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The Swedish lifestyle and furniture giant Ikea came under fierce press and government criticism yesterday after it emerged the company had removed all images of women from the Saudi Arabian edition of its catalogue.

Some 200 million copies of the company’s forthcoming furniture, kitchen and household goods catalogue are set for distribution in 38 countries worldwide. They will appear in 27 languages. However, yesterday the Swedish newspaper Metro revealed that Ikea planned to bring out a special edition of its catalogue in Saudi Arabia from which all images of women had been systematically removed. The omissions appeared to be an effort to minimise the risk of upsetting Saudi customers.

Anderson Cooper can officially say goodbye to his 3,100-square-foot Midtown Manhattan penthouse. The Emmy award-winning news anchor sold the digs for $3.75 million, raking in a nice profit from the original $2.48 million Cooper shelled out in 2005 for the impressive property. The lucky buyer? The Observer reports musician Richard Maloof will now reside in the two bedroom co-op that also boasts 360-degree views of the city. Cooper, who surprised many by finally coming out earlier this month, will be shacking up in a Greenwich Village firehouse that has now been converted to an 8,240-square-foot home.

At the Basel design fair (a companion to the better-known Basel Art Fair), cutting-edge designers from six countries give us a glimpse of the future today.

Looking for a Murphy Bed? Zoom-Room takes the Murphy Bed concept to a new level, offering a 21st century solution for convertible spaces. Unlike traditional wall beds, Zoom-Room is an electronic, remote controlled, guest bed solution that maximizes space without sacrificing decor. I’ve seen one of these in action and I can tell you that it’s terrific!

First it was Siri and her seemingly pro-life responses to questions about abortion clinics. Now it’s Iris — a Siri-like application that uses a human-powered search engine called ChaCha to answer certain questions — that’s been providing users with racially-charged and controversial responses to some inquiries.

Daily Beast: ‘If your kitchen looks with it, if your bathroom is sleek, if your desk has clean lines, thank Dieter Rams. He’s the man behind the products at Braun, the great German manufacturer that, for many decades now, has been making our lives modern. More than any other company, Braun has taught us to prefer clean form to surface decoration. Apple’s lean iMac, iPhone, iPad—iAnything—wouldn’t even exist, without Braun’s example. On Aug. 27, the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco opened a survey of great objects by Rams, who was chief of design at Braun from 1961 to 1995. Coffeemakers, calculators, radios, stereos, mixers, shavers—every kind of object for home and office will be on display, one sleeker than another. Rams has enunciated “10 Principles of Good Design.” The pictures in this slide show reveal all 10 at work.’

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith and their multi-celebrity family display their never-before-photographed Southern California home (located near Calabasas, Calif.), in the September issue of Architectural Digest magazine. The cover features the movie-star couple, while one photo in the magazine gathers together, for the first time, the entire family, including Trey, Smith’s son from his first marriage, 18; and the no-necked monsters: Jaden, 13, and Willow, 10. Included in the story are pictures of Smith’s recording studio, where Willow recorded her single “Whip My Hair.”