Mar 29
When drinking stuff from the cellar, the temperature controlled fridge, or the top shelf, the size of the glass matters-and shape does too. You’ve likely picked up a bit of this, or at least rolled your eyes at it. More »
Mar 27
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: LAVA’s geodesic home, solar skyscraper glass and fear of nuclear power
Posted in: solar, solar power, SolarPower, Today's ChiliEach week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green.
This week Inhabitat showcased several groundbreaking feats of high-tech architecture – starting with plans to transform the United States’ tallest skyscraper into a soaring solar farm. We also saw a vision for a geodesic home of the future that is popping up in China this year, and we learned that scientists in Qatar are developing a series of solar-powered artificial clouds that will cool the country’s stadiums during the 2022 World Cup.
It was a big week for energy news as well as Germany and Italy announced plans to abandon nuclear power in the wake of the crisis in Japan. Tata & MIT also announced a breakthrough technology for generating power from water, and we saw solar energy reach new heights as Suntech set off to install the world’s tallest solar plant on the Tibetan Plateau. Speaking of soaring green designs, we watched a brand new electric vehicle take to the skies as the solar-powered Elektra One airplane successfully completed its maiden flight.
This week we also showcased several cutting-edge examples of wearable technology including an app that instantly transforms any drawing into a made-to-measure dress. We also learned that Virgin Atlantic now offers passengers bespoke shoes while they wait, and we took a look at a futuristic pregnancy belt that offers an inside look at the womb. Finally, we saw several amazing examples of recycled design – Chinese artist Wing Wah has created a set of scrap metal transformer robots that look just like the movies, and designer Mati Karmin has transformed defused land mines into an edgy set of interior furnishings.
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: LAVA’s geodesic home, solar skyscraper glass and fear of nuclear power originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Mar 2011 21:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mar 23
You wake. You eat. You work. You read a few articles on Engadget. You sleep. You attempt to repeat. Life’s not always quite so simple, but the mesmerizing image shown above does a great job of showcasing the patterns that seem to keep us all on track. This particular piece is entitled Sleep Patterns, crafted by one Laurie Frick, and was created by converting EEG traces into watercolor. There’s plenty more where this came from in the source link below, but we’d caution you not to fall into some sort of eternal loop of checking back daily — unless, of course, you’re looking to disrupt your own patterns for the sake of art.
Visualized: life’s most basic patterns displayed as color-coded charts originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mar 15
Nokia collects design patent for a tablet, evokes N8 aesthetics (update: there’s another one!)
Posted in: Law, legal, nokia, patent, tablet, Today's Chili
It’s no secret that Nokia’s been casting an interested eye over the tablet market and now we have a bit of extra evidence to show its intent, courtesy of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The federal bureau has just published a design patent granted to the Finnish company for a tablet device, which was applied for on May 28th, 2010. Sadly, that date tells us what we’re looking at is most probably a shelved MeeGo machine that never made it to market rather than an upcoming world conqueror, but still, here it is for all of us to gawk at and admire. Judging by the 3.5mm headphone jack outline — which, like the rest of the dotted lines on the sketch, isn’t covered by the patent — we’re likely looking at a 9- or 10-inch slate, whose design reminds us most acutely of Nokia’s N8 phone. See more pics in the gallery below before returning to your mind cave to fantasize about what might have been… or might still be.
Update: Electronista notes that Nokia’s filed for and received the rights to a second tablet design patent, this one eschewing the N8 inspiration for a more generic shape. See it pictured after the break or at the second link below.
[Thanks, Pradeep]
Gallery: Nokia tablet patent
Nokia collects design patent for a tablet, evokes N8 aesthetics (update: there’s another one!) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mar 12
Chris Bangle, former BMW designer, bringing his deconstructivist ways to Samsung devices?
Posted in: samsung, Today's Chili
That’s the E65 7 Series up there, considered by many to be as ugly a car as they come. It’s the product of one Chris Bangle, Chief Designer at BMW for most of the ’90s and ’00s, who strove to give cars a futuristic, deconstructivist design that didn’t always find favor among car buyers who were still stuck in an orderly present. Now we actually are in the future and, well, that rear-end still isn’t looking any better, but Bangle did pave the way for more dramatic stylings in modern cars. He stepped away from the auto industry two years ago and now we’re hearing that he’s moving on to a gig at Samsung. Interestingly, Sammy and BMW have had something of a relationship over the years. We saw newer 7 Series sprout support for the T*Omnia in 2009, and back in 2005 Samsung’s Chief Marketing Officer told Bloomberg that the company needed to “become like a BMW.” According to Korean paper JoongAng Ilbo, Bangle will be working on cellphones and netbooks, which we expect to feature dramatic flame surfacing along with Dame Edna indicator lights and oddly bulging posteriors.
