Tools N Gadgets » Technology

Photography the SLOW Way

Radhika Seth — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:47:05 +0000

It’s easier than ever to produce professional looking photographs. Some mobile phones can produce stunning results but ask any professional photographer and they’d say people are diving into the prosumer market without understanding key fundamentals like framing and composition. The SLOW concept turns your mobile phone into a camera that gives you control over three built-in lenses; fixed, macro and fisheye. Frame your composition and push the shutter.

This is how it works:

To operate, slide the front face open and insert your mobile phone.
Turn the lens to select which lens effect you want.
The Slow Photography camera has three lenses; fixed focal length, macro and fisheye. Carefully compose your shot by looking through the viewfinder and push the shutter release to capture your shot.

Designer: href="http://www.dmccourt.com/" >David McCourt

class="alignnone size-full wp-image-47844" title="slow_photo4" src="http://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_news/2011/04/21/slow_photo4.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" />

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class="alignnone size-full wp-image-47776" title="The Slow Photography Camera for Cellphones by David McCourt" src="http://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_news/2011/04/21/slow_photo.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" />

class="alignnone size-full wp-image-47848" title="slow_photo6" src="http://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_news/2011/04/21/slow_photo6.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" />

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———- /> /> Yanko Design /> href="http://www.yankodesign.com/">Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world! /> href="http://store.yankodesign.com/">Yanko Design Store – We are about more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the YD Store!

Apple Peripherals Don’t Have to Look “Apple”

Long Tran — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:34:03 +0000

The Kanto Morph speakers were originally designed by Alp Germaner for a competition but he missed the fine print about it being a “skin design” only and so it was relegated to languish in the dark corners of his hard drive – that is, until we got our hands on it. Look, for once it’s a design not about nostalgia. It’s not ostensibly minimalistic and it’s contemporary. Yes it’s an iPhone/iPod dock but who says all Apple peripherals have to look like Cupertino designed them? I applaud his aberrant design choices.

Designer: href="http://www.yankodesign.com/?s="Alp+Germaner"&x=0&y=0&lang=en" >Alp Germaner

class="alignnone size-full wp-image-46262" title="Kanto Concept iPod Speakers by Alp Germaner" src="http://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_news/2011/04/03/kanto.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="350" />

class="alignnone size-full wp-image-46263" title="kanto2" src="http://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_news/2011/04/03/kanto2.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="600" />

class="alignnone size-full wp-image-46264" title="kanto3" src="http://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_news/2011/04/03/kanto3.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="1078" />

Is it a Megaphone?

Long Tran — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:23:58 +0000

The ‘Megaphones’ appear to be an eponym but they’re actually speakers. One of the ideas behind the Megaphones was to bring back “nobility” to the object: let’s replace the cheap electronics with hi-fi components. Let’s replace the plastic with wood but let’s keep the iconic shape. The final product is unique and has a distinct Dutch quality to it. Love the craftsmanship.

Designer: Corentin Dombrecht

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Yanko Design
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Book Reading Made Haptic And Easy For The Blind

Radhika Seth — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:00:47 +0000

The Haptic Braille is a mouse-like device that’s capable of translating ordinary text into braille on its surface. This means that the blind can read virtually anything the sighted can. The technology uses optical character recognition. Simply skim it over any text and wait for the haptic feedback. I like how you can pocket and carry it over to the library. Just imagine how many books literally become available at your fingertips. Splendid!

The Haptic Braille is a 2010 Red Dot Concept Design winning entry by Samsung Art & Design Institute student.

Designer: Baek Kil Hyun

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Know Where Your Eyes Are

Chris Burns — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 07:10:53 +0000

Recon lets us know that this pair of goggles right here, “Transcend,” is the only pair in the world that provides you with real-time feedback including speed, latitude/longitude, altitude, vertical distance traveled, total distance travelled, chrono/stopwatch mode, a run-counter, temperature and time. Transcend has GPS capabilities, USB charging and data transfer, and post-processing software all with a super easy-to-use, futuristic interface. Recon hints to us that soon there may be an open API app development and download community – with apps!

Everyone loves apps, right? Applications for you to see everything you like through your new Transcend goggles. There’s two models – Transcend SPPX, which is fitted with an SPPX polarized and photochromic lens, and the Transcend SPX which just features an SPX polarized lens. Both rock. Both roll. Hopefully you wont roll though when you’re skiing with them.

The Zeal Optics frame design shows the user info on a micro LCD screen which appears to hang six feet in front of them. Glove-friendly buttons help the user navigate the full-color dashboard and screens. Using the application Recon HQ (which comes free with the goggles) you can upload and track info about your ski sessions instantly. That means contests, real-time sharing, and all sorts of other wacky new-world situations.

Accelerometer, gyroscope, temperature and pressure sensors. GPS chip, micro LCD display, and 3-dimensional lens. Hardcore wild goggles.

