The World's First E•Ink Ana-Digi Watch — Product Review

thinkoutsidethecircle — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:37:10 -0800

E•INK WATCH

I admit it. I love watches. When I win the lottery, I’m going to go buy lots and lots of watches so I can wear something different on my wrist every day. So when I was asked to review The World’s First E•Ink Ana-Digi Watch from Phosphor—I couldn’t wait. Having read all they hype about E•Ink I figured this watch could be cool. But since cool isn’t everything, here’s the skinny on what makes this new watch tick. read more »

JackAss of an Invention

thinkoutsidethecircle — Tue, 30 May 2006 17:22:48 -0700

Did you see the way that guy kicked the thing? It's total not-quite-animal abuse.

“FLASH-TASTIC” FLASH DRIVES! THIS LIST GOES TO 11!

thinkoutsidethecircle — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 21:47:00 -0700

Sushi roll drivesFlash drives are pretty darn amazing. So small. Extremely powerful. No moving parts. And very stable. No wonder they’re gaining in popularity. Take a look at these FLASHTASTIC flash drives. They're fun, wacky, artistic - and functional. read more »

High Gas Prices? When your car gets 3,145 MPG it doesn't really matter.

thinkoutsidethecircle — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 21:38:51 -0700

UBC invented 3,145 Mpg CarThe engineers over at UBC have created a vehicle that can travel from Vancouver to Halifax (coast-to-coast) on one gallon of gas. And although it’s not the fastest car on the block, it proves that somebody out there isn’t trying hard enough to make our everyday cars just a little more efficient.

This vehicle can go coast-to-coast (in Canada) from Halifax to Vancouver on one gallon of gas. That’s roughly 3,145 miles. And for this amazing feat, it has earned first prize at the yearly Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Supermileage Competition that was held on June 9th in Marshall, Michigan. read more »

FREE TICKETS TO DIGITALLIFE EXPO — WHERE GADGETS, GAMES & TECH ARE UNLEASHED!

thinkoutsidethecircle — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 19:29:12 -0700

DIGITAL LIFE EXPO OCT 12-15 NYC JAVITZ CENTER

Our friends over at DigitalLife fired us an email and asked us to pass this along — they're offering FREE tickets to this year's event (regular price is $15). How do you get them? Easy. Just read a bit further - as in, click "read" at the bottom of this preview and you'll find the link and secret source code. Cool, right?

If you're wondering what Digital Life is here's a taste. Held October 12-15 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, DigitalLife is the ultimate consumer and technology event. 50,000+ attendees will be able to test drive new and unreleased games, try out the latest consumer technologies, meet celebrities, win prizes, and enjoy all aspects of the digital lifestyle. read more »

A Windmill in every backyard—the future is now!

thinkoutsidethecircle — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:32:03 -0700

Skystream 3.7 Home Wind Turbine

As gas prices increase, oil prices skyrocket and the general cost of powering our overpowered lives heads northward along comes a solution that has dotted the landscape of the world for eons—Wind power.

So we’ve all heard the benefits of solar power. We’ve seen the photos of the great wind farms out in the middle of nowhere. So it was only a matter of time before someone figured out how to make a small, affordable wind turbine available to everyday homeowners. read more »

Apple's new iPod Shuffle EXCLUSIVE!

thinkoutsidethecircle — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 19:58:52 -0700

The New ipod Shuffle!The New ipod Shuffle! Unless you live under a rock, you’ve likely heard about Steve Jobs' latest and greatest Apple releases. We could write a brief summary of all the cool features. But frankly, if you want a great summary of the good stuff from people that were actually there, just click here. It’ll fire you over to our friends at Engadget. (Ok… they’re not actually our friends. But they rock.) What we do have is an EXCLUSIVE PHOTO of Steve with his latest accessory – the iPod shuffle. read more »

Everyone is Talking About the New Round Car Seat. What's Your Take?

thinkoutsidethecircle — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 19:40:50 -0700

It's amazing how many people have visited this site specifically because we had a photo of the round baby car seat. And the chatter about it is equally amazing. If you saw the show, you saw that it uses basic physics to work against the forces of a car accident. The baby seat rocks - helping protect the baby inside. Will it work? Who knows. But congrats to the judges for moving this one forward to see if this show can actually be used to "improve" a product concept. If this one can work... it could be huge.

read more »

NYC water towers to get baseball caps

thinkoutsidethecircle — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 08:55:36 -0700

It's not an invention, but a brilliant marketing idea - which is something to remember when developing any product.

