Naoto Fukasawa calculator

Looking for a calculator that matches the looks of your iPod or MacBook? This calculator from Naoto Fukasawa should fit the bill.

Like Apple's top-selling offerings, this calculator makes minimalism a selling point, offering a glossy casing, curved edges, subdued buttons and all the functionality you can ask for. But best of all, it takes the calculator out of the lab and into the home.

You can pick it up online, priced at £25.95.

Find out more at the Design Museum Shop website

Yoyo floor lamp - toy-shaped lighting

A great example of a classic piece of design with a twist - the Yoyo lamp by Catarina von Matérn & Lisa Lindstöm.

Designed as a floor lamp or as a table lamp (as long as it doesn't have a slope), the Yoyo keeps the classic toy shape, with a luminous surface providing light for both sides. And a Yoyo wouldn't be complete without a string - in this case, a 16m red cable, which means you can roll it around the room wherever light is needed.

Available online, it retails for £207.

Find out more at the Funktion Alley website

Max - sofa made from a vintage bath tub

You might well have seen Reestore on the TV show Dragon's Den, looking for investment for its recycling/design business. I can't recall if it got the cash or not - but with brilliantly quirky designs like the Max sofa, it should do just fine.

Max is typical of the company's work, home design made from surplus household and industrial items. The perfect recycling business if you like. And Max uses a vintage roll top bath, mixing the old cast iron with newly-added upholstery to create a unique piece of seating for two.

Available online, it retails for £1,480.

Find out more at the Reestore website

Isamu Noguchi Freeform sofa and ottoman - classic design from the 1940s

The mid-40s isn't an era I readily associate with forward-thinking design, but the Freeform sofa and ottoman by Isamu Noguchi does show the era wasn't completely grey.

It was designed in 1946, but only went into limited production around 1950 - although it's easier to pick up now thanks to a reissue from Vitra. Noguchi described it as 'soft rock', a pebble-shaped sofa with a natural-coloured upholstery, not to mention a beechwood frame and maple legs. I'd say it was a bit more futuristic than that, still capable of turning a number of heads 60 years on.

Not cheap to buy today, the sofa and ottoman retails for around £4,500. And that doesn't include the Noguchi coffee table pictured here, which sells for a further £661.

Find out more at the Lollipop Shoppe website

Naxos space age X-Wall - create cool divides in your home

Everyone seems to be into open-plan living these days, but if your huge open space needs a bit of breaking up, the Naxos X-Wall could do the trick.

Very much giving off that 70s space age vibe (you can imagine these adorning the set of Space 1999), but with with more substance than period plastic. The downside (I would imagine) is the weight of the blocks, which could add to the cost if you have to ship them in from Italy.

And I imagine the price tag is pretty hefty too. In fact, that's the one thing missing from the mass of information to be found on the Naxos website. Drop them a line if you want to know the cost of the blocks.

Find out more at the Naxos website

Mazda launches limited edition Niseko MX-5 sports car

The Mazda MX-5 is the attainable sports car - while many of us look in envy at a Porsche or Ferrari, we can all pick up an MX-5, even if it's an old secondhand model. But if your budget stretches that bit further, you can pick up the new limited edition Mazda MX-5 - known as the Niseko.

Named after a Japanese skiing resort and available from 1st January 2008, the Niseko comes as an entry-level 1.8i Niseko soft-top (£17,995) and the 2.0i six-speed Niseko roadster coupe (£19,995), both in 'icy-blue', with enhanced heating and air conditioning, unique design 17-inch alloy wheels, front fog lamps, Chrome Pack (door handles and headlamp bezels, and surrounds for the side-repeaters, front grille and fog lamps) a special edition badge and a unique dark brown premium cloth for the fabric roof on the soft-top. There's also plenty of dark brown leather on the inside, plus a bag load of electrics and chrome.

Fancy one? You need to get your skates on - just 240 of the Mazda MX-5 1.8i Niseko soft-top are available, along with 560 units of the MX-5 2.0i Niseko roadster coupe.

