Gizmodo: polar

USB Card Reader Squeezes in a Thermometer and Digital Clock Too

Kit Eaton — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:00:30 EST

This gadget from Polar is a multifunction card reader that distinguishes itself from all the others with a dust-proof sliding lid and a built-in clock (wow!) and thermometer. It is an analog thermometer, but what the heck: everything else is digital nowadays, so its nice to see some cheapo mashup analogness. The reader supports SD, MMC, T-Flash and MemorySticks of all varieties, is USB 2.0 for speed, and if its triangular goodness appeals to you, you can find it in black, white and orange for $15. [USBGeek]

Polar Phone Concept For Winter Gloves and Fat Fingers

Sean Fallon — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:40:11 EST

The Polar mobile phone is a concept piece from Yuta Watanabe that is intended for cold weather climates where thick gloves are obstacles to effective communication. The phone looks to be a bit bulkier than usual, with bigger buttons arranged in an easy-to-press vertical layout.

There are already plenty of phones on the market targeted towards older individuals that feature big buttons and easy-to-use designs, but the simple Polar mobile phone questions whether companies should go a step further and spend more time designing phones that are climatically or culturally specific. [Design Crack via Make]

The Beltless Heart Rate Monitor

blongo3 — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:20:42 EDT

The Beurer GmbH heart rate monitoring glove ditches the traditional belt system used by other companies, like Polar, in favor of a new method called plethysmography. Instead of wearing an obtrusive belt across your chest to pick up your EKG signal, this little glove measures the reflected light from an artery found in the index finger.

That's right, no other restricting equipment to strap on that you have to worry about falling off. All you do is slap on this little glove, and go. It will even measure blood pressure.

On a side note, when your willy isn't working, plethysmography is typically used to see what might be the cause of your erectile problem. So there you go, erectile dysfunction methods are now being applied to more than just old men, that is unless old men have started to jog now.

Heart Rate Monitoring Glove Based On Plethysmography [OhGizmo!]