Hasta La Gadget!

While some of the other apps that I’ve come across recently promise to wake you up in different ways, this one strips away all unnecessary functions and goes down to the bare essentials of what an alarm should be. It will wake you up and it’s nicely designed. It doesn’t go much beyond this – and that’s a good thing.

The Rise app for iOS is simple, but some thought went into designing it. To set the alarm, you just drag your finger across the screen to select the time. Once set, the app has a progressive alarm, meaning that it will increase in volume if you don’t do anything about it. A simple swipe across the screen will shut the alarm off. You can also snooze your alarm by shaking your iPhone, which is good because when I’m groggy with sleep, shaking my phone is about the only thing I can do. It comes with a nice variety of alarm sounds, and you can also have it wake you with your favorite track from iTunes.

Rise is available in the iTunes App store for $1.99(USD).

We first met Chul Bae Lee — VP of LG’s mobile design lab — in Seoul last fall and were lucky to spend a few minutes with him in the company’s booth at MWC. LG’s flagship Optimus G Pro made quite the splash in Barcelona but looks rather different from the Optimus G. We asked Mr. Lee to walk us through the design process behind the company’s new superphone. He mentioned that LG offers two high-end product lines, one focused on premium design (Optimus G), the other on high-performance design (Optimus G Pro) and shared a diagram with us to illustrate this (after the break). The new handset puts an emphasis on ergonomics rather than style by featuring a comfortable and a friendly shape, with soft edges and round corners.

We discussed the extremely narrow display bezel, striking RGB notification ring around the home button, recessed camera lens and IR blaster (for the QRemote functionality). Mr. Lee explained that the placement of the buttons around the Optimus G Pro was carefully chosen to minimize interference with the power / lock key — this includes the QNote button, which can be remapped to invoke other apps, and even double as a shutter key. We then talked about the new Optimus F series, which blends the design DNA of flagship devices with performance specs (like LTE) at a more affordable price, and the Optimus L II line, which offers unique designs for specific markets (single SIM in Europe, and dual-SIM in Latin America). Hi the break for our video interview and to check out the aforementioned design diagram.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

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We usually hear about new tablets and smartphones at the Mobile World Congress, but this year Fujitsu also showed off a different mobile device. The Japanese company had a working prototype of a cane that downloads routes wirelessly and then guides its user using large arrows on its LED screen.

The next generation cane is obviously intended for the elderly. I’m just guessing here, but I think the prototype is based on the grand prize winner of a design contest that Fujitsu held in 2011. The idea is for someone – hopefully not a prankster – to make a route on a computer using the cane’s companion program. The cane will then download the route via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or 3G. With this information at hand, the cane will now tell the user which way to go using large green arrows. Should the user stray from the route, the cane will vibrate and reprimand the user with a red exclamation point. Then it shows the green arrows again.

What do you think this is grandpa, a leisurely stroll?! Make your way around the park in a predetermined, optimized and orderly manner!

I don’t see much point in just having a heart rate monitor. What’s an old person supposed to do with the data if he’s already having a heart attack or trying to run away from a thief? The cane does send its location back to the companion app so other people can track the user, but it would be more awesome if the cane could automatically call for help based on the user’s heart rate. It would be even more awesome if the cane could transform into a laser cannon. Yeah Fujitsu, screw the heart monitor. Just go with the laser cannon.

[via The Verge & Pocket-lint]