Find out more at the Mazda website

Seiko space age Discus watch

Straight out of Japan, but not into the UK as yet is this super cool Seiko space age Discus watch.

It's a modern take on an old idea, using three numbered discs that rotate and work together to offer up the time (hours, minutes and seconds) in a circular display area. The case is available in two designs - one with a stainless body and white face, another with a black metal body and a smoked glass face.

But not yet available outside of Japan. eBay should be your salvation though, but yu'll have to pay around £450.

While the Discus is not officially for sale in North America, I was able to find a couple over on eBay, priced at about $890 each.

Find out more at the Seiko website

Via Technabob

Pretty Taxing - leading names from the art world customise the tax disc

Looking for a collectable piece of artwork for under £50? You should invest in the Pretty Taxing range of artist-designed tax discs, produced by the people behind the Art Car Boot Fair.

All (but one) are limited edition pieces, with the circular artwork and the certificate printed on the highest grade, archival quality 100% cotton rag Somerset art paper. Both the circular tax disc artwork and the certificate are hand numbered with the edition number and come in a rather cool presentation box. For anyone outside the UK, tax discs are circular pieces of paper fixed to car windscreens, showing that road tax has been paid for that vehicle - these art-based tax discs work in conjunction with the official discs to add some style to your vehicle.

Naoto Fukasawa's Salt and Pepper Maracas - music while you season

Can there be a more fun pastime tan sprinkling salt and pepper on your plate of hot food? Amazingly yes - you can make it musical with these Salt and Pepper Maracas by Naoto Fukasawa.

A simple idea, but one that hasn't been considered before - you get to dance around the dining table like Bez from the Happy Mondays, firing seasoning all over the place as you go. It works for me.

And if it works for you, the shakers are available online for £29.95.

Find out more at the Design Museum Shop website

Smeg introduces 50s-style flueless gas fire for the kitchen

Smeg has colonised your kitchen, so it's no surprise to see the company moving into the rest of your home with appliances like this Smeg 50s-style retro flueless gas fire.

Ideal if you've got that open plan living thing going on, the fire matches up with the rest of your appliances and with no chimney required, it can go pretty much anywhere.  Flueless fires also convert 100% of gas to heat, which should help on the gas bill too.

They retail officially for £999, but we've seen them discounted down to £750.

Find out more at the Smeg website

2008 Ford Mustang Bullitt car - details and photos now online

Back in May, we mentioned that Ford was producing a limited edition Ford Mustang Bullitt to commemorate 40s years since its appearance in the movie. And as we enter 2008, more details and pictures have emerged.

The 2008 Ford Mustang Bullitt has a 4.6-litre V8 engine, a sport-tuned chassis and suspension to boost handling (if you fancy re-creating that car chase) and a 'revised rear-axle ratio' for better acceleration. The paint job will be Dark Highland Green (as the original), the car will be without logos - again as the film car was and most bizarrely of all, the exhaust sound will be just as the original, with the designers having listened to the movie soundtrack to get it just right.

I'm personally not excited by the look of the car, but it could be a shrewd investment, with just 7,700 of these being made. Expect it in 2008 for $31,075 (around £16,000).

More details and images at the Forbes Autos website

Darkcloud Silver offers Turntable Ring - with real vinyl to spin

Looking for something special for the DJ or vinyl collector in your life? Darkcloud Silver's Turntable Ring could fit the bill.

It's part of a music range that also includes headphones, microphones and a record deck on a chain, but let's concentrate on the ring. It features a choice of real vinyl or silver for the record, a moving stylus arm and a main body that's built from sterling silver.

All handmade too, so you should get something unique. If you want one, it retails for AUS $350, which is around £153.

Find out more at the Oye Modern website

Lamborghini Reventon - be one of just 20 owners

Won the lottery and looking to invest in a super car? The Lamborghini Reventon has arrived just in the nick of time.

And you'll have to be quick, as there's just 20 of these being made, each capable of 650 horsepower and a high speed of 340 km/hr, assisted in no small way by its carbon fibre construction and forward-facing air intakes. Other features include a unique paint job (approximate to a green/grey) and a purpose-built G-force meter that shows dynamic drive forces, longitudinal acceleration during acceleration and braking and transversal acceleration around bends.