1010WINSreports that water towers in New York City will soon be festooned with Mets and Yankees caps to celebrate opening day. The inflatable caps are size 61 and half. The Yankees probably spent way too much for their cap, and it’ll probably be injured before the first pitch is thrown. Link via

The Lifesaving Frisbee - Should it have moved forward?

thinkoutsidethecircle — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 08:22:14 -0700

There's been a lively debate here at INVENTOR SPOT and across the web about many of the inventions that didn't move on. One of which, was the lifesaving frisbee. Will we see more of the same this week on EPISODE 4, where ideas that could be polished and then evaluated get the NO vote? read more »

WE DO THE WORK SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO.

thinkoutsidethecircle — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 19:44:14 -0800

New products, cool gadgets and all the "I want that's"... that's what we're going to start giving you. We'll do the searching, and the posting. All you have to do is keep on visiting. And if you find something out there you think is worthy of this space, let us know so we can share it with the thousands of people who now visit this site every week.

Hope you like it.

Programmable Liquid Container lets you customize your cola

We used to think it was pretty sweet that we had two flavor options in each package of Nerds candy, so the idea of a customizable soda with an almost infinite combination of fragrances, flavors, and colors has us understandably excited. Massachusetts-based IPIFINI (the bold is part of the branding) has exceeded our wildest dreams with their Programmable Liquid Container, which contains small, flavor additive-filled (or paint-filled, for the home improvement set) "buttons" around the periphery of the plastic container.

read more »

YOU BUILT WHAT? - A TINY HELICOPTER!

thinkoutsidethecircle — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 20:04:36 -0800

WE FIND IT SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO

A Norwegian engineer reinvented the way helicopters keep themselves stable. The result: create a radio-controlled craft that can take off from the palm of your hand

By Eric Adams

Helicopters are tricky beasts to keep aloft and stable. Full-size birds do it with skilled pilots, while most unmanned craft rely on gyroscopes and autopilot. But the 3.3-gram Picoflyer is too small for any such luxuries. Instead, Petter Muren, a Norwegian engineer who builds mini copters to fly indoors during long Scandinavian winters, reinvented the stability system.

read more »

EPISODE 3 - A Complete Recap - West Coast Spoiler Warning!

thinkoutsidethecircle — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 19:12:00 -0800

EPISODE 3

First up:

Anthony Steffen – 44 – Small business owner

Invention: the perfect pet petter.
It automatically pets your dog. It's a kind of creepy robo arm thing.

Peter – thinks it’s ridiculous
Mary – it’s a freak out machine for a dog
Ed – No
Doug – no
TOTAL BUST.
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CALLING ALL NYC, SAN FRAN AND DENVER AUDITIONERS! GIVE US THE SCOOP - LIVE AS IT HAPPENS TONIGHT!

thinkoutsidethecircle — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 08:43:21 -0800

Personally, I auditioned for Liz Bronstein in NYC at the Armory Track & Field Center. Didn't make it to round 2. One of the guys before me on line, was the VERY FIRST guy on the very first show. You know the one. He had the body bag urinal thing. I can tell you, when he came out from his 2 minute audition, he looked miserable. But hey, he got a free trip to LA for his 2 minutes of, well, fame.

I'll be watching closely tonight to see who made it. Here's some of the things the web has been reporting over the last few months that MIGHT have made it.
read more »

HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT BOOM OR BUST LATELY?

thinkoutsidethecircle — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 12:30:06 -0800

All the things that made it through to the next round so far in the show are up for you to check out, vote on and comment on.
Word is, some of the judges actually check out this site. So let them know what you think about the inventions that moved forward AND VOTE in the BOOM OR BUST section.
I've only uploaded those inventions that moved forward either by being judged, or the quick cuts of "on to the next round" clips we saw.
Enjoy.
And feel free to check out the FORUM SECTION for lively discussion on all the episodes, inventions and whatnot.

