Mountain Hardwear’s jacket has heating elements to keep you warm and a power adapter in the pocket, right, to charge your devices.
Mountain Hardwear has developed a winter jacket with a heating element that will keep you toasty while it charges your gadgets.
Reach into the front left pocket and you’ll find a power adapter that enables you to charge your iPod, digital camera, GPS device or cellphone.
The US$240 jackets, branded Refugium for men and Radiance for women, are sold separately from the rechargeable lithium-ion battery and heating system developed by Ardica Technology. Ardica’s Moshi heating system costs another US$145; the tech connector kit will set you back US$50.
The three heating elements — one in the midback and two in the front midsection — together weigh less than a 454g. Users can adjust the temperature up to 37oC with a toggle switch on the left front of the jacket. The heating elements can be fully charged in less than three hours, and a charge should last up to eight hours on the lowest heat setting, according to a Mountain Hardware spokeswoman, Paige Boucher.
The jacket, designed as a midlayer coat to be worn under a ski jacket or alone in warmer climes, will be available on Thursday.
— NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE
RUBIK’S CUBE RETURNS WITH A TOUCH SCREEN AND A HIGHER PRICE TAG
While the amount of technology packed into Rubik’s TouchCube is impressive, the big question remains: Would you want to spend more than a few minutes with it before tossing the US$150 puzzle through a window?
In stores Oct. 18 from Techno Source USA, this is the second electronic edition of the famous puzzle from Techno Source, following last year’s Rubik’s Revolution. Rather than physically twisting the interlocked mechanical cubes patented by Erno Rubik in 1977, you swipe your finger against one of the cube’s capacitive sides to “flip” the colors. There are no moving parts; instead, the multicolor LEDs change color with a flipping sound emitted from an internal speaker, while an accelerometer keeps track of which side is up.
The onboard computer provides hints, or can solve itself. When it is not being used, the cube sits in a charging cradle and lights up, making an ideal night light for a puzzle fanatic.
— NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE
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