toilet

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On this week's show, we check out Tailly, a wearable robotic tail that wags when you get excited. If that gets you wagging, then you'll definitely want to have a look at the Satis Bluetooth toilet that can flush with your smartphone. And in honor of winter, we look at how a snowflake is born. It's the last show of 2012, and we bid you farewell until the new year. The show returns on January 18. … Read more

Japan already has the market cornered on fancy toilets, but there's always room for more potty innovations. A new line of toilets from Lixil will soon turn smartphones into commode controllers.

The Satis toilets are set for release in early 2013. Through the magic of Bluetooth and an accompanying Android app, users will have minute control over these high-tech privies.

The app can trigger a lifting of the toilet seat or a flush if you've forgotten (or don't want to touch the flusher). According to the promo video, it looks like the app can also control an extending bidet feature that looks absolutely frightening. … Read more

I've been to some bizarre spots in South Korea, from DMZ tunnels to a seaside park dedicated to giant penises, but a new theme park in Suwon is at the top of my must-see list: it celebrates toilets.

The Restroom Cultural Park is billed as the world's first toilet theme park. It's a monument to the colorful former mayor of Suwon, a man known as Mr. Toilet.

The late Sim Jae-duck was himself born in a toilet and had an affection for loos throughout his life, rigorously promoting public facilities while mayor. … Read more

Every month, it seems, another audio manufacturer debuts a new monolithic speaker dock that boasts the latest and greatest in acoustics and connectivity.

While some portable speakers push the bar in design, however, few offer the conversation-sparking aesthetics of this miniature toilet-shaped speaker out of Japan. … Read more

Public restrooms can really test your senses, especially if you're super fastidious about cleanliness. Thankfully, as automation becomes more commonplace, we get to enjoy futuristic time savers like Camitool, a touch-free toilet paper dispenser by Japanese company Shikoku.

You may wonder if toilet paper dispensers need any further optimization, but this product addresses some valid points. A touch-free dispenser lets those with conditions like rheumatism collect toilet paper much more easily, and it reduces the chance that infectious diseases will get spread by removing hands from the equation. Less hands mean less germs. … Read more

Fancy answering the call of nature au naturel but don't like getting too down and dirty? Japan recently saw the opening of a public toilet in a veritable Garden of Eden that designers say is the largest of its kind in the world.

Created by architect Sou Fujimoto, the single, glassed-in cubicle commands a view of cherry, plum, and peach trees in a rural part of Ichihara City, east of Tokyo.

It's located by Itabu Station along the scenic Kominato Railway, and you can hear the old-school trains clunking along as they pass.

Surrounded by a 6-foot wall, the elegant loo stands in a 240-square-yard garden that is being planted with rape blossom and clover.

Sorry guys, it's for ladies only. … Read more

Sometimes it's hard to turn the other cheek. That's when it's best to use both cheeks.

Shitter turns Twitter into toilet paper. Startup Collector's Edition will print four rolls of choice throne-room reading material for $35.

If you're the self-deprecating sort, they can be your own tweets. But it's infinitely more amusing to print out those of your least-favorite celebrity. You can choose one or several feeds for your order.

The Shitter rolls can get about four tweets per sheet; that's a lot better than this DIY Twitter toilet paper printer from Germany. Shitter, meanwhile, is printed in the U.S. and ships internationally. … Read more

What will Americans do in order to preserve their own green fields and oil refineries? What will Americans give up in order to keep their trees growing and their consciences clear of moral soot?

Not toilet paper, it seems.

For a stunning research study has landed upon my laptop with a conservative thump. This deep dive into American paper use was commissioned by Nitro, a company that, as far as one can tell, "develops intuitive solutions that enable people to work smarter with digital documents."

It seems that a mere 6 percent of Americans are prepared to reduce … Read more

Out of every 1,000 mobile-phone-toting Americans, 750 use their phones in the bathroom. You don't have to pretend to be shocked. Chances are very good you're one of them.

Marketing agency 11mark chatted up 1,000 U.S. mobile phone users about their toilet and tech habits for its IT in the Toilet study.

Now that the secret is out, I have to wonder what everybody is up to in the powder room that's so important it can't wait. As it turns out, 67 percent are reading texts on the john, but 63 percent admit to answering a phone call. Even better, 41 percent initiated a phone call without waiting to exit the facilities first.… Read more