Life Gadget

Bento Box Kinda Like Voltron

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 07 May 2011 19:50:00 +0000

Bento is quite an exceptional and forward thinking concept by René Woo-Ram Lee. It’s quite a plausible scenario that most of use/own a tablet, a PC, external hard drives and a smartphone. Now combine the power of these to have fully customizable Bento Laptop! The Box accommodates all the gear to work as one whole unit or individually; as you see fit.

Features

Laptop with 15″ OLED screen
11″ tablet and 4″ phone sit in shallow depressions
Solar powered lithium-ion battery
1TB SSD drive

Designer: René Woo-Ram Lee

Teardrop Lamp by Dragos Iliescu

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 09:49:00 +0000

Love Light Affair

If you’ll take a closer look at these lamps, you’ll see that they’d be appropriate for basically any room, acting as sculptures as they work their electric magic to bring light to your life. They’re modeled after a famous Venus sculpture, so they’ve got one fantastic source for inspired beauty. It’s not the display of artwork that you’ve got here, it’s the display of light, and what a display it is!The following is a project that encapsulates the position of Venus, a lamp made in the image of her femininity, displaying both finesse and beauty as it sets the room alight with it’s inner glow. The intensity of this glow is adjustable with a simple switch that slides up and down for more or less light. At its lowest, this lamp provides a lovely nightlight for late darkness runs for water. At its brightest, Teardrop Lamp provides enough light for a reading light for the smallest text.

Designer: Dragos Iliescu

Hurun Air Stool - Air Purifier by Sang Keun Sim

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 09:29:00 +0000

The Deceptive Stool

The Harun is a stool that’s not meant for your butt! Meaning its an air purifier plus humidifier that camouflages itself like furniture. Its features include a 4-liter water tank, four humidifying filters, six-step filter process and the ability to filter out odor, fine dust, yellow dust, viruses, allergies, and VOCs. Essentially its one of those equipments meant for large rooms and you don’t want to spoil their looks with obvious looking purifiers. The neat, sophisticated option!

Designers: Sang Keun Sim & Kyowon L&C Design Team

Shayton Equilibrium hypercar by PROVOCO for Shayton Automotive

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 09:08:00 +0000

Black and White Hypercar

The following is an introduction to a conceptual car brand via the brand’s first virtual auto. The name of the brand is Shayton, a word that comes from the Sioux word for falcon (Chayton pronounced Shay-ton.) The car that’s being presented is the Shayton Equilibrium. To describe Shayton as a brand, the Equilibrium is described as the world’s first hyper-car. Because this car aims to display “pure hedonism, perversion on four wheels,” Shayton the brand can be easily seen as a niche brand that wishes to become the top tier.

To create such a car as this, one whose goals are to push the boundaries of abstract concepts were born in childhood fantasies, a company must dedicate themselves not only to creating a solid foundation in a strong story, but also to competing with the leading brands who’ve been sparking the imaginations of designers and car enthusiasts for generations. Can the balance inherent in this car, the Shayton Equilibrium, bring the conceptual auto brand Shayton to the forefront of the auto world before it even becomes a reality?

Have a peek at the Equilibrium below, and you be the judge.

ALSO note that Andrej Štanta is one of the designers involved in PROVOCO, the design team responsible for this lovely project –

Designer: PROVOCO for Shayton

KOKO MUO by Löytö Esineiden

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:08:00 +0000

Analog Watch of Wonderful Halfness

So you like to call yourself a wristwatch connoisseur, eh? You feel like you’ve seen it all, you hang out on Yanko Design all the time, you know every watch from concept to reality, everything from digital to ethereal, you’ve set your eyeballs on everything! Well wait a second, did you say you’ve dismissed analog watches? Let me change your mind real quick. This is KOKO MUO, a watch in either all silver or black and silver, a simplistic watch that’s got greatness going on in it with only half a face.

