everwas

a blog by Ian Kennedy

Tag: hardware

  • Isotoner 2.0

    I remember when Isotoner gloves were the default fallback Christmas gift when you didn’t know what an older relative wanted. Right around November it seemed like every third TV program was brought to you by Isotoner reminding you that they were the perfect stocking stuffer. Who doesn’t need a new pair of gloves? What’s not to love?

    So you’ll understand why I got a chuckle from these new Isotoner “smarTouch” gloves that have conductive threads woven into the thumb and forefinger (need to allow for pinching) so you can use touchscreens outside in the cold. Let’s go to the video,

    UPDATE: The Japan Times blog, JapanPulse reports on a wide variety of touch-enabled gloves made in South Korea and Japan.

    UPDATE2: Burton has a decidedly hip looking pair of touchscreen gloves as well.

  • Built-to-order

    Custom, made-to-order merchandise was a feature of the fashion industry for many years. Think Saville Row custom made suits way back or mail order catalog goods such as the L.L. Bean monogrammed tote bag or Land’s End sweater.

    Recently, online sites have brought customized fashion to the footwear industry. Adidas and NikeiD sites below feature sophisticated design tools to create one of kind sneaker masterpieces.

    Mi Adidas
    NikeiD

    Built-to-order computers were brought to the masses by Dell. Now the trend of built-to-order hardware has come to the cellphone industry. Here’s an outfit in the Germany that offers a custom-made phone. Synapse will start shipping built-to-order phones in Q1 2011.

    Synapse Phones will start shipping in 2011

    Will the two trends come together? Made-to-order fashion and built-to-order hardware? We’re seeing designer phones in Japan already.

  • docomo’s designer collection

    My wife just got back from Japan and picked up the latest brochure from NTT Docomo. As a member of the very desirable young female demographic, she’s always been pestering me that Nokia should focus less on whiz-bang geek features and more on the phone as a fashion statement.

    I would agree and, in that vein I present to you this year’s Summer collection from docomo, part of their “style” series.

    Up first is the Emilio Pucci phones featuring the trademark geometric shapes of that famous Italian designer. These phones are made by Sharp. Check out the video where the announcer is impressed with the front-facing camera that can be used as a mirror!

    FrancFranc is a Japan-based interior designer. Their phones are made by NEC. The main features of this phone are a keypad with a unique LED lightshow when you flip it open and custom designer wallpapers that come pre-installed which you can see on the video.

    NY handbag designer kate spade makes an appearance with the signature two-tone finish on the outside. This phone is made by Panasonic and features an “eco-mode” that turns down the display lighting and increase battery life. A squeeze on the sides of the hinge opens the phone and a unique pink LED “illumination” on the front cover activates when you fold the phone shut. The bubbly Tokai Walker reporter is once more on the case.

    OK. It kills me that this isn’t a Nokia but I guess Sharp is going to see what they can do to interpret the marimekko brand  as a keitai. The phone features the signature Unikko pattern with matching wallpaper inside and colorful treatment on the buttons inside. Sharp has also taken the time to outfit the animated sheep that walk across the screen into marimekko patterns. Our video announcer pronounces this phone, kawaii.

    British interior designer Conran burst onto the Tokyo designer scene a couple of decades ago with a splashy book launch and showcase store in Shinjuku’s hip Park Tower complex. The brand holds sway and LG has worked with Studio Conran to produce this phone. This phone goes out on a limb by not going with the flip-phone form factor deciding instead to look at the ergonomics of the phone. It’s gentle curve is so that it can easily fit in your back pocket and hug your face. Coming in Brown, Black, and Dark Red, I’m thinking this phone is targeted for the older, thick rimmed glasses type that tends to prop the phone on their shoulder while sketching notes.  The Tokai Walker crew spends most of the video analyzing the design before they even turn it on.

    For the full marketing experience, check out NTT’s mini-site including the wonderfully weird Darth Vadar Who is My Boss clip.

  • The iPad is a Digital Coffee Table Book

    After looking at the video below, which shows off the signature Apple User Interface, it’s very clear to me what Apple is doing here. The iPad is not a computer, it’s not a replacement for your netbook, notebook, or desktop. The iPad is a $500 entry into book publisher’s most lucrative category, the coffee table book.

