Lonely Eater No More Here’s a Ramen Bowl with iPhone Dock

Eating out on your own is a torture, especially if you view eating as a social activity. And if you live on your own, chances are you spend your dinner while watching television or looking at your smartphone because you want that “sense” of interaction.

But those lonely dinners may just become more comforting. Japan-based company Miso Soup Design is set to launch an ingenious new product called “Anti-Loneliness Ramen Bowl” (I didn’t make that name up). Unlike ordinary noodle bowls, this one comes with a built-in iPhone dock so you can Skype your friend, or your mom, while slurping that semi-salty broth. You can also munch your pasta while browsing through your social networks, watch videos, and enjoy music.

Minnie Jan, one of the bowl’s designers, told New York Daily News that the idea came after spotting a Taiwanese man enjoying his ramen noodles on one hand while holding his phone with the other.

“We thought it would be a god idea to help him restore his manners,” Jan said.

The company announced on its Facebook page that they are now accepting a “limited number” of pre-orders through their Facebook page. The bowls–which will come in white, black and red–should be available around April and May. They did not reveal how much the Anti-Loneliness Ramen Bowl would cost.

The iPhone-compliant ramen bowl reminds us of the Hapifork, which was introduced at CES earlier this month. The electronic fork, created by a Hong Kong-based company called Hapilads, monitors your eating habits and tells you when to stop gobbling on that pasta.

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Details of Apples Negotiations Including Steve Jobs Email

Seventeen more states have joined the antitrust lawsuitagainst Apple and several book publishing houses over the pricing of ebooks. Perhaps more interesting are certain details released in the latest filing that were previously redacted, including one from Steve Jobs. Portions of this email have been seen before, but this is the first chance the public has had to see a major negotiation written by the former CEO.

As reported by PaidContent, Steve Jobs became directly involved in the pricing negotiations after Apple executive "Eddy Cue could not secure one of the Conspiring Publisher’s commitment directly from an executive." Jobs "wrote to an executive at the parent company, in part":
As I see it, [Conspiring Publisher] has the following choices:

1. Throw in with Apple and see if we can all make a go of this to create a real mainstream ebooks market at $12.99 and $14.99.

2. Keep going with Amazon at $9.99. You will make a bit more money in the short term, but in the medium term Amazon will tell you they will be paying you 70% of $9.99. They have shareholders too.

3. Hold back your books from Amazon. Without a way for customers to buy your ebooks, they will steal them. This will be the start of piracy and once started, there will be no stopping it. Trust me, I’ve seen this happen with my own eyes.

Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see any other alternatives. Do you?
The complaint goes on to claim that the publishers and Apple "worked together to force" Random House -- the one publishing company to turn down the agency pricing model favored by Apple -- to adopt it as well. The claim goes so far as to claim that publishing companies tried to convince Barnes & Noble to not feature Random House books in any of its advertising, something that B&N apparently did.

Regarding the case, Apple has publicly defended itself and also said it wants to defend itself in a jury trial, saying that allegations against the company were "simply not true."

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