Experience the power of negative space. It’s a common misconception that a graphic design is one who fills up all the space he or she is given, that being the greatest use of the entire canvas. Nay, I say nay, this is the job of the graphic designer: to utilize the space in a way that gives magical powers to the bits he or she has to place upon it. That’s what the industrial designer has done here, in this watch. Well played, Löytö Esineiden, well played.

Designer: Löytö Esineiden

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Nokia E2 Concept Phone by Jason Wang

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 14:59:00 +0000

21:9 Smartphone

The E2 is a 21:9 device with a different approach to the slate phone. It’s symmetrical across the horizontal axis instead of vertical like traditional phones. The result is an ergonomic phone with a large screen, a relatively small size, no vertical orientation bias and no compromises in hardware.

Designer: Jason Wang

Nokia X3 and C3 Touch & Type now available

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 07:23:00 +0000

the Nokia X3 Touch & Type and the Nokia C3-01 Touch & Type, both of which has a physical alphanumeric keyboard and a resistive touch screen.

The original Nokia X3 was announced back in September 2009 and features a sliding alphanumeric keyboard. The newer sibling, the Nokia X3-02 Touch & Type, was revealed just this August and now has a resistive touch screen and a standard alphanumeric keypad.

Nokia X3-02 Touch & Type

2.4″ display 240 x 320 pixels

3G/HSDPA

WiFi 802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth 2.1

up to 16GB via microSD

5MP camera

FM Radio

In line with its launch in the Philippines, Nokia has tied up with Globe Telecom to offer the Nokia X3 Touch and Type free starting at Postpaid Plan 999. Or, you have the option of buying the device at Php8,560 and get free 5 days of Globe SUPERSURF.

The popular qwerty Nokia C3 has a smaller sibling that comes with a resistive touch screen and regular alphanumeric keyboard. See our previous entry about theNokia C3-01 here.

Nokia C3-01 Touch & Type

2.4 inches @ 240×320 pixels w/ resistive touchscreen

30 MB internal storage

64 MB RAM, 128 MB ROM

microSD, up to 32GB

HSDPA 10.2 Mbps, HSUPA 2 Mbps

WiFi 802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP

5MP camera w/ LED flash

FM radio with RDS

Li-Ion 1050mAh battery

Unlike the original Nokia C3 which only sells for around Php7k, this other model will be priced much higher. Nokia Philippines did not indicate pricing of the C3-01 for the local market but says both will be widely available in stores this November. Will update this once they’ve provide the details.

Nokia N9 to come at the MWC with a 1.2 GHz CPU, 12 MP camera?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 16:39:00 +0000

With the MWC fast approaching, rumors about the MeeGo-running Nokia N9 are starting to intensify again. If the Finnish source is to be trusted one of the most hotly anticipated smartphones of this year will make its debut at the congress in less than a month.

There will also be some serious hardware under the hood. Apparently the Nokia N9 will be the first Nokia smartphone to pack a 1.2 GHz CPU. The machine-translated source mentions something about it being an Intel Atom, but we can't imagine a way of stuffing the good old x86 Atom in a smarphone. Instead our guess is the N9 is based on the Intel Moorestown platform, which is essentially a smartphone SoC (system-on-a-chip) with an Intel Atom core as its heart.

Next, the Nokia N9 is supposed to have the same 12 megapiexel camera as the N8. Considering the qualities of the large-sensor unit inside the Nokia Symbian^3 flagship, that's just excellent news for all cameraphone lovers. Top of the line smarphones haven't been doing too great in the camera department recently, so the N9 might be the first true all in one device.

The final exciting Nokia N9 rumor is its LTE connectivity. Even the source claims that this isn't confirmed yet so you need to take this with an extra pinch of salt.

There's less than four weeks remaining until the MWC kicks off so we'll find if the rest of it is true pretty soon. Here's hoping that the whole list gets confirmed!

