Perhaps the wierdest piece of news I have seen in a while, but Ambient Devices has developed an “embedded” wireless device which changes color according to different units of information it is being fed, and people are using it to track stock market information.

Its first product, The Orb, comes with free and paid “premium” services (for $7 a month)—none of which is particularly detailed or exciting. “The Orb changes colors (e.g., red, orange, yellow, green), depending upon the information received.  The information categories include stocks, weather, pollen, homeland security, a beta of AOL’s instant messaging buddy list and—the latest addition—NewsFutures, a way to “bet” virtually on issues of the day (“Will Bush shake Chirac’s hand at the G8?)”