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Talk about a big idea and innovative product that this entrepreneur started!

Anthony & James Tiscione are the father/son inventors behind the ACM Wallet - a specially designed wallet that allows you to protect & select up to 12 of your favorite credit, ID and membership cards at the push of a button.

The idea for the ACM Wallet came to James while he was returning home from the supermarket. Up until then, James carried his credit cards wrapped in cash and held together with a rubber band. This often resulted in demagnetized credit cards and torn cash. James felt there had to be a better way - and with the help of his father, he created a prototype of his idea.

To date, the ACM Wallet has generated $5.5 million in sales…making it our pick for the MILLION DOLLAR IDEA OF THE WEEK.

CNBC

What is the easiest way to think of a new invention?

It’s so simple sometimes it boggles my mind: Take anything from your every day life and MAKE IT BETTER! If there’s a niche that’s not being filled or a way to improve anything you do, I guarantee people will buy it.

The trick is just spotting that opportunity. Million dollar ideas are literally everywhere, waiting for someone to stumble upon them. If these products don’t make you realize that, I don’t know what will.

What my guests on Monday did is they took something that frustrated them so much that they just had to do something about it! Take Cozy Friedman for example. She took a parent’s monthly nightmare–getting a child a hair cut–and transformed it into something the kids were virtually begging to do. Jennifer Panepinto and Gregg Levin–with both Mesu Bowls and the Perfect Curve–have taken a process and simplified it, making life easier, AND are now making millions! Quiqlite, Breezies and the Peanut sling also accomplish similar things, plain and simple: they make things better, they make life easier.

The take-home message here is that you don’t have to come up with something entirely novel for it to be a winning innovation. You can’t let the thought that “this is too simple, this is too easy” stop you from really pursuing an idea you believe in. Most of the time, when an idea or a product is just “too simple” or “too easy” and it’s not already out there, you’ve got yourself a million dollar idea!

Donny CNBC

The pain Henry Evans felt in his head was so severe, he dropped to his knees and had to crawl to the car that would take him to the doctor.

Evans was suffering a stroke that day five years ago. It robbed him of his ability to walk and speak. But a device developed by a team of high school students now allows Evans, of Los Altos Hills, Calif., to use a laser pointer to do basic tasks with a turn of his head.

The “Laser Finger” was one of several student inventions on display from around the country Wednesday at MIT’s annual InvenTeams initiative. Among the other projects: a “fire grenade” that can suppress particularly dangerous blazes and an “A-Pod” that reminds Alzheimer’s patients to perform important tasks.

InvenTeams, which is part of the MIT Lemelson program to honor and encourage inventors, is not a competition, but a way to inspire a new generation of inventors, said the program’s executive director, Joshua Schuler.

Since the pilot program in 2002, the number of grants — which range as high as $10,000 — has grown from three to 20 projects this year.

“We’re trying to develop more technically creative young people and give them the confidence they can do this,” he said.

Fox News

A U.S. invention might soon allow thirsty corn and potato crops to signal farmers of their thirst and indicate how much water they need.

The high-tech leaf sensors invented at the University of Colorado-Boulder measure such factors as leaf thickness and water deficiency, communicating wirelessly with computers.

The technology, which has been optioned to AgriHouse Inc., a Berthoud, Colo., high-tech company, includes a sensor less than a tenth the size of a postage stamp that can be clipped to plant leaves, said Research Associate Hans-Dieter Seelig, who invented the device.

Richard Stoner, AgriHouse president, said existing soil moisture sensors don`t always provide an accurate picture of existing plant and field conditions. The newly developed chip collects and stores information. When the leaves lose enough water to contract to a critical width, the sensor can wirelessly signal computers.

‘This device is very precise, and will allow a plant to receive just the right amount of water,’ Seelig said. ‘If a plant can tell a water valve when to open and when to close, farmers are going to save a lot of money.’

Monsters & Critics