So the tough thing about buying a bookshelf, or any piece of furniture really, is that if you ever decide to move it to another room (or another house), there’s no guarantee it will fit in its rightful place. But what if you could change the dimensions of that shelf entirely. Marica Vizzuso’s B-OK takes its inspiration from a room divider, able to fold up into a compact tower or fan out into a wider looking shelf. It’s not only simple, but more importantly, versatile. [Design Milk] More »
Have you ever wanted a watch you could hack to display whatever you wanted it to? With the advent of so-called “smartwatches,” rooting or hacking one isn’t going to be too far off. But if you can’t wait for this, then you should check out Solder: Time II. This DIY watch kit is hackable and programmable, which is interesting if you like fiddling around with stuff.
The Solder: Time II watch has a 7 × 20 LED matrix that can display time, scrolling text, and animations. There’s an alarm and stopwatch as well. The simple soldering required to assemble the watch should take users less than an hour to complete. In the worst case scenario, you can always find someone you know who can help you out. The Arudino-based programming interface is exposed at the back, and it’s ready to be hacked to display that Pac-Man or Space Invaders animation you always wanted on your wrist.
The Solder: Time II watch is available as a kit for $59 at the Maker Shed.
Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have developed a cooking simulator that combines a conventional frying pan with modern technology. I know, right? Cooking isn’t hard at all! Or so my siblings tell me every time I complain that there’s nothing to eat. Don’t you just turn the fire on, put some stuff in and wait?
The simulator is practically a video game system. It utilizes a projected display and a force feedback system to help the user with his pseudo-cooking. It also simulates the weight and state changes of the ingredients. When the user moves the pan around, he’ll feel and see the virtual meat and vegetables move around, and eventually they’ll change color just like the edible thing.
I think it’s not too practical as it is, but I am looking forward to the researchers’ vision of augmented reality cooking.
Solar panels are a great way to generate sustainable electricity. They’re not as great at looking pretty. This spherical-lens solar energy generator designed by André Broessel, on the other hand, is strikingly sleek. More »
And I thought that John’s Phone was as dumb as dumbphones get. But now, a UK-based company has created OwnFone, a phone that doesn’t even have a number pad, just speed dials people that you set when you order the phone. If this isn’t idiot proof then I don’t know what is.
Users can choose to have 2, 4, 8 or 12 contacts on their OwnFone. Aside from the numbers, users can further customize their OwnFone by adding colors and style. You can leave the phone as it is, add a pattern or upload an image to be used as its background. Right now customers can only use alphanumeric characters to label the contact buttons, but in the future it will be possible to use Braille or even images as labels to make the phone even more accessible.
The phone is only about 0.28″ thick and weighs just 40g (about 0.09 lbs). It’s also rechargeable and can last up to a year in “Shutdown” mode. I’m not sure if the last feature is merely a sleep mode or a literal shutdown state.
Want your own OwnFone phone? Better move to the UK as it’s currently exclusive to the state. If you’ve got that taken care off, head to the OwnFone website and be ready to fork over £55 (~$87 USD) for the device itself. You’ll also have to sign up for a monthly plan that costs between £7.50-£15 (~$12-$24 USD).
To remind you that there are still wonderful gorgeous things in this world, here is, as usual, the gift of the most beautiful items of the week. More »
Since there aren’t any Star Trek The Next Generation episodes or movies being made, Paramount wanted to trash the set. A group of Trekkies is not going to let that happen. They took the old tattered pieces they were chucking out and have decided going to restore the whole bridge. I say, Make it so! Rusty Harrell, Brian Uiga and Huston Huddleston have teamed up to restore the set which was recovered back in late 2011. Paramount had made it durably using Fiberglas and it survived for nearly 5 years during filming of the show, but had been all but forgotten about.
The team wants to take what he has and restore it to the closest recreation of the set as possible, with the help of some Hollywood professionals, and then go one better. They want to open the bridge to the public for meetings, movie showings, fundraisers, tours, filming, whatever. The project will start looking for funding soon. We will keep you up to date if we hear more. In the mean time, you can read more about the project here.
I’m very particular about what kind of case I get for my iPhone. I have but a few, and it can take me a long time to find ones that appeal to me. But I have to say that the durable SYSTM iPhone cases look pretty spiffy.
While some rugged cases look pretty drab, the SYSTM iPhone cases from Incase are very good-looking, and come in nice, bold color combinations. There are five models to choose from, and each of them has got some interesting design elements. They have raised side bumpers, reinforced corners, and the Vise, Chisel and Hammer models even have Poron XRD cushioning foam to protect your precious iPhone from drops and bumps.
Prices for the SYSTM iPhone Cases range from $24.95 and $49.95(USD), and you can check out the whole line-up over at Systm.
Many of you already know that the Samsung Galaxy S III is an incredibly popular smartphone, but it’s popular for a reason. First and foremost, it has an attractive design to go along with all of that high-end hardware working under the hood. Samsung has made no bones about pointing out that this phone was inspired by nature, but in a new video that offers some insight into the phone’s design, we get some specific examples.
At the start of the video, VP of Hardware R&D Byeongkuk Lee says “We understand that the emotional satisfaction of the user is much more important than trying to emphasize the technology.” That much is definitely true – while most readers of SlashGear probably consider hardware to be more important, many mainstream consumers are on the lookout for a phone with a design that speaks to them, with hardware second on the list of smartphone priorities. That being the case, Samsung naturally put a lot of work into making the phone look sleek, detailing the involved process of just getting the battery case to look good.
The user interface is where Samsung tried to replicate nature. There are plenty of design choices based around the idea of water, but this video gives us a closer look at the process that went into getting those features on the Galaxy S III. For instance, those water droplets you hear when using the dialer aren’t actually water drops at all – the sound you’re hearing is actually orange juice drops falling into a small glass, because Samsung discovered that “liquids with a higher viscosity” were better for recording and simulating the sound of a water drop.
There are more examples of how Samsung attempted the connect the Galaxy S III to nature, but we’ll let you watch the video posted above to find out the rest. It’s a fascinating video, as it provides an all-too-rare look at the work that goes into designing the devices we use every single day. After you’re done watching the video, be sure to have a look at our Samsung Galaxy S III review to find out what we think of the device. Enjoy!
Nestled in the heart of Duchess County, in upstate New York, Dutchess House No 1. is an aluminum clad hideaway with a surprisingly warm and cozy interior. More »
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