The PermaFLOW Drain promises to never clog. A self-cleaning design that includes a wiper that removes debris that can lead to blockage. The makers of PermaFLOW say it will eliminate the need for pipe repairs, chemicals and plungers. The design of the PermaFLOW also makes it easier to retrieve jewelry and other items that are accidentally dropped down the drain. At only $20, this sounds like a genius alternative to traditional P-traps. You can see it in action in this YouTube video.

Renault has unveiled its innovative solution to the challenge of sustainable urban mobility. The Twizy Z.E. zero-emission electric car weighs in at just over 900 lbs. This 7.5 foot car is more than just a prototype and is planned to go into production in 2011. Some of the avant garde features include an open body design, seating that puts passenger behind driver, and octagonal wheel covers. See the Twizy in action in this YouTube video and read more about its specs on the Renault website.

A blender company called Blendtec has come up with a unique form of advertising. “Will it Blend?” is an online marketing campaign that has gone viral. The campaign consists of a series of videos that show Blendtec founder Tom Dickson attempting to blend various seemingly unblendable items, including golf balls, marbles and even tech items like cell phones. These videos are all marked “Don’t try this at home,” while other videos showing items like ice, credit cards and McDonald’s Extra Value meals are captioned “Please try this at home.” The videos have received millions of views. Check out Will it Blend using an iPhone 3G on YouTube.

A new application by the name of iTiVo gives you the capability to download shows recorded on a TiVo digital recorder to an PSP, iPhone or iPod mobile device. This free tool is available on the Google Code website. The process for downloading shows begins by downloading and installing the iTiVo application on a Mac running OS X. The app then uses your wireless network to connect to your TiVo DVR. An easy-to-use interface lets you pick shows for downloading. Once shows have been downloaded, they can be watched directly on the Mac or transferred to mobile devices or to an Apple TV, Xbox 360 or Playstation 3.

A new e-book reader called the Nook had its debut last week, and it may just give Amazon’s Kindle, the leading e-reader, a run for its money. The Nook is from Barnes & Noble. Some of its unique features include a full-color strip of book covers at the bottom of the display that allows you to pick a book to read.

The Nook also supports sharing e-books with friends, which Wired magazine says may be the feature that makes the device go viral.

The Nook will be sold in Barnes & Noble stores as well as online, meaning customers can use B&N’s free in-store Wi-Fi to demo the look and feel of the product before buying. On sale at the end of November, the Nook is available now for pre-order at $259 (which is very close in price to the Kindle-2).

The TwitterPeek is a new device that is an always-connected Twitter machine. This gadget is 100% dedicated to sending, receiving and searching Twitter posts.  That’s all it does — it can’t even send or receive email. It’s from the makers of the Peek and the Peek Pronto, which are two email-only devices that can be used for email without monthly mobile contracts. Peek is advertising the TwitterPeek as the world’s first Twitter mobile device. The TwitterPeak is not yet available for sale but can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com. The pre-order price has been announced as $200, which includes the ability to Tweet for life without any additional charges for connectivity.

If style is important to you, then take a look at Brinell’s Purestorage classy line of external HDDs. These extremely portable external drives feature carbon, stainless steel, wood and leather enclosures and come with capacities from 160GB to 500GB. These portable drives have all the elegance of a beautiful wallet and all the ease of a USB device. Prices start at $280. For more details, see the Brinell website.

The Oakland Bay Bridge has been in the news because of the massive maintenance project which has been undertaken on the aging structure. While some bridges need to be built with functionality in mind, others can indulge in some design experimentation. The Rolling Bridge in London’s Grand Union Canal was designed by Heatherwick Studio to retract and roll into an octagon to allow boats to make use of the canal. This YouTube video shows how the bridge operates:

Digital photo frames are constantly evolving, and this new eStarling frame represents the next generation. The Touchscreen Connected Frame has the expected WiFi connectivity, large 10.2 inch display, 2GB of RAM and SD card slot. What’s not expected are the new social networking features, including support for photos from Facebook, Picasa and Flikr (with support for more services promised in the future). A video inbox can receive videos from mobile phones, or photos can be sent directly to the frames private gmail address! And there’s a touch screen to make navigation a breeze. All these features don’t come cheap. The frame is prices at $249.99. Learn more about it at the eStarling website.

At Intel’s developer conference earlier this month in San Francisco, President and CEO Paul Otellini announced plans to offer chips based on 22 nanometer technology by 2011. The 22nm chip will hold more than 2.9 billion transistors in an area the size of a fingernail. “We are moving ahead with development of our 22nm manufacturing technology and have built working chips that will pave the way for production of still more powerful and more capable processors,” said Otellini. Read more details in this Wired blog post – Intel Plans Even Tinier Circuits in 2011.