Safretti, well known in the interior design world for their innovative modern (read: decorative) fireplaces, recently announced a new addition to their line: the Safretti Gaya - a wall-mounted 7.1kW alcohol-fueled fireplace. Since it's alcohol fueled, you technically have no building code restrictions, and it's unlikely less likely to burn your house down.

No word on pricing - but this elegant, designer fire solution will most likely take a decent sized bite out of your wallet. Still, if you're looking to buy a Safretti fireplace, price is most likely not one your main considerations.

More Resources
- Safretti Website @safretti.com

Occasionally a new product is announced that makes you slap your keyboard with your head, and wonder why you didn't come up with it first - this is one such occasion. As you would come to expect, the Pileus "Internet Umbrella" is straight out of Tokyo, Japan. Designed and developed by Sho Hashimoto and Takashi Matsumoto, the Pileus 3rd Gen prototype umbrella is now well on it's way to becoming a mainstream product.

The Pileus Umbrella comes fully equipped with GPS, PHS / Wi-Fi / HSDPA Connection, a digital compass, a 3D Accelerometer (motion sensor), and a camera - which can be used to take photos at the snap of your wrist. A mobile projector is fitted to the bottom of the umbrella adjacent to the handle, providing a large screen on the underside of the umbrella, which can be used to stream flickr photos, or display a 3d navigational map, courtesy of google earth. There's no information on the hardware running the umbrella's system, but given that it performs with google earth, one can assume that it's at least 500mhz with 128mb RAM - plenty of spec for hacking and modding your umbrella - and with the attached hardware, the possibilities are not only limitless, they're actually more exciting than the future-retail version of the umbrella itself.

The 3rd generation prototype unit is fairly bulky, but as it's a prototype, that can be forgiven. With advances in projector and embedded systems technology, there's already appropriate hardware solutions to ensure that the Pileus remains as sleek as any other 'regular' umbrella. This may drive the price up, but this isn't really a concern since it's likely to be on the expensive side regardless.

The future is here - but who really thought it would be in the form of internet-enabled digital umbrellas?

Check out the development website for loads more pictures, information and tech specs. No word on the release or price, but this is definitely one worth keeping an eye on - especially if you live in a city such as Vancouver BC, where it rains for 9 months of the year.

More Resources
- Project Page @pileus.net
- Retail Soon @thesharpedge.co.uk

Every now and then, science and gangsta culture cross over in bizarre and curious ways. No such surprise then, is the introduction of Brooklyn-based ITSNONAME's set of 3 Periodic Rings. The rings come in three elements - Silver (Ag), Gold (Au) and Platinum (Pt).

You can pick up your standard Silver ring for a mere $205. However, if you really want to show your colours, you'll be looking at $2,200 for Gold and a handsome $6,500 for Platinum. Each ring features the element's name, Atomic mass, number, and it's english name - in case you forget.

More Resources
- ITSNONAME @itsno.name
- Purchase Rings @itsno.name

Continuing the trend of non-standard, unqiue USB devices, European Zana Design has created a line of stunningly non-tech USB keys, individually crafted from Merbau wood, silver and precious stones.

And the best part is - because they are individually made, you can probably have them customized to your heart's desire (at a cost). Zana's USB keys will set you back between $60 (1GB version) and $110 (8GB version), and can be ordered now from Zana Design's website.

More Resources
- Zana Design @zanadesign.eu

Not strictly 'tech', 'shiny', or 'glowing', PYG-Design's Snug blanket doesn't exactly fit into any of the usual categories found on The Shiny Report. Sometimes, though, an idea comes along that is shiny in concept, and this is one such case.

The Snug Blanket is a "tentacled cuddle blanket", designed "to play, to snuggle, alone or together". Whether the designer, Patricia Yasmine Graf, realized that the Snug Blanket efficiently solves all of the logistical problems associated with using technology (laptops, desktops, etc) and blankets at the same time we may never know. But the fact of the matter is, it does.

The Snug Blanket is a unique piece, so if you want one, you'll have to get it commissioned (as seems to be the case with most of the items in The Shiny Report), and is made of wool, fleece, and measures 150cm x 170cm.