Source (in Suomi)

Growling Sharp Ferrari Enzo by Peter Simon

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:12:00 +0000

Growling Sharp Ferrari

This is the Ferrari Enzo, a car that never ever stops, but appears to sit in time even as it flies down the highway. The one sentence the designer hopes to let loose as much as possible is “My car has always more power than yours.” Time for crushing of all road opposition! Road warrior!Take a peek at this lovely sharp sports car with the Ferrari name slapped on it, inspired by the form language of Credo E-Bone, another design by the same designer that’s no less that a city bus. That, and the bones of animals and humans are where this comes from. This designer takes the Italian dynamic and organic, soft shapes that are closest to nature. Inside and out, this vehicle is meant to radiate energy and power.

Also I must mention that the following images come from a folder titled “renders.” Although from that I am lead to believe that they are rendered images from a 3D program, my brain just can’t fathom it. These are too good.

Designer: Peter Simon

Envy 4G Concept Mobile Phone by Vitor Gomes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 09:21:00 +0000

Envy the Envy 4G

There was a time when ID “imagineers” would concoct fabulous concepts using new fangled tech that hadn’t been invented yet and I miss those days. Heaven forbid you do that now, you’d get your a** handed to you. I’m fond of the Envy 4G with its SUPER AMOLED screen and MasterMobile OS. So what if it looks like Windows Phone 7 and iOS 4 had a baby? It’s got a Carbon chip! That’s a CPU and GPU on one silicon. It’s the future people, have fun with it.

Designer: Vitor Gomes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:45:00 +0000

Bio Robot Refrigerator

As promised, here are the details on the Electrolux Bio Robot Refrigerator, a concept that has been making quite a splash in the blogosphere! In lay terms, the fridge is a concept where the Bio Robot cools biopolymer gel through luminescence. A non-sticky gel surrounds the food item when shoved into the biopolymer gel, creating separate pods. The design features no doors or drawers, and the food items are individually cooled at their optimal temperature thanks to the robot. And since it can take any orientation (hung vertically, horizontally, and even on the ceiling), and can be modified in size, you can fit it in any apartment.

More details in the images…

Designer: Yuriy Dmitriev

Blackberry Empathy Concept Phone by Kiki Tang

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 21:12:00 +0000

For their sponsored project held by RIM Blackberry at the Art Center College of Design, designers Kiki and Daniel had to incorporate an interface that integrates human emotions with the concept of social networking. The result of this exercise was the Blackberry Empathy concept. The phone is used in conjunction with a biometrics ring that is worn by the user to collect “emotional data”. Spec-wise it features a transparent OLED screen that becomes transparent when not in use and opaque during interaction. The front is all touch surface, while on the back there is a physical keyboard.

As Daniel describes the interface:

It is of course touch based and all the user’s connections are shown graphically so you can see who is connected to whom. Each contact has an avatar that is encompassed by two colored rings. The inner colored ring shows the contact’s previous emotional state, and the outer ring represents the contact’s current emotional state. It is important to show the shift in emotions in order to see how an event has affected that contact.
Another important feature that we felt was important was the “Emotional Health Chart”. This chart would monitor the user’s emotional health through an indefinite period of time. One would be able to see how a certain event, or phone call/ message has affected the user. Obviously, if the chart shows someone is always upset, there would be a problem… If permitted, a user would be able to view other user’s charts as well.

Designers: Kiki Tang & Daniel Yoon

Electrolux Bio Robot Refrigerator by Yuriy Dmitriev

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 03:08:00 +0000

Bio Robot Refrigerator

More details in the images…

Designer: Yuriy Dmitriev

E Rope - Skipping Rope That Recharges Battery by Kyung Guk Lee

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 08:53:00 +0000

Skip To More Power

Besides being good for your flubber, skipping seems to be a good way for harnessing energy to recharge batteries. I know this idea is not so new; we have seen how jumping a rope can power a torch and juice batteries. However design is not only about problem solving, but also about refining existing solutions, hence the E Rope. Refinement comes in the form of aesthetics and interface. Both look gorgeously done in this one. Moreover, the video says it all…..

