quirky

How far can you get with a 3D printer and a dream?

CNET photographer Sarah Tew and I took a tour of Quirky's new Manhattan offices this morning. As depicted in her frankly great shots in the slideshow below, we got a firsthand look at the inner workings of a serious, professional product development company.

Normally I don't go in for facility tours. The articles that tend to result from such things too often take the appearance of marketing material. It was the promise of the chance to see how a real design company uses a 3D printer that drew me to accept Quirky's invite.… Read more

Preshredded cheese may seem like a benefit, but in reality nothing compares with cheese that has been freshly (or at least recently) grated.

Those convenient bags found hanging in the grocery aisles? They contain fillers designed to keep the cheese from caking. Edible? Yes. Delicious? Not so much. We can do better. And that includes how we grate the cheese.

The Quirky GRP-1-CW1 Grip Grater Cheese Grater updates the old-timey kitchen classic and affords it some additional utility. Instead of four separate sides that each has its own different grate size, this deconstructed new model uses one folding base unit … Read more

Anybody who has ever made anything in the kitchen has at one time or another most likely used a measuring spoon as a tool to mix the recipe in question. This shortcut usually doesn't work all that well considering that the darn things are usually quite small.

However, in the ongoing effort to reduce the amount of dirty dishes, there will never be a shortage of attempts to try to use oddly shaped contrivances to mix batter. There may be no substitute for having the right tool for the job, but that doesn't have to mean the tool … Read more

I've had some epic battles with my closet clothes hangers. They're clingy and don't want to hand over my jackets, shirts, and sweaters without a fight.

I'm putting my hangers on notice. If they don't behave, I'm going to replace them with Quirky's collapsible SOLO hangers.

SOLO hangers are eager to please. A one-handed squeeze releases the locking mechanism and frees your clothes immediately.

Quirky is home to a community of inventors and supporters who come up with offbeat and practical gadgets and gear like pivoting power strips and cord tamers, lightbulb-shaped alarm clocks, and super-cute tripods.

The hanger reimagining comes courtesy of engineer Howard Tseng. It became reality with the backing of more than 300 Quirky users, known in the design collaborative as "influencers."… Read more

Full-grain leather or waterproof camera cases could soon be old news. Instead of the usual carrier, the Pose is a camera pouch that doubles as a camera support after being fully inverted.

Made from a texturized, neoprene material, the case is not only water-resistant but also acts as a stand on flat surfaces for landscape photography. The camera is mounted on the stand attachment via the tripod mount and can be easily detached from the case for handheld shooting.

Compatible with most compact cameras, the Pose can also be wrapped around curved surfaces such as railings, armrests, or steering wheels. This allows users to shoot from more unique angles compared with conventional tripods.

Currently, the Pose is a project pending on Quirky, a site that depends on its community to create new products that are then marketed worldwide. Available at a presale price of $23.99, it still needs about 882 pledges before manufacturing can begin.

(Source: Crave Asia) … Read more

Making decisions isn't always the easiest thing to do in the morning. Coffee drinkers and tea lovers usually know what they want, but sometimes they want a change--coffee instead of tea or vice versa. Naturally, the process of making the newly desired brew would have to change, possibly ending with disastrous results because of the sleepy-eyed, precaffeine morning. Unless of course, the same familiar equipment was used.

Practically speaking, making a mug of coffee or a cup of tea requires different contrivances to get the job done. One could use a French press to extract all the goodness out … Read more

When you're not toting your iPad around in your C-3PO Bestin Backpack, you'll probably be using it, and you may be looking for a place to rest it securely while you're lounging in bed playing Civilization Revolution or thumbing through the iBookstore.

Design collaborative Quirky has conceived of the Cradle, a sleek little portable, lightweight lap desk for the Apple tablet. Lap desks abound, of course, but this one has a twist (literally)--an integrated circular plate, made from matte, soft-touch plastic, that grips your iPad snugly and lets you swivel the device between portrait and landscape … Read more

It's not like us to get too excited about an iPhone case, but this one shines--literally--because it's the very device I was wishing for last month while traveling in Europe.

Beamer, as the name connotes, is an iPhone case with a built-in LED light you can turn on to use as both a flashlight and a camera flash. Just the thing I needed when I wanted to shoot the Leaning Tower of Pisa at night with my iPhone, having left my real camera back at our hotel.

And it sure would have helped in Paris when we returned … Read more

Ever sit around with your friends talking about how great the world would be if only someone would invent your supercool and totally useful widget? The community at quirky is based on the idea that everyone has a product idea. It's a social product development company. Would-be inventors submit ideas, the community works on them, voting, making suggestions, and so on, and one product each week is chosen to move onto development.

During the development phase, community members continue to exert their influence, and eventually products are offered for presale. When a product has a certain number of committed … Read more