Hasta La Ideas

The Third World has had an explosive growth in mobile phones. The mobile phone technology has meant a leap in so far as the developing countries has not had to go via landline phones to create a telecommunications system. However, it is not without problems. The most difficult is probably access to electrical power to charge phones and to power base stations. In many places where there is no, and probably never will be, a power grid people are left with diesel generators, with all the problems they bring. A better solution would be to use solar power, a commodity that’s abundant in most of the parts of the world that need it. Motorola has sensed this, and are now testing placement of charging kiosks where you can charge your cellphone for free. If there’s only Motorola chargers available is not clear at this point, but during the wait you’ll be able to check out the latest Moto offerings and perhaps re-fill you cash card. The idea seems to be to entrust the kiosks to female micro-entreprenours. The whole thing is smart for several reasons; 1: you can get a charge for free. 2: Moto gets a lot of goodwill, and 3; net providers must be cheering with joy since a powerless phone does not generate any revenue on the network…brbr

We have previously presented the finger paintbrushes and a finger toothbrush. So we suppose it’s about time to introduce the finger cutlery. The culprit behind the finger cutlery is designer Merry Kawamura Ganjavian, and there’s a finger fork, a finger knife, and of course a finger spoon to let you cope with every eating situation. Maybe the finger cutlery would be the perfect picnic gear. At least you don’t have to carry the weight of the handles…brbr

Our good friend and frequent tipster, Monica F., sent this snippet from a Swedish house-and-garden magazine. It’s about washing balls (they look a lot like small UFOs) that, if they work as advertised, could replace ordinary detergents. It sound pretty fantastic, but the balls, when immersed in water, are supposed to produce ionized oxygen. The oxy is then supposed to activate the water molecules to penetrate deeply into the fabric and lift the dirt off. The upside would be that you could save on detergent, on running shorter washing cycles, and running them on a lower temperature. Three balls (supposed to last for a thousand washes) are SEK 750:- (about USD 123:-).brbr

Most watches are called waterproof but they’re really not waterproof. If you try to engage the chronograph on most pieces the watch will become unstable and could let water in. Breitling has solved this problem by placing a magnet on each button, and another magnet inside the case. When you press the button, it engages the movement without actually touching anything. The magnets repel each other. The downside is that Breitling has used their caliber 73 SuperQuartz motion, but if you can live with wearing a quartz watch on your arm…brbr

Japanese coach and truck maker Hino has developed a new luxury coach with windows that let passengers individually adjust the degree of tint in the windows. The coach has more than 11 square meters of glazing that can be varied from crystal clear to a tint six to eight times darker than normal tint. The technology can block more than 99% of UV radiation, drastically reduce heat build-up and glare inside the coach and as an added bonus it offers better soundproofing and greater structural strength to the bodywork.brbr