Video: Apple Legend Jonathan Ive Talks Design
In the video above, Apple’s senior vice president of industrial design Jonathan Ive offers a rare glimpse into his design process. He discusses the latest line of aluminum products; the iMac, the MacBook family, the iPhone and the iPod Nano each make appearances.
Watching the clip, you’ll understand why Apple seems obsessed with looks. Ive talks about gadget design like an artist would speak about his paintings. He’s one heck of a passionate guy.
See Also:
Posted: October 29th, 2009
at 8:22pm by Brian X. Chen
Topics: Apple, Industrial Design, Jonathan Ive, MacBook, Media Players, Notebooks, Phones, Videos, iMac, iPhone, ipod
The Table of Sound Will Make Everything Shake, Rattle, and Roll Off Your Desk [Concept]
Dock your iPod in a corner of the Table of Sound concept model and turn it up for the built-in speakers. Now try to get anything done while your table is shaking from the old-school rock blasting out its sides.
Imagining writing on it aside, the Table of Sound is a neat idea with both wired and wireless docking options, but I think I’ll still with mounting my speakers in corners. [wondering boys via designboom via Dvice]
Posted: October 27th, 2009
at 4:20am by Rosa Golijan
Topics: Design, Table of sound ipod dock, Wondering boys, concept, iPod docks, ipod, ipod dock, music, table of sound
ReNu solar panels announced for iPhone charger, sound dock, LED desk lamp
Sure, we’ve been frustrated by solar-powered iPhone chargers and amused by the irony of solar-powered lamps in the past, but that doesn’t mean we’re not looking forward to the day when we can meet our gadgets power needs without relying on fossil fuels. That’s why we’re pleased to note that a company called ReNu has just announced a solar panel that can be used to charge your iPhone or iPod, power the device’s sound dock, or even keep your desk light shining sans mains power. Featuring a modular design, the panel can dispatched to your window to soak up the rays for 10 or 20 hours (depending on the amount of sunlight it receives) and then returned to your dock for about nine hours of music playback, recharge your iPhone (twice!), or provide about four hours of light with the LED desk lamp. Of course, most people are going to hang this thing in the window once, forget about it, and then spend the next several years powering their devices with the included AC adapter — but at least they’re trying, right? Available for pre-order now, the ReNu solar panel ($199) and the Renu panel / iPod dock combo ($249) both ship in February 2010, while the Side Light desk lamp ($89) ships in next March, and the Sound Dock ($149) should see the light of day sometime in April. Hit the read link to place that order, but not before peeping the galley below.
[Via TreeHugger]
Filed under: Cellphones, Household
ReNu solar panels announced for iPhone charger, sound dock, LED desk lamp originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted: October 26th, 2009
at 2:57pm by Joseph L. Flatley
Topics: Dock, Green, IphoneDock, IpodDock, Renu, SolarPanel, SolarPanels, SoundDock, iPhone, iphone dock, ipod, ipod dock, regen, solar panel, solar panels, sound dock
ReNu: Modular Solar Panel for iPod Docks and Desk Lamps [Solar]
We’ll suspend our general disbelief for a moment to talk about the Renu, an unbelievable but incredible solar product that’s actually coming to market next year.
The ReNu probably doesn’t work as you’d imagine from looking at the photograph. Sure, you see an iPod dock with speakers, just as you’d expect. But that huge back plate is actually a solar panel/battery combo that you can remove from the dock to hang near a window to store energy. It takes about 9 hours to charge in direct sunlight, or 20 hours to charge in indirect sunlight, to power music for 7-8 hours.
This ReNu panel actually supports a variety of different base units, including a pure iPod/iPhone dock (no speakers included) and an LED desk lamp.
I think the basic idea becomes something like, hang or place a bunch of solar panels in sunlight, then grab power as necessary. But in case you find this ease of use scenario as hard to believe as us, all of the docks and the ReNu panel itself will plug in should the sun’s juice fall short.
The base ReNu panel alone can be preodered now for 2010 availability. It runs $200. The accessories start at $90 and work their way up. [Regen via Treehugger via DVICE]
Posted: October 26th, 2009
at 10:40am by Mark Wilson
Topics: Apple, Docks, Regen renu, Renu, Solar, iPhone, iPod docks, ipod, peripherals, regen
Mint Studio Multi-Room Wireless Speaker/iPod Dock Review [Review]
The Mint Studio is an update of the Mint 220 wireless speakers we reviewed last year. Although the two units look almost exactly the same, the Studio fixes the complaints we had from its predecessor, AND it’s cheaper.
The Price:
$130
The Verdict:
It’s good! We had three issues with the first one: wireless interference, the inability to adjust the volume from the computer when using the USB wireless audio dongle, and the price. To start, it’s $130, down from $150, and our volume changes on the MacBook Pro transferred directly over the air to volume changes in the player.
If you’re talking sound quality, the Mint Studio is decent. This is more about the convenience of wireless speakers than having a really great sounding set of speakers. For $130, you get a not-too-shabby set that can also act as an iPod dock. It’s definitely better than the speakers you have in your laptop, so that’s already an upgrade.
Lastly, the wireless interference is reduced by hopping over two channels instead of just one, which should help to curb many problems unless you have a lot of wireless laptops using the same frequency. Also, 802.11n laptops and routers are pretty much de facto since we reviewed the previous Mint, so you shouldn’t see any interference if you’re using the 5GHz channel for your N traffic.
One bonus feature introduced in the Mint Studio is the ability to support three different units from one transmitting laptop. We tested this in our house, with the laptop source and USB transmitter on the first floor, and one unit on each of the three floors. It was able to reach all three floors with zero audible loss, which is pretty great, and within its household operating range (with walls and floors) of 100 feet.
And in case there was any confusion, it’s not waterproof—we just enjoy planting it on a shelf outside the shower and streaming music while we bathe. It allows us to keep our laptops out of splash distance too.
It also still supports line-in and still acts like an iPod/iPhone dock, and works fine in those respects too. With the low price and improved featureset, I think the Mint Studio is a pretty good buy for people who want cheap multi-room audio that can also function as an iPod dock. [Mint]
Fixed interference issues and remote volume control from a computer
Cheap way to get wireless streaming music throughout your house
Sound quality isn’t astounding
