Technical Pro

Sometimes the best inventions come from unintended discovery — like how a piece of scrap cardboard tossed across a room became the basis for the Hela Disc ($19). Using a new aerodynamic technology called FlexFoil that allows the disc to change shape during flight, the Hela Disc can travel over distances of up to 300 feet depending on the skill of the thrower, can stare down 15mph gusts, and offers micro edge molding on the grippy, weighted ends for added accuracy. [Uncrate]

Because, sometimes, people need to be told to applaud your greatness, damn it, though they really should already KNOW and just do it automatically…. Hang an Applause Light Box ($39) anywhere you think you might need a little clap-me-up*: From the dance floor (that mix didn’t make itself!) to your desk at work (that presentation was stellar!), we can think of a ton of places to put one. Where would you plug one in?

the forthcoming Motorola Defy+ does all the same boring shit your current phone does, but it’s got one trick that smokes the competition. The Defy+ will survive a ten-minute dunk underwater. When will you ever need this? Well, if you haven’t dropped your phone in a toilet already, you will soon. Then you’ll know why this one is better.

Cool fall nights are always right for a backyard fire. But in the morning when you notice your patio deck has a burn in it, you’ll wish you had one of these outdoor firepits from Ak47. With its smooth, architectural Design, it fits with any décor and keeps your fire safely contained. When you’re done, just slide the metal cover over the top and forget about it.

Tumi and Ducati have collaborated on luggage before, but never has the result been so… colorful. The new Tumi Ducati Collection ($TBA) includes a variety of bright red bags, featuring three red travel cases made with Tumi’s multi-layer ABS polycarbonate material, nylon front panels, and aluminum handles, two duffel bags, and one backpack/crossbody bag. No word yet on how to get the bags to the airport aboard a Ducati, but we’re sure you’ll figure something out. [Uncrate]

There is no way we’ve ever taken a five minute shower in our lives. We mean, it’s possible we’ve come close–but five minutes? If we were totally into water conservation which, don’t get us wrong, is an admirable thing, we’d use the 5 Minute Shower Timer ($6) at Urban Outfitters to monitor our shower time. But after sudsing, shaving, shampooing, conditioning, and the occasional hot oil treatment, we’re just hoping for three turns of the wheel. We think we can manage fifteen minutes.[Outblush]

Back in July we covered the release of Photovine for iPhone, an image sharing app developed by Google’s internal Slide team that, among other things, is also responsible for Disco, a group messaging app, and Pool Party. Powered by a slick design and attention to detail, the Photovine app that was released last month didn’t allow everyone to sign up and start sharing photos as the system was invite-only without an open sign-up. With an update pushed last night on the App Store, Photovine has revamped Facebook and Twitter integration from within the app and finally opened registrations without the need of a beta invite.

Unlike the popular photo sharing app and iPhone-based social network Instagram, Photovine doesn’t revolve around the simple concept of photos uploaded to a user stream and shared with followers. Rather, Photovine is based on “vines” — photos connected by a caption and contributed by you, your friends, and other people using Photovine. So, for example, say you’d like to share a photo about your newly acquired MacBook Air, you can start a vine called “My new MacBook” and your friends will be able to let the vine “grow” with new photos related to the caption, and the photo you originally posted. This is best explained by Photovine’s promo video, which we’ve embedded after the break.

Photos in a vine can obviously be liked and commented on, each user has its own dedicated page with a profile picture and followers/following/likes counts, and an Inbox tab in the bottom toolbar allows you to check on messages you’ve received from other users, or notifications such as new followers, comments, and likes. This is not too dissimilar from Instagram’s implementation of “activity”. Users can add new photos to an existing vine (or even “watch” a vine if they’re interested in it) or create a new one from scratch — Photovine comes with a beautiful custom camera interface that lets you snap your own photo, or pick one from the Camera roll. Indeed the whole app sports a gorgeous and clean design that makes it easy to jump through vines, user profiles, and comment on photos shared by others.

Photovine for iPhone is an interesting concept with a good-looking interface and additional social functionalities to forward photos to Twitter and Facebook, and find friends on those social networks as well. You can download Photovine for free on the App Store.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MPIZKPhfDY&feature=player_embedded

A clean workspace is the sign of a cluttered mind. But so what, nobody else has to come into your head and get work done. The common areas of the office are a different story. This 6-port AC power supply disguises itself as a tidy little desktop pen holder/accessory tray until you need juice. Then just pop the lid off and plug in.