Designer: Recon Instruments

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Yanko Design
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Transparent Translator

Chris Burns — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 07:10:55 +0000

The following object is a Universal Translator designed for interpreting languages, objects, concepts, and customs. Through its window mode, text mode, and speech mode, it allows the user to have a better understanding of the world around them. Designed for a world where not only have we become globalized, initiating communication between people of ALL nations, we’re also in an age of progress, where people WANT to work with each-other, talking over all lines. Highly intuitive, modeled on early-learning concepts of language development, relating closely with the highly popular Rosetta Stone application.

Translate!

In Window Mode you look through the screen out onto the world, identifying objects which are then relayed to the user. A Wiki of information is available as provided by people living in the areas the translator is attempting to navigate.

In Text Mode you simply translate text phrases. Translate signs, papers, or any other lettered material. Again a Wiki of information is used, and like Wikipedia, a staff of moderators ensures non-vandalized, true info.

In Speech Mode you can translate spoken word as it happens, between multiple people. Mic and speaker are located at the top of the device. Speak into the device and it’s played back in the language of your choice.

Designer: Rachel Ilan Simpson

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Yanko Design
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Phone Support For Beauty

Radhika Seth — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:00:32 +0000

You got to agree that the skeletal system is a genius of design; it protects the delicate organs inside while giving support to our lustrous skin. If we were to apply the same design for our mobile phones then it’s quite possible to wipe out the peripheral “phone covers and cases” industry. I’m talking about the LG Exo Smartphone Concept. The key feature in this concept is a high strength polymer exoskeleton for protecting the delicate internal components while supporting its external rubber skin.

The end result is a good-looking phone that does not require any protective case that mars its beauty. You get to enjoy the phone in its intended avatar! The reason why I relate to this concept is that my gorgeous iPhone lies hidden beneath this hideous cover, lest it falls down and cracks!

Designer: Benjamin Lotte

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Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
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Entertain Yourself: Jamo A 804 Speakers

Long Tran — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:27:44 +0000

In part 1 of our Entertain Yourself series we took a look at the Sony BRAVIA NX800 3D HDTV. It’s our pick for amazing picture quality, industrial design, and packs a wallop of future proof technologies to take you far beyond 2010. Tho the built-in speakers are a wonder in themselves we wanted dedicated speakers. Last year we came across the Jamo A 804 and have been in love ever since.

A beautiful television demands an equally beautiful speaker system. If you take a look at what’s available on the market, speakers are either 80’s industrial boxes or beautifully crafted modern exercises. The former is all performance with no thought to design and the latter is just the opposite, too much design with subpar acoustics. Is there a happy medium?

Take one look at the A 804 – it’s gorgeous! The piano black finish is accented with black leather; fluidic yet technical in appearance. The size is dominating but well suited to Sony’s new monolithic design aesthetic. It’s absolutely stunning and only enhances the entertainment area. Speakers don’t have to be hidden. They can be proudly displayed and the A 804 is more than capable of holding its own amongst the best hardware makers and designers in the industry.

Prior to installing the A 804, we were using a Yamaha Sound Bar which we LOVE. The simulated 5.1 audio system is just the ticket for something better than stereo. The A 804 can function as a single, double, or a full on 5+ speaker setup and it’s the versatility that’ll make any audio guru happy. Unlike other speaker systems, you don’t need a full blown out package to get massive sound. We only have two A 804’s and a subwoofer and we’re more than elated. You will need a receiver to drive the speakers. We’re using a Pioneer model but even when hooked up to a small Denon unit, the sound was full, crisp, and balanced between the high, mids, and lows.

The A 804 is a 3-way, bassreflex speaker. The rigid cabinet constructed from high-gloss, lacquered aluminum, steel and high-density polymer results in a stable, non-resonant cabinet with very clean sound reproduction. One of the secrets of the A 804 lies in its flow-optimized bass port, which delivers extremely clean bass, even at high volume. The silk dome midrange/tweeter is a Jamo developed co-axial unit featuring WaveGuide technology. The clever three-way construction of the A 804 produces a perfect sound dispersion pattern, giving you maximum freedom when positioning your flatscreen, surround system and sofa. Its hard to visualize but sit anywhere around the TV and you never hear the sound drop off. It’s continuous and rich from the farthest corner of our seating arrangement. Sitting dead center is no longer the hottest seat in the house. Everyone gets to enjoy the almost pliable audio experience.

Designer: Jamo (Buy it here)

Pencil Printer Part Two

Radhika Seth — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:02:06 +0000

The refined Pencil Printer part II comes with detailed explanations and a better understand of saving the environment from paper trash and permanency of Ink! In here we see how the lead shavings feed the cartridge toner and prints effortlessly on paper. Mistakes are easily erased, and once the crappy memo is done with…you can erase all the gibberish and re-use the paper. A true test of erasing skills!

Designers: Hoyoung Lee, Seunghwa Jeong & Jin-young Yoon

Cheers To Finger Power!

Radhika Seth — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:04:01 +0000

Mind you, this is not a “Green” concept and neither does it claim to be “Eco Friendly”. It’s just a helpful solution for a tricky situation. The situation being: you running out of juice on your mobile phone. So what do you do? Remove the battery from the back of the phone; give it a few good turns around your index finger and its gathered enough power to last you a conversation or a safe trip to your charger and electric point.

Designers: Song Teaho & Hyejin Lee