Designer: Kyung Guk Lee
You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video

DIY Player by Shao Wen

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 03:21:00 +0000

DIY Player

Simply called the DIY Player, this device is quite intriguing. The concept is simple, we as humans lust for a lot of shiny gadgets and hunger for innovation. DIY Player combines our greed for Cell phones, PMPs, gaming consoles and other such gadgets into one. It comes with a base screen and has detachable modules to it. Hook up the keypad to make it a phone or swap it for the gaming controls. Awesome idea, neat renders and a whole lot of imagination going on here!

Designer: Shao Wen

Google Vitamin Concept by Andrew Seunghyun Kim!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:42:00 +0000

The Vitamins In Google Are So Good For You

Brand power is everything in business and some people know how to milk it best. Sony, Microsoft,Apple, and our favorite Google…powerful names that carry a lot of weight. In the concept-design-world, the trick to get noticed is not to associate the brands with the obvious. For example, concept Sony gadgets have been done to death, but a Google Envelope will attract more attention. Likewise having jaded Hollywood actresses sell fountain of youth pills pales in comparison to Google selling Vitamins.

With the Google Vitamins*, Andrew proposes a suite of Vitamin pills that are supported by apps, which recommend and dispense the accurate dosage, as per your body requirements. It’s a daily affair with reminders via phone alerts and emails; all to promote a better, healthy life.

Makes me wonder if I should be looking forward to Apple range of breakfast cereal, or will that be too obvious?

*Disclaimer: This is a student project and does not reflect the views or plans of Google.

Designer: Andrew Seunghyun Kim

Kitchens And Appliances Of The Future - Announcing The Top 25 Entries of Electrolux Design Lab 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 02:54:00 +0000

The Top 25 Entries of Electrolux Design Lab 2010

It’s not always easy to predict the future, but if we are asked to design for a particular scenario, then the job gets easy. For its 2010 competition, Electrolux Design Lab went with the theme: The 2nd Space Age; this essentially translating to designing a home environment for the year 2050, when 74% of the global population are predicted to live in urban areas. Student designers had to predict how people will prepare and store food, wash clothes, and do dishes. Quite a task but plenty of surprises from across the globe! Here are the Finalist 25, the countdown has begun!

Before I give you the randomly listed 25 designs, here’s a bit of background on the theme: The idea is to design an appliance or a suite of appliances that will help combat the space crunch, limited resources plus advocate energy savings at the same time.

25) A- Laundry: Community Laundry Concept by Kai Wai Lee

A communal laundry for the entire apartment block! Space saving indeed but what makes it different from the usual Laundromats is that there are individual laundry baskets for each family to take home, fill up with the dirty clothes, to bring back and wash.

24) Bio Robot Refrigerator by Yuriy Dmitriev

The Bio Robot fridge cools biopolymer gel through luminescence and uses non sticky, odorless gel to envelope stored food as individual pods. Sans doors and drawers, the fridge can be oriented vertical or horizontal, as per the home requirements.

23) Bio Tank, Robotic ‘FishWasher’ by Akifusa Nakazawa

The Bio Tank does the dishes, is a pet and a composter…all-in-one! The Robotic fish cleans up the dish, turns the food and grime into bio fuel. It filters to clean the water, meaning no replacing the dirty water either…coz there won’t be any!

22) Bx7 Preparation Unit by Losif Mihailo

Don’t pack in vitamin pills like Samantha in Sex and The City 2, instead gorge on capsules of zinc, calcium, magnesium, or carbohydrates with water to for nutritious juice!

21) Clean Closet – All in One Laundry Concept by Michael Edenius

This is the closet of the future so it has the right to include cleaning facilities in it! So basically when you hang your clothes, the internal scanner scans it for dirt and cleans it accordingly and at the end of the cycle you got fresh, hung clothes in a closet.

20) In-home Clothing Printer by Joshua Harris

It’s the future and you absolutely have the right to print and wear your own clothes. I wonder if this means I can print my own Dior Couture and LV fashion when I’m in 2050!