    Pay particular attention to the UI gestures that drive the photo album app. Forget those old photo albums you have lying around. We’ve all gone digital anyway and it was always awkward to hand a visiting relative a laptop to look at photos of their grand-kids. Projecting them onto the TV, despite the good intentions, always felt like the 21st century equivalent of the dreaded carousel projector slideshows that neighbors used to inflict on each other to back in the Sixties.

    Early media tech media coverage panned it and I don’t blame them, the iPad is no replacement for your computer. This device, as the iPod before it, was not designed for the techie. The iPad is not a computer, it is an animated book, an upgrade to the static kind. The iPad is going after the coffee table, photo album, scrapbooking markets all rolled into one. It’s appeal is to those that like to curate and display. It’s a glass showcase for your memories which are, more often than not these days, in digital format.

    And it plays games.

    – video from engadget.com

  • Avatar, Performance Capture

    I had a chance to see Avatar this evening and was blown away at what James Cameron has done to evolve the art of motion capture. Anyone who has seen the film would agree that the bar has been moved higher in capturing not only the physical motions but also the full range of emotional power of the actors and overlaying it  seamlessly onto the animated characters.

    The clip below how a whole suite of new technology came together to create what they call, Performance Capture.

  • Misa, a touchpad guitar

    The Misa is “not a guitar” says Michael, it’s creator, based out of Sydney, Australia. The Misa is designed to play electronic music.

    In electronic music, the timbre (or colour) of the sound can be morphed in an infinite number of ways. For a guitar to accommodate this, the right hand needs more control than just plucking strings. You need to be able to control elements of the sound, such as sustain, pitch, filter cutoffs, contour or any other synthesizer parameter, in a way that has no physical constraints.

    Misa digital guitars to acoustic guitars or electric guitars. Those are different instruments, for different artforms, for different music. This is electronic music.

    The Misa plugs into a MIDI controller and runs a Linux kernel. The instrument’s software is open-source and designed to be enhanced by the community.

    Here’s how it works.

    if you tap on the left side of the screen you play a note with an effect parameter knob turned more to the left and if you tap to the right side of the screen the note is played with the knob turned to the right. Similarly with the top and bottom of the screen. Since there are two axis’ (X/Y) you can actually control two parameters at once.

    Pretty cool.

  • The Confederate

    Confederate

    I think I found a motorcycle that rivals the Honda Valkyries. Made out of aircraft-grade aluminum in a design that maximizes torque, the Confederate P120 Fighter kicks out 160 horsepower that the maker describes as, “explosive.”  This machine may not be the most comfortable ride but only 50 will be made so grab yours now (51,000 euros each!)

    Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

  • Microsoft Tablet vs. Apple Tablet

    Gizmodo has the goods on the Courier Tablet while Wired’s Gadget Lab has the summary (and hilarious mockup) of something iLounge is calling an the iPad.

    Either way, folks are looking for a way to innovate beyond the touch screen and netbook form factor. I’m not so sure this is the solution. If it’s going to be this big anyway, what’s the big objection to a keyboard?

  • Fisher-Price Snuffs Out View-Master

    View-Master

    Fisher-Price, the toy company that used to market them, has just eliminated almost all the View-Master titles that have been a staple of young lives for almost 70 years.

    – The Economist

    Rumor has it that Microsoft will license the rights to the View-Master and use them as a new and innovative distribution channel for their PowerPoint slideshows which will be made available with a special relationship with Kodak.

    Positioned as a low cost alternative to Apple’s iPod, the co-branded Microsoft Slide-Master© will be sold via Microsoft enterprise sales and partners as a no-nonsense business tool as an ideal tool to distribute training material.

    “In these lean times, it’s important to keep our costs down but continue to deliver,” said the head of HR Training at a major consulting firm.

    Microsoft will make available a special print format template that, once installed, will allow you to save your slideshows in the View-Master format and upload them to the Kodak Gallery online store which will print out the reels and ship them overnight.