And of course, it looks absolutely stunning. Expect to pay just over one million Euros to join the exclusive club.

Find out more at the Lamborghini website

Vitra updates a classic: The white Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman

Don't mess with a classic? Well, I think I can forgive Vitra when the end result of its revamped Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman looks this good.

The white Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman is more makeover than re-design, with nothing physically changed from the original 1956 seat. The new version, which has been developed in collaboration with the Eames Office and Hella Jongerius, just makes things a whole lot lighter. That means off-white leather upholstery, an aluminium base, plywood shells with a pigmented walnut veneer and all the minor details, down to the zips on the cushions, changed to fit in with the new colour scheme.

One thing does remain unchanged - the hefty price tag. You can pick up the white Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman for £4,879.

Find out more at the Nest website

Via Retro To Go

Royal Mail introduces stamp range based on James Bond book art

It takes a lot to get me excited about postage stamps, but the Royal Mail's James Bond stamp collection just about does it.

Unveiled today and available to buy and use from January 8th 2008, the James Bond collection marks the centenary of the birth of Bond creator Ian Fleming and includes six 'extra-long' stamps, each featuring different covers of six of his most famous Bond novels.

The two 1st Class stamps feature Fleming’s first novel Casino Royale (1953) and Dr No (the first novel to be filmed). The 54p stamps shows the covers of Goldfinger and Diamonds are Forever, while the final 78p pairing features For Your Eyes Only and From Russia with Love.

All can be ordered now as collector's packs from the Royal Mail website.

Find out more at the Royal Mail website

Via Retro To Go

TG Lluon Crystal mini PC

Let's be honest, PCs are rarely stylish additions to your home - that's why Apple shifts so many units. But if you dig deeper, there are one or two that buck the trend -  including this Korean-made TG Lluon Crystal mini PC.

Packed into a glossy black box sized at just 45.2 x 277 x 244.1mm is a decent specification that includes an Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 500GB HDD, DVD burner, GeForce 8400 GS graphics and wireless connectivity.

And if you happen to find yourself in Korea, it retails for the equivalent of around £750. No news of it heading outside of that country as yet.

Find out more at the Lluon website (Korean)

Kartell space age Umbrella Stand

I'm not sure what it's like where you are, but today, it has rained pretty much all day here. Which means umbrellas and somewhere to store them - enter the Kartell space age Umbrella Stand.

Designed by Gino Colombini, it's a cylindrical, injection moulded container that's both eye-catching and indestructible. And as an added bonus, it has two lateral openings, offering you the option of using the lower section as a waste basket, as well as an optional upper tray to convert it into an ashtray.

Depending on the finish you go for (transparent, matt or stainless steel), it retails from £21 to £67.

Find out more at the Nest website

Via Retro To Go

Bring the clouds in with the Nimbus Suspension Lamp

Don't fancy leaving the curtains open at night? You can bring the sky indoors with the Nimbus Suspension Lamp.

Designed by Reynald Leroy, this luminous cloud-shaped shade will offer a healthy glow of white or blue light around your room - and if you fix up a few, you should get that full on summer sky experience.

Sized at 18 x 23 x 38cm and made of polypropylene, you can pick one up online for 56 Euros, which is around £41.

Find out more at the Absolument Design website

Sony's first digital camera of 2008 - the Cyber-Shot S730

Sony is quick off the mark for 2008, introducing a new 'value' Cyber-Shot camera - the S730.

The word 'value' hasn't been translated into a price as yet, but expect it to be at the lower end of the range, with features that are pretty average - 7.2 effective megapixels, 3x optical zoom, a 2.4-inch LCD screen with wide viewing angle, a high sensitivity ISO of 1250 for reduced camera shake, instant playback mode and on-screen help. In fact, everything you would expect from a beginner's camera.

The Cyber-shot S730 will be available from January 2008.

Find out more at the Sony website