19) Community Fridge by Pedro Sanin Perez

Taking community living to another level is this share-your-fridge concept. Each house gets its own space in a large community refrigerator that takes charge of the refreshments and groceries. Crunch in your code, details of what you want to snack on and your personal fridge dispenses the goodies via the common dispensing shaft. I know many of you may want to bicker about this concept, coz it’s got many pros and cons; I’ll put this one up as an individual post with details, later. So hold your breath till then.

18) Dismount Washer – Wash & Go Laundry by Lichen Guo

The Dismount Washer combines the laundry basket and the washing machine drum into one. Basically you hook up the washing drum onto the wall mountable motor (or ‘energy stick’) and let it do its business. The concept addresses only the space-crunch aspect of the modern world.

17) Eco Cleaner by Ahi Andy Mohsen

As discussed earlier, the Eco Cleaner cleans the dishes and turns the dirt to compost for plants. It also predicts a future where meals will be more easier to cook as capsules!

16) Elements Modular Kitchen by Mathew Gilbride

All-In-One Kitchen Shelving is a modular system with wall-mounted appliances that provide flexible modes of cooking, refrigeration, air conditioning, lighting, and environmental design. All this so that you have more prime space to call home! More details on this cool project soon!

15) External Chilling – External Refrigerator by Nicolas Hubert

This refrigerator is a unit meant to be installed outdoors, as in the balcony. It’s meant to take advantage of the changing weather; in winters the low temps outdoors require the fridge to consume lesser energy to keep foods fresh and during the summers, solar panels harness the goodness of the sun!

14) Freedge – The Inside-Out Fridge by Matthew McNaughton

Quite similar to the External Chilling, Freedge too is based on the concept of harnessing the goodness of the winter months to the food’s advantage. However this design sees the iteration of a pull out drawer rather than wall mounting.

13) GAIA Wall Mounted Air Purification by Anit Kumar

Anit from India is probably too aware of the health issue thanks to our polluted environment. Dust and grime are a part of our daily routine here. His offering to the Design Lab Competition is the GAIA Root, a wall mounted ‘personal ecosystem’ that creates energy from a living wall of plants providing air circulation, air purification and temperature control. Hot, humid and dusty Mumbai so needs this!

12) The Snail Micro Induction Heating System by Peter Alwin

Using high density sugar crystal battery for power, the Snail heats up food via magnetic induction. Latching onto utensils externally, the appliance uses its inbuilt sensors to detect the type of food and thus set the heating time and intensity.

11) The Inflower – Small Laundry Cleaning Units by Jianjiang Yin

Inflower is this compact handheld unit that works as a cleaner of stains sans water. Solar powered, the unit uses nano technology to clean clothes and even doubles up as an air purifier for stored clothes.

10) Instinct Vacuum Cleaner by Berty Bhuruth

The Sheep-like Cleaner is a robotic vacuum cleaner concept that visualizes the room it has to clean in 3D and then charts its course of action. It will even satisfy your cravings for a robotic pet! Just Kidding!

9) The Kitchen Hideaway by Daniel Dobrogorsky

Virtual Reality comes to the kitchen! Imagine thinking of a delicious 3-course meal and robotic chefs in a communal kitchen laboring over the stove to cook it! That’s the future..2050! Headset, imagination and obedient robots is all that you need.

8 ) Lupe Hand Held Washing Machine by Il-seop So

I’m biased but I simply adore the idea of washing, ironing & drying in one go! Lesser time spent on cleaning means more on the computer for me!

7) Mesh Cooker – Expandable Oven & Hob by Lucian Cucu

The Mesh Cooker is a portable device that uses retractable aluminum and expandable Teflon to a variety of foods. The Mesh Cooker can be placed on a table or anywhere near a socket to plug it in. The cooker doubles up as an oven with a cooking plate – heating food within or on top depending on how you like it. When not in use the Mesh Cooker folds away in to a 30 x 10 cm space.

6) MESO- Food Injection by Bogdan Ionita

I’m a little spooked by the Meso, but I guess it has to do with my fear for needles. What the Meso proposes is a device that directly injects nutrients to your blood stream after determining what food groups you require. This may be ok for the folks in 2050, but I’d still want to bite into a juicy burger…It’s got all the nutrition I need!

