Crave

Jasmine France joins us as we cover a slew of unreadable watches, clocks and bulletproof watch winding safes. She also shows off her insane ability to read the faces of watches that no one else can decipher.

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EPISODE 147

Samsung claims its watch is world's slimmest

LG Watch Phone clears FCC

Turning a Power Mac G3 into a wall clock (Thanks, Nicholas!)

Pong clock (Thanks, Jon!)

Continue Time clock

Digital black-and-white clock is a milestone in minimalism

The Twilight Watch

Unicorn spotted in the wild.

(Credit: Busy P./Coolcats)

Believe it or not, party photographs are good for something: the guys over at Coolcats spotted this Eastpak CD case in the wild, and it appears to be part of the company's product collaboration with Ed Banger Records, the French label behind recently popular acts Justice, Busy P., and SebastiAn.

The entire collection will drop this fall, but High Snobiety already gave us a look at some of the first pieces in the official collabo--a backpack and a few smaller luggage items that bear bright, colorful Ed Banger allover-print themes.

The CD case is a little strange to me, though...I actually had to look it up to grasp a full understanding of its functionality. Prior to being called analog mp3s, people apparently stored these physical objects in a big folder with the rest of their "CDs?" Across the sea, you've got Japanese luggage designer Head Porter killing it (per usual) with its iPhone cases, and Eastpak responds with its...CD case?

I guess we can look forward to Eastpak's new MiniDisc holders coming soon to a Circuit City near you.

(Credit: Olive/Etsy)

I'd take a wild guess here.

Most of us travel in economy class and are likely to have a handcarry bag in-flight. And we know the majority of carriers provide passengers with miserable and flat pillows, which some airlines now even charge a fee for.

Enter Olive's Take Me Anywhere Suitcase designed to look like a pillow that could possibly let you cruise along to a slightly more pleasant journey.

Available on online handmade-goods marketplace Etsy for $40, the maker is willing to customize a color of your preference for the 15-inch by 11-inch travel case (smaller than an average cabin-size suitcase) and even sew a personalized luggage tag on.

The suitcase, made from natural linen and felt, doesn't look like it'd fit many things after being stuffed with cluster-free fillings, but you know us. Nothing will get in the way of a restful slumber.

(Via Crave Asia)

(Credit: Woo Moonhyung )

(Credit: Woo Moonhyung )

Ever had to lug your luggage up a few flights of stairs? Not exactly a welcome task after a long flight. If so, you'll be happy to hear about the Climbing Up Suitcase by designer Woo Moonhyung.

A rubber belt designed as a continuous track covers the body of the luggage along its two sides, which makes it easier for the entire suitcase to touch the stairs--and to be pulled from both front and back.

The suitcase has a hard-shelled body (you know, just in case you drop it down those stairs in a fit of travel exhaustion), and it opens and closes with a digital lock for maximum security.

The Climbing Up was among the design concept award winners in the 2008 international competition for the Red Dot Design Award. Hopefully for those who travel to stair-intensive sites, it'll move beyond the concept phase soon.

(Via I New Idea Homepage)

I wish I'd had the Easy-2-Pick electronic luggage tag in hand Sunday night. I was just off a long-delayed flight that appeared to transport the entire population of Southern California to San Francisco. And wouldn't you know it? Ninety percent of the seemingly millions of passengers jostling for their suitcases seemed to have the same black bag.

(Credit: Israel21C)

The Easy-2-Pick, expected out this fall for $15 to $20, is a handheld device that lights up, beeps, and vibrates once your suitcase makes it onto the carousel and within 40 to 50 feet of where you're standing. The heads-up gives you a chance to stand away from the crowd, possibly avoiding an elbow in the gut as you try to locate your lookalike bag.

The gadget comes courtesy of Israeli developer Yoav Ben-David and his partner, Zvi Kanor of American Express Travel in Tel Aviv. It consists of a circular receiver on a keychain and a credit card-size transmitter that goes around the handle of your baggage.

The pair also developed a less sophisticated, less expensive gizmo--a $4 strip that fits onto a suitcase and flashes LEDS in four different colors once it hits the carousel. The owner of the baggage sets the light combination.

(Via Israel 21C)

Luggage can be lifted and weighed with this strap-on digital luggage scale.

(Credit: Balanzza)

As more airlines start charging for checked luggage and extra bags, penny-pinching fliers who shove all their clothes into one suitcase may face overweight bag charges or thrown-out backs.

Balanzza's Digital Luggage Scale is made to prevent travelers from over-packing luggage at times when a bathroom scale is unavailable.

First, the traveler wraps the scale's strap around the handle of a suitcase or bag. When they pick the bag straight up, listen for the device to beep, and set the bag down, the gadget readout will display the weight in pounds or kilograms.

The company is also producing a new ergonomic style of the suitcase scale that will ship at the end of July. The original product runs for $21.99, and the Balanzza Ergo will cost $24.95.

Anything more than 100 pounds is not safe to be lifted by the travel-size device--but if your bag weighs near that much, you may want to consider a new packing strategy anyway.

(Via ThinkGeek)

(Credit: Live Luggage)

From the library to the golf course, the idea of personal robots that follow its masters around seems to be ready for prime time. And nowhere would they be more convenient than for luggage.

Alas, that day has yet to come, but a company called Live Luggage is taking a step in the right direction. Calling its showcase product "the world's first power-assisted suitcase," the luggage has built-in motors in the wheels and an "Anti-Gravity handle" that supposedly distributes weight in all the right places, according to CrunchGear.

The motors power up only when the wheels tilt at certain angles, making it somewhat automatic. But we're still holding out for "Tony," the fully robotic Russian suitcase.

(Credit: Hammacher Schlemmer)

Where's a work desk when you need one? This may be the answer--a rolling luggage cart that doubles as a desk and can be tucked away quickly and neatly when they call for final boarding.

Sure, you can always prop your laptop on your lap (otherwise why call it a laptop?). But when you have to balance a mouse, your cell phone, a music player, and possibly even an external drive, you'll need a full-fledge working surface.

To keep everything at a manageable 11 pounds, this 2-in-1 movable desk is molded in lightweight ABS plastic with an anodized aluminum frame. The platform unfolds at a button touch and can support up to 20 pounds and a 17-inch notebook.

(Source: Crave Asia)

It dawned on me yesterday that luggage reps have to carry around all their luggage samples in an even larger piece of luggage. When representatives from Targus came to meet with Jasmine and I yesterday to show off their new (and extremely well-designed) line of Apple MacBook bags, they had to roll them up to our office in this absurdly corpulent roller bag.

While their new MacBook-friendly line of Radius bags will soon be available on Amazon, this Targus-emblazoned megabag is made exclusively for marketing reps--and is not sold anywhere. Luckily for us, it's not cost-effective for them to ship back, so they let us keep it. After making an ass out of myself by sitting in it attempting to ride it like a bathtub racer, Jasmine had to one-up me by crawling completely inside the thing. I bet Tony Soprano has one of these.

Don't worry, we gave her a Zune and a PSP to keep her entertained during the flight. She'll be fine.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze / CNET Networks)