design

The Princess Compact4All kitchen appliances (available this month) come together to form a "breakfast cube." Designed by Jan des Bouvrie for the Dutch firm Princess Household Appliances, the four countertop appliances each measures 20 centimeters cubed. (To American countertops, that would be 7.87 inches all around.) Composed of a juicer, a kettle, a toaster, and a coffeemaker, the modular set can be stacked together or moved about the kitchen just like any other appliance.

Sometimes finding the unexpected in a collection of appliances only involves putting them all together. In this case, the juicer hides a secret. … Read more

Over the last few decades, refrigerators haven't changed all that much in one key area -- shape. Sure, the hulking mass of steel keeps our perishables fresh while boasting improved efficiency and other bells and whistles, but it's still just a big block that takes up a considerable amount of space in the kitchen.

Concept products such as the Impress refrigerator by Massey University industrial design student Ben de la Roche of New Zealand could influence the way future iceboxes keep food and drinks cool. … Read more

For many, kitchen decor is a work in progress. Nothing wrong with that; in fact, it makes sense considering the room in question. Tastes change, recipes evolve, and something that tasted amazing the first time is not going to hold the same impact the next time. That being said, what goes around comes around, and sometimes an old classic compares to nothing -- especially when it comes in an updated version.

Once upon a time, wood-grain finish was popular with everything. Heavy earth tones and splashes of orange, yellow, and brown adorned every room including the kitchen and everything in … Read more

Certain descriptive words tend to get overused. Do an eBay search for vintage or retro and that becomes all too clear. Another label that gets applied all over the place is steampunk. Sometimes one can even see it applied to things that plug into the wall. For those who fancy technology from the Victorian or Edwardian eras, that is probably not what they have in mind.

Ancient tech comes at a price, and in this case that price is $699.95. Inspired by a coffee-brewing process invented by Loeff of Berlin in the 1830s, the Genuine Balancing Siphon Coffee Maker … Read more

As the good and the bad gets hashed out over blogs and on news sources in the aftermath of Apple's highly-anticipated debut of the iPhone 5 today, it's interesting to take a look and see what was the public's reaction on social media when the device was released.

The start-up Taykey produced this data-rich infographic on iPhone 5 reactions from around the Web today. In gathering the data, Taykey monitored 50,000 user-generated online sources, like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, and blogs. With this data, it analyzed trends and conversations to create the graphic that measures both … Read more

I can't figure out what Apple wants from the iPod Nano.

The gadget maker introduced the seventh generation of its smallest portable media player this afternoon, and much to my surprise, the dimensions grew to incorporate a larger screen.

All of Apple's products have shrunk over the years -- the iPod begets the iPod Mini begets the Nano, and so forth -- but this year they grew. Indeed, the iPhone 5 grew taller as it grew thinner, echoing past updates to the iPod Nano. (See the evolution below.)

But the Nano model has ballooned and shrunk with each … Read more

Tired of looking at the same old "leaked" photos of "the new iPhone 5," complete with metal back, relocated headphone jack, funny little holes arranged asymmetrically on the bottom, and, of course, a bigger screen? How about getting a glimpse of the interior of Apple's new Cupertino, Calif., headquarters instead?

Elyse Betters over at 9to5 Mac has put together a gallery of details from blueprints she says a reliable source provided to the blog.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the images is that it appears the interior will be done up in a riot … Read more

Last night, I was considering the true meaning of truth -- as is normal for a Friday night -- when an odd tweet appeared in my TweetDeck.

Here was something from Steve Ko, who is a software engineer at Apple. I don't know him personally, but his tweet had been retweeted by someone else.

His was a simple tweet. (Well, he does work at Apple.) It read: "Oh, only at Apple."

Attached was a link to a photograph, which I reproduce here. It is a picture of a broken urinal, supposedly at Cupertino HQ.

Some might be … Read more