Household

This one’s been around the block a time or two, but sadly, it still won’t be available for use as an in-law stocking stuffer. Black & Decker’s $39.99 TLD100 Thermal Leak Detector packs an infrared sensor that can detect where cool air is being let in around older windows, doors, etc. You simply aim it at a suspect area on your wall or molding, set the threshold for temperature change and comprehend the readout on the LCD screen. Too bad this will be way less useful when it launches in the Spring, but Old Man Winter’s never too far out.

[Via Coolest Gadgets]

It’s an expectedly cryptic announcement, but it looks like the whimsical folks at Violet have finally seen fit to offer a follow-up to their original and less-than-affordable dal internet-connected lamp, with the all new dal:dal lamp apparently on track for a release early next year. As before, the lamp will change colors to relay different information, or, as Violet puts it, convert the “world’s ebb & flow and endless stream of events into halos of living colours and audio micro-messages.” No exact release date just yet but, according to GeekLifeBlog, it’ll set you back €59, or about $75.

[Via GeekLifeBlog]

We don’t get out too often (blogger skin burns easily); the closest to the great outdoors we come is squinting longingly through windows gone opaque thanks to lack of cleaning. We’d nearly resigned ourselves to a life lived of dim illumination, but now have new hope thanks to Winboni, an award-winning prototype robot from four mechanical engineering students at Michigan State University. The 5 x 5-inch bot uses a fan to stick to the window (not unlike like Takara Tomy’s wall-climbing AeroSpider, makes a great gift), and relies on two AA batteries to motor itself around the window, scrubbing all the while. We definitely like the concept and its promise of extra light for our dwellings, but until this thing can find a way to get from one pane to the next without us having to get out of our chairs we’ll sadly have to keep squinting through the grime.

[Via The Raw Feed]

It’s two things that are inevitably tied to one another each Sunday — LCD TVs and alcohol. Now, Micro Matic is bringing them together like never before, and only the most serious of in-home bartenders need apply. The v-POD comes in a couple of shapes and colors to best suit your needs, with the stainless steel Kool-Rite boasting a half-dozen taps, stereo speakers and an inbuilt 10-inch LCD. Now, if only these were available with slightly larger HDTVs and price tags nowhere near the three grand mark, we’d be talking.

[Via Engadget Chinese]

Since hearing about Nokia’s foray into the world of home automation, our curiosity has been seriously piqued. Thankfully, our girl-on-the-scene Drita has captured video of the new software / hardware combo in action on the Nokia World show floor. It looks like a fully decked out system is going to run you a hefty fee (given all the components required), but can you put a price on the extreme laziness it will enable? We didn’t think so. Check out the thrilling video out after the break!

Gallery: Nokia’s Z-Wave Home Control Center hands-on and video

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Flipping on a light switch usually doesn’t require much in the way of cranial fortitude, but mount three or four of the things in a row and it’s Concentration time whenever you try to flick the right one. Japanese graphic designer Mac Funamizu feels your shame, imagining a conceptual wall-mounted touchpad to end the confusion and inadvertent light shows. With his invention you’d simply drag your finger toward the light you want to turn on, do it again to turn it off, or make a circular sweep to illuminate the whole room. It certainly seems a bit more useful than other switches we’ve covered in the past, but until we see a version that will register our gestures from the couch we’ll stick with our Clappers, thank you very much.

Update: Taku commented to point out a strangely similar though seemingly completely unrelated prototype from London-based designer Edward Horsford. It offers the same functionality plus adds ridges.

[Via Engadget German]

We’ve covered plenty of wind turbines over the years, but most tend to be awfully conceptual or rather unsuited to consumer applications. Being eco-geeks at heart we’re happy to report on a new one that is both consumer-friendly and in production now. Mariah Power’s Windspire is a 9 meter tall vertical turbine intended for residential or commercial installation, capable of providing about a quarter of the power an “average” household needs (2000 kWh annually). It’s “bird-friendly” thanks to a relatively slow maximum blade speed (2.5 times that of the wind) and even includes WiFi so you can watch your carbon footprint shrink wirelessly. The company is accepting orders now, and while prices aren’t listed on the website (you’ll need to request a quote), we hear you can get yourself into a 2009 model with a 5 year unlimited rotation warranty for around $5,000 — plus customization if you want one in something other than “Soft Silver.” We’ll take ours in magenta, thanks.

[Via Digg]

We know, the last thing you want to hear of right now is more food, but we just couldn’t resist. Anna Gram’s artsy Citrus Clock combines the magic of stellar design with basic science in order to create a timepiece that’s powered by lemons (or the citrus fruit of your choosing, presumably). Reportedly, a single juicy lemon will keep the seconds ticking for a fortnight (or two weeks, if you’ve got an inexplicable problem with said synonym), which ain’t half bad if we should say so ourselves.

[Via Unplggd]

They may not do something crazy like connect to the internet, but Motorola’s new D10 and D11 cordless phones do break some new ground in their own little way, with each boasting an eco mode that promises to automatically reduce power consumption based on how far the handsets are away from the base. To add a bit more green cred, Motorola also manufactured each of ‘em using a minimum of 20% recycled material. Otherwise, you can expect the usual backlit display, 100-number phonebook, and speakerphone functionality from each, with a bit of SMS messaging and three-way calling thrown in on the D11 model. No word on a price just yet, but both should be available by the end of the month — in the UK, at least.

[Via Electronista]

Who doesn’t long for a smart home system that gives you full control of your thermostat, lighting, AV, and security system from the convenience of your cellphone? While many proprietary and “standards-based” off-the-shelf solutions exist, things quickly break down due to the lack of interoperability, cost, or sheer complexity of medium-to-large home automation designs. Enter Nokia who just announced its Home Control Center, a platform open for third parties to develop “plug and play” solutions, all of which can be controlled via your phone or PC from both inside and outside the home. HCC will let home owners switch devices on and off as they monitor and control their electricity usage while providing access to objects such as temperature sensors, cameras, and motion detectors. Ultimately it will integrate more complex systems like security, heating, and ventilation. Although few technical details were provided, a research paper from last year that outlined Nokia’s Smart Home strategy called for a 802.11n WiFi home gateway device (presumably from Nokia) with optional GSM/GPRS module integrating into a home network of Z-Wave and ZigBee-compliant devices. The system is expected to include pre-packaged Smart Home kits ranging from starter, security, energy, and baby monitoring when it goes retail (Europe first) by the end of 2009.

Update: Good news, remote access only requires a web browser. As such, you can use any cellphone with a decent browser to manage your home remotely.

Read — Press Release
Read — Product brief [Warning: PDF]
Read — Research paper [Warning: PDF]