5) Space Saving Kitchen Range – Modular Kitchen Appliance by Shin Woosup

What a wonderful idea, one modular appliance that is efficient enough to prepare the entire breakfast. A toaster, a kettle and an induction hob, that’s what the Modular Kitchen Appliance is all about!

4) Preserved Egg Sweep Robot by Kai Dung

Four Balls, no pun intended, clean up your home for you; recharge at a base station and behave like tennis balls on the clay court. Confused? Don’t be, I’m talking about the Preserved Egg Sweep Robot. Enjoy the service while you can.

3) The Drum Washing Machine by Andras Suto

Another heavy-duty Communal Laundry System that allows the community to share the washing facilities. Basically it features an extractable washing machine drum that doubles up as a laundry basket for transportation between home and wash-area.

2) Zephyr Integrated Laundry System by Dulyawat Wongnawa

Zephyr is a storage unit that cleans clothes using ‘Airwash’ technology (with ozone being created to remove bacteria and odors, as currently found in industrial cleaning) and steam to remove wrinkles.

1) Qumi Flexible Cooking Unit by Ilia Vostrov

Qumi is a fold out universal kitchen set that can be used for heating, frying and steaming a wide variety of food types (including water based meals such as soup). Its supposed to be hung up on the induction charging hook, when not in use. The concept features no display or control panel, and all instructions are supposed to be processed via mobile devices in the network ready home of the future.

These were the 25 smashing projects, some of which you got a glimpse of before, some that we’ll discuss in detail later. The final countdown will have 8 finalists battling it out in September, in London. They will be invited to present their concept to a jury of expert designers. The first prize of a six-month paid internship at an Electrolux global design centre and 5,000 Euros. A second prize of 3,000 Euros and third prize of 2,000 Euros are also on offer.

IRON MAN 2 - The Real World Seen Through Your Computer Screen

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 09:45:00 +0000

All in all, it's a cool parlor trick. For now though, it's all we have. Will you, your teen, or your child be the one to create the sci-fi and fantasy gadgets that will someday rule the future of IT?

Emory professor Sidney Perkowitz discusses how realistic the science and physics are behind Iron Man. But if that still leaves you a bit disheartened, then kick back, relax, and watch this. Then dream and reach for the future.

Pulling off an optical illusion of a transparent screen display trick should be a cake job in comparison.

Solar Panel Bag Band for iPad by Seo Eul Hwa

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 12:15:00 +0000

Those kooky but fun Korean design gurus are at it again. You’d be surprised how hefty the iPad is and that smooth surface is just begging to slip out of sweaty hands so the Band are band-aids you stick all over the back of the iPad to create traction. A little too kooky for ya? How about the Solar Panel Bag – yes a backpack with solar cells arranged into Steve Jobs’ favorite fruit. Let the whole world know you’re an Apple fan.

Designer: Seo Eul Hwa

Top 10 Tech Innovations of 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 08 May 2010 18:32:00 +0000

Smaller, easier and cheaper seemed to be the industry?s driving design focus this year, and the products borne of these qualities are some of the most amazing ? and most affordable ? we?ve ever seen.

It’s been an exciting year in tech. From the implosion of HD-DVD at the year’s very beginning, right up to the final race to produce a viable iPhone competitor in time for Christmas, companies have relentlessly pushed the bar ever upward despite the bottom falling out of the economy as months worse on. Smaller, easier and cheaper seemed to be the industry’s driving design focus this year, and the products borne of these qualities are some of the most amazing – and most affordable – we’ve ever seen. On this brink of New Year’s Eve, we’ve taken a moment to look back at some of the coolest innovations we’ve seen over the last 365 days.

Apple iPhone 3G

The first-generation iPhone may have been 2007’s child, but the second generation, which bested its older brother in every way and truly turned the iPhone into the everyman’s phone with a massive price cut, belongs to 2008. From the sleeker design and corrected design issues (universal headphone jack, anyone?) to the inclusion of major features that were missing from the original (3G Internet access and GPS), the second generation iPhone turned Apple’s solid first shot into a bullseye.

