Earloomz, a maker of Bluetooth headsets adorned with designs featuring Paul Frank, Hello Kitty, NBA all-star teams and more is going Gaga, Lady Gaga that is. Earloomz has created a special "The Fame Monster" headset and is also offering a contest to celebrate the launch. Earloomz is sending two lucky winners to meet Lady Gaga at her sold-out concert in Las Vegas on August 13, 2010. The prize package includes: airfare, hotel accommodations for each winner and one guest, transportation to and from the airport, and concert venue. Winners will be invited to an exclusive meet-and-greet with Lady Gaga backstage. Contestants will receive one entry for every Earloomz Bluetooth purchased on www.Earloomz.com before midnight August 10, 2010. The design shown above is just one of four Lady Gaga designs. The Earloomz GL500 Glamorous Life line features Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR technology, noise cancellation, Mic noise reduction, lower power consumption, voice prompt, support multiple devices, and 16-bit resolution audio which can greatly enhance audio quality. The series sells for $59.99.

The new G-Bike at Fred Segal Fun lives up to the "Fun" brand moniker in a number of unexpected ways.

Firstly, there are the colors; this snazzy scooter-bicycle hybrid is available in the above yellow, a grassy green, dark blue, red, sleek black and white and several other shades, with new hues being developed all the time (or, for a premium, you can design your own). Also, like a hybrid should be, the G-Bike is an eco-friendly, zero-emissions vehicle.

This fully electric scooter-bike can run up to 20 miles per hour for 35 miles per charge (which takes four to eight hours). It's well-suited to students and professionals in urban environments -- people who could walk, but are too awesome to do so. Best of all, you don't need a license to drive it or a registration to have it. Additional features include removable pedals, a remote control alarm, brakes, rear-view mirrors, a horn and ample storage space for books, a work bag, groceries, shopping bags or whatever you have.

The G-Bike is available from the Fred Segal Fun store in Santa Monica (310-394-9814) for $1,100. Check out some of the other colors and the stylish G-Bike Chopper (a more bicycle-like motor-bicycle) in the gallery below.

I wish my clothes felt this protective. Booq's new Taipan Spacesuit XS iPad sleeve style case is a seriously nice sleeve to protect your "precious." An iPad never felt this nice. It is a good mix between protection and portability though. Probably as good as you get can get without going to a hard case solution. The Taipan Spacesuit XS features a 3mm thick neoprene shell that is water resistant against light spills and liquid drops, and can absorb a good deal of abuse. The exterior comes in a few colors (berry, silver, and black), and has a nice sheen as well as texture. It feels very soft on the skin. Like all Booq products (the Mercedes of bags and cases for the tech crowd), it has a very good zipper with double zipper pulls. The zipper pulls are even cushioned to ensure that if they brush against your iPad or other things, the zippers won't scratch them.

Inside the case is a silky soft plush interior that reassuringly feels as though it wont damage or scratch your iPad in any way - no matter how many times you put it in, and take it out. In the scheme of iPad cases, the Booq Taipan Spacesuit XS is pretty nice. While no sleeve type iPad case seems to have this feature, why doesn't anyone add a strap or something? Only complaint I have is that the zipper ends bulge just a little bit that disturbs the streamlined shape, but that is minor if anything. Price is $29.95, and you can get it online at Booq's website or other Booq retailers.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Thanks to Booq for the review unit. Opinions are 100% independent.

There are fans and then there are the superfans, the absolutely obsessed and devoted. For baseball fans looking to take their loyalty all the way to their toast there is the Pangea ProToast. The toasters don't just have a team logo on the side, they toast your favorite Major League Baseball team's logo onto one side of the bread. The current model is the lower end model and sells for $34.99 but a higher-end chrome model for around $60 or $70 is in the works.

Fans can also grill up their food at a barbecue with Team Grills, a line of gas grills featuring the logos of baseball, football and basketball teams on the porcelain-enamel lid. Grills start at $399 for the small tailgate version.

[via Cool Business Ideas]

As much as we love big cats and bush dogs, our favorite kind of predator is still made by Sunseeker. The Predator 108, to be exact, is the one with all the teeth and claws to get our attention. More precisely, it's the Sunseeker with the stowed Caterham 7 that kills us. that However, you probably didn't know there are two larger Predators and a surprisingly complete range of other Sunseeker motor yachts and cruisers from which to choose. To remedy those regrettable oversights, Sunseeker has released an app for your iPad that will get you caught up on all the latest. And Sunseeker itself says that this is the first step toward making one of its sailing yachts and motor yachts yours. That means you can't consider yourself wasting time with this app. You're planning for the future.

