This certainly isn’t the first time we’ve written about a concept product design from Giha Woo, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. A few years ago the original iPod Shuffle was a surprise hit for Apple. Besides the cheap pricepoint, I know I really liked the fact it had a built-in USB port meaning I could keep it charged wherever I could find a PC. But Giha’s Plug and Player takes things one step further, by building a simple MP3 player into an actual plug. So wherever you can find an outlet, which are arguably far more plentiful than PCs with free USB ports, you can keep it charged.
The wide stance of European-style power plugs seems ideal for the concept, but I suspect they could also be built into North American-style plugs with minimal compromise. But since it’s just a concept with seemingly no intentions of ever being produced, it’s kind of moot to even speculate international compatibilities.
I tend to avoid using a case with my iPhone for the simple reason they add a bit too much bulk for my liking. It’s just a personal preference, but I do admire that accessory manufacturers go out of their way to design cases that strike a good balance between minimal bulk and maximum protection. Except when it comes to Speck’s ToughSkin case for the iPhone 4. It throws that balance way out of whack with a design that provides maximum protection, and let me emphasize maximum here, while seemingly not caring one iota that the iPhone gains a few pant sizes as a result.
But if you’re the clumsy type, and don’t mind putting up with a bit of extra padding for the insurance your iPhone 4 will survive a nasty tumble, then Speck’s ToughSkin case is certainly right up your alley. More after the jump.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, with anything and everything electronic being able to tell us the time, standalone clocks really only exist these days for design purposes. And as far as design goes, this Icon Clock will certainly appeal to anyone with a soft spot for the minimalist aesthetic. Available in black or white the clocks are made from ABS resin and measure just 3 1/2 inches in diameter, making them better suited for desk duty than hanging on a wall. Even though their chunky minute and hour hands would certainly be easy to read from across the room. $37 from Poketo!
Researchers at Tokyo’s University of Electro-Communications have developed a concept to guide crowds of pedestrians with the same lenticular plastic sheets used to animate movie posters, trading cards or facilitate glasses-free 3D. The sheets are composed of rows of curved ‘lenses’ which allow an image underneath to ‘change’ depending on the angle it’s being viewed. So in this instance underneath the lenticular flooring there’s a striped pattern that appears to shift towards the right as people walking on top of it look down.
That moving imagery, combined with the fact that we heavily rely on our vision to maintain our balance while walking, results in people sub-consciously following the motion they’re seeing and moving/keeping to the right. So the idea is to have flooring like this installed in busy places like train stations or stores to guide the flow of crowds without the need for confusing signage or even electronic messages which rely on power to work. Not to mention the opportunities for advertisers to sell you stuff underfoot.
The reason I hear most often from people who don’t have or want a touchscreen based smartphone is that they can’t get used to typing out messages with just an on-screen keyboard. They prefer the tactile feedback of a real keyboard or a thumbpad, which I can understand. On the iPhone, where my typing never really goes longer than the 140 character limit of a tweet, I never have any issues. But on the iPad, which I occasionally use as a laptop replacement for taking notes, the on-screen keyboard can get a little annoying. So much so that I usually always bring along Apple’s own wireless keyboard for long typing sessions, which unfortunately really isn’t designed for traveling.
But the only way you can make a full-sized keyboard travel-friendly is to introduce some sort of folding mechanism, and that’s exactly what Verbatim has done with their new Wireless Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard. It folds in half making it easier to transport, and while it doesn’t necessarily get small enough to carry in your pocket, it’s certainly compact enough to stash away in a bag or briefcase. But does it work as well as the keyboard permanently fused to your laptop or tethered to your PC? Check out our full review after the jump to find out.
If form outranks function when it comes to choosing a pair of speakers for your home or office, you’ll want to do yourself a favor and check out The Natural Speaker from studio Joon & Jung. (The same designers who brought us the Paper Alarm Clock.) But just because they’re made from less common speaker components like porcelain and wooden dowels doesn’t necessarily mean you’re sacrificing a lot, if anything, when it comes to sound quality. In fact, apparently the use of porcelain for the speaker casing results in a more mellow sound with clearer resonance.
The idea for the ‘the natural speaker’ derived from the desire to create an absolutely unique, handcrafted speaker for the interior space. Whereas a lot of speakers are constructed to produce a rather fat bass and sharp high tones, we felt the sound was kind of stuck inside the speakers, missing a natural vibe and ambiance. During the development of the ‘the natural speaker’ we discovered the great properties of porcelain as a speaker casing, providing a clear resonance and mellow sound.
Amplified inside the ceramic and wood transmission construction, the sound gains a slight echo, creating a natural feeling of resonance, resembling the distinct flair of an acoustic instrument right in front of you.
And since they each appear to be hand made, The Natural Speakers will only be available in a limited run starting sometime last month, and presumably not cheap.
Just because you’re not paying the electric bill every month, doesn’t mean you should leave every light on at the office when you leave. So to encourage people to be more proactive about turning off the lights when they leave a room, designer Da Deng created this playful Bye-5 switch which can be operated with a simple high five, a skill most employable persons already have.
The switch is of course shaped like a 3D hand, complete with a skin-like texture which encourages people to give it a solid high five slap. And besides turning off the lights in the room, your positive reinforcement also activates a soft, glowing nightlight inside the hand so that people can still find their way around a now darkened room. It’s just a concept sadly, so the Clapper will continue to enjoy its monopoly in the ‘novel way to switch off the lights’ market.
I have no musical skills whatsoever, but I’m going to assume that the ability to tune an instrument, like a guitar, by ear is a handy skill for a musician to have. But that’s not to say that those who can’t shouldn’t be playing one. Not at all. For them gadgets like this TunerMatic exist that not only ensure their instrument is being tuned accurately, but that the process is hard to screw up.
Most guitar tuners require you to adjust the tuning peg yourself while monitoring the note being played on its display, but the TunerMatic has a built-in motor and cranking mechanism that turns the peg for you. You just pluck a string and watch as it automatically adjusts the peg to bring your guitar in tune. It’s available for $49.95 and works on electric or acoustic guitars with a built-in pickup. But using it with acoustic guitars that are lacking one requires a microphone adapter that’s an extra $12.95.
If I had to compile a list of the best jobs on Earth the only position that would top astronaut, caveman and ninja star tester would be a LEGO Master Builder. I mean sitting around and building things out of LEGO all day? That’s like re-living ages 4 to 23, but getting paid to do it! Unfortunately years of writing have left me with terribly mangled blogger’s fingers, so such a dream is long gone for me. But if you’ve got kids at home with an affinity for interlocking plastic bricks, LEGO’s Master Builder Academy could put them on the right track to a pretty awesome career.
There are 6 MBA kits in total, but you begin with a starter kit that includes a handbook and a 3-in-1 LEGO model. ($29.99) Besides just building the included space-themed vehicles, the MBA lessons also teach LEGO theory and design including principles like interlocking and stability, color and shape design, microscale building, balance, details, themes and even how to plan out a creation in 3D using brickpaper sketches. Once you’ve finished the first kit there are 5 others that can be purchased as a subscription, with each one arriving every two months covering other themes like robots and vehicles. ($69.99) Of course working through all of the models and handbooks doesn’t guarantee there’s a job for you at LEGO, but an online community lets you share your creations and designs, so there’s a chance your work get noticed.
Related Tags: Concepts, Design, MP3-player
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