Intel’s Atom Processor

While not technically a standalone piece of tech, Intel’s Atom processor lies at the core at one of 2008’s biggest success stories: netbooks. Unlike first-generation netbooks that struggled to run Windows with their frugal (but weak) Celeron M processors clocked at 900MHz, the new Atom struck an ideal balance between brute strength and power efficiency, and in a smaller package to boot. After watching one of these little monsters power through Photoshop CS4 without flinching and run Half-Life with incredible frame rates on an MSI Wind, we were absolutely sold. And judging by sales of Atom-equipped machines, so is the public.

Zero Ink Technology

Also known as ZINK, this little (literally) marvel of printing technology may have flown a little under radar in 2008, but we still count it among the year’s most impressive advances. Using dyes impregnated in paper, ZINK printers like Polaroid’s PoGo are able to produce photo-quality prints from only a tiny package of printer parts, allowing truly pocket-sized printers, and even printers built into cameras like TOMY’s Xiao. With old-school Polaroids slipping slowly into obscurity, ZINK is sure to take over as the mainstream solution for photos on the go.

Affordable Blu-Ray Players

After kicking around in A/V enthusiast circles and among the tech elite for two years, Blu-ray finally came into its own in 2008 when its main competitor, HD-DVD, sank beneath the waves, leaving it as the reigning HD format. With the only alternative out of the way, consumers finally began investing in next-gen equipment on a large scale, and price reached mainstream territory. We’ll remember 2008 as the year Blu-ray went legit – and as the beginning of the end for DVD, too.

Google Android

As a piece of hardware, the T-Mobile’s G1 left much to be desired, but it also heralded the primetime debut of Google Android, which could debatably be called the first mobile operating system to challenge the iPhone slug for slug. With a smooth graphical interface, effortless interfacing with Google services, and a blossoming app store full of ingenious bits of software, Android proved that Apple wasn’t the only tech company in touch with what mobile phone users want.

Airport-Checkpoint-Friendly Notebook Bags

Innovation doesn’t always have to come from a team of 300 engineers and five years of research: Sometimes it’s as simple as making a simple design change. New airport-friendly notebook bags, introduced through cooperation with the Travel Security Administration in March, offer special see-through notebook pockets so that travelers no longer have to remove their fragile laptops when passing through security checkpoints. Groundbreaking? Not really, but we’ll take every step toward easing the pains of flying that we can get.

BlackBerry Storm

BlackBerry connoisseurs probably couldn’t have imagined a device carrying the BlackBerry name without its trademark hard keyboard a two years ago, but 2008 saw the corporate-friendly brand bend to the will of consumers with its first touch-screen entertainment phone. Some would call it a flop, but we think it makes the list for 2008, even if only as symbol of change.

Wii Fit

Resident commentator Rob Enderle may prefer playing World of Warcraft on a treadmill desk to get his dose of gaming and exercise in one shot, but for those who don’t have the space or cash for one of the $5,000 devices, the Wii Fit created a great alternative this year. Picking up where games like Dance Dance Revolution seemed to leave off, the Fit brought physical gaming into the living room, generating hope for couch potatoes everywhere.

Pico Projectors

These sci-fi style mini projectors that seemed “just over the horizon” for years finally arrived with style in 2008. With the ability to throw a screen up to 50 inches in the proper lighting conditions, projectors like the 3M MPro 110 basically amount to pocket-sized televisions that will mate with your video camera, notebook, or iPod to put on a show wherever you go. We expect some kinks to be ironed out in 2009, but 2008 still marks the first year the average Joe could go out and snag one on store shelves.

Mini HD Camcorders

Tapes? Who needs them? It’s almost hard to believe that anyone still records video footage on spools of magnetized plastic, much less in quality less than 720p, with these little guys around. The proliferation of mini HD camcorders like the Flip Mino HD, Kodak Zi6 HD, and Creative Vado HD amazed us with their price, size and quality, even if the optics and features leave a bit to be desired.

