Hasta La Ideas

After the electric air pump, it was probably only a matter of time before someone came up with the electric jack. May it even came first. We do not know; today is actually the first time we have seen one. But of course this must be smart, since the ever popular SUV’s are getting bigger and heavier all the time. Changing wheels or fixing a flat on an Escalade or Suburban must be hell. It is probably no picnic on a KingCab either. Now that the power jack is only a credit card swipe away, we are waiting for the next big thing, some sort of small power crane to get those big and heavy wheels in place. The power jack is available (among other places) on Amazon, is promised to lift 4.000 lb. and will set you back USD 76:- which sounds reasonable enough, but shipping is of course extra.brbr

This invention by Maria Munther at Minno is a clever combination of school backpack and car seat for kids up to 10 – 12 years old. If one parent takes their child to school, and the other parent (or grandpa) is to pick up after school, you really should need two or more of the kid’s car seats to make sure they ride safe in the car. Even though our young no longer need car seats, we can still remember the hassle of moving the seats around between cars. With Maria Munther’s SitSac that is no longer necessary. With the SitSac every child has their own personal car seat and school backpack in one tidy combination. The carrying straps of the backpack is fastened to the car seat and the backpack is in turn fastened to the car seat. The backpack has lots of pockets and compartments and the car seat part even has a hard compartment for fragile stuff, like a small laptop (like a Sony Vaio) perhaps. If everything goes according to plan, SitSac will be available in shops during the spring (2007) and it’s SRP is SEK 795:- (approx. USD 113:- or EUR 88:-).brbr

Small micro fiber miracle brushes are not exactly news, we have seen several versions of those. But we think this take on the subject is actually new. At least we have never seen any other products with this idea. The smart part is that the entire brush is textile, and thus soft and easy to keep in a pocket or purse. We first saw the idea at the Formex show a year ago, when inventor Wanja Bellander at Binnova had brought a first prototype to test reactions. Obviously Formex visitors were (as were we) interested enough for Binnova to start production. The Handy Dandy palm brush has micro fibers on one side and an elastic on the other. Put it over your hand and you have an instant clothes brush you can bring along wherever you go.brbr

This is an invention we wish we had come up with ourselves. We bought this map at Borders in San Francisco a couple of years back, but it has been put away and forgotten in our California file since our return. Today, while looking for something else, we found it. The map is printed on heavy glossy paper, and besides the map and the smart compass it also offers a section on sights and interesting to-do’s in SFCA. The Imap guides are available for a lot of different cities around the world for USD 6:95, although all may not have the clever compass.br

The smart Nomex Coolskin oven glove is one of our favorites, and soon we’ll be able to offer them for sale here on Smart Stuff. The first shipment will not be all that large, so if you want to be sure to get your hands on a pair, we recommend you to pre-order on this page. The page also offers a lot more information on the Coolskin gloves and instructions how to pick the right size. Since we don’t yet know exacly how much we are going to have to charge for them after shipping, excise, VAT etc, (probably around SEK 250:-/USD 35:-/EUR 27:- a pair) we’ll regard these early pre-orders not binding.brbr