bling

Shameless marketing stunts are a dime a dozen, but that doesn't mean there isn't unmined territory out there. When the goal is to draw attention to a product, company or cause, all that is needed is a good idea and the internet. And a million dollars of gold plating.

The Million Dollar Vacuum (model number GV62711 from GoVacuum in case you are interested in purchasing), takes one of the most recognizable of household appliances and gives it a shiny new coat of bling. Why? To make it clean better, of course. (No, not really; 24k gold plating has … Read more

It's not every day a company gives you $20 worth of free cash to spend as you choose and let you run wild. And it's not every day you pay for your lunch with a wave of your cell phone. This is exactly what Bling Nation is doing to promote its new mobile payment product, which ties into your PayPal account.

We slapped a BlingTag--a yellow and white adhesive square--onto the back of several mobile phones and took the nascent payment solution for a field test at three freshly installed partner retailers in Bling Nation's incubation headquarters of Palo Alto, CA.

The BlingTag, as the sticker is called, uses NFC, or near field communication, a technology that relies on an RFID chip nestled within the adhesive to authenticate transactions made between your cell phone and the BlingNation payment console. NFC is a short-wave radio communications technology that's not unlike Bluetooth in concept. However, it has a much tighter range--up to 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) for NFC versus up to 30 meters (not quite 100 feet) for Bluetooth.

To make a payment, the cashier types in your total and your phone number. You tap (or hover) the BlingTag sticker over the sensor and almost immediately receive a text message with an authorizing pin that the cashier then types into the console. The machine spits out a receipt and you receive a second text message verifying your purchase. The dollar amount, meanwhile, is deducted from your paired PayPal account. If the merchant has signed onto Bling Nation's loyalty program, they could opt to credit you points that you could rack up, in lieu of using a punch card, to eventually purchase more of their product.

As with debit card payments made through a supermarket's card-reading terminal, there's no ID involved, just a pin-based authentication. In Bling Nation's case, the pin code isn't a secret, and it's constantly changing.

The entire process took no longer than paying by credit card, although we did experience a false start that required us to abandon our first BlingTag and begin again because Bling Nation is currently incompatible with Google Voice numbers.

What about security?… Read more

Lindsey returns to unveil the winner of Operation Lindsey's Living! To celebrate, we cover tech that might find a good home in that swank new space. Somehow, by the close of the show, we end up right back in the gutter again. Please help us.

And the winner of the Operation Lindsey’s Living Room contest is…. Scott Clay (Claymation)!!!! (see his submission email below)

Convertible Coffee Table Turns Into A Desk

Twilight ensures purified air with blooming and refreshed interiors

Siamun TV Stand aims to combine entertainment in your office setting

Will lindsey buy a Google TV?… Read more

This episode had a number of potential titles. Nerd Alert, Nerd party, Nerdgasm... but we honed in on the one that really encapsulates the sheer nerditude of stuff covered in today's show. Let your inner nerd shine through.

Nerdgasm: HTC Evo 4G

Pong and BSOD belt buckles

Cell Mate headset heads-on

Binary Flow, officially the hardest watch to read ever

Sticker pockets change everything

It’s About Time, Best Edition Evar. Luxury watch made from dinosaur crap

What a Concept Heatswell coffee cup grows a sleeve when hot liquid is poured in… Read more

If it involves celebrities and technology, chances are we want to unfriend immediately. That's just the type of mood we're in today.

Facebook’s crazy new privacy settings

Celebrity sexting

A special message for Lindsay Lohan: Please put down the Twitter

Twoddler lets your toddler twitter and summon the Fail Whale #cute

Celebrity star maps comes to iPhone

Celebrity Web site of the day: Go Fug Yourself… Read more

Bling Clock helps users keep track of time with simple commands and functions. This program is simple and effective enough that users of all skill levels will enjoy it.

The program's interface is sort of rough and will take some getting used to. Most options fade to black when the mouse isn't over them, which we found slightly annoying. However, when we could see things, the program was very intuitive and didn't require a trip to the Help file. The clock consists of a large black clockface and giant red digital numbers. Users can choose to run … Read more

We take a walk on the virtual side in today's Gadgettes. Virtual reality museums, robotic kittens, and fusion in your pocket!

Household gadgets we’d like to see

Canon launches virtual-reality dinosaur exhibit in Japan

Robo-Kitty: Sega Toys unveils the Dream Cat Venus

Handheld fusion reactor on the way?

“Design your own clock” clock

A propos (of) nothing Vroom: Surf the Web with a Ford GT

It's About Time Eris Planetary Sphere watch goes anywhere but the wrist

Pink Watch Juicy Couture goes geeky

Tool Time Ript Fusion body-shaping undershirt (thanks, Sam!)

Reverse Gender Gap Ostrich three in one chair for sunbathing bookworms

BlingRX Russel Hobbs RHG2TSW crystal encrusted bling toaster (thanks, Colleen!)

Kill Me Fantasy coach bed for the budding superiority complex… Read more

It's so typical: just when we dropped eight grand on a Vertu, something even more exorbitantly ostentatious comes along.

Luxury watch brand Ulysse Nardin says it has partnered with a mysterious U.K.-registered firm, SCI Innovations, to create a mobile phone. Forget touch screens--the true cutting edge is 163-year-old watch technology.

The company tells us the phone will incorporate a watch-style kinetic system for charging the phone's battery. It's hard to believe that a little hand waving could generate enough juice to run a mobile phone, but the company says that it will only power a … Read more

There are some people of means who are desperate for everyone to know they are people of means.

They (men and women) wear gold chains to adorn their leathery necks. They (men and women) wear earrings that sparkle like the eyes of an orgiastic llama. And they (men and women) have the undoubtedly enterprising Austrian jewelry designer Peter Aloisson to make gadgets that might remind lesser beings of trinkets from the artist formerly known as Saddam Hussein.

The latest of Mr. Aloisson's creations is a $2.5 million iPhone. May I quote some of the forbiddingly florid language from Mr. Aloisson's alluring Web site: "Made of solid 18-carat yellow gold, white gold, and rose gold. A fabulous combination. The white gold line is encrusted with a total of 138 brilliant cut diamonds of the best quality."

But wait, this touching work of art has a unique feature. No, it does not polish your shoes while you talk on the phone. And no, it doesn't have a built-in vibrator to massage your ear. It does, however, have a "home button" that carries a rare 6.6-carat diamond.

The Web site gushes that this button is "integrated in the design, as if this diamond has been made for 'taking you home.'" In order to make you understand that this phone is probably not for you, Mr. Aloisson has dubbed the device the "Apple iPhone 3G Kings Button."

I accept that many things are not for me. A Bentley, for example. When I see one floating down the street, I think to myself: "Hmm, well, the driver's dyed his hair out of a bottle, but that's a tastefully designed vehicle."

However, when I look at the iPhone 3G Kings Button, I think: "Wears shoes from a crocodile, smiles like a reptile, and makes love like a cockroach. Oh, and dons Aramis cologne."

Who knows why I think this? Taste is a highly subjective thing. And you might think that Mr. Aloisson was having an off-day when he designed this homage to catatonia.… Read more