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