You can't put a price in this kind of comfort and efficiency.

More Resources
- The Designer @pyg-design.de
- Found @trucdesign.com

At some point during CeBIT, Asus unveiled it's Digital Home System - and nobody noticed. Fortunately, pictures and details have now started to spring up after the event.

The EP20 is rumoured to ship with a 2.5" HDD, and an Intel Dualcore 1.8Ghz under the hood. Visuals are also entrusted to Intel, meaning the EP20 will likely include one of Intel's standard-affair graphics chipsets commonly found in most intel-based laptops. This in mind, the EP20 would make a very nice HTPC system, or a tuned-down desktop appropriate for a study or reference room.

Asus' EP20 runs a Linux OS - release date is currently unknown, but is expected to set you back between $250 and $300. A fine price for such a system.

Little-known Ripfactory has quietly brought an interesting device to the market - a combined Network Attached Storage unit & CD Ripper. Aside from looking very sleek, and more like something from a modern-furniture store, Ripfactory's Ripserver should be the best thing since sliced bread for those of you who still have hundreds of CDs they don't have the time or patience to rip to mp3.

The wonderful thing about Ripserver is that it not only automatically rips content from CDs into MP3 or FLAC, it also fetches Meta-Data and corresponding artwork to store with the files.

Ripserver comes in 500GB/1TB versions, and is available now in White or Black from Ripfactory's online store for $1,190 (£599) and $1,390 (£699) respectively. At that price, you have to work out how much your time is worth to you and whether it might not be cheaper to do it by hand.

Specs
- Ripserver Specsheet @ripfactory.com

More Resources
- About Ripfactory @ripfactory.com

GSMArena managed to get their (very) fortunate hands on a U900 Soul to review. For everyone following the final addition to Samsung's Soul line of phones, it's a must read.

Click here to go to see their first impressions.

The first bit of exciting news from CeBIT this week: Samsung has officially announced plans for a clamshell version of the highly-anticipated U900 Slide phone. The G400 SOUL offers equally desirable features when compared to the slide version, if not more so. Even die-hard Slider fans will find it difficult to resist the functional beauty of the G400.

The G400 comes with not one - but two screens, an internal 2.2" QVGA LCD screen, and an external 2.2" touchscreen with Haptic Touch features. Essentially they've taken the U900's touchpad and turned it into a fully-fledged screen, capable of displaying components of the customizable interface such as the calendar, clock, messages, and access to the phone's multimedia features. It appears to be the same phone covered by Gizmodo last month, but lacking one of the touchscreens.

Like the U900, the G400 has a 5 megapixel camera, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, as well as being largely made of metal.

Reportedly, the G400 will be available in May/June for about $500.

Specs
- Specsheet @gsmarena.com

Japan based Nikola Design & Technologies has just the thing to complete your stunning Hero/Anti-Hero attire. It's a very, very shiny, Carbon Fiber Attache Case, suitable for Secret Agents, Super-Villains, and Rogue Battle Programmers.

Suitably, fitting into one of the above occupational categories is a prerequisite - this serious-business-only case is (give or take) a serious $3,500. You can get one now, but you'll need to know Japanese (which shouldn't be a problem for you if you're buying this case).

More Resources
- Nikola Technologies @nikoladesign.co.jp

The first thing that springs to mind when looking at Hyomi Kim's Tile+Light modular tile-lighting system are memories of virtually every film set in dark, rainy, smokey cities of the distant future. The second thing that springs to mind is, 'this would be awesome in my bathroom'. The latter aside, it's nice to think that someone - somewhere, is working hard to make that future a reality.

Kim's lighting system consists of modular tiles - normal, and light producing. The normal tiles, obviously, are just plain tiles that happen to match the lighting tiles. Fortunately this not a site on tiles, so we'll skip over that particular subject.

