New Ideas

GOODS & SERVICES

Robot Announcer. California's radio station KEAR at San Mateo plans to go on the air this week without an announcer from 6 p.m. to midnight. Instead, KEAR will use a new long-playing tape playback device developed by Ampex Electric Corp. of Redwood City, Calif. Spot announcements and commercials are recorded on one tape, music on another; the announcements are cut in automatically, thus permitting KEAR to operate with only an engineer on duty. Cost of two tape and recording units: approximately $1,140.

Looking Backward. The first U.S. commercial airlines flight with all passengers seated backward was made last week by a North American Airlines DC-4 from Burbank, Calif, to New York City. The reversed seats, recommended by many air safety experts (TIME, Sept. 1), give passengers sitting backward a better chance of survival in crashes because the back of the seat distributes the shock more evenly.

Supergadgets. At the Super Market Institute held in Cleveland last week, the new merchandising devices included: 1) a machine made by the Gurey Manufacturing Co., Brooklyn, which counts returned empty bottles, calculates the amount of the credit and gives the customer a credit slip; 2) a can straightener displayed by Can-Do, Inc., New York City, which removes dents from cans without damaging the label.

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