Iconic German camera firm Leica has just unveiled a new, limited special edition – the Leica M7 Edition Hermès, designed in collaboration with the famed French fashion house. Only 200 silver chrome 35 mm cameras will be available starting next month wrapped in two colors of exclusive Hermès 'Veau Swift' leather: orange and étoupe (green), 100 examples of each priced at about $14,000. The special Leica M7 Edition Hermès set also includes a matching, silver anodised Leica SUMMILUX-M 35 mm f/1.4 ASPH. wide-angle lens. The lens is complemented by a classical round lens hood in silver anodised metal manufactured exclusively for the Edition Hermès. The set also includes a Leicavit M rapid winder finished in silver chrome. The finishing touch to the special edition is provided by a real leather carrying strap handcrafted by Atelier Hermès to match the color of the camera chosen. The camera marks the second collaboration between Leica and Hermès.

Zabar's is nominated for a Luxist Award in the Best Gourmet Grocer/Food Hall category.

For more than 70 years, Zabar's has been a upper westside institution in Manhattan. The company started in 1934 when Louis and Lillian Zabar rented an Appetizing Counter in a Daitch Market. Their philosophy was to sell only the highest quality smoked fish at a fair price. Zabar wanted his customers to trust him and he wanted them to become "regulars".

Zabar became known for his high standards and developed a reputation of being hard to please. The couple took over the Daitch Market, and and Zabar's was born. The Zabars worked long hours. They roasted their own coffee and hand selected every item that the store would put on its shelves, always wanting to give their customers the best available at a "fair" price.

The Zabar sons, Saul and Stanley Zabar took over running the store, and Zabar's flourished under their management. Over the years the store expanded, taking over neighboring stores, as they became available. The company battled major department stores over caviar prices. New Yorkers came to trust and love Zabar's.

Saul and Stanley still run the business while their children have joined its ranks. Ann Zabar, Saul's oldest daughter, runs the Mail Order Division and helps her father roast coffee and buy smoked fish. David Zabar, Stanley's son, helps run the office and Aaron, Saul's son, manages Zabar's mail order warehouse.

Zabar's is open 365 days a year and there is always a Zabar in the store. Today the store on Broadway and West 80th Street is over 20,000 square feet (almost a city block long). It has more than 250 employees and sells over 8,000 lbs of coffee a week. On average, 35,000 customers a week visit its store. The company's website offers an array of coffee, cheeses and fish. It also has a large selection of cookware, kitchen gadgets and other must-have items, from rice cookers to coffee grinders and espresso makers.

The first thing that came to mind when I saw this keyring from Scott Amron was the Jon Franklin quote: "Simplicity, carried to an extreme, becomes elegance."

Also called the Split-Ring-Key, this refreshing, unexpected hybrid key-and-keyring can be brought to your local key cutter, who can craft it to fit any regular KW1 or SC1 keyholes. At just $3.50 each, this is one of those luxuries that won't break the bank.

Amron, who also brought us the black leather bandaids this past summer, has a number of cool and outside-the-box usable-art ideas on his website. We also love this wine stopper, which looks like a talon digging into your bottle. Very goth chic.

Vertu has been hard at work cornering the niche automotive-inspired luxury phone market, but they're not going to have it all to themselves. Because TAG Heuer, creators of the Meridiist mobile, have strong ties running deep in the automotive industry that have included collaborations with Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and McLaren to name just a few. And have now teamed up with Lamborghini for an even more exclusive edition of the Meridiist.

The TAG Heuer Meridiist Automobili Lamborghini boasts a chassis made of stainless steel, coated in black titanium carbide and packed with all the bells and whistles you could expect. It'll only be made in a limited edition of 1963 examples, honoring the year which the Italian sportscar-maker started business, available exclusively from Lamborghini and TAG Heuer retailers.

You'll never be able to go back to 10-pack cheapo emery boards after having this beautiful accessory in your purse! The Swarovski Nail File, created by designer Craig Coulton for the design competition organized by Designboom, consists of two filing blades (regular and smoothing) that fold out to reveal a shining layer beneath them. Crystals are embedded along each side of a silver, gold, or platinum body. Seems there's just no end to many ways that crystals can beautify everyday objects.

It has seemed of late that mouse design has sort of stalled out. As many people switch to laptops only, the humble mouse is often forgotten. The new ID Mouse from Intelligent Design might drive people back to the desktop. The mouse, which was shown off Dutch Design Week 2009, is a Bluetooth-enabled mouse finished in hand-formed grade 1 titanium and resin that serves as an elegant rest for the hand. The wireless mouse integrates a three-button neodymium scroll wheel for smooth scrolling. The mouse is compatible with Window XP/Vista/7 and Mac OS X and runs on two AAA batteries. It sells for around $1,200.