The lighting tiles come in a multitude of different styles and patterns, all appropriately designed so that you can make your own custom lighting solutions by sticking them next to each other in the right coordination. Sadly, since these are normal tiles you can only use them once - which means no epic games of Pipe Dream on your walls. Here's an excerpt from the design brief, to save rehashing already concise information:

"Tile + Light is a series of five differently configured customisable light fittings that is designed to be adaptable to different environments. Their modular configurations enable the user to arrange them to relate to the spatial qualities of particular environments, or according to the user’s preference. Without the need for exposed cables or difficult wiring, Tile + Light is easy to install. Tile + Light can be used as a decorative feature in public spaces, such as parks or pools, or serve as directional lighting to line corridors to exits."

Presumably the tiles contain some kind of conductive strips to allow the transfer of electricity in order to power the lights. We may never know though, since Tile+Lights is still only in the conceptual phase.

Hyomi Kim currently works at Hong Kong design and development agency, ProductSolutions.

More Resources
- RedDot Design Award for Illumination 2007 @red-dot.sg
- Hyomi Kim @coroflot.com

Russian niche-tech Gresso has taken a slightly different track from their usual line of expensive, luxury cellphones with the release of their similarly expensive luxury USB-key necklaces.

In this day and age (let's face it, it's 2008 - we're officially 'in the future' now) just about everyone in the professional industry finds a USB key to be increasingly useful. Traditionally, USB keys are ugly, plastic, stick-shaped things that nobody really wants to be seen dead with (that's why we keep them in our pockets until the last minute). Gresso steps in to shake up the paradigm a little.

At only 1GB, Gresso's hyper-expensive yet stylish USB keys lack the capacity to be entirely useful, and their range is lacking in items that aren't adorned with swarovski crystals - but their entrance into the market will hopefully prompt some of the more mainstream manufacturers to start coming up with some new ideas. All considered, they may be useful for storing an appropriately large quantity personal documents and images.

Priced at between $100 and $1,000, you'll be able to obtain one of these beautiful keys from Gresso's website. Truly, this falls into the category of 'luxury item'.

More Resources
- Gresso Russia @gresso.com

UK start-up Splashpower appears to have made some tangible progress developing their wireless charging pads in the last year, first appearing at CES2008, then cutting deals with Singapore's MWg and signing a manufacturing agreement with UK-based ALBA. This can only mean one thing: the SplashPad induction chargers are finally on their way.

For those of you who missed their up-and-down announcements over the last 7 years, Splashpower's flagship product is a wireless power charger designed to provide easy recharging for your mp3 players, cellphones, digital cameras, and other small consumer electronics.

Simply place your device on the Splashpad and as if by magic, the battery will be charged. Sadly, it's not real magic, but in fact a rather efficient form of Electromagnetic Induction - similar to that found in most electric toothbrushes.

Reportedly, the Splashpad is capable of optimizing induction to 96% efficiency (ie. only 4% of the power is "lost"). Quite a claim, but if they can pull it off it won't be too long before all high-end devices are fitted with Induction Circuits.

The Splashpad can (theoretically) charge multiple devices at once! If this takes off, expect to see Induction tables at some point in the future.

Now if they'll just be sure to produce an 'elite' model (preferably black, metal and shiny), we won't have to put up with that 2006/2007-esque Apple White.

Splashpower's Splashpad is scheduled for retail at an undisclosed point during 2008, and will most likely come in a range of products: Induction Adaptors ($20-$50), Large pads ($150-$200), and small pads ($40-$80).

More Resources
- Splashpower Contact-less power transfer patent @freepatentsonline.com
- Splashpower Overview @splashpower.com
- Splashpower FAQ @splashpower.com
- Contradictory Wikipedia page @wikipedia.org
- Wireless Energy Transfer @wikipedia.org

Mvix's MX-780HD is the latest competitor to be thrust into the Wireless Media Center arena, ready to do battle and provide an illustrious alternative to Apple TV (finally).

Unlike the AppleTV system, Mvix's offering also gives you playback options for DivX® (3/4/5), WMV9, DivX® 6, AVI, Xvid, BivX®, and a handful of other codecs, on top of the commonplace affair of H264. It even plays VOB files!

