A Laptop so Minimal, it Hides

A Laptop so Minimal, it Hides

If you thought Apple couldn’t possible simplify the aesthetics of the MacBook Pro line any further, take a look at the HIDE laptop. The ultra minimalist design hides all ports when closed. Aside from the small hinge and indentation to help lift the cover, it just looks like a solid aluminum block. It’s naive and utilitarian. I really like it.

E-Ink for Time Telling

E-Ink for Time Telling

Let’s have a glance at a watch that employs the now-famous and awesome E-Ink technology made famous by, if I’m not mistaken, the Amazon Kindle eReader. This watch is a double-down in that it uses E-ink to for both form and function, allowing the bold and radical lines to make the watch beautiful and very readily visible. This watch is made of glossy black metal, embellished with small chrome parts.
The display is adjusted with two buttons along the left side of the watch. The bottom display is the lighter gray of the background being used as the numbers display with the black merging with the black of the watch metal. Blasting off into hard bold, bold space with a metal stone.

The Surreal HTC!

The Surreal HTC!

Sometimes it may be wise to live in the surreal world, where gadgets and gizmos do you biding, doesn’t matter if tech support is available or not. This theory applies mainly to cell phones, and here is this HDD Cell Phone with Multi OS, just for your fancy! It supports more than one operating systems through the unique “smart software” platform. This means you can choose your OS, get bored with and then hook up to the software and choose another! Details like contacts, photos etc, get saved and are automatically transferred to the new platform. Besides this, customizable hard buttons, sound and screen optimization and advanced digital experience, are just some of the perks.

BlackBerry Empathy

We Want Your Empathy

For their sponsored project held by RIM Blackberry at the Art Center College of Design, designers Kiki and Daniel had to incorporate an interface that integrates human emotions with the concept of social networking. The result of this exercise was the Empathy concept. The phone is used in conjunction with a biometrics ring that is worn by the user to collect “emotional data”. Spec-wise it features a transparent OLED screen that becomes transparent when not in use and opaque during interaction. The front is all touch surface, while on the back there is a physical keyboard.

As Daniel describes the interface:

It is of course touch based and all the user’s connections are shown graphically so you can see who is connected to whom. Each contact has an avatar that is encompassed by two colored rings. The inner colored ring shows the contact’s previous emotional state, and the outer ring represents the contact’s current emotional state. It is important to show the shift in emotions in order to see how an event has affected that contact.
Another important feature that we felt was important was the “Emotional Health Chart”. This chart would monitor the user’s emotional health through an indefinite period of time. One would be able to see how a certain event, or phone call/ message has affected the user. Obviously, if the chart shows someone is always upset, there would be a problem… If permitted, a user would be able to view other user’s charts as well.

Designers: Kiki Tang & Daniel Yoon

QWERTY Keyboard For iPhone

QWERTY Keyboard For iPhone, For Real!

I’ve always had a problem with typing fast and accurately with my iPhone, and like most Indian users who use local lingo in our English messages; the auto dictionary for misspellings is no help. So it had to be a fellow Indian to come up with an alternate solution. A QWERTY Keyboard that slides over the iPhone, guarding its edges and syncing in well! The slick body docks in the phone and auto disables the virtual keyboard. An external jack hooks into place, at the bottom of the keys for charging the phone. These first batch of renders don’t do as much justice to the idea, but like all things Apple, I’m sure the nextgen will look better.

Materials-Polycarbonate (PC) /Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene(ABS), Carbon Steel for the slider rails.

For initial Concept Sketches and Models please refer here.

Designer: Altamash Jiwani

I Ring controls your ipod

iRing Controls Your iPod.

With a stylish design and wireless Bluetooth connectivity with your iPod and iPhone, the iRing allows you to control playback and volume on any of your Apple media devices. iRing features a bright OLED status display with touch-sensitive function strip, and a rechargeable battery life of up to 2 days. Conveniently recharge your iRing using the included cradle. Its minimal size and unique ring-lock mechanism make it an ideal companion for charging and storing your iRing.

Designer: Victor Soto