Manhattan's Twitter world will love it. And so will every other smart shopper who doesn't have the time to do her own fashion research. The Haute Guide, a shoppers must-have, is available on iTunes for a one-time only $4.99. It is compatible with the iPhone, the iPod Touch, and the iPad. Just launched, this new app is the brainchild of Abbey Samet, Fashion Director at Macy's. "Our guide is like a personal shopper who edits the vast shopping environment in Manhattan and provides users with fashion-forward suggestions," says Samet.

Don't think a "Zagat for fashion" as Samet has taken a totally different tack. Her guide is organized by categories----Blue Jean Baby, Knock em Dead Accessories, Hamptons Weekend, Great Outdoors and much more. Within each shopping category, the App lists stores alphabetically. Another way to use the guide is by neighborhood. Let's say you find yourself in the Meatpacking District with a little free time,"the Haute Guide will direct you to the most exciting and inviting shopping environments in that area, along with a snippet of a trend or designer information," says Samet.

Another innovation, aside from up-to-the-second fashion info, is a cost-rating system so you can shop within your price range. You will need this as Samet likes top designers. Some of her fave places to shop "at the moment" are Balenciaga, new-ish Isabel Marant, All Saints, and Aloha Rag. A direct link to download is http://itunes:apple.com/us/app/haute-guide-new-york-city/id37683330?mt=8. Once you download from iTunes, you will automatically receive regular updates, seasonal finds, and announcements of store closings and new store openings,

Many foodies balk at the notion that outdoor cooking should be reserved for hot dogs and hamburgers. Lucky for them, Lynx makes products perfect for preparing any sort of meal in the great outdoors-and has even earned a Luxist award nomination for its efforts.

Lynx Professional Grills was founded in 1996 by a group of individuals who'd started out by manufacturing restaurant ranges for an outfit called BECA. With their new idea, they aimed to profit from the growing demand for luxury outdoor cooking equipment. The company's first product was the Lynx Professional Grill, available both in free-standing and built-in models, featuring an access door, side burners and even a cocktail station.

The Professional Grill was designed exclusively for outdoor use. To ensure that this flagship product could stand up to the elements, Lynx used a special welding technique, to ensure that the stainless steel grill wouldn't have any gaps, seams or other places where rain, grease and pesky liquids of that ilk could collect.

Never underestimate what a man will do for steak. In the case of George Stephen, Sr., what started out as an attempt to protect precious meat eventually turned into the company now known as Weber, a Luxist nominee in the best grills category.

Stephen's inspiration came in 1952. Frustrated by the windblown flames emanating from his open backyard grill-and the resulting impact on his steaks-he decided to take matters into his own hands. He headed over to Weber Brothers Metal Works, his place of employment, and created the prototype of the dome-shaped grill that would become Weber's trademark product.


Though nearly 100 million American households now have outdoor grills, the market hadn't yet exploded when Stephen invented his strangely-shaped contraption, which was pricey ($50) compared to the standard open grill ($7). His friends made fun of him-until Stephen's invention started selling. By the late 1950s the product was so successful that Stephen was able to buy his employer's factory and devote it to producing cooking surfaces.

Some of the best products are born of sheer need. That was certainly the case when Fred Carl, Jr. created the precursor to today's Viking simply because he wanted a restaurant-quality stove in his own home. The result: a flourishing company and a Luxist award nomination in the best grills category.

Carl first dreamed up the idea of building ranges when he and his wife were designing and building a new home in 1980. A fourth-generation contractor by trade, Carl wanted to include an industrial-grade stove in his kitchen, but he soon found himself lacking options. Stoves made for restaurants were accompanied by extremely high surface temperatures and few safety features, and residential ranges just didn't pack the same punch.

Though Jenn-Air sounds more like the moniker of a company that flies people around the country in jets than one that makes cooking surfaces, its reputation for durability and quality have earned it a nominee for a Luxist award in the best grills category.

Founded by Louis J. Jenn in 1947, the Jenn-Air Products Company of Indianapolis, Indiana soon had its moniker shortened to Jenn-Air. The company was focused on manufacturing and marketing industrial fans in its early years. In 1961, Jenn-Air integrated one of these fans with a stovetop and created the world's first self-ventilated downdraft range.

The company then expanded its product line to include many other kitchen appliances. Among Jenn-Air's offerings were microwave ovens, refrigerators, dishwashers, and small appliances including mixers and blenders. Thanks to the name Jenn-Air made for itself, Maytag purchased the brand in the 1980s; two decades later, Whirlpool bought Maytag.

In recent years, Jenn-Air brought its indoor expertise into the outdoor grilling arena. Boasting the same sleek stainless-steel look and sturdy construction, the brand quickly became one of the favorites in its space. Jenn-Air's products still can't fly you from New York to Los Angeles, but they sure can help you cook up a sumptuous meal in the comfort of your own kitchen or back yard.

Vote for the Grill line that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through July 31 and winners will be announced on August 1.

Kenmore started out in the early 20th Century as a brand that had nothing to do with cooking. Within a few decades, though, its scope expanded to the kitchen--earning it a reputation good enough to make it a Luxist nominee in the best grill category.

The first Kenmore product, appearing in 1927, was a laundry machine. Made by Sears, the contraption was the company's first released under the Kenmore brand name. Decision-makers at Sears realized that as the percentage of American homes wired for electricity soared, the demand for appliances would explode. Indeed, Sears sold 1 million Kenmore products by 1936.


By the middle of the century, the Kenmore label began to appear on ranges and grills, as well as a host of other products like dishwashers, vacuum cleaners and trash compactors. Sears extended the Kenmore line to include even more exotic offerings including electric baby bottle sterilizers, electric blankets and even a three-piece barber set with hair clippers.

Nothing like a good pair of luxury headphones to make one's audio player feel it's worth. I find it so sad that form has brutally beaten the wind out of function when it comes to audio these days. People are obsessed with style and size. You can mostly thank Apple for feeding us too many cheap headphones (earphones) with those craptastic white earbuds. I am afraid that the younger generation has no idea what good headphones sound like. Not only that, but traditional "can" headphones are healthier for your ears, as sounds aren't jammed directly into your head.

Those who still want a quality sound experience will likely go with a more tradition set of headphones - of which there are many options. Here are the Ultrasone PRO 900, a higher-end set of headphones from Ultrasone. I am not a dedicated audiophile or sound expert, so I can't comment on qualities such as sound range, etc.. What I can do is give you the low-down from the point of view of a picky person who has had a lot of headphones in their life.

Talk about simple. You can't get a more basic shape than the plain 'bank bag' style rectangle that is this Suede Skull Zip-Pull Clutch by Giuseppe Zanotti. But simple doesn't mean bad, and this clutch is anything but plain when you look at the details. Made of black leather with a gold-glitter finish it has an exposed zipper with a pull made of a small skull and crossbones covered in crystals. It also has a small designer-stamped leather plaque on the back and is fully lined in designer-stamped black satin. $595

Our favorite diamond bedazzlers at Stuart Hughes are back for another round. Not content with gilding the iPad and creating the world's most expensive suit, Stuart Hughes has created the iPhone 4 Diamond Edition. The white iPhone 4 32GB is unlocked and the whole surrounding frame is set with around 6.5 carats of VVS, F color diamonds. The back of the device has a platinum and diamond Apple logo. The phone comes with a hand-finished wallet made from real ostrich foot that also holds up to four credit cards. It is a limited edition of 50. It sells for £12,995 (close to $20,000).

Over on Goldstriker they are selling the gold covered version of the iPhone 4G. It is available in 24K gold, 20K white gold or 18K rose gold. The half-gold version sold above sells for £1,595. An edition with the full rear section in gold sells for £2,195.

[via Engadget]

Jay-Z and his empire have branched out into headphones, appropriately. Available exclusively on Skullcandy, the Roc Nation Aviator is made with aluminum, stainless steel and polycarbonate and comes in white, black, and brown. The headphones feature a foldable design, an "optics-inspired" polycarbonate speaker housing, a pair of 40mm full-range mylar drivers with neodymium magnets, and a tangle-free nylon cable with an in-line mic and controls. $149.95 pre-sale only, to begin shipping on July 17.

[Via Engadget]