Grade School Learning In The Future

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 05:12:00 +0000

What will education be like in the 21st century? The “Conceptual Age” has just begun. In this era, the creative and sensitive, conceptual thinkers will play a major role and in their education, school plays the most important role. Human intelligence produces technical and social change at a pace the traditional classroom can no longer deny. Since students have the opportunity to research online, teachers no longer have mastery over knowledge. They become mediators and facilitators, they need to promote the students‘ ability to work scientifically.

EduMap supports the students of the Conceptual Age. Because of the EduMap‘s compact size when rolled up, group learning situations can be generated with ease. The teacher simply brings some EduMaps to class (one map serves up to six students), unrolls them and places the subject tag on the map to activate the learning program. As soon as the students place their personal tags, their working area pops up and the recording of their learning progress starts. Now the students can interact with the teacher, with each other, and with the digital content, and even real subjects on the table. EduMap is a tool of interaction and collaboration that makes learning intuitive, engaging and fun. It is intended especially for elementary school to help students to prepare them for digital tools and networked learning. Is this how you imagined school?
All image copyrights belong to designaffairs GmbH.
Designer: designaffairs STUDIO

Solar Pebble - Solar Powered Lamp by Adam Robinson

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 12:42:00 +0000

The Solar Pebble is a solar powered lamp targeted for use in rural Africa, as a humanitarian product, and at home in the UK as the perfect gift. The LED Solar Pebble is powered by batteries that are charged from the

sun via a small, efficient solar panel. It can also charge mobile phones and other devices. The versatile ratchet handle allows the product to be carried and angled when standing or suspended. On the go? Just strap it onto a backpack for daytime charging.

Designer: Adam Robinson for Plus Minus Solar

GreenPlay household media center system by Samuel Hoang with Teague

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:46:00 +0000

Let me tell you what a media center is, first of all: it’s a computer. It’s a computer from which you have a bunch of cords and plugs and bluetooths and everything running into and out of so you can, from that one machine, run your whole media experience in your home. What have we got here? “Mod Systems’ GreenPlay” system from Samuel Hoang with Teague – a media center without all the keyboards and mice!

A) Mod System’s GreenPlay software engages your main system with your “set top boxes” and storage units throughout the house for easy management. Music, movies, tv shoes, and photos. It’s connected to Mod Systems online library from whens mass amounts of media can be purchased or rented.

B) The online library of Mod Systems is a fully interactive customer and administrator user interface designed just for the GreenPlay system.

Digital content galore!

C) The GreenPlay Set Top Boxes connect to high definition televisions and other networked devices (such as speakers, your PC control station, etc.) Designed at the same time as a digital interface and a physical object, this is made to fit into the home in more ways than one.

The full integrated experience is what this is all about.

Designer: Samuel Hoang with Teague

Microsoft grants USB installation for Windows 7, cds, dvds, rugged pen-drives, Windows Operating System, laptop users, bootable installer, Windows 7

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:24:00 +0000

This will surely give people more to look forward to, rather than the ever vulnerable CDs and DVDs that barely lasted long, and needed more attention than every rugged pen-drives. Microsoft have taken a fantastic step to ensure that Windows 7 stands out from the previous versions of the ever-popular Windows operating systems. They’ve come out with a bootable USB installer creator that’s aimed at laptop users. Installation files can be downloaded to the device that acts as a bootable installer. All you need is a USB drive that has sufficient capacity to hold the installation files. A likely name for this installation creator program may be Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (WUDT).

U-Button Iron by Jun-kyo Lee - Jin-young Yoon

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:23:00 +0000

Merry go round the buttons I tell ya! Dang the button area around your starched shirt is tough to crease-out. Some irons do have indents on the side, allowing you to kinda skim around the sweet spot, but it ain’t got a Full U like the “U-Button Iron”. Hit the special button the iron and voilà! The tip retracts to reveal a U that slides under the button to give you a fully ironed shirt.

Designers: Jun-kyo Lee & Jin-young Yoon