[via The Design Blog]

Fans of the Motorola Aura with money to spare can trade up to the latest model. The Motorola Aura Diamond Edition is plated with 18K gold and boasts 34 diamonds set along the phone's circular display. Should you care about the inner workings of your new gadget, the phone is a quad-band GSM phone with email, web browsing, a two megapixel camera, Bluetooth and a media player. It will sell for $5,700 and goes on sale this week.

What are you doing right now? Are you sitting down? What do you think about the chair you are in? Is it stylish, supportive? Have you ever really thought about it before? I didn't until a couple of years ago when I realized I was doing myself a disservice by sitting in the chair equivalent of a backache. "Ergonomic stuff is for the weak and elderly," being the type of perception I used to have. I eventually realized that sitting in a "nice" chair helped comfort and productivity a lot, but it wasn't easy finding the right seat. Most "ergonomic" items these days are gimmicks, and finding something specially designed for your comfort and health is hard. Well here is one item you don't have to stress-out about.

Here is my personal review of the new Herman Miller Setu task and desk chair. The brand well know for the universally popular Aeron desk chair has a few other products you should know about. One of them is right for you. In short, in the Herman Miller line of chairs, the Setu is made for simplicity and ease of use. No complex or frustrating levers and micro adjustments. The chair is designed to naturally fit to you, without having to adjust it. An added bonus is that multiple people can enjoy the same seat (no, not at the same time), without having to disturb your unique ergonomic settings.

To continue reading, click on the link below.

Need a new buddy for your iPhone that takes advantage of your music library? The Sonos ZonePlayer S5 is an all-in-one wireless music system designed to work with the iPhone to bring all the music the internet has to offer to every corner of the home. Unlike traditional docks, you don't have to leave your iPhone connected and unavailable for use to enjoy music. With the S5, you can queue up whatever you'd like to hear from your own iTunes library collection or any of the major online music sources and slip your phone back in your pocket.

The S5 has a five-driver speaker system-- two tweeters, two mid-range drivers and a built-in single subwoofer – each individually powered by a dedicated digital amplifier and optimized to deliver room-filling sound with smooth tonal balance and deep bass. The free Sonos Controller for iPhone app lets you choose the music and control the volume. The S5 also includes free Sonos Controller software for your Mac or PC. It sells for $399 and will be available starting at the end of this month. Check out a video of the S5 in action after the jump.

If you haven't seen "Paranormal Activity" yet, beware -- SPOILERS AHEAD.

In the film, the psychic tells Micah emphatically not to get a ouija board and try to talk to the demon tormenting his girlfriend Katie. Nevertheless, Katie comes down to their living room one day to find what she describes as something like the most beautiful ouija board she's ever seen. "I did not buy a ouija board," Micah says pathetically in his defense, "I borrowed a ouija board."

Most of us know ouija boards from our younger days. There's an innocent age when we're not sure what is entertainment and what is true -- dragons, princesses, witches, ghosts, magic, ouija boards; all of it falls into this strange, partly-fairytale partly-true reality, and because of that, it's all up for grabs. We'd play with the ouija board at sleepovers, freak out friends with stories of conversations with ghosts and pass along hearsay that people heard screaming when they burned their boards. Some of us believed the ouija boards were really a way to talk to ghosts, and some of us didn't, but the possibility that they could be a gateway to another dimension had us all fascinated, as well as good and scared.

I still don't know, of course, whether the ouija board is a subtle mind trick (ideomotor action) or moved by outside forces, but I know I don't care to touch one, with all the grown-up scary stories I've heard. I also remember a few times as a kid when things seemed a little too real ... no thank you. Still, I am attracted by their mystique, their arcane symbolism. There's a little goth kid inside me who thought that ouija board Micah brought home was pretty darn beautiful, too.

In the interest of that, let's have a look at some of the more fabulous ouija boards out there. There are excellent antique boards on display at The Museum of Talking Boards and Witchboards.net, you can buy gorgeous boards or have one custom made at DragonOak.com, and I found some pretty enchanting ones available for sale on eBay; see the gallery. Halloween's just around the corner if you're feeling spiritually curious (and brave). I've yet to see the release of the official "Paranormal Activity" board, but it can't be far off. Would you buy it?

