These dynamic modern lights from Japan create a cool glow in any space without need for connecting them to an external power source.
Kyouei Design’s Mobile Lights store solar energy during the day, and automatically turn on when its dark. If there’s not enough daylight to keep them charged, that’s okay, since each segment has a set of AA batteries inside to keep them glowing too.
Each set of three LED lights hangs from your ceiling by sturdy nylon fishing line, creating a swoopy kinetic sculpture in any room. You can find Mobile Lights at Kyouei’s online shop for ¥21,100 (appx. $213 USD).
The UV Intensity Bikini obviously looks just as awesome as any other bikini on a smoking body. But aside from that, it sports some beads that act as UV level indicators that’ll tell you when it’s ok to get more sun or when you’ve had enough. They turn a darker purple as they’re exposed to more UV rays.
It’s a great way to protect against UV rays and avoid skin cancer, while at the same time giving guys like me some eye-candy. It costs about $99, which is just a wee bit more expensive then your average bikini. I would like to volunteer my services as bead checker for any woman who needs it. I’m here for ya. I will gladly help you care for your new bikini-tech too. They can be tricky to get off.
This one was conceived as a green and portable commuter transport. What we have here is a fold-up bike that runs on solar power obviously. The name says it all. Power is stored in a battery that you can use at night, and you can even power your other gadgets, like your iPod.
It looks kinda cool in bike form, but when you fold it up it resembles an alien egg that appears to be sending signals to it’s home world. In fact it’s not sending signals, but it’s pointed upward so that it can track the sun’s movements in order to maximize the power it’s sucking down. Even so, it’s still creepy. One day it might get it in it’s head that you belong in that egg so it will keep you there as it points toward the sun, warming you in your egg, so that you can hatch out as a new lifeform.
The solarDAB is what I would call retro-ugly. Meaning that it reminds me of some of the uglier aspects of yesterday’s gadgets…today. Ugly it may be, but it is the world’s first solar-powered DAB radio, from Roberts. It sports a top-mounted solar panel along with an indicator on the display that shows you the strength of the solar level being absorbed.
With the rechargeable batteries fully sun kissed, you’ll have tunes for an amazing 27 hours. Looks like they have a variety of colors to choose from for $158. Ugly, yes. But 27 hours of music is pretty awesome.
Is Apple getting into solar power? It looks that way. According to Tradethenews.com, the company filed a patent involving placing solar cells on portable devices. This means that Apple’s iPhone or other devices could have photovoltaic cells stacked underneath LCD touch screens, which maximizes the area available for harnessing and soaking up the power of the sun.
According to the filing, performance info in regard to the performance of a device’s solar cells could be displayed on the main screen next to battery power, which makes sense. It could also appear on top of the actual cells, which could be displaying the Apple logo. Imagine less charging of devices. Then one day no charging at all. Nice.
You want some of that sweet solar juice, but you don’t want to tear up your roof just to get solar panels installed. Lumeta’s PowerPly could be the answer. The panels use traditional roofing adhesives, that most roofers will be familiar with, and the process means that there is no need to drill holes and bolts as with most other systems required to mount solar panels. It’s also faster. They can do an entire roof in 35 minutes!
It’s targeted at commercial projects for the moment, but hopefully residential houses will soon be getting the opportunity. Video below.
Do we really need any more distractions we need while we drive down the road? This over-the-top replacement sun visor for your vehicle manages to cram in just about everything but the kitchen sink.
Not only can the visor play DVDs, audio and video files, it can play retro video games on its 7-inch LCD 16×9 widescreen display. Just hook up one or two (included) gamepads and you can play a number of emulated 8-bit games (many of which come on an included disc).
The jack-of-all-trades plays DVD, SVCD, VCD, DVCD, CD, CDG, CD-R and CD-RW discs, as well as digital media files stored in MP4, MP3, WMA or JPEG formats. It can even send game or movie audio to your car’s stereo thanks to a built-in FM transmitter.
Thankfully, it looks like this is only available as a passenger (right hand) visor, so you shouldn’t be able to play while you drive (unless you happen to live in England or another right-hand drive part of the world, of course). If you’re ready to turn your car into an accident waiting to happen, you can pick up the system from Chinavasion for just over $100.
[BTW: I don’t remember James Bond shooting hoops in Tomorrow Never Dies either].
When I came across the Life Clock a few days back, I thought that the idea of a clock that gradually ticked away the years of your life was a wee bit morbid. Here’s another timepiece that’ll have you thinking even more happy thoughts.
Artist Gianni Motti’s Big Crunch clock is gradually counting down the approximately five billion years we have left until the sun blows up. The 20 digit LED display (pictured) began counting down back in 2005, so the way I figure it, we have somewhere around 4,999,999,991 years to go. Ironically, the clock runs on solar energy, so the same power source that gives it life will ultimately be its demise.
On the plus side, the entire clock will surely fail and disintegrate billions of years before it’s blown to smithereens by exploding solar gases. Now doesn’t that make you feel better?
The UV Intensity Bikini obviously looks just as awesome as any other bikini on a smoking body. But aside from that, it sports some beads that act as UV level indicators that’ll tell you when it’s ok to get more sun or when you’ve had enough. They turn a darker purple as they’re exposed to more UV rays. 
