Antique Phones - Modern Functionality

1893 Reproduction

Antique phones with Caller-ID

NEST Protect

A google company now, NeST continues to market innovative products. This smoke sensor can sense both smoke and carbon monoxide. But what makes it more beautiful is that it can even read your gestures. Say for eg: while cooking you just strayed your attention and all of sudden you burnt some food. Most cases smoke alarm would go off and you are running around to open the windows and doors and then take a wet towel to swing and make that damn thing shut. 

Now if you are aware of this accident, you can wave your hands and NeST shuts off and you can take care of your business now calmly. Don't you think it's a wonderful solution ?? Also with googles' your home strategy all gadgets can be connected and communicate to each other while you are away and can be controlled from anywhere through a mobile device. Home Sweet Home !!

The Song of the Golden Dragon

AirRex - Mini CountryMan

I'm a huge fan of brand Mini because of its unique old world design & reliability. Its such a small brand which was only present in Europe where small cars are still a fashion. In Americas we still use big gas guzzling cars and Mini is out of comparison and that too when its generally a 2 door coupe.

Little that I knew Mini transformed in a big way after the BMW's acquisition of Mini. The first Mini model with 5 door / 5 seater, Countryman hit the market in 2011 and the response was pretty nice. Mini is again becoming a style statement, but this time along with utilities like a good boot space. Countryman also is the first Mini to come up with ALL4 all wheel drive feature which Americans are fond of. I still feel the interior of the Mini can be little more serious than just being comical.

Mini Countryman became a big news when legendary Pro-drive Design firm decided to prepare a Countryman based on the WRC specifications. It was a total surprise when I knew Mini once won WRC !!. Once a car competes in WRC that means the car is solid in many aspects. Eg: Mitsubishi Evolution, Subaru WRX, Citroen DS3, Peugeot, Skoda, Ford Fiesta etc etc and all these cars had very solid sales in the past which shows the reliability. These days Mini is available in India and that shows how far the brand is accepted and reliable (Indian roads are good testing facilities). Pro-Drive came up with the following design for WRC 2011, cuteee ..

But I truly believe the popularity of a car reach its heights when local technicians / mechanics work on a model to customize it for their customers. Because generally people spend money on things they like a lot and want to make them better. Here's a classic example of that, a company called AirRex from Taiwan developed a product specifically for Mini Countryman and the feature allows the driver to lift / drop the car couple of inches based on the requirements. One of the defects people reported when Countryman was released, is the body roll of the car compared to old Minis' because this car is taller and wider. Of-course you can get a JCW package ( John Cooper Works ) with sport struts, but that's not just enough when you are hitting 120 miles and taking a hairpin. Here's a beautiful video of AirRex on the play

Pro-Drive Test Version

Daniel Sordo - WRC driver tests the car in Germany

SMEG = Beauty

I sometimes wonder how British have the aesthetics & design for products which nobody else in the world finds interesting. Like the cabs in London & red double decker buses history is stuck in the British design for years and they are amazingly beautiful.

SMEG is a kitchen appliances company which inspired me a lot when I think about product design. They are classics in that arena. Talk about boring subjects like refrigerators, dish washers and hob & chimney, this company draws attention of all human races. 

I first noticed their hob with copper plated tips; they are just the cutest it can get.  Visited their site and here I’m, instant fan of all of them. See it for yourself here SMEG

Portraits to decorate

UniKey

The Kwikset Kevo looks like any other lock. There's a place for a physical key, and it's double bolted onto the door. You don't need to call a specialist to install it. You can still unlock the door from the inside by turning a knob. But unlike a traditional lock, this lock uses proximity to unlock doors. The lock operates via iPhone or iPad app, or a fob for people without smart phones. When the mobile app or fob are nearby and you touch the lock, it turns blue then green to signal it is unlocked. If you tap the lock three times, it turns yellow and locks again. If you don't have access to a door and you touch it, the lock turns red. You don't have to be touching the app or fob to lock and unlock doors. The devices just need to be within range. You can set the range to either a few inches or a few feet via the app or website.

UniKey's technology knows which side of the door the owner is on, so being too close to the lock from the inside won't let a nearby stranger in. There's no pin required to access the mobile app key or button that needs to be toggled. You just enroll your device(s) once. Hackers aren't really a worry either, because UniKey scrambles together new key codes all the time. If you lose your smartphone with the the app, you can turn off access on via the website. Otherwise, access will turn off on the old device as soon as you activate a new phone.

The best feature is the ability to share permanent or temporary keys with others via mobile app. For eg, you could assign a key to a house cleaner for a specific day each week, or let a construction worker use a key for a few hours each day. Family members can get their own mobile copies. Keys can be cancelled as quickly as they can be created on the app.

Penny Chic

Shauna miller started a blog in 2010 with a goal to find look-alike dresses for designer clothing lines from retail stores like Walmart, Target, Kmart, Sears, Forever 21, JC Penney, so and so.. Her idea was to find penny smart dress for ladies. In short big brands equivalents from retailers.

In the process she heard lot from women which she started to relay to the retailers which forced them to come up with next season dresses. Later she found that women found it difficult to find little black dresses and she started her own clothing line. This season, Walmart is selling clothes to her and she inturn sells to her readers with best combinations. And I think other big companies will follow the suit. Here it is pennychic

Shauna's pics are here : http://www.pennychic.com/category/shaunas-picks/

Beautiful Decals

After urban living became very common people kind of resorted back to small apartments and closed spaces where most of the interiors tends to be light hues of shades to make the rooms look more bright and spacious. In those cases, which are highly common there are a few options to decorate rooms with less furnitures or artifacts which consumes space. In these scenarios' Decals became very common and user friendly to make your rooms very colorful and vibrant. Here's a wonderful company promoting beautiful decals for very reasonable price. Check it out  MyWonderfulWalls

Looking Good Sunglasses - Mirrors