by Darren Murph
Sure, you could blow a cool million on a bed you'd never sleep on, but why not grab one that actually provides some relief (and won't run you $5k a month... forever) after a hard day in the blazing sun? Enter Kuchofuku, who certainly has the right idea with its air conditioned sleeper and clothing line. The makeshift bed, which only weighs 5.3-pounds, utilizes dual fans to pull air in and circulate it through the cushion beneath you. Of course, it'd be a modern tragedy to have to rise and leave such a pleasant scenario, but you can solve that dilemma as well care of the air conditioned shirt. The button-up garb touts an integrated fan that is purportedly powered via USB, which means that your armpits can now remain fresh regardless of how infrequent the AC kicks on at the office. A cooler night's sleep is but $399 away, while the new threads (seen after the jump) will run you a staggering $159 apiece.
Generally speaking, wind turbines have been reserved for more macro-scale operations, but a West Australian inventor "believes he has developed a way to generate electricity for homes using wind power." This residential approach utilizes a modular turbine that is minuscule enough to perch atop nearly any roof without causing too much unsightliness, and can create power for the house to consume as the wind pushes its blades. Additionally, Graeme Attey suggests that solar panels could be used in conjunction with his creation, giving you double the renewable energy opportunities (at least during the day). Currently, Mr. Attey's device is being partially funded by the West Australian government, and homeowners who toss one up on their crib could receive a rebate if in fact this is ready for commercialization next year.
We saw a variation of this Philips TSU9600 at CES. Still, it's nice to see Marantz get official with their own VGA touchscreen remote: the TC9001. Like Philips' model, we expect this Marantz model to integrate with Escient Fireball media servers and Lutron RadioRa lighting controls for full multi-room control. It brings along an option for an RX9001 WiFi extender or RX8001 serial extender too -- right, just like Philips. The only difference appears to be the choice of UI which of course, can make all the difference in the world. Expect the Marantz RC9001 to ship sometime mid-September for right around $1,000.
Japan's NTT has expanded its videophone service with the introduction of its latest "Flet's Phone", the VP2000. The device -- an update to this model we saw way back in 2004 -- features a 12.1-inch, XGA touchscreen which will allow users to access email, browse the web, get weather and news, write memos, and obviously make voice and video calls. The phone utilizes the Japanese teleco's ADSL service, has a built-in webcam, and includes a USB port as well as RGB and RCA outputs. Additionally, if you happen to be over 60 and really excited about getting one of these puppies in your kitchen, the company is offering a discount for seniors, knocking down the regular price of ¥62,790 (about $513) to ¥57,540 ($470).
It looks like Ministry of Sound die hards now have yet another MP3 player to call their own, with the ever-expanding brand now finding itself slapped on the otherwise ordinary-looking MOSMP085 player. This one's available in both 1GB and 2GB varieties, and boasts a 2-inch display, a built-in voice recorder, and an internal speaker, along with the usual line up of supported formats. You'll also, of course, get five Ministry of Sound tracks pre-loaded, along with two free downloads of your choosing. Look for it to start shipping later this month for £45 or £50 (approx $90-$100) depending on the size.
Have you been searching for a device which will unify all of your complicated technological needs into one hideously ugly, totally generic package? Well, your search is over, because some completely unknown team working for an anonymous company which is 
Remember all those version 2 iPhone rumors rumbling about back in May. Well, they're back and running amuck in Taiwan. According to DigiTimes, Taiwan's Chinese-language Commercial Times says that Taiwan's Wintek has gained the touch-screen panel orders for the second-gen iPhone. The report claims that Wintek has already begun test production in small volumes with Apple intent on selling their newest model of the iPhone in September for somewhere between $249 and $299. Unfortunately, the article doesn't state where this flavor of the iPhone will be sold. An important omission given that September is the same rumored delivery for Quanta's iPhone variant meant specifically for non-US markets. Of course, that would be too early according to (some) JP Morgan analysts although Kevin Chang, and his vision of an iPhone nano, would surely disagree. To muddle things further, Wintek was just fingered as the supplier of panels for future touch-screen iPods set to launch in August. However, DigiTimes sources are now reporting that the iPod's capacitive touch-screen will be "less complicated" than the panel used for the current iPhone. No multi-touch? Who knows. Man, rumor mongering is a silly business... interesting, but silly.
We've seen endless varieties of clothing designed to integrate with your iPod, and most of them do appear to offer either added functionality (see: all the jackets for gloved-hand control) or some modicum of security (see: Thomas Pink's shirt and tie). But a new set of duds from men's clothier Bagir -- appropriately named the iPod suit -- however, seems to be more of a solution that's looking for a problem. What make this suit so special are the soft, integrated buttons from Eleksen (creators of those fabric keyboards), which allow you to stealthily control your 'Pod from the inner lining -- because, you know, actually pulling out your DAP to change tracks during a board meeting is like totally gauche. Seriously, though, if you're really in a situation where you absolutely can't extract your iPod from its confines, it would seem that an in-line remote would work just as well -- and if you snatch up Apple's version, you even get an FM tuner to boot. Plus, if you're picking out your suits based on how high-tech they are and not how good they look, well, you've probably got more problems than the iPod suit can solve, anyway.
The fabric keyboard gurus over at Eleksen are apparently moving forward with its colorful fabric keyboard / UMPC case hybrid, which would add another clever offering to its already sleek Bluetooth and bendable options. While we the knew the company was eying opportunities to bring the vivid peripheral to market one way or another, it appears that Glen Evans of PocketPC Solutions has had the pleasure of testing out a working prototype of the aforementioned accessory with his very own TabletKiosk eo. His seemingly positive remarks suggested that it produces "an audible click when a key is pressed, and that it's very usable on a daily basis," which admittedly might not be all that long given the meager battery life in most UMPCs. While we're still not sure if Eleksen is looking to pump these out under its own name or offload the task to a willing OEM, be sure to click on for another shot of the cloth-based keyboard in its electric green glory.
SideShow ain't just for laptops anymore, Eleksen just grabbed a few of its nifty "ElekTex" fabric controls, a 2.5-inch LCD, and some SideShow functionality and pasted it all onto a hip little messenger bag. The SideShow module can communicate with your laptop via Bluetooth or USB, and the unit supports MP3 playback, photo albums, videos and more, beamed straight off your laptop's on-board memory cache. We spotted a non-working prototype of this thing last night, so be sure to check out those pics after the break.
