Icar, Super Bike and Eco-friendly Light

TECH
Cover up

You queued, you waited… and you queued some more. Or maybe you ordered online and waited for the magic parcel to arrive. Either way, the iPad2 is now yours and it is time to truly own it, because, as many Apple converts believe, it is not the hardware but the accessories that maketh the gadget. This magnetic folding Smart Cover is an essential purchase. No protector looks better than Dutch company Miniot’s range of wooden, louvered designs and you can even have them engraved with an image of your choice. miniot.com

Now, an iCar

  German tuning firm Brabus is famous for its ridiculously powerful Mercedes conversions. With the iBusiness 2.0 it turned a high-performance S-Class for CEOs into a mobile office stuffed with Apple products. The iBusiness 2.0’s twin turbo V12 serves up an awesome 788bhp. Even more excitingly for tech heads, it’s fitted with twin iPads — for the driver and the front seat companion — Bluetooth keyboards, a Mac Mini and a 64GB iPod Touch. The slickest, most touchscreen-filled car on the roads is also fitted out with yachting woodtrim and two-tone leather rather than the aluminium and magnesium alloy you might expect. Other than that, it’s Apple through and through: Desirable, pricey and prefixed with an ‘i’.

brabus.com


HOME

Memories of the beach
Living in the coastal regions of the Philippines, Clayton Tugobon’s early memories are filled with the rise and fall of ocean waves, and the cool breeze. Inspired by his childhood nostalgia, he has created a range of seating and tables for US-based furniture brand Snug. Looking at the end result you wouldn’t guess the sustainable material palette that has gone into making these pieces.  The furniture is hand inlaid using coconut twigs, rattan and wood. Highlights include: Jax Reversible Lo Cocktail table, the idea of which came about while playing with Silly Bandz (rubber bands shaped as animals and objects); Egg Table, that features a gentle recess at the centre to hold champagne bottles and ice; and Loveseat, a low slung chair.
snugfurniture.com

AUTO

Italian superBike in India
Piaggio-owned Aprilia has started accepting bookings for its motorcycles in India. The Italian marque will be selling all four variants of its 180PS superbike, the RSV4: The RSV4, RSV4R, RSV4 APRC and the range topping RSV4 Factory. Adding oomph to the line-up will be Aprilia’s explosive streetbike, the Tuono V4 APRC that borrows the RSV4’s 999cc engine to produce a staggering 167.3PS. Apart from these, the 130PS Dorsoduro 1200 and Dorsoduro 1200ABS will also be on sale. If that is too hot to handle, you could probably look at the smaller Mana 850, Mana 850 ABS or the Mana 850 GT that produce 77PS. Depending on the model and variant, the bikes will be priced between Rs. 10.5 lakh and Rs. 17.5 lakh, ex-showroom Pune. The bike will currently be sold only through Pune’s Arco Automotive and deliveries are expected to take six to seven weeks.
aprilia.com

 
Eco-friendly light

A relentless quest to reuse materials led Carl and Jovita Mascarenhas and Priti and Llyod Machado to come up with lights that do much more than just illuminate. At the core of Enlighten, their Mumbai-based design firm, lie tenets that are close to their heart. The partners are inclined towards being green and recycling. They use materials such as paper made with hosiery residue and banana fibre, post-consumer wood and second-hand acrylic for their lamps. Light Wash is actually made from the drum of a washing machine that’s been treated to make this quirky fixture.