Hasta La Gadget!

Well, pardon us. We balked at the $208 price tag affixed to Tokyoflash’s RPM LED wristwatch, but the value proposition there now looks an awful lot brighter when compared to this. Manufacture Royale’s looking to catch at least one or two elitists off guard with its new Opera Time-Piece, a $1.2 million device that’s composed of 319 parts in the wilds of Switzerland. Purportedly, it was designed by Fabrique du Temps, and the minute repeater plays the hours in the key of A as the minutes chime in C sharp. It’s also encased in 18k gold, sapphire crystal and a healthy dose of self-worth. Word on the street has it that only a dozen of these will be made available for sale, with the accordion casing being the standout feature in our eyes. In a manner of speaking, of course.

Manufacture Royale debuts $1.2 million Opera accordion watch, Sir Steampunk scoffs originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Nov 2010 17:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Somehow, Griffin has managed to take a laundry-list of dork-tastic follies and combine them into a single product that actually looks quite good. It’s called the Slap, and it turns your iPod Nano into a watch.

The Slap is a version of those old slap bracelets that are still used to make reflective cuffs for cyclists. Inside is a strip of memory-metal that you can straighten out, but that instantly circles your arm and grips it when you slap it against your wrist.

This strip is encased in brightly-colored silicone, recalling the poor fashion choices we made in the 1980s.

Finally, it copies the already unoriginal idea of turning the clock-faced Nano into a wristwatch.

And I can’t help but love it. Until you try wearing the new Nano on your wrist, don’t laugh. It’s a surprisingly practical place to put it, even if snaking the headphone cable up your sleeve out through your collar is a little fiddly. I have carried the Nano this way, both on my existing watch-strap and (nerd-alert) on a Honl Speed Strap Velcroed around my arm.

Griffin’s Slap has a semi-enclosed capsule for the iPod, with a single hole for the headphones to enter. The volume and sleep/wake buttons are covered, but have raised nodules over them to help you click through. The touch-screen is of course always exposed.

The Slap will be available soon, and comes in a double-rainbow of eye-searingly bright colors. For the boring Henry Fords out there, it also comes in black. $25.

Slap product page [Griffin]

See Also:

• Nano watch – Wired News
• Inevitable Strap Turns iPod Nano into a Watch
• How to Turn the iPod Nano Into a Wristwatch
• Watches

Why have I never seen his before? It’s called the Bionic Wrench, and it’s an adjustable wrench that appears to actually work.

You’ve been there. You need to remove a bolt and you’re either too lazy or too ill-equipped to use the correct-sized box-wrench. Instead, you reach for an adjustable spanner which, if you’ve come this far in my story, you likely picked up for a few bucks at the thrift store. The cheap tool needs constant readjustment and even then it strips the shoulders from the bolt or slips, grazing your knuckles.

Enter the Bionic Wrench, which arrays six hardened-steel blocks in a circular enclosure. When you close the handles, these blocks become the jaws of the wrench and close down onto the six edges of the bolt, clamping it tight on all faces like a box-wrench. And if you orient the thing the right way, it will tighten on the bolt-head as you push, whether screwing or unscrewing.

It’s ingenious. Like I said, this too has been around for a while, but it’s always worth pointing out something so clever and practical.

You won’t be able to toss this in a back pocket like you would a traditional adjustable wrench, nor will it be practical in small spaces, but in the workshop, this looks indispensable. It even works with stripped bolts. Available in various sizes, from $25.

Bionic Wrench product page [Loggerhead via Core77]

LoggerHead Tools Bionic Wrench [Rainy Day Magazine]

See Also:

• Hands-On: Surly Jethro Tule Bike Wrench and Beer Opener
• U-Lock Tool Turns Kryptonite into Wrench
• Bike Geek Gear: Giustaforza Torque Wrench
• Brilliant Solution: Inventor Creates LED Wrenches
• Bike Geek Gear: Pedro's Master Tool Kit
• Finger Wrench: Plastic Wearable Spanner

So, what’s a company to do when turning the big one-oh? The same thing that it always has, of course! Tivoli Audio’s classic styling has somehow found its way back around again on the 10th anniversary Model 10 AM/FM clock radio, a highly compact music maker with a 7.8-inch cabinet, a pair of independent alarms (which can be set to music or a tone), inbuilt LCD and a menu screen with an adjustable backlight. As you’d expect, the pizazz is coming mostly in the form of exterior color options, with “furniture grade wood” being offered in walnut, cherry, blue, black and red. For the true historians, a Celebration Collection is available in light and dark aluminum wood finishes, with the Superior Collection adding a high gloss Frost White and Chesnut Brown (along with the ‘Lines’ pattern shown here). The auxiliary input allows pretty much any source to be connected, with all functions dictated by a single top-mounted rotary control or a bundled remote. As for pricing? They’re going for $199.99 to $379.99, or precisely 19.2 times more than you ever expected.

Continue reading Tivoli Audio fails to deviate with Model 10 clock radio, still celebrates Tin anniversary

Tivoli Audio fails to deviate with Model 10 clock radio, still celebrates Tin anniversary originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 10:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Sarpaneva casserole was designed in 1960 by Timo Sarpaneva. I saw it for the first time today, and I’m blown away by the features it packs into such a minimal, simple design. Sarpaneva is Finnish, and designed this cook-pot for iittala (for whom he also designed a logo). The casserole is made from cast iron and the handle is beechwood. Then things start to get interesitng.

The pot can be lifted by the two cat-ear-like handles cast into the body, and this is how you’d heft it into a hot oven. Slide the elegantly-curved beech stick through these hoops, though, and you have a cool handle which can be used one handed.

Want to remove the flat lid? The same handle does the job, one slotted end hooking firmly under the lid’s own small handle. Neat, but there’s more. Inside, the pot is enameled in a handsomely contrasting white, so you can cook anything in there without it sticking, and it holds 3-liters, or just over 3-quarts.

This Finnish classic is apparently so well respected in its homeland that it even made it onto a postage-stamp. It’s easy to see why. Even the fanciest of kitchen gizmos today aren’t so well thought out. I want one of these now, although I’m a little scared by the price: $260.

Sarpaneva [Littala]

See Also:

• Camping Kits Stows Inside Single Saucepan
• Bang Bang, Your Egg: Kitchen Uni-Tasker Is No Yolk
• Mix Stix Make Bad Cooks Even More Annoying