Hasta La Gadget!

Electrical outlets are so unsightly. They just look out of place and disturb the flow of the room. Or so my wife tells me. They don’t bother me, but I can see how they might interrupt the design of a room. If only we could hide them. Well, we can. With Legrand’s Adorne Pop-out outlet.

These are like little pop-up books for your wall that give you electricity. When you aren’t using the outlets they just get pushed into the wall and are unseen. When you need one, just push and it pops out, exposing three outlets on its sides and top.

This is a great design that is sure to make your walls look nicer. They are perfect for minimalist homes. It sells for about $48(USD) from Amazon.

[via This Is Why I’m Broke]

Home automation technologies have been around for a while, but most systems require additional gadgets to be plugged into each outlet you want to add to the system, and are generally quite costly. bRight Switch wants to replace every switch and outlet in your home so it can truly become a smart home – all without breaking the bank.

At the core of the system, bRight Switch replaces the light switches in your home with smart, wireless-connected switches which can be used to do everything from dim lights to control music playback. The switches can be programmed to turn on and off lights at predetermined times, or when you go on vacation, but what makes them really impressive is that they learn from your routine. So if you have a tendency to get home and enter a particular room at a particular time, the switch can automatically turn on the lights at the right time. With the Android-powered nLine touchscreen switch, you can also use two units as a room-to-room intercom, or use proximity detection to turn on lights when you enter the room. You can also use your Android, iOS or Windows mobile device to control the entire system remotely.

The system is comprised of three main components: 1) nLine touchscreen smart switches – which offer full functionality; 2) eLine switches – which provide dimming functionality and 3) eLine outlets, which provide AC and USB power, and can be turned on and off wirelessly. Both the eLine switch and outlet have  a built-in dimmable LED nightlight as well. Also, all dimmers offer selectable modes for incandescent, CFL or LED bulbs.

Each module plugs into an ingenious modular wireless base unit, so you can quickly change any location between any of the three switch or outlet modules, or upgrade to potential future variants. Installing base units is as simple as installing a light switch or outlet, but once it’s done, everything else is plug and play.

Best of all, the system is reasonably priced – even more so during its initial crowdfunding period. For as little as $15, you can buy a single eLine outlet and base unit, while an eLine switch and base goes for $25. The whiz-bang nLine switch and base is going for $75. Of course, outfitting an entire room or house will cost quite a bit more, but they have complete systems starting at $140 for small rooms, ranging all the way up to $990 for a full home system, with 2 nLine switches, 15 eLine switches, 20 eLine outlets and 37 wireless base modules.

Head on over to Indiegogo before October 31 to show your support for the project and to start transforming your home into a truly smart one.

So, how about that power squid under your desk? Is it big enough yet? Well, if you’ve got the same problem that I have, then maybe a more discreet power strip would help. Or maybe it won’t. Needless to say, it might blend in, depending on your actual flooring.

The Invisiplug is a standard power strip with 6 ports. Instead of coming in an off-white or gray color, it comes in a variety of realistic woodgrain patterns. These are patterns, and the power strip itself isn’t made out of wood. Obviously, wooden power strips could potentially be a fire hazard, so they stuck with plastic.

It comes in three different shades of wood and costs $15.99(USD) each over on Amazon. Now if only they made woodgrain power cords to go with. But then the part of the cord that goes up by the wall would need to match the wall too. You just can’t win.

[via Ubergizmo]

There are plenty of wireless speakers on the market these days, but sometimes, you just need a small speaker to deliver the right amount of sound at the right place. While outlets might not be optimally placed, this speaker takes advantage of the fact that most wireless speakers still need to be plugged in – at least to be charged.

The Bem Outlet Speaker  just plugs into a North American 110V outlet and connects with mobile devices via Bluetooth. Once your devices are within 25-feet and paired, simply hit the play button, the music will flow. The compact speaker is only sightly bigger than a juice box, so you can hide it away pretty much anywhere. It will cover up most of the outlet, so you’ll have to watch that if you use many of yours. It’s also got a USB port and 3.5mm jack for connecting wired devices.

The Bem Outlet Speaker is available now for $99.99(USD) and it comes in either black or white case options.

[via Ubergizmo]