360 DEGREES Weblog

Though it is the same company that has the Ferrari brand attached with it, Fiat have been in the memory of people for many of its smaller city cars, like the Fiat 500. Despite the initial warm response during the introduction phase, the more recent times have actually shown a decline in sales volumes. Hence after producing special editions like the Gucci for Paris and the Pepita Gold, Fiat has decided to take it on the long way, by producing 3 special edition stretch limousines of the Fiat 500 car; LimoSun, LimoCity, LimoCity Presidential. The enterprise behind this idea is Castagna Milano, who has targeted the American audience mainly, for their knack of owning limos. Other than the apparent change in length from 3.5 meters to 5.32 meters, the height has seen an increment from 149 cm to 158 cm, while the wheelbase goes from 2.3 meters to 4.1 meters.  Three versions are planned, The limo Sun, The Limo City and yes you wish Fiat The LimoCity President. Ahhh get real guys!

Despite its recent strategy of “sue everybody for everything,” Kodak has succumb to its financial pressures and filed for Chapter 11 business reorganization in New York. The iconic photography company isn’t dead yet, however, just very broke.

Kodak has already shuttered 13 manufacturing plants, 130 processing labs, and sheared 47,000 worked from its payroll since 2003 in an effort to offload its unprofitable divisions. Moving forward, Kodak hopes to leverage its existing “digital capture” patents and printing products to create “a lean, world-class, digital imaging and materials science company,” said CEO Antonio Perez in a press release. The business restructuring should be completed by 2013.

Thanks Engadget

I’m being overly enthusiastic here. I mean, lets face it: who still has paper?… Well, ok, maybe a couple of you still do, and I guess that’s why the iConvert exists. I guess my point is that no one is excited about paper; it’s just one of those figments of a distant past we still have to live with. And for as long as this is the case, and people are still buying iPads, there might be a place for this portable scanning machine. Simply dock your tablet, launch the app and scan. The feeder tray accommodates paper between 2 and 8.5 inches so letters down to small photos can be scanned with ease. It’s done at 300dpi and the images are saved in your photo gallery, in JPEG format.

It’s $150 at Brookstone and ships in February.

With a traditional baby monitor, you have a camera for the child’s room and a monitor that you carry around with you so you can see what’s happening with the baby.  You’ll need a power source for the monitor, and that means finding an outlet in the room you’re in or keeping the monitor supplied with batteries.  With the BabyPing monitoring system (from a newly-created division of Y-cam Solutions Ltd), you won’t have to worry about lugging around a separate monitor.  Place the BabyPing camera in the baby’s room, connect it to your home WiFi network, and use your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch as your monitor.  The free app “offers a wealth of security and safety features which include double-layer security and alerts to inform the user if the baby cries, if the Wi-Fi connection has been broken or if the monitoring iOS device is out of range.  Using specially developed technology, the Smart Filter™  cuts out the background noise and static normally associated with baby monitors, while Constant-Connect™ acts as a permanent tether between the app and monitor, instantly notifying the user when the baby is upset or if the connection is broken at any point, ensuring parents can put their trust in this new technology.”  The BabyPing will be available in the UK starting in February for £149.99 (about $230).  You can sign up at the BabyPing website to be notified of availability.

It’s a lot easier to keep a customer than to get a new one, at least that’s how the sales force maxim goes. So what then does the newly released J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Customer Retention Study say about the automotive brands and their ability to sell the same customer another car. For starters, something incredibly positive is happening at Hyundai – just two years ago, Hyundai was below the industry average in customer retention – now the Korean brand has flown past Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Lexus, Infiniti and Acura to become the stickiest brand in the business, with a healthy margin of 4% to Ford and Honda.

The reasons a car owner switches brands make fascinating reading. Though the primary reason given for switching brands was that the previous brand didn’t offer the type of vehicle they wanted (one in three “switchers”) the underlying reason for most switches is undoubtedly dissatisfaction with the previous vehicle. Maybe it was too many problems with the car, or that it was too costly to run and maintain, or that the car had poor resale value.

Here comes the next preview from the Vans California Spring 2012 Collection. This time the iconic mid top Chukka gets remixed. The Chukka TC CA comes with a new toe cap feature and will be available in three colorways. You can expect the sneaker to turn up at retailers still this month.

It’s always helpful when tech start-ups scheme new ways for you to burn through that bank account. Like YBUY, the membership-only site that charges a monthly fee in exchange for trying out the latest and greatest in gadgetry, like an iPad 2 or Xbox 360, sans shipping fees. The fresh-out-of-beta portal offers approved users the ability to return or purchase the pre-selected goods after a 30 day trial period, with that recurring charge going towards the full retail price if you choose to opt-in. Its co-founders claim to curate the ever-changing roster of high-end kit, taking into account the best product reviews (ahem) and even featuring certified refurbs. So, what’s the catch? Well, there doesn’t really appear to be any. It’s simply up to you to curb that tech enthusiasm and keep your credit card balance resting peacefully at zero.

Aston Martin has impressed just about any style loving individual. Whether it was cars, Drive-Me Home furniture collection, Voyage 55 concept tender, or the Mobiado handsets, it seems the brand name and style quotient is rubbing off on everywhere. The latest product to bear the established brand name of the auto maestro is the luxury office collection furniture, created by the Formatalia Luxury Group. Meant for the premium range of office goers, who have an eye for sophistication combined with modern day sleekness in designs, this furniture brings in pretty much the same thing what the Aston Martin cars would, to its lucky buyers.

Though catering to the luxury segment, none of the characteristics ever actually lack the functionality that one would look from the furniture set. Add with that some premium fabrication and modern formations, and you have what the Formatalia Luxury Group has to offer for your office. Also, the best testimony of the Group prowess for its job is displayed in the elaborate list of premium level clients, one of them being Aston Martin itself. Hopefully, by the looks of it, they seem to have justice to their creations. In the collection, are included 4 main products mainly, including the PKU49 armchair, PKU29 Drawer cabinet, PKU08 drawer cabinet, PKU04 aluminum desk. Commonalities would include the use of carbon fiber or sanded aluminum for the basic skeleton, whereas the fabrication is done with drum dyed aniline leather, albeit with 2 color options; tan and black.

For the desks, there is the push button mechanism for opening and closing the drawers for the one that has them (PKU04). The body for this one is mainly aluminum with black leather (night) outer skin. On the other hand, the PKU08 is more simplistic design, with the curved glass top and aluminum frame beneath. The accompanying chair is of course selected matching the color of the table set and rest of the décor. Equally smooth finished on texture, light yet sturdy, these are virtually the must haves for each well-healed executive’s boardroom.

As if you needed a reminder of how fast time is slipping away, the Tag Heuer Mikrogirder ($TBA) is here to show you with nearly unreadable speed. Accurate to 1/2,000th of a second, the Mikrogirder uses an all new beam/girder and excitatory beam/girder system to measure such small fractions of time with stunning accuracy, as evident on the central hand that does a complete revolution 20 times a second. Ohh it also tells you the normal time too.

Deus continues its string of drool-worthy bike conversions with the Deus Bald Terrior 1200 Motorcycle ($TBA). Based on a Kawasaki W650, the Bald Terrior features custom 19- and 18-inch wheel sets, brake calipers, and rotors, one-off inch clip-on bars, a Vance & Hines performance exhaust, a PM Super gas air filter, custom length Ikon rear