Holiday party time is approaching fast, and before you know it you'll be trading in that summer tote bag you're still holding on to for a pretty little evening bag. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to take along your laptop for that moment when you need to do a quick e-mail check, or map out a route to the next fete, and you don't have a BlackBerry? Wait ... what kind of person is so uncool, such a Luddite, that she doesn't have a BlackBerry? Me. But I'm getting one soon, promise. In the meantime, if I had Sony's tiny, 1.4-lb. P Series Lifestyle PC, I could just slip it in my bag and go. Dimensions are just 4.8 in. x 9.7 in. x 0.8 in., and it comes in red (shown), green, gold, white, and black. The tech specifications are too much to get into here, but Amazon has all the info you need. Or keep reading after the jump for the official data from Sony's website. $999.99

Rich folks like Vertu. (They must, otherwise Nokia wouldn't keep on making ten-thousand-dollar mobile phones, now would they?) But some like flip-phones better than the candy-bar form factor that has characterized its offerings until now. So ostensibly to satisfy such discerning customers, Vertu has released the new Constellation Ayxta.

Like the Ascent, Signature and the existing Constellation model, the Ayxta features luxurious hand-craftsmanship, leather trim and access to the company's bespoke concierge service, on call around the clock from anywhere in the world. The Ayxta's clamshell form also packs a 3-megapixel camera with flash, an 8-gig micro-SD slot and 3G wireless connection. Which by themselves may not warrant the phone's $6,500 - $8,500 asking price, but then companies like Vertu would argue that the whole of its product is more than the sum of its parts.

World class polo player / model Paula Chermont (right), who fields her own womens polo team in her native Brazil, has become a spokesmodel for D-MIX, the world's first all-in-one liquid power mix which looks more like a sleek space-age gadget than an energy booster.

The newly-debuted 1 oz. black capsules contain a patented powerful blend of essential vitamins, antioxidants and energy formula that can be dispensed as needed, lasting up to four days (or 30 servings). The design adds a much needed touch of luxury to a market filled with horrible looking diet supplements.

Available in three flavors – Coffee, Mint and Punch – D-MIX is designed to be taken independently or blended with other beverages in order to enhance their nutritional value. Other athletes who've gotten hooked include Jeremy Bloom of the Philadelphia Eagles and the Miami Dolphins' Brandon Frye.

The HP Envy 13 is the new stylish computer from HP and we've got our hands on one to give to you! The 13.1 inch Envy 13 has a sleek aluminum look and a sharp 13.1" HD LED Infinity WS Display (1600x900) screen for rich imagery. It has an eight millisecond response time so that you can view movies with TV-like performance. It is less than an inch thick and weighs 3.74 pounds. Perhaps the biggest lure is the promise of up to 18 hours of battery life.

HP also partnered with Beats™ by Dr. Dre™ to develop a unique audio software solution that's available exclusively on the HP Envy, Beats Audio offers users playing music or audio through headphones or external speakers an optimal sound experience. It has an etched-metal palmrest and a VGA webcam that is optimized for low light. HP QuickWeb allows you to access key applications without booting the PC. In less than 30 seconds, you can reach the Internet, music, videos and photos, and email. It uses Windows 7 Pro (64-bit) and has an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor SL9600 (2.13 GHz). The computer we are giving away has 250 GB (5400RPM )HDD, 5GB DDR3 SDRAM and a Blu-ray ROM w/ DVD+-R/RW. Check out Engadget's first impressions of the Envy 13 here.

We are giving away one HP ENVY 13 at random to one lucky reader who comments below. To enter leave me a comment telling me what adventures you'll go on with your new laptop.

Some other important details:
* To enter, leave a confirmed comment below telling me what adventures you'll go on with your new laptop.
* The comment must be left and confirmed before Wednesday October 7, 2009 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
* You may only enter once.
* One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
* One winner will receive the HP ENVY 13, valued at $2500.
* Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.

See complete rules here.

This contest has ended. Thank you for your participation.

Luxury brand S.T. DuPont, famous for its stunning lighters and other accessories is getting into the mobile phone business. The French brand has teamed up with Korean company Pantech to create the Sky DuPont IM-510LE. CNET Asia reports that it will be available through SK Telecom in Korea. The phone will be available as a 2G (CDMA) handset and only for SK Telecom network users.

The design takes its cues from S.T. DuPont lighters. It has a push-up button that activates the phone with the same sort of muted click that can be heard when opening a lighter. The rim is brushed 18K gold. The phone has a 3-inch touchscreen LCD, mobile TV (T-DMB), 3-megapixel camera, GPS, Bluetooth, mobile dictionary and many other applications. The price is said to be around $800 to $900. It's not known yet if this phone will hit the international market. Hands-on video can be found at Tech Fresh and a video trailer is after the jump.