Posted on Friday, November 14, 2008 at 6:40 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Cars and Moto, Ferrari, Gadgets, Apple, ipod, Handheld, Technology, Scuderia Spider 16M
Tired Ferrari Gadgets Don't Work Without the Car
Like every other major sports car manufacturer, Ferrari has been doing plenty of work to lend their brand to other products. They may have reached a boiling point recently, though, with the release of the latest Ferrari-branded Vertu phones (retail price around $10,600). While they feature the same leather and stitching you'd find in the sports cars' interior, you won't find any special features that justify the price tag. If you want a special Ferrari toy to play with, you're best off looking at cars and gadgets in one tidy package. It?s a combination the company is only now getting into and should try to do more of in the future.
Like the phone, there's also talk of the new Ferrari 16GB iPod touch, another product long on hype and short on features. Unlike the phone, the iPod comes complimentary with Ferrari's incredible new Scuderia Spider 16M. The limited-edition iPods come packed with Ferrari content, including photos, video, and engine audio (which seems like an unnecessary feature). It's the inclusion of the sports car that saves this bizarre combination of brands, something Ferrari's other branding partners should keep in mind. If you're going to use the car's label, you might as well include access to the car with it.
With only 499 of them made, the car itself is awe-inspiring enough without the complimentary iPod. It's an open-top version of the famed F430 Spider, the howling, aluminum-body convertible so powerful it measures 8500 rpm in first gear, topping out at 193mph as Ferrari's fastest-ever road car. Inspired by the Formula One racecar that won the 2008 Formula One Constructor's Championship, the 16M even features the six-speed F1 gearbox you'd find in their racing models. All of which makes it the closest thing to a Formula One vehicle you can get without bribing Ferrari driver and 2008 Formula One runner-up Felipe Massa. Maybe you could offer him the Ferrari iPod?
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Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 11:19 AM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Games, Chess Set, Hobbies, Italian, Italy, Sports, Italfama, Marsili's Company, Gadgets
We've long been proponents of chess as a metaphor for psychological warfare and we've always made a point to have at least one chess board in every home we stay in. The fact that we absolutely suck at chess is irrelevant here, particularly considering how incredible our newest chess sets are looking thanks to the awesome Italian handiwork of Marsili's Company and their associates at Italfama. While the handcrafted brass, bronze, wood, resin, and metal sets are stunning, we were most taken by the remarkable chess pieces.
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Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 9:04 AM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Adventure, Travel, Weapons, Brickhouse, Bulletproof backpack, Trailblazer, Gadgets
We tend to move back and forth between our carry-on options, be they an attached case, messenger bag, or the simple backpack. Of course, when that shoulder-strapped bag comes with the knowledge that it can deflect bullets from 9mm and .44 Magnum handguns, the decision sometimes tends to get made for us. The Brickhouse Trail Blazer bulletproof backpack provides that peace of mind, even if the company's web site was designed primarily with the needs of schoolchildren in mind.
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Posted on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 12:31 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Food and Drink, Gadgets, Video, Home, Laser Pizza Cutter, Kitchen
So there's no denying that on your first viewing this video flies straight off the Geek-O-Meter. But despite being completely impractical, we're suddenly very curious about getting our very own laser pizza cutter.
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Posted on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 10:45 AM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Dottling, Home, Security, German, Gadgets
Whatever the need, Dottling's high-end safe models are a fantastic-looking way to keep it all under wraps. From what we've seen, the company's finest line is their Bel-Air collection, an elegant custom-made safe that can be made to fit just about any room in your house.
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