The MX-780HD may in fact be the most comprehensive HTPC currently on the market. Integrated into the device is support for audio too, providing Internet Radio, MP3, WAV, OGG, WMA, AAC, and even AC3 playback. You do have to provide your own Hard Drive, but the upshot of this is the ability to truly customize the unit. Only got 320GB? No problem. Have a terabyte of movies and mp3s? The MX-780HD can handle that too.

On the back, there's just about every output socket you could ever need (Composite, S-Video, Component, and HDMI1.2, Stereo RCA, 5.1 channel RCA, Coaxial, Optical), and the front features a blue LCD interface, enabling quick access to the drive. All this, enclosed in a stealthy black metal (non-descript, possibly aluminum) casing.

Bonus: The MX-780HD also has a slideshow function, so you can show off those embarrassing party photos (BMP, JPEG/JPG, PNG) at the touch of a button. It also come with USB-Host ports, so you can attach your friends' external drive for added media!

The very, very exciting MX-780HD is available now, and retails at $300 - I may just buy one myself.

More Resources
- MVix Press Release @mvixusa.com
- 780HD Manual (pdf) @mvixusa.com
- Buy it @thinkgeek.com

Every now and then, a conceptual design company comes up with a really fantastic idea - and then you read it and realise that somehow, against all odds, they actually missed the mark. One latest example of this is Kaleidoscope, who did exactly this. I will explain why momentarily, but first, let's take a quick look at their angle.

The LINC phone is an eco-friendly cellphone, which is leased to the user on a yearly basis. Once a year, the distributor of the LINC posts out a brand new LINC phone to the user. In exchange for this, the user is to then somehow (either through mail - eugh, or walk-in LINC stores) return the old LINC model to the distributor. The distributor then sends the phone back to the plant, where it is recycled and it's components are harvested for use in other units.

The LINC model is designed to "[change] the entire paradigm of the production and consumption model", and eliminate large amounts of hazardous waste material from the phone industry. The user (read: not owner) of the LINC phone can also log into the LINC website and get a warm fuzzy feeling about how eco-friendly they are.

This in itself is a reasonably good idea. But let's face it, it's not the primary reason you'd want a LINC phone. In actual fact, who wants to LEASE a phone from a distributor? Answer: nobody. That said, the phone itself is constructed of modular, environmentally-conscious components. Remove the leasing agreement and you're left with something that almost constitutes a better idea: an eco-friendly, modular phone.

The LINC phone can be deconstructed into component parts. Plus it's very, very shiny.

This is where the 'obvious good idea' comes into play.

Your eco-friendly, modular LINC phone can be disassembled and upgraded with new modular components. Take your LINC phone to the nearest LINC retailer, or order LINC components online. As new technologies and standards are introduced, simply upgrade your phone for a nominal fee. And you can still save the environment by handing your old components over to LINC to be re-harvested in exchange for future upgrade-credits (assuming you haven't sold them on, or given them to a friend).

Upgrade your LINC phone with the latest GPU/CPU combo and you too can watch The Island Gattaca.

So - does anybody have a large chunk of venture cap handy? I have an idea that will change the cellular device industry....

More Resources
- Kaleidoscope's LINC Concepts @thegreenergrass.org

For those who have everything else listed on TSR, Sonoro Audio has stepped in to save the day with it's newest... Clock Radio.

The Cubo Elements - on top of being sleek, sophisticated and glossy black - also provides you with Audio and a Clock. Sonaro plans on releasing two versions, a standard AM/FM Radio type, and another, more interesting (and likely more expensive) unit with FM and "Internet Radio". Both versions come with an iPod docking station and equally illustrious remote control.

Sonaro Audio also announced the Cubo Fusion, which is identical to the Elements, except it has an added CDROM system.

When you've run out of things to spend your money on, rest assured that you can still get a $350 alarm clock.

More Resources
- CES2008 Video Demo @youtube.com
- Sonaro Audio Press Release @marketwire.com

HP has been quietly at work prepping their latest Ultra-Portable device, now called the HP Mini-NB.