EPISODE 2 - THE SECOND HALF - SPOILER WARNING!

thinkoutsidethecircle — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 18:50:58 -0800

Los Angeles – Second half hour

Sharon Clemmins – 63 retired sales associate
Invention: the public bathroom door lock

A little plastic sleeve that slips over the public bathroom door to keep it locked when it’s broken. She said 30 percent of the time the doors are broken.

Doing it for her husband so he can retire.

Mary - Yes.
Ed – Yes
Doug – doesn’t like gadgets but likes the cleverness - Yes
Peter – yes

BOOM - THRU TO THE NEXT ROUND.

read more »

EPISODE 2 - AI - THE FIRST 20 MINUTES. WEST COAST SPOILER. STOP READING NOW!

thinkoutsidethecircle — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 18:20:03 -0800

An update of the first 30 minutes so far - EAST COAST.

Chicago Auditions

First up.
Brian Conant, 47 – Post Office Supervisor

Flatulance Deoderizer – 3 ply deodorizer eliminating the smell of gas.

"The future of personal hygene"

His wife had a smelly episode that inspired the invention.

“They looked at it like a joke” he said. - yup.

TOTAL BUST.

----------

read more »

Do you think we'll see tonight's ideas end up in Kmart or Target? Or are they headed for the deadidea bin?

thinkoutsidethecircle — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 14:39:45 -0800

Just wanted to get people thinking about what makes for a good idea. The stated goal of AI is to find a product they can mass market. Something that the world needs and wants, but does not yet exist.

We had lots and lots of emails from people commenting on how certain products should have moved forward from Episode 101. One example: the kids doggie window fan. So to put this topic to bed, once and for all. And to bring up an interesting question for this show in general here's something to think about.

read more »

WHO'S WATCHING? AMERICAN INVENTOR - EPISODE 102 AIRS THURSDAY, MARCH 23 AT 9/8C. WILL IT BE AS BIG AS LAST WEEK?

thinkoutsidethecircle — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 17:48:03 -0800

This is ABC's website descrption of episode 2: The nationwide search for America's next big invention continues with open casting calls in San Francisco and Chicago. Viewers will see inventors pitch their ideas and products to our panel of expert judges to see if their dreams will be realized. Tension mounts as the judges engage in a heated argument over who should continue to the next level.

AI had such an great turnout last week even though it received mixed reviews. Are you planning on tuning in to watch episode 2? read more »

AMERICAN INVENTOR - EPISODE ONE! IT'S FINALLY HERE.

thinkoutsidethecircle — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 18:54:45 -0800

Anyone and everyone that's wants to know what's going on, this is the place. But warning, if you're on the WEST COAST don't read further. A things will be given away.

And make sure to visit BOOM OR BUST, to vote on this weeks AI inventions. read more »

American Inventor - Episode 9 (Hour 2) Doug Hall Decides The Fate of Who Moves On! The Winner Is ....

thinkoutsidethecircle — Thu, 04 May 2006 19:27:36 -0700

EPISODE 109 – DOUG HALL DECIDES WHO MOVES ON. There’s only one spot left in the Final 4.

Joseph and Jennifer Safuto – Inventor of the Flushpure toilet seat. Every time you flush the toilet microparticles of bacteria fly all over the place.

Despite their last round of horrible presentation they moved on to this round. read more »

DOUG HALL - Blogging Live- Sunday Night 9PM EST - Here At AmericaInventorSpot.com Only - Answering Your Questions Live!

thinkoutsidethecircle — Sat, 06 May 2006 19:33:15 -0700

Doug Hall will be back LIVE at AmericanInventorspot.com to tell it like it is - this Sunday night, May 7th - for his second appearance.

If you missed it the first time, this is your chance to ask Doug whatever you want. He said this weeks Episode is going to leave fans VERY passionate and wanting to talk/vent. read more »

American Inventor Show- Episode 107 Recap - Group 2 Semi-Finalist Cutdowns. The Winner Is...

thinkoutsidethecircle — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 19:05:31 -0700

FYI – MR. ANNOUNCER GUY STATES…THEY WENT TO 7 CITIES, saw 10,127 INVENTIONS, of which 223 were for toilet products.

