iPhone Universal Remote Control

So you have an iPhone, or an iPod Touch. You want a protective case for it? Of course you do. You have remote controls in your home? Of course you do. Why not combine everything and use this protective case to turn your iPhone or iPod Touch into a universal remote control, tossing all those different remotes into the bottom of the drawer?

Recycle your hand-basin water to flush your toilet – SinkPositive

Some time ago, we wrote an article on the Caroma toilet, which is a space- and water-saving combination of a toilet and a hand basin. Apparently, this kind of solution has been popular in Japan for a long time. It’s a great solution when you need a new toilet, but what if you already have a perfectly good toilet and you’d still like a similar solution? Enter the water-saving SinkPositive, a retrofit solution that can be installed onto many existing toilet tanks.

Taga Stroller and Bike Combo Takes your Child Anywhere

Once people have kids, the bike often ends up in the garage, collecting dust until the kids are old enough to ride a bike themselves. You can equip your bike with a children’s seat, of course. But what to do when you arrive at your destination? There you’d like to have a stroller at your disposal, but how do you transport that with your bike? This stroller and bike combo from Taga is a great piece of product design, combining both functions in one.

Versatile Battery Charger – Eneloop USB Booster Stick

This device seems the best of both worlds. It combines the mobile charging abilities of the unique USB cell with the improved chemicals of the rechargeable Sanyo Eneloop NiMH batteries. On top of this, you don’t have to just use it to charge your batteries; you can also use the charged package to provide some extra juice to another battery-powered device that’s about to give up on you.

25+ Tips and Products to Travel Light and Compact

It’s hard to imagine what people (oops, I almost said ladies) take with them on a short business trip. Their luggage looks like they plan to travel around a continent for the next six months. A real vacation luggage assembly, in its turn, makes you consider calling the movers instead of the taxi company.

A golden tip that I read long ago goes as follows: Place everything that you want to pack on the floor next to your luggage. Then pack half of it and take twice as much money as you’d originally planned to. Traveling too heavy is no fun, and can be expensive if you exceed the luggage allowance. Worse, airport fluid restrictions can force you to leave your stuff at the security check, so you end up flying to your destination without your contact lens fluid or shaving foam.

Your Travel Stroller is Your Luggage Too – The Ride-on Carry-on

Plane or train travel with little children is tough. Carrying one bag on your back, pulling a suitcase behind you and trying to steer a stroller with your one free hand takes more coordination than most people can handle. Not to mention the dreaded moment when you actually want to step on board and there’s no helping hand around.

Portable Foldable Kitchen Scale from Newline

Several foldable kitchen scales can be found, though many models force you to hang them on the wall. This original design isn’t just compact, it looks good too. And when folded, you can hang it on a towel or utensil rack. Seems a great Mother’s Day gift to me.

Smush Can Self-powered Compacting Trashcan

Boxes, bags and other empty packaging fill your trashcan quickly and force you to take out more air than trash, almost on a daily basis. This new trashcan lets you compact the trash inside your home, and it doesn’t need electricity to work. Now you don’t have to get your hands or feet dirty to compact your garbage.

LightSpeakers from Klipsch Use Your Light-Bulb Sockets

Wireless cameras, wireless controls, wireless networks, wireless speakers ... Many of these products claim to be wireless, but the manufacturers “forget” to mention that, although the signal is transmitted wirelessly, they still require a power supply. Or worse, they force you to change batteries every few weeks, like most wireless (picture) lights. Following the Truly Wireless Security Camera from Vue, now the people from Klipsch have designed Truly Wireless LightSpeakers.

Compact Folding Table Hides Behind a Picture

When you’re tight on space, but you don’t want to take it as far as the ultra-compact Matroshka furniture set, other great solutions can be found. This folding picture table from Ivydesign is very elegant and original, yet remains a real-life solution to your space problems. When you need it, it’s a table; when you don’t, it’s a picture – with no trace left of the table it used to be.