Current understanding is that HP intends to go head-on with ASUS' EeePC units, and in line with this, HP has ordered 2 MILLION of these little systems from their plants in Taiwan - so we can probably expect an aggresive advertising campaign and lower than usual pricepoint.

Although it's not a tablet, it does come equipped with the standard affair: wireless Lan, integrated webcam, ExpressCard/54 slot, ethernet, USB2.0, what appears to be firewire (why?), and video out.

Additionally, the screen is 8.9 inches of scratch resistant glass (1366x766 WXGA - another odd resolution), and the whole unit is packaged up in shiny, anodized aluminum. You'll notice that there's no ports on the back, which is a refreshing change, but it raises a fairly serious question about the lack of fans and heat dissipation. Otherwise it is appropriately shiny.

Performance specs are currently thin, but it's confirmed to have a VIA cpu. Everything else is pretty much hearsay.

The Mini-NB is predicted to launch in late April, with a tag of roughly $630 (NT$20,000) - which seems fairly reasonable given the lack of touchscreen.

Specs
- HP2133 / Mini-NB Specsheet @umpcportal.com

More Resources
- HP MiniNB Gallery @umpcportal.com

No, that's not a printer, it's an Air Conditioner (unless you consider Air Conditioners to be Air Printers). It's Samsung's latest bacteria-killing Air Conditioner dramatically named Vivace Shadow Mirror.

The Vivace Shadow Mirror includes Samsung's proprietary Micro Plasma Ion technology, which works in conjunction with a carbon deoderizer to clean and purify your crisp, cool air. According to Samsung, MPI can eliminate up to 78% of atmospheric fungus and 58% percent of atmospheric bacteria within 30 minutes of being initiated. The sleek, sheer exterior also hides a Silver Nano evaporator (what?) and a Catechin filter (a bioflavonoid found in green tea with antiviral/antioxidant qualities, as well as deodorizing and anti-bacterial properties - again, what?).

It's very possible that Samsung's engineers had been watching too much anime before they named this unit. The Vivace Shadow Mirror is currently available in Asia for about S$800.

Let's face it - big, towering computers aren't stylish unless you're trying to pull off the hollywood-hacker thing. But as it happens, Shuttle has blessed us with their latest mini-pc gaming system. Yes, that's right: gaming system. The carefully selected components that make up the 3500G (now you know what the G stands for) provide optimum performance and sufficient cooling to make the little black cube run smoother than teflon being fried on a teflon coated frying pan. No, really.

The 3500G is based on the XPC Barebone SP35P2 Pro, and comes fully equipped with the following:
- 4GB of DDR2-800 memory
- 750GB Samsung SATA drive with 32MB cache (Spinpoint F DT Series HD753LJ)
- ATI HD 3870 graphics card (512MB)
- Ethernet, Wifi, etc.
- DVD burner
- 25-in-1 memory card reader
and...
- Integrated Fingerprint Scanner. Which is the icing on the cake.

Shuttle's attractive black-box is not a bargain by any stretch of the imagination, but you can't put a price on this kind of elegance. Which will set you back roughly $2,200. Release date to be announced.

More Resources
- 3500G Press Release @eu.shuttle.com
- Configurable 3500G builder @eu.shuttle.com

Meet the latest addition to the RelaxStyle Series: The Skyrium - a small black plastic capsule shaped device that you wish you had last time you were tripping balls.

Behind the bubbled, translucent plastic front casing, is a collection of 9 super-bright LEDs, which shift around somewhat randomly in order to produce new and previously unseen aurora and water-like projections. Skyrium comes with four default projection settings:
- Aurora
- Resort Ocean
- Deep Blue
- Dream Mode

It's AC Powered, so you can leave it on permanently (you know you want to), but it also comes with a battery slot for those times when you need to take your psychadelic cloud box out with you (like camping). Finally, there's a couple of sleep-features, providing auto-off functionality after 60 / 120 minutes.

The Skyrium is available in April, just in time for those summer-time adventures into mushroom-land. Pricing is still currently unknown, but it's predecessor (the less imaginatively named 'Room Palette') is retailing for $69 at the Japan Trend Shop.

Projection samples on Page 2...

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