, artist, and other data.  It comes with a remote control and with antennas for clear reception of AM, FM, and HD stations.   You can also tag songs for later purchase in iTunes.  The iLuv has two alarms and allows you to wake to iPod, radio, or a buzzer.  It even will output video from video-capable iPods to your TV.  It’s $199.99 direct from iLuv. Anybody still doesn’t know what to give me for Xmas?

Digitimes’ patchy sources are claiming that OmniVision Technologies—the current manufacturers of the iPhone 3GS’ 3.2-megapixel CMOS image sensor—has won a new contract with Apple to provide the Cupertino company with new sensors for the next-generation 2010 iPhone. More »

With hot rod-styling and high-end materials, The Roddler ($2,000) just might be the world’s coolest stroller. It features two rear and one front chrome wheels with fin-shaped fenders and white wall tires, color-matching brakes, wheel bullets, chassis, seat, and top, stainless steel hardware, chrome grips, an ultrasuede seat insert for comfort and carbon vinyl leatherette for the seat and top for added durability. Better yet, order one with the Trike kit included ($2,500) and transform the stroller into a bitchin’ trike when you’re kid is ready to take the wheel.

Not many design houses use tanks in their illustrations of a new road safety concept. Transparentius, as with most good ideas, is remarkably simple — you jack a camera onto the front of a truck, or lorry as they’re known in some places, and then project that image onto the back of your hulking transporter. The effect of this is to render the truck figuratively transparent for the driver behind, who is enriched with a lot more information about what lies on the road ahead. No word on how the rear projection is achieved or how sunlight glare is overcome, but knowing Art Lebedev, you can bet both challenges are solved in the most unaffordable fashion possible.

Renowned photographer Roxanne Lowit has been chronicling the fashion scene for the past 30 years; early on she staked out the backstage areas at fashion shows, where the really interesting action takes place, as her prime hunting ground for capturing the most beautiful people in their natural habitat. Now Lowit, whose work has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum and others, has an incredible new book just published by teNeues, focusing on brilliant, flamboyant Dior deigner John Galliano’s couture concoctions which she chronicled for over a decade. Backstage Dior, with a foreword by Galliano, mixes black-and-white and color images, candids and close-ups, delving into the fascinating details behind the scenes. The book is a must for any devotée of fashion, spectacle, photography, or all three.

While I wouldn’t rely on it for any professional work, the fact that the iPhone gained video recording capabilities with the 3GS has occasionally come in handy. But image quality issues aside, the hardest part about using it to capture video I find is keeping the phone steady, though I can’t say I’m willing to shell out $129.99 for this slightly over-engineered solution.

An extremely rare alloy-bodied 1963 Aston Martin DB4 GT (above), one of only 75 built, is expected to fetch up to $1 million at RM Auctions’ Automobiles of Arizona event at the Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix on January 21. The exclusive competition variant of Aston’s famed DB4, the model was formally introduced in September 1959 at the London Motor Show and was based on the race winning prototype driven to victory at Silverstone in May 1959 by the great Stirling Moss. The example on offer is the last DB4 GT built and underwent a complete restoration during 1994-95. The car has a luxurious Connolly leather interior with Wilton wool carpets, handles like a race car and does 150 mph.

Could it be that geniuses at the Sheinhardt Wig Company (also known as GE) are getting creative now that they’re about to get rid of us underlings at NBC Universal (the parent company of our overlords at SyFy)? It certainly appears so, if you take this high-tech sleigh for a spin. It’s a clever interactive app that takes you on a tour of some of the latest ideas from GE, the company Thomas Edison built.

The WakeMate is a smart wrist band that monitors your sleep and gives you a gentle nudge to wake up. Unlike normal alarm clocks which just blast you into consciousness the WakeMate is supposed to leave you bright and refreshed when you wake up. It even works with naps. You program the WakeMate to wake you within a 20 minute window and it will find the right spot.

The WakeMate uses a science called actigraphy to analyze your sleep. Actigraphy uses an actigraph (the WakeMate unit) placed on a subject’s wrist to monitor the motion. The motion data is then analyzed to determine sleep patterns and circadian rhythms of the subject. For more information, you can download a paper on actigraphy here.
It works with all bluetooth phones apparently and it’s not available just yet but it will be US$49.99.