Eating

In Japan, signs are smelled as well as seen

After the introduction of scented phones, it was inevitable that more technology playing to the olfactory glands would make its way to the public. Yet we didn't anticipate seeing it put to use in commercial signage.

NTT Communications is doing just that in Tokyo, where it's been experimenting with "its latest aroma-emitting digital sign technology, called 'Kaoru Digital Signage,'" according to Pink Tentacle. And its test site is one of the most significant venues in Japanese culture: a pub. Outside the Kirin City Beer Hall are 19-inch displays that provide aromas to match particular images. But … Read more

Gomobo uses Twitter for new 'food buddy' feature

Typically when we talk about Web 2.0 and food, we're either talking about the snack selection at a launch party or the virtual food fights that certain Facebook apps have made possible. Not this time. Gomobo, a New York-based start-up that allows you to order and pre-pay for food at participating restaurants on your cell phone or computer, plans to announce a new feature on Thursday that will allow you to connect your Twitter account to the service.

As a result, when you order pick-up food from Gomobo, it'll automatically send a message to your Twitter feed … Read more

Say sayonara to soggy cereal

If product-design firm Gray Matter is to be believed, a whopping 70 percent of us are frustrated by soggy breakfast cereal. That's why the group invented Eatmecrunchy, a bowl designed to keep your milk and cereal separate until you mix them. The secret lies in the bowl's interior shelf, which holds most of your Wheaties above the milk, allowing only a small portion of the bowl's contents to mix. No assembly is required--you pour cereal and milk as you would with a conventional bowl--but you do have to shovel cereal into the shelfless section where it can … Read more

The office candy dish: A beast that renders humans powerless

It might be time to stow away that candy dish--and, for that matter, the cookie jar, gumball dispenser and bowl of nuts--because we humans are powerless to resist such things, according to a recent CNN article featuring research taking place at the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab.

A book by Cornell researcher Brian Wansink says people will basically eat whatever food is in front of them. The book, called Mindless Eating, says that when it comes to overeating, convenience and visibility are bigger factors than how good food looks or how hungry a person is.

"We can say '… Read more

Make everything taste like bacon

Have you ever found yourself thinking that veggies would go down easier, if only they tasted more like bacon? You may want to top them with Bacon Salt. The brainchild of two bacon-loving former tech workers, the zero-calorie seasoning lets you add a bit of bacony goodness to any food product. It comes in three flavors--original, hickory, and peppered--and, according to this post from Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger, has been enjoyed on "potatoes (fried, mashed, whathaveyou), corn on the cob, popcorn, watermelon, pineapple, steak, eggs (fried, scrambled), green beans, assorted vegetables, chocolate, Bloody Marys, pasta, guacamole, and peaches." … Read more

Feed a baby with just one hand

I'm at that age where most of my friends are starting families, so I find myself shopping for a lot of baby stuff. In fact, I've developed a bit of a reputation for giving the kind of wildly impractical baby gifts that only a non-parent would buy. But the Squirt baby food dispensing spoon just might help salvage my reputation as a gift-giver. Parents can fill the bright orange bulb with up to three ounces of baby food, then secure the spoon on the end. A squeeze of the bulb dispenses a bite of food onto the spoon, … Read more

A scale that does justice to food

Next to dentists, scales are our worst enemies. Not the fish or music variety, but the kind that unfairly make us cut back on our sensible daily diet of Domino's and Krispy Kremes. Worse yet, they're getting more powerful all the time.

But most of them do their work after the fact, happy to just mock us without helping. What we really need is some intervention--such as a scale for the food, before we eat it. The EatSmart Nutritional Scale, for instance, "serves as a food guidance system to regulate calories, nutrients and portion size appropriate." … Read more

Mashup puts chocolate on the map

World maps aren't just for cartographers anymore. The Chocomap is an online map even people with the strongest aversion to geography will be sweet on. It plots out the locations of specialty chocolate shops around the globe, giving addresses and brief descriptions of each store's history and specialty.

The Google Maps mashup might come in handy the next time you've got a hankering for bonbons in Brussels, Belgium, truffles in Tampa, Fla., or mousse (or molded and enrobed pralines, as the case may be) in Melbourne, Australia.

The interface is not the best. Rather than searching for … Read more

Serenading cake slicer

It seems the older you get, the more lackluster the birthday celebrations become. And, while there's no need for birthday hats and balloons to fete the event, it seems that at the very least an indulgent cake is in order. The folks over at Gifts & More, however, would argue a musical cake server that plays the Happy Birthday song is in order too.

Made to mimic antique milk glass, this mint-colored plastic is attractive enough to pull out whenever cake slicing is called for. (So long as you don't mind it playing Happy Birthday on your wedding … Read more