With Smartphones and Smart TVs, Now Here Are Smart Socks

Blacksocks, a sock subscription and delivery service based in Switzerland, claims to have found a solution for a particularly male problem: How do you find a matching black sock in a stack of countless other black socks? How do you find the right for the left, and how do you find the sock that has been washed exactly the same number of times than the other?

Blacksocks suggests you use their Smarter Socks, or "Plus+" socks, that integrate a RFID chip inside a button. There is an iPhone app that goes along with it, but since the iPhone does not have NFC capability yet, there is a "Sock Sorter" palm-sized box that serves as RFID reader and connects to the iPhone via Bluetooth. So, if you are helplessly standing in front of your laundry basket, you would use the sock sorter (1 ft range) to scan your socks and your iPhone would beep when the right sock is found.

Sure, it may not be the most elegant way if you need two gadgets to scan your laundry, but at least you will find the right sock and also receive sock stats. You will know whether it is a right or a left sock you are holding and you will know how often they have been washed. And for those of us who are lightly color blind, you can even take pictures of your socks and the app will tell you whether the socks are still black or if they are fading and should be replaced.

The price? $189 for the starter pack with the sorter and 10 pairs of RFID socks. Each additional pair of RFID socks is priced at $18.90.

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