Cool Hunting

BPMW Zune
In a clever marketing marriage, the NYC-based PR firm BPMW (Brand Pimps and Media Whores) loaded Zunes with content from their clients' Fall/Winter '07 lines. Narrated by Weekly Drop, the witty podcast covering streetwear and sneaker culture, the commentary is a fun departure for editors bored with staid press releases. Playlists made by each designer make the virtual fashion show complete and lend real...

Vita Audio R1 DAB
Tivoli's clever integration of features like Satellite Radio and good looks into their tabletop powered speakers has made their products some of the more popular ones on the market. With the arrival last year of Vita Audio's R1 DAB, they have some competition. Their aim "to design and build products that we ourselves would be proud to own" and to develop high-performance products with...

James Bond Gadget Watch History
Though Bond's typically a Rolex or Omega man—and Q-Branch won't be supplying any gadgety watches in Casino Royale—here's a look back at the wristwear 007 has worn over the years. The props featured every gadget from Geiger counters to circular saws (pictured right) and a James Bond Spy Watch produced in 1965 for kids included secret sliding lenses....

LED Calculator Watches: A Brief History
Before the Hamilton Pulsar (once thought to be the first calculator watch), a gift giving advertisement in the June 1975 issue of Playboy magazine included the Calcron LED Wrist Calculator (pictured left). One of the most collectible, only 50,000 of Hewlett Packard's 1977 HP-100 (pictured center) were made, of which about half were purchased by a Saudi prince. That same year, Sinclair introduced their...

Clothing That Arranges the Body
Clothing That Arranges the Body is British industrial designer Hannah Perner-Wilson's attempt to reconcile with our attachments to gadgets, calling attention to the way our minds and bodies relate to electronic devices. "I find myself drawn towards the ways in which objects, whether of material nature or data, convey their content," she says. In this first prototype jacket, Hannah created five pockets for gadgets...

Audioengine 5
Designed for the increasing number of audiophiles who are making the switch to an iPod-specific system, Audioengine's new set of slick-looking powered speakers are a compact option with rich, nuanced sound quality. For the weeks we've been enjoying them at CH HQ, they've enhanced everything from Too Short's latest hyphy-heavy release to the warm melodies of vintage Beatles tracks with real, rich bass that...