New Products

Of note last week were:

P: Near-wafer-thin loudspeaker developed by scientists at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, which will be marketed in the U.S. by the Emerson Radio & Phonograph Corp. Only three-eighths of an inch thick, it clearly reproduces high-frequency sounds that are scratchy on many present speakers, can be hung on a wall like a picture frame. It will enable Emerson to cut the size of existing hi-fi rigs by two-thirds.

P: Pushbutton Montgomery Ward vending machine, now being tested in Chicago's La Salle Street Railroad Station. The 7-ft.-tall dispenser offers 53 different items, picked for appeal to commuters and travelers, ranging from muumuu nightgowns and panties to flashlights and pocket compasses. The machine accepts any amount of money up to $9.99 in any combination of coins or bills, visually records the amount paid in, returns the proper change when the customer has completed his shopping. Says the machine's attendant: "People are still a little bit afraid of it. They don't seem to want to put those greenbacks in it."

P:Collapsible baby carriage to be marketed by Holland's Mutsaerts Kinder-wagenfabriek NV. The carriage (almost 4 ft. long by 3 ft. 2 in. high) can be folded through a system of hinges into a rectangular packet the size of a small suitcase (2 1/2 ft. long by 1 1/2 ft. wide by 1 ft. high), weighs 33 Ibs.

P: Electronic computer for the duffer who practices with plastic golf balls in his living room, sold by Manhattan's Hammacher Schlemmer. The machine figures out how far each drive would have traveled on the links, whether it was hooked, sliced, or straight down the fairway. Price: $1,595.

P: New mixer for Scotch whisky called, surprisingly enough, Scotch water. Canned from springs on the Scottish east coast, near Forfar, the soft water is the same as that used in the whisky itself, is being shipped to the U.S. by Lambs Strathmore Springs, Ltd.

P: Metrecal Wafers, the first solid-food addition to Mead Johnson & Co.'s liquid and powdered line. With the familiar Metrecal taste scarcely disguised by cinnamon and molasses flavoring, each cracker contains 25 calories, and a package of 36 provides a day's diet of 900 calories. Price: $1.19 per package of 36.

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