New Ideas

Convertible TV. The first TV receiver that can be converted from a console or a table model into a portable was announced last week by Sylvania Electric Products Inc. The 21-in. model is transformed by removing an entire unit from the larger console, placing the console's detachable speaker into a special compartment in the smaller circuit, plugging into any electrical outlet. Price: $229.95 to $379.95. Neat Meat. A new method of packaging frozen meat so that it can be kept for a year or refrozen after defrosting is being introduced by Wrigley supermarkets of Detroit.' After being trimmed, meat cuts are blast-frozen to --20DEG, encased in two thin, crystal-like, nontoxic sheets of plastic, which seal the meat from the air and protect the color and flavor.

Metal Spare Tire. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. has developed a flat, rubber-rimmed metal spare tire that takes up little room in the trunk, can easily be bolted on the hub over a flat tire by raising the wheel off the pavement with a jack. The motorist can drive as far as 100 miles on the tire at speeds of up to 45 m.p.h.

Musical Telephone. A transistor-powered telephone signal that emits a staccato-like, musical tone instead of a ring has been developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories Inc. and is being tested on 300 telephone subscribers in Crystal Lake, Ill. The new signal is available in eight musical pitches.

Tough Plastic. A new heat-and abrasive-resistant plastic, 100 Tenite Polyethylene, was announced by Eastman Kodak Co. The plastic is so tough that utensils made of it can be sterilized in boiling water or washed in automatic dishwashers.

Infant Feeder. A gadget that resembles a large hypodermic syringe has been developed by California's Deemer-Howard Associates for feeding solids and cereals to infants. Consisting of a transparent plastic tube with a plunger on one end that pushes food through to a nipple on the other end. the Infa-Feeder is designed to eliminate the usual messiness associated with infant feeding time. But it will probably not outsmart babies really determined to plaster their faces with food. Price: $3.98.

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