Scott Robertson is one of my favorite concept designers of all time, a true master (both figuratively and literally). Anyone who loves science fiction and space and cars and mechs and any kind of awesome vehicle should own at least Blast and Drive. Here’s a tiny sample of his extraordinary work.
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After the Xperia Z Ultra’s launch event in both London and Shanghai, we had a brief chance to talk to Sony’s Product Design Director, Jun Katsunuma, who was present in the latter city. Jun’s been responsible for Sony’s mobile devices since the Xperia S days, so the transition to the Xperia Z’s double-glass design was also under his watch. That said, the newer Xperia Z Ultra isn’t simply just an enlarged version of its smaller sibling, as we found out straight from the horse’s mouth.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony
HTC and Microsoft have been cautious about what they’ll let us see of the software on the Windows Phone 8X and its 8S counterpart. Apparently, they don’t have any such compunctions about leaving the phones’ naked components hanging in the breeze. Along with outlining the essentialist, Metro-inspired philosophy behind the Windows Phone 8 devices’ design, HTC’s new behind-the-scenes video (after the break) shows the internals without that extra-colorful shell getting in the way. The exposé is more about the sheer demand for customized hardware to match those distinctive enclosures than anything too scandalous — that tapered shape requires some finessing on the inside, we’re told. Whatever you think of HTC’s guided tour, the company has at least learned its lesson and decided against including any unexpected prototypes this time around.
Continue reading HTC shows design work for Windows Phone 8X and 8S, strips them bare (video)
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
HTC shows design work for Windows Phone 8X and 8S, strips them bare (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 20:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The next time you hinge open that notebook PC and smile at a feature that makes it easier to use, give a thought to Bill Moggridge, who passed away Saturday from cancer at the age of 69. The pioneering designer invented the modern clamshell design seen in all modern laptops, and is also viewed as the father of human interaction software design.
The Compass Computer he designed for Grid Systems with the screen folded over the keyboard appeared in 1981, flew on the space shuttle, and inspired virtually every notebook design since. Perhaps more importantly, when he tried to use the machine himself, Moggridge was exasperated with the difficulty and decided to take the human factor into account for software design. To that end, he engaged experts from fields like graphics design and psychology, and tried to “build empathy for the consumer into the product,” according to former partner, Professor David Kelly. The pair merged their design firms to form Ideo in 1991, and worked with clients like Apple, Microsoft and Procter & Gamble, designing products like the first Macintosh mouse and Palm V handheld along the way.
In 2010, Moggridge became the director of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York, and was a recipient of that institution’s lifetime achievement award. He also won the Prince Philip Designer’s Prize, the longest running award of its type in the UK, given for “a design career which has upheld the highest standards and broken new ground.” See why that’s true by going to Cooper-Hewitt’s tribute video, right after break.
Continue reading William Moggridge, portable computer and human interaction trailblazer, dies at 69
William Moggridge, portable computer and human interaction trailblazer, dies at 69 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Bill Moggridge, a British designer who created the very first clamshell-style laptop, has died age 69. The Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum has announced that Moggridge, its director, died on Saturday from cancer. More »
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