[Thanks, Tim]
Chris Bangle, former BMW designer, bringing his deconstructivist ways to Samsung devices? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 Mar 2011 13:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mar 10
Logos can be surprisingly divisive things, so the MIT Media Lab has decided to cheat a little bit with its new identity: it won’t have just one logo, it’ll have 40,000. You heard / read / imagined that right, the new Media Lab logo will simply be the concept of three intersecting “spotlights,” composed of three colors, straight lines, three black squares, and a few blending gradients. There’s an algorithm behind it all, which is used to generate a unique logo for every new member of staff, meaning that although trademark claims may be a headache to enforce, originality will continue thriving in the Lab for a long time to come. Hit the source link to learn more or leap past the break for a nice video rundown.
Continue reading MIT Media Lab gets a multiplicitous new logo (video)
MIT Media Lab gets a multiplicitous new logo (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Mar 10
Fiskar’s ’88’ headphone amplifier concept touts bombastic knobs, oodles of style
Posted in: concept, Today's Chili
There are headphone amplifiers, and then there’s Fiskar’s 88. Designer Edouard Urcadez took the liberty of utilizing the Fiskar brand on this here concoction, which features an unorthodox form factor, larger-than-life volume / tone knobs, an array of rear outputs and a Made in Finland badge. There’s no theoretical specifications to simmer on, but the inclusion of speaker outputs leads us to believe that we’re looking at a dual-stage amp or one with far more power than most headphone pushers. We’ve never actually seen an inanimate object cry for production, but we’re going to stare at the image above a bit longer just in case. There’s a first time for everything, right?
Fiskar’s ’88’ headphone amplifier concept touts bombastic knobs, oodles of style originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 06:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Mar 08
A Brief History of Bulletproof [Video]
Posted in: Today's Chili, top
Mar 08
Microsoft goes on a hiring spree for new Xbox hardware devs, staffing up for next console push?
Posted in: console, gaming, Microsoft, research, Today's Chili, xbox
Before you go leaping to any conclusions, do remember that Microsoft plans on keeping the Xbox 360 going until at least 2015 so we’re not really talking imminent changes here. Nonetheless, the software giant has listed a plethora of new job openings, with the most interesting ones being at its Mountain View research campus, where a team responsible for “defining and delivering next generation console architectures” is looking for fresh blood. A graphics hardware architect is sought to ensure that the next Xbox strikes the optimal balance between the awesome and affordable, while a design verification engineer and a few others will be hired to test and help develop prototypes. This bolstering of numbers seems to indicate Microsoft is starting to ramp up research and development on its next-gen home entertainment linchpin, and while nothing’s likely to emerge from those Mountain View labs in the short term, the mere sound of clanking tools and buzzing electrons is getting us excited already.
Microsoft goes on a hiring spree for new Xbox hardware devs, staffing up for next console push? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 04:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mar 05
We love a Lensbaby lens as much as the next hipster, but if there’s one thing the Optic Swap system isn’t, it’s fast. Switching out aperture plates is a royal pain, and for those looking to simply capture moments as they happen, it’s a system that simply doesn’t work. The company’s apparently aiming to fix that with the introduction of its first 35mm optic with a 12-blade adjustable aperture. The Sweet 35 select focus optic requires but a twist to change the aperture, and in turn, the “sweet spot.” ‘Course, you’ll still need to find yourself adequate light (or boost your ISO / slow your shutter) before stepping that aperture value up too high, but at least now it’s easier than using a magnetic tool to fish one plate out and drop another in. The lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.5 and steps all the way down to f/22, and it’ll focus down to 7.5 inches from the front of the lens. The downside is that this particular optic isn’t compatible with current 37mm Lensbaby accessories, nor will it function with the Composer with Tilt Transformer for Micro Four Thirds and Sony NEX cameras. Still, for $180 it’s easily the most practical thing the company has ever delivered, and we definitely hope this is just the beginning of a trend it intends to push.
Continue reading Lensbaby goes practical with aperture-adjustable Sweet 35 Optic
Lensbaby goes practical with aperture-adjustable Sweet 35 Optic originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Mar 2011 02:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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