nap

You're waiting for your flight at the airport. A snuffling sound emanates from behind you. It's getting louder. You turn to look. An eldritch creature emerges from a gray pod! Oh wait, it's just a fellow traveler removing his Ostrich Pillow. No need to panic.

The Ostrich Pillow looks a bit like a giant garden squash gone soft. It has a hole for your face so you can breath and two side holes to stick your hands in.

The Kickstarter project page refers to it as "a micro environment in which to take a comfortable power nap in the office, traveling, or wherever you want." … Read more

Apple's latest 2011-2012 MacBook Air and 2012 Retina MacBook Pro systems support a new power-saving mode called PowerNap, which allows the systems to perform a number of background tasks when in Sleep mode, thereby maintaining low power but preventing a flurry of synchronization and update activity when the system is woken up.

When activated, the system should go into Sleep mode as usual, but periodically you should see activity with an attached Time Machine drive, and also see received e-mail messages, updated contacts, iCloud content, and also be able to use Apple's Find My Mac remote access features. … Read more

Apple has issued a firmware update for its latest Retina MacBook Pro systems that adds support for the new PowerNap feature in OS X Lion.

PowerNap allows the system to save energy by maintaining Sleep mode but still allow the system network access for updates and synchronization, as well as allowing backups to happen in the background. This feature is only available on the 2011-2012 MacBook Air systems and in the MacBook Pro with Retina Display; however, these systems did require a firmware update to use the new feature.

Apple issued the required firmware updates for the MacBook Air systems … Read more

One of the new features in OS X Mountain Lion is the PowerNap energy-saving option that allows newer MacBook Pro and MacBook Air systems to continue to use network and backup services when in sleep mode. However, even after installing the OS X Mountain Lion upgrade, qualified systems may not be able to use the PowerNap feature.

When activated in the system's Energy Saver system preferences, PowerNap will perform hourly checks for new e-mail and updates to Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Notes, iCloud documents, and Photo Stream. It will also maintain a connection for Apple's Find My Mac service. … Read more

Apple's newest Macs will be able to accomplish updates, data refreshes, and more -- all while the computers are asleep.

At its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco today, Apple unveiled a feature called Power Nap. Available on second-generation MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros with Retina Displays, Power Nap is all about keeping Macs up to date even while they're snoozing.

The computers will be able to fetch data while in sleep mode, do an iCloud sync, update system software, get e-mail, and even do a Time Machine backup.

This could be a very useful feature for heavy … Read more

When it comes to nap time, I usually just go the Quaalude route, but some people don't have the same friendly doctor I have. So I would like the rest of you to meet the Wrap-a-Nap, or WAN for short. It's a combination blindfold/pillow/earmuffs that you wrap around your head to seal out the world around and have a soft place to rest your melon.

It's funny-looking but honestly a great idea from the "why didn't I think of this?" department. While I normally can find a decent place to nap, that'… Read more

Father's Day is coming up Sunday and I've been trying not to do a "perfect gift for dads and grads!" post of any kind because ubiquitous rhymes make me want to shoot small, cute things in their small, cute faces. But then I came across the Pillow Tie on Geekologie, and it makes me wish I was a dad or a grad so someone would buy me one.

It's an inflatable microfiber/silk-blend necktie that goes for about $20, and that's about all. But that's all it has to be, as a simple … Read more

With more devices dedicated to the sleep-deprived on the move, the Sleepbox is one concept I'm rooting for. It's probably not for the claustrophobic, given its box-like interior, but it draws inspiration from Japan's capsule hotels.

Parked along stretches of an airport, this private nap space would be a boon for Economy Class overnighters lacking access to a Business or First Class lounge with sleeping facilities. Not all of us plebs are that fortunate, and usually have to make do with stretching out on awkward plastic seats.

Russian architect team Arch Group, thinking out of the box, has attempted to make its Sleepbox as comfy and sanitary as possible. The bed comprises a soft, flexible strip of foamed polymer with a surface of pulp tissue. The sheets are changed via a roller-like conveyer belt system, similar to the roller seat covers in bathrooms.

There's also Wi-Fi, an LCD display, sockets for charging laptops and mobile devices, a storage area to stash your luggage, and an alarm for keeping tabs on your allotted nap time.

The plan is for travelers to rent these 6.5 foot by 4.5 foot by 7.5 foot Sleepboxes for 15-minute slots or longer. This sleeps one, and hopefully stays that way. More photos after the jump. … Read more

We've heard of sleep pod facilities in New York for sleep-deprived cubicle dwellers seeking some shut-eye. But here's a way to have your power nap upright while still appearing to keep to the spirit of a city that never sleeps.

This crazy contraption--by the amusing one-man Office for the Development of Substitute Materials--was actually tried and tested during a 40-minute snooze along Broadway as part of the Conflux 2009 festival, a gathering of artists, technologists, and urban adventurers.

Out of the box, you have a vertical bed that attaches conveniently to any subway ventilation grating for … Read more