Tentatively known as The Cube, this concept from Mintpass puts a retro spin on a conventional MP3 player.
(Credit: Mintpass)If you love the look of old reel-to-reel tape decks, hi-fi receivers, and analog mixing boards, the latest MP3 player concept from Korea's Mintpass design team will probably leave you drooling.
The Cube MP3 player offers not one but three analog VU meters, capable of displaying volume, battery live, and FM radio frequency.
If the menage a trois of vintage analog gauges wasn't enough, the Mint Cube includes two rows of apologetically chunky buttons that hearken back to an era of cassette decks and bad hair. Other proposed features include Bluetooth audio, FM radio, A-B looping, shuffle, and a standard headphone output.
Of course, the whole thing is purely fiction at this point, with not even a hint of price or release date. Also, my gut is telling me that this thing would be wholly impractical to build. My retro nerd heart, however, is keeping hope alive.
(ViaTechfresh)
These are challenging times for camera manufacturers. The megapixel race is coming to an end, profit margins on entry-level cameras are slim to nil, and the thin line that separates cameras and phones will only get more blurry in the years ahead.
The challenge now is to make interesting products that offer features you won't ever find on a mobile phone. The new Olympus EP-1 (CNET review) does that by giving the point-and-shoot user a camera that offers a dSLR-like experience in a compact package that evokes the stylish feel of a classic camera from the "Mad Men" era. It'd be tough for a mobile phone to do that.
The EP-1 takes good pictures, but it also makes a powerful design statement. Inspired by the mid-1960s Olympus Pen, the $800 EP-1 hearkens back to the glory days of film cameras by offering removable lenses, a fast (1/4,000) shutter, and a lens format that keeps the the camera compact.
Just as importantly, it looks great when it hangs around your neck, it feels great in your hand, and you interact with it in an old-school way that requires a higher level of engagement than one normally associates with digital cameras, except perhaps prosumer-level digital SLRs.
The EP-1 is certainly easy on the eyes, but does it have what it takes to escape the forces that threaten to decimate the point-and-shoot camera segment? In this walkthough, we'll take a close look at the design and engineering choices Oympus made to bring this product to market.
Click a picture to enter the Design Review slideshow.
(Credit:
Aether & Hemera)
With the IKEA aesthetic taking over so many homes, you might be yearning for furniture that reflects your mood. Literally. The interactive Mood Chair by U.K. designers Aether & Hemera "changes color in response to the colors that its sensors perceive from the environment and the users."
Is it accurate? We're not sure. But we give the artists props for reminding us of mood rings from our adolescent years.
Aether & Hemera play with LED lights, fiber optics, projections, and UV lamps, creating installations that explore light and its power to trigger a sense of identity or set a mood. Although the partially translucent Mood Chair may never make it into living rooms, the design would sit well in a commercial setting.
(Via Technabob)
The Yashica EZ F521 (left) and my Holga.
(Credit: Leonard Goh/CNET Asia)I have a penchant for toy cameras, and it all started with the Lomo L-CA. I've since sold the Russian shooter, but I've held on to the Holga as a camera I really enjoy using despite its quirks--light leaks, soft images, plastic lens, and total lack of control. But that's what I like about such low-tech snappers.
Previously I wrote a Crave blog about the Yashica EZ F521, which from its toy-like facade, could very well be a digital twin to the Holga. After trying out the camera for a weekend, I have to say that the Yashica is close, but definitely not quaint enough to be a Holga.
The exterior
The EZ F521 is actually quite small. Also, notice the reddish tinge on the lens.
(Credit: Leonard Goh/CNET Asia)The EZ F521 may look big in pictures, but in reality it's quite small. Compared with a regular Holga, the Yashica is a petite half size. Weight-wise, it's light enough that you'll forget it's even in your tote bag.
The lens barrel can be rotated between two focal lengths: normal and macro. In normal mode, subjects that are 5 feet or more away will appear sharp, while macro mode allows you to snap about a half a foot to 1.3 feet away from the shooter.
Interestingly, the lens has a reddish tinge to it. I checked with the shop that loaned us the camera and the owner wasn't quite sure why it's like that. But this effect didn't surface in any of my shots.
There's a nice optical viewfinder on the Yashica, but this doesn't give a good representation of what you are taking. Still, it's a nice retro implementation.
Be warned about the flash because it's really bright. Subjects near the camera appeared washed-out, but that's the fun of using a toy-like camera.