Tonight it’s MARY LOU QUINLAN who decides who moves to the FINAL 4.

Here’s how the show sets up the inventors – total reality show BS” “A prison guard, an unemployed mother, and a teenage immigrant all compete for 50 thousand dollars.

read more »

EPISODE 106 - FULL RECAP - THE FIRST 3 CUTDOWN BY ED EVANGELISTA!

thinkoutsidethecircle — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 19:13:03 -0700

THE FULL RECAP.

ONLY 12 REMAIN - tonight

ED EVANTELISTA IS THE MAIN JUDGE. He decides the fate of…

MARK Martinez - Sackmaster 2000 (now the Sacmaster)
SHERYL McDonald - The Un-brella (now the In-brella)
ERIC Thompson - Receiver's Training Pole (now the Catch)

read more »

DOUG HALL - LIVE HERE AT AMERICANINVENTORSPOT.COM SUNDAY NIGHT! 9:30 PM EASTERN TIME UNTIL...

thinkoutsidethecircle — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 17:28:53 -0700

We at AmericanInventorSpot are proud to tell you that Doug Hall has volunteered to host a live blog, this Sunday night from 9:30 until 10:30 or longer, depending on interest. He will be responding to YOUR questions.

He's going to be honest, straight forward, and is willing to do a no holds barred commentary. He will answer whatever he can, without breaking any of the obvious contracts he has signed being a judge on the show. So... don't expect him to give away the ending. read more »

American Inventor - Season 2 Starts Tomorrow at 9 PM on ABC

thinkoutsidethecircle — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 03:01:04 -0700

Hi All: read more »

Well, it's here. Season Two of the American Inventor reality television show is starting tomorrow night, Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 9 pm Eastern (and 8 pm Central time) on ABC. And just like last year, we're going to provide the best, most in depth coverage, provide a forum for commentary, and host live blogs about the show.

Give the gift of DNA! or a Fingerprint!

thinkoutsidethecircle — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0800

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As it turns out, it’s also in their DNA.

Thanks to some truly innovative thinking, now your DNA (or that of a loved one if you can get it) can be turned into beautiful works of art. The company that can help you with this nifty little trick is DNA11. read more »

Looking for a New, Cool Website? Try Create A Snowflake!

thinkoutsidethecircle — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 04:31:41 -0800

Every now and then, in the course of my endless web surfing, I come across a cool new website find that hooks me for a while. So I thought, heck, why not share them with you all? This will be an “as I find them, I’ll share them” installment. And I welcome your help. If you come across a website that has some innovative technology at use, an unbelievably designed website that is inventive in it’s form, design or function, or some other site that you feel the world will love… email me at: coolwebfinds@gmail.com so I can share it with our ever growing audience.

So… in the spirit of the holiday season (which is apparently upon us by the look of the mall windows) I would like to share a fun little site where you can create your very own snowflake. read more »

Art that’s gone to the fishes. Literally.

thinkoutsidethecircle — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 08:39:57 -0700

Aquavista AquariumThey say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well behold, here's something you may or not find beautiful. But it's surely unique.

Take a look. What do you see? Pictures, right? Well, sort of. These are actually wall mounted aquariums. Now personally, I find aquariums beautiful, but to much of a pain in the you-know-what to own. With all the filters and cleaning and what not. But the Acquavista 2000 has taken the aquarium to different level of art. And it's making me rethink the old fish tank. read more »

AMERICAN INVENTOR TWO HOUR PREMIERE SPECIAL - March 16th 8-10pm

thinkoutsidethecircle — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 22:05:31 -0800

From the Producers of American Idol... American Inventor, an exciting series from Simon Cowell and the producers of American Idol about the biggest search ever for America's best new invention, will premiere with a two-hour special, THURSDAY, MARCH 16, from 8:00-10:00 p.m., ET, and then move to 9:00 p.m., ET on Thursdays thereafter.

American Inventor, the embodiment of the ultimate American dream, will uncover the hottest new product and make one struggling inventor's dream come true. With one million dollars at stake, American Inventor will celebrate the best in homespun American ingenuity.
read more »