IDEO Labs

Don’t you just hate it when you find yourself at a party without a party whistle? Are you an iPhone-aholic? Then the iPhone ToyLab has just the thing for you. Released today, the Party Whistle is your virtual party whistle (bet you didn’t see that one coming). But don’t take our word for it:

(OK, maybe that’s still taking our word for it, but, well, you know). The Party App is our Toy Lab’s first foray into fun, playful iPhone apps, and as such we thought we’d share the experiment with Labs readers. The app is a mere $0.99 at the iTunes or App store: click here to learn more.

If you download the app and try it out (say, at a New Year’s Eve party), let us know what you think by leaving a comment…

Thanks, and see you in 2009!

This one comes from Florian in our Munich office…

How’d he do it?  (more…)

There was a lot riding on the seven-inch pole-dancing doll. Tickle-Me Elmo made for another pressure point.

In fact, with eight worldwide locations, six time zones, and roughly fifty people involved, IDEO’s Global Chain Reaction looked more like a blueprint for possible points of failure than a functioning Rube Goldberg machine designed to run sequentially across three continents.

(more…)