Let's shoot
Taking pictures with the EZ F521 is as simple as point and shoot. In fact, there isn't even a half-press mechanism on the shutter for prefocusing. Just frame and snap. ... Read more
Humans have a nasty habit of producing and accumulating garbage, but Gabriel Dishaw, a junk-metal genius from Carmel, Ind., turns trash into artwork. His most recent pieces were inspired by his love of Nike shoes, as he fashioned five different kicks, including dunks and high tops.
Dishaw's shoes are collages of otherwise potentially useless hardware salvaged from computers, typewriters, and metal scraps. His work is meticulous, as it takes him up to several weeks to complete one pair of shoes and an accompanying carrying case for storage.
Though the sculptures are aesthetic replicas of real Nike shoes, they are far from wearable. His latest pair, Blazer Pentium 1.0 (named for Intel chips), weighs 15 pounds--and we're guessing the shoes don't have arch support.
See our photo gallery of Gabriel Dishaw's Nike-inspired junk art.
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Roomba Pac-Man)
Students at Colorado University have reprogrammed five Roomba vacuum-cleaning robots to recreate the classic 1980s arcade game Pac-Man.
The machines move around a virtual maze, indicated by red tape on the floor, as the four ghosts Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde chase the Pac-Man Roomba as it vacuums up paper dots.
The Pac-Man Roomba is joystick-controlled by a user, but the ghosts navigate autonomously. They will try to chase Pac-Man until it sucks up a power pellet, which puts them into evade mode.
The Roombas are wirelessly linked to a laptop that processes their locations through an overhead camera positioning system.
The developers created Roomba Pac-Man to demonstrate their unmanned aerial guidance system software.
But this isn't the first time Roomba has been reprogrammed to recreate a game from yesteryear. The plucky puck-shaped robot has dodged Texas cars while reliving the adventures of Frogger.
You'd think that in a world of 24Mbps Internet, where color printers cost less than $65 and you can get free laptops with broadband subscriptions, fax machines would be as dead as jokes about the dodo. But no.
(Credit: Crave UK)If you were born, it's highly likely you'll die. Sorry about that. For consumer tech, it's not quite so cut-and-dried. There are some gadgets that just refuse to kick the shiny bucket, in the manner of Daniella Westbrook--the chick whose nose fell off.
Dearest reader, we're about to explore the technologies that defy the wishes of Silicon Heaven's Grim Reaper, and delve into the more pressing matter of why they refuse his cold embrace. Why do real people--not IT departments or tech professionals, but the chap in the street, who's paid taxes on his money--keep buying this obsolete junk? We'll start with something you'd be forgiven for thinking was a bizarre first choice.
Read more of "Why won't they die? The tech we won't forget" at Crave UK.
(Credit:
Jonathan Worth/PopSci)
I know most of you out there think we landed two Americans on the moon in 1969. Well, let me tell you that you're wrong. It's all a hoax! It was done on a sound stage and George Clooney and Dan Aykroyd were involved!
I mean, look at this real-life version of the Atari classic Lunar Lander vector game!
It took British engineer Iain Sharp less than $800 and a year to build this replica in his garage to honor the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, and it works almost like the real thing. It's powered by a pair of old PCs he wrote custom software for. In addition, the movements are controlled by things like old inkjet printer motors, and fishing line. But what's important is it works just like a real lunar lander would--if one existed.
If Sharp can make a device like this in his garage in his spare time then it's not a leap to assume the U.S. government could have made a full-size mock-up with the years and millions it took to make the so-called "moon shot" happen. This awesome toy might be all the evidence I need. Myth busted.
(Via PopSci)
(Credit:
Banpresto)
Looking at the Sega Mega Drive-modeled Zippo lighter reminds me of the actual console that I still have on top of my wardrobe. I remember spending a good deal of time on it playing Mortal Kombat and Sunset Riders with my friends. Those were the days when 16-bit graphics were more than enough, and 3D games were almost unheard of.
There's also a Sega Saturn version available, and both lighters retail for $114 each. Give the PlayStation 3 10 years, and I'm sure it'll be inducted into the Zippo game console hall of fame.
(Source: Crave Asia via Gearfuse)
(Credit:
A Dress A Day)
I don't know who you are, Erin, but this Tetris Dress that you made makes me kind of want to marry you. There isn't much more to say about this great garment than that. And sorry, people, but it's a one-of-a-kind, so you can't buy one. But if you're the crafty type you can get the fabric here and make your own fashion tribute to the iconic '80s puzzle game. I really hope